In the middle of nowhere, a small village stands out on the horizon, although its size makes it strange to call it a village. The buildings, no more than a dozen and no more than a floor high, were spread concentrically around a rather modest water well. At about noon, with the harsh sun cruelly punishing the land that its light touched, almost no one was seen roaming around, only occasionally some lonely soul would leave their home, completely covered by cloths to protect themselves from the sun, and go to the water well to drink some water.

The sepulchral silence of the place was broken by the roar of a motorcycle-like X-Gear with a couple of visitors. The machine slowed its breakneck speed as it entered the town and slowly approached the building farthest east of the well, on whose facade a rustic sign reading "Bar" could be seen. The driver parked the vehicle in front and his companion was the one who jumped out of the vehicle first, taking out of their dense clothing an analog camera with which they began to photograph everything around they in a very enthusiastic way. The driver, on the other hand, also covered in cloths but with a hat with star emblems standing out above all, without thinking twice, entered the bar, losing himself in the shadows.

The name "Bar" was more of a formality than a reality. The small building had only a couple of tables spread out in a disorderly fashion, a modest bar and little more. Perhaps the most notable absence was that of alcohol, both its smell and its physical presence, because behind the bar there was nothing but bottles of water, some half-drunk, several completely empty. Besides the bartender, a rather young coyote, only two other people were present, one snoring on one of the tables at the far end and the other who seemed lost looking at the ceiling while rocking slightly on the two back legs of his chair. The bartender was cleaning the glasses with his back to the entrance when the visitor entered. The sound of the doors caught his attention, though not enough to turn to look. As he continued with the glasses, he said aloud:

"There is no more service today at this time. If you come back early tomorrow morning we can give you something."

He had no answer, he assumed the person who came in turned around and left. But he realized his mistake when he heard one of the bar chairs being dragged away. The bartender grimaced in annoyance, dropped the glass he was holding and turned around as he exclaimed again:

"I told you there's no-", the coyote deadpanned.

In front of him, the visitor was an Echidna, with red and long quills, an impressive physique and an intimidating face of a very bad temper. He was removing the clothes that covered him and placing them on the chair next to him as he sat up on the bar. Even under the shadow of his large hat, his bright purple eyes glowed menacingly, as if inspecting the bartender's soul.

The young coyote swallowed saliva and fought the urge in his body to shake, breathing heavily and erratically, inspecting his surroundings with his eyes, perhaps looking for help or a way out. He moistened his lips before attempting to speak:

"H-how...," at first his voice came out very hoarse. He cleared his throat and made another attempt, "How may I help you, sir?".

The echidna remained silent as he kept his eyes on the poor coyote. Another person entered the bar, the echidna's company, taking pictures of everything around them. After a couple of seconds of painful silence, the echidna began to articulate:

"Water," his voice was low, clear and stern. The shock ran down the bartender's spine before he reacted.

"Uh... Yes, of course! Duh!" the coyote replied as he made a gesture of banging his head.

He made an awkward half-twist before turning again as he realized that what he was looking for was in front of him under the bar. As he rummaged around, somehow he could still feel the echidna's gaze through the wood. When he emerged from under the bar he carried in his hand a glass of cool water, albeit with a very slight milky appearance, unnoticeable if you weren't paying close attention.

"Quality water! drawn from the local well, purified, mineralized and cooled by us! It is our best product."

The echidna took the glass and glanced at it, not looking very convinced at first. The bartender struggled even harder with his trembling, until the echidna was ready to take the first drink.

"Hey Knux, wait!" interrupted the person taking pictures.

Quickly that person approached the bar and stopped the echidna's hand, dropping part of the cloth covering her and revealing a female badger with a somewhat wild aura.

"Can't you see how weird the water is?" the badger questioned, the bartender's heart stopped for a second. "He probably planted nanomachines in it that will enter your bloodstream to reach your brain and remotely control you and make you dance yourself to death!".

There was a couple of seconds of silence until the coyote burst into laughter. The echidna remained stoic while the badger looked at the bartender as if he were crazy.

"Oh, no miss", the coyote managed to say with a chuckle before calming down and continuing. "The water looks like that because that's what pure water from the well looks like. But it's totally drinkable and harmless, don't worry. It doesn't have mind-control nanomachines or anything," he concluded with another chuckle.

The echidna glanced at his companion and then back at the bartender. He lowered his arm with the glass onto the bar, then pushed it towards the bartender, who looked at the glass quizzically.

"Drink," the echidna ordered coolly.

"Huh?" the coyote held an weird half-smile while still processing the situation.

"If there's really nothing in the water, drink it."

