FicWad

Shadow's trip back to Tails' workshop had taken alot more energy, then the trip to the unknown dimension. As soon as his feet hit solid ground he had collapsed in fatigue, wiping sweat off of his brow with the back of his hand. Rouge had rushed to his side, ecstatic he had been able to return, and she and Knuckles helped Shadow inside, for a long awaited and deserved rest.

Tails on the other hand, had taken the Calidium and looked at it closely. He had never seen such a strange creature. It had the play antics of most big wild cats, but at the same time acted like a house cat.

"What is it?" Tails asked, observing the Calidium.

"It's a her, and I'm calling her Maria" Shadow answered.

To this, Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge turned to Shadow, staring at him strangely. They looked concerned, but were reassured by Shadow's almost loving smile, and turned back to the cat-like creature, who was now playing with some string, that had escaped the sewing of Tails' living room rug.

"It's... I mean... She's so cute!" Rouge said with a smile. She lowered herself to her knees and made soft cooing noises.

Maria recognized the noises at once and quickly trotted over to Rouge with a mew. She stumbled over the uneven surface as the ground turned from carpet to wooden floor, and Rouge laughed. Finally Maria jumped in her lap and Rouge scratched her head until she purred.

"Seeing as her feet are twice the size they should be, I'm guessing this is only a baby..." Tails observed.

Shadow and Rouge looked up at Tails with a pleading look in their eyes. "Can we keep her?" They voiced at the same time.

"Well..." Tails said thoughtfully. "I do want to study her... if you don't mind Shadow."

Shadow shook his head.

"All right" Tails said, which made Rouge squeal with excitement. It surprised Knuckles, he had never seen the bat act this way.

Rouge tipped Maria on her back and held her like a baby as she stood up to sit on the couch. "Who's the cutesy? Who's the cutesy? You are! You are!" Rouge said, snuggling with the little creature. All the guy's rolled their eyes as Rouge talked in the infamous Motherese.

"Anyway..." Tails said, clearing his throat to get the group's attention. "I've invented a chaos amplifier." He explained, pulling out two machine's that were shaped like chaos emeralds. "When Shadow activates the chaos emerald, these will gain the power of the chaos emerald at the same time. It will increase the power of the chaos emerald, and allow safe chaos control for more then one person, without Shadow wasting as much energy. Rouge and Knuckles have agreed to go, as for me, I need to stay here and make sure everything's alright for safe return."

Shadow nodded. "We can try it out in the morning, if all goes well, we should be able to start where I left off."

Knuckles nodded. "Get some rest Shadow, me and Rouge will pack..." he added, as he noticed Shadow yawning.

Shadow nodded as well and headed upstairs. Maria jumped out of Rouge's lap and followed closely after Shadow. Then Rouge and Knuckles left the room to go pack supplies, which left Tails all alone.

Tails was playing strong, and doing his best to help, but his heart felt empty without his idol. Even thinking about the hedgehog made water blur his vision. And Amy, she had always been there for her friends, and he had always comforted her when she cried over Sonic. He found Amy's antics and Sonic's reaction's highly amusing, until Sonic ended up hurting her. Sonic just didn't understand, and as much as he would have liked too, he never revealed to Amy what his hero really felt about the pink hedgehog.

Those two were like his big brother and sister, and some time's even felt like his mom and dad. Tails stood up, feeling the sting of tears as he headed for the garage. He usually went to his garage when he felt that he had to cry. And as soon as the door closed, Tails dropped to his knees and began sobbing. He felt stupid for showing this weak side, but he couldn't stop himself. He just sobbed until he fell asleep on the cold concrete floor of the garage.






Though Amy failed alot more times then she succeeded, she did happen to catch a couple of the golden fish. She brought them back to the cave, and wasn't surprised to find a fire going steadily. She was surprised to see Sonic had actually listened to her, and he was sleeping peacefully on the mound of leaves inside the cave. Amy quickly made a skewer with her thorn, that she now used for about everything and had a special place for it on her vine belt, and after de-scaling the fish, placed the three fish over the fire. She was a little disappointed, but knew practice made perfect.

