Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognized characters or gameplay patterns within this fanfiction. Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Eggman, Blaze, and all related characters of such are owned by SEGA.
The hours passed by to Tails as he sped through the trees. There was no one here asides from some basic animals, and Tails saw plenty of things to grab for food if he needed to. Berries of all kinds, seeds...anything a fox could want. And bugs, and a few non-sentient species. He could always hunt if he needed to, although he didn't have any weapons on him asides from the small electric charger that he'd had since he was eight.
The trees looked identical, but Tails knew they weren't. He flew above them sometimes, but was more than eager to just walk around if he needed to. A forest this size had to have plenty of water, and just because he hadn't found it yet didn't mean much.
The ground was hilly and rocky, but all the small rocks that tried to hurt him brushed off his fur. His one ring was still in his mind, ready to be called in a moment's notice.
He'd had to figure out what to do if he couldn't find his way back home instantly. He had to find water, and maybe a town or a city. They probably would find him strange, if this was truly a new world that sapients like him hadn't gone to. Connected as it was to the Special Zone though, they probably had come through at least once or twice. Maybe they had a ring generator, or could use the giant teleportal rings!
That was best case scenario though. As he flew above the trees, seeing nothing but some mountains off to the northwest and an endless sea of tree tops beneath him, it was probably going to be a long time until he found civilization.
Step one then, was find water. If he could find water, he could find game and food. Find that, and he could then try to find a place to stay for a bit. Step 2 was build a shelter, if necessary. Instantly plans came into his mind for large and tall, impressive spires for a lab, before he shook his head and got rid of them.
He had no metal. And most of his lab equipment was based on metal, or on other precious ores. He did still have the Miles Electric, if he really needed to tinker with something, but he'd rather not.
He was lucky to have thought to bring it. It did have the translator program, fortunately bug fixed after its first horrible display, and it had other games on it too. A note program, and a map program if he needed to, and a half-dozen incomplete apps he was working on. It also had a communication app, although useless at the moment. He'd tried it within minutes of landing here, and there wasn't any signal, not that Tails was surprised at that.
But it was still a link. And from there, he could probably build a signal booster strong enough to cut through the Special Zone back to his lab. Sonic would probably have found out he's gone by now, and so the lab would be the first place he'd look.
Although for that he'd need precious ores, like gold, silver, diamonds...and emeralds. If only he'd had the time to grab the Chaos Emerald, he'd have been back within the day. Sonic probably would've only been here about five minutes before remembering he could use Chaos Control.
His ears twitched, and he paused for a moment, landing softly on the ground below. There was a soothing sound, the sound of running water over rocks. Gleefully, Tails sped ahead, dodging trees and rocks with the grace of a professional parkour artist, his three hairs being blown back by the wind.
It was a small stream, certainly. Barely two feet across, and if he hadn't been going as slow as he was, he probably would have missed it entirely. The sound was from a small rock and waterfall, not even six inches high. "Haha, chalk one up for the ears," Tails said. He reached under it, feeling the coolness on his gloved hand. Cold running water, wasn't that usually a good thing?
Where there was a stream, there was a river. Tributaries like this one always ran downhill, and always to a stream, lake, river, or ocean. All of which were bigger bodies of water that he could use easily. All he had to do was follow it; and follow it he did.
He flew above it, didn't try to speed off. The stream was hard to track, and it was probably just luck he'd managed to have found it when he did. The sun was low on the horizon now, so he should probably look for shelter soon. Although he was also a flying fox, and so could look in areas that others wouldn't even think about. Such as in the middle of a tall tree, of which there were hundreds.
Grinning, he leapt up, spinning his tails as he soared above to the tree tops. There were plenty of branches up here, and many of them were more than capable of supporting his weight. He landed gently on one, feeling how much it rocked with his weight and the wind, and nodded. This one was good enough.
He laid down, watching the sun set gently off in the distance, and he moved the pack towards his front. He should probably have been terrified of being alone here, but he'd already found water. There was no sign of sapient life so far, and there weren't anything that could hurt him it seemed. And worse comes to worse, he still had his one ring.
