𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒓 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑: 𝔽𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤

      Five orphan children who live in the forest among the nagas set out, as always, to collect berries, as the nun Sally asked them to do. On the way, they heard someone crying somewhere. Moreover, the voice is male, but she cries like a girl. — Stop! You hear? — Tiny asked. The sister and brothers stopped to listen. — Yes, I hear it too. — Sammy replied. — And I. — Benny answered — And me too. — Nelly answered. — It seems like it's from there! — Tails replied, pointing his right finger towards the bushes, behind which there was a very tall tree. The children walked behind these bushes and saw that inside the hole under the oak trees, someone was hiding, hugging his legs and crying, lying there. Moreover, the light does not get there, which is why in the darkness it is almost impossible to see who is hiding there. Nevertheless, the children were curious who was there. They approached him, knelt down and examined him. — Is this a Mobian? Just what is he doing here? — Sammy didn’t understand. — I don’t know myself, but he’s clearly crying for a reason. — decided young Tails. — Uncle, what happened? — Tiny turned to the crybaby. — Why are you crying? Who offended you? The adult Tails, without stopping to cry, nevertheless decided to answer, without even thinking about why and who was asking him this question. — I lost my friend. — And where he? — asked Nelly. — Somewhere here in the forest... Hiding... He's probably offended by me and doesn't want to see me. — the fox explained honestly, deciding to remain silent about the detailed details. — Or maybe the nagi have already eaten it? — asked Benny. For such a question, Sammy, Tails, Nelly and Tiny looked sternly at their brother. — I’m the one... — Sammy threatened to hit him with his fist, but restrained himself, and Benny, by reflex, afraid of getting hit, covered himself with his hands. — Yes you? My friend is a Naga himself. He can eat whoever he wants. I just told him so many unnecessary things that he was upset and now I am terribly ashamed of everything that I said to him. I searched the whole forest, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. — explained adult Tails, and his younger version scratched the back of his head and said: — Do not Cry! Let us help you find him. Just tell me what he looks like! — So big, all black with red stripes with white fur on his chest, but his eyes are kind. — Tails explained, having almost stopped crying and wiping his tears with his tails. — THIS IS SHADOW!!! — the children shouted to each other, their eyes bulging with fear. — Yes, he is the one! How do you know him? — Tails just asked and crawled out into the light from under the tree, when the children immediately saw him. They immediately opened their mouths. The little fox was much more surprised than the rest of the brothers and sisters. — Father? — young Tails asked his older self, deciding that this was probably his surviving dad. However, when he saw that he also had two tails, like himself, he despaired a little. This is not his father. This is himself, only an adult. But this made him even more surprised. — “Why is he so similar to our Tails?” — everyone, except Tails themselves, was spinning in their heads. — Tails? — the fox himself was surprised to see himself among the four hedgehog children, still young. Two of the hedgehogs were gray. The oldest brother and the youngest sister. Two more were brown, but middle aged. Also brother and sister. Young Tails stood out more noticeably among them. Apparently he can no longer escape the truth here, since they saw him, just as he himself saw them. — Who are you? — Benny asked a little suspiciously, pointing his finger at him. — Why do you look so much like Tails? — Tiny asked also suspiciously. — I know, I know, it’s hard to believe, but I’m from another world and in my own world, I’m Miles Prower, also known as Tails. — he explained to them, turning to his younger self. — I know you, but what are the names of the four of you? The children looked at each other questioningly, but decided to answer him. — We are brothers and sisters. — Sammy introduced himself on behalf of everyone. — I'm Sammy, the oldest of all in our... Family, so to speak. If, of course, you can call it that. Benny's younger brother. Sometimes he gets capricious and envies me, believing that he should be the main one in our team. — Not true! — Benny muttered in a whisper to himself. Sammy narrowed his eyes at Benny and then continued introducing the others. — Our Tails is an adopted brother. — Just like me. — the adult fox grinned to himself. Benny quietly blew to the side and rolled his eyes, because he didn’t really trust that fox on this topic. — Do you also have brothers and sisters? — Sammy asked. — No. I am the only son who lives with a kind, single stepmother. — he explained to them. — What’s your name? — he turned to the hedgehogs. — You can call me Nelly, and the youngest is called Tiny. She is very, very kind to us. The truth is sometimes naive. — Nice to meet you! — the fox said smiling, shaking each child’s hand. Having met them, he had already forgotten that he had lost his friend Shadow, and also could not find him. — Forgive me for frightening you so much with my appearance! I didn’t know that among you there was my version of this world. — This? Are there other worlds? — asked little Tails, to which the adult replied: — Yes. Believe it or not, I have been to many different worlds. I even saw alternative versions of myself there. Some were good and helped me, while others, on the contrary, were bad and even challenged me. — At this point, the children and the little fox gasped, worried about a guest