The smell of the cooking fish caused Sonic to come to. He sat up blearily and stretched while yawning. He rubbed his eyes a little before spotting Amy. As soon as the two hedgehog's eye's hit, the air became thick with tension. Both hedgehog's looked away again, unsure of what to do or say.

"Uh... That smells good" Sonic ventured after a while.

"Yeah" Amy agreed.

Suddenly Sonic's tension disappeared as he realized something. "How did you catch those?" He asked while standing up and striding over. He took a seat opposite Amy, the fire keeping space between them.

Amy smiled. "A magician never reveals her secrets..."

"Awww come on! How'd you do it!? How'd you do it!?" Sonic whined.

Amy rolled her eyes before handing him the net she had made.

"Whoa! Are you sure you ain't a jungle woman!?" Sonic asked, amazed. He turned it over, observing it from all angles.

"Excuse me?" Amy asked, crossing her arms.

"Well, look at all that you've done! It's amazing! Not even Tails..." Sonic stopped short, sadness taking over his features. He suddenly turned toward the fire, his gaze lost in the dancing flames.

Amy noticed this. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Sonic shook his head. "Its nothing, don't worry about it..." Sonic said, forcing a smile, as he handed back the net. Amy didn't buy it.

Amy watched the fire dancing in Sonic's eyes for a while, wondering what he could be thinking about. She kept quiet, letting her attention focus on not over cooking the fish.

"I miss them" Sonic said after an interval.

Amy looked up again. "I miss them too... but I know they're coming for us."

Sonic did not believe Amy's statement and he began to feel saddness coming on. He did not want to be weak, so the saddness became masked by anger, and he had no one to take it out on except....

Sonic looked up to glare at Amy. "Did it ever occur to you that we might be stuck here?" Sonic asked angrily, his voice rising just slightly.

"Yes" Amy confessed, "But I believe-"

"Believe what!?" Sonic shouted, jumping to his feet. "There just gonna poof out of thin air and say, 'hey guy's! We've come to take you home!?' It's not like that Amy!"

Amy was not sure why Sonic was mad at her, but considering all that she had done for him, she began to become angry as well. She stood up, matching Sonic's glare with a burning anger of her own. "I know! But I believe they'll find a way to bring us back!"

"If they don't know where we are, how is it possible that they even think were alive!?" Sonic shouted, his anger rising. "There probably at our funeral's right now!"

Amy realized Sonic was probably right and her anger melted away. She couldn't help but let some tears flow down her face. "Well, if you don't like being here then you shouldn't of protected me! I could have managed just fine on my own!"

"You! On your own!? Don't make me laugh!" Sonic shouted, his anger reaching a new peak. "Then again, if I hadn't protected you, you would be stuck here, and I wouldn't have to deal with your stupid lovey dovey crap all the time!"

That blow hurt more then Sonic could ever understand. Amy's emotions were swinging from anger to sadness quite quickly, and Sonic's anger had reached the boiling point, which caused him to become dizzy. When Amy realized his body had become unsteady, fear replaced her sadness, and stopped an insult on her tongue.

"Sonic!" Amy cried. "Are you all ri-" she said as she reached out to steady him, but Sonic pulled away with a growl, and Amy's voice had died in her throat.

"I don't need you to fuss over me like I'm some little kid!" Sonic shouted, glaring darker at her.

"I'm just worried Sonic..." Amy said sullenly. "What if you accidentally get hur-".

Sonic's glare caused her to stop talking abruptly. It felt like there was a fire deep in his chest, and it had suddenly exploded, raging through his body. Sonic was hot all over, and his back had begun throbbing painfully. A wave of dizziness crashed upon him, and he didn't even realize he had grabbed his head to steady it, as his whole body swayed. He let out a groan as he collapsed backwards onto the cave floor.

"Sonic!" Amy shouted in fear.

