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. All original character's are owned by me, unfortunately.

Exile 8.2

The path from the village to the beach was surprisingly smooth, Blaze thought. She still couldn't access her fire, and probably wouldn't until she got some rest. There was still a phantom pain in her right side, too. And sometimes she still felt as if she was falling, even though her feet were on the ground.

It had to be nearly ten or twenty miles, she thought. Between the beachside and the village proper. Katia knew the way well, and while she only had one metal sheet with her compared to the five that Blaze was holding, she also had the sheets to act as the sails.

She kept up with Katia, not willing to outrun and outpace her. The vixen was the one that knew the way, not her. Had Tails and Spark already been here? Or were they lagging behind?

Tails did say he wanted to visit Flora before they left. But he didn't really have time. It was close to eleven at night by the time her feet hit the cold sand. It reminded her strongly of the desert sand, and of the grubs there. What other kind of creatures would come out to attack them while out on the ocean?

The sound of the ocean was rather refreshing, if she had to be honest. She hadn't heard the sound of the waves since she'd gotten here. The starlight reflected upon the waves, the white water foaming as they crested. The waves weren't large; not yet at least. The sand was fine and soft, exactly like the desert sand. Eons of being pounded by the water would do that.

She dropped the metal plates, stretching out her back afterwards. There was no sign of Spark or Tails. Katia dropped her plate, letting it land with a resounding clang as it hit Blaze's. "Where's Tails?" Katia asked.

"Not here yet, it seems," Blaze answered. "It took us about half an hour to get here, which I should be able to do in five or ten minutes now that I know the path."

Sounds of footfall reached them, and both Blaze and Katia looked back to the path. A small spark of light jumped out, and Katia relaxed, although Blaze didn't. Not until she saw the red eyes of Spark cross around the corner, carrying a few more metal plates.

"Tails not with you?" Katia asked after a moment, staring at the path as if the two-tailed fox was right around the corner.

"No, he's not. He told me to bring this, you should know how to work it. This should have his plans on them," Spark said as she reached into the extremely familiar by now bail-bag, pulling out the yellow tablet that Tails usually always had on him. "I don't know how to use this, though. I tried channeling into it, but it still doesn't do anything."

"It doesn't need power, it needs to be turned on," Blaze said as she walked over, pressing the power button gently. Spark almost dropped it as the screen brightly lit up.

"You take it. You know how to operate it," Spark said after a moment, handing the tablet over. Blaze shrugged, but she took it anyway. She had no doubt that both Spark and Katia were going to get a crash course in how to use the tablet. If only to alleviate boredom while on the ocean. Blaze did have to admit that sometimes she missed having a full entertainment center below deck. But mostly so she could watch Marine play her games, and miss the most obvious of puzzles.

The pyrokinetic cat moved her hand over, finding the right file. Tails hadn't had much time to get working on it, but there were still a few ideas put in. There was one in particular she liked the idea of; a dual layered boat, the deck and below deck. A mast for sailing and an engine for when there was no wind. There was no fuel for it, but Tails had made the note 'electric run'.

Was he planning on using both Spark and Katia for power while using the engine? Or his own? She wasn't sure, but she put a hand over it, letting it blow up on the screen. He had all the parts labeled, and meticulously measured. How he was going to do all this with steel, she didn't know. She would've figured he needed a lot more parts.

"I say we go with this one, while waiting on him," Blaze said, holding the tablet out so both vixens could look at it. She could see them both questioning what they were looking at.

Before either could say anything, Blaze's ear flicked towards the forest. Another sound of footfall, but this time with the sound of hovering. There was only one sapient who could make those sounds. Miles "Tails" Prower. Tails turned the corner, carrying another three sheets of metal, a bit bigger than the others, and a host of other tools. Hammers, rakes, hoes...a lot of farming equipment. Why did he bring any of this?

"Sorry it took me so long, I needed to get that story from Plague. Flora, I guess I should call her. In return, I started to tell a few of my own, and I guess time got the best of me."

"How far did you get?" Blaze asked quietly. "I think this one's our best bet."

Tails took only a second to look over it. "Sure. Big enough for all of us to sleep well, but small enough it shouldn't take much wind to sail. And only to the ARK and Shadow. I didn't even get to mention you or any of the other more recent nonsense we've been through."

"Nonsense?"

"Have you heard some of Sonic's stories? Like the genie in the book, or the King Arthur story?"

"He did tell me those, yes. And I do know how to use a rapier, you know," Blaze snickered. Tails stared at her. "He told me I was in the Arthur one, as a knight. Percival?"

"Huh. Never would've guessed..." Tails muttered as he grabbed a few sheets. "Alright, Blaze, you and Spark can head back and grab a few more of these. We need minimum ten more. If we want to make it bigger, if we want to save more people, now is the time to say so."

