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Chapter Text

“Stop it you big red jerk ! You’re hurting me!”  the hedgehog screamed, trying to pull his arm free from Knuckles’ grip. Knuckles ignored the smaller and kept walking through the forest to his tribe's village, not at all bothered by the hedgehog's attempts to slow him down. Instead, Knuckles stomped through the forest faster, just to spite his new prisoner. In Knuckles’ other hand was a bag and map he pried off of the hedgehog.

“I mean it! When Longclaw is done beating your friends butts she's gonna get you next!” he screamed. Knuckles gave the hedgehog a sharp yank and smiled as he lost his footing, tumbling to the ground. How dare the puny blue ball insult his tribe like that! If anything, Longclaw was the one in trouble, there was nothing stronger than his tribe. Knuckles told his prisoner as such.

The prisoner yelped as he was dragged through the grass and dirt, scrambling to try and get back up as to avoid the random rocks and twigs jutting out of the ground. 

“That's a lie!” the smaller quilled creature argued then yelped as his head collided with a small rock, “owwww…”

“It is not! My tribe is made of 1000% muscle! There isn’t anything stronger than that!” Knuckles boasted, tilting his head up proudly. His tribe would return victorious and then the hedgehog would see, there was nothing stronger than an echidna warrior. 

“That doesn’t even make any sense!” The hedgehog whined then winced as a twig dug into his back for a moment. Knuckles frowned and slowed down so his prisoner could at least walk with dignity, as there was no dignity in being dragged through the mud. One would think a creature such as this would be quick to get back onto his feet as he was with his words. Perhaps Knuckles overestimated his foe.

“It makes perfect sense” the 6 year old sneered, “When we return to my village, I will show you on the drawing wall”

“I’m not going anywhere with you! You oversized pimple!” 

On second thought… maybe he deserved to be dragged through the mud for just a little longer… Knuckles gave a hard tug and sent the hedgehog sprawling to the ground again.

“STOP DOING THAT!” The hedgehog whined and clawed at Knuckles’ glove, Knuckles scoffed at his prisoner's weak attempt at freedom, he almost felt sorry for Longclaw. He wouldn’t want to keep such a wimp around. Though… he supposed, what the hedgehog lacked in strength, he made up for in speed. Knuckles almost didn’t catch him when he saw the blue blur speed by him, luckily he had run right into a trap, one of the other echidnas had set a few days ago, so technically, Knuckles hadn’t broken any of his fathers rules.

“No! Apologize!” Knuckles growled, fist tightening around the smallers entire forearm as he stomped through the forest, bright red bolts of electricity running up and down his frame.

“OW! OW! STOP IT! STOP IT! I'M SORRY! I’M SORRY!”

Knuckles smiled triumphantly and tilted his nose up once more. Knuckles paused and let the hedgehog stand up again before resuming his walk, electricity dying down just as fast as it had come

“You learn fast hedgehog” Knuckles commented, letting his prisoner walk beside him instead of behind.

“I got a name,” the prisoner grumbled, putting his free hand on his hip as he walked, big green eyes staring up at the taller. Knuckles didn’t really care if he was being honest, but that would be rude to say, so he didn’t say anything. The two walked in relative silence, Knuckles made sure to keep his grip on the prisoner's arm tight, but not tight enough that it would break his arm.

“Aren’t you gonna ask me?” The prisoner whined more than asked. Knuckles scoffed and kept walking.

“Ask you what?” He asked, not really caring.

“My name, ” The prisoner huffed, matching Knuckles’ exasperated tone.

“Hm… No.”  The look his prisoner gave him was priceless, the hedgehog's jaw hung open in surprise, eyes wide with disbelief.

“Why not?!” He whined, tugging on Knuckles’ glove with his free hand.

“I don’t want to,” Knuckles replied matter-of-factly, only slightly annoyed with his charge now.

The hedgehog grumbled and kicked at the ground for a bit as they walked.

…

“What's your name?”

…

“Knuckles” 

“Oh…” The hedgehog looked back up at him, “That's a cool name.” Knuckles let himself smile, of course it was a ‘cool’ name! Why wouldn’t it be!?

“Thank you…” Knuckles trailed off, leaving the blank for his charge to fill.

The hedgehog grinned, “I’m Sonic! The fastest thing alive!” he boasted, puffing his chest up. Knuckles snorted.

“Not faster than my tribe's snares.” Knuckles bragged.

“Nevermind! Your name isn’t cool anymore!” Sonic whined, stomping his feet.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

Knuckles pushed Sonic into the cage and slammed the door shut quickly, not taking a chance with Sonic’s super speed. 

“You can’t do this!” Sonic whined, kicking the bars of the cage. Knuckles rolled his eyes and faced forward, just as he had seen the older guards do when they had a prisoner. Knuckles thought back and dimly wondered how they could stand so still for hours on end. It was one of the many things Knuckles had trouble with, his fur always seemed to itch whenever he stood still for too long. His father said it was something he would… eventually, grow out of. Knuckles didn’t have any reason to not trust his fathers words, so Knuckles believed him. 

He just had to be patient. Not one of his strongest qualities, and especially not something he said out loud. It frustrated him that he was slower at picking things up than his older peers

“Longclaw is gonna get you! She is!” 

Knuckles scoffed at Sonic's idiocy, “That is impossible, my tribe has never returned from battle defeated” He turned back around to meet the blue hedgehogs eyes, Sonic scowled at him, Knuckles met his fierce gaze with his own, “Your threats do not scare me, hedgehog”

Sonic growled, “SONIC! MY NAME IS SONIC!” 

Knuckles didn’t pay Sonic any mind as he turned back around, fist still clutching Sonic's drawstring bag.

…

As the sun began to set, the air began to chill, making Knuckles’ shiver and curl in on himself slightly. He tapped his foot and rocked back and forth on his heels, behind him, Sonic tapped against the bars of his cage. Knuckles’ nose quivered as a particularly icy breeze brushed past, he glanced at the fire pit and scowled. He wasn’t allowed to start any fires, no matter how much he promised that he wouldn’t start any forest fires the answer was always no. Knuckles tugged on his front cluster of quills and pulled them over his nose, it was uncomfortable and kinda hurt, but at least it was warmer.

