Their Golden Child

by RubyPncake

Summary:

Previously titled 'The Golden Child'

Tangle and Whisper are unexpectedly sent into a parenthood after exploring an ancient temple while on search for a mystical gem. Only time will tell if they're cut out for the job or not.

Chapter 1: Cursed

Tangle sneaked around the structure, followed closely by Whisper and Lanolin. Exploring an ancient temple wasn’t the lemur’s favorite activity to waste her Saturday on… But she wouldn’t complain about spending more time with her friends. Tangle made little noises with her mouth as she jumped and backflipped all around the interior of what once was a place of worship thousands of years ago. Lanolin grabbed Tangle by the arm and pulled her closer. Whisper carefully weaved out of the way of the lemur so as not to get hit.

 

“Be more careful, will you? This place could be filled with traps” Lanolin looked at Tangle with that disappointed glare she made sometimes. The one that made Tangle feel like she was being scolded by an angry mother. ‘Jeesh. Grumpy, much?’ She thought to herself, she raised her hand as to do a salute. “Aye, aye, captain!”. Lanolin cocked an eyebrow and just let go of Tangle, who fell behind the two girls as she rubbed her arm, quickly running towards them to catch up. She slowed down and began walking beside Whisper, arms behind her back, trying to look casual, as if she hadn’t completely embarrassed herself mere seconds ago.

 

Whisper tried keeping it together, but couldn’t help but chuckle a little. Just a little. She put her fist on her muzzle to stop the laughter, then looked at Tangle with the faintest of smirks. “ ‘Aye, aye, captain’? What are you, a sailor?”. Tangle held her laughter too as to not enrage her fluffy boss more than she already had. She playfully hit Whisper in the shoulder, causing the wolf to rub the area to calm the slight pain. “Yeah! I’ve got the muscles to back it up, see?” Tangle flexed her spindly noodle arms, getting another small laugh out of Whisper.

 

Lanolin pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Those two were a handful sometimes. And this was one of those times. The diamond cutters continued their trek through the temple, carefully descending into the heart of the structure with each staircase they found. Tangle scratched her chin in confusion. “Jeesh, this place seems like a big deal. Why are we here again?” The lemur inquired to her boss. Lanolin sighed, having to remind the mission to these two. Or maybe she forgot to tell them in the first place? She swears she did, but sometimes things like that slip her mind. “Tails says this place could have a gem called the Demantoid Dampner. A gem of legend that’s said to have the power of shutting down any kind of energy.”

 

Tangle kicked a pebble away, the little thing bounced into the darkness of the hall they were crossing. “Why is it always rocks? Do we even need something like that?” Tangle argued, now way less excited about this expedition than she was before. “It’s just a failsafe in case Surge goes rogue again.” Whisper’s frowned as soon as Lanolin mentioned that name. Covering herself with her coat more than usual, shuddering. “Woah! Isn’t that a bit much?” Tangle argued. “Sure, she did bad stuff in the past, but isn’t preparing something to mess her up in advance kinda weird?” She continued.

 

“...Perfectly reasonable” Whisper replied, trying to hide her anger. “But-” Tangle tried to argue, only to be interrupted by Lanolin. “Surge is unstable, Tangle. Either you take her side or you take ours.” The sheep walked beside Whisper and put a hand on her shoulder. Tangle shrunk into herself out of nervousness and pressure. Before the argument could get more heated, the little pebble the lemur had kicked away finally finished its course, landing on a small metal tile.

All three diamond cutters present widened their eyes as the sound and feel of something big approaching intruded their bodies. A giant boulder fell from the ceiling right in front of them, beginning to roll in their direction. Tangle sprang into Lanolin’s arms as the two screamed. Whisper grabbed Lanolin by the wrist and made a run for it, away from the rock. The sheep tried her best to keep Tangle from falling despite having to hold the girl by only one arm. Thankfully, Tangle was able to jump backward, grabbing onto Lanolin’s hand and running for dear life, only a few meters away from the rock threatening to squish them.

 

Tangle improvised, looking up and seeing a crosswalk above them, she stretched her tail, the rubbery sound of the action being all that her teammates needed to know what she was planning. “On the count of three!” Tangle said as her tail had already begun to stretch thin from grabbing onto the structure above them and continuing their movement. “One. Two. Three!” As soon as the last word left the Lemur’s mouth the three girls jumped as high as they could, Tangle’s tail went stiff, launching them upwards as a consequence. The boulder crashed past them, making the entire structure shake. Whisper landed kneeling with one hand on the ground, getting up and dusting herself off as Lanolin landed more gracefully, her afro bounced with the recoil of the landing as she got up. Tangle fell flat on her face.

 

Whisper helped her friend up as she groaned, rubbing her rear due to the stinging pain. “I haven’t stretched myself that bad since the metal virus.” Tangle whined and stood beside Whisper, a few feet away from Lanolin, who was ready to berate the lemur again. “Tangle-” Lanolin took a step forward, causing another rumble. Then the ground below Tangle and Whisper opened like a trapdoor. Both girls plummet into the Darkness as Lanolin screams for them.

 

Drip.

 

Drip.

 

Drip.

