Sticks & Stones

by ISmokeFunDip

Summary:

Wrecking the Tornado wasn't on Tails' to-do list when it came to his search for a new adventure.
What was meant to be a simple day out, has led to him several miles away from the mainland on a secluded island.

Encountering the many dangers that come with survival; whether it's staving off hunger and dehydration, the frequent foreign robotic tyrants keeping the inhabitants under their thumbs, or the strange badger that's trying to destroy his only way back home.

Anything to keep the hairs on his body in place. Even if it means embarking on a journey to save this island with a social reject.

Notes:

I've been sitting on this fic for a while. Mostly cause I haven't finished writing, but I feel like sharing regardless. What originally was just a crack-ship blossomed into something more as I grew a desire to fulfill that Sonic Synergy hole in my heart.

With Sticks being mentioned in Frontiers, arrives the questions of, how, when, and why? The how is most interesting to me, which has led me and you here. I admittedly never played Rise of Lyric, and I don't think I'm missing out on much. I'm going to try my best to piggyback off of the game when necessary and intertwine those ideas with the scrapped concept of Synergy.

Don't think many people would be upset at me if I don't get it all right though, this universe is just unique to the main canon and every other canons. There are going to be choices I make that aren't going to align, and that's okay.

Just bear with me as I go through this, and I hope whoever may be reading enjoys.

I'm open to criticism, I don't bite.

Chapter 1: Castaway

Freedom burdens those on the path of taking the weight of the world on their shoulders, ironically restricting every course of action. Dosages of doubt piercing through the multitude of channels embedded within the body. Clogging the pathways to the chest, stimulating that oppressive heaviness keeping yourself grounded.

Eventually doubt wears down as bodies grow accustomed to their advances, seeing yet another day passed and the Earth still spinning. It remains a dormant presence inside, even when the responsibility becomes too much to stand.

But that's exactly enough reason to look forward to the tomorrows’ you could take flight. At least, that was what Tails figured.

Warm brine wafted up from the ocean, tingling the back of Tails' throat and nostrils with an embrace, the flow of air chilled the very tip of his nose. He'd caught glimpses of silvery fins down below, challenging his Tornado-1's shadow for a race with pitched clicking. With nothing but the endless blues of sea and sky, he'd gladly taken up their offer. Despite the absence of his complementary best friend, it didn't in any way deter Tails' need for speed.

He'd spared little formalities as he'd stretched out the space between them, the dolphins trying their best, flailing in and out of water. It'd left Tails' snickering at the sight, gleeful at the extra modifications he'd done to his plane. He'd eased up on the acceleration once the fins wavered, sinking deeper into the void of water.

Sonic had his own routine of handling his time off, and so did he. There were of course moments where somebody needed the help, and wherever they were Sonic was there to save the day. And so was he, Tails acknowledged and did his best to remind himself, but rarely did he find any free time. Always mindful of his proximity to Sonic in case of emergencies. Rarely did he find himself alone on an outing and its sole purpose wasn't to test if his equipment worked.

Bringing his plane closer to the surface for a congratulatory send-off, one of the dolphins managed to land a solid splash on the side of his bi-plane. Only half of his body was caught in the radius, his gloves sagging slightly from the spray. He decided it was best to get a move on and started to ascend, putting distance between him and the ocean.

It was probably a good thing Sonic hadn’t stuck around, Tails had flown on for hours until the line of gray dominated the path before him. His lack of investment in a hatch for the cockpit biting him in the freezing butt. He twitched his fingers awake to fight the cold, switching off the auto-pilot, he'd drifted into a gradual left. The gray air brisk as it swerved past his wings, clouding his view with its dampness. It was a gamble being this high, but the air flow was worth the risk if it'd get him home faster.

His radar broke through his moderate concentration, signaling a powerful signature with an alerting screech.

A chaos emerald? His mouth tore down with the sudden jerk to his right, the pounding droplets tore through his bi-plane, fast as bullets and whipping him to the side of his seat.

By the time his turbines pumped into gear it had already been too late.

Descending.

The wave of murkiness shot at any recollection of the way down. His last thoughts pleading for him to stick the landing.

Flickering red lights splashed against shut eyes, throbs of pain striking side to side in the back of his skull. Surrounding pitch darkness hauled away with the return of feeling to the tips of his very fingers.

He came back with a hiccup, eyes fluttering as something much larger shifted alongside him. Straightening up as best as he could, Tails realized what the very rush of his blood pouring into his burning head meant.

He was upside down, now staring back at the muddy floor beneath him. Heaving into a sigh of acceptance, as if discovering spillage beneath a wet floor sign, it was as clear as rain. He'd crash landed.

Apparently hours ago by the looks of his heart thudding against his chest, struggling to keep up as his blood flowed incorrectly. With all the strength he could manage and shaky palms he’d unclasped his belt buckle, freeing himself with a harsh thud on the ground.

A fragile groan leaving his small lips in spite of him landing on his reliable tails.