Knuckles frowned at his short fur, he still had patches of baby fur, his thicker coat having yet to fully grow in. It left him patchy and uneven, some of his tribemates had scars where fur didn’t grow, they often would cut the fur around it shorter to wear their scars like badges. When Knuckles had asked if he would be a full echidna warrior once he got a scar, his father had laughed so boisterously, Knuckles had thought that he had broken his father. Knuckles had been dejected when his father said no.

A first scarring was a proud day though, Knuckles dimly remembered how his tribe reacted when he had gotten a large cut on his arm when he had fallen out of a palm tree attempting to get a coconut for his father. Knuckles remembered running home in tears, but his prize in his fist.

He had been 4 then, his father had bandaged his arm tight, cleaned it as best he could (their healer had been out with a small squad that day) and told Knuckles to wipe his eyes. 

“Tears are for the mourning” He had growled, not unkindly, “Save your tears for the dead boy. Not for a cut and a bump on the head. Where is your shame?”

About a week later, they removed the bandage and Knuckles was met with excited cheers, rough pats on the head, and was given the largest rib that night and a huge bowl of grapes. 

What point was he trying to make?

Oh yeah!

Baby fur was stupid and annoying, it didn’t cover anything! All it did was make the older echidna younglings coo and attempt to pet him (They weren't being playful and he knew it). Knuckles couldn’t wait for his adult pelt to grow in. Maybe then he wouldn’t freeze whenever a cold breeze came.

Behind him, Sonic whimpered and curled into a corner, covering his face with his gloved hands, shivering violently. Knuckles frowned and looked over the hedgehog. Forget Knuckles’ fur being patchy and ingrown, Sonic's quills hadn’t even started to harden yet! Much less show any signs of growing an adult pelt anytime soon. Knuckles crossed his arms and glared at the hedgehog's pudgy frame. The boy was soft and clearly spoiled, Knuckles was certain that if he were to even flick the boy, he would break into small bits and pieces. 

Knuckles frowned and glanced at his and his fathers hut. Knuckles knew there was a spare blanket in his bed roll. It had belonged to his mother before her passing, instead of it being buried with her, his father had wrapped it tightly around Knuckles’ shoulders and grabbed Knuckles’ forearm as they went to place their handfuls of dirt atop her body.

It had been the one time Knuckles had ever seen his father be vulnerable. Even so, he hadn’t cried, though he had gripped Knuckles’ wrist so hard that he felt his bones bend and threaten to snap. It had been the one time Knuckles was truly afraid that his father was going to leave a long lasting mark on his son's body. Knuckles had bit his tongue and ignored the painful throbbing feeling of his fathers grip and instead placed his free gloved hand atop his fathers in a quiet attempt to get him to let go. It hadn’t worked and Knuckles cried that day for two very different reasons.

Knuckles didn’t move as he stared at the prisoner, Sonic looked up from between his fingers, eyes big and wet. The echidna sighed, released his makeshift scarf and set off to his designated hut, disliking the panicked whine following behind him.

“Don’t go-” Sonic whimpered, Knuckles ignored the hedgehog and stepped inside the hut. The thick branches that served as floorboards creaked under his feet, Knuckles crouched down and stared at his mothers blanket folded neatly at the foot of his bed roll. He set Sonic’s drawstring bag down on the pillow and crossed his arm in thought. Knuckles wouldn’t waste his only remaining possession of his mother on the prisoner, Sonic wasn’t worthy of it, and instead, decided to just give Sonic his blanket. He tossed it across his shoulder, gingerly grabbed his mothers and held it gently in both arms. He walked back out of the hut, cringing at the noisy floor, and back into the cold night air. 

Knuckles’ nose twitched and his quills quivered, he fought the urge to smile as Sonic perked back up at the sight of Knuckles returning. Knuckles carefully threaded his blanket through the bars of the cage and into Sonic’s hands, holding himself a little higher when Sonic murmured a ‘thank you’.

“Of course hedgehog” Knuckles replied, “It would do me no good if you were sick when my tribe returned” Knuckles nodded at his own statement, he was nothing if not kind. His father said kindness was one of the many traits his mother had, and Knuckles was lucky she passed this trait to him. Knuckles was always proud when his father told him he acted like his mother.  

Knuckles watched as Sonic wrapped himself in his borrowed blanket tightly, curling up into a corner yet again. Knuckles sighed and unfolded his mother's blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders, rocking back and forth on his toes until his legs grew tired and his eyelids heavy.

Knuckles knew that normal guards stayed awake for their entire shift, but he had been standing in the same spot for hours without break and despite not doing anything, he himself was exhausted and found himself rubbing his eyes every so often. Eventually, he listened to his body and sat down, sure to move his mothers blanket to his lap so he wasn’t sitting on it. Behind him, Sonic snored loudly, mouth hanging open and one arm draped across his head. Knuckles leaned his cheek against one of the bars and watched Sonic’s side rise and fall with each passing moment. 

He turned his gaze south, staring at the small path his tribe had created just that morning on their way to Longclaw. His heart clenched at the idea of being left alone for more than a few hours, much less a whole day. Knuckles returned to stare at Sonic, ignoring the stinging sensation behind his eyes.

His tribe wasn’t dead. So there was no reason to mourn them, no reason to cry.

They were fine.

He was fine.

…

Knuckles awoke with a jolt, fingers cold, even under his gloves, and unable to see. It was dark, he knew that, but Knuckles didn’t know much more than that. He curled his fists to his chest, shivering as his eyes adjusted to the starlight above him. He blinked a few times, and curled his legs underneath him, tail curling in against his side as well as it could. The ground beneath him was cold and Knuckles fought the urge to whimper and whine. He clenched his jaw and forced himself to rest his head back on the bar of Sonic’s cell, only to find emerald green eyes staring back at him. 