"My precious..." he giggled out as he thought of it. It would be nice to be able to talk with a friend, but he was here, surviving. And if he could do it one day, he could do it a second, and a third. Until he got home, no matter how long it took.
He got out his tablet, playing with the connection settings. As powerful as he'd made it, he didn't think it could pierce through the Special Zone with any message, no matter the length. But that didn't mean he couldn't prep something.
"Day 1, unknown land. Found a small stream, and I plan on following it after the accident this morning. I hope Eggman didn't get the Chaos Emerald, but I have no way of knowing or of checking. I think chaos brought me here, so chaos should be able to bring me back. Either way, spirits are high. Not literal, Sonic," Tails finished.
How like him, he knew, to keep a video journal while trapped in an unknown land. This wouldn't be the first time, though. He closed his eyes, vividly remembering past memories as his relaxation brought him ever closer to sleeping.
West Island, Chemical Plant Zone. A wall of machines and liquid, each pumping out the noxious blue chemicals and acids that ate at their fur and body. "Wait for me, Sonic!" Tails cried out as he followed the blue hedgehog through the...acid? Liquid? It wasn't water, but it was some kind of chemical.
"You just have to keep up then, Tails! Come on!" Sonic motioned. He kept his mouth shut, full of air, as he jumped on a few moving blocks. Tails was lucky; he could just swim. And swim he did, following around the blocks easy enough.
"Sonic, how come you don't just swim? It'd be real easy, even for you!" Tails said as Sonic breathed deep above the chemicals. "If I can do it, so can anyone!"
"Never been the best swimmer. I always just kind of sink," Sonic admitted. "Come on, Eggman can't be too much more ahead. I think I see the ruins of Aquatica ahead."
"Can't be them, we haven't even passed the Oil Ocean," Tails said. "Remember that map? Oil Ocean it said was right next to the Chemical Plant!"
"Oh yeah. But didn't it also say that the Emerald Hills were right next to Aquatica, and the Chemical Plant was on the other side of the island? How'd we get that lost?" Sonic asked. Tails shook his head.
"I have no idea. I was just following you, and then you went really fast, and I followed you...and now here we are," Tails explained. Sonic blinked, before he nodded his acceptance of that answer.
"And now here you go!" Eggman's voice shouted, and Tails half expected to see the Muckraker rise out of the chemicals...only to instead see the Egg Viper, longer and taller and bigger than Tails had ever seen it before. Eggman stood stock still in it as the lasers glowed an ominous gold, augmented by the chemicals. Sonic looked resilient, and so Tails emulated him, exactly as he had done so, right as the laser fired.
Tails shook himself awake with a cold sweat. He was breathing hard, and opened his eyes to the cold bright darkness that was the night sky. "Just a dream..." he muttered. Of course it'd been a dream. When was the last time he had dreamt of West Island, his second home?
To think, that was nearly seven years ago now...he'd been almost...eight? Somewhere around there. Sonic had been sixteen then, though he certainly acted like he'd been twelve.
Tails sighed as he made sure that everything was still in his bag. Everything appeared in order, except his stomach growled loudly. Had he forgotten to eat? He must have. Not a good thing to do when trying to be a survivalist, Tails!
He shifted positions easily, grabbing a small ration bar. Knuckles had taught him to make those after Sonic had gotten onto the Death Egg, when they were trapped in Sky Sanctuary. He looked over the sky, trying to see if any of the constellations reminded him of the night sky at home.
The stars were bright, here. They dotted the sky in thousands, millions, and Tails didn't recognize a single one. He knew that there must be similarities. Polaris, the north star, was almost guaranteed to have a similar one in almost all worlds. Except the Special Zone, but that only made too much sense. The Special Zone wasn't exactly a world, per se, but rather the in-between of worlds...
