Cold.
It was the first thing he noticed as his body raised from sleep. His eyes cracked open and his body shifted sorely against the cold rock under his body. He could see burned sticks in front of him, sticks from a fire that had long ago burned out. In his delirium of sleep he struggled to put together where he was. His fingers were numb. His nose was numb. His eyes stung.
As his brain became more awake small flashes of memories began to filter back in. A dark cave. Cold deep snow. His brother's arm over his side.
He smiled as he realized he still felt that presence. A heavy arm still lay limply over over him creating a feeling of safe.
"Knux?" he asked softly. "You awake?" No answer.
"He must still be asleep…" Sonic thought, partially closing his eyes and scooting closer to the body next to him.
But something felt off. His smile slowly faded as he began to take in what was around him. The arm was still over him, but it was not as close as it was before. There was a layer of softness between them. A softness that wasn't there before.
Sonic gently shifted around to get a better look. With the new morning light shining through the snow, he was able to see his brother's red arm draped over his side. His red arm…
A wave of panic hit him. The coat had been covering them before. Where was the coat?
He moved his arm up to try and shift around and face his brother, and as he did he realized the coat was following his arm's movement. The coat was on his arm. The coat was on him. And if the coat was on him it wasn't on….
"Knux!?" Sonic shot up in panic, feeling his brother's arm slide fully from his body and onto the floor. He saw his brother laying on his side, his expression soft, eyes closed. Sonic quickly felt all over, confirming that he was wearing the coat, he was wearing the scarf, he was wearing all of the clothes to keep them warm.
"Knuckles?" He grabbed his brother's form and shook it, gasping at the cold coming from his skin. "Knux? Wake up! Knux!"
Panic began to take over as he shook him with no response. Why wouldn't he wake up!?
"No," he muttered. "No, no, no…" He grabbed at his coat and pulled it off, wrapping the body of his older brother within the layers of warmth. "No, no, no, no…"
Once he had the coat wrapped around his brother's body he built up the courage to fumble around his red neck. "Please be alive…Please, please…." Sonic thought panicked. He let out a choked sob when his fingers came in contact with a soft beat, slow but present.
"How did this happen?" Sonic's mind raced as he pulled the coat ever closer to his brother's prone body. "How…?" And then it hit him. He had been wearing the coat. He had been wearing it. There was only one way he could have woken up wearing the coat that was previously drapped over both of them. It was put on him. It was put on him by…
"Knuckles…why?!" The panic threatened to overwhelm him. Why? Why!? Why would he have done that?
"This is my fault.."
"One must do what it takes to survive…"
His brother's words came rolling back to him. To survive. For him, Sonic, to survive. For him.
"No…" he whispered. Didn't he know? Didn't he know that they were both meant to survive? Didn't he know? Didn't he know that Sonic couldn't live without him?
"What do I do?" Sonic spoke out loud, his voice hanging in the quiet, empty air. Hearing his words spoken out loud stirred something in him. He needed to act. He needed to act. His brother was dying on the cold cave floor and he needed to act!
He pulled off the rest of his layers and tucked them around his brother's prone form. Scarf around the neck. Hat over the head. Then he made his way to the mouth of the cave, his body trembling from the sudden loss of layers. The snow was just as tall as it was before. They were miles away from home.
"I ran on water…maybe I can run on snow." he spoke to himself. It was the only way. Going through the snow was going to take too long and he took the risk of being buried underneath or losing his way. He needed to be on top of the snow.
He chanced a look back to his brother who had not moved. He felt a sick sinking in his stomach. He couldn't leave him here alone. What if he took too long? What if he got back and Knuckles was…
"No!" he said out loud. He walked back over to his brother and knelt beside him.
"I'm going to be right back, Knux, OK?" he spoke, knowing he would not get an answer. "I'm going to be right back. We made a pact. An unbreakable promise to stay together. You can't leave. I know you wouldn't break your promise. Hang in there…"
He tore his hand and eyes away from the form on the floor and stepped toward the snow. He had to do this. He had to do this for Knuckles. He had to do this for his brother.
He took a deep breath and knelt down, fists on the ground. He looked down and gathered his strength.
"For Knuckles," he said out loud. And without glancing back he took off, running faster than he ever had before.
Maddie sat at the kitchen table, her hands wringing in her lap. She watched as the sun began to rise, blanketing the thick snow with sparkling, almost blinding light. But the light did not bring her comfort.
Her boys were still missing. Sonic and Knuckles had not come home last night.
She clenched her eyes shut, tears squeezing from the edges of her eyes.
"This is all my fault." she thought, pain crushing her chest, making it hard to breathe.
