Tails from echidna's tribe

"Dad?" a voice came from the darkness, and the echidna opened his eyes to look at his son. "I can't sleep. Can I sit with you?" The little echidna rubbed his shoulders awkwardly. He didn't want to hear a refusal, even though he knew it was more likely than a yes. His father remained silent, but raised his hand, inviting the child to sit next to him. "It's too bad you're not sleeping. You need a lot of sleep now," those are the rules: children can sleep as long as they can. Then, when an echidna grows up, one has responsibilities that keep from even getting a wink of sleep. "I know... But for some reason I'm afraid to fall asleep," the little boy sat down next to his father and pulled his knees up. "Is it because of the neighbors? I understand, I feel uneasy in this silence too..." "Uh-huh... in the dark, I think they're still here. Transparent... Floating above the ground, staring with their eerie eyes..." The father looked at his little son and grew alarmed. This wasn't just a child's worry. But what else could he expect? He placed his hand on his little son's shoulder and hugged the little body. "Don't be afraid. We're together, I'm here for you." "Yes, but what if you die too?" They were both always straightforward, but the father still shuddered. "Why would I die? I'm full of energy and have no plans to retire." "Then why did they die?" The father fell silent. He didn't know what to say to the child. "Poisoned, I think..." That was partly true. They drank water from the stream and fell. It was like that almost all the time. As if the island itself still wanted to get rid of them completely. Knuckles was then living an ordinary day with his father. They went about their daily business, the kind echidnas might have done if they were still alive. Recently, the two had come to terms with the fact that they were the only ones left of their kind on the island. Another grave was dug, and their father laid another corpse. Knuckles was still too young to understand this the way his father would have. He knew he had to do something. His friends had tried, but they said they couldn't find any more echidnas on earth, and any that might still be alive didn't live in their world. For that, one could only curse their ancestors. Their father didn't want to give up. He considered leaving this nest and trying, if not to find his own kind, then at least those similar to themselves, who would offer the opportunity to continue the line. He didn't want to believe that their era had long since passed, and he simply had to accept it. But even as the thought of acceptance entered his mind, he looked at his son. It strengthened his hope that if it didn't work out, there was still a Second Chance. They just had to wait until he grew up, and together they could find a solution. Yes, they had another duty —to guard the Master Emerald. But now no one even gave it a second glance, as if their ancestors were the only ones who wanted it. He devised a plan: he would remain by the Master Emerald, and his son would be able to travel the world, knowing that he would always be welcomed back home. But he hadn't foreseen that it never happened. The father told his son to stay home while he went on patrol. "Are you sure, dad? Maybe I should come with you?" "You need to look after the household too. What will you do later if you only patrol?" "That's right..." the son sighed sadly. His father placed a hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes: "Don't worry, I'll be back soon. We'll have some grapes and read before bed." Seeing the child's smile, he straightened up and left. The echidna, raised to stay put, remained at home, where he continued to run the household: chopping wood to store in a warehouse enormous for his size; feeding the animals, searching among them for the little blue creatures his father called chao, or their eggs; loosening the soil for future crops; collecting the vegetables and fruits they'd grown; training... He knew how much time his father spent on patrol, so when the time came for his return, the little echidna looked around in anticipation. But that day was strange: his father didn't return. This happened, the little one knew, because it meant his father had to stay a little longer, so he didn't pay it any mind... until three days had passed. All his chores were done, he'd eaten dinner alone several times, read a book in bed, and now he was waiting again with two bowls for his hungry and tired father to finally arrive. Then the echidna began to worry. Hesitant to leave the house, he finally decided to go and look for his father, thinking he'd be back in time anyway. He wandered through the forest, calling out, slipped several times in Hydrocity, wandered through the marble gardens, but never heard a response. So he reached the Mushroom Hills area, where he found his father lying face down among the small mushrooms. He ran up to him and shook his shoulder. "Dad? What's wrong?" There was no answer. "Dad, are you okay?" He rolled him over, wondering why he felt so heavy. His body didn't inflate as he breathed. Echidna tried to open his eyes, but his pupils had become like a cat's. "Dad! Wake up, say something!" he said. He pounded his chest, hoping it would wake him up. About five minutes passed, and the little echidna didn't know what to do. He noticed a fly circling around them and irritably shooed it away. He had an idea that might help wake his father, so before leaving, he collected the caps of large mushrooms and placed them under the older echidna so he wouldn't be lying on the ground. He ran to the palace. He had heard of the powers of the Chaos Emeralds, that they could grant limitless strength and also heal. Somehow finding the main hall, he approached the altar, which featured a huge green stone surrounded by similarly large, but smaller, gray stones. He knelt down, folded his hands, and began whispering a mantra. Then he addressed the Master Emerald in his own words, asking what he should do to help his father. For a long time, he received no answer. When his tongue practically dried up, the echidna was about to leave to think of something himself, when suddenly he heard in his head: "There's nothing to be done." He stopped and glanced at the Emerald. It continued to glow, giving no indication that those were his words. Shrugging, he went back to his father. He thought he'd simply try to carry it home and wait for him to wake up. But the phrase kept running through his head. He didn't understand it, or didn't want to. But he had to understand it when he returned. He noticed that the mushroom caps beneath his father had taken on a strange darkening. He carefully pulled the mushroom out and saw a worm. Anxiety gripped his muscles, and the little boy lifted his father to see how his entire back was covered in worms. With a cry, he let go of his father, which fell back with a thud, and jumped back, losing his balance and falling. His eyes widened, his breathing quickened, and his whole body began to tremble. "No..." He ran back in a panic and began shaking his father's corpse violently. "Dad, please, wake up! The worms will eat you! Please, don't leave me! Dad!" He continued screaming, tears blinding him, and his strength was rapidly fading. Abandoning his futile attempts, he fell silent and covered his face with his hands, the phrase "There's nothing to help now" echoing in his mind again. Trembling, he dragged his dead father on his back to the cemetery. He dug a hole with his own hands as best he could, placed the body in it, buried it again, and erected the final cross. He stood unsteadily, weakly, but the echidna paid no attention, his strength seemingly evaporating. That was the truth: he didn't know why he was left alone. Having buried his own father, he had forgotten himself. He had only one goal left: to guard the Master Emerald. He had no other choice, for he knew no way to escape this web. Completely lost in thought, he didn't eat, drink, or harvest anything; he froze, though he could stoke the fire with firewood. He only slept or patrolled. He no longer hoped that anything would change or return to the way it once was. He was born on this island, and he would die on this island. No one knew of him, no one would remember him. And the Knuckles clan would vanish from this world forever. Without understanding why, the little echidna still clung to the hope that one day he would stumble upon someone who would surely ask who he was. He knew he had no right to reveal his true name, like any echidna, but even though he was the last echidna, he was only a small part of his vanished tribe, whose names only historians would know. He was eight years old, after all, and the chances of seeing other creatures were plenty, so when he saw the first creature that had never been to this island before, he said, "Don't cry, everything's fine. I won't hurt you. My name is... I'm Knuckles. Do you have a name?"