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.

Exertion 4.8

Blaze was already nearly done when Tails woke up. She was almost saddened, in a strange way. She wanted to have changed first, and see how low his jaw would have dropped. But she was keeping the light low enough that she doubted he would have noticed. She knew she probably shouldn't be teasing the fox like that.

She wasn't the most skilled of seamstresses, and the amount of splinters on her hands proved it. Her mother hadn't been either. In fact most of her clothes were bought, but what couldn't have been bought her father had made. It was always strange to see the closest thing to a king in the Sol Empire hovering over a sewing machine, despite the fact they had servants for that.

She and her father weren't the closest, but she had to admit he had at least tried. Then the duties of the kingdom became too much for him to bear at the same time as raising Blaze, and while he still tried to be a father they both knew he wasn't the most successful.

On the other hand, the one she'd had in Silver's time was fantastic. He was constantly showing her how to hunt, and how to dodge the Iblis' flames, and other things necessary to lead the tribe of survivors after he would pass.

She felt a sudden piercing in her head like an oncoming migraine, but it stopped as soon as it was formed. She shook the thought of it from her mind. She knew the basics of sewing, but anything fancier than 'needle goes through fabric here and here' was a bit beyond her. Probably for the best, she thought, seeing as how her needle here was a small sliver of wood.

By the time Tails had woken up she was mostly done. She'd finished the top part, and was quietly working on the bottom. She'd have preferred something much lengthier, but they didn't have too many skins left, and they needed what they did have for bags and such. Honestly, she felt a bit hesitant to use even one, but to be fair, her current clothes were in shreds.

Her jacket had not only taken a beating, but was quickly followed by a mugging and murder. Where before it would go down to her legs in an odd overcoat, now it would barely go around her arms and could be considered 'decent'. Her tights had been shredded, and now were less like shorts and more like a miniskirt.

She'd probably be more covered with the makeshift clothes she was making than she was currently. And wasn't that a sad state of events?

"Could you turn around, or take a look outside?" Blaze asked after a long moment. Tails had gone looking towards his tablet afterwards, the light shining onto his face as he did something on it, probably tried to see if anyone had reached them.

He looked up before he blushed and nodded. It was kind of cute in a way, how innocent he was. And yet she knew he wasn't. He had watched her earlier, in the river. Nearly...three weeks ago? Two weeks ago? Time was hard to keep track of.

He left the bags with her, and went to head towards the small cave on the outside. "Just let me know when I can come back in," he muttered.

"Of course," Blaze answered. She worked off her jacket, pausing to rub some of the medicine on the areas where she definitely didn't want anyone to know. The jungle had done more of a number on her than she'd thought, and the moles...and the sand whale's...and the...just about everything about this had taken it's toll on her. She wondered how Tails had managed to avoid most of the same injuries.

She took the makeshift top and made sure it fit and covered all the necessities. It hung a bit on her shoulders, but she didn't have any way to tighten it or adjust it after the fact. She'd have to live with it somewhat loose.

Blaze hoped the bottoms were better at least. She shrugged off her shorts, grabbing a small handful of water to wash her legs. If she thought her upper half was bad, her hips were dead gone. Cautiously, and with more than a small amount of hesitancy, she put on her makeshift ones.

To her subdued delight they actually fit. And if she had to be honest, they covered probably a bit more than her shorts did, which were nothing more than rags, now.

She was going to miss her shoes, though. As much as the sand felt neat, she preferred the feel of her socks and shoes underneath her than the sand.

"Alright, come on back, I've changed," Blaze announced. Tails came back in slowly, a large smile on his face before he looked at her, his jaw dropping a bit. "What'd you find?" she asked, ignoring his state of shock.

He blinked a bit, before he shook out his head. He was blushing brightly. Should she take that as a compliment, or try to ignore it? She'd try to ignore it. It's what she'd been trying to do since she realized his attraction to her. He was far too young for her right now, and probably always would be.

"We did get a message back! But it's not from anyplace I know. You know this address?" Tails said, showing her the tablet. She peered at it, seeing the message and it's sender.

To Tails and Princess Blaze; We hope this note finds you well. We are doing everything we can to locate the world you have found yourself in. Communications will take time, however we greatly anticipate the next one. We also hope to have it be in person. Gordon.

"I...yes, I do. That's the Sol Empire. The current vizier of the Empire, Gordon," Blaze said. The memories of the lynx working with her ran through her head, both of before and after the switch. The fact that they were doing everything they could...that made her spirits rise. They could do this. No matter what happens, they could live here long enough to get back.

"Wasn't he that koala that was working with Marine?" Tails asked quietly.

"No, that was Gardon."