His eyes glided over the thousands of treetops, blinking as he saw a light flicker off in the darkness. He stared at it, wondering if he was just seeing things. He downed his bar, stuffing it into his mouth as he grabbed some water, his eyes stuck to the area.
There it was again! A small flicker of orange light, like a fire. Could have any number of explanations, but almost all of them had to start with 'go over there and check it out'.
Tails glanced at the moon, trying to tell the time. He'd never been good at it, unlike Sonic who could tell the hour, or Knuckles who had it down to the minute. Early morning, perhaps after midnight? Probably. Tails nodded, and wound up his tails, letting him hover in the air for a moment. He checked his bag, making sure it was tied strongly to his waist again and that everything was there, before he started towards the light.
It was a few miles away, and while Tails knew he could reach there within a minute or two if he really pushed himself, going through a deep forested area at breakneck speeds was also likely to break his neck. No, it was better to see if he couldn't see what was causing the orange light from afar.
There were numerous things that could cause it. Fire was the biggest one that sprung to mind, but firelight in an abandoned world generally meant everything was about to go on fire in a short time. Lights was another, as if from a light bulb. A screen, too, or any form of electricity. Robot eyes, it'd been a while since he'd seen Omega...
The trees reached for him, but with all the natural grace he had, their branches didn't come close to him, until he aligned upon a larger branch, staring at the small campfire that lay in the center.
It was surrounded by rocks, and the area around it had been covered by dirt. Proper campfire method, his mind rationalized. But that meant someone was here, someone sapient. The fire flickered to and fro in obvious elemental happiness, and Tails just barely saw the small purple form at the fire's side.
He jumped down, twirling his tails quietly, and landed silently. As he came closer, more and more of the form came to light; purple ears, hair done in what looked like four ponytails put together...wait a second, that was a familiar tunic. Sure, the form was much older than he remembered, but it was enough to spark memories. The tail was what sold him on it, the small curve that twisted around its owner. The name came easily to him.
"Blaze...?" Tails asked loudly.
-Side B-
"Blaze...?" a voice asked. Blaze forced herself to wake up at the sound of her name, the fire coming to her fingertips instantly. She jumped up, the fire answering her call of alarm and the small clearing she had chosen to sleep was seeped in light and fire.
The owner of the voice flinched back, covering their eyes. A boyish voice, on the eve of puberty. Blaze recalled the flames, letting them die out easily. Orange fur, almost yellow in places, white chest...two tails.
There's only one sapient she knew with two tails. "Tails?" she asked after a moment. She stood up to her full height, and was almost ashamed that unlike in her memories, Tails now stood taller than her. When she had last seen him, he was nearly a head shorter.
"It is you!" Tails said, rushing forward with a speed well-known to her, and grabbing her in a giant hug. "It's been so long! What're you doing here?" He asked, rushing his questions. She felt his surprising muscles as he hugged her. Time had been kind to him.
"I could ask you that same thing," Blaze said quietly, a small smile forming. A friend. She had a friend here now. "Sit down by the fire," she motioned towards the small campfire, sitting down with practiced ease. The stars twinkled above them, brighter than anywhere else Blaze had seen.
"Not really supposed to be here. Got transported through the Special Zone, and came to out here. I've been trying to find another access point to get back, but I haven't found a one. Though if you're out here, it means that I just landed on your world, right?" Tails explained. He was grinning wide, as if figuring out a secret that only he was privy to.
"Not...exactly," Blaze answered. "I'm not sure where we are, either. If it is still my world, I've never seen a forest like this one. And when I was transported, I fell through some kind of sand symbol, empowered by something. The moon was bright, but a dark blue. Heard of anything like that?" Blaze asked.
Tails looked confused for a moment, ruminating over the thought. "Not entirely. Might've been a warp point, I've heard of those through Sonic, but I've never seen one, and I don't know much about them. One of the few times Sonic's more knowledgeable than I am."