"Sir... you don't seriously believe what the lady said...", replied the coyote nervously.

"She's always wrong in the details, but never in the general," replied echidna. "Prove her wrong and drink the water. Now," he ordered crisply as he brought the glass even closer.

The young bartender began to sweat and his trembling became increasingly uncontrollable, yet he struggled as best he could to maintain a smile of disbelief. His breathing was agitated, his eyes darted back and forth, looking for a way to escape the situation. Both the echidna and the badger stared at him, almost unblinking. While the badger had a defiant look, as if daring the coyote to prove her wrong, the echidna's gaze was more terrifying and penetrating, a look capable of leading an unsuspecting person to their death. That thought sapped the coyote's head, he contemplated his own death, and then he could no longer control his tremors, his smile broke and tears began to flow from his eyes.

"Please...", he began to plead in a broken voice. "Please, I just..."

"Don't start begging for your miserable life," the echidna interrupted him. "I'm sick of hearing it."

"But-!"

A loud bang from the echidna knocked the silverware and glasses off the bar for a moment, the coyote was petrified.

"I will ask you a few questions and you are only allowed to answer Yes or No. Got it?" the echidna explained.

"I-".

Another blow made everything jump again, the coyote covered his head with his arms.

"Yes, yes!" replied the coyote between sobs.

"You know who I am," the echidna began to ask.

"Yes"

"You know why I came."

"Y-yes."

"You knew when I was coming."

The coyote was silent for a moment.

"I-I was just t-told..."

Another blow. The Coyote gave a little yelp as he hid behind the bar.

"Answer. Did you know when I was coming, Yes or no?" the echidna demanded, raising his voice.

"Y-yes, yes!"

"Someone ordered you to poison me."

The coyote began to cry all over. The badger rolled her eyes and tried to look away, but the echidna remained unmoved.

"...Yes, yes," replied the coyote in tears.

"Get up, now."

The young coyote tried to stand up awkwardly, slipping and failing to regain his strength until he was able to stay on his feet.

"Now you may speak, but you will only say what I ask of you. Who ordered you to poison me? Who are you more afraid of than me?".

The coyote said nothing as he whimpered. He was clenching his lips and fists, still swallowing saliva and breathing erratically, as if fighting for his life. The badger let out a small laugh before speaking:

"Now he's gone mute! didn't you want to tell us something?".

"M-my sister", the coyote managed to stammer out. "They have her, please..."

"I didn't ask you about your life-"

"There are more than one," the badger interrupted the echidna. "How many, what species are they?".

"Sticks...," the echidna eyed his companion menacingly.

"Shhhh! Let him talk," replied Sticks disregarding the echidna's attitude.

"A-a polar bear and... a kind of woodpecker...," the coyote managed to say.

The echidna opened his eyes wider, a gesture that his companion noticed on the spot.

"Ring any bells, Knux?" the badger asked her partner.

"Sadly yes," replied the echidna bitterly. "Where are they?" he returned to ask the coyote.

"I don't know! I don't know! I swear on my life I don't know," replied the coyote in despair.

"Hm, I guess he doesn't know," Sticks joked before giving a small chuckle.

The echidna stood meditating for a few seconds, stirring the water in the glass and watching it flow. He looked out the window to his left, with an almost perfect view of the well. Then he returned his gaze to the coyote and said:

"Alright this is the plan," then he started to pour the contents of the glass on the floor slowly. When the water was gone, he continued speaking, "You did it, you got me and the weird girl next to me to drink from whatever you were going to give us."

"Who are you calling weir, knucklehead?" demanded Sticks.

"What was your plan?" the echidna continued, ignoring his companion. "What was in the glass?"

"A s-somnifer," the bartender replied.

"All right. We took the somnifer, we fell asleep, what's next?"

"I-I was going to take you to the kitchen."

"To?"

"Hide you until they came back."

"When?"

"At dusk."

"And so?"

"They would lead you to their lair."

"Perfect. Good plan. That's what will happen, point by point," the echidna began to rise from his chair. "Remember: you triumphed. Sticks and I are totally out of action. If you speak or act as if the opposite had occurred, then you have indeed failed."

The echidna moved away from the bar and took a seat at one of the free tables. The badger, for her part, stood at the bar for a moment as she watched the pale coyote look as if he had lost his soul.

"What did you say about your sister," Sticks asked him matter-of-factly. "Is she a coyote like you or do you call her a sister out of affection?".

"Sticks," the echidna called in a stern voice.

"Coming," the badger replied, dismissing the call. She snapped her fingers twice for the coyote to respond quickly.

"S-she's a hare, she and I were raised in the same orphanage since before The Union."