 

Tangle’s eyes widened as a water droplet hit her forehead, sliding down to the right side of her face. Then another. Same spot. Slid to the left this time. Tangle got up and shook her body to dry herself. Her hearing was kind of fuzzy, but she heard a distant Lanolin screaming at her.

 

“STAY RIGHT THERE! I’LL GO FIND SILVER!” The sheep’s voice echoed, shortly followed by the sound of her wisp obliterating the rock that had previously almost crushed them. Tangle looked to her side. Whisper was getting up. Tangle returned the wolf’s previous favor and helped her up by grabbing her hand tightly. “Lanolin’s gonna go for help” The lemur informed. Whisper nodded in understanding, looking at the strange walls of the hall they had fallen into. She cocked her Wispon, a cheery digital voice yelled “ROCKET!” as she lit the thing like a torch thanks to her alien friend.

 

Tangle curiously walked next to Whisper, taking in the sight of the ancient mural depicting a fight between what seemed to be 8 bird-like figures and an entire army of… Knuckles? The lemur tilted her head in confusion. She approached the mural and touched it. This thing wasn’t painted, it was carved. Little dents around the rock made the thing come to life. To her, it felt kinda surreal being in a place like this. To Whisper, this was a bunch of nothing.

 

“Not useful. Let’s keep going.” Whisper spoke as she began walking down the hall, Tangle followed closely. “Wait! Shouldn’t we wait for Lanolin to come back with Silver?” She questioned her masked teammate. “Not fast enough. Might suffocate if we don’t find a way out on our own.” She replied. Footsteps splashing against puddles and echoing through the empty structure.

 

They arrive at some sort of main chamber, A long stone staircase lead to an owl-shaped sarcophagus with a crystalized green heart encrusted on its chest. Tangle beamed, eyes sparkling as she stared at the gem on display. “That must be the thingamajig Lanolin wanted!” The lemur sprinted towards the sacred tomb faster than her friend could tell her to wait up. She wrapped her grubby hands around the rock and pulled with all her might. Green energy began cracking the tomb as she struggled against the thing.

 

“Tangle, wait!” Whisper warned her friend, getting a “Huh?” in response before a massive explosion sent them both back, Tangle landing on top of her friend as the shockwave created by the burst of energy lit up all the torches in the area one by one. The lemur scratched her head and coughed as both she and Whisper got up, observing how from the cloud of smoke created by the explosion, the shape of an owl emerged.

“Thou disturb the rest of the fertility goddess Noctavia ?” - Her voice boomed throughout the room. Her wings flapped, making her ascend into the air. Her body and wings coated in shining yellow scales instead of feathers, it seemed she was wearing some sort of armor made of pure gold. Her body itself was undoubtedly different from other birds the duo had seen before. Her flying appendages stretched from her back, positioned like an angel’s. Her arms were coated in the same keratinous spikes her feet had, and both sets of limbs ended in black talons that were so sharp Tangle already felt cut. “We were here for the gem you have on your…” Tangle put her hands in cusps in front of her chest and moved them up and down. Whisper facepalmed.

 

Noctavia’s expressionless white face didn’t budge, but she lowered her head for a second before looking back at the pair in front of them, two green pupils forming in the voids she had for eyes. “Thou dare wake me up… And come here to steal my people’s treasure?!” - Her voice raised in anger, the Demantoid Dampner shined brightly with her command. Tangle and Whisper were both surrounded by swirling green energy.

 

“W-Wait! Let’s talk about th-” Before the girl could finish talking, Whisper tackled Tangle out of the way and fired her wispon directly at the gem on the owl’s chest with terrifying precision. The cyan blast made contact, only for Lazer to be absorbed by the gemstone. The wolf froze up in terror. Not this again.

 

Whisper trembled as both she and Tangle were lifted into the air, pulled close together, closer until they couldn’t help but have their faces next to each other, cheeks touching. Noctavia stared daggers into their eyes. “I CURSE THOU, TANGLE THE LEMUR AND WHISPER THE WOLF. SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF THY SINS. ” - Her eyes shine brightly, staring right through the pairs’. Both girls’ thoughts began fading away, fading to white. Then, it was all black.

 

Whisper tasted her breath in her mouth. She clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth to get the nasty feeling out of her system. Her entire body ached and felt like ants were crawling over her. A noise jolted her awake in one go. The sound of a pup whining. Her ears perked up and she looked to her side as she sat on the… soft grass? She was outside the temple now. Somehow. Tangle was there, she seemed out of it too, but she was holding the source of the sound.

 

The wolf’s heart sank as she saw it. It looked like her. That pup looked like her. It had her fur. It had her muzzle. It had her fangs. Whisper’s breathing accelerated as she closed in on the details of it. Tangle’s hair tuft. Brown fur that looked kind of like a scarf on the thing. Similar to Tangle’s chest fur. And its eyes. 

 

They were Tangle’s eyes.

 

Tangle tried calming down the pup’s whining with gentle shushing and petting of its forehead, but nothing seemed to truly calm it down. Finally, the lemur noticed that her friend was awake, holding the pup closer to her body after seeing the frown on her face. She had never seen her so distraught.