The two stared at each other silently, Sonic tugged his blanket tighter over his head, looking more like a pup rather than a tot. Knuckles looked over Sonic’s face and frowned at the wet trails on Sonic’s cheek fur. Knuckles watched the prisoner carefully as Sonic reached through a gap in the cage, eyes pleading. Knuckles’ frown deepened as he stared at Sonic’s hand, then back at the hedgehog's eyes.

Gingerly, as if Knuckles was handling his mothers blanket, Knuckles took Sonic’s hand in his fist.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

A week had gone by and Knuckles’ stomach churned from only eating fruits and vegetables (Not knowing how to make a fire sucked) and as much as he loved grapes, he was getting sick of them.

“Where are they?” Sonic asked one afternoon, throwing a stick through the rungs of his cage at a bucket, one of the games they could easily play without letting Sonic out. 

Knuckles shrugged and chucked his own stick at the bucket, the stick hit the bucket and bounced off the side. Knuckles scowled, but didn’t say anything, wordlessly handing Sonic another one.

“My father said that war and its battles can take a long time to finish” Knuckles watched Sonics stick fall nowhere near the bucket.

“That's dumb” Sonic groans, pressing his face against the bars, “I want Longclaw!” Knuckles rolls his eyes at the hedgehog's one mindedness.

“It is not ‘dumb’” Knuckles huffs, insulted by the idea of his father saying anything ‘dumb’.

Sonic rolls his eyes, “it is too! Longclaw wouldn’t-” Sonic flinched as Knuckles turned and growled at him, “Sorry…” Knuckles sighed and rubbed his temple with his free hand.

…

Knuckles bit back a groan as he suppressed the urge to vomit into his bucket, the sun was hot today and Knuckles swore he could feel the blood in his body starting to boil. Next to him, Sonic was pressing his face against Knuckles’ shoulder (Knuckles decided he could let Sonic out while he could barely get his head out of his own bucket) whining softly. Moving inside his fathers hut was a challenge, Sonic swore up and down that he couldn’t walk, Knuckles didn’t really believe the hedgehog, but carried him in nonetheless. 

The past two days had been an odd mix of sitting at the window because one of them was too cold, or curled away in the corner furthest from the window because the very idea of being anywhere near the bright sun made Knuckles want to punch a hole into the floor. 

Despite the near boiling feeling that made Knuckles’ head pound and his vision swim, he couldn’t stop shivering. Knuckles thumbed the rim of the bucket with his free hand, the other was, unfortunately, being used as a chew toy by Sonic. It was an odd feeling, watching someone younger than him. Knuckles was the runt of his tribe, behind the rest of the children by a decade, so with Sonic by his side, even if they were both violently sick, Knuckles felt an air of responsibility towards his prisoner.

Sonic twisted his head and stopped chewing on Knuckles’ hand in favor of hovering over the bucket. Knuckles had tried to explain that letting out the vomit was worse, (his father told him so) because you never knew when you were going to get another meal. Sonic, hadn’t listened of course and kept throwing up. 

“Hurts more” Sonic had whined that morning before promptly throwing up his breakfast onto Knuckles’ bedroll.

Whatever, Knuckles could teach Sonic the right way to be sick later, for now, it was in Knuckles’ best interest to keep his own meals down and keep an eye on Sonic’s fever. 

…

“Knuckles?”

Knuckles squirmed as a finger was jabbed against his nose, he swatted the hand away, only for the finger to jab him in the eye. Knuckles growled and opened his eyes to glare at Sonic, nose twitching in annoyance.

“What?” Knuckles grumbled, pressing Sonic's head against the bedroll like one would an alarm clock.

Sonic yelped and flailed under Knuckles’ hand, kicking and squirming at light speed. When Knuckles released his charge, Sonic darted to the otherside of the hut, glaring at Knuckles so hard that if looks could kill, Knuckles would be dead where he lay. 

“I gotta go potty” Sonic mumbled, reaching behind him to smooth out his quills. Knuckles groaned and turned his face into his fathers pillow, his head was still pounding and his stomach protested with cramps at the idea of getting up.

“Go by yourself” Knuckles moaned, folding the pillow up over the sides of his head.

“I don’t wanna go by myself!” Sonic protested, speeding over to sprawl atop of Knuckles’ back, causing another low moan to escape the echidna as pressure was put onto his lower back and his stomach was pressed into the ground.

Knuckles closed his eyes tight as his vision went white, and for a terrifying moment, he felt bile coming up his throat. He would have screamed at Sonic to get off him, keyword ‘would’ had he not thrown up all over his fathers pillow and, subsequently, the bed roll. Sonic made a disgusted noise and scrambled back.  Two things happened directly after this.

One: There was the noise of several ring portals being activated all around the small village and many, many people stepping out of them.

And two: Sonic let out the most horrifying scream Knuckles had ever heard as the door to the hut was busted in.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

Sonic sobbed as Knuckles forced the hedgehog through the back window, out of the hut ring bag in hand. Knuckles turned around as quickly as he could, vision still blurry and mouth tasting horribly of vomit. Before him were three tall masked people all holding an assortment of shiny weapons Knuckles had never seen before. He slammed his fists together, more than willing to hold the intruders back while Sonic escaped. Knuckles froze as Sonic screamed from outside the hut, Knuckles worried his lip, glancing at the trio, the window and the door. The door was blocked by the group, the window was his best option, but he would be turning his back on the group. Knuckles looked around warily, heart pounding as Sonic’s wails echoed through the village grounds. 

Sonic came first.

He had to get to Sonic.

…

Knuckles groaned as Sonic held his hand tight, running as fast as Knuckles could go. Knuckles was fast, and he was sure that if he wasn’t still sick, he would be able to keep up with the hedgehog. Never as fast as Sonic, but pretty close. Knuckles coughed and pressed the back of his free hand over his mouth, silently begging whatever was left in his stomach to stay down.

