The Fox and the Seedrian: Frontiers
by milesprower06
Chapter Six
Lily sat next to her dad and Sonic as she scooped out another bite of mac and cheese from the handheld foil pouch. Fifteen minutes ago, the freeze-dried meal weight barely anything. But a half cup of boiled water and five minutes later, she had elbow pasta and a creamy cheese sauce. Granted, it wasn't al dente, but it was better than the survival protein bars at the very bottom of her pack, which was where she was hoping they'd stay for the duration of the trip.
The trio sat against a large, fallen marble pillar, which was just one of the many ancient structures that appeared to be half-buried in the dirt and grass.
"This doesn't look like the best spot to build a settlement, honestly. Just look at the incline of the hill, no wonder everything collapsed," Lily commented.
"It used to look a lot better than this, and not so much of an incline either," Sonic told her as he continued eating from his three bean chili packet. "Eggman went crazy with his drills, loosened so much of the soil that a bunch of the structures began to collapse in a landslide, along with half the hillside. After that, he took to the air, and your dad arrived to help me fight him in midair."
"Got quite the workout that time," Tails chipped in. "That fight lasted well into sunset, or maybe it just looked like sunset because of all the dirt and marble dust the landslide kicked up. Sonic had me drop him off at that amusement park and sent me back to check on the Tornado."
"So that's what that is," Lily commented, squinting her eyes as she swore she saw the outlines of a Ferris wheel and roller coaster scaffolding on the horizon. "He actually wanted to build a theme park here?"
"Hey, he was a genius, but he was also mad," Sonic said.
"We probably won't get there until tomorrow," Tails said, finishing up his meal pouch, then zipped it closed, returning it to his backpack, and came back out with a small metallic orb about the size of a softball.
"What is that?" Lily asked.
"This is a design I modified from some of Eggman's tech from the wreck of the Egg Carrier. These gardens were crammed full of ancient booby traps. This little guy here is going to help spot any that are still intact. I call it the Booby Detector,"
Lily managed to stifle her laughter with a few snorts, but Sonic was unable to do no such thing.
"Oh, would you two grow up…" Tails mumbled.
That caused Lily to finally break into a fit of laughter herself.
"You called it that and we need to grow up? Please, dad," Lily told him after she got herself under control.
"The point is, we're going to have to slow our hiking pace towards the ruins of the park, because the drone's scans have to be thorough, and he has to stay ahead of us," Tails said as he pressed one of the drone's spherical panels and it came to life, floating out of his hand. "Not only is he going to look for traps, but he's going to be constantly scanning the ground ahead of us, making sure it's stable. We are going to be hiking across a landslide area, and I can't lift both of you up. So if something like that happens, Sonic, you zoom off in the safest direction, and I'll get Lily airborne until the danger passes."
Sonic nodded at him as he also finished up with his lunch and got his empty pouch and spork wiped off and put back into his backpack.
Tails hit another few small buttons on his drone, and it hummed to life, taking off from his palm and hovering over his shoulder as it awaited instructions.
"Alright, are we all ready to go?" Tails asked. He got nods from Sonic and Lily as they put their packs on their shoulders. With that, he turned to his drone, and tapped a few buttons on his wristwatch. "Okay, BD, we're headed north-northwest. Do continual scans between twenty and thirty feet in front of us, and alert us of any instability in the ground, as well as trip wires and pressure plates."
With its instructions received, BD began to float down the hill, red scan lines moving along the ground and pillars that were standing as the trio slowly began to move forward behind it, towards the rusting carnival.
The thing that Chris liked the most about Topaz Harbor was that it hadn't changed all that much in the decade that he had lived here with Helen. Even before he and Tails had dedicated their laboratory to improving the lives of the citizens, they had been welcomed with open arms, regardless of the first impression that Eggman had given them of humanity.
If he had to try and compare it to a city back on Earth, it would almost be a rural, mountain community; no building over four stories tall, the majority of structures made out of wood, and the only signs of modern technology was in areas like communication lines and public transportation. That was the way the denizens of Topaz Harbor preferred it; slow and peaceful. They had accepted luxury improvements like improved satellite television signal and faster communications. But when it came to devices like the hoverbikes he and Tails had made, and offered to mass produce, the markets of the city politely declined. Tails had reassured him that there were other communities across Mobius that they could offer them to, but honestly, neither of them were in any rush.
Chris and Cosmo walked down a sidewalk in the shopping district downtown, hoping that they were going to be able to catch Cream and Helen before they left for their lunch break. Sure enough, they were just in time as they came up to Fine Florals as Helen and Cream were coming out of the front door and hanging the sign that said they would be back in a half hour.
"Well isn't this a surprise," Helen said, coming up for a hug from her husband.
"We were certainly hoping so. Cosmo and I were hoping we could join you ladies for lunch," Chris told her, after returning the embrace.
"That sounds like a splendid idea!" Cream said after adjusting the time on the clock face to account for their slightly later-than-usual lunch break. At nearly seventeen years old, she was looking more and more like her mother with every passing year. Her uniform of choice at work was a white blouse, a sky blue necktie, and orange sweater, with a peach-colored knee-length skirt. Her hair came down into two identical pigtail braids on either side of her face, tied with red bows. When she wasn't working here at their flower shop, she was tending to her backyard garden, that honestly rivaled Cosmo's and Lily's arrangements.
