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.

Expression 9.4

Tails looked over the snowed over plains. His back was still in pain, and his tails weren't going to be letting him fly anytime soon, but he was well on the road to recovery. Flora's ointments and tinctures worked well, even as far from Ikan'Thoa as they were. And how much water had probably gotten in them.

With Blaze's instructions, he'd found the shipwreck and the ruins of the village easily enough. Spark was close by, trying to figure out which berries were still edible and which weren't. Blaze was back at the Grace, with her turn to sleep. She had mentioned a sled, or some other form of transportation to get them across the plains, but Tails didn't particularly see a way using the material they had on hand.

His hands brushed passed through the small blanket he had on, giving him the same general cloak as both Spark and Blaze. He was grateful to it, as the cold bit into his head and ears with a frenzy like that of a rabid dog. "I found ten and five berries," Spark said as she walked back to him. "There are not any more bushes on this side that I can find," she continued.

"Fifteen," Tails immediately corrected, and Spark didn't even look admonished. It was a good thing she was as confident as she was, even when learning a brand new language that had only minor hiccups. "What's on the top of the cliff, do you know?" he asked, pointing upwards.

"No. I did not take a look when I was there. Blaze would know more."

"Alright. I'll ask once we head back," Tails said. "So with the fish we gathered yesterday, that's enough for at least three days each. Maybe more if we ration it out. At least we don't have to worry about water."

"But the snow does taste strange."

"That's thanks to the proximity of the ocean," Tails explained. The wind picked up and bit out at his next words, eating them easily. Blaze wasn't joking when she said the wind was fighting her out here.

What he wouldn't give for an EX gear right...he paused. That...that was an idea. They could build up speed from the cliffs and use that to soar across the plains. Use an air intake valve with a power generator for...right. He didn't have his equipment.

Of all the times to have a good idea. The wind picked up around him, and while his tails protested at their being moved, he tried not to budge an inch. Spark mimicked him, copying him down to the pose. "What plan are you coming up with?" she asked.

"Trying to figure out a quick way to those mountains. We may have to leave the Grace behind."

"I believe Blaze was already thinking that," Spark answered.

"How do you feel about that? You knew Katia better than we did."

"I..." Spark started, before she shook her head. She fell back into her native tongue, which now that Tails heard it again had a strange hum to it, familiar as it was. "I didn't know her the best. We weren't rivals, not really. But we didn't get along, even before we had to go after the other village. As sad as I am she died, she took Strike with her. That alone means she's probably resting peacefully, waiting for the rest of us to join with her."

"You believe in an afterlife?"

Spark gave him a flat look. She switched back to common, trying to get over her inability to say what she needed to. "There is always a life after life. That is one of the reasons the story of Captain Monsoon was as scary as it is. It takes away our lives after our life."

Tails gave a solemn 'hmm' as he sat down, his back against the rusted metal fencing. The snow was freezing below him, his mind thinking of dozens of ways to cross the plains quickly, but none of them they had the technology for. It felt similar to when they'd had to build the house; he was so used to technology that suddenly not having it made him feel...rather useless.

"What did you see?" Spark asked as she sat down next to him. A small bolt of lightning dipped into the snow, creating a small hole of water. She froze as her bottom touched the icy ground.

"When? I see nothing now; just long amounts of snow and plains and grass. A few mountains over there, but the wind picks up whenever we head that way."

"In the tunnel. When you were down there."

"Ah," Tails answered smartly. The things he didn't want to, or couldn't, tell either Blaze or Spark. They both knew he was hiding something, but whether that was something that was because he couldn't say it, as his tongue froze up whenever he thought about the images, or simply wouldn't, he wasn't sure. "It was..."

"Possibilities?" Spark asked, her head tilting back. "It showed the futures that have not happened, or could not happen."

"That's a good way of putting it. It showed..." his tongue froze again, but it wasn't cold. His mind could see the image just fine in his head, but his body would not let him say it.

"It showed me with child, did it not? Or Katia? Or Blaze?" Spark asked quietly. Tails froze up, before he nodded slowly. "The story of the Blooming Tides does not end with just Captain Monsoon. Or rather, Captain Monsoon's story does not end with just one cycle. There are three others within the story. I only spoke of one."

"Cycles within cycles."

"Cycles of cycles. The story of Captain Monsoon is one of the oldest we of Ikan'Thoa have. The original creator is lost to time, but as we can tell, it happened," Spark said, pointing out the ruins behind her, that of the village and of the ship.

"I...don't know why I can't just say it-"

"The mind does not...hold on," Spark said, switching back to her native tongue. "The mind doesn't like learning of alternates. Alternate worlds, alternate minds. Alternate, alternate. That's a fun word in this tongue," she continued, saying the same word for 'alternate' over and over. Tails glanced at her, seeing a large scowl on her face, indifferent to the tone she was projecting. "Anyways, as I was saying, the mind doesn't like learning of alternates. Possibilities, or worlds...the mind breaks down. And that...is why you cannot say it."