 

Before either of them could speak, the distinct noise of a bell ringing grew closer. Tangle’s dizzy tired eyes met Lanolin’s the second she and Silver emerged from the shrubs surrounding the clearing in the forest they sat in. Both the sheep and Hedgehog were utterly bewildered at the sight of Tangle holding a baby that was obviously both hers and Whisper’s.

---

 

 

All four members of the Diamond Cutters sat in Lanolin’s new office. Aka her garage. The bossy sheep handed her coworker a bottle of milk she had just heated up. Tangle thanked her and held the bottle close to the little golden pup in her arms, finally shutting down its whining as it instinctively held onto the plastic cylinder and began drinking. Everyone in the room sighed in relief as the cries were finally shut down for now. “So let me get this straight” Lanolin questioned Tangle and Whisper. “You two found the Demantoid Dampner, but it was held by an ancient owl goddess that cursed you both to have…” Lanolin waved her hand in the pup’s direction. Both Tangle and Whisper nodded. "And the temple is just... Gone?" Lanolin inquired, another nod from the two followed. “Weirded things have happened” Silver butted in, arms crossed as he stared at the baby held by the lemur. “What are you two gonna do about it?” He questioned, scratching his chin as he did. He thought to himself; Could these two even be responsible enough to take care of a baby? With no planning?

 

“I’m not gonna take care of it.” Whisper replied without any semblance of hesitation, face still frowning. Tangle turned around to look at her friend in what felt like half a second. “What?! Whistle needs both of her moms in her life!” Whisper looked at Tangle in the eyes. “You named it?” Tangle shrugged with her one free arm, much to Whisper’s frustration. “She deserves a name.” She continued. Whisper groaned before hitting the table and crossing her arms, refusing to look at the Lemur. 

 

Tangle’s face turned into a frown, but she didn’t have much time to be sad about her friend’s lack of parental responsibility before little Whistle began crying again. Lanolin and Silver covered their ears and sighed. That peace and quiet only lasted so long. The unprepared mother did the best she could to calm down her pup. “Hey, hey, calm down girl! Coochie coochie coo!”

 

Tangle scratched her baby’s chin to no avail. Lanolin swiped Whistle out of her hands and laid her down on the table. The pup’s tears stopped for a moment as the sheep covered her face with her hands. “Where’s the baby?” She said in a purposefully silly voice, before revealing her expression, tongue out and eyes closed. “There she is!”. Lanolin covered her face again. “Wheeeere’s the baby?” She popped out of her hands again, inches away from Whistle’s little face. “There she is!”. Lanolin smiled, thinking she had finally calmed down the beast in front of her.

 

Only for the little pup to begin bawling her eyes out even harder than before. Whisper finally stepped up, pushing Lanolin out of the way. “Idiot. You’re scaring her.” Whisper held Whistle in her arms, staring at her, eyes closed a half-smile appearing on her face. The pup stared at her mother’s face and giggled, reaching to touch her nose with all her might…

 

But she fell asleep before she reached it. Whisper cooed little noises to the pup in front of her. She still didn’t like the thing, but it was better to have her quiet than noisy. Besides. Maybe. Just maybe. She could get used to her. Somewhat. But even if she seemed calm in the outside, inside she was panicking. She didn't want to raise this pup. She was still dead worried about her missing wisp. But for now, she could play along. If for Tangle and her other teammate's sake.

Chapter 2: Snowfall

Tangle's mouth opened freakishly wide as she yawned. The cries of her newborn had woken her up at midnight, something she'd have to get used to. Even if Whisper had agreed to take partial responsibility for the baby girl lying on the lemur's bed, she never promised to be around at all times. Tangle grabbed her and did a quick inspection. No need for a diaper change, Tangle had to take care of that before bed. She had also eaten just a few hours ago. “What's wrong, Whistle?” The girl said as she grabbed the pup gently, cradling her in her arms as little coos and shushes attempted to calm her down. It was only when her body instinctively shook due to the cold winter air assaulting her body temperature that she put the pieces of the puzzle together.

 

“Oh gosh. You must be so cold!” Tangle pulled Whistle closer to her body, the pup's cries calmed down as her mother's body heat shielded her fragile body from the elements. Tangle lay down with Whistle atop her chest. She wrapped her tail around both of them and began to fall asleep. Tomorrow would be less eventful. She hoped.

 

The lemur woke to the buzzing of her phone. New messages from Whisper. She stretched her arm towards her nightstand, careful not to wake the baby lying on her. The bright light from her cell phone made Tangle want just to shut the thing off and keep sleeping, but it must have been important if Whisper was talking to her.

 

> Tangle.

 

> Tangle.

 

> I'll be over at your place in a few minutes.

 

> Lanolin and I bought things for the baby.

 

Her name is Whistle. <

 

> Right.

 

Tangle sighed, carefully uncoiling her tail. She tucked the bedsheets around Whistle and crept to the living room, still rocking her pajamas. The woefully unprepared mother made herself some toast and tea (as well as leaving boiled water ready to make some for Whisper) as she waited. She looked out the window. First snowfall of the year, it seems. 