She dragged him inside the cave and hurried toward the water storage rock. She poured the water over him, trying to cool him down. Her attempts failed at first, but soon Sonic's temperature began to lower. When it grew steady, Amy realized he was still a little hotter then usual. This time Sonic really did have a fever. She gently dragged him to the leaf mound and lay him comfortably upon it, and sat down by his side.

"Ohhhh..." Amy cooed as she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. She removed it and placed the back of her hand to his cheek. "You're burning up" she informed.

Sonic groaned miserably and sat up unsteadily. "I can't get sick! What if you get in trouble? Then I won't be able to-"

Amy pressed her finger to his lips and shushed him. Sonic, surprised at the jolt running through his chest at the touch on his lips, had no thoughts of disobeying her. Amy pressed her hand gingerly on his chest and pushed, gently forcing him back into a laying position. She didn't notice Sonic's pink cheek's as she reached out and stroked Sonic's cheek.

Sonic was still sweating and his eyes were half lidded. He was exhausted. But at the same time he felt relaxed, and Amy's touch caused a strange bolt through him. It started at the chest and ended at the fingers, making the tip's tingle. He had never felt this before, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. But, as he noticed Amy's care and attention toward him, he forgot the tingling feeling as guilt suddenly ran through him again.

"Amy...?" Sonic whispered. For some reason he couldn't raise his voice, nor did he want too. "I'm sorry... All those thing's I said? I didn't..."

"It's all right... Now shhhhh..." Amy said, still stroking his cheek. Sonic got lost in her soothing touch, deciding he liked the feeling they caused. So lost in fact, that the touch lulled him into a peaceful slumber.

Amy sighed as she watched him sleep. She remembered the mean words that had been exchanged and wanted to laugh. They had both been silly, they should have just talked to each other calmly. They should of just revealed to each other that was wrong, but she got the impression that Sonic was masking himself and that he would feel weak if he were to become emotional, though in truth it would probably make him stronger.

'Not to mention, bring us closer' Amy thought as she sighed dreamily. 'But guy's are just strange like that.'

Remembering the fish she reluctantly removed her hand from Sonic's cheek and went to remove them off the fire. Sadly, they had been over cooked. She tossed them far into the woods, thinking something would eat them, and sat down at the fire, watching over the cave for any sign's of approaching danger.






Morning came slowly for the white bat. Her blue eye's held the sunrise as she stared absently out the window. She didn't even notice the door open and close, or when the bed let out a squeak as it was sat upon.

"Rouge?"

Surprised, Rouge turned to see Knuckles on the bed, staring at her with concern. "What do you want?"

Knuckles winced at her harsh tone. He knew she hadn't of gotten that much sleep in the past two day's, and had wondered if going up here would be such a good idea. He knew she must be cranky beyond all hell, but he wanted to check up on her. He felt as though it were his responsibility to make her feel better.

"I wanted to see what you were up to."

Rouge had flinched at her own intended rudeness, she hadn't of known it would have sounded so mean, but the concern Knuckles was showing her quickly replaced her cranky mood.

"I'm just sitting here, enjoying the sunset" she said as she stood up from the chair in front of the window. She walked over to where Knuckles was sitting and sat beside him. "How about you?"

"I was doing the same as you, only my mind was not on the sunset."

"I know what you mean."

Both treasure hunters gaze turned toward the floor.

"I may not act like I care, but I miss Sonic a lot" Knuckles confessed. "Ever since that incident where we stopped being friends, I've missed him..."

Rouge turned to Knuckles in surprise. "What incident?"

"Well, it all started when I was little and spotted a small hedgehog that couldn't swim..."

flashback

The little hedgehog struggled, trying to keep his head above the water as he cried out. Though he knew it was helpless, he still tried. Hoping, praying somebody would hear him.

"HELP ME!"

Knuckles walked along the forest of Angel Island, happy his dad had given him some free time. He stopped to pick up some flowers and smell their beautiful fragrance, when a voice traveling on the wind suddenly reached his ears.