"How did you learn all that?" Tails asked.

Spark's eyes dulled for a moment before they came back, flashing a rapid crimson. "Learn what?" she asked in Common.

"What you said just now. About the mind not liking alternate worlds?"

Spark stared at him blankly. "What are you referring to? I did not say anything."

Tails glared before he hoisted himself up. "You did. Just now. You didn't pass out, so I don't think it was another of the prophecies like Katia gave-"

"Prophecies are a doomed start, friend!" Tails heard a voice say. Spark's ears rapidly changed direction too, and her head swiveled in every direction. Tails looked around everywhere, to see that nothing had changed around them.

"Who's there? Come on out!"

"All in good time! Not like you don't have plenty of it, I suppose."

Tails felt a chill run down his spine. A voice in the middle of nowhere was not a good sign, no matter how helpful it seemed. "Grab on," Tails said, holding out his arm for Spark to grab onto. He felt the sparks from her arm rather than just the grip from her hand on his.

His run started slow before he accelerated, heading to the kind of top speed that both Blaze and Sonic would be embarrassed to have. But it was still fast enough to run away from the voice, Tails thought. He was more than agile enough to duck and weave his way through the various brush in his way.

His feet touched sand a few minutes later, and he accelerated more. Spark said nothing, simply holding on to both his arm and his back as best she could.

"Hopefully we lost them," Tails said as he slowed down, nearing the Grace. Spark nodded, her chest heaving as she panted from gripping his back and shoulder as hard as she had been.

The wind whirled passed them, picking up sand and flicking it at their eyes and heads. Tails flicked up the cloak so it covered Spark's head too, even if it made it easier for the sand to rub against his chest and legs.

And just as quick as it came, the wind died out. "I hope that wasn't just a wind that followed us all the way from the plains to here," Tails said. "Because that would imply that wind was smart. I'd prefer to think of my wind as dumb."

"A smart wind? What does that mean?" Spark asked. "Wind is a force of nature, it can not be either smart or dumb."

"It was...it was just a joke. Don't worry about it."

Spark shrugged. "Mind if I ask a sensitive question?" Tails asked as he and Spark started to walk up into the Grace. He gave a quick look in to see Blaze still sleeping, her head against some of the water bags to act as makeshift pillows.

Spark raised an eyebrow before she motioned for him to continue. She sat down on the snowy sand outside the Grace's entrance. Tails joined her a moment later, hoping they were far enough that Blaze wouldn't be able to hear them.

"When I asked...about the possibilities. You remember that part?"

"I do, yes."

"When I asked about it, you seemed...like you already knew. Or had a thought in mind. That's when you went off on a tangent about alternates, and it being a fun word to say in Ikan'Thoan."

"That does not sound like me."

"It doesn't, no."

"If you mean that the images you saw me as with child, then yes. It was always a possibility. My original assignment was to get with you, do you not remember?"

"No, I do. But then...it showed us...it showed as here. Here, where we are, now. And Katia was too, in others."

"Her assignment, too, was much the same. I would not be surprised. I believe Blaze described it as a 'Time trap' over in Vianex, and I believe it is much the same here. Time flows differently around the Blooming Tides."

"So those were just...things that could have happened, but didn't."

"I believe so, yes. You do not have to worry about me attempting to get with you now, though."

"Oh? What changed? Back on the Grace you were...very unhesitant in going for it."

"The freedom, mostly. Seeing as how you and Blaze interact. It has given me a new understanding of love and life, and I realize I simply do not have enough experience to determine what I will become. I should not, as Blaze puts it, 'race for the finish line'."

"I appreciate it," Tails said, his mouth dry. "And I think that's a good idea. Especially when relationships are complicated as it is, kids just make it more so. Best to take it slow."

"I think I am coming to terms with that sentiment," Spark said slowly. "It is...difficult, however. Coming from where I do, where the village was always at risk. I was considered young, however I was also the same age, and of a breedable age."

"Please don't refer to it as that," Tails asked. "It's...uncomfortable for us that you do. Makes us realize just how little self-confidence you had before Ikan'Thoa, and Lightning especially trounced all over it."

"My confidence was tied to that of Ikan'Thoa. This should not be a surprise; is it not the hope of every young...sapient?...to honor their mothers and fathers, and those they consider as such?"

"It is, but at the same time I don't think, and I think Blaze agrees with me, that that's a way to do it."

"I do agree, which is why I'm glad the Sol Empire moved away from that ages ago. We still marry young, at least those of my upbringing, but we aren't expected to be with children for a while. Honestly, if ever," Blaze answered as she came out of the Grace's entranceway. "And if you both are going to keep on talking, it's best to do it inside. Much warmer."