"How many can this...design...hold?" Spark asked, her mouth tripping up over the Common word. It came unnaturally to her, but Blaze wondered where she'd heard it. Perhaps from Tails, on one of his 'going from Common to Amurrun in a heartbeat' explanations.

"This one? Four sapients definitely, six if we push it. Ten if we wanted to really push it, but let's not do that," Tails explained. He pushed two of the sheets together, and Blaze could almost see the cogs turning in the fox's head.

"How are you going to meld these together? Even if I had my flames, I couldn't make it hot enough. Unless you're doing a cold forge," Blaze asked.

Tails smirked at her, a sure sign that he knew something that she didn't. His hand went to his hip, to grab a small thing hovering there in a pocket of fur. He did have that device to give a boost of electricity, the Charger he called it? He gave it one push, and she could see the electricity jump over his fur. He didn't let it leave him, but he aimed downwards at the crack between the two metal plates.

Blaze had to cover her ears as thunder roared around them. Katia and Spark were watching with their eyes wide, unaffected by the noise as Tails guided his hand down the crack, electricity jumping around his hand, aiming...to the ground and sand below. Through the plate, heating it up.

He was welding the plates together using only his power.

He was done a minute later, breathing hard as he looked at it. Blaze uncovered her ears, and ran her hand down the fresh weld. "How long have you know you could do this?" Blaze asked a second later. "Because that's incredible."

"Just tried it! I use a similar function in my lab, but I've never done it in the open air. I use water when I need to electrolyze something," Tails explained. He turned to Katia and Spark, "This is the base, we need to cut one of these plates in half for the side. If we had wood or something we could substitute-"

"There are other islands out there. The most important part is leaving here as soon as possible," Katia murmured.

Blaze nodded. "I agree. Don't make it the biggest thing we need, we can always do more later. Assuming we find a place to rest."

Tails frowned, a glint of something in his eye. "Then we'll need to do some of the plates in half vertically, thin them out a bit. They weigh too much right now. Blaze, can you get more? I'll send Spark back once we get into a good rhythm."

"Sure. How many charges do you have left? Can't be much more than a few."

"Five. I haven't had time to let it charge yet," Tails admitted. "Which means I only have enough juice for a few welds, then I'll have to cold forge the rest into shape."

"What is this...cold forging?" Katia asked. Tails, instead of answering, grabbed a hammer and swung it with all of his strength towards another plate's edge.

All of them had to cover their ears as the sound threatened to out them to Ikan'Thoa. At least, it sounded like it. "That. That's cold forging," Tails said, pointing to the large dent he'd made in the plate. It hadn't broken it, but rather moved it. "I usually prefer machines to do the hard work for me, but I don't have my lab here."

"Do you think you can get it done in time?" Blaze asked. "Now that we know you have...less than six hours?" she asked, gazing up at the moon. She could do enough trips to empty out the fire district's metal supply, but she doubted she would. Probably a few more trips, then she'd rest.

"Probably not," Tails admitted. Both Katia and Spark stared at his seemingly cavalier attitude about it. But before either could say anything, he continued, "but I can get the base hull done. Once we do that, we can keep going as we're going."

"You're going to be building the boat as we go? While on the water?" Blaze hesitated to clarify. This answer was going to scar her, she thought, but she had to know.

"Yep," Tails said. "Get another twenty sheets of this size, and then get some rest. We'll need you come morning, I feel."

Blaze sighed. She was right; the answer would scar her. Scar her and scare her. "Have you ever done this before? Building or modifying something while using it?"

Tails waved his hand, "Happens all the time in the Tornado 2. The chaos converter goes out, or goes haywire, I have to modify it while it's in the air. And the air is much more dangerous than the ocean."

"I disagree!" Katia spoke up. "The oceans here are beyond dangerous!" Spark nodded her agreement slowly.

"We'll also need other supplies, like food and water," Tails said, ignoring their comment. Blaze nodded. She hadn't forgotten that fact. And with four of them to feed, assuming they didn't get sick off of fish, that was not an inconsiderable amount. The water was going to be the hardest part.

"Seems familiar, doesn't it?" Blaze admitted after a moment. Tails looked up at her from his place over another metal plate. "This, I mean. Hurriedly gathering supplies for a trek across some place we have no idea where we're going. The first was by land."

"And now by sea. Soon enough, we'll go by air," Tails joked. "Difference is, last time we had time on our side. This time, we're very much in a hurry."

—Side T—

Tails was working as fast as he could, and he knew he probably wouldn't be able to go much further. They needed more time, more supplies, and furthermore, they all needed rest. Katia had stayed behind, exactly as he'd asked, and did almost exactly what he asked her to do. She took the energy he provided using his Charger, controlling it into small bursts to weld the pieces together. He stood by her, keeping track of most of the energy, making sure she could focus it to the boat's needs.