 

“No wonder it’s so cold.” She said to herself, spreading butter over her toast before munching it with a loud crunch. Some minutes passed. She drifted in and out of sleep, flinching the second she felt too relaxed. Finally, a knock at the door woke her fully right as she began drifting again. The sleepy Lemur opened the door. Whisper stood outside, wearing her winter clothes, yet still visibly shaking. She was holding what seemed to be at least 4 bags in each hand. Tangle moved out of the way to let her friend pass into her home. The shivering wolf simply replied with a “Thanks” under her breath. She laid the bags on the ground in front of the couch and sat on it, staring at Tangle like a lost puppy.

The lemur jumped right onto the couch beside the mother of her child. Geez, ‘that’ll take some time getting used to, ’ she thought as she began scouting through the various bags that the wolf brought with her. Mostly just full of baby-adjacent things. Various onesies of different sizes, socks, gloves, bibs, diapers, formula, plastic bottles, and bottle warmers. Tangle giggled. “What’s with the clothes coming in different sizes?” The lemur inquired. “...Didn’t know which one to pick. Brought the prettier ones.” Whisper answered. 

 

They both heard whimpering coming from Tangle’s room. The pair looked at each other and sighed before walking towards the bedroom. There laid Whistle, on the bed, crying due to the absence of her mom. Tangle nudged Whisper to get her attention. “Check this out.”

The lemur held up her kid like she was the most delicate and precious thing in the world, quickly getting the little goober to calm down by petting her forehead. The baby giggled after receiving this comfort, her little paws extending towards her mom, nudging her hand with her head while seeking more attention. Whisper let out an audible “awwwww” at the sight.

 

“You’re very good with kids, Tangle.” She said, holding her shoulder as she did. Tangle turned around to face her and shrugged. “It’s kind of an instinct. I see a cute thing, I pet it.” She turned back to see Whistle. “And you’re the cutest thing in the world! Yes, you are!” Tangle nuzzled her baby, getting another adorable laugh out of Whistle.

 

The two mothers walked back to the living room and began scouting for something that’d fit Whistle among all that Whisper had bought her. Very quickly, they settled on a light pink one with chao patterns. 

 

“Okay, you lift her arms.” Whisper nodded at Tangle’s request and did exactly that. Before they knew it, Whistle finally had her new clothes on. On top of the onesie, Tangle put a little beanie with built-in pointy ears on her head. Certainly better than just a random blanket. She lifted her arms and giggled, eyes completely unfocused. Tangle scratched her chin. “What’s up with that?”

 

Whisper looked at her and tilted her head. “What’s up with what?” She questioned. “Her eyes are always off focus. Like she’s staring at the wall through us or something.” The lemur clarified. Whisper hummed. “..Mom told me I was born blind. Maybe Whistle’s eyesight is blurry.” Tangle pat the baby’s head after hearing that. “Awwww… Guess she just thinks you smell good. Being around you really calms her down.” Whisper let out a quiet laugh in response.

 

The pair shared a quiet moment—just them. Just Whistle. It was nice. All of this had been so sudden, such a life-changing just dropping into their arms while they least expected it. But, at least for now, things had settled down. If just a bit.

 

“We should take her to the hospital,” Whisper muttered, just about loud enough for Tangle to hear, but still very quietly. She continued, “Her circumstances of birth are… strange, sure. Doubt she comes with all those things built in.” Tangle nodded in response. “Man, how didn’t I think of that?” She pulled at her hair tuft in frustration at herself. Whisper grabbed her by the arm and jerked it back to stop her from doing so. “Hey, it’s okay. No point in getting angry at yourself before anything even happens to her… Let’s just go right now. I have my car parked outside.”

 

Tangle cocked an eyebrow. “You have a car?”. Suddenly, her eyes widened in excitement. “YOU HAVE A CAR AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME? WE COULD HAVE GONE ON SO MANY ADVENTURES!” Whisper couldn’t help but find Tangle’s excitement for something as mundane as a car endearing. Tangle stopped holding Whistle and carefully set her on the mattress of her bedroom. The pup crawled in circles for a bit before falling to her side and yawning.

 

Whisper held Tangle’s hand. “We should probably go now. Since she’s sleepy.” 

 

The pair stared into each other’s eyes as they smiled. “But you should probably wear something else instead of those pajamas.” Tangle blushed and looked down at herself, still covered in light pink cloth with white stripes.

 

“Oh, yeah! YEAH! Sure! I’ll be just…” Tangle got up and pushed Whisper out of the room. Not too hard, but hard enough that she couldn’t put up much resistance against it. “...Done in a second!” The lemur slammed the door shut and proceeded to scream into a pillow.

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

Tangle stepped out of her room, fully dressed in her usual winter clothes. Whistle rested in her arms while she softly snored. Her friend got up from her couch, swallowing some food as she did. “...Ate some bread you had lying around. Sorry.” The purple-eyed girl shrugged. “I don’t mind. Let’s get our girl to the hospital”. Whisper opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She thought for a second. She wanted to correct her. Sure, she didn’t HATE Whistle. Couldn’t bring herself to. But she’s just. Not something she wished to deal with. And Tangle’s the eager one to raise her.

 

“Sure.” She said, drily. 