Cheese, her ever-faithful Chao companion rested on top of her head, and had undergone a transformation of his own, changing into what was widely considered to be a 'hero' breed, taking on an appearance that much more closely resembled his owner, with a cream-colored coat, and gaining floppy 'ear' appendages that could certainly pass for rabbit ears.
"You're not going stir crazy already, are you, Cosmo?" Helen asked as they began walking towards the available restaurants on the block.
"I hope not, but Chris figured that keeping busy and coming to visit you guys today would be a good way to stop myself from worrying too much. How's Amy?" Cosmo replied.
"Busy with Aurora, no doubt. I haven't heard from her since last night," Helen answered.
"I know Sonic has been a lot less 'adventurous' in the last few years since they started a family, so I'm hoping she doesn't have any better or more reasons to be worried the rest of us are trying not to be," Cream commented.
"I mean, honestly, we're all probably worrying for the wrong reasons. Those three will keep each other as safe as they possibly can. What we should really be concerned about is why Lily's been having those repeating dreams that pushed her to take this trip in the first place," Cosmo told the group as they turned the corner towards the row of eateries.
As they sat down in the outdoor dining section of the nearest bistro, the others present knew the seedrian had a very fair point; Sonic, Tails, and Lily would be watching out for each other the entire time they were gone. The biggest mystery that was the basis for this entire trip was the repeated dreams or visions Lily had been having.
"Lily has spent almost half her life studying all the information about those emeralds that she could get her hands on. But even with all those ancient and modern texts, there is so much about them that we still don't know," Cosmo commented as she started looking over the menu that had been brought out to her and the others at the table.
"Well, if the Master Emerald does want something from Lily, I couldn't possibly think it could be malevolent," Chris commented.
"I'm not afraid of whatever omniscience that gem has, I… I guess I'm just worried that it means trouble isn't far away," Cosmo admitted.
"This has been one of the longest periods of peace Mobius has known, since Eggman was defeated. I guess it's all too easy to forget that before our lifetimes, Mobian civilizations have been fighting over those emeralds since recorded history began. I think that's mainly the reason that that chunk of land is floating above the sea in the first place," Cream offered.
"Well, all this worrying can't be good for our appetites, so let's order already," Helen told everyone. The group of friends agreed, and several minutes later, they had plates of salads and sandwiches that were perfect for a short lunch break before Cream and Helen would have to return to work. Cream and Cosmo were the first to finish. For Cream it was all too easy due to her having Cheese helping her.
"If you two aren't quite done yet, I think I'll go back and get ready to open back up," Cream said, getting up and taking her tray with her.
"I think I'll head over too. I got some space freed up in the garden, and I've had my eyes on some seedlings," Cosmo said, getting up as well, following Cream back down the way they had come, and leaving Chris and Helen alone at the table.
"Well, I suppose this means I don't have to wait until I get home to ask you about something I've been meaning to talk to you about. Thanks again for coming and surprising us like this, thought you'd be busy in the lab again today," Helen told her husband.
"To be fair, that is how I spent my morning before Cosmo came in with breakfast, then we decided on a walk through the gardens, and then walked here to work up an appetite for lunch," Chris replied.
"Well, regardless of what Lily discovers on this Angel Island sojourn of hers, I think one thing is very clear; she's grown up, no matter how badly Tails and Cosmo want to slow time down. Aurora is growing fast too. Before Sonic and Amy know it, she'll be off on her own as well."
"I'm listening," Chris said, letting Helen know he was paying attention, and wondering where she was going with this.
Well, before she gets too old, I'm wondering if you think we've finally gotten enough parenting practice through babysitting where… You'd want to try for a family of our own," Helen said.
Chris' eyes widened, but that was it; the rest of his face didn't betray any kind of genuine shock.
"I… Honestly can't say I'm too surprised that you'd ask me something like that, especially with our close friends having started families of their own over the past ten years. You know I've had my reservations about a kid of our own, because I was afraid of turning into my dad… But you know what? I'm fairly confident that I've got a handle on that by now. So I won't tease or torture you by saying I need to think about it. Let's go for it, Helen."
With that, Chris took Helen's hands in his own, and his wife had to visibly fight back tears.
"Wow. If I thought it would have been that quick and easy, I think I would have asked you weeks or months ago," Helen said, sniffling happily.
"Well, you're right. We're at the right age, and we certainly have gotten all the practice that we could possibly ask for with babysitting Lily and Aurora over the years. Who knows? Maybe it'll be a boy and that'll shake things up around here."
Chris' suggestion, and his smirk afterward sent Helen into a fit of laughter as she squeezed his hands reassuringly.
"Thank you, sweetheart. Really, thank you so much. I feel a little foolish now, thinking that I was going to have to try and convince you," she said.
"Five or six years ago you might have had to," Chris admitted. "But being around our friends as they started their families has honestly warmed me up to the idea. So…"
Chris picked up the glass containing the last of his soda, and held it out over the table towards Helen.
"To trying for a family," he toasted.
Helen picked up her glass, and clinked his over the center of the table.
"To a family."