Tails from echidna's tribe

Knuckles barely opened his eyes. The morning had started very strangely. The echidna woke up when the sun had not even flashed over the island. His whole body ached, as if the echidna had not slept at all last night. Knuckles turned to the woven cradle and looked at the fox playing with a toy. The baby was giggling and drooling, his lips pressed together. The child had been crying all night, not letting Knuckles sleep. What a good boy... "Well, good morning, Tails. I've been trying to put you to bed all night, and you still haven't slept? Yeah, I didn't think babies could be that complicated... It's time to feed you." Knuckles took the bottle and handed it to the fox. Tails looked at the thing he held out and looked at the echidna, obviously not wanting to take it. "Come on, come on", the echidna encouraged, carefully taking the toy from the little paws. "You need to eat something so you don't cry again." The fox frowned and took the bottle anyway. He already knew how to hold objects in his hands and drink milk. "And when your teeth grow, I'll teach you to eat other food." After a short meal, the fox looked at him again with displeasure. Knuckles narrowed his eyes, and then leaned over to the little body and began to sniff it. Rapid breathing, a moving and tickling nose quickly made Tails laugh. The echidna carefully picked up the child and carried him to the river. The child's small claws clung to the echidna's fur, to which he did not object: Tails was scratching himself and running his paws all over his body, scratching himself badly. The baby was crying, and Knuckles, licking his wounds, thought about blunting his claws. But he was stopped by the realization that without sharp claws, the fox cub would be defenseless. If only someone could hear his thoughts and tell him how stupid this was... But no one was there, which meant no one could criticize him. Besides, the echidna had already discovered that Tails could hide his claws when relaxed.

***

"Come on, come on, come on, come on," Knuckles was squatting and crawling away a little. However, he stretched his arms out in front of him, beckoning Tails to him. Tails was taking his first steps. As much as he did like being in the echidna's arms, Knuckles couldn't be with him everywhere. And so, swaying a little, he moved his legs to find himself in the echidna's arms once again. At some point, his legs got used to the ground, and his eyes seemed to see better. Tails sped up and reached the huge hands that grabbed him and lifted him up. "Way to go!" Knuckles praised him. "My little warrior!"

***

"Knuckles. Call me Knuckles," Knuckles said each word slowly, hoping to get it across to Tails. "Daddy," Tails stubbornly repeated the first word he had learned, sitting on the echidna's lap. "Knuckles." "Daddy." "Watch my lips," Knuckles held his index fingers out to his mouth, "Repeat: Knu…" "Da…" "Knu…" "Da..." "--ckles." "--dy." "Knu-ckles." "Da-dy." "Knuckles!" "Daddy!" Giving up, Knuckles sighed heavily as Tails laughed at his facial expressions.

***

It was the dead of night, and a heavy rain was pouring down on the island. Knuckles stood under the canopy and looked into the distance. In addition to the rain, there was a thunderstorm, lightning struck the ground around, but the echidna stood unwavering. The noise and light did not frighten him, on the contrary, it was a unique performance for his kind. In his mind, he predicted where the lightning would strike next. However, his entertainment during the patrol was interrupted: he heard the cub crying. Curious, the echidna left his post and went to him. In bed, Tails was hiding under the blanket and shaking. “Tails?” The fox crawled out of hiding and looked at the newcomer. Instead of an answer, lightning struck again, and he hid back. “Can’t sleep, huh? Come here…” Knuckles stuck his hands under the lump and picked up the frightened child. Then he went out into the rain, back under the canopy. “Don’t be afraid. The storm won’t hurt you,” Knuckles sat down on the ground and opened the blanket near his muzzle. He felt warm in his arms, under the soft red fur, he looked around. Puddles were forming, leaves were swaying on the trees, lightning was flashing in the sky, and then a few seconds later thunder began. Returning his gaze to the echidna, he noticed how the eyes sparkled with each flash, and not a single emotion played on his face. The elder’s calmness was slowly transmitted to the fox cub, and his eyelids became heavy. He fell asleep again under the noise of the storm.