 

Tangle locked her door as she walked out of her house. White snow covered her entire neighborhood. She stuck out her tongue and swallowed a snowflake. Whisper giggled at the sight under her cold breath.

 

The pair walked towards Whisper’s car. It was a grey truck, similar to a Ford. However, hers was a bit more custom-built. No windows in the back for once, black tinted reinforced glass in the windows at the side of the front. Whisper spun her keys on her finger before opening the door, holding it out of courtesy for Tangle. “You first.” Tangle nodded and got in, carefully so as not to wake Whistle from her slumber. She closed the door behind her. Whisper circled her vehicle and got into the driver’s seat. She turned on the engine and began driving. Nearest hospital was a town or two over. Same one she had gone to after Surge attacked her.

 

“Nice car you’ve got there.” Tangle said. Whisper smiled, not looking at her to reply. “Thanks. Got it earlier this month.” A quick silence. Then. “...Was planning on inviting the team to a road trip.” Tangle beamed. 

 

“Oh my gosh, that’d be awesome!” Her excitement, however, was cut short by the shuffling of Whistle under her arms, little baby instinctively biting onto her hand. “...But I guess we couldn’t go, huh? It’s okay, we’d have fun with Whistle. Right?” Whisper squeezed the steering wheel a little harder. Tangle was including her in this. Again.

 

“...Don’t like that.” Tangle tilted her head. “Don’t like what?” She questioned Whisper. The wolf sighed. “Don’t like how you’re acting like this is normal.” Tangle got ready to protest, but Whisper shut her down before she could. “Yes. I did agree to raise her. But I’m not happy about it.”

 

“Oh. Right. Sorry.” They fell silent. Only the sound of the engine and other cars passing by. Whisper was about to apologize when her wisps erupted from her wispon in the back seats. Blue, Pink, Green, and Orange cuddled against Tangle. “Woah- Hehehe- Be careful guys-!” The wisps made weird, bubbly sounds once they noticed Whistle. Circling around her, inspecting her.

 

“You think they like her?” Tangle asked. Whisper gave out a tired laugh. “They were so angry I left them outside of the meeting room that day. They really wanted to see her with their own eyes.” Tangle could tell, as the wisps observed Whistle quietly, knowing any sudden movement or sound could disturb her sleep. They got closer to the pup and cuddled her. Tangle yelped a bit from the added weight, but it wasn’t that much.

 

However, something was weighing on her mind. “Cyan’s not here, so I assume that means…” Whisper answered before her friend could finish her sentence. “Haven’t found the temple. Disappeared in thin air.” If Tangle could, she could rub her arm, but she was currently held hostage by a hug of wisps and an adorable baby.

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Whisper and Tangle opened the door to the clinic. Barely anyone is in the building at this hour. Good. They approached a counter divided in 4 segments, each having a designated worker to attend to patients. Both girls went to the left-most one. Tangle cradling a now-awake Whistle in her arms. The pup looked at her surroundings in wonder. So many new sights and smells. It was kind of overwhelming.

 

Whisper pressed a button that made a little ring noise. A mouse girl scrambled with papers and finally walked toward the counter. She had to jump onto a stool to see the pair properly. Separated from them by a thick glass panel with a circular hole in the middle.

 

“Welcome to Emeraldville Clinic! How may I be of help to you?” She smiled, her ears twitching. Tangle squinted her eyes to read her name tag. ‘Dr.Brie’. “Right, uh.. Hi, Miss Brie! I’m Tangle, and this is my baby! Her name’s Whistle!” She lifted up Whistle for the rodent to see. She adjusted her glasses. “Awwww. She’s adorable! What makes you bring Whistle here?” Brie inquired. Tangle cleared her throat. “Right! See, she was born. Yesterday. She doesn’t have her shots or anything so It’d be good if you, like, appointed her to get them and stuff!” As her mother spoke, Whistle moved her paws in the air, trying to catch a moth hovering above them.

 

“Wow! She looks very developed for a newborn. Do you have any papers for her?” Whisper and Tangle panicked a little. “...No. She wasn’t born in the most… Common circumstances.” Whisper said, with honesty. Barely audible.

 

“Ah, I get it. Probably best priority to bring her here rather than to an agency to get her papers done. Thankfully…” She trailed off, calling someone over. Tangle’s eyes grew wide as Jewel flew over. She totally forgot that, for all intents and purposes, she was the mayor of this place. The beetle covered her mouth with her hands.

 

“Tangle?! B-But how? Last time I saw you, you weren’t.. Yknow-” She waved her arms in the general direction of the baby held by her friend at this moment. “I can explain..? It’s a long story, and I’m not sure I wanna risk Whistle catching something-” The mouse made a fake cough to get both Tangle and Jewel’s attention. “If I may, maybe you and the pup’s parents could get her papers in check while I check that nothing’s wrong with her?” Jewel looked at Brie and blinked twice. “O-Oh! Of course! Yeah, Yeah!” She flew over the counter and landed next to Whisper and Tangle. “You two follow me into my office after you hand your pup to Brie.”

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Lights buzzed above the three. Jewel bent down to get a few blank papers and calmly headed off to the desk. A framed picture of her and Tangle back when they were kids, sitting beside a coffee mug. Jewel took a sip before laying the papers flat on the oak surface.

