Tails from echidna's tribe

If someone were to ask Knuckles, "What days do you hate?" he'd answer, "The days when someone is sick." He hates with all his heart when it's uncertain whether he'll survive this one. When he sits by his bed, eyes wide open, watching for his breathing to stop. Every year, Knuckles thinks it won't be that hard anymore. Before, Tails would just cry and couldn't say what hurt him. Now, while he's sick with the flu, he can't even speak. Quiet, garbled sentences come out of his mouth — he's so exhausted. Knuckles silently thanks him for even mumbling, because that's how he knew Tails was still alive. He touches his forehead with his lips; it's very hot. He sees the little body shivering from the cold when it's warm all around. He gently lifts the sleepy Tails to hand him the warm milk. He holds the cup behind his back and doesn't even think of letting go, afraid the fox will lose it. The latter, without opening his eyes, drinks the liquid so loudly that his breath can be heard in the cup. While he lies there, Knuckles sits next to him. The echidna feels a chill sweep across the floor, but he doesn't dare get up without a reason — he can't leave the fox. Sometimes he does get up, for the milk, and to see what to feed the child. It's winter, and he has to rely only on what he has in stock... The vegetables are a little frozen, but they can be thawed... As he chopped carrots, onions, and cabbage, Knuckles wondered if he should do this again. Yes, he promised to feed Tails meat, but that's his most limited resource. The echidna made a note to make a schedule. Why hasn't he done that yet? A couple of flickies flew past the hut and decided to see what was going on. They perched on the open window and watched as Knuckles stood by a pot, cooking something. Steam rose from the pot as Knuckles added seasoning. The birds sniffed and smelled a familiar scent. All too familiar... The echidna noticed the guests and turned in their direction. In response to their disgruntled expressions, he stuck out his tongue. "You should have gotten used to it by now." Staring into the pot, he suddenly perked up and looked back toward the window, where no one was there. One of the birds had a very strange look in his eye. Lifeless one. After pouring the broth into a bowl, Knuckles returned to the bedroom and woke Tails. Tails, smelling the soup, seemed to come to life: he jumped up, grabbed a spoon, and began slurping as if he'd never eaten before. "Careful," he said, wiping a trail of stew from the fox's chin. Later, the echidna took the bowl, rinsed it, and then sat down by the fireplace. He wasn't only worried about the fox cub not being able to wake up for several days now. He shivered every night, and Knuckles had already brought almost every blanket he could find, which had to be immediately removed because Tails got incredibly hot afterwards. It was a real cycle... Another worrying factor was that the winter this year was incredibly cold. The walls were icy, and the hut wasn't getting warm at all. The only warm spots were the fireplace and the stove, and neither was in the same place. Sometimes it seemed easier to sleep in the kitchen, but there was no place to sleep there. Knuckles had already tried to move the bed from the other room as close to the fireplace as possible. Knuckles tried to remember how he and the other living echidnas had endured the cold before, but all he could recall was snuggling close to his sleeping father, who would cover him with his arm. Those were the days when everything depended on stamina and reserves. Now, nothing had changed. Strange... why did he also feel somehow weak? He looked at the snoring fox cub and sighed. It seemed he was recovering, and he could calm down. His eyes were drooping, a pleasant warmth wafted from the fireplace... That's the thing: he was tired. He hadn't slept for days, making sure he wasn't alone again. He hadn't done this in a long time, probably when he was still getting used to Tails. The little guy exhausted him more than patrolling and regular chores. Although, frankly, without him, he would have been doing nothing but patrolling. No matter how much his father insisted that he couldn't neglect the farm, Knuckles simply wouldn't have found the point or desire in it. The desire to return to old memories... Knuckles didn't want to close his eyes. He didn't want to fall asleep. He wouldn't admit it to anyone — he was afraid of what he'd see in his dreams, afraid of being watched as he drifted off. Those invisible eyes stared at him, silent. Their eerie smiles awaited his weakness, as if then Knuckles would surely die. He couldn't die. He couldn't. He would fail his people. He would abandon the defenseless fox to his fate. He would force him to relive his fate without anyone by his side. Knuckles would never allow that to happen. But still... he pulled his knees close to him, rested his head on the bed, and fell silent.

