(Note: In this Light of Hope story, while Knuckles and Rouge are struggling to help their infant daughter learn to talk, Ruby-Emerald makes a new and unexpected friend).
~Ruby's First Word~
Knuckles the Echidna was having a bit of a crisis: you see his daughter, Ruby-Emerald, was already twelve months old and yet she still hadn't said her first words. It was concerning to him and Rouge because Ruby had already learned to do other things, so why couldn't she talk yet?
Well, that's what the couple were trying to find out as they sat in an office, speaking to their family physician: a female Mobian snake with light pink and dark pink scales named Dr. Martin.
"We're worried about her, she's twelve months old and hasn't said a single word! It makes no sense because at one month, she weaned herself from breastmilk, at three months she was able to hold herself up and crawl around, and at nine months she took her first steps.
"She's still getting the hang of walking but she can stand up without much help. We just don't know why she won't talk, Rouge and I have tried to get her to say simple things like "Mama" and "Dada" but she just won't say them. We're scared she might have problems with her speech development", said Knuckles.
He sat in his chair in utter confusion and worry as he held his infant daughter in his arms; the tiny echidna/bat hybrid calmly drinking from a bottle of milk and insect puree, a normal formula cocktail for infant Mobian bats, blissfully unaware of what was bothering her parents.
"For clarity, I started talking at five months, the same time I began walking. We wouldn't be so concerned if this was about Ruby flying, for us bats, our wing bones take longer to grow and develop the strength to support our bodies during flight.
"And most pups don't start flying until the age of two, but this is talking! This is more important than flying, everyone needs to be able to talk to do...pretty much anything! We don't want our baby girl to live her life without being able to talk", said Rouge.
Dr. Martin removed her glasses and wiped them with the corner of her lab coat, "Well babies communicate using sounds and gestures. In the first year of life, babies go from babbling to playing with sounds, copying sounds and putting sounds together. First words might start at around twelve months.
"We have test results showing that your daughter is neither deaf nor mute, so it's very likely that she is just a slow learner when it comes to verbal communication. Many children can be slower than others during their early development period, Ruby will learn to talk in time, you just need to keep trying", she said.
Knuckles and Rouge were still worried but they knew to trust the words of a medical professional, especially their trusted family physician; they stood up, thanked Dr. Martin for her help and left the clinic.
Back home on Angel Island, Knuckles sat with Ruby by the Master Emerald's shrine, still trying to get her to say something.
"Come on, sweetie. Do it for Daddy, say "Master Emerald"! Come on!", said Knuckles.
He was met with silence as Ruby simply looked up at him with innocent eyes, "Okay, maybe that's too hard. What about "Chaos"? Can you say "Chaos"? Try it, kay·aas! Come on, sound it out! kay·aas!", said Knuckles.
Once again, Ruby didn't speak, she instead became distracted by a butterfly fluttering above them. Ruby cooed as she stood up on her wobbly legs and tried to chase it, when she fell over, she just decided to crawl after the butterfly.
Knuckles sighed as he pressed his hands to his face, "Why is this even happening? I didn't take this long to learn how to talk, and I had to learn all on my own! Why is she having so much trouble?!", he said in despair.
Rouge approached him, "Knuckles...maybe we should just take a break for a while, give Ruby time to learn on her own. Its obvious that she's not picking it up", she suggested.
"We can't just do that! Then she'll never learn to talk, I can't let that happen!", Knuckles shouted.
"Hey, there's no need to get loud! It was just a suggestion!", Rouge shouted.
"A terrible suggestion!"
"Well excuse me for thinking that our daughter would be capable of learning to talk on her own! After all, she can stand and somewhat walk on her own!"
"And what if she doesn't learn to talk, Rouge? Our daughter could end up becoming ostracized for her lack of speech, people might think she's a freak or just stupid!"
While the two were arguing with one another, Ruby chased the butterfly into the forest. Babbling and giggling, she crawled after the flying insect as she tried to leap up and grab it; then, she tripped on a rock and went rolling down a small hill.
Ruby squealed with delight as she rolled like ball down the grassy incline, stopping at the base of the small hill as she landed on her stomach. Her eyes spun for a bit as she was a bit dizzy and disoriented from her tumble.
"Ribbit?"
Ruby heard a strange sound coming from in front of her, she looked to up to see a small frog with green skin with little yellow markings and a long tail. She cooed curiously at the small amphibian as she tried to grab it, the frog croaked as it leapt up and landed on her head.
Ruby laughed excitedly as the frog bounced up and down on her head, letting out squeaky croaks as it did.
"Froggy? Hey Froggy, where'd you go?"
Ruby stopped laughing when she heard another sound, this time is was a deep and unfamiliar voice. She watched as a strange creature stepped out of the bushes, staring at the being with wide purple eyes.