Allowing himself to rest momentarily so his normal circulation could return sooner despite the cold, with shut eyes he’d expected to find himself within a few minutes. Instead, the next day had already passed by him in a breeze. The rising sun kissed his golden fur, using him as a beacon underneath the shelter of the tornado.

Soft and raspy sounds pooled Tails back into his senses, realizing for only a moment upon his brief grasp of consciousness that he was not alone.

“Who’s-?” He made sure to keep his voice loud, pushing himself slightly off the ground to peer underneath. Glancing around there was nothing of note aside from the rapid footsteps fleeing the area. Tails would’ve given chase but couldn't bother on a second thought, knowing that if it was some kind of threat it should be standing its ground.

“It was time I got off my lazy butt anyways,” he muttered to himself, tugging the rest of his body out from under the fallout.

Checking at his own cuts and bruises, he was marked across his entire body like a lightshow. Nothing a few bandaids and some spit couldn’t fix, but it'd still stung. He then moved on to examine the Tornado’s damages, still functional on a systematic standpoint but the fuselage and turbines affixed to the wings had seen better days. Split in half from the red struts on its raised side, and struggling for relief under its entire weight on the lower wing.

Casting a glance around, acai and foxtail palms trees encircled him and his plane. Only bent and disturbed trees a standout in the north, a knife in the jungle ending at his plane.

The land was tropical but unfamiliar, and if there were any signs of civilization he wouldn’t be able to reach it for miles. Not ideal in the slightest when his only ticket back home was currently sinking in the mud. And with his mental map's memory there wasn’t a piece of land within 1,200 miles, leaving him relatively stranded. If the plane manages to be in a worse condition, I won’t be getting home anytime soon.

Hurriedly he’d made his way to the aircraft, using as much force as physically possible to bring it to a balance. It'd took a few tries since even with the help of twin tails, the weight was bigger than he could ever anticipate. With another heave and his ankles sinking deeper into the mud, Tails’ managed to elevate the Tornado up by a couple of inches without it laying on its wing. Swiping the sweat from under his brow he gave into the soft cushions of the earth to look at his work.

With a few short pants Tails started to sense the fault of his actions, working up quite the appetite immediately.

Staring back at the covering leaves above as the bright sky lit past, his brain sunk back into a dream-like state. Figuring he could use a chili-dog right about now, especially with Sonic.

But as the wind behind him whispered into his large ears the serenity dispersed, he rose to a stand immediately with apprehension at his surroundings. “Th-The sooner you get home the better.” His words were for comfort, but lacked security.

His next priority was to find something to eat and set up camp.

Along the way, Tails gathered enough water droplets to fill into a small container he’d found in his emergency equipment bag, along with a few protein bars. Thankful for at least spending a few days with Knuckles as he showcased his day to day living on his own independent island. Water was crucial, and so was keeping up strength. Upon meeting landing on Angel Island for the first time, it'd intimidated Tails being on an island he knew nothing about. So he prepared in case history wished to repeat itself.

“Rationing these should get me through a few days,” he told himself as his fur brushed up against the hot panel of his plane he sat against.

Taking a moment of pause he’d made a mental list while he refueled.

Find materials to adjust the Tornado’s position upright.

Pick up materials to make camp along the way.

Find some tinder and or any dry consumable material.

Set up camp-

Snap.

Tails rushed to his feet, his fur spiking up. As his blue eyes darted across the plain he shouted, “Who’s there?!” Preparing to fly up to search for the cause of the disturbance he gave whatever was out there another chance. Absolute silence. The seeds of doubt making Tails’ skin itchy before he flew up slowly.

He was ready to maneuver around the trees until from the corner of his eye, something had moved.

Smaller than any creature to be threatening, but stiff enough in its own movements to be jarring. Its brown stumps rose to the air before crashing back down on the floor, catching itself with the momentum of its arrival.

It let out a scratchy sound familiar to a dog, its floppy leafy ears flagging behind as it made its way to Tails.

At first, the fox was prepared to shove it away with his tails out of fear, but the longer the mysterious creature had chased itself around in circles, the less of a threat it presented.

Strange.

It looked like a dog, but completely made out of the assortments of both wood and metal. Just between its cracks was a bright light, managing to contain itself with a filtered but never-ending brightness.

Reaching out toward it slowly, Tails could feel his own curiosity grow as the makeshift object stared up at him with white hopeful lens. “What are you…?” A howl broke through Tails’ line of touch, the pup’s attention immediately tearing away from the yellow fox in the direction of the sound.

Tails had assumed it to be a wild animal, but by the reaction of the pup, its tail waved in the air faster before scampering away toward it.

“Wait! Come back!” Tails yelled, picking himself up for only a moment before another loud sound broke through his eardrums.

The sky had grown slowly dark, opening a roar of thunder before any rain could dare to appear.

“Rain? Again?!” The fox wasted no time searching the area, hoping to find anything, literally anything to help make his camp. As he carried away any dry tinder he could gather up, thoughts lingering about him not being alone gnawed at the back of his mind. If Sonic were here with him, he would’ve been fast enough to find answers, not caught up about the weather or shelter. I could really use his speed right about now... But then again, Sonic would forget not starve himself if he were stranded without me, Tails thought with a chuckle, hoping to keep things light.