 

“Do you just have an office in every building or…?” Tangle teased. Whisper almost laughed. Almost. “What? No, no, of course not. Just here and in the Town Hall. Makes keeping track of new citizens easier. We're understaffed, so I spend a lot of time here.”

 

Jewel readied her pen. “Full name?” She questioned. “Whistle!” Tangle answered without hesitation. The beetle wrote it down and looked back at the two girls in front of her. “Species?” Tangle almost spoke. But then she realized Lemur-Wolf isn’t an actual thing. “I… Have no idea actually.”

 

“I figured. We’ll get it when the results of Whistle’s checkup are done anyway.” Jewel hovered in the air and flew towards a closet, all while still asking questions.

 

“Date of birth?” She asked. Before blushing and writing on the paper. “Right. Right. Yesterday.” She plucked a hidden box of vanilla cookies from the closet and floated back, dropping it onto the desk between them like a peace offering. She took a cookie and bit into it. “Place of birth?” The girls in front of her panicked a bit. “We uh. Don’t know. It moved.” Tangle said. Jewel cocked an eyebrow. “How does a temple move?” She questioned. “No idea. Must have been magic. If Noctavia could do this to us… Who says she can’t move a structure?” Whisper spoke. Tangle nodded in agreement. “Just say it’s Spiral Hill Village. Easier for everyone.” Jewel sighed as she wrote that down. “You’re lucky we’re friends. Let’s see… I don’t need to ask for her parents, I know it’s both of you.” Whisper accidentally put enough pressure on her cookie to break it in response to that. The lemur beside her gulped.

 

“Emergency contacts?” Jewel questioned. Tangle and Whisper pointed at each other on instinct. Jewel groaned. “Of course. I have a few questions left, but we can answer that when-”

 

Brie arrived with a nurse beside her. She held Whistle in her arms. Tangle extended her own and squeezed her hands repeatedly like a kid asking for a toy. The nurse handed Whistle to her mom. Tangle held her lovingly. Whistle licked her chin like a dog.

 

Brie stood frozen, eyes wide over the folder clutched to her chest. Whisper stiffened. “Anything wrong with Whistle?” She questioned. Brie jolted at the words, fur spiking up like she was just shaken awake. “H-Huh? No! It’s just. Geesh. The machine must be broken.”

 

Jewel tilted her head. “What do you mean by that?” she asked. Brie looked down as she rubbed her arm, the folder almost falling out of her hands. “It uh- Says she has every single neonatal illness in our records. But that can’t be possible! She’s shown no symptoms of any! S-So I gave her a Vitamin D shot. She should be able to get her proper shots soon. Again, I’m so, so sorry for the inconvenience!” Brie profusely apologized as she spoke. Tangle and Whisper didn’t care.

 

“As long as she’s healthy.” Whisper shrugged. Tangle nodded in agreement as she gently swung her arms side to side. Her pup made a small yelping sound.

 

“Then I think that’d be all. Brie and I can finish Whistle’s paperwork.” The pair started walking out, but Whisper stopped herself before crossing the door. Turning around to see Brie. 

 

“What species is she?” The wolf asked. “Oh? Oh! She has a 99% match for Maned Wolf with a 2% margin of error. Very, very lucky. I haven't seen one of these in ages! Only other 2 cases on record in the last 15 years and both didn't actually have a maned wolf as a parent. Hybridization is a very interesting topic and…” The rest of what the mouse doctor said became static to Whisper. So her eyes weren’t fooling her.

 

She smiled.

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Lanolin’s office. 2PM.

 

Whisper and Tangle walked in, only to see a sight that made Whisper shiver. Surge. Was there. Tangle bumped Whisper with her elbow, which was kinda hard to do since she was holding Whistle in the other hand. She’d rather use both hands to keep her steady. Surge was arguing about Gaia knows what with Lanolin. Something about being or not being a jobless bum. Whistle broke the argument by yawning loudly enough to be heard by the arguing pair.

 

"Oh, so NOW you care about what I'm doing', huh?" Surge said in a confrontational tone, a few sparks leaving her body as she leaned her face towards Lanolin's.

 

“I’m not going to employ you again after what you- OH! Tangle! Whisper! Didn’t see you there.” Lanolin nervously stared at them, rubbing the back of her head. Surge, on the other hand, was instantly curious. She practically jolted towards them, staring at Whistle in confusion after crouching to meet her at eye level. Whisper immediately moved between Surge and her family, bristling.

 

Surge just craned her neck around, stubbornly trying to get a better look.

 

“Woahhh! Who’s twerp is this?” Surge looked up at Whisper and Tangle. Then at Whistle. Then back at them. She didn’t see the resemblance, honestly. “You kidnapped a baby? That’s messed up.” She said in a more serious tone.

 

“W-What? No! We didn’t kidnap her!” Tangle said, half laughing, half nervous. Whisper thought of what she’d say. She didn’t want to give Tangle any wrong ideas, but…

“This is our daughter, Whistle,” Whisper said, deadpan. “ She, uh. Has every disease.”