Sonic was sobbing and pleading with Knuckles to run faster as the two of them tripped over roots and rocks. Knuckles did his best, but he was tired and his mind was spent, his footing unsure as he was pulled along.

“Come on! Come on!” Sonic pleaded, whimpering as the forest behind them came alive with hunters, “Longclaw and your dumb tribe can help! They’ll stop fighting to get those guys!”

Knuckles was too tired to berate Sonic for calling his tribe dumb, his vision swam and tilted as he looked at his smaller companion. Sonic’s drawstring bag jingled incessantly, and his bright red little shoes were a blur among the forest floor. 

Something was important about that bag… what was important about it? As Knuckles’ muddled mind tried to answer his question, there was a loud BANG and the tree in front of them had a large chunk missing from it. Sonic screamed and yanked them to the side, tripping and face planting into the dirt, nearly pulling Knuckles with him. He pulled Sonic back up to his feet and off they went once more.

Stupid bag… what was in it? Knuckles forced himself to take slower breaths, his lungs were screaming for air and it wouldn’t do him any good to breathe quickly.

There was something in the bag that would help… something small… He had checked when he had confiscated the bag the first time he had captured Sonic… 

RINGS! His mind screamed triumphantly, that's what it had! 

“So-” Knuckles gagged and recovered his mouth, slow breaths, slow… slow, just like father showed him… Another loud bang, this time, the dirt behind them exploded up, showering them in rocks and dirt. Sonic wailed and dragged them in another random direction.

“Sonic- ring!” Knuckles choked out, voice ragged and skull pounding. 

Sonic fumbled to open the bag with one hand, “Longclaw only showed me once-” He yelled, scrubbing at his face.

Knuckles huffed, stuck his fist inside the bag, pulled out a ring, and threw it. He shoved Sonic through first and then hurled himself after, the portal shutting down moments later with a ping. Knuckles groaned as he rolled onto all fours in the soft sand and threw up, stomach cramping hard as his head pounded, ears ringing and shame pumping through his body.

…

It was around midday when he woke up with Sonic pressed against his stomach, eyes wide open as he looked around. The sand under him was pleasantly warm, his mouth tasted horrible, but at least he didn’t feel sick anymore. He pet Sonic’s head gently with a relaxed hand, smiling softly as green eyes met his. The smile fell as Sonic burst into tears. Panic budded in Knuckles and for a moment, he forgot about why exactly they were at the beach.

“I-” Sonic’s voice was high and loud. Knuckles had to fight the urge to slap a hand over his charges mouth, not wanting to be caught by the strange people from the night before. 

“I thou-gh-ght you were d-dead!” Sonic sobbed, clinging to Knuckles so tight, he might have mistaken Sonic for a really, really, weak echidna. He scoffed at Sonic’s moronic idea.

“Nonsense,” he sat up, dragging Sonic up to sit beside him, “I am not dead”  this didn’t soothe the hedgehog like he had hoped, if anything Sonic cried louder . Knuckles was at a loss, usually his father scolded him whenever he cried for no apparent reason… but one exception was that it was ok to cry over the dead.

Sonic had thought Knuckles was dead. Then again, Sonic cried at every little inconvenience and thing that upset him, so perhaps this was just Sonic being Sonic. Even so… Knuckles grabbed the hedgehog by the chin. Sonic yelped in surprise and stared up at Knuckles with big wet eyes.

“You will stop this nonsense right now. I am not dead,” He scolded harshly, “there is no reason to cry. Crying is for the dead, and I am not dead!” This… also did not help. Sonic pushed Knuckles’ hand away and reattached himself to Knuckles’ stomach. Knuckles sighed and pulled Sonic away, thoroughly annoyed. 

“You will stop!” 

CRACK!

Knuckles froze, surprised at himself, Sonic was laying on his side in the sand, hand on his cheek and eyes wide. Knuckles’ heart stopped for a moment as Sonic sat up and stared at him, betrayal written in his eyes. 

“Owie…” Sonic whined, eyes brimming once more with tears. 

Knuckles curled in on himself, ashamed of his action, “I- I am sorry” He apologized softly, “let me see”

Sonic tentatively leaned forward and let Knuckles look at his cheek. Knuckles frowned and poked it, heart clenching when Sonic whined. Another part of Knuckles wanted to tell Sonic to grow up, Knuckles shoved that part down. Sonic wasn’t an echidna, he worked differently. Sure, he was soft and pathetic, and could toughen up a little, but he didn’t deserve to be hit. 

“I am sorry” He repeated softly, pulling the hedgehog to his chest.

Sonic didn't respond.

…

“Alright, think of Longclaw's hut really hard” Knuckles instructed, he was standing behind Sonic, the hedgehog's hand in his own.

Sonic nodded, “Okay, got it” he grinned, “Can I throw it now?” he asked, twisting his head to look up at Knuckles. 

Knuckles worried his lip between his teeth, just narrowly avoiding cutting his lip with his sharper teeth. If Sonic messed it up there was no real harm done, Knuckles couldn’t think of much Sonic could do by accident, besides being a pain in his tail.

Slowly, Knuckles nodded. The ring was thrown, they stepped through and landed inside Longclaw's hut, Knuckles looked at the arrows and spears lodged into the floorboards. They were his tribes, he could tell by the engravings on them.

“I did it! I d-” Sonic’s cheer was cut short as a horrid smell greeted their noses, Knuckles gagged and covered the lower part of his face. Knuckles watched as Sonic tentatively stepped towards the front door of the hut and gasped, darting back to Knuckles’ side, shaking his head violently.

Knuckles pushed the hedgehog away and looked out the door. He swallowed thickly as he looked out, the bodies of his tribe were strewn everywhere, their bodies starting the decomposing process, below, in the very center of the clearing was his father and Longclaw. From the distance Knuckles was standing it almost looked like his father was resting in the grass, hand limply curled around his spear. Knuckles fought the urge to jump as Sonic pressed his face against Knuckles’ back.