Staring at the distance with his own beam festering deep within, but only a little.

He wondered what exactly Sonic was thinking back home, whether or not he was worried, and if he had to deal with any problems without him. Tails never considered responsibility to be a burden, but it wasn't something he wanted Sonic to carry alone. Crawling into his shelter as the rain sprinkled by him, Tails watched as the fire underneath crackled. Embers shifted to the ground, warming his fur up little by little. As Tails started to drift into sleep, he’d rested one of his tails above him as he’d yawned into his palm. Sending one more strained look at the area around him.

I’ll be home soon enough. I promise.

 

Chapter 2: Stray

Notes:

Here's some concept art of Buster that I've stuck to when I envision him if anyone's curious and don't want to rely on description alone: https://imgur.com/a/wuNFnEZ

The crack of dawn was when the traffic of sleep halted for Tails. Not by another hidden presence or the call of a feral howl, rather the influx of water crashing down on his head. He scrambled to his feet, realizing that his temporary shelter had been as intended.

Nose crinkling with each exhale of his nostrils, the involuntary water scratching the back of his throat. He stared down at the cuts and scrapes around his waist again, cradling the hot stings of reminders. “They’re not supposed to hurt that much,” Tails said to himself, eyes trailing onto his arms. He'd winced once he pulled back on the curtains of fur to view the site of pain. Pink skin redder than a cherry tomato, puffing out intimidatingly from his body behind the curtain of fur. No other parts of his body were like this, which was only a momentary relief. He knew he was having difficulty sleeping, but this explained his preference for the left side rather than the right this time.

He grabbed the small first aid kit near his drenched campsite and started doing the best he could with wrapping himself in gauze as he sat beside the cold and wet ground.

The fire he built had died a couple of hours ago despite the rain dispersing right before. When he was done, with one swift glance back at the Tornado adjacent to his spot he'd thought to himself he might as well hop back to it. Rationalizing that if he hurried, he could get home and patch himself up more efficiently.

Scavenging the area once more for tools, the best Tails could reproduce amongst the situation was a very tall vine. Tossing it across the plane’s body and tying it around to the best of his ability. The entirety of his Tornado's cockpit was slicked to the brim with mud and excess water. The fox had done his best to ignore regardless of the runniness clinging to his fur and clawing at some of his cuts.

Part of him was glad that he insisted that he should take the Tornado-1 with him instead of the original this time. Feeling as though he could be a lot more ballsy with it instead of their classic bi-plane. He couldn’t even entertain the idea of leaving it behind in a situation like this, and while he didn’t want to part with the Tornado-1 with all the time he put into it, he could always come back and track- “Wait a second, I can track it!” Tails clumsily pushed himself off his elbows as he’d wrapped the last of the green tendrils around the plane.

Brushing the encased consoles in the cockpit with his palms, thankful for it to still be functional through it all, he pushed out a layer of grossness before grabbing ahold of a square object with two buttons on its side to act as a release. Pressing the buttons two things popped out, the device he'd managed to catch from the front of the plane and another springing out from behind the pilot seat, usually for Sonic to grab a hold of incase of emergencies. As Tails grabbed the spare and placed it into his pouch, he carefully nested it above his other supplies inside the bag.

With one push of a button on the control panels, the Tornado’s consoles lit up with unblinking yellow. The Tornado was boosting its signal, but from this distance it’d be just a blip amongst other frequencies. But with the help of the amplifier in his palm, he could boost it to a tremendous radius at a quicker speed.

Now I need some height, he thought with a tug at the edge of his lips. Staring up at the tall canopy, Tails wasted little time while his tails stretched out behind him in preparation. His tails needed a moment or two to adjust, it had been a couple days since the last time he’d stretched out his muscles. Can’t imagine what it’d be like when I get older. He grimaced halfway up one of the tallest trees of the bunch, his hand extended to reach and grab one of the trunks to latch onto. Sliding down by a smidge once he’d gotten a hold, he glanced at the device for any show of signal. But to his dismay there was barely any frequency boosted at this rate.

“Need to get higher.” Swinging both his legs the rest of him had been pulled along while his tails spun to keep him floating as he flipped through the air.

Checking each and every tree, getting fractions of results in the process. “What am I missing?” His dampened fingers touched the bottom of his bruised chin as he flew through the terrain in deep thought. His eyes tracing over one of the island’s highest mountains, covered in green and as a mass of rock.

He’d seen his share of mountains before, but just based on first impressions alone, it was starting to compete with the former ones he’d seen before. He’d never seen land as untouched as it did here than any other place. Part of him was somewhat glad Sonic hadn’t tagged along since that would’ve inevitably led to Eggman finding the place as well, trying to cultivate some awful plan like countless of other times.

He stared at the mountain, the back of his mind wondering if it'd be worth it to take the chance. “I’ll need to test one more thing before I try.” With a nod Tails had started to round his way back to the Tornado and his camp. When the sun was close enough to scorch the very top of Tails head, the fox had decided it would be best to take a break. But on his way back he’d spotted a fruit he’d never seen before. It'd snuggled between the fronds of a tree and barely swished by the incoming wind from Tails’ propellers.