"Thought I'd misheard," Tails chuckled, "I wasn't sure if I missed the pun or not in there."

"How does it look out there, though?" Blaze asked suddenly, gesturing towards the desert outside. It was dark in the cave, and chilly. Not that either of them would notice it, Blaze knew.

"Hot. Go out in the cave like twenty feet from here and it feels sweltering. I think it's wisest if we go at night, at least for tonight," Tails reasoned.

Blaze nodded. "I agree. We'll need some more sleep before we leave, I think. We should try to conserve as much food and water as we can."

"Okay," Tails said. He looked down towards her discarded clothes and blushed lightly. "We should probably put those away. Never know when we'll need them."

"Alright," Blaze agreed, grabbing one of the empty bags from Tails' pile. It was slightly wet on the inside, but she wasn't worried about that. It was probably one of the water bags they'd had. And now they were down to less than a few days.

She really wished she hadn't burned everything up.

"How come when you went and burned the second time, it didn't catch your clothes?" Tails asked suddenly. "I assume your clothes aren't fireproof."

"They aren't. Most of the time it's because I don't coat myself with fire, I coat the air around me with fire. But that particular instance, I maintained enough control to not. Although notice the singed edges? Another reason to make new ones," Blaze answered. "Turn around then; how are you going to charge up that electric generator of yours?"

"This thing?" Tails asked, pulling out the small button. Blaze nodded. "Pretty simple. It has a connection built to charge directly from the Miles Electric. As long as it can see some sun, or starlight, it can get a charge. It'll take longer on starlight though."

"You can get solar power from starlight? I thought the light was too faint."

"It is. But with the moon and the stars, plus a hydrogen-benzoate alloy that's surprisingly receptive to light-"

"You can get a charge anyways," Blaze interrupted. Tails nodded. He looked at his tablet before setting them aside, messing with a few settings. The small button was now glowing a dull red. She enjoyed it when he talked tech, but that also was when she was capable of following said tech. As soon as he started talking specifics, she had trouble following.

She was a pyrokinetic, not a scientist.

"Alright. I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when it gets late enough?" Tails asked. "I'll take first charge through the night."

Blaze blinked, before she nodded. He'd be the first one to carry. Which she wasn't about to let him do. She would be able to run just fine. "Gel?" she asked after a moment.

Tails' shoulders sagged and he let his tails hang out. Their fur was knotted and crusted over with dried blood at points. She had no doubt that her own tail was about as bad, let alone the places she couldn't see or reach.

She grabbed a bit and wiped more on the places that she felt he'd need it most. He tensed at times, and she wasn't sure if it was from surprise or pain. "This doesn't hurt, does it?" she asked.

"No, not at all," Tails answered quickly. He was blushing madly, and Blaze let out a quiet sigh. She was trying to break that off, not make it worse.

His tails handled, she said quietly, "Go get some sleep then. I'll probably be right behind you," Blaze said. He nodded, his sky blue eyes a pale cyan in the light.

There was a brightness behind them, she saw. As he knelt down to curl up and sleep, she pushed herself up and stretched out her legs. She cupped her hands together, holding them in front of her chest. She willed a small piece of fire to form, a brilliant blood red. A moment later, a bright sea blue formed in addition. A second after, a small green one, the color of the trees and grass. A violet one shortly, followed by a white flame and a yellow one. She stared at the six small flames before making a dark blue flame.

She hovered all seven flames in front of her, and shut her eyes, hoping that even worlds away as they were, the connection remained strong.

The Sol Emeralds were fire made form, and she was nothing if not fire. It was how she could see their shape and form if she was on the same world as they answered her call. They wouldn't answer her here, she knew. She'd already tried.

But on the other hand it helped her relax and focus her mind. She thought of the seven emeralds, their brilliant glow and bright light, and she tried to focus all of her being on them. Deep inside, where her wellspring of fire usually was, she thought she felt a small shift. Minute, tiny, and not something she would have noticed a few years ago. To be honest she barely felt it here, but it relieved her greatly.

The emeralds still sought her as their Guardian. They hadn't given up and went over to Marine, or to some unknown child deep in the wilderness. She actually didn't know if she had any cousins or anything that could take up the mantle afterwards. She'd always assumed the guardianship would pass to Gardon or Marine, but now that she thought about it, it usually went to the bloodline, or to whomever was 'worthy' in the emerald's opinion if the line was incapable.

But if she was stuck here, how was it going to continue in the Sol Empire? Probably the same it had happened in eons past, when there was no royal family. Didn't they used to send soldiers and messengers out to find the next of the Sol Emerald guardians?

Or was that just fiction? She didn't remember. But either way, the Sol Emeralds still called her their Guardian. And no world was going to take that away from her, no matter how much it changed her.

