Call Them Brothers by Regina Spektor, Only Son.
~~~

The Master Emerald continued to magnificently shine and radiate a smooth warmth. For the entire night, Chao waited beside the jewel- listening out for signs of the fox waking. Only when morning arrived did they hear Sonic's euphoric cheer and following group laughter.

Hours after and the mossy entrance brushed against it's stone arch, trailed by a sigh. The Chao moved to observe the blue blur brush through his quills and ascend the stairs. He was way too in his head to notice the little blue creatures, but shivered from the surprising chill emitting from the Master Emerald. The Chao cowered and many hid behind the fantastic jewel, yet when Cheese peaked out from blue quills- they seemingly relaxed.

"Oh." Sonic blinked, almost tripping over one of the animals that watched him with rather small eyes.

"Sorry, buddy." They hurried to their friends and the speedster scratched his head.

"You guys been waiting this whole time?" He chuckled. "Well, Tails is okay. Restin' now, but alive."

He examined thick, dark clouds and a grey sky- fur standing on end. "Knucks told me once the M.E gave off what ya wanted- I think he's lying to himself." He knocked on the jewel in question.

When he did, he noticed the Chao move around to stand on the other side of the shrine. What gives? They usually ran to him. He crouched on a knee with a raised eye ridge.

"You guys okay?"

"Chao chao!" Cheese smiled, hopped down and pointed to the speedster.

"Chao chao chao!"

A blue and orange one stepped closer. "Chao?"

"Chao!"

After a moment the group hummed and hopped side to side. They smiled and danced and some hugged his dirtied red shoes before they took towards their garden. Sonic scratched his head, looking to Cheese.

"Are we...cool?"

"Chao!"

"I'll take that as a yes." He turned to watch the Master Emerald.

He recalled how he offhandedly mentioned to the three below that sometimes, unexplainably, it felt like the terrific gem had this unwavering pull. They laughed, of course, and Sonic agreed he was just desperate to explore Angel Island.

Didn't really explain why he felt it after the first time he came to the floating isle, though.

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, rather furiously. But he stilled, freezing on his fingerless gloves. A blink and beastly claws stretched, bits of hair intertwined between digits and the tiniest patches of red decorated his skin. Sonic stumbled back, breath catching in his throat and murmured to himself.

"No no no...."

Looking again and it was all gone. No hair, blood and small claws. He hiccuped and clutched his chest, only to find Cheese already there. Little eyes were screwed shut and the poor thing did his best to hug as tightly as he could.

"I-I'm okay, pal. Really. Don't worry about me."

"Chao!"

Sonic sighed and rubbed the animals head with a thumb. "Thanks. You know, after all this I can't wait to have some chilli dogs and go on a run."

Despite his laugh, he shivered with the touch of something akin to ice on his shoulders. He really hated this feeling, and he despised how it was becoming so common. He refused to look, but it only became much much heavier (and it felt like millions were staring over him).

A soft voice rose among the whispers.

"Sonic?"

He sprung up and plastered on a brilliant grin, but it fell when he noticed Tails treading up the stairs. Quickly, he bolted to the fox's side and helped him up- with a frown.

"You're meant to be resting."

"I couldn't find you. Besides, Knuckles said I'm okay for a little walk."

"Yeah, but that's Knuckles."

Tails only rolled his eyes and let his brother assist in him sitting down. "So, why are you out here? It's gonna rain."

Sonic hummed, rubbed the underside of his nose and examined the sky. "You don't say?"

"Sonic."

"You know me- can't ever stay in one place for too long."

That was the thing though, wasn't it? Did he know Sonic?

"My head's a bit foggy, can you tell me what happened?"

The speedster stiffened and he looked to the opposing forest. The tress whispered in the wind.

"Towers sent some folks to arrest me. We got out- 'cause Vanilla and Cream need us."

"How?"

"The Tornado."

Sky blue eyes narrowed. He really admired Sonic's strong mind, but sometimes....

"Do you remember when we talked about the moon?" Tails stood with a groan, bringing his brother to watch him.

"Heh, somethin' about escaping there together- right?"

The twelve year old couldn't help smiling. "More or less. We...we still can, right?" He stepped closer, eyes quickly growing teary.

Sonic's head cocked to the side. "I mean, the Tornado's great and all but she can't get us to Space-."

"No I know, I-I meant...we're still in this together- aren't we?"

Green eyes widened and he crouched to meet a downcast blue. "Of course we are, Little Buddy. You're my brother."

'Protect him.'

"I want you to be safe."

"I-."

"And honest."

Sonic stalled. "Well hey now, we both know I've got a problem with being too honest." He chuckled, but Tails stared.

'He thinks you're dangerous. He's correct, look at what you're capable of with nothing but yourself. You need to keep him safe.'

His shoulders sagged. "Tails, I...."

He didn't know how.

"I know you've heard stuff- all of you. But that's from our enemies- people we can't trust. But...but you can trust me."

"Then what happened back there? I-I mean...you were...."

"I don't know."

It was nothing more than a whisper, but it managed to convey all the guilt and shame and fear. Sonic had never looked so...sunken before. Tails could recall when they all lost a past home- the expression on his brother's face killed him.

"Okay." He gently smiled.

"Not knowing is better than saying nothing overall. We'll figure it out- like we always do."

Trust came easily with brothers, after all.

—————

In a small clearing of trees, a glistening pond softly moved with the breeze. Flickies chirped and a small dock reached beyond a dark wooden hut. Little lanterns led the way to it's end where a fishing rod rested in the hands of a tremendous purple striped cat. With a belt, sandals and fishing hat, he hummed to himself as his legs swayed. A couple of sandwiches sat at his right and he turned when little patters danced through his large ears.

A ribbit later and he smiled. "Froggy! You woke- woah!"

He had attempted to pull his string back, but it appeared stuck. He frowned, stood and tried again- coming out fruitless. With a huff, he glanced around for ideas only for his friend to leap into the pond. Yellow eyes widened and he reached, dropping his rod.

"Froggy? Buddy!"

A ripple and the frog leaped out with something blindingly shiny and stunning in his mouth. He perched atop one of the docks posts and let the cat hold out a hand prior to spitting the object out.

Big the Cat had never seen something so beautiful before.

It was the deepest of cobalt blue's and twinkled beneath the grey sky. He didn't know why or how something so magnificent ended up in his pond, but he couldn't take his eyes off it.

"I dunno what this is, Froggy. It looks dangerous. Should we keep it?" He received a ribbit.

He hummed, turned and entered his little hut- managing to narrowly miss the start of a downpour. Setting the sparkling item on his worktop, Froggy jumped up and eyed it curiously.

"No fish, but it looks valuable. It looks like an emerald."