"Fur color?"

"Sticks!" the echidna called back more sternly.

"Relax, curmudgeon. I'm in the middle of something!" the badger retorted haughtily. "Fur, physique, height?" she asked the coyote again as she snapped her fingers.

"See here," said the coyote as he pulled from his vest a photo that he handed to Sticks. The photo showed the coyote next to a young hare with coppery fur, with one ear shorter than the other because of an injury, wearing a long white dress, both holding between them a potted plant with a reddish flower, they looked very happy. "That's her, that's the only dress she has, it's hard to mistake her."

"Let's see," Sticks said before ripping the photo from the coyote's hands. "Good lighting, good framing... Okay, I'll take it!", and she tucked the photo into her clothes.

"But-!"

"I have a very bad memory, pal. There's no other way."

The coyote merely let out a sigh of defeat before the badger walked away from the bar and sat down next to the echidna.

"Count me out," Knux said before Sticks even took a seat.

"Who said I was? I just wanted the picture."

"We have more important issues."

"You've got your issues, I've got mine. Although, let's face it, you're saying all that to yourself, not me."

The echidna gave a snort and looked away, the badger quirked a smile.

"You look so tough and badass, but we both know you're a softie on the inside."

The echidna kept ignoring his companion as he looked out the nearby window, and his mind started to wander...

Then... 7 months after La Unión.

The window of the room where Amy left him had a full view of the backyard. Every day for almost two months he could see what the hedgehog did after handing him his plate of food: she would place a solitary chair in the middle of the yard, stand motionless for a few minutes, proceed to eat, and after a brief rest, train. At the back of the courtyard, precariously attached to an orange tree that was about to wither, were a pair of tires and a cushion on which the hedgehog would vent all her anger. Even from where Knuckles stood he could hear the impacts of the blows and the girl's groans of exertion, sometimes he could even hear the leaves of the tree being shaken. They were forceful, full of energy and determination, but deep down the echidna felt that he was dying inside because of the lack of technique Amy was showing.

Bad posture, bad execution, bad at everything. The training was not even a quarter of the regular training Knuckles was used to doing at Angel Island and yet the hedgehog ended up exhausted, as if she had fought 40 Badniks by herself with one hand tied behind her back. What made the echidna most angry was being aware of Amy's full potential. On more than one occasion he had seen her do things that not even Sonic or himself could do, but all that potential was being tainted by a lousy performance resulting from poorly guided training. And of course it was misguided, because there was no guidance at all. By the rudimentary set up, Knuckles deduced that the hedgehog simply woke up one day wanting to be stronger, so she tied some junk to a tree and started beating it in the hope of being able to split a mountain in two or some nonsense she must have seen in a movie. Then he wondered how long she must have been doing this. When he got to the house, the tires and the cushion were already strapped down, were they from before or after the world ended? How long? How much of her valuable time had this girl been wasting on pointless training? If it was since before the catastrophe? Why didn't she tell anyone? Why didn't she ask him for guidance...?

Knuckles looked away from the window, shaking those thoughts from his mind and repeating to himself that it was none of his business, that he didn't care, that nothing mattered to him. The world had come to an end, his home no longer existed, most of his friends were lost or, "realistically", dead. What was left of the old world was an empty shell, a tree slowly withering away, with a leaf falling every day until the tree was completely empty and rotting until it faded into the wind. The last fight was fought and lost, there was nothing left to do but wait for the end... and yet that silly little hedgehog was there, kicking a tree without even lifting his leg properly and hurting herself in the process.

Now she was on her knees while rubbing her leg in pain, Of course it's going to hurt, you idiot! You didn't even aim the kick right! And you're too close to the target! Do you think an enemy is going to let you get that close? Of course, you're that close because you're not doing the damn kick right...!

Frustrated, the echidna got up from his seat and walked away from the window. He wasn't supposed to care, she was training for a fight she'd already lost anyway... and she was doing it wrong- Damn it! it doesn't matter! She can do it as badly as she wants, anyway, sooner or later, she's going to die, along with the world...

As he paced the room, struggling with his thoughts, the echidna rested his gaze on the nightstand next to the bed, on it was the day's lunch, a pasta with meatballs. It was obviously cold, lunch had been over for a couple of hours.

After the catastrophe, when Knuckles saw that he was still alive but that his home had vanished forever, that he had failed as a guardian, that he had failed his purpose in life, he decided to simply stop eating. He didn't have a reason and he didn't fully understand why he had come to that conclusion, but he held firm as best he could, only breaking his silent oath when the pain coming from his gut was unbearable. But he didn't eat the whole plate, just a few bites to appease the pain. His sturdy and healthy physique of an echidna warrior, once his greatest blessing, was becoming an impediment to his as yet unrealized goal of starving himself to death so as to stop carrying the shame of his failure, and Amy was of less help to it.