[Time Skip]
Back with Knuckles and Rouge, they were engaged in their argument, which came to a head when Rouge pushed Knuckles over and proceeded to sit on him.
Now, Knuckles was more than capable of just pushing his wife off of him, but this was usually how their arguments would end. This was Rouge's way of getting Knuckles to cool down, plus he secretly didn't mind.
He looked up at Rouge with an apologetic expression, "Rouge...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm just really worried about our daughter...", he said.
Rouge smiled sweetly as she stood up and helped him to his feet, "Its okay, hun. I'm sorry too, I thought you were just overreacting but the truth is...I'm very worried about our daughter too. My mother never really cared for me growing up, so I sometimes worry if I'm being a good enough mother to Ruby", she said.
Knuckles and Rouge looked at each other before smiling and leaning in to kiss each other on the lips, they soon broke apart and stared lovingly into one another's eyes.
"I love you so much. What do you say we go have a picnic together over by one of the waterfalls?", asked Knuckles.
"Ooh, good idea. It's been so long since we've just spent time together, what with work always taking up my time", said Rouge.
They then turned to pick up Ruby and get their picnic together, but when they looked around, they didn't see their infant daughter anywhere. Panic and horror began to well up within Knuckles and Rouge as the called out for their baby girl.
"Ruby? Ruby!"
"Ruby, where are you?!"
The tiny echidna/bat hybrid was nowhere to found, Knuckles saw Rouge shaking in fear, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. He walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Its gonna be alright, Rouge. Don't panic!", he said.
"Don't panic?! Knuckles, we're on a floating island! She could fall off!", Rouge shouted in hysterics.
"I know, but freaking out won't help us find her any faster. We'll split up to cover more ground, you search high and I'll search low", said Knuckles.
Wiping her eyes, Rouge nodded with determination. She then took off into the sky, searching through the air for her baby girl; meanwhile, down on the ground, Knuckles combed the forest of Angel Island to find his daughter.
[Time Skip]
Meanwhile on another part of the island, Ruby was still looking up at the strange being standing before her. It was a tall Mobian cat with purple fur with dark violet stripes and a white muzzle and belly; his eyes were black with pale yellow sclera, and he was wearing tan gloves, a tan belt and yellow sandals.
This Mobian was none other than Big the Cat, the rather slow and not very sharp-witted, yet friendly and easygoing feline who enjoyed fishing and spending time with his beloved pet frog, Froggy.
Big looked down at Ruby with just as much curiosity as she had in her eyes, "Awww, what a cute little baby! Isn't she cute, Froggy?", he asked. The little frog croaked as he bounced on Ruby's head, making the infant giggle.
Big laughed as he reached down to pick up his pet frog and the baby echidna/bat, carrying them over to where had been sitting a few minutes prior, which was by a small river. He sat down by a tree and then looked at Ruby, "You know...you look a lot like Mr. Knuckles", he said.
Ruby cooed as she pawed at his fluffy chest with her hands, which were wearing a pair of tiny, spiked white gloves similar to ones Knuckles wore. She flapped her tiny wings excitedly as she tried to pull on the tuffs of fur on the sides of his muzzle.
Big laughed as he picked up his fishing rod and cast it into the river, "I wonder what a cute little baby like you is doing out here? Wanna help me catch some fish?", he asked.
Ruby reached up and tried to grab the fishing rod so she could hold it; just as she grabbed it, Big felt a strong tug at the end of the line. "Ooh! That's a big fish!", said Big as he pulled on the fishing rod. Ruby grunted as she tugged on the pole, trying to help her new friend catch the fish.
Big gave the fishing rod one last yank and a slender grey fish was pulled out of the river, he caught it in his arms. "Wow, this really is one big fish! Its gonna be so tasty, right Froggy?", he said.
Froggy bounced up and down as he croaked, Ruby also laughed as she clapped her hands happily.
Half an hour later, Big was munching away at the fish he caught, having cooked it over an open fire. After the fish was done cooking, Big had put out the fire with water and dirt so Ruby wouldn't accidentally burn herself by trying to touch it; Big may have been slow witted but even he knew it was dangerous to have a fire blazing near a baby.
Ruby whimpered as she pawed at Big's leg, looking up at him with pleading eyes. He looked down at her, "What's the matter? Are you hungry?", he asked. He pulled a piece of the cooked fish off of the bones and tried to give it to Ruby, but she pouted and turned away.
"What's wrong? You don't like fish?", Big asked. Froggy croaked as he hopped up into a nearby tree, something fell out of the tree as Froggy came back down. It turned out that it was a squishy looking fruit that had fallen from the tree.
Froggy nudged it over to Ruby, who picked it up; she then bit into the fruit with her only tooth and began nibbling on its squishy innards. "Good job, Froggy!", said Big. The little frog happily croaked as he leapt onto the baby echidna/bat's head.