It was a reddish-pink, almost shiny against the sun’s beams and they were as large as the common fruits for chaos. With a sniff, the fox could smell a sweet freshness that chilled the back of his nose. It was always smart to be weary of unfamiliar plants, especially with wild fruit. But if I can get my hands on this, and maybe dissect it before eating I could see whether or not it’s dangerous. He was certain he had his survivalist book somewhere in his pouch, in case of emergencies. So Tails didn't waste any time grabbing ahold of one of the fruits, carefully lodging it under his arm and between the good side of his waist.

“This looks-” Tails' eyes popped open, nearly choking on his own words. There was that same little bot again near his machine, its tail wagging as it circled the plane. But so was there a person, kneeling right beside his pouch that was tucked underneath the Tornado’s cockpit.

“Hey!” Tails shouted, immediately grabbing the attention of the stranger. Their ears jumped as they looked around helplessly everywhere but up. Tails didn’t bother giving away where he was, already flying straight down into view. Sweeping them away with just his tails as he flew protectively in front of his plane.

The strange person had leapt a decent amount of feet backwards, landing on all fours with bent arms and knees. Blue eyes just as wide as his and in a similar defensive position. Their features were completely hidden under a layer of dirt and grass, the only thing Tails could determine was their eyes and two fluffy ears defensively drawn back.

When they started hissing, Tails nearly jumped from how tall they had stood as they started to make their way toward him. The fox jutted out tails as his feet rested on the ground. “Stop!” He didn’t try to smack them with his tails just yet, hoping he could warn the stranger with a hollow threat.

But his plan didn't seem to work once their jaws broke open to say something in that same hissing tone that completely went over Tails’ own head. His defensive stature faltered with a quiet, “H-Huh?”

They'd answered this time with a kick, their foot colliding hard with Tails’ stomach. His waist screeched in anguish as it slammed against the side of the Tornado, moving the plane with a loud thud. Tails felt his dinner from last night claw its way up to his throat before choking it back down, watching the Tornado tip back onto its bad side. Eyes widening, he'd scrambled onto his feet and he attempted to pull at it with all of his might, interrupted by the arms of the stranger wrapping around his neck.

The yellow fox let out a gasp before lifting both himself and them up in the air with spinning tails, the person let out shrill yells of protest, loosening their grip and allowing Tails the chance to shrug them off with a twirl of his body.

Watching as they hit the ground with a whine before rolling into a ball and stopping their momentum on all fours once more. Tails smirked to himself as they looked up at him with venom. His crooked mouth opened but was late to the punch as soon as the wooden pup had made its way to them with a crossbow in its mouth.

“W-Wait!” he shouted just before dozens of arrows spiraled in his direction, the string pulling back repeatedly as they set their crossbow up at him. Cackling along the way as Tails flew in unpredictable motions just to get them off his tails. Tails led them away from his crash site, but as the jungle grew thicker lower hanging branches and vines invaded his flight path.

It was inevitable for Tails’ luck to run out, his tails spun into a thicket of vegetation hanging off the face of a tree, restricting most movement in his tails. The fox let out a shriek before his body was thrusted into the side of the tree, his ribs clattered against each other from being treated like a ragdoll. He hugged the tree despite being held up by his tails, his pounding head a reminder of his crash.

Trying his best to free his tails with one hand, he’d realized immediately that he needed both at work to have a chance at all. Keeping his grunting to a minimum as the person seemed to be having difficulties finding him. Amongst his constant beating heart, Tails’ ears stuck out in attentiveness at the subtle controlled steps of the madman with a crossbow. Once they'd loosen he'd stopped as soon as his ears swung in a set direction, shoving his palm against the front of his panting mouth, his other hand shielded the palm on his mouth as his entire body rattled violently. Thank chaos Sonic can’t see this. He could feel sweat pour from his scalp, eyes bulging out as the muddied mobian broke through the bushes and directly past the tree he had bunched himself up against.

The wooden pup trailing behind, oblivious to it all and immediately being the one to spot Tails. Unknowingly leaving behind the strange machine, the crossbow wielder moved through another section of bushes with sharp mutters.

At first Tails froze, uncertain of what to do as the robot’s dumb look fixated on him and hadn’t moved on to follow. It started to crouch, its hindlegs wiggling like a cat before taking up a counter. Tails eyes shut, his teeth gritting in preparation of what was to come. But to his surprise the robot had snapped his restraints, the fox’s eyes still clenched shut even as he slid easily down the tree.

With a few tattered breaths the fox opened a single eye, greeted with the curious look of the weird bot. “T-Thank you?” Tails whispered, and had received a tail wag from the pup. When it had given an excited bark, Tails’ fur was in a frenzy as he’d immediately hid behind the tree’s body.

Just in time as the person had let out a high pitched, “Aha!” They popped out of the bushes, stomping loud as ever, making Tails body twitch involuntarily.