The echidna had decided to disappear to a secluded place, hoping that his body would not be found and that his name would be forgotten, but he had the bad (or good?) fortune to be found by the hedgehog on her way back home after the dissolution of The Restoration. Despite the echidna's refusals, Amy forced him into her vehicle to bring him home, and since then, without fail, she has been serving him food over and over again, despite the echidna's reluctance to eat. Knuckles couldn't understand why the hedgehog kept insisting on making him eat, having perhaps more important things to attend to, such as her training.

After vigorously shaking his head, trying to push the thoughts away, Knuckles went and took the plate of food with him to bed. Maybe the hunger was already such that it was getting to his head, maybe if he ate a bite he could go back to not caring about anything. For a few minutes he stood silently looking at the plate in front of him. Despite being already cold, a slight inebriating smell emanated from the dish, capable of making the echidna's insides growl with rage. Knuckles grumbled as he brought the first bite to his mouth with his fork, it would only be one and no more, he would rejoice in his misery again.

And so, he took a bite... and another, and another, and another, and another, and one more...

Of course he was hungry, but his willpower was often enough to overcome it. It wasn't hunger that drove him, it was that the food, even when cold, was really delicious. It was no wonder, Amy had always had an excellent hand for cooking. Knuckles knew that, after Sonic and gardening, cooking was an obsession for her. What was impressive to the echidna was that she still was cooking the same way she used to, even though resources were scarce, even though the world was slowly falling apart, even though there was no one to enjoy her dishes.

By the time he realized it, Knuckles had completely devoured the entire plate and was licking his lips, eager for more. He stood frozen for a long time, staring at the void, the empty plate of food still in his lap. Suddenly he began to tremble and breathe strangely...

She kept cooking the same as always, despite the Echidna's ingratitude. Even after refusing food for almost two months, even after forcing her to throw away every single dish he refused, wasting all the effort and resources she had put into them, even when he was no longer worthy... She was still cooking the same as always, as if nothing had changed.

A tear ran down the echidna's cheek as he gritted his teeth and trembled in frustration and shame. Now he understood what was really bothering him: He had given up, but she hadn't.

The pain had already faded a few minutes ago, but Amy remained sitting on the ground hugging her leg. She was frustrated as she realized that all the training she had been doing didn't seemed to be paying off. She kept failing, she kept hurting herself, she kept tiring fast. Deep down she knew that if she kept doing this training pantomime it was so she could release her frustration and anger. But she wanted to keep clinging to the hope of getting better, of getting stronger, of becoming the hero she always wanted to be... But was that dream even possible now? Doubt kept her paralyzed there on the ground, unable to escape her thoughts.

"Get up," she heard behind her.

At first the call gave her the impulse to turn around, but when she recognized the voice, anger prevented her from doing so.

"Have you eaten yet?" the hedgehog asked bitterly and sarcastically.

"Yes," the echidna replied tersely.

Amy turned around in disbelief. It was there when she could see the echidna standing holding an empty and dirty plate. When she took a closer look she noticed the echidna with a serene, calm face, but with slightly red eyes and a mouth still dirty from the food. Amy then stood up, and after shaking the dirt off her, stood looking at Knuckles for a moment.

"What a miracle," the hedgehog managed to say, sketching the glimpse of a half-smile.

"It was good, thank you," Knuckles replied as he set the plate down on the ground. "Now, get your guard up."

"Do you plan to train me?".

"Yes"

"Why?"

"just because."

"I already have my own training, you know?".

"I know, and it sucks."

Amy made an offended face.

"It sucks so bad, I had to fight not to throw up my food while watching you train," the echidna continued, further offending the hedgehog. "I'll show you how it's done. Be on your guard."

"Aren't you going to at least rest, if you've just eaten?".

"I'm ready. Aren't you?"

Amy let out a small sigh and then obeyed, settling into her usual fighting stance. Knuckles broke his stance and moved in to correct her position by kicking her legs slightly .

"It will be easy to get knocked down if you put your legs so close together," he told her.

He then abruptly corrected the position of his hands.

"Cover your vital points if you don't want to be finish off quickly," he told her.

Then he took her by the chin and corrected where she should be looking.

"Never take your eyes off the target, one blink at the wrong time and you're done," he told her.

"the rudeness is necessary?" protested Amy, but knuckles did not respond.

The echidna then moved a couple of feet away, got into his fighting stance, more firm and determined than Amy's, and with a hand gesture prompted her to attack him first.