"Really? I always thought you were the boy with the smarts," Blaze said quietly, with more vitriol than she had honestly felt. Tails' ears drooped, and his tails fell to the ground. "I didn't mean it in quite the way that came out," Blaze quickly retracted, "I just meant that usually you're the one that knows it all and Sonic's the one who...doesn't."
Tails' ears and tails went back to normal a moment later. "Oh, I know what you mean. Sonic's surprisingly more into the occultism stuff, probably because of the whole Gaia incident a few years back."
They trailed off into silence for a few minutes, Blaze's mind blank. Gaia incident...she recalled them telling her something about that. Maybe he would continue if she said nothing. What was there to talk about, now? How long ago they'd last seen each other? What are they going to do now?
"A warp point and the Special Zone...you didn't go through the Special Zone, did you?" Tails asked suddenly. There was a hint of hardness to his eyes. Did he think of something that Blaze didn't?
"I don't think so. I've never been through it. I only know what Sonic's told me."
"Confusing, chaotic place where nothing matters, and everything keeps changing so it's impossible to tell if you're moving forward, left, right, up, down, or in any other direction?"
"Oh, then yes I suppose I did. After the...warp point?"
"Probably a warp point to the Special Zone then," Tails continued. "Makes it simpler then. We find a way back to the Special Zone, and it can take us back."
"And how are we to do that?" Blaze asked. The Sol Emeralds were waiting for her, and she doubted that Marine would watch them with the same fortitude that she had.
"Star post, or giant teleportal ring. Those are the most common two," Tails explained. "But I've been searching for a while, and haven't found any sign of them. Admittedly both are pretty rare."
"So we have nothing to go on yet."
"Sorry..." Tails said quietly as the guilt was obvious. Blaze felt self-hatred rise up on her. He was only trying to help, he didn't need the kind of short-temperedness she was sometimes known for. Especially when it came to her duties.
"Not your fault. I haven't seen anything here either, but I've only been here a few hours," Blaze tried to re-connect. She wasn't the best with other sapients, but she was trying! Even Marine only hung around her sometimes because she had nowhere else to go.
"Only a day for me. I got here this morning. Fortunately it seems like the times and days are the same in both of our worlds, and in this one. I did find a small stream of water a few miles back, but that's when I saw your campfire," Tails answered.
Blaze turned to stare at the fire. The dancing flames lit up wildly and helpfully, and she pulled a single lick up out of the fire, causing an almost still image of the fire, still emitting heat, to be close to her hand.
"How can you do that? I've always wondered," Tails asked suddenly. Blaze turned to him, the small lick of flame suddenly becoming a small ball, before she tossed it gently back into the campfire.
"Fire? It's always been who I am. The more faithful places in my world always said that I was fire. I don't just control it, I simply extend my being out towards it. I've never really thought about it. I can feel the fire inside, right here," Blaze said, cupping her hands to her heart, "and somehow, that's what lets me do it."
Tails nodded quietly, staring into the small fire in front of them. The silence made its way back to them, and Blaze was reminded how much she hated silence, but mostly she hated not knowing what to say. What to ask? What could they do?
"What was your plan?" Tails asked after a few more minutes. "For getting back, I mean."
"I didn't really have one," Blaze shrugged. "Mostly I was going to try to find some city or town, and see if they knew a way."
"What if there isn't?" Tails asked suddenly, staring up at the stars. What was he talking about? Blaze stared at him, tilting her head lightly. One of her ears circled around, minutely flicking one way and another. "What if there isn't any civilization here? We haven't seen any, and I've only seen wild animals."
"It's a big place. There has to be something."
"The Fermi Paradox point of view," Tails said quietly. "The universe is so large, there has to be other sapients somewhere in it. I want to agree with you, but at the same time I think we should think of the 'what ifs'."
"I don't think so. I must get back to the Sol Emeralds, and therefore I will."
"That part never changed, huh?" Tails asked. "The part of your guardianship."
"No, it hasn't," Blaze shook her head, "and it won't change as long as I live. Guardians are for life."