He would've preferred using his lab, and fire in order to soften the material needed to bend it, but he didn't have his lab.

What came out was five of the metal sheets used, and a haphazard metal hull that was barely three feet deep, but nearly ten feet long. He could add more plates to the sides, creating a separate deck as time went on.

He preferred working with thinner sheets than these, nearly two inches thick at places. There was no control, he noticed, in how thick the sheets where, and they often seemingly varied simply by whoever the original maker was. But the hull was the most important part, and if all they had were the thick sheets, then that was what he would work with.

Sonic liked to joke that when he was King Arthur, Tails would be a blacksmith, making sure to keep his sword in top condition. The hedgehog would never know it, but Tails did know basic blacksmithing for weapons...and ships, apparently. He was better at the designing aspect, but he knew when it was time to get down and dirty.

He hadn't learned just because of Sonic, but the fox would admit that was what made him learn the art better. He wasn't the best, and very few could claim to have a 'Prower Industries Knife', but he was proud nonetheless. This was an unmistakable boat. The sun would be beating down on them hard if they didn't get the secondary deck set up, but even he wasn't sure how they'd do it while in the open water. He would think of something.

For the mast, Katia and Blaze, when she'd returned from getting as much food and water as she could, grabbed a few tree trunks and cut the bottoms off using one of the saws that Tails had grabbed.

He wanted to rig up a simple pulley system, but with the tools they had it would be quite difficult. Instead, he'd have to jury-rig it while out on the open ocean. Hopefully they didn't crash into another island first. The sun was starting to pop up over the trees on the eastern side. He blinked a bit as the first bit of light flashed onto him; he should have had more time. They had accounted for six hours, not five. He grabbed the Miles Electric, staring at the time.

He cursed his own stupidity a moment later. This wasn't his world, nor the Sol Empire. They didn't have twenty four hour days here, but they had twenty three. He'd missed an hour just by being here! No wonder Flora had mentioned time was a bit screwy.

His body was covered and soaked with sweat, and he could smell the others were much the same. Blaze had tried to get a quick nap in, but she was about as successful as he would have been. She'd instead been helping get the final curves and welds in place.

It wasn't the most beautiful of boats, but it would be serviceable. All that was left now was to test it out and make sure it could float.

"How likely is it that we'll be discovered if we just...don't come back?" Tails asked after a moment. He wanted at least a few extra minutes, which could be difference between sailing off into the distance, or sailing off into the water. And stopping at the bottom.

"Likely," Spark answered. "This place is common for most of the elders to check when someone's gone missing. Something about the beach just sets most people's worries asides."

"So they'll check here first," Blaze murmured. Her eyes closed and Tails could see the sigh as it came out. She was frustrated, he knew, at herself, at the scenario...and she was without her second most powerful weapon. Her most powerful was herself, after all. Much like his own, as much as he hated to admit it. He wasn't strong like the others, physically. His mind was the strongest part of him, but he had determination in spades.

Blaze had grabbed as many bags had survived their initial journey, and had grabbed a few more from Katia's house, and now they sat around with dozens of dried fruits and nuts, or other simple grains. A good chunk of them had water in it, and Tails almost wanted to make a barrel solely for water, but knew they didn't have time. Worse comes to worse, they could boil water to make it drinkable. As they had done much earlier. And he could do that using electricity too.

"I think that's as good as job as I can do in the time I had. The rest of the time will have to be done en route," Tails said. Blaze nodded, but both Katia and Spark didn't look convinced.

"Would that even float? How heavy is it?" Katia asked as she lifted it up gently. Tails knew it was lighter than it looked, and hopefully it wouldn't rust. He would have preferred plastic or fiberglass, but a makeshift Titanic would have to do. "Less than it looks, at least," she said, using both of her hands to keep it up. "Someone help me put this in the water."

Spark went over, her face marked with surprise as she grabbed the front. With even just the two of them, they could carry it a couple inches above the sand. Were they expecting something far heavier? That wasn't how density worked-

Spark froze up when the back of her legs hit the water. Katia let a small 'ooph' as she stopped. "Spark? What's wrong?" she asked. She looked over the aft of the ship, seeing only the small sparks that emanated from the lightning channeler's fur.

"Water and electricity...don't like each other," Spark murmured. She gave a small jump into the air as another unconscious spark shot through her foot. Tails blinked, before he nodded. Her unconscious emanations were shocking her through the water. And because salt water was a surprisingly good conductor, it acted as if the shock was higher voltage than it actually was. And her feet were more sensitive than most of her fur.

"Get out into deeper water. The salt water would have more coverage and thus more resistance, so the actual voltage and amperage should be lower," Tails said. He had a few bags on his back, and Blaze was behind him with bags underneath her eyes, holding much of the same.