They started backtracking, this time to the opposite side of the same tree as Tails spun around the trunk to avoid their gaze. To his surprise, they still hadn’t spotted him, only letting out a frustrated huff. Back completely turned and unaware of Tails presence, energy inside Tails gnawed its way up his chest. He wasted no time grabbing hold of them, attempting to disarm despite the slippery mud on their fur. They were caught off guard, letting out those same howls he’d heard yesterday. They both struggled once crashing upon the ground, and absolutely out of left field the stranger lunged into Tails’ arm to bite. Digging their teeth deeper into the depths of his fur, catching him off completely by surprise. 

“Cut it out!” Tails’ jabbed his free fist at the top of their head, his heart was running several miles as he’d realized they weren't letting go. He started to panic, shouting for them to stop with tears cornering his eyes. Tails felt his fist grow raw with pain, the amount of punches he’d sent to their skull made the fox grow tired with each lash. At this rate, it seemed they wouldn’t let go until they tore his arm completely off.

I gotta get away I- his thoughts collided with impulses, bringing his own jaws to the top of their head and clamping his teeth onto them. His imagination ran wild, picturing him chomping on a very hairy peppermint he'd found on the floor, with everything that made a mint good thrown in a woodchipper. It made the action somewhat easy as he'd tried his best to pull at their hair with his teeth despite being full of grime and bugs.

Something had broke, since all of the sudden their hair had sprung from Tails' teeth and they had released his arm. With the exchange in place, Tails didn’t hold back as he shoved them against a tree with both arms. Their shouts of protest dying in the back of their throat once making contact with the off-balanced tree, eyes shut for only a moment before a burst of energy influenced their lunge toward Tails who had struggled to stand.

Throwing a punch of their own at Tails’ face, the fox smacked his tails under their feet in retaliation after taking the hit. He watched them catch their balance with their arms and had shot out his other fist to hit them directly in the face as well. Tails took a moment to get in a couple of breaths as he’d looked back on them. “That’s-”

A sharp hiss broke through his sentence as the stranger had tried once more, throwing a wooden boomerang that narrowly missed his face. They were moving at a break-neck pace, every action becoming harder to pick himself back up than the next. He almost tripped as he’d finished taking a step back, and was met with claws tugging off the fur from his muzzle as they dragged them up and down his face.

Heat and tension bubbled inside him, teeth grinding against each other until strain. “-enough!” he’d screamed with a mighty force, barely recognizing himself. He'd struck them down with both tails, face twisting with anguish as his appendages knocked the breath out of them. The fox had spun his tails at their legs, sweeping them up before using its temporary grip to spin them upside down.

Head pounding from his grinding teeth, heat consumed and guided him every step of the way. He'd finished them off by slamming them into the ground. Letting go with his tails, watching their body springing back up from the impact, the fox felt his fist coil tighter as he winded up his leg. He’d sent a kick at the back of their head for good measure, their body flailing mindlessly into the air before crashing against the same struggling tree. 

There was a loud snap that made Tails flinch out of his simmering rage, his eyes wide as the tree started giving up.

The wooden pup who’d been watching with visibly less happy tail wags was perfectly in the vicinity of getting crushed. The stranger’s eyes opened regardless of the overwhelming blunt force trauma Tails had inflicted onto them. Eyes huge as the tree fled toward the pup, their arms extended as they attempted to save it only to fall straight on their face.

Thinking never came to mind as Tails’ body moved on its own, his body sprung toward the wooden pup just before the tree had reached its end. Rolling with his tails before stopping with his knees, the fox had let out a groan before releasing the robot out of his hold. Tails’ body exerted beyond belief, he wanted to sleep it off and hope to wake up back to his own house, with Sonic browsing magazines in their room and comforting him about this dream.

Words Tails couldn’t recognize came out from the stranger, scooping up the pup with trails of water falling from their face. Tails’ couldn’t even be bothered to smile, the queasy feeling in his stomach made watching them made it harder to digest. That should be my reunion, he thought to himself, eyes shutting as he’d let out another groan of defeat.

Their sounds drifted off in the back of Tails’ mind, drifting back into the pit of darkness he wasn’t so fond of. Though it felt like he’d only closed his eyes for a second, suddenly transported indoors and staring at a ceiling that wasn’t his. He didn’t dare turn his head, afraid of what he’d see. 

To accept that he was still on this island, and that it wasn’t just a dream.

Chapter 3: My Tourist Mistake

Tails slept for hours, or so he believed. He hadn’t kept track ever since he found himself wrapped in an abundance of cloth. Warm and leathery. Their aroma sweet like coconuts yet briney. He’d woken with a start, his head pounded regrettably as he sat upright and stared at everything around him. There was a lantern across the room on a broad table that held an assortment of books and stone tablets.

No windows and the ceiling showed roots and sediment. Definitely underground. Where? He wasn’t sure; each strand of his unknowing fur stood straight.

It didn’t take long for the familiar barks of a pup to ring throughout the burrow. The yellow fox didn’t know what to do at first, so he’d instinctively thrown the blankets over his head, remaining as still as possible. Rounds of excited footsteps danced across the flooring, accompanied by the very same voice, the crazy with the crossbow. Tails felt his jaws clench at her presence, unsure if he should make a run for it or stay put for now.

