Meanwhile, Tails had just finished up the repairs. It turned out to be more minor than he thought so was able to finish sooner than he expected. Suddenly he heard footsteps but what startled him was that there was more than one. And they were coming at him fast. He instantly flew up to the plane's seat and ducked hoping whoever it was didn't see him but he was instantly relieved when he saw Sonic. He was nervous about the other guy that was with him though. He didn't have any way to hide his tails and there was no telling what this guy would say about them.
Sonic and Knuckles finally got to the plane and Sonic instantly saw Tails trying to hide.
"Hey, Tails. You can come out. He is safe."
"Why must he hide? Only cowards hide."
"Hey take it easy on him. He has had a hard life." Sonic said but Knuckles was not convinced. To him, a hard life should mean he got stronger, not weaker.
Tails was nervous but listened to Sonic and came out of hiding. He tried to hide his tails the best he could but there was no hiding both of them.
Knuckles was not impressed by the small fox and just let him be. He looked over to Sonic and said harshly. "Where are the emeralds?"
"Give me a sec," Sonic said dashing to the storage compartment and pulling out his basket that held the emerald.
Tails meanwhile was confused. He went up to Sonic and asked, "why are you giving them to him? Don't you need them?"
"It's fine. This is Knuckles. He is like a protector of the emeralds. They would be a lot safer with him than us. Besides, I don't need the emeralds to beat Eggman.". Sonic had to force himself to say the last thing to keep from worrying the fox but honestly, he wasn't sure he could. Tails was not fooled though and worried anyway.
Knuckles also noticed, sighed, and said, "just find another power source."
Sonic said, "Like where. Not many places or items exactly provide extra power."
Knuckles thought for a moment and said, "follow me."
Sonic and Tails were confused by the sudden interest in helping them but they followed the echidna.
As they walked Tails stayed behind not wanting his tails to get too much attention. He knew Sonic said he was fine but he might still think badly of him because of his tails. Knuckles noticed Tails dragging behind and yelled, "Hurry up twin tail."
Tails was not too happy with this nickname and said, "My name is…" He began but couldn't finish. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to go by Miles but if he said Tails it would sound like Knuckles was making fun of him. After all, he wasn't Sonic.
Knuckles saw his uncertainty and said, "What is the big deal? Don't all foxes have 2 tails?"
Sonic and Tails were stunned. Sonic had to ask, "Have you never seen a fox before?"
"Nope. Been on this island for as long as I can remember. I don't know what it is like out there." He explained. Contrary to what Sonic or Tails was expecting, Knuckles didn't seem ashamed or upset by the fact he never left. In fact, he looked proud.
"Well, normally foxes and all animals really only have one tail," Sonic explained.
"OH." Knuckles said. He looked over at Tails.
"But he is still a fox right?" Knuckles asked.
"Yes. He is just different." Sonic said.
"Who cares. One tail, two tails, or nine tails makes no difference to me. Besides, If you ask me, you're an abnormal one. No creature should go the speed you do." Knuckles said bluntly.
Sonic could only laugh at the comment. "I will take that as a compliment."
Tails was surprised by the conversation. Knuckles was not ridiculing him or making fun of him. He was accepting of him even if it is in a different way than Sonic. He was happy and began to catch up to the two. However, because he normally is slow he decided to fly over using his tails. This did startle Knuckle.
"You can fly?" He said in surprise.
Tails was expecting him to just take it calmly so when he didn't Tails got scared, landed, and fell behind again. He was scared Knuckles thoughts of him changed,
"Why did you land? That is a very useful skill to have." Knuckles said.
Tails lightened up and said, "R-really?"
"Of course. Not every creature is born with the gift of flight. You should be proud." Knuckles said which cheered Tails up immensely.
Tails took flight again and quickly caught up. "Thanks, Knuckles."
"I don't see why you need to thank me. I only tell the truth." Knuckle said, slightly embarrassed to be thanked out of nowhere. Tails didn't say anything else and they continued to the location Knuckles was leading them to.