Spark nodded, although her brows furrowed as if she didn't understand, and jumped into the ocean in the next wave. Tails took her place, holding it gently up in the air as the water crashed around his feet. This was the final test, he knew. If there was a leak, they would have to run, in which Ikan'Thoa would win near instantly. They knew the warp zones, and they had all of them mapped out to everywhere except across the ocean.

The waves hit his tails, and while he froze for a moment to let his bottom half get used to the water, he noticed that Katia was having a harder time holding on. As if the boat was already floating.

"Alright, let's set her down, see if she floats," Tails said quietly. The water was up to his chest during the particularly big waves, and while a good part of him was afraid of it, he could swallow his fear easy enough. The memories of Perfect Chaos were enough to make anyone afraid of the ocean.

"Why is it a she?" Katia asked as she let the boat drop. She was cautious about it at first, but took a step back as the first wave threatened to throw it at her.

"It usually is. Looks good, Tails," Blaze said as she looked over the side. She was carrying the bags above the water, and with a quick hop jumped over the siding and landed on the inside, bags intact. "No water in here, asides from what I brought in. Hold on," Blaze said as she started to rock it instantly.

"Blaze!" Tails shouted exasperatedly as he thought he saw how close the boat was to tipping. The sides were less than a foot above the water; more than enough to avoid water coming in, but enough to make him afraid that he'd failed.

"It's a test that needs to be done," Blaze said as she walked up and down what would become the bottom deck. "It's a good thing the ocean out here is flat."

"But there's waves, everywhere," Spark said as she came up from underneath the boat. "How is it flat?" she asked. Tails looked away as he saw her dress had become rather attached to her chest and lower half. Katia must have seen his reaction, as she let out a quiet giggle.

"I meant the sand. The sand is flat for a distance. We don't have enough time for more modifications. We should pile everything in, and see about mooring her, and then go to the Choosing. This boat can hold another three or four sapients, easy," Blaze answered.

"Just because it can hold it doesn't mean it should. If I had more time it'd be great. As it stands, I just think we should run," Tails protested.

Spark shook her head. "We shouldn't. A lot of the villagers in the Choosing would die."

Silence reigned over the others. "Alright, I'll bite. If we don't show up, they execute everyone?" Blaze asked. There was a sense of tiredness from her voice, as if she was wondering why she thought any different. Tails was much the same; why would she have expected anything different? This place was out to kill, and they knew it.

"Not for that explicit purpose, no, but yes. Most of them are outspoken protesters of the elder system," Spark retorted. "And if the ones needed in the Choosing don't show up, they tend to...get rid of their protesters."

Blaze sighed. "Why was I expecting anything different?" she asked. "Alright, let's pack it up, and head back to Ikan'Thoa. Save our energy for the run here. Tails, can you carry Katia? I'll carry Spark," she asked.

"Sure," Tails said as he flew onto the boat's bow. He grabbed it, and gently started pushing it back into the sandy beach. "But it might be better if I take Spark back. She's still soaked, and I have better resistance than you do."

Katia looked brightened at Tails' original agreement, then glowered at the other electric vixen as he brought it up. He shot her an apologetic look, but she merely shrugged. She would be upset with him for a while, he figured. Spark seemed happy though.

Blaze looked between him and Katia, "And that's what I was trying to prevent..." she murmured as she jumped off. With her and Spark in the boat, and Tails' pushing down on it, it was still as if there was no weight down on it. It her mind, that was enough to be able to hold what they needed it to, plus themselves.

The boat landed silently against the sand, and Tails only knew when it was far enough up that it became much harder to push against. Blaze hopped out, and grabbed a bit on the side to push it a bit further up before she dropped it. Tails took a step back; only half of the bow was in water at the moment, and with enough force any of them would be able to push it out to sea. As long as they didn't have the mast up, it would stay right where it was.

Spark jumped out onto the beach, the jolts immediately flooding into the ground. Blaze was already over at the metal plates, throwing them haphazardly into the back. Tails knew that was a one way license to disaster, so he took a moment to fly up inside, carefully placing them so the weight was balanced. He doubted it wouldn't be able to float; it was nearly five or six feet wide. It was displacing a lot of water, and thus had a lot of buoyancy.

"Time to go," Blaze said after a few minutes of working in silence. The three girls were putting in the final bags and boxes of water, and Tails was busy making sure they'd still float once they got on the road.

The fox looked up at the rising sun, seeing it start to peek up over the trees. It was time to go. But first...they had the Choosing. Time to ruin someone else's life, he thought to himself.

It's been years since I've dealt with electricity in physics classes. I'm fairly certain I'm wrong there, but looking it up on wikipedia was making my brain hurt.

Until Next Time.