from another world. — But I didn’t give up. I went to the end because I had a goal. To save not only my world, but also all these many worlds in which I have been. Including your world. — Is it true? Who do you want to save our world from? — asked Tiny. — From the evil naga scorpion. His name is Luz Bucket. Have you ever met such a naga? — Tails asked and the children shook their heads in response. They didn’t even know who it was, because they had never seen such a naga. — It's a pity! — What kind of naga is this? Why are you looking for him? — asked little Tails and the big one began to explain: — He is very bad. Although partly he is not to blame. His father died trying to protect him from people who simply feared him as a monster. He got angry at all of humanity and the Mobians and started attacking them, killing them and eating them. Because of this, he set other nagas up. Although they were not guilty of anything and did not even want to attack people and Mobians. Especially if you catch their eye, because they themselves are afraid of them. Plus, then we got naga hunters. By the way, I am one of them, because since childhood I listened to fairy tales from my mother about them and dreamed of becoming the same. I even had a chance to attack one naga and kill him... However, I didn’t do it... I couldn’t kill her and just let her go... I eventually realized that only this naga was to blame for everything... To me managed to reconcile people and Mobians with the nagas and in our world they now live peacefully. However, Luz Bucket is stubborn. He thinks that the whole world revolves around him and that people with Mobians are an infection from which the whole world must be rid of, leaving only the holy nagas. He is so stubborn that even no matter how many times I pursue him and try to convince him back, he does not listen to me. I have to find him and stop him before he ruins your world too. — Horrible! — Tiny grabbed her cheeks. — Wow, villain! I get grab him! — Benny boasted and pretended to be a tough boxer. — I would catch that evil naga, twist his tail and tear him to pieces. At that moment, the children heard the hissing of the nagas. A hungry and scary pink she-hedgehog came out from behind a tree. — Okay, try! — she answered him sarcastically, having heard what he was talking about. — Oh no! — Benny was scared. — RUN!!! — Sammy shouted and all the children ran after him. Including little Tails. Only adult Tails did not run away, but confidently stood in place and looked menacingly at this creepy she-naga. Rose crawled up to this fox, not even thinking about why he looked a little like that little fox. However, she looked at him a little questioningly, leaned over and asked: — Why aren’t you scared and don’t run away? — I'm not afraid of you, monster. I am a naga hunter. — the fox answered her, without showing any fear. At the same time, he takes out his samurai sword and pulls it forward like a sword. — Defend yourself if you are not afraid! — Ha! — The snake-hedgehog grinned slightly and lightly touched the tip of the sword with the claw of her index finger. — You think you can kill me with such a small needle? — Don't tempt me! — the fox answered her sternly. Amy did not take the fox's words seriously and waved her right hand, trying to grab him. However, Tails knew about this in advance and jumped away in time. Jumping closer to the nagini hedgehog's muzzle, he hit her in the forehead with his right foot and pushed her back, despite the huge difference in size, as if the fox was physically stronger than her. The nigina hissed with anger and crawled with her tongue hanging out at Tails. The fearless warrior with a sword in his hands narrowed his gaze and flew into the attack. The fox swung his sword and wounded her in the right palm when she tried to grab him. In pain, she grabbed her wounded hand. The fox himself flew up to her and also left a scar on her left shoulder. Amy screamed from such a wound. She was already clutching the wound on her shoulder with her wounded palm. Nagina was already a little scared. Nevertheless, she wanted to swat this flying fox like a fly. Jumping up and waving her tail, she tried to hit the fox, but he managed to dodge on the fly and swung his sword. Amy managed to dodge this time too, tilting her head back. The sharp blade of the sword only touched her small pink hairs of fur and needles. Rose hissed at the fox in anger, like a real snake, to scare him. But even after this the fox was not afraid. He only looked at the nigina menacingly and in response tried to imitate a terrible roar, shouting at her. Which made the nigina even freak out, her eyes bulging and not expecting such a reaction from him. — GRA-A-A-A-A!!! — with this supposed roar, he flew in, dodging Amy’s grabs, as well as her tail strike, and turning the sword back, hit her in the stomach with the hilt of the sword. She clutched her stomach in pain, and the naga hunter himself rose to her gaze and hit her in the eyes with all his might with his right fist, and at once pushed the naga to the ground. She fell to the ground. Tails landed on her chest and rested the sharp end of the sword near her throat. She-naga was already scared and she began to beg for mercy: — Do not kill me! Please don't kill! — If you bother these kids again, you monster, I will come back here and cut you into several small pieces of meat. Understood? — the fox threatened her. — I-I promise... I won’t do it again. — she lied, if only he would spare her, because she still would not give up trying to eat them. But she’s still afraid of him. — Look at me! If I find out that you are chasing children again and trying to eat them, I will kill you. — Tails threatened for the last time, thrust his sword back into the pressure and flew back. Letting that pink snake get up and crawl