“You said that one of them would win,” He whimpered softly, Knuckles couldn’t tear his gaze off of his father, only really hearing half of what Sonic said.

His father had promised to return. His father had told him that they were going to return home glorious. His tribe had promised they wouldn’t be gone long. Knuckles and Sonic had waited for two weeks for at least one of the sides to come to the village victorious. 

Knuckles had been so sure his tribe was undefeatable, unstoppable even, he hadn’t even considered what he was going to do if they didn’t return. 

Sonic hugged him tighter, “Is… are all of them dead?” He asked softly. 

Knuckles didn’t know how to respond.

Chapter Text

Knuckles kneeled beside his fathers still body, nose burning at the smell. He fought the urge to glare at Longclaw's body, purely for Sonic’s sake. His hands trembled as he brushed a cluster of quills off of his fathers still face. Knuckles pressed his head under his fathers chin, ignoring the stench of dried blood in favor of clinging to Bricks’ chest.  

It was a soft bubble at first, a small, ugly noise from the back of his throat. Knuckles cleared his throat and held his breath. His fathers body was cold and still, limbs stiff and limp from its days in the cold. 

…

“You’ll never learn to fight if you insist on sniveling each time I hit you” Bricks scowled, brown eyes that were, normally, warm and kind, were as cold as ice.

Knuckles nursed his elbow, flinching as his father moved forward towards him. He instinctively covered his face, fearing another prod from his fathers staff, breath hitching as tears dripped down his face. Instead, a heavy hand bumped the top of his. Knuckles froze and let his hands fall to his sides. Knuckles’ breath caught in his throat as he looked up at his father.

This time, Bricks’ eyes were soft and round, his face looked tired as he kneeled down to meet Knuckles at eye level. It had been a month since Knuckles’ mother had departed and went to the great battleground in the sky and Knuckles’ wasn’t given the time to mourn. The two year old, who had barely learned to jump, was suddenly thrust into strict combat training with his older peers. He was given chores and was threatened with harsh repercussions if he failed to do them right. At night Knuckles was too tired to dream and slept like the dead. 

It was a painful, but welcome change from before. The night of his mothers death, Knuckles had woken up screaming from dreams he could never remember. Bricks had gripped Knuckles’ shoulders so tightly Knuckles could feel his shoulders run along the edges of his sockets, it had woken Knuckles up nicely. Knuckles vaguely remembered his father dragging him into a tight hug and lifting Knuckles into his arms, high off the floor and away from the nightmares in his bedroll. 

“You’ll figure it out” Bricks sighed, removing his hand from Knuckles’ head and walking back to his spot in the field, “Keep your fists up this time boy, and for the love of the fallen, stop that crying”

…

Knuckles clenched and clung to his fathers body as his back was tapped, he turned and snarled at the offender, only to realize it was Sonic. His eyes were puffy and red-rimmed. His cheeks damp as he jerked away from Knuckles, ears dipping down against his head.

“Im sorry-” Sonic yelped and Knuckles immediately felt shame throbb through his body. This was the second time Knuckles had caused Sonic to whimper in fear in just 24 hours. He didn’t want Sonic to fear him.

“It is ok, h-” he cleared his throat, “Sonic” Voice quivering, as he stared at Sonic, “I am sorry for scaring you”

Deeming the conversation over, Knuckles returned his attention back to his father. He rested his head back under his fathers chin, only to be interrupted once more.

“Knuckles?” Sonic asked again, voice soft.

Knuckles slid his eyes open and lifted his head to look at Sonic, “What do you wa-” Knuckles surprised himself as a ragged sob escaped his throat. His eyes were burning and the smell of rotted bodies really, really, didn’t help. Knuckles rubbed furiously at his eyes, he turned his head back to his father.

‘Crying is for the dead boy’ but you are dead! Knuckles wanted to wail, not exactly sure why crying this time felt wrong. He scratched at his baby fur as his breath hitched and caught in his throat. Why? Why was it so hard this time? He was allowed to cry for the dead. His whole tribe was dead! And yet… Nothing happened, no tears fell no matter how hard Knuckles wanted to. His eyes stung as he forced himself to stand up and turn his attention towards Sonic.

He frowned at the hedgehog, Sonic fidgeted with a long feather, no longer looking up at the Echidna. Knuckles sighed and rubbed at his eyes once more before brushing the dirt off his fur.

“Are you finished with Longclaw for the time being?” Knuckles asked softly, not trusting his voice to be louder than a whisper. Sonic nodded, twirling the feather in his fingers. Unlike the rest of Longclaw, this feather was clean and well taken care of. Not a hint of battle remaining on it.

“Yeah” Sonic mumbled toeing the ground with his shoe. Knuckles nodded and nudged Sonic back to the stairs of Longclaw’s hut.

“Good” Knuckles nodded, forcing himself to look forward and up at the hut, not trusting himself to look at his tribemates. Sonic shuffled awkwardly, steps unnaturally slow as Knuckles pushed him forward.

“We have much to do” Knuckles sniffed, squaring his shoulders as they made their way up the steps, “We don’t know if or when those people are going to find us,” he felt Sonic shiver once and whimper softly, pressing into Knuckles’ side, “So we need to find somewhere to go… Somewhere safe”

“Safe that's not here?” Sonic asked as they walked inside, his face, somehow, falling more into despair.

Knuckles nodded as he walked up to the center of the room and pulled Sonic’s drawstring bag open, “The other night was not the first time those masked people showed up,” Knuckles said, pulling Longclaw’s map out.

“Fath-” Knuckles’ swallowed as his heart clenched, “Father, said that those men want to take us to an arena” He turned and picked Sonic up, setting him on the branch that wormed its way into the center of the hut, “Where they’ll make us fight other prisoners”

Sonic’s ears folded back and his eyes blew open wide, pupils shrinking in fear, “I don’t wanna fight anybody!” He wailed and Knuckles had to jerk forward to slam his hand over the hedgehog's mouth, glancing outside warily.

