Rouge and the Rogue (Knuxouge)

First Day in the Forest

Rouge had been following Knuckles for quite a while now. Finally she asked him, "What are we doing today?"

"I was going to collect some reeds and weave them into baskets. Maybe even beds if there are enough."

"Beds made out of weeds..? Well," Rouge sighed, "I guess this is what I signed up for."

"If you can't stand to rough it, we could always take you back to the castle," Knuckles teased.

"Knuckles—! Trying the get rid of me already!" Rouge laughed in response.

Soon Rouge could hear the rushing water of a creek. She walked more briskly, Knuckles a bit behind her, eager to be able to find her own way around the forest. The creek was thin and clean; Rouge could see the smooth stones at the bottom clearly as the water played over them. She stared at the creek until Knuckles caught up.

"What's the big idea, running off on your own? You couldv'e gotten lost or stuck somewhere!" He huffed.

"You're forgetting I'm a bat. Super-good ears. As long as I can hear the creek, I won't get lost," she scoffed. Within the statement was a promise that she would be safe. She dipped her fingertips into the cold fresh water.

"Sure, that'll be fine until your ears drive you over a cliff." He stared at her for a second, then continued "We're not here to play in the water, we've got to find some reeds."

"Right," she picked herself up and looked around. They quickly found some thick reeds upstream. Knuckles took out a knife and started cutting their stalks.

"You didn't happen to bring a knife, did you?" He asked her over his shoulder.

"It must have slipped my mind."

"Stone ages it is, then. Get yourself a rock."

There were plenty of rocks around, so Rouge found an appropriately sharp one with no issues. Her hands started to sting after cutting down only a few reeds; as the Princess she'd never had to do physical labor before, and her hands had never known work. But she didn't want to look like a pansy, so she sucked it up and ignored the pain. While they harvested the plants, the two talked to each other.

"So, is a bed of grass comfortable?" Rouge asked.

"More comfortable than the ground," Knuckles replied. "Though there are some things you can use to cushion it. Moss is really soft."

"My old pillow was filled with feathers. Surely there are lots of those around."

Knuckles laughed. "How many birds would you have to pluck for one pillow?"

"Just one, if it was big enough," Rouge joked.

"A bird that big would feed us for weeks...Unless we left it alone with Charmy!"

"Speaking of, how do you catch and cook birds?"

Knuckles looked up, surprised. "You mean you want to learn?"

"Why not," she shrugged. "I might as well learn something."

"That's fair. First you'll need a bow and arrow, we have some extras at camp." Knuckles went on to explain how the bow and arrows worked, how to aim, and then how to cook the animal. "Of course you'll need to practice to get it down," he finished.

"Sounds simple enough." Rouge gathered up her bundle of reeds, now quite large. Knuckles did the same and they carried the bundles back to the clearing, continuing to discuss survival techniques on the way.

When they entered the clearing again, most of the bandits were back and cooking lunch. Blaze was relaxing near the cooking fire, shooting extra flames into it whenever it threatened to go out. Silver, Vector, Charmy, and Tails had some mystery meat on sticks that they rotated slowly over the fire.