She recalled when she'd seen the Guardian's Code, a small book presented on top of the small box that held the Sol Emeralds. It was two days after her mother had passed...the previous Guardian.
Like all Guardian's, she'd memorized every word.
"Alright then. If you say we will, then I guess we will," Tails said. He got up, and brushed off his backside with his tails. He reached for his bag, swiveling it around to his front, his fur parting around it easily.
He reached in for a small snack bar, biting down on half. "You hungry?" he said, offering her the other half. Blaze smiled gently before she took it. She wasn't really; she'd gone much longer on much less food, and if worse came to worse she was more than capable of hunting for herself. She was, after all, a cat.
"Thank you," she answered quietly. The moon was almost on its way down, and the first burgeoning glows of the sun started to make their existence known. "You said you found water a few miles back?" she asked.
"Yeah. I was planning on following it today. Want to come with?" he asked, taking to the sky easily.
With a wave of her hand, Blaze extinguished the fire, a small kick of her feet to scatter the dirt and stones. Within moments, it looked like there hadn't been a fire at all. "Yes, I think I should," she answered.
Tails nodded, and sped off towards the way he'd come from. His orange fur was surprisingly difficult to pick out, but he seemed to be going slow.
Was he seriously waiting to see if she could keep up? He did remember who she was, right? A small smirk came to her face as she called the flames, giving her a vacuum boost as she sped passed him within seconds. She didn't need the fire to keep going at this pace if this was all he was doing.
Trees and branches and sticks dove out towards her, and with mere milliseconds to react, Blaze deftly danced over all of them as Tails soared above her. When she wasn't going her top speed, the kit could actually keep up.
Although she couldn't say he was actually a kit now. He was taller than her, if only by an inch or two, and that's not including their ears. He was much more well-built too, lacking the baby fat that had defined him in her mind. Now he was looking much more rugged, his fur much coarser than soft.
She planted one foot on a tree and used it as a spring to dodge another one, feeling the smirk rise on her face as she jumped over another set of brambles. "This isn't your top speed, is it?" she asked. She hoped it wasn't; she hadn't had a good race in years. Sonic was the only one who could have kept up with her, or Silver, but Silver was ages past. Or future, she guessed. It was weird.
Silver was definitely slower than Tails was now.
"Of course it isn't!" The kit responded, seemingly prideful of his speed. Blaze giggled near silently, knowing that she'd found a button of pride. Then again, he'd been raised by Sonic, hadn't he? Of course he'd be prideful of his speed. "I just wanted to let you keep up!"
"We'll have to race some time then!" Blaze said as called the flames, boosting her way forward as soon as she saw a longer stretch. Her feet barely touched the ground just long enough to ensure she kept up her running stride.
"Wait, not-!" whatever Tails had said was lost to the wind as she passed. The forest was thick, and despite the hundreds of trees to the side and in front of her, she lost no speed as she kept up her pace. Sometimes small corrections here or there, but now the world had gone silent as she reached near her top speed.
She saw it a bare moment before her foot found it, and she knew that she'd made a mistake. Whoever had said to not run blind in the middle of an unknown forest was probably laughing at her now as her foot hit the small bump just perfectly, and she felt a sharp pain and a minor crack run down her leg.
She curled up, calling the flames for some minor damage control as she let her body bounce wherever. First it was up, then it was down and to the right, all the while maintaining her speed. She wasn't trying to do it on purpose now, it was just pure instinct. Her ankle and leg throbbed, and she knew if anything it was probably a minor sprain.
Enough to hurt in the moment, but not bad enough to take her out for good. Although the trees and brambles did their best, ripping at her tunic and arms, only to get hit by her fire.
She finally stopped as she crossed a small stream, hitting a large tree with a solid thunk. She slid down quietly and uncurled at its base, feeling her leg pronounce its pain. "Not my best moment," she murmured as she tried to stand up, only to wince as her ankle said otherwise. "Found the stream though," she murmured.
"I'd hope so. You're not too hurt, are you?" Tails asked as he came soaring into view a few moments later.