Tails gave a quiet chuckle as he forced himself up and into the Grace's hull, followed a moment later by Spark.

-Side B-

Blaze was certain that at the least Tails wasn't going insane, not if Spark could hear the same voice as well. It meant there was someone else there, someone who was following them, and capable of similar speeds to Tails at minimum. That meant, to Blaze, that it wasn't an impossibility for whomever it was to be capable of the same speeds she was. They would have to find some way either to lose whoever it was that is following them, or to determine if they were with them or against them. Blaze held no compunctions about 'good guy' and 'bad guy' anymore, not since this entire land seemed intent on killing them.

"Any ideas, then? On either getting whoever it was to stop following us, or to head to those mountains in such a way that we don't need to dislocate Spark's arm again?" Blaze asked. The vixen gave her a half-hearted glare, and reflexively rubbed her shoulder with her other hand. The cat shrugged; the last time she'd gone supersonic that had been exactly what had happened.

Tails shook his head. "Not yet. The wind picked up the instant we went more than ten feet away from the gate. We didn't see any lizard things though, not like you did. It's not a valley, but it was as if something was watching us, and as soon as went a certain point past the gate the wind picked up, threatening to toss us back. Sonic wouldn't have trouble, but he's not here."

"I'm sure we could eventually do it, but it would make us tired and susceptible to the elements. Especially as cold as its getting," Blaze said. The sun was starting to set, and if it wasn't for the small fire they had in the middle of the Grace it would be almost inhospitable. It was as if the land itself was getting colder for the sake of killing them. Honestly, at this point, Blaze wasn't sure it actually wasn't.

"So we need a way to beat the wind, and to do it in a way that may get around things...I think I have an idea. Or at least I would if I had my lab here, but I don't, so I'll have to make do," Tails said. Blaze raised her eyebrow, waiting for him to go on. When it became apparent that he wouldn't explain things right away, she motioned for him to keep going. "EX Gears," Tails said simply.

"EX Gears? I am...not understanding. Translation?" Spark asked.

"There's nothing to understand. EX Gears are...mine's still in storage somewhere," Blaze murmured. "They're floating boards. Tails made a few of them, and there was a race at some point for...some kind of device?" Blaze tried to explain.

"Not wrong, I guess. So the EX Gears were originally made about fifteen or twenty years ago, and they're racing hoverboards. Sonic and I have a few friends that race using them, and Sonic's not one to turn down a race, despite it being much slower than he usually goes. The incident that Blaze is referring to was a race for what was called the 'Ark of the Cosmos', a device that made miniature black holes," Tails said.

"You spoke in common, but I still do not understand."

"I don't think it matters. We'll show you, at some point. But the technology needed to create a EX Gear...we don't have access to it. You may have the plans for it, I know you do, but unless you have the ability to recreate it I don't think it matters," Blaze explained. Spark tilted her head inquisitively, one ear lowering and flicking around, before she nodded and shrugged.

"I do have the plans for one, yeah. But there is a much lower tech solution that I think we're forgetting."

"Explain? I'm hearing words but I'm not hearing a meaning."

"Snowboards."

Blaze blinked. That...could that actually work? It...might. She was more than used to the speeds, and if she and Tails divvied out the bags well enough, they might actually be able to do it. It wouldn't be the entire distance, but as long as it brought them even halfway, it probably would work. And the snow was compact, not powdered, which meant that meant that assuming that a snowboard was light enough, it would just glide over it. "I thought snowboards needed to be light. We could make it out of wood, but that would take a while."

"They do, if they're meant to just go over the surface. But we do have these metal boards. Cut them in quarters and they're big enough for a single one of us. Take an extreme trail down the mountainside, and as long as build up enough speed we should be good to go. Worse comes to worse we can tie them together with a bit of the rope and create a sled," Tails said.

"I think they're too thick for that."

"Ah. Yeah, I was thinking about that. You're right, they are," Tails admitted as he grabbed one. "But..." he held it out over the fire, letting it warm up. Blaze raised an eyebrow as the metal stayed the same color, the heat not being enough to turn it white or red. "If we heat it up enough, then Spark or I could lance through it sideways. Cut it in half with half the thickness. The problem-"

"Is that none of us can hold a thing that gets that hot, except me," Blaze interrupted. Spark opened her mouth as if to speak that she could, but Blaze cut her off, "Don't argue. You're an electrokineticist, a lightning channeler, not a fire caller like I am. I have a natural resistance to heat and fire that you two don't. But...lightning is much hotter than I can do. Do you think you can cut it straight?" she asked.