***

When Knuckles opened his eyes, he realized he wasn't sitting by the fireplace. He was lying on the bed. The very same bed where Tails had lain that night. Fully awake, the echidna saw a stuffed animal in front of his nose. Tails was holding a New Year's gift in both hands and chattering something to the animal. "Dad, are you awake?" the echidna finally managed to make out something. "Tails, what did we agree on? "Oh, sorry. Knuckles. I'm still getting used to it." "I woke up... why am I in bed?" "You don't remember? When I woke up, I wanted a drink of water. You brought me a cup, and while I was drinking, you suddenly fell over. I didn't know what to do, so I decided to help you onto the bed." "I see... you didn't hurt yourself? I'm heavy, after all." "I don't think so. Yeah, I know I'm not strong enough to lift you yet, but I found a way!" Tails picked up a long stick and a log that appeared out of nowhere. "I found that if I put pressure on the stick itself," he demonstrated the setup: the stick lay on the log, long end facing Tails, "it makes lifting you much easier. Of course, I have no idea what I would have done next, but you helped me." Knuckles looked at him blankly. It was unclear: either he hadn't understood anything the fox had just said, or he couldn't recall anything like that happening at all, given that the echidna had been conscious the entire time. "Okay... thank you. How are you feeling?" Knuckles got out of bed and felt the fox's forehead. "I'm feeling better now. I'm not cold anymore." "Good. Did you have breakfast?" "It's already lunchtime, but yes. And I had breakfast yesterday, too. And lunch, and dinner." "Yesterday?" "Yes, yesterday. You slept for a very long time..." Tails's ears drooped, his face saddened. "Don't do that again, please..."