"HELP ME!"

Knuckles quickly turned toward the sound and began running hard. There was no mistaking the distress and struggle in the sound of the voice. And, though he knew the wind played trick's on ones mind, he had a strange feeling that this was no trick. He didn't know how, but for some reason he could not explain, he knew he had to save who ever this person was.

He followed the voice on the wind as it got louder and more frantic.

"SOMEBODY!! ANYBODY!! PLEASE HELP ME!"

Knuckles burst into the clearing and looked about. He saw a small pale hand slip under the surface, and ran toward the bank at top speed. His heart was pounding hard as he jumped into the water and swam, faster then he had ever swam in his life. Taking a deep breath, he dived under where he had seen the hand go under, and came upon an unconscious baby hedgehog that was sinking slowly.

He quickly reached out and grabbed the little creature's hand. Then he rushed back up toward the surface, his lungs feeling as though they were going to explode. As soon as his head broke the surface he gulped in the life giving oxygen, before swimming back to shore, which was hard to do with one hand. As soon as he reached shore he place the hedgehog down on the bank.

Knuckles had seen his father do it, but wondered if he could? He placed the palm of his hand on the little hedgehog's stomach, the other hand over the top of this one, and pushed down hard, while at the same time pushing up. Knuckles had to do a couple more of these before the hedgehog coughed up water and began taking a lungful of air.

"Are you alright?" Knuckles asked the small creature.

It took a minute for Sonic's vision to focus, and another minute for him to register and answer the question. As soon as he realized he had been saved, he smiled warmly at Knuckles as relief washed over him. "I will be."

end flashback

"And that's how we met. When he revealed he was an orphan, my dad took him in!"

"Then, why did you two hate each other?"

"We didn't. We got along good after that, we were almost attached to the hip you could say. He was like my little brother, and he looked up to me as a big brother. When my father died, I was last of the echidnas, and Sonic was there to make the burden less heavy. We had been through so much, and I never thought about us getting mad and not being a 'family' anymore."

"So, why did you two stop being... brothers?" Rouge asked.

"Well... I had to take up responsibility with the emerald, and Sonic never really saw its importance. When Eggman got hold of the master emerald, I ended up in a situation between saving Sonic or the emerald. I chose the Emerald, for if Eggman did get that it would be catastrophic. Sonic survived, and though he understood why I chose what I did, he was still hurt by it."

"Well, I would be too" Rouge interjected.

Knuckles sighed. "Yeah... I know, but that was just the beginning. After we stopped talking to each other, and began shouting to each other instead."

Knuckles turned to the white bat. "You know how hotheaded we are, right?"

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Boy do I ever!"

"Well, we got into constant fights, though none ever lead to physical fighting. Until one day he went to far, and I punched him hard in the head. We were still small, and I had not known my own strength. Sonic had to go down to the hospital on Mobius surface in critical condition. He nearly died of head trauma!" Knuckles paused before continuing. "He did not return to Angel Island."

Rouge looked at Knuckles sadly as Knuckles lowered his head and sighed.

"He forgave me in time, but ever since there as been a wall between us."

"I'm sorry" Rouge said sympathetically, placing a hand on Knuckles' shoulder.

Knuckles lowered his head sadly. "I just wish I could take some the stuff I said, and did for that matter, back."

"You know, there's still a chance that you two can become brothers again."

"You think so!?" Knuckles said, looking up at the white bat.

The white bat smiled cheerfully. "I know so... Me and Amy used to be the same way!"

"Whaddya mean?" Knuckles asked, switching his position on the bed to get more comfortable.

"Well... The way we first met was terrible. I had been putin' the moves on your "little bro" for who knows how long, and he had finally begun to take the bait when Amy just kinda came out of no where. Sonic took off, and me and her kinda fought it out for a while before also departing."

Knuckles stared at her with an amused look on his face. 'I can just imagine how "friendly" they were...' He thought, suppressing a chuckle.