away. Then the fox landed on the ground, looking menacingly at where she had crawled away. The children, who at that time were hiding behind the trees and watching all this, were amazed at the courage of this fox. Tiny ran out first, jumped from the ground and gratefully kissed that adult fox on the right cheek, which he was surprised at. — How brave you are, Uncle Tails. — she told him, to which he smiled stupidly, turning red on his cheeks and scratching the back of his head, considering that she is the younger sister of his younger version. — It was cool! — Sammy said. — Yes. Even I couldn't do that. I would also like to become the same in the future, when I grow up. — the younger Tails told him. Adult Tails walked up to his little self, knelt down, put his hand on his shoulder and said: — Don't worry! Someday, sooner or later, you, too, will definitely become as strong and brave as me. The main thing is to believe in yourself, never give up, promise to train every day, without giving up on training, and someday you will become the same as me. At least it took me many years. So far I have been trained in martial arts, defense, melee weapons, as well as a bow and arrow and even a crossbow, or what weapons do you use in your world, like cannons? But it is not important! And I became a full-fledged naga hunter when I became an adult and entered a military school in my world. You promise to do the same! Not right away of course. After all, you can start doing all this later. Let's say in a year, in two, or even when you grow up. — Yes. I give my word of honor! Even if I forget, I will still train. — the little fox showed an approving gesture, to which his adult version smiled and hugged him. The little fox even hugged his adult self back. — I see your baskets are empty? Were you looking for mushrooms until you met me? — No. Mommy Sally asked us to go get some berries and bring them to her, and in return she promised to bake us a pie. — Tiny explained, and Benny just put his hands on his chest and rolled his eyes, looking suspiciously at the adult fox. He still didn't trust him. — So let me help you? With me you will collect more. — Tails offered his help. — Of course, come with us. You help us, and then we will help you find your friend. — Sammy said. While they were walking, they talked to each other for a long time along the way. Adult Tails told them that he used to be a baby in one village and had different parents. That's why another mother, Fiona, found him and raised him. Benny even envied him from what he heard and said that their version of Fiona, along with Scourge, who were their uncle and aunt, did not like them at all. Moreover, they hated them and locked them in the basement. Adult Tails was of course surprised to hear this about their version of Fiona. His Fiona was not so impudent towards him, but on the contrary, she loved him. Then they agreed that maybe not all people and Mobians are as bad. After all, in some world they may be lucky and they are kinder, but in some world, on the contrary, they are unlucky and they become angrier. That's why there's such a difference between Fiona. Nevertheless, the children expressed all sorts of nasty things towards their evil relatives, so that at least someone would know and take pity on them in this regard. Tails also told them about his friend Shadow the naga, how he ate him a couple of times, but at the same time saved him from the same Luz, how he helped him and shared with him about the life of the nagas. He also spoke in more detail about the worlds he traveled to and what they looked like. He spoke in more detail about those worlds, of course, but kept silent about more adult or scary moments that it is better for them not to know about, since they are children. For example, about the fact that Shadow loves him, and also about what the evil sorcerer prophesied for him before his death, or how he almost died five times, he remained silent. And in the moments where he and Shadow actually killed someone, he embellished it, simply saying that he defeated them. He also talked about the world where Peter Pen himself was. Nelly was shocked to hear about such a world. — Ah! Is it true? Have you even been to the world of Peter Pen? — Nelly asked, clutching her cheeks and was so happy. — “Peter Pen” is my favorite fairy tale. I wish I could visit there too. — If you want, I can send you there right now for a couple of minutes and even personally introduce you to Peter himself. Fortunately, I have a ring for moving between worlds. — Tails replied, showing his magic ring. — Then, we still have things to do. — said little Tails, with which the adult agreed. And then, when the adult Tails had nothing left to tell, the children themselves began to tell him about themselves and their parents. Even about Cream and those two nagas, Sonic and Sally, who took them in and began to take care of them. By that time, they had already reached the bushes with large berries and began to get them. — Forgive me for my question, but... Why does your brother Benny look at me so suspiciously, as if he doesn’t trust me? — asked adult Tails. — Don't pay attention to him! — Nelly answered. — He's always like this. In addition, he once tried to make friends with Ralph a long time ago. This is the nag coyote he wanted to befriend. However, he deceived him and almost ate him. After this he became so suspicious and treats all strangers with distrust. — Yes. Once, I remember we ended up on some island of dragons, where we met a little dragon named Chernysh, and at first he was also distrustful of him. True, he later became friends with him. Benny needs time to get used to you and then he will trust you. In the meantime, only we trust you. — Sammy added. Benny rolled his eyes in disbelief and continued to collect berries in his basket.