Tails shrugged. "Probably. I'm thinking if we have it at quarter inch thickness, they should be less than five pounds. Enough to carry us over the snow without an issue," Tails admitted. Spark gave confused looks between the two, before she reached into the bail-bag to grab the tablet, starting up some game with little sound. Her ears were perked towards them though. Blaze had to hand it to her; if she didn't know what was going on she was going to go off and do her own thing. She seemed to be taken to those games though...

"I don't think reducing the thickness to that is going to drop that much weight. You said quarter it right? How many cuts are you making?" Blaze asked as she grabbed one of the metal plates. One of them was far too big to be used as a board no matter how they cut it. He'd have to...cut it into halves. Or thirds.

"Three total. One plate is too big, and completely unwieldy. We cut it right about...here," Tails said, showing a thin slice. "We cut it there, and we use this side. Then we make two more, on this side," Tails continued, showing two more slices. "Then we make them more actual board like. You said you've never gotten hot enough to be able to do metal, right? Now's the time."

"Tails, there is such a thing as a limit."

"And yet here we are. Cold forging wouldn't work here, but warm or hot forging? Absolutely would. And we don't have time to build a furnace, not if we don't know anything about that weird voice that keeps popping up. We have to hurry."

"You do realize that you're asking me to do both power and control, right?"

"You did control earlier, and you've regained a lot of power since then. You believed in me when I had nothing, and now we're against the wall again, and this time I can do something, but I need your help to do it," Tails said.

Blaze tried to counter, but there was a part of her that wasn't sure he was wrong. She had a lot more control over her flames than she used to, and she regained a lot of power since the trouble in Vianex. What's worse, is that she already proved she could do both, hadn't she? She'd made spears made of fire. Spears that held a distinctive shape even after she'd thrown it.

It wasn't a simple blast, but rather a shaped blast, well known to be a sign of control and power fused into one. "Fine. I'll try. But we still need to cut it first," Blaze admitted.

Tails grinned. "Right. Hold it right there," he said as he clicked his Charger twice. She felt the electricity flow through and over his skin and fur, and judging by the way Spark put the game down and was now watching in fascination meant she did too. Cutting with electricity was something new to her, she realized. She held the plate steadily, not losing an inch even as she felt the sides heat up as the saw blade of electricity started to carve it away.

And that's what Tails was doing. He wasn't creating a single blast like he had outside Ikan'Thoa, but rather creating a sawed wheel of electricity that cycled around itself. It hurt her ears, and she knew it hurt both Tails and Spark too, but the fact the electrokineticist could even do that was...absolutely phenomenal control.

He didn't need power. He had the Charger for that. But he had control. Subtly she applied her own flames to the plate, watching as the heat from her side started to warp it around. She doubted he could control it well enough to use the heat from it to warp the plate, that's what she was needed for, but to cut it?

"Almost done!" Tails shouted. Blaze struggled to hear him over the burning in her arms and feet now. The plate was growing too warm, too hot, and even with her control over heat trying to get as much away from her as she could, she was starting to feel tired and hurt.

"You're not 'almost done', you're only halfway!" Blaze shouted back. Her arms were starting to kill her. Her hands were almost on fire it felt like, similar to what she'd felt when they'd first left the village. "I can't hold it much longer!" she came back.

She felt a small poke at her side. "Then I will hold it," Spark said as she pushed Blaze off. The instant the cat was clear she took over, holding it despite that Blaze knew she'd be in far more pain than Blaze was in. She could smell the burning flesh of Spark's hands as Tails continued anyway.

She tried to do what she could to help the vixen, but Spark remained steadfast standing straight as the plate was cut. With a sigh she left the bigger side crash to the ground. Blaze saw the black mark on her hands, the signs of burnt fur. Tails crashed to the ground, sweat easily visible on his brow and forehead. "That was a lot harder than I thought it would have been," he said.

Blaze reached for the burn paste, another gift from Flora, and dabbed a bit on Spark's hands. The vixen didn't wince or do anything to show the pain her hands would have been in. "Why didn't we make the initial cuts first, cut it into thirds first?" Blaze asked.

"I doubt I'd be able to do that three times. I don't even know how you did it as many times as you did," Tails answered. Blaze blinked, tilting her head. She hadn't...she had. Back at the house. She'd made sawblades of fire and hadn't burned anything to the side.

He had been copying her.

"Fire and electricity are far different-"

"Not when it comes to how they work," Tails grinned. "Fire is just the emittance of electromagnetic radiation from the process of combustion. Electricity is a specific form of electromagnetic radiation, the flow of electrons from one point to another."

"That was Common, right?" Spark asked. Blaze tossed her head in her hands. "I think that was Common, but...I did not understand any of it."

"Trust me Spark, if we did then Tails would probably be happier," Blaze answered, ignoring the glare the two-tailed fox hurled her way.

One thing that's hard for me to adapt is the fact that Tails is a genius. I am not.

This is quite evident.

Until Next Time.