She dispelled the flames and looked down at the makeshift clothes she had on, barely covering what before she had hidden away from everyone's sight. This world had certainly changed her already.

—Side T—

Tails woke up feeling particularly uncomfortable. It was an unfortunately normal thing recently, even before he'd gotten trapped on this world with Blaze the Cat. He'd asked Sonic about it once, only to never say anything again as the hedgehog promptly started laughing and rolled off down a cliff.

Whether or not the hedgehog was pushed, though, Tails would never tell.

There was no firelight when he woke up, except for the dull green glow of the charging generator. It could hold up to ten charges at once, depending on how for long Tails held the button down for. He'd made the current strong enough to go over fur, for both Sonic and Knuckles. It was, coincidentally, also strong enough to go over his own without hurting him.

The light wasn't strong enough to reveal anything in the small cave, dark though it was. He reached for the Miles Electric, touching it gently to wake it up. It had been turned down, long ago, to the lowest brightness setting, which still seemed to be far too high at the moment. The light washed into the cave, and he blinked tears back into his eyes. He didn't need to waste water right now, no matter the circumstances. He was thirsty, and his stomach was empty. He held no illusions that he'd get to eat soon, and he tried to ignore it as best he could.

His eyes adjusted quickly though, and soon he was able to see normal. Right around seven or eight at night, so depending on how far south they were, it's quite possible it was night time right now. He turned to Blaze, intent on waking her up.

That uncomfortable feeling returned, much stronger. The brown hide of the rabbit bag did little to actually hide the lavender cat's body. Her top was loose, and hid almost nothing. Her bottom was even worse, two large triangles sewn together around her legs, with the major points in front and back.

If anything, she almost looked like a traditional 'lost in the jungle' girl from those old fantasy books. The ones where the girl on the cover was always as beautiful as possible, regardless of what the description in the novel actually was. How did Knuckles put it once? Eye candy? He shook the thoughts out of his head. He didn't need those thoughts right now, regardless of anything. They were trying to survive. He could figure things out later. For now, they had to get out of the desert.

"Blaze. Blaze..." he tried muttering into her ear. Her ear perked up, only to slap his muzzle lightly. He blinked and pulled back, only to see a slight smirk on Blaze's face.

"Night," she muttered. "I was awake the same time you did," she said. "I'm surprised you didn't try to just carry me while asleep."

"I don't think I could do that without you waking up," Tails muttered. "According to the Miles Electric, it's around seven. We should be able to head out without burning."

"Speak for yourself," Blaze said, smirking as another fireball appeared in her hand. "I can burn all day if I want to."

Tails shook his head, a smile on his cheeks. He reached for his bags, realizing that there were only three bags each now. Not including his own bail-bag, which he kept on his person pretty much at all times.

Despite the water they had left with, they didn't have that much left. Maybe only a few pounds worth, for each of them. Had Blaze really boiled the last of it with her act of...he didn't want to call it self-inflicted hazardness, but that's really what he wanted to call it.

Admittedly, they both were full of 'self-inflicted hazards'. Blaze with her endless responsibility and the willingness to see it through, and his with his own self-defeatism that comes from being raised in the shadow of one of the greatest hero's of all time.

He had tried, ages ago, to 'get over it'. He had even succeeded, for a while. But it's one of those things that rears its ugly head when he least expects it. He knows it's not just from being raised by Sonic, but from his age, too. He was smart enough to know that his thoughts were being clouded by things he couldn't understand, and for why. Really, he just kind of hated puberty in general.

He forced the bags on his back, and he stretched out his tails a bit. It felt weird, feeling the sand under his bare feet, but he at least still had his shoes, somewhere in the bags. Unless he'd put them in one of Blaze's, at which point they're probably burned to ashes. He'd have to check whenever they reach somewhere that wasn't a giant desert.

The medicine had done wonders for him over the day while he was asleep. His tails needed to be stretched out, but they already seemed much stronger than they had been before. No wonder, he thought, what with how much they were being used. His back, too, was missing the slight edge of pain that he'd become accustomed to since the jungle barely nicked him.

Blaze too, he noticed, was moving much easier. He tried to not stare too much, on account of being accused by her again, but her movements seemed much more fluid and light.

It could also be now that they'd had some sleep. Hopefully they never went without for that long again. The cave was lit up by Blaze's little fireball. The walls were slick with moss and algae, but there was no to little sign of water anymore within the cave. The walls were seemingly tighter than they were that morning, Tails thought. It was hard to get the best of purchases on them, but that could also be because Blaze behind him was seemingly having a very easy time of it. She was almost balancing on the walls, jumping from one side to the other as she climbed.