The first attack was easily deflected by Knuckles, the second was blocked and answered with a counterattack that at first Amy was able to avoid, but due to the clumsiness of her movements she made a back foot that left her in the trajectory of the next blow to the abdomen. The blow was so strong that the hedgehog was left without breath, having to move away to regain her composure.

"Do you want to kill me!?", Amy demanded with difficulty.

"You will only die if you let me kill you. Stand firm, move decisively and correct your posture."

The hedgehog returned to her usual poor fighting stance, then quickly corrected it when she noticed Knuckles approaching. When the echidna stopped, Amy began to move around him, looking for a blind spot. Knuckles didn't move, just followed her with his eyes until he could no longer do so. Standing completely behind Knuckles' back, Amy lashed out, but the echidna reacted impossibly fast, holding off the hedgehog's blow and counterattacking with an impact to the face. Amy gave a shriek of pain and frustration as she covered her face and backed away.

"Damn, that hurt!" the hedgehog cursed.

"You deserve it, that was stupid. Don't make moves that your opponent can easily predict. Even with my eyes closed I would have known how, when and where you would attack."

The hedgehog let out a growl of rage before lunging at Knuckles, throwing several punches that the echidna was able to dodge with ease before counterattacking. The first two punches didn't connect, but on the third he was able to impact the hedgehog's cheek, knocking her off balance and making it easier for the next two punches to the abdomen to hit. Both blows were equal or stronger than the first, but Amy did not flinch this time but immediately went for the counterattack. For a brief second, Knuckles gave a half-smile. The hedgehog's attacks were faster, forcing Knuckles to block instead of dodge. It wasn't easy for him to counterattack effectively either, as Amy had begun to read his intentions and moved away the moment she sensed the counterattack was coming, and when she couldn't dodge, she did her best to block.

"Good, very good!" said Knuckles between attacks. "A fight is a conversation. You must learn your opponent's fighting language to be able to respond properly."

Amy's next two blows were able to connect, one in the abdomen and one in the head, for a brief second the hedgehog became confident. But the blows were not strong enough to unbalance the echidna, who took advantage of Amy's carelessness and delivered two more blows to the face. As the hedgehog regained its balance it gave another angry growl, this time louder and more animalistic, before ramming the echidna again with a storm of blows. Knuckles was unable to dodge them, but had no trouble blocking them effectively.

"Right in attitude, wrong in execution," the echidna indicated between blows. "Anger is fierce but blind. It should be a fuel, not a guide."

At that instant Knuckles saw an opening in Amy's defense and went for it. However, the hedgehog easily avoided the blow and had a chance to grab one of the echidna's arms. Amy moved in, climbing over knuckles' legs to attack the head from above. The echidna attempted another strike with its free arm but this too was dodged. And before he could counterattack, Amy delivered a strong blow to his right cheek before skipping away. The blow was so strong that it echoed throughout the yard and the echidna almost lost his balance.

Amy went from angered to concerned and embarrassed in mere seconds.

"By Gaia, I'm sorry-!".

"Don't apologize," the echidna interrupted her as he pulled himself together and stroked the impact area. "Show me it wasn't luck by repeating that hit. I won't make it so easy for you this time", he concluded with a grin.

The hedgehog went from being worried to having a special gleam in her eye. She nodded enthusiastically and returned to the fighting stance, no corrections this time, and knuckles did the same. They stood in silence looking at each other before continuing the fight, but the mood had changed, lighter and brighter. It finally felt like a sparring session between good friends, brothers even. Amy accepted and executed every piece of advice knuckles provided. And knuckles, despite still having an emptiness inside him, was slowly beginning to see a light at the end of his misery.

After Thoughts: I think this is the best chapter I've written so far. Not the "BEST EVER" or anything, I just really, really like the way it turned out. I hope you liked it too!

Portraying the relationship between Knuckles and Amy as one of siblings has always delighted me. It just feels natural, just right, since they both have so much in common. If you like that idea too, then you're in luck! Because in this Fic I'm going to exploit that to the hilt AND beyond!

On another note, I feel obliged to clarify that the concept of Sticks being a photographer is not mine. Strolling through Mastodon (that "Twitter clone" but without fucking N*zis and with real people instead of bots), I came across a Fanart by an artist that to my misfortune right now I don't even remember the name nor can I get the original post. I had asked him for permission to use the concept in the Fic, you know, to not be a motherfucker, but he never replied, and I had liked the concept so much that I still used it. All this is to say that, if you see a fanart of Sticks as a photographer out there, that's for sure the artist I'm talking about, so that's the origin of the concept.