***

Knuckles sat quietly, not bothering anyone, while the fox cub quietly crawled towards him. He tried to be unnoticeable, he pressed himself to the ground as tightly as possible. His small eyes stared at the echidna, and the pupils tried to focus. Knuckles ignored him. Or pretended not to notice. It was the first hunt. Tails braced himself and, when Knuckles closed his eyes, jumped on him. Knuckles looked at him sharply and almost naturally screamed. The echidna lay on his back and, laughing, tried to push away the small predator, who opened his mouth with the intention of biting. Small fangs grabbed his thumb, and Knuckles began to shake his hand back and forth, training the youngster's grip. Trying to hold on, Tails felt not soft flesh under his teeth, but something hard. "Okay, that's it. Enough," Knuckles took the fox and put it on the ground away from him. "I have to patrol. Take a walk yourself." The fox looked at him with disappointment. Then he went the other way. He was very curious to see the palace that Knuckles kept going to. The path was long, even if it was only an island. As he walked, he was surrounded by small animals that followed him a little. Some of them looked rather strange. For example, the monkey on the palm tree: it did not approach him like the others, it was watching him closely... Tails carefully avoided the barely noticeable traps that Knuckles warned about. After a while, he smelled a strange smell. He had not smelled it before, so it became interesting. Following his nose, he eventually found another trap. But this trap was already activated. The spikes were holding the carcass of one of the little animals, who seemed to be gaping and did not notice the pressure plate in the grass. Thick blood flowed down the spikes and emitted a smell. Tails was surprised when he realized that this sight did not frighten him, but the smell, on the contrary, attracted him. Suddenly his stomach growled and drool formed in his mouth. He slowly approached the spikes, carefully pulled the animal out and took a closer look: flesh was sticking out of the holes and glistening in the sun. The fox cub pulled out his tongue and licked the wound. It seemed like stars were shining in his eyes, a shudder ran through his body. It was so delicious that Tails stopped being afraid and bit into the flesh with his teeth, tearing off pieces. His ears were pleased with this squelching sound in his mouth, the world around him seemed to disappear in the euphoria of the little fox. "Tails?" a sudden voice brought him down to earth. "What are you doing?" Tails turned to the echidna and stood up abruptly, hiding the food and wiping his mouth in panic. Unable to speak, he laughed awkwardly, his ears pressed to his head in fear. Knuckles crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow: "This is disgusting. Why are you eating raw meat?" "I... I don't know, but it's so delicious..." Tails looked down guiltily. He obediently followed Knuckles, who took his hand, to the river. Knuckles bent down and washed his bloody mouth and hands. When he was done, Knuckles took the fox by the cheeks and asked: "Do you want me to take you to the palace?" in response to which he received raised ears and a quick nod. Knuckles lifted him onto his shoulders and ran to the palace, taking shortcuts many times and even flying. Half an hour later, they were already at one of the entrances. "It was so fast", Tails noted with admiration. "I just know the island like the back of my hand. Never mind, soon you will also quickly reach the necessary places." Knuckles dropped the fox from his shoulders and gently took his hand again. Tails looked around the walls, fascinated, decorated with different stones, mostly marble. Some passages were blocked, and there were cracks all around. "What happened to them?" "I don't know", Knuckles answered unexpectedly for Tails. He raised his head in disbelief. "Don't look at me like that, history is silent about these catacombs, and I didn't live through these moments. Maybe something happened, or maybe it's just time that's to blame..." Further down the corridor, Tails began to notice strange holes in the walls, like those holes outside, as well as some pipes, as if something should come out of them, but nothing worked. "Why doesn't anything work?" "They react to strangers." "And who are strangers?" "Well... here it's everyone who is not an echidna. There was no one here except my kind anyway, so the echidnas walked around the palaces without the risk of losing their heads." "I see. Traps for everyone except the echidnas", Tails beamed and continued skipping. Knuckles was surprised that Tails didn't ask about himself. However, he didn't ask the question himself, because what could a three-year-old child answer?