Finally the pathway ended in the rock blocking the outside. There was only a small amount of light emanating, a pale light that seemed to take more light than it gave. He pushed with all of his might, only to find the rock had gotten stuck. Then Blaze was right next to him, far too close for him to be comfortable with as she helped. The rock gave quickly after that, dropping with a dull thud as it landed on the sand.

The light of the moon and stars lit up the sand with a dull glow, the whitish light giving off an ethereal chill into the air. It was cold, Tails felt, but it wasn't as cold as it could be. As long as they kept moving they'd be fine.

Blaze took off running, and it was only a moment before Tails followed her. She was at nowhere near full speed, but was keeping slow to let Tails keep up.

He was unused to running like this on the sand, but his tails whirled up and with a smirk he blasted off leaving Blaze into the dust. He was going fast enough that his feet weren't even inches, closer to a quarter or an eighth of an inch from the sand.

The wind bit into his face, but he held the smirk, his heart pounding with adrenaline. It had been ages since he'd been able to run like this. Blaze joined him a few moments later, keeping an easy pace. "How long do you think you can hold this?" she asked.

"Long enough," Tails answered, his eyes glued onto the horizon. They saw only desert, but knew that beyond that was a river, followed by what was supposedly civilization. They were close, he felt, and that closeness brought his mood back from the oblivion it had ended up in before the cave.

Blaze nodded, a small smirk of her own adorning her face. Her feet were barely touching the ground before she hurled herself forward. It was less like Sonic running now and more like a cat eager to get to a treat. Within minutes they had gone miles, and within an hour the cave was far behind them. The moon was high up in the air, a glowing waxing crescent, only a few days away from the full moon.

Tails wasn't sure how far the desert would actually go. When they had been up on the mountains it had seemed to stretch forever, but as good as he knew visibility was, they'd already covered that distance and more.

There was a dull rumble underneath them, maybe of the bugs or the sand whale. As well rested as they were, Tails didn't think they stood much of a chance against them. Maybe when they were both tired, that was dangerous, but now...

As if to ask if he was certain about that, the desert dunes fell into a giant pit, massive mandibles just barely visible where the sand congregated. It began moving towards the center on all sides. Both he and Blaze jumped over the antlion, and ran up the other side without missing a beat. "Antlion, I'm calling it!" Tails said without hesitation.

"That's a real animal though. Does that count?" Blaze asked, her hair whipping around behind her. The antlion stayed where it was, as if confused that it had been so utterly ignored.

"I still say it does. It was a mythological thing first, wasn't it?" Tails answered. The dunes soared underneath them, for the first time both of them able to express their abilities to run to their fullest.

"Maybe. You could call it a sandlion, I don't think that one's real," Blaze suggested. A cactus stood in her way, the first greenery that either of them had seen since the desert began. She ducked to the left casually, avoiding any of its spines.

"Sandlion. Yeah, okay. I'll accept that one," Tails agreed. "What about those bug things? I've been calling them grubs, but I'm not sure that's right."

A small white grub appeared in front of them, only to be baked instantly as both Blaze and Tails passed it by, both of them lighting it on fire or shocking it as they went by. "I kind of feel bad for that one," Tails muttered.

"I don't," Blaze said instantly. "Grubs alright. They don't deserve a better name."

"You're just angry that you had to burn your shoes and bags," Tails teased lightly. Blaze glared at him half-heartedly, a smirk on her face despite her narrowed gold eyes.

"Of course I'm angry about that. I'm allowed to be. There's no way to get new ones here," Blaze said, adopting a haughty persona. She held one hand to her heart, as if hurt.

"We could always make new bags," Tails said, jumping off a dune. The sand soared below him, and he gave himself an upward push for a moment to see if he could see further. The glow of the moon and stars wasn't bright enough to see much further than they were. They'd just have to keep running, keep going.

"That was always the plan, I thought," Blaze said after a moment. "See anything?"

"No, nothing useful. Just more pitch black further. We'll just have to keep going," Tails answered once he landed. The sand cushioned his fall, but even then he barely left footprints behind him. And when he did, it only lasted for a moment. Blaze was almost going too fast to leave many, if any behind her.

And any that she did, the wind would probably cover soon. He reached back for a bag, pulling out a small thing of jerky. He handed some over to Blaze, who chewed quietly on the stick while running. He, too, was still moving, if only slightly slower.

They had a lot of ground to make up, and only one or two nights to do it in. And tomorrow was going to the worst if they didn't get out of the desert. He didn't foresee them finding another rock to hide from the day from.

Anyone else tired of exertion yet? No one? Okay, just me then. Two chapters after this left, and then...well, things get to shift. Until next time!