“Quiet!” He scolded, then paled as Sonic licked his hand. “EW! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?” Knuckles yelped, shaking his glove out as Sonic stuck his tongue out at Knuckles. Nose scrunched up in disgust, Knuckles returned to the map, face hot with frustration.

“You started it!” Sonic huffed, crossing his arms and turning his head away from Knuckles.

“I did not!” Knuckles stomped his foot, causing the whole hut to shake. Sonic paled as the branch shuddered from the force, his grip on his feather visibly tightening. Knuckles paused and grabbed Sonic's shoulder, in case the hedgehog fell off. Knuckles forced himself to take a long deep breath and carefully let go of Sonic.

“I don’t wanna fight anybody” Sonic whimpered, curling in on himself. Knuckles frowned and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Sonics.

“You listen to me Sonic” Knuckles said firmly in all his 6 year old glory, “as long as we are together, I will protect you with all that I am,” Knuckles grabbed Sonic’s shoulders as he pulled away, looking into Sonic’s big green eyes.

“You promise I don’t have to fight anyone?” Sonic whimpered, ears folded back.

Knuckles frowned and shook his head, “I cannot promi-”

“PINKY PROMISE!” Sonic growled firmly, sticking his littlest finger out and jabbing Knuckles’ nose with it. Knuckles jerked back and glared at Sonic, then at his own gloved hands.

“My ‘pinky’ isn’t accessible” He said firmly, pushing Sonic’s hand away, “and even if it was, I wouldn’t be able to promise that” Knuckles’ frown deepened as Sonic pushed his other hand away in retaliation.

Sonic glared at the floor, cheeks hot with anger. Knuckles scoffed and tilted Sonic’s head up to look at him, much like how his father used to, “That does not mean I will not try” Knuckles said softly.

Sonic pushed his fist away again, eyes still big and wide, “I don’t wanna fight anyone”

Knuckles nodded, “I understand”

It was silent for a while after that, Knuckles thumbed over Longclaw's map, trying to make sense of the circles around the planet, ‘E-arth’... ‘Ear-th?’

…

…

The circled planet, while Sonic pet his feather gently, trying to stick it in his quills every so often. Knuckles briefly considered removing one of his twine wrappings from his quills so Sonic could keep the feather and have both of his hands free, but Sonic hadn’t explicitly asked, so Knuckles didn’t say anything. Knuckles flipped the map over, hoping for a list of rules of some sort. When he found none, Knuckles sighed unhappily, folded the paper back up, and rubbed his eyes with the sides of his fists.

Knuckles flinched as Sonic flopped atop of his head, yawning as if he was the one who had been looking at a stupid map and not Knuckles.

Knuckles fought the urge to push Sonic off, he had been pressed into an odd position, his head and arms pinned against the branch while he was forced to stay on his tippy toes (the only way he could use the branch like a table. Knuckles glared at the branch, but didn’t move.

“Knuckles?” Sonic asked, voice tired and soft, Knuckles didn’t half mind the gentle pressure of Sonic’s little body.

Knuckles sighed and attempted to shift into a more comfortable position, “What do you want?” he growled, if Sonic noticed, he pretended not to.

“Was your Dad a nice dad?” Knuckles squirmed as Sonic pet his quill clusters, the feeling felt odd and Knuckles didn’t entirely hate it.

Knuckles paused, then replied, “Haven't we already gone over this?”

Sonic shifted slightly, resting his chin on the back of Knuckles’ head, “What about your Momma? ”

Knuckles’ heart pinched, he didn’t have very many memories of his mother, just a blurry face and a stern, but kind voice. His father held her in high esteem when he chose to speak about her, telling Knuckles the most wonderful stories when it was raining and the thunder scared Knuckles awake.

“You’re stronger than those clouds boy” Bricks scolded softly, rubbing the back of Knuckles’ neck with old cracked gloves.

“Sorry” Knuckles sniffled, scrubbing his face into Bricks’ chest listening to the strong thud of his heart against Knuckles’ ear, lulling him into a relaxed state until thunder rolled and lightning crashed Knuckles jolted awake and the process would begin again, and again, and again until Knuckles could hardly bare it and h-

“Your Mother loved rainstorms” Bricks spoke softly, but his voice carried over the storm and Knuckles could feel his fathers chest rumble as he spoke. 

‘Like thunder’ his brain supplied, slightly fearful, but Knuckles couldn’t figure out why, but it didn’t matter, because as soon as his father started talking again the fear melted away.

“Didn’t matter what time of day it was, it could have been the middle of the night for all she cared” His father laughed, but it was dry and void of any emotion besides sorrow. “She would gather everyone outside and bask in the rain”

Knuckles tilted his head back to get a good look at his fathers face, surprised to find Bricks’ eyes shiny and wet, but no tears fell.

“She took you out too, when you were just a puggle” Knuckles’ eyes drooped as his fathers fist rocked up and down his little neck, drawing the smallest of shapes, “swore up and down that you deserved to feel it too” Knuckles’ yiped in surprise as his father sat up slowly, Knuckles held firmly in one arm.

“Dunno how into it she was after you got sick the next day” Bricks’ tone turned dark, “You always were sick at one point or another,” Knuckles bit his tongue as the gentle rubbing turned harsh for just a moment before it relaxed again.

“Some of the others still go out sometimes, but it isn’t the same without her” Knuckles hummed softly as Bricks stood up and walked to the door of the hut. Thunder cracked with such ferocity that Knuckles swore he could feel the ground shake, even in his fathers arms.

“She was the reason we bathed in it” Knuckles yelped as Bricks walked out of the hut, away from the safety the roof gave them and forced Knuckles’ head up with his, “Close your eyes” He murmured, “feels better that way”

Lighting split the sky and Knuckles closed his eyes tight, nose shivering as his body was drenched in the downpour. 

“Do you feel her?” Bricks asked softly, bringing Knuckles closer to his chest, Knuckles, at the time, had such a clear picture of her in his head. 

