Sonic X 2: Mobius

Chapter 14: Refuge and Healing

I woke the next morning feeling groggy and stiff from sleeping on the hard floor. I look up and look around, not remembering where I was. I was in a living room that seemed big enough to be for a human.

I look around and realize everyone was there. Silver was sleeping the closest to me on the floor; he was dead asleep from the fight yesterday. Antoine and Bunny where sleeping together on the other side of Silver. I turn to see Shadow is sitting in a corner with his chin resting on his chest, his eyes were closed and his arms where folded, his fingers twitching slightly as he dreamed. Rouge took one couch and Sally took the other with Tails at her feet. His two tails folded over his body like a natural blanket.

I look around at my sleeping friends and smile, but it vanishes when I realize that Sonic and Knuckles aren't in the room. I move to get up, but my body was too stiff to really do anything.

"Knuckles?" I asked quietly, hoping he was just out of my view and he would answer.

My voice woke Silver. He groaned quietly, blinked and looked at me. "It's okay, Em." He said with a yawn. "She took them to a spare room where they can rest properly."

"She?" I asked.

Silver nodded. "Don't you remember? We made it to this house late last night; a woman and her hedgehog son took us in. I offered to help but she said we needed rest. I'm not sure what time Sally and the other came, but I remember you were already asleep."

I forced myself to sit up and stretch my sore body. "Did she say how they were?"

Silver shook his head. "I was asleep as soon as I laid down."

Our conversation woke Sally. She looked at us and smiled from her place on the couch. "I was here when she and her son were moving Sonic and Knuckles. She said they might take a while to recover."

"At least their alright." I said.

At that moment, we heard tapping coming from the wooden stairs. I get tense for a moment, then I realize it was a hedgehog boy who was no older than Tails. He was dark grey with a few black and white highlights in his quills. His eyes where ice blue and very striking, but they where clouded and the pupils where small, almost nonexistent. It took me a moment to realize that the boy was blind, yet he looked at us as if he could see us clearly.

He smiled and walked in to sit on the floor in front of Silver and me. "Good morning," He said, so cheerily that I couldn't help but smile at him. "How are you this morning? You guys were very tired when you came last night."

"We're stiff from sleeping on the floor," I said. "But we slept just fine. Where's Sonic and Knuckles?"

"So that's their names." The boy said. "I just checked on them. Their still unconscious, but they look better than they did last night."

I sigh in relief, but I couldn't help but think about the rest of the journey; the Summer Solstice was coming up and we still had to travel to the Great Desert to find Silver's Helmet of Deliverance.

"Oh!" The boy said, face-palming himself. "Where are my manners? My name is Storm Jones the Hedgehog."

"Pleasure, Storm," Silver said, shaking the boys hand. "My name is Silver and this is Emily. The other hedgehog there is Shadow. The squirrel is called Sally and the fox beside her is Tails. Over here is Bunny and Antoine. We've been traveling for a while and Eggman caught us. He's the reason why Sonic and Knuckles are in such bad shape and… Oh Em, we need to get some of these cuts cleaned up."

I look at my shoulder, my arm and my torso where that metal leopard had cut me. The cuts had clotted with blood and mud. They hurt still, but they didn't look bad.