Notes:

Sorry this took so long! I have utterly unmedicated ADHD and I don't write much if I don't lock in.

Chapter 3: Jammed

Notes:

There's a bit of raunchy humor with Whisper and Tangle at the start, not much else.

“ALL OF THEM?!” Surge’s eyes widened as she spoke. Tangle snorted. Whisper remained deadpan. For the sake of messing with Surge. “Yes. Every single one. That’s what the machine said.” 

 

Surge remained bewildered, mumbling as she waved in the general direction of Tangle and Whisper, looking back at Lanolin to see if she was making any sense of this. 

 

“BUT HOW?! And when?! Aren’t you two, yknow…” Surge made her hands into fists and clashed them together, all while maintaining eye contact with the mothers. Whisper bumped Tangle’s shoulder and whispered into her ear. “Let’s mess with her.”

 

Tangle’s face took on a mischievous grin, almost like the Grinch.

 

“Well, Whisper said she was wearing protection.” Tangle crossed her arms and turned her gaze to see Whisper head on. 

 

“I had my mask on.” Whisper continued, still deadpan. Tangle pinched her nose. “That’s not how that works!” The two fake-argued for a bit, getting the reaction they hoped for from Surge - complete and utter confusion. The tenrec scratched her head while trying to figure out what those two were discussing.

 

“Alright, alright, can it already?! I don’t need to hear your lovers’ quarrel.” The room went quiet. Tangle and Whisper fell silent instantly. Whisper chuckled a bit at Surge’s comment, if just a nervous laugh. Tangle, on the other hand, looked away—her face subtly flushed, hoping Whisper wouldn’t notice.

 

“If you three are done,” Lanolin muttered, coughing once to get their attention. She grabbed her notepad, already scribbling. “Some of us have paperwork.”

 

Surge remembered the whole reason she was here and turned to Lanolin. “Please! Lanny! If I don’t get a job, Kit and I won’t have like, ANYWHERE to sleep!” The sheep sighed in response to the Tenrec’s begging. Tangle leaned towards Whisper. “She called her ‘Lanny’. What’s up with those two?” Whisper shrugged in response. “Don’t care. Should leave.” 

 

Just as Whisper began walking away, a radio in Lanolin’s desk began buzzing. Everyone in the room turned to see it. Whistle sneezed. 

 

“We need backup! Eggman’s attacking-” The radio buzzed back into static for a second. “Five miles east of Emeraldville!” The radio finally cut out. The four girls looked at each other and nodded without needing to share a word.

 

“We gotta do something,” Tangle said.

Whisper nodded. 

So did Lanolin.

Surge crossed her arms. “Well, if I’m taking this hero shtick seriously, I guess beating up Eggman weekly’s part of the job.” Sparks danced around her fingers as she pictured punching him in the face repeatedly.

 

“We’ll need a babysitter,” Tangle muttered. “No time,” Whisper cut in. “We bring her. You stay out of the fight.”

 

The lemur tried to protest, but then Whistle got her attention by giggling. The lemur sighed, and her tail went limp. “Fine. Just cuz she’s adorable enough that I’d die if something happened to her.”

 

“We need to—” Lanolin didn’t finish. Tangle grabbed her arm and bolted out of the room, dragging her boss in tow. “No time for that! We’ve got lives to save.” Lanolin tried to protest, but let herself be carried, knowing her co-worker was right. Surge and Whisper quickly followed.

 

Little did the sheep notice that her bell wispon was left on her desk.

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Lanolin’s snowmobile whirred as she drifted and arrived in an open cabin rental area. Whisper sat behind her, holding onto her. Tangle and Surge held onto the transportation from opposite sides of the vehicle. The team jumped out and quickly spotted smoke coming out of some tents.

 

Surge arrived first, then the others shortly after. Some guests huddled together for warmth. Others were injured, tended to by shaken bystanders. A brown hare shoved Surge out of the way and rushed towards Lanolin. “You’re with the Restoration, right? Please! You have to help! Eggman destroyed the whole site after my husband and I refused to sell him the forest. He wanted to cut everything down!”

 

Surge grunted at the audacity this hag had to ignore her, but didn’t waste time arguing. Once the lady pointed in the direction where Eggman had run off to, she recklessly rushed towards the path of fallen trees. “Surge, wait!” Lanolin yelled. She grunted as the girl was gone before she could warn her to be cautious.

 

The tenrec skidded to a stop once she spotted a red and gold merry-go-round, at it’s center, a screen broadcasted Eggman’s face. 

 

Floating platforms circled the ride, crackling with electric jolts. Spikes sprouted from their sides, rapidly spinning like buzzsaws. A bigger spike popped from their bottom side.

 

They carved through trees, skwered the fallen trunks, and dropped them into a massive storage hatch on the machine’s base. 

 

It whirred and spun to face her. A sweat drop fell from Surge’s forehead.

“Ah, if it isn’t Starline’s petri dish experiment!” Eggman’s voice boomed from the machine’s speakers. “I was expecting Sonic to show up, but you’ll do well to test the offensive prowess of this living fortress— Behold! The Egg Carousel!” 

 

Surge got into a defensive stance. Eggman pressed a button out of view, and the platforms suddenly stopped cutting trees and locked onto Surge.