While contemplating his options, the less erratic footsteps started heading his way. He'd poked some space within the blankets to wait and see. Hopefully another opportunity to make a break for it would show.

On the wall opposite to the open doorway, the shadow of their figure grew with each dragged out step. Anticipating each and every one of them, he couldn't swallow; the person had stepped into the room.

It was an orange badger girl. She was taller than him but shorter than Knuckles as a comparing scale. Her once muddied fur and clothes, now washed, appeared much softer than before. She looked a lot closer to his age, perhaps only slightly older. One part of her hair, the side Tails had messed with sprung free without any ties. Unmanageable from Tails’ account but she’d somehow been unaffected.

Seeing that made his face heat up with what he guessed was embarrassment. Maybe he shouldn’t have- W-What? Hold on now, she bit you first! Tails shook his head a bit, trying to wrap around his previous bitter thoughts of the badger.

She’d strolled into the room with her partly smashed crossbow and boomerang in hand; placing it atop of her desk, staring around the room with both unclipped, and sharp hands rubbing against each other indecisively.

Badger girl was already making her way to Tails, leaving him no room to keep up the charade.

With the blankets snatched away from him quickly, he stared back at her bright blue eyes as they fixed onto his. The badger’s face strained before she asked a question that he couldn’t answer.

“I don’t understand...” Tails said back after she was done.

Her eyes widened at him with this, looking off to the side with an ear pressed down.

Tails’ didn’t know if he should even say anything if she couldn’t understand him, but to his surprise her hands rose up. “I said, you think I’m stupid?”

His eyes widened, he didn't think they could reach any kind of conversation. Although, he was curious as to why she’d looked as surprised. “Not necessarily,” he muttered, starting to sit up straighter with a wince.

She didn’t bother saying anything else, gesturing with her hands to his waist. “Lemmie check em.”

Tails’ didn’t bother refusing. If she wanted to treat him he might as well take up her offer. Anybody who couldn’t be trusted after a fight like that wouldn’t even bother going through the trouble in the first place.

She already reapplied the coverings for his wound as it was no longer dirtied, now it was a yellowish gauze instead of white.

“How long?”

Her eyes screwed up toward the ceiling. “Time? Uh, next day. Day but sun low.” Her raspy voice tilted a bit.

Tails let out a sigh as he’d watched her unwrap the covers and brush something onto his inflamed wound without any warning. The paste was brown and green, sticking on a little brush like glue.

“Cloves for pain. Basil for the infection,” she’d explained while finishing patching it up. The wrappings were applied tighter than before, leaving the fox little room to inhale.

He felt completely awkward after she was done. Sitting quietly as she’d dusted her sharp hands off while proudly eyeing at her work.

His fur was on fire once they'd lingered for too long. “How do you even know my language?” He tried to steer her toward a conversation. He'd leaned on his wrist as if interested just to subtly glance at the entryway for an exit of any kind.

Her small tail shifted a bit intentionally as her body came to life. “I have a book, give me the minute.”

Like she said, she rushed toward her desk. Reaching down to a bunch of books haphazardly placed underneath, she'd pulled out a big one. Carrying it with her straining arms, she placed it at the very end of the bed Tails' was on. It'd looked worn down and overused.

“I’ve learned it from here.” She splayed the book across, pointing with her finger a line of text unfamiliar to Tails- “This is what we speak,” she said.

“I see…uh okay.” He felt uneasy as she stared at him more attentively than before, his nose scrunched as he’d given a forced cough. “Is it uncommon to speak my language?”

The girl looked a bit uncertain before arriving at an answer. “Maybe for some, I guess.” Scratching at the back of her head, she'd looked off, Tails following along.

Suddenly the wooden dog had popped into the room, limp tail leaf wagging but its demeanor odd as it’d circled the middle of the room.

The badger, now placing a finger at the bottom of her lip, focused all of her attention on her companion. Leaving Tails' room to finally ask, “What is that thing?”

“B-Uster?”

“Is that what you call him?”

She didn’t answer, instead she’d traveled across the room to scoop the pup into her arms. As she sat back on the edge of the bed, she'd brushed under his chin and a supposed collar to reveal text on the tag with a giant B in the front; turning it revealed the words: “uster”.

“So Buster?”

She shrugged. “I suppose. Alien names never really made much sense to me.”

“Well what’s your name?”

She narrowed her eyes to the ceiling for a moment, recalling something before shrugging once more. “Don’t really have one, but the villagers call me something that has to do with the parts of the trees?”

Wait there are other inhabitants? The fact made Tails feel just a sliver of ease at his situation. Still stranded on an island though. Scratching his chin as his mind wandered back to the current discussion.

“Branch…?”

She shook her head, scratching the center of her hair where it parted for an itch at first before bringing out a twig and showing him.

“These but stronger, and many.” Her face scrunched up as she tried her best to explain.

“Sti-Sticks?”