"Next thing I know," Rouge continued. "I'm shoved into a car, and some horrible dingo is trying to force me to do thing's I didn't want to do. Wouldn't you know Amy comes out of nowhere and teaches that guy a lesson."

Knuckles was surprised. "I thought for sure you would of taught that guy a lesson with your boot."

"We were on a date, and I was scared since he had already forced himself on me. I had known him for quite some time, and had gone out with him before, but I never expected him to do such a thing."

Knuckles smiled. "Don't we all? At least that guy got what was coming to him."

"For sure! Anyway, I told Amy I had no place to stay, so she let me stay at her place... At first it was awkward, and me and her kinda fought alot. But one day Amy came home crying, and I swallowed my pride and comforted her. After we began toning down our fights and transforming them into calm conversations, and we started getting along more! Wouldn't you know it?" Rouge snapped her fingers. "Me and her are best friends in no time."

"So... you're saying any tense relationship can be fixed with a little patience?" Knuckles said.

"Yes... and alot of calm. There can be no hotheadedness! If you want to mend your relationship with Sonic, you're going to have to play by my rules."

"That is, if we find him..."

Rouge suddenly looked sad again, and Knuckles realized his slip up. "I mean, after we find him... We're gonna find him, and we're gonna find Amy, even if it takes years!"

"Yes... but how do we now if they've got years to wait?"

Knuckles suddenly realized why Rouge was so worried. "Their all right Rouge, I just know it."

"Yes, but how do you back up that knowledge, they could be seriously injured. Or worse they could be..." her voice broke as she dropped her gaze.

Knuckles pulled Rouge's face up with his thumb, so that she could look into his eyes. "I can sense it."

Rouge was surprised by his actions and a little taken aback. She thought about ripping her gaze away, but his eyes held hers locked in place. She could sense his confidence and hope, and a tear slid down her cheek. She didn't know how, but for some reason she believed him. All the torment that she had put herself through the past two nights came pouring out of her soul in loud sob's, and Knuckles was quick to hug her close.

"What if we don't find them Knuckles? What if-?"

Knuckles silenced her with his finger. "We will not stop looking."

Rouge hugged him tightly, her body aching for comfort. And Knuckles responded by hugging her back. The raw heartache could be felt in the room as the two sat silently entwined, drawing what little comfort they could from each other.

"You're right Knuckles... Thank you..."

"Anything for you."

Rouge was surprised by his answer. She pulled away and stared at him. Knuckles also seemed to have a shocked look on his face. Did she dare hope and look deeper into that statement? She would of thought more about it, if the door of the room hadn't slowly opened and Tails' head had poked through the door.

"Breakfast's ready."






A Canininin (Ka-nin-knee-nin) slowly approached its watering hole. It was a large, black, wolf-like creature with amber eyes. He moved silently through the jungle trees. All the other animals remained quiet, for this was the creature who was on top of the food chain, and no one dared to speak, in fear of drawing the Canininin's attention.

A strange smell hit the Canininin's nose. He approached something on the ground. Three fish. The Canininin nosed the gold colored fish in curiosity, and gave it a lick. Then the Canininin let out a yip and backed away.

The fish were disgusting.

He gave a final snort and continued on. He finally came upon the waterfall, and bent at the bank to get a drink. That's when he smelt it. Trespassers.

Destroy ran through the Canininin's veins, and the jolt of a hunt was taking over him. He followed the smell until he reached the cave our main characters were resting in. He let out a growl as he heard moving about inside it. But luckily for the inhabitants, the cave was just outside his territory.

However, that would not stop the Canininin from the thrill of a chase. He knew all things need water, and he would wait just beyond the waterfall, to strike the creature's that had trespassed his land. He headed back to the waterfall and waited in some brush for any sign's of movement from the strange creatures that happened to inhabit the cave.

A Sinano, (Sin-nan-o) a deer-like creature, and her fawn were the only thing's that approached the bank. Still the Canininin waited patiently, even though it was a nocturnal creature, it even waited when the sun broke from the horizon and started to spread light over the earth.