***

Since Tails was already feeling better, he could go outside and take walks. Knuckles, on the other hand, remained in the hut. He decided to recuperate, and to do so, he lay down for a nap. It wasn't a full-blown dream, and Tails knew it beforehand. So he could easily run up to the echidna and ask her anything. "Maybe there's something I can do for you, Knuckles?" "Just keep doing what you're supposed to." "Okay, then I'll go for a run. Are the exercises the same? "Yeah, definitely go for a run. Stretch your shoulders, and then do the rest." "Do you need to go for a bath?" "Are you crazy? Without my supervision — no way." "Okay. Then I'm off." "Don't forget your boots," Knuckles closed his eyes and began listening for any extraneous sounds. The most frequent sounds, accordingly, were all those emanating from Tails. Bending, twisting, and turning in place — all accompanied by loud breathing and a quiet counting. After a while, Tails finished his warm-up, and soon the crunch of snow could be heard around the hut. Knuckles counted a dozen circles through the window. "Walk the circle, don't stop right away," he called out. It seemed the fox cub entered the hut, specifically the kitchen. He puffed, apparently trying to reach something. Then there was a crash. Something spilled, and Tails yelped. A few seconds of silence, and then quiet footsteps wandered into the bedroom. "Knuckles," Tails whispered, "we're out of milk." "Did it happen on its own, or did you help?" the echidna asked, eyes still closed. "Well... the pitcher slipped from my hands." "Did it break?" "I don't think so." "Then take the mop and clean up after yourself." There's nothing left in the pitcher? "I don't know, I'll check now..." Tails left. He returned to the kitchen, set the pitcher on the table, picked up a mop, wet it, and ran it over the white puddle. When he finished, he peered into the pitcher and noticed the remains. He poured the milk into a cup and was about to drink it, when suddenly he thought... "Knuckles," the echidna hummed questioningly, "this is for you." Tails held out the cup, warmed by the fireplace. Knuckles took it in his hand and sniffed. "Not from the floor, I hope?" "No, I cleaned up. The milk's really gone." "Okay, let's make some more. Is there any clean water left?" "I used all the water on the milk..." "Was the puddle even..." Knuckles sighed irritably. "Okay, then go to the well. There's a bucket in the corner of the kitchen, take it." Tails nodded and left. The rattling sound came again, this time from an empty bucket. He went back outside and ran to the well. Setting his bucket down next to him, he dropped the one tied to him and grabbed the crane. Using all his strength to push the lever up, he dangled from it to pull it down. The rope wrapped around the crank, lifting the bucket out. Then he poured water into his bucket and, holding it in both hands, trudged toward the hut. Along the way, he noticed a small animal lying motionless in the snow. He paused and considered: his hands were full, but the flickies were probably freezing too. He looked at his tails and decided to use them. Carefully approaching backwards, he picked up the animal with one tail and held it with the other. And so he continued on. Going inside, he set down the bucket and scooped up the flickies. "Knuckles..." the echidna lay motionless, as if no time had passed. "Did you bring water?" "Yes. Look who I found. The poor thing, completely frozen, not moving..." Knuckles turned his head and looked at the flicky. Then he carefully took it from Tails's hands to get a closer look, and sat up. "What can we do with it?" "Probably nothing..." "What? Is it dead?" "It wasn't even alive," Knuckles took the flicky in one hand and threw it at the wall. The swing wasn't strong, but the animal shattered into pieces instantly. Tails jumped in fear, looking from Knuckles to the fragments. "This isn't the first time. I saw a few of these things, they got caught in some traps. I looked, and their insides were completely different... "How so?" "Come on, I'll show you," Knuckles got out of bed and walked heavily to the kitchen. There, he pulled out a drawer, which contained a pile of the same flickies. He took one out and placed it on the table. "When it impaled itself on the spikes, there was no blood. In fact, it seemed to sparkle. Touch it, it's harder than normal flesh." Tails picked up one part of the flickie and turned it over in his hands. "The interesting thing is, it's not even edible. I was hoping that at least these things were edible," he pulled red and blue colored vessels from the body, "and although this part can be chewed, the inside is just copper." "Hmm..." Tails nodded, examining the rest. He noticed the area near the eyes. "Can I keep one, I want to get a better look at it?" "As you wish. Just not now. Now, bring the bucket to the kitchen, finally." "Oh," the fox cub came to his senses and returned to the entrance to fetch the water. "Give it here," Knuckles took the bucket and poured water into the tub, then held out the bowl. "Go get the grain." The fox cub took the bowl and went to the sack. Then he returned with the oats. Knuckles took the oats and showed him how to soak them. After that, he went back to the bedroom. Surprisingly, Tails didn't bother him again until evening. He was just about to start worrying, when suddenly the fox cub showed up. "Knuckles, look," he held out the stuffed animal again, but on top of it was some kind of Flicka part with a crystal attached. "Now it glows in the dark." He pressed the toy's belly, and the crystal glowed brightly from the detail. "An angler fox," Knuckles joked, smiling. He noticed that Tails had taken great care to add the detail to the gift, not touching the fur and securing the seam back. "It's curfew, right?" Tails asked, bouncing up and down. "You could say that," Knuckles noticed the glistening under Tails's nose. "Come here." He reached out to wipe Tails's snot as he approached, and didn't notice the little fellow begin to climb into bed, nestling right next to the echidna. Knuckles was a little taken aback, but then settled in, wrapping his arm around the fox cub. Yes, it's definitely warmer this way, even without the fireplace... He was about to close his eyes when he suddenly heard a voice in his ear: "Sing to me, please?" "Can't you sleep?" "I can," Tails retorted, snuggling closer, burying his nose in the echidna's fur, "but I like the way you sing..." Knuckles rolled his eyes, sighed, and tried to remember the words. Even though he'd sung this song many times, he was always afraid of missing the details. Of course, he didn't know it himself. He'd heard it at his neighbors', where a mother sang the song to her children, including Knuckles.

...Upon the mountain, steep and high,

Sleep, my child, beneath the sky.

This night is dark, and blinds the sight,

Where you can see no ray of light.

And may you never find the road

That leads you back to old abode.

For now, forever, be it known,

You are the moon’s, and hers alone....