Finally she nodded, but mid nod was when Buster jutted his feet at her face before breaking out with a whine and a bark.

Tails’ felt uneasy as his bare feet touched the ground, inching his body to the side of the bedding. Wondering where his shoes could be, his train of thoughts intercepted with a low hiss coming from the badger.

Sticks suddenly stormed to her desk, picking up a wooden boomerang and a lengthy linear stick. To his dismay, she'd completely ignored his idle questions as he mentioned his shoes and items.

She just walked right out of the room, and left with no other choice, Tails had followed.

Watching just a glimpse of her slamming her door shut, storming off to who knew where.

Buster remained sat behind the door, a whine emitting from his core watching his owner leave in such a hurry.

Looking around longer in his surroundings, very similar to the room he’d found himself awake in, Tails had managed to find his once bright red and white shoes. Now muddied and soiled once again on a makeshift bamboo chair, along with his ripped and empty pouch.

Ignoring his socks he’d only placed his shoes back on his feet. He hoped that it'd manage until he made better temporary footwear.

Wasting no time making his way out through the door, spotting the orange hair poke out from the foliage before submerging in the leaves.

“Hey wait up!” Tails called after her, his tails kicking up dirt behind him as they’d helped propel him forward quickly.

Sticks didn’t acknowledge his existence once again, even as he’d arrived only a few feet behind.

“Can you wait up please?!” He tried again.

No answer.

She produced a hair tie out from her satchel and expertly wrapped it around her brushy hair. From the same satchel she’d brought out another tie, but instead of her hair, she’d brought a sharp rock to the end of the large stick she carried, tying it up securely to make a hasty looking spear.

“What about your crossbow…?”

“It’s broken.” She held a dagger-like stare at him before shifting her attention away. “Besides, I need to get up and close with them.”

“Who’s them?” Silence mocked him as the smell of heat and wire stained the air. Through the leaves a thick heap of black smog trailed into the sky.

The yellow fox’s skin tingled with hotness while eyeing the environment up and down for any signs of what, “them” could’ve meant.

“Jump.” Sticks’ word chopped the tension in the air.

Tails didn't even have enough time to ask what she’d meant, he felt a static breeze soar through the hairs on his body from behind. Miraculously he’d dodged at just the right time; landing with an improvised handstand before his arms had given way.

Shielding the top of his head as an influx of electric bullets sprayed throughout the lines of trees.

Voices, not from Sticks herself remained in the air. Inhabitants. They looked similar to the badger when it came to clothing, but were different species all together. An otter and a shrew.

They screamed as a nauseatingly yellow, metal machine’s independent eye exchanged contact in their direction. With a fingerless fist in the air, the energy balled within the chamber of their cannon sparked with life.

With every creaking bone in Tails' body, he’d lunged forward impulsively and grabbed the closest disposable object to him. A rock.

His aim was impeccable, hitting the robot’s arm squarely and launching it into the air as it’d accidentally blasted the ground. Tails fist pumped to himself watching it crash with a loud thud.

As he’d taken a moment to collect the breath he was holding, he’d searched for Sticks’ vibrant color. The eerie scent of burning grass, punishing his nose. To Tails’ relief, Sticks had shown herself exactly at the right moment, her swinging body propelling herself in Tails’ direction before swooping him off the ground.

She’d held onto his waist tightly as her other arm held onto a vine, watching one of the other robots shrink the higher they were carried. Five more had sprouted out and into the clearing, their attention directly drawn at them.

It would be rough to try avoiding getting hit, at least once when defeating them, and well Tails wasn't in the mood for taking anymore hits after everything that had happened to him so far.

Ideas crammed into his mind as his brain worked out a solution while their vine gradually began to change directions. Turning his head to Sticks he’d finally worked out what he wanted. “I need you to throw me at them when we get closer!” he exclaimed.

Sticks hadn’t looked any different at him before the ripples of adrenaline took hold of Tails’ spine, she had let him go without any warning.

Bangs sped past his blurred vision as his knees nearly punched out his eye when he’d curled up. Using his two tails to steer in the right direction, Tails’ bounced off at least three of them before he’d caught himself in a crouching position on the ground.

The world spun rapidly and the vibration on the shaky ground signaled at least two robots' defeat. All that was left was one still functioning without its normal arm and two completely unharmed.

Leaping off into flight, Tails stuck low to the ground in order to avoid any harm to the trees around them. Not wanting to accidentally cause any more destruction to the landscape.

When Sticks came back around in her vine, she’d let go with an energized shriek. With the robots captivated by Tails distraction, she’d easily managed to thrust her spear into one of the unharmed bots. Twisting the insanely sharp weapon deeper into its torso. Convulsions of her laughter brimming as the robot’s active arm blasted wildly around the area.

She'd directed the line of fire into the other bots. It was done. After a couple of moments they'd lay limply on the ground.

The badger finished the unwilfully assisting bot with a plunging spear in its chest plate, turning it off permanently.

Tails’ head poured with sweat as he’d brought himself to Sticks’ side. His legs pounding as they’d shook from his weight. “Phew!” He’d resisted the urge to drop to his knees as he’d heaved. Perhaps it was the lack of food and hydration, but Tails didn’t feel as good as he typically would after a fight with bots.