Tom had come home hours ago once he was unable to drive through the rapidly building snow. He was upset, wanting to find another way to get out there and look for the boys, but she had forbade it. It was too dangerous. A danger that her two sons were stuck in now.
The fear was unbearable. She wanted, more than anything, to get out there. To find them. But with the weather escalating quickly through the night she knew she could not make it far. She had to trust her sons to come home to her. She just hoped that they had at least found each other. The one thing she had learned over the past months is that her boys were stronger together.
She barely heard Tom come up behind her, placing a coffee in front of her tightly clasped hands.
"They are going to be ok." he said softly, his voice trying to convey confidence, and failing miserably. "I'm heading back out to look for them as soon as I can find a way through the snow."
She took a deep shaky breath and nodded but could not come up with the will to answer. She unclenched her hands and placed one on his, squeezing his hand, willing for strength.
As she looked back up her breath caught in throat. She pushed the chair back and pushed herself up to her feet at a speed that would rival Sonic and ran to the back porch, the snow enveloping her legs and freezing her skin. Tom followed right behind.
In front of her zipping through the trees was a blue blur and it was quickly closing the distance to the house, snow being thrown every which way as it made its way over the cold powder.
In a split second the blur stopped just in front of her on the deck. Her blue son, standing right in front of her, alive. She let out a strangled sob, one she didn't realize she was holding.
"Sonic!" she breathed, relief leaking from her body. She grabbed him and pulled him into a hug before he could move. Before he could disappear again.
"Geez, Sonic, we've been a mess worrying about you!" Tom exclaimed, grabbing his son and joining the hug.
But instead of leaning into the hug, Sonic began to struggle, to push them away, to escape.
"No!. Stop!" he exclaimed. The panic in his voice caused them to let go and step back. For the first time she really looked at her son. His eyes were scared. No…they were terrified.
"Sonic what's wrong, what's going on?" she asked. "Did you…"
"I found Knuckles, last night, just as the storm hit…" he started, his words coming so fast he was almost tripping over them.
Maddie stared back at her kid, trying to follow, anxiety beginning to build back in her chest. She wanted to interrupt, to ask where he was, but she allowed Sonic to continue and willed herself to be patient.
"I found him and we got trapped in a cave overnight." he continued. "The snow was too deep, we couldn't safely make it home in the dark…"
"Sonic…" Tom tried, but the words continued to flow out of the small form.
"We spent the night in the cave. We planned on coming home in the morning…"
"Sonic…" Tom tried again.
"We fell asleep. We made a fire. I thought we'd be warm enough…"
"Sonic!" Tom yelled, causing both Maddie and her son to flinch at the volume. "Where's Kuckles?!"
Sonic finally stopped, grabbing a hold of nerves. She could see him try to reign in his composure.
"He's sick!" Sonic finally got out. Maddie's heart jumped in her throat.
"He's still in the cave. We shared my coat to keep warm. I thought he was using my coat. I thought he was warm enough…"
Maddie's stomach began to churn.
"I woke up this morning and he had taken the coat off. He took it off and put it on me. He put it on me…I don't know why he did that…we could have stayed warm together…we could have made it home together…"
Maddie's head was becoming light, her breaths becoming thick, labored as she took in the words. Knuckles had taken the coat off. Knuckles had protected her son, his brother. Knuckles was still in the cave. Knuckles was…
"We have to go get him!" Sonic yelled, his voice choking as he fought back tears. "We have to go get him before it's too late!"
Maddie took a deep breath trying to will her nerves to calm. She could not lose it. Not now. Not when her sons needed her.
"Where is the cave?" Tom asked, taking control. She could have kissed him for that.
"A few miles from here. Over near the mountains…" Sonic started. "The snow is really thick. I ran on it to get here. It was hard, it wants to sink, so much more than water, but I made it."
"You did good, son." Tom says.
"How do we get through the snow?" Maddie murmured to herself. It was too deep to drive. Too deep to walk. And time was of the essence. If what Sonic said was right, if what she concluded was correct, Knuckles didn't have much time.
"I can fly…" a small voice chimed in from behind them. She hadn't even noticed that her youngest was standing behind them, peeking around the door. "I'll fly…I can carry him if he can't walk…"
"Yes!" Sonic exclaimed. "And I can run and show you the way!"
Maddie felt her heart sink. Her boys were leaving again. They kept leaving. All because of her mistake.
"There has to be a safer way…" she starts, but is quickly interrupted by Tom.
"There is no other way. There is no way we are going to get through that snow. Not quickly enough…"
"I can do this!" Tail spoke, his voice determined. "I'm not weak. I can save him!"
She let a couple of tears fall from her eyes and knelt, cupping her youngest's chin and kissing him lightly on the forehead.
"I know…" she said softly. "Go get your brother…and be safe…"