He nodded, “Yeah papa, I do”  because if his father was the thunder, then his mother was surely the lightning. He forced his eyes open and squinted up at the sky as lightning danced across the thick clouds, the thunder rolling just after it.

Knuckles hummed and peeled Sonic off of him, setting the hedgehog on the ground, “She was” Sonic, blinked up at him blearily and Knuckles ushered his companion to the spot furthest away from the windows and the door. Away from the truth laying outside, just several feet away from them.

“That's good,” Sonic yawned, rubbing his eyes as he let Knuckles move him around. Knuckles smiled a little as Sonic plopped down onto the floor, brushing the feather against his cheek slowly.

….

Knuckles was tired, scratch that. 

He was exhausted. No, he hadn’t stayed up all night looking at the map, (even if he really, really wanted to) instead he had moved from window to window, making sure the hunters didn’t get the jump on them during the night. This made for a very… very grumpy morning. Sonic had woken up several times during the night, sobbing about Longclaw and the hunters that had attacked him and Knuckles. Knuckles had done his best to calm Sonic down each time, but it always ended with Sonic screaming himself back to sleep.

Knuckles wasn’t fond of that, it made him anxious that someone was going to hear them and simply covered Sonic's mouth each time it happened, forcing the hedgehog to breathe through his nose and fall asleep against Knuckles’ hand.

Both of them were grumpy, sleep deprived and already wanting the day to be over. Knuckles rubbed his eye as he dropped the pile of fruits he had collected out of sheer boredom onto the floor. Sonic groaned and pushed them away.

“I don’t want more fruit!” He whined, stamping his foot. 

It took all Knuckles had to not scream back at the hedgehog, “This is what you are getting” Knuckles growled, “I do not know how to cook or capture anything else”

This did not prompt Sonic to eat the fruit, instead the fruit was thrown and the two spent a good hour throwing the food at one another.

….

They were here. Knuckles pulled Sonic tighter to his chest, keeping his hand over Sonic’s mouth as he had done the night before. The hunters hadn’t looked inside the hut yet, but Knuckles feared they would soon. They were here and Knuckles didn’t know what to do. 

They were here and Sonic wouldn’t stop crying.

They were here and Knuckles couldn’t breathe.

They were here and Knuckles wouldn’t be able to stop them.

They were here and he and Sonic were trapped in a hut.

They were here and Knuckles was scared .

Sonic whimpered, chest heaving as he clutched his drawstring bag and f… his drawstring bag… the MAP! 

Knuckles didn’t know what earth looked like, but maybe if he thought about its name really hard, the ring would understand. The hunters started stomping up the stairs. Knuckles opened the bag and grabbed a ring, feeling a strong sense of deja vu as he scrambled to his feet, Sonic in one arm. He teetered to the side as he threw the ring, Sonic throwing him off balance as the ring hummed to life. The hunters screamed in a language Knuckles didn’t understand, but it really didn’t matter as he hobbled through it, the portal closing with a whirr behind them.

Knuckles ran, his attention focused behind him, the two suddenly slammed into a hard wide sign. Sonic yelped as Knuckles fell atop of him, pressing him slightly into the ground.

Knuckles groaned and sat up, rubbing his nose and glaring up at the sign.

“Welcome… to… Green hills”  He read slowly, sitting up onto his knees.

Knuckles looked around as he pulled Sonic to his feet, dusting the dirt off of his companion, they were next to what looked like a black trail, metal railing running alongside it. Other than that, they were completely surrounded by tall evergreen trees, large fat bushes, and the odd weed poking out of the ground.

“Where are we?” Sonic asked, voice raw from crying and still covered head to toe in berry juice.

Knuckles shrugged, “Green hills” 

Sonic looked around nervously, “Are they gonna find us?” He asked timidly.

Knuckles shrugged again and took Sonic's hand in his, pulling the hedgehog away from the odd looking trail, “let's not stand here and find out”

……

Green hills… was… AWESOME! Sonic cackled as he ran through the forest and up the mountain, Knuckles had told him not to wander off too far… buuuut Sonic was certain he could find the echidna again in no time. It wasn’t like Sonic’s old home where there were actual tracks for him to run on (There were tracks, but those had big scary metal things on them and Sonic didn’t want to find out what those ate) but there were rocks and mountains of all kinds to explore. Every nook, cranny, and tight space was his to conquer.  They had been in Green hills for about a week and everything was fine so far, no hunters had come to get them so Sonic reckoned that he was fine to stray a little farther away from where Knuckles was digging their shelter. 

Sonic darted around the outskirts of the little town and hopped up onto ‘buildings’ (A new word he had learned from listening to the mostly hairless creatures) roofs watching the people of the big place wander around and go about their daily lives. It was nice, watching them do things they found normal. Sonic had found his distraction and he planned to use it for all its worth. 

He had even found his favorite people to watch already! Not that they ever saw him, he was much too fast for anyone to really see him.

Donut Lord was like, the BEST person by far, he ruled over his donut population with a heavy hand and ate any of them that stepped out of line. Sonic liked watching Donut lord, and the town apparently loved Donut Lord just as much as Sonic did. He seemed to go everywhere and help everyone in town, letting ducks cross the street, and helping the odd kid who fell down on their wheeled contraptions.

Knuckles liked going to town too, but only at night. Sonic was, technically, not allowed to be anywhere near town. So Sonic wasn’t sure what Knuckles did while in town, only that he brought back food that didn’t suck quite as much as the berries did.

Pretzel lady was also very cool, and had zero bones. Though… Sonic would never tell, but she was kinda only his second favorite person. It wasn’t her fault! Pretzel lady was awesome! She helped this planet's animals and was really nice, but Sonic had found Donut lord first, and that made him the best. Had Sonic found Pretzel lady first, then she would be the best!

Sonic hoped she never found out about his favoritism. Not that she even knew she was second to Donut lord anyways…

She didn’t know Sonic even existed… 

Neither did Donut lord…

Sonic paused at the top of the mountain and sat on the edge, watching the sun dip down into the trees. Knuckles would be expecting Sonic to return to the burrow soon… 

……..