One of the people they’d saved said something in Sticks’ native tongue. The otter’s eyes beamed with gratitude as they’d reached out toward Sticks, while the other had stood closely behind like they were a shield.

Tails wanted to ask why but to his shock Sticks had let out a hiss and drew her sharp nails at them.

Without a beat they both yelled before scrambling away. Sticks watched their escape with cheeks full of glee before turning around, her mouth agape at just his presence.

“Why did you do that?” he asked, ignoring the way her white teeth shone at him.

“I do what I want,” she muttered then crouched near the robot that still held her spear.

“What are these things?”

“Blaster Aliens. They take homes, and destroy life.”

Tails had a double take at the robots, to be fair their appearance was pretty alien adjacent, though it was hard to pinpoint if they were made from beyond their world.

The fox’s throat vibrated as he thought out loud, “Is Buster-” She’d curtly cut him off. “No.” Her tone was like hitting a wall and made him freeze all over, even before her ocean blue eyes coldly exchanged with his. Nothing more came of this, only her proceeding in her actions of scavenging off of the bot.

Her claws tore through the metal plating surprisingly well, though her bare hands haphazardly dug into all the circuitry placed inside. “Um, you shouldn’t do that.” He cringed, waiting for her to stop, but of course she didn’t. At this point, Tails expecting a badger not to be stubborn was like expecting the earth to stop spinning.

It’s just a fact of life.

Sticks continuously tore through the wires, even as sparks flew out of the core as it’d revealed something bright yellow.

But seeing this made Tails’ stomach drop as his hands raced to what was obviously high in voltage and connected to the bright object.

“You’re gonna electrocute yourself!” Tails shouted as he’d impulsively grabbed her wrist.

“Off!” she snarled, ears drawing backwards once more. Without a blink of his eye, she’d gone through with it, and they both were immediately rectified with a wave of electricity. His teeth chattering as his fur stood up, and every bruise and cut seared with pain.

Smoking fur and clothing stood disgustingly in the air as the badger let out a cackle, her words shifting in between Tails’ language and her own.

“W-What is wrong with you?!” Tails shouted, he started backing away from Sticks as she’d held the object dully in her hands as her hair swayed idly to the side watching him like a deer in headlights.

“What?”

“Smashing up bots is a whole lot different than dissecting them with your bare hands!”

She finally stood, her hand waving dismissively. “Oh please… I felt larger currents than that.” His mouth remained in a straight line as he’d looked past her, Sticks had continued as she’d patted down her satchel and secured the yellow object inside her pouch.

“I know what I’m doing. If that’s wrong I don’t wanna know what’s right.”

“Just-” He stopped for a moment, pausing to exhale deeply out of his nose. “I’d like to get back to my plane.”

“Plane? Like flat..?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s the machine you found me in.”

Sticks’ face contorted. “Oh.” She once again started to make her way in a certain direction, the one in which they had come from.

“What’s wrong?” Tails couldn’t help feeling even more uneasy. Sticks felt like an unpredictable person, one wrong move and everything could tip upside-down.

“It’s alien too. You’re alien.”

“What? No I’m not-”

She’d spun around and pointed down at him, he didn’t even bother following her sight for long. He held her gaze, his own stare hard before he chose to speak, “Just because I have two of them doesn’t mean I’m an alien. That’s a little rude don’t you think?”

Sticks’ mouth moved to open but stopped halfway, eyes flickering up the sky then to the ground with a sigh. “Sorry.” Her hand scratched her arm and cupped it as she’d turned around.

“Was that why you attacked me?” Tails muttered, his fingers twitched as a brief distraction from his swishing tails.

“Evils come from the sky. That’s where the blasters come from, they exist to hurt others. You came from sky, you must have bad intent.”

“But I don’t!” Tails’s voice nearly scared both him and Sticks, he chose to proceed in spite however. “I just want to get home! I’m stuck here until either I get my plane fixed or I call for help!”

“If you go back to your plane." Her hand balled up at her side as she’d stepped closer to him. "I won’t be as inviting as I was today. There’s always trouble from the skies, and I don’t want you to bring more.”

The yellow fox didn’t want to have an ultimatum, if he could avoid it, he wished to at least have someone by his side to help him in this strange and new land.

But I want to go home already…

His teeth started clanking together again. Whether from the sudden chill sweeping through the land as a cloud covered the low sun in the sky, or the hard expression on Sticks’ face.

“I need to get home.” Sticks turned away.

Fist still balled up, and shoulders slouched as Tails watched with a frown. He understood why she’d be so hesitant around strangers with technology. But with how much he’d proven himself so far, he’d at least hoped she wouldn’t be so set in her ways.

Stopping at an overgrowth of ferns, Sticks had made his head lighter as she’d stared attentively at him. “Don’t come near again,” she said before ducking behind a tree.

The breath he was holding left along with her, leaving Tails alone once more in the jungle with nothing but his own thoughts.

Back to square one.