♥︎『Fanged Rebels』♥︎

♡Ⲥhⲁⲣⲧⲉⲅ 30

The next moment I woke up, I found myself laying on a soft bed with a bright sunlight getting in through a window in the room. Opening my eyes I covered them right after and whined a little, as I turned my back towards the window to not let the sunlight bother my sensitive sight. Just a few moments after that, I could hear a knock on the door, which made me perk my ears up and I carefully changed my position to sit on the bed instead. I was back in the guest room now and Shadow wasn't here with me, which scared me a little.
"Come in!" I called out to the whoever was behind the door and it turned out to be none other but Tikal. Not the person I expected and wanted to see, but at least it wasn't the annoying queen.
"Good morning. I am bringing you your breakfast," Tikal entered the room with a tray in her hands, which she carefully set on the table. The awesome scent of egg omelettes and bacon filled the room and reached my nostrills, which also awakened my actually really hungry stomach.

"Thank you, miss Tikal," I replied politely and approached the table to sit by it.
"Where is Shadow?" I asked her afterwards, actually just staring at the meal. Despite how appetizing it looked and how hungry my stomach felt, I still didn't allow myself to fully give in to the urge to start eating due to the worry about my partner.
"Your king is going through... a terrible episode right now. He hasn't slept for the whole night and... requested a private room for himself," Tikal gave me a straight answer and I could feel my heart drop.
"I need to see him!" I said firmly and stood up. The echidna gently placed her hands on my shoulders and tried to push me back down.
"Please, Sonic, listen. Your king needs some alone time to reconcile with the tragedy regarding his parents. Me and Knuckles were the ones finding you two in the cell. Your king was close to attack us at first, but we assured him, that we come in peace. After that, he entrusted us to take you out of the dungeon, whilst he took a moment to mourn his parents' departure. I stayed there to accompany him. Knuckles brought you here and healed your injuries. Right before the sunrise, I guided your king out of there and granted his wish to have a room only for himself, so he could grief in peace and without any disturbances," she explained the whole story to me, whilst I slowly descended back on the chair and went speechless, as I lowered my ears and felt the guilt once again filling my core.

"So... he does not want to see even me?" I asked sadly.
"Deepest apologies, Sonic, he does not wish to see anyone in general at the current moment. Give him some time, I am sure, that eventually he might even pay you a visit on his own," she gently squeezed my shoulder, just like back then in the hallway, when I was about to search for my king and the echidna queen. Which brought another question to the front of my mind.
"By the way, what happened to your queen after all that?" I let the question out loud while looking up at Tikal.
"Our queen is gone for good, thankfully," Tikal stated in a serious tone and even let out a small sigh of relief.
"Aren't you sad, that she..." I trailed off and she shook her head.
"No. Why should we mourn someone so strict and dare I say, evil? It is only for the best, that she is now gone. Our people are at peace once again," she made a really good point, which I couldn't disagree with.

"And we owe you a lot for that, Sonic. You practically saved us from her ruthless rules," she continued and I felt myself getting a bit flustered by such praise.
"Oh, uh.. I am not really proud of it, but.. if you insist," I shrugged while looking down.
"On the bright side, we are going to have a council session this afternoon, where we will discuss, who will become the new king or queen of the tribe," she said in a bit more cheerful tone this time and glancing up at her I saw a bright smile on her face. I returned that smile and nodded.
"Sounds good. Thank you, miss Tikal, for everything," I replied calmly and she gently patted my back.
"There, no need to thank me. It's been an honor to serve you and your king the best I could," she giggled, then backed away.
"Now, if you excuse me, I need to do some work in the garden again and then I shall attend to the session," she added and I gave her a nod of approval.
"Of course, go ahead. I'll help myself around," I said kindly and she bowed respectfully to me before leaving me alone in the room. Alone with only my own thoughts filling my head.