After they were all done eating, Big slumped against a tree to relax. Ruby yawned as she crawled up onto Big's fuzzy belly and promptly fell asleep, Froggy curled up next to one of Big's feet and fell asleep as well, and Big also dozed off slumped against the tree.
[Time Skip]
Rouge was flying overhead, scouring for any sign of her baby girl.
"Oh Ruby, where are you my little gemstone?!", she said in a panic.
Down on the ground, Knuckles was combing through the thick underbrush, trying to find his daughter. Along the way, he had bumped into a Chao, not an uncommon sight as there were a few Chao gardens on different parts of the island.
"Hey there, little fella. Did you see a baby pass through here? She looks like me except she's pink and has a pair of tiny black wings", Knuckles said.
The little Chao shook its head as it picked up the fruit it dropped and flew away, Knuckles sighed in frustration as he decided to try a new approach. "If she's not above ground, maybe she'll be underground. Wouldn't be the first time...", he said.
He then pounded a hole into the ground and began digging, tunneling his way underground.
[Time Skip]
"This flower is my favorite, it's so pretty"
After taking a nap, Big decided to walk around the forest to look at the flowers, with Froggy sitting on his head and Ruby cradled in his right arm. They were looking at a cluster of pink orchids that hung from an overhead tree branch.
"These flowers are pink just like you", said Big as he booped Ruby on her tiny nose. The little baby giggled as she grabbed at his glove, yanking it off and started teething with it. "Hey, that's my glove! You can't eat it!", Big said as he tried to pry it away.
When he finally got it back, Ruby whimpered and began to cry loudly. Big was suddenly frazzled, he had never been around a crying baby before so he didn't know what to do.
"Hey hey, don't cry. It's okay, you're okay. Oh...what should I do, Froggy?", he said.
Froggy leapt off of Big's head and landed on his left arm, he then croaked loudly to get Ruby's attention. The little hybrid stopped crying for a moment to look at the frog with teary eyes; Froggy then bounced up and down, doing little flips while letting out his squeaky ribbits.
Ruby's eyes cleared up of all tears as she watched the frog do his little tricks, then she started laughing and clapping. Big smiled as he blew a sigh of relief, "Nice job, Froggy! Those are some great tricks", he said.
Froggy croaked as he kept flipping around in the air, much to the delight of the small infant.
Just then, there was a small rumbling beneath Big's feet. He moved over to see a patch of dirt rising up until suddenly, Knuckles' head and upper torso popped out of the ground. He looked up to his smiling baby girl in Big's arms, his eyes widening in relief.
"Ruby! Baby, you're okay! Rouge! Rouge, come down here! I found her!", he shouted.
Knuckles pulled himself out of the ground and rushed over to Big, taking his baby girl into his arms and peppering her tiny cheeks with loving kisses. Just then, Rouge came flying down towards the ground and landed nearby.
Tears fell from her eyes as she ran over and hugged her husband and daughter close to her, "My baby! My sweet baby, you're safe!", she shouted.
That was when Knuckles suddenly realized something, "Wait a minute...Big? How'd you get up here on Angel Island in the first place?", he asked.
"...I dunno", Big said with a shrug.
"Oh who really cares? He found our baby girl! Thank you so much, Big!", said Rouge.
"You're welcome, Miss Rouge. That's such a cute baby, Froggy really likes her. Right, Froggy?", said Big as Froggy croaked in agreement.
Knuckles sighed and smiled, "Yeah, thanks Big. We've been looking for her for hours, though if we hadn't been arguing over her learning to talk, she never would've wandered off in the first place", he said.
Rouge looked at him, "Exactly. From now on, we need to keep a better eye on our daughter. Also, it may seem like a problem that she can't talk yet, but we shouldn't lose our minds over it. We just need to try harder to--"
"Fwoggy!"
The couple were stunned into silence when they heard the hitch pitched, juvenile voice. They looked down at Ruby, who was nestled in Rouge's arms and smiling. "Did...did she...did she just--"
"Fwoggy! Fwoggy! Fwoggy!"
Knuckles and Rouge gasped in shock, their faces expression utter disbelief and shock.
Ruby had finally said her first word!
She had finally started talking!
"Hey, she said your name, Froggy", said Big.
Knuckles and Rouge let out joyous laughter as they hugged their baby girl, it didn't even mattered to them that her first word hadn't been "Mama" or "Dada", they were just happy to hear their daughter talk.
They were so happy that they suddenly pulled Big into their group hug, continuing to laugh happily. "This was a really weird day, huh Froggy?", said Big.
Froggy once again leapt onto Ruby's head, croaking seemingly in agreement. Ruby looked up at the frog and smiled widely, clapping her hands together.
"Fwoggy! Fwoggy! Fwoggy!"
[The End]