Sonic whined as Knuckles dumped water over his head. They were sitting in a creek, (The shallow end) their shoes, socks, and gloves abandoned beside them on a rock.

“Stop whining” Knuckles scolded, combing his fingers through Sonic's quills, “it's important to be clean”.

“Who are we even washing for!?” Sonic grumbled as Knuckles picked out the twigs and rocks that had lodged themselves into Sonic's quills.

“Ourselves,” Knuckles scoffed, as if that were obvious. Sonic groaned again and kicked at the water, only for his foot to be grabbed by Knuckles, “Stop that. I don’t want to sit around smelling you all day,” his foot was dropped back into the water and Knuckles bent down to scoop more water into his hands.

“We don’t even have soap” Sonic argued as Knuckles dumped the handful of water onto his head.

“People don’t really throw that away,” Knuckles shrugged, pulling out a broken quill from Sonic’s head, “But even if we did, we wouldn’t use it in the creak. Hold your breath”. Sonic pinched his nose as his face was dunked underwater for a few seconds. When he came back up Knuckles moved away from him, working on his own quills.

“Why not?” Sonic asked, still sitting in the creak, unsure if Knuckles wanted him to stay in or not.

“It’s bad for the fish,” Knuckles said, shaking his quills out as he moved on to tend to his arms, “and they deserve to live in a clean home away from chemicals that could hurt them”

 Sonic guessed that made sense.

…

After their bath, Sonic and Knuckles walked (Well Sonic ran back and forth between Knuckles and the burrow) back to the burrow.

“It's booooring in the burrow!” Sonic whined, pausing to look at the fireflies beginning to wake up and fly around. 

Knuckles huffed in frustration as he tried fixing his gloves on right, “It’s not supposed to be fun.” Knuckles scoffed, attempting to fix his gloves again, “And stop running off!”

“NO!” And just like that, Sonic was gone again. 

….

The raccoons were getting in the trash again. Tom groaned as the trash can tipped over, causing a loud clatter he blindly fumbled for the side table light as he kicked off his blankets. Beside him, Maddie mumbled in her sleep, shifting onto her side with a soft huff. Tom paused, his hand hovering over the light switch, it would be better if he kept the light off. There was no real reason to wake her up as well. He pulled on a sweater and stumbled to the door quietly, making sure to leave it open a crack so as to not rouse her on his way back in.

Tom stumbled down the stairs and peered at the back door, he grabbed his flashlight (hitting it on the trash can lid always seemed to scare them away) and opened the back door. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as the cool autumn air wafted into the house and brushed his skin. Tom rounded the house like a man on a mission, he flicked his flashlight on and turned the corner. He yelped as two large violet eyes flashed in the led light. 

The thing moved faster than Tom could really comprehend, there was a bright red stretch of light and then nothing, leaving the torn trash bags on the ground. Tom frowned and crouched down to clean the trash up, noticing a substantial amount of old rotted food missing. He rocked back on his heels and glanced to the side where a grocery bag lay.

“Odd…” He muttered and pulled the bag towards his feet. As Tom inspected the bag, (Since when had raccoons… or whatever that thing was, learn to put their food in a bag to save for later?) he felt the strange feeling of someone watching him.

_________

Ok! Tom will admit, Science was never his best subject, nor was he ever good at interacting with animals like Maddie (there was a reason she was the veterinarian and he was the cop), but he did know the basics of an experiment!

Ok… what did he know?

First, whatever was digging through his trash was smart, fast, and big. Possibly reaching just below his hip.

Second, it had a friend, or something small to take care of. Otherwise it would have eaten the food right then and there.

Third… he hadn’t seen any of the actual raccoons in a while, so whatever this was, scared them away. Tom didn’t know if he should be relieved about that, or worried that the  -red blurr? Whatever- Could hurt something or someone. (Tom was no stranger to coyotes, even if the danger of them was few and far inbetween) 

Fourth, whatever it was… eating moldy food couldn’t be healthy for anyone and either Tom needed to put new locks on his trash bins, or buy some extra food from the store.

He was hoping for the second option, and that Maddie wouldn’t notice when he made a little extra spaghetti during dinner time.

—-----

She noticed, and was, apparently on board with the whole ‘feed the random giant ass creature’ (Or FTGAC… he needed a better name for that).

“You could have just told me from the start” She teased as they walked through the vegetable aisle, “You know I would have said yes”.

Tom shrugged as he stuffed a few bell peppers into the safety bag and set them at the front of the cart.

“But whatever this thing is,” She continued, opening her own vegetable bag, you can’t keep giving them such greasy foods, we don’t know what they can stomach yet”

“Trial and error” Tom replied, bumping his hip playfully into hers, he grinned as he ducked from her playful swipe at his head.

—---

Sonic stared at the bag of food Knuckles dropped down into the burrow in awe, “how did you do that?!” Sonic gasped as he began shifting through the bag, “I thought we weren't supposed to go into town” Sonic pulled out a bag of crackers and pulled it open, shoving a handful into his mouth.

Knuckles shrugged and sat down beside him, “You know that hut, just outside of town?”

“The one with the big clearing?” Sonic asked, cheeks full and round.

Knuckles nodded, “This was sitting on the stump just on the edge of their clearing” He pulled the items out of the bag and looked them over, “There wasn’t even a trap or anything, they just… left it there”

Sonic looked up at him, then back down at the food, “we’re really lucky they forgot it!” he beamed, and Knuckles swore it was brighter than the sun itself.

______

Tom and Maddie sat on the couch for a good long while, not talking, just staring at the wall and then at each other every so often.

Tom broke the silence first, “Do you have any idea what kind of animal that was?”

Maddie shook her head and leaned against him, in her hand was her phone, a blurry, yet slightly clear picture of 'Big red’ was brightly shown on it, holding the bag in his hands, “I wouldn’t even know where to begin with him”