The Fox and the Seedrian: Frontiers

by milesprower06

Chapter Two

"Hey, come on, keep up, sweetheart."

Tails snapped back into focus after Cosmo gently nudged him with the dinner plate she was holding, as it was ready to be rinsed and set on the dish rack to air dry.

"Sorry, Cosmo," the fox said, accepting the plate from his wife, turning on the faucet to rinse the soap suds off of it before depositing it on the rack.

"Worried about what Lily asked?" the Seedrian asked.

Tails nodded.

"I just don't see how repetitive dreams of the Master Emerald can be good news. Mobius has been peaceful for ten years, and now our daughter tells us she's been having visions about that altar…"

Cosmo listened to her husband's concerns as she scrubbed another dish, then passing it to him again to rinse.

"Both you and her have done enough research on the Emeralds to know that ten years is a drop in the bucket compared to their history," Cosmo told him.

"I don't see a way out of this. If I tell her no, I'd have to lock her in her room to keep her from flying off to that island on her own. If Knuckles doesn't know she's there, anything could happen to her and we'd never know."

"I see a way out," Cosmo told him as she passed him another dish.

"I'm all ears."

"Go on this trip with her."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Tails muttered.

"First off, sweetheart, don't get me wrong, what she told us at dinner has me worried too," Cosmo said, reaching down into the soapy water to pull the drain plug out. "And I think you're right, if you tell her no, she'll go off on her own. But think about it, just last night over our dinner you said how she's been wanting to spend less and less time with us. Well, maybe here's your chance for some time together again. Rediscover your own adventurous side, because honestly, sweetheart, that's largely taken a backseat ever since we settled down and started a family. Lastly, if she's right, and these repetitive dreams of the altar mean something, then ignoring that probably isn't the best idea."

Tails smiled warmly at his wife as he came in for a hug. Just last night they had celebrated ten years together, and he still remembered the words he used when he proposed to her with the north star pendant.

Be my constant, unwavering guide.

Cosmo had yet again given him the clearest, most sensible path forward.

"Alright, you convinced me. I'll see you in a minute," Tails said, parting from the embrace as the last of the dish water drained from the sink. Cosmo dried her hands, went down to their bedroom, and Tails went to the other side of the hall to Lily's closed door, and he knocked softly.

"Yeah?" Came Lily's reply.

Tails opened the door and found Lily on her bed, with the Chaos Compendium history book open on her bed, probably the largest book he had in his library.

His daughter looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

"Well, I suppose we'd better head into town tomorrow to get some really good hiking boots," Tails said, with a soft sigh of resignation and a slight smile.

Lily couldn't wipe the overjoyed look off of her face as she jumped off of her bad and into her father's arms.

"Thank you so much, dad. We'll be careful, I promise," Lily told him enthusiastically.

"I know we will. I hope you're ready for some serious physicality, Lily. Knuckles is absolutely right; Angel Island is extremely treacherous and mysterious, and we're not going to be able to just speed past half the danger like Sonic did back in the day," Tails warned. "Speaking of Sonic, I'm going to see if he can tag along too, because more than half the time, he was the one going all over that island; I was usually on the beach keeping the Tornado airworthy in the middle of what felt like a robot-infested warzone."

"Well, if that's the case, I'm looking forward to having the both of you along," Lily said.

"Now don't stay up too late. Going into town for boots is just the start. We're gonna need a bunch of compact gear; this is some serious backpacking we're talking about. Good night, sweetheart. I'll see you in the morning."

With that, Lily went back to her bed and open book while Tails went back out into the hallway, closing the door behind him, and went back to the kitchen to a panel on the wall. He touched the screen to take it out of standby, and went down his list of contacts, stopping at the most familiar one, pressing the Call button.

There was a ringing tone that sounded several times before the call was answered, and Sonic's face appeared.

"Evenin', buddy. What can I do for ya?" Sonic asked, his mouth full of food, and the stains on his muzzle betrayed it as chilidogs. Tails stifled a laugh.

"Hey, Sonic. I'm wondering if I could get a favor."

"I'm sorry, Lily wants to what?" Amy asked as she set her knife and fork down as Sonic finished his explanation from the video call he had returned from two minutes ago.

"Lily wants to explore Angel Island. Knuckles doesn't think it's a good idea for her to go alone, so he thinks it would be best if either me or Tails go with her," Sonic answered.

"So what's wrong with just Tails?" Amy asked.

"Nothing. But he thinks it would be safer overall if there was three on this trip instead of two, and he's right; apart from Knuckles, I've probably got the most on-foot experience of that place."

Sonic knew from his wife's expression that she was nowhere close to satisfied, and the last thing he wanted to do was fight here at the dinner table with their daughter present.

"Amy, I know you're worried that I'm using this as an excuse to go back to being that reckless adventurer again. You have my word, that's not going to happen. Lily's dreams could be a vision, and it could be something we don't want to ignore. She's family, as are Tails and Cosmo, and I want to see her through this as safely as I possibly can. I swear to you, my leap-before-looking days are over."

Amy's expression softened as she looked over at her husband, reaching over to grasp his hand tightly, looking at the wedding bands on their fingers. Her mind wasn't completely at ease, but she figured that it was as close as it was going to get.

"If only I could believe that," Amy told him with a light smirk. "But if you come home with anything that requires bed rest, you know I'll never let you hear the end of it."