 

“ATTACK!” The platforms sprang towards the tenrec, their buzzsaw-like edges shrieking. 

 

Surge barely dodged one of the sharp structures, only for it to boomerang back towards her. She jumped, a static crackle sparking from her soles. Electricity hissed around her feet as she magnetized herself to the top of the platform.

 

Surge grimaced and grabbed it by the sides, blades grazing her gloves. She pulled with all her might and redirected it into a crash course towards another platform. She jumped off last second, descending as the machines exploded on contact behind her.

 

Surge shot a bolt of lightning mid-air. It ricocheted harmlessly between the platforms, ultimately striking the Egg Carousel dead center. The machine was surrounded by electricity. Eggman’s moustache frizzled up from the static. Surge grinned mid-air.

 

“You’re not broadcasting from a base… You’re inside the darn thing!”

 

Surge landed on the snow with one hand on the ground. She immediately sprang onto her two legs and pointed at the Egg Carousel with a finger gun.

 

“Game over.”

 

But before she could fire, a blue blur grazed her vision by the corner of her eye. The girl turned just in time to grab Metal Sonic’s wrist mid-attack. 

 

“You again? Looking to lose like last time?—”

 

Metal Sonic chirped mechanically and punched Surge in the gut, knocking the air out of her. Then, he grabbed her by the quills and spun her in the air before letting go, launching her far.

 

Eggman cackled. “Excellent work as always, Metal!”

 

But Surge wasn’t done. From below the snow, a bolt of lightning spiked into the clouds. A cloud of steam surrounded Surge as she jumped towards Metal once again, this time grabbing him by both arms and headbutting him before blasting off with him in tow, trading blows mid-race.

 

The man shrugged. “Time to go back to work—” 

 

ROCKET!

 

A mechanical voice sounded off in the distance. Before Eggman could react, one of the columns in the Egg Carousel was blasted by an explosion. He turned around to see the Diamond Cutters. Smoke rising from Whisper’s variable wispon.

 

Tangle tried stepping forward. Whisper snapped her fingers. The Blue Wisp surged, forming a glowing cube barrier around Tangle in an instant. “Absolutely not. Whistle could get hurt. Lanolin and I can take care of it.”

 

The lemur tried to protest, but ultimately knew Whisper was right. She struck the barrier once before sitting on the patch of grass created by the subtle warmth of the wisp’s construct. The pup on her arms looked at her now blue-hued surroundings in fascination. 

 

Whisper charged her wispon with pink wisp energy, shooting energy buzzsaws at the Egg Carousel, slicing two of the floating platforms in half. Lanolin jumped up, only to fumble mid-air, just now realizing that her bell wasn’t on her neck. A platform slammed into her, leaving a cut on her forehead.

 

Whisper sighed and shot her wispon again, the orange wisp activated this time. The two remaining platforms exploded as twin bursts collided with them.

 

Eggman’s laughter boomed through the speakers as he slammed yet another unseen button. The ground quaked and snow flew as the Egg Carousel surged upward, 8 metal tentacles holding the entire thing up while a razor beak located at the bottom of the main structure bit the air. “You fool! You really thought I’d leave my machine defenseless?” 

 

Whisper froze at the sight, then got smacked by one of the tentacles. “WHISPER!” Lanolin shouted.

 

Without thinking twice, she grabbed a rock from the ground and jumped at the machine, sloppily climbing up one of the tentacles. She landed in the center of the Egg Carousel, poles adorned with duck-esque badniks quickly spun in a defensive measure as the machine moved back and forth in an attempt to send her flying. Lanolin lost her grip and fell, but not before throwing a rock right at the screen in the center, cracking the glass.

 

“Ugh, blasted screen’s got a crack on it again!” Eggman grumbled, yanking two levers like he was playing a game. The tentacles of the machine tried to crush Lanolin like an ant. The sheep struggled to get up while backing away, and ultimately, one of the machine’s limbs came crashing down on her.

 

…But fell short against Whisper’s variable wispon, infused with blue wisp energy. The glowing construct cracked under the pressure, but held. Whisper pulled Lanolin to her feet, and the two jumped clear. Both girls jumped away from the machine’s vicious tentacle. 

Mid-air, the wolf switched to pink again, launching a horde of sharp projectiles. They tore through the poles and jammed the badniks, leaving Eggman defenseless.

 

But just before they could capitalize on this, Metal and Surge’s fight circled back to them. Both combatants were bruised. Metal flew backward as they traded punches—until a misstep sent them careening into Whisper and Lanolin, knocking both girls into the sky like bowling pins.

Before they could hit the ground, the Egg Carousel’s tentacles lashed out, coiling around their bodies. Whisper let out a grunt as the metal tightened, pinning her arms.

Tangle looked up, eyes widening. “Darn it, this is all going wrong without me! If only I could…”

 

Her thought was interrupted when Whistle poked little paws against her sternum. Tangle frowned. “Girl, you know there’s no milk in there by now.”

 

But before she could brush it off, however, Whistle put her paw over her heart and slowly spread her fingers. Tangle held back a sob, then shot a determined glance at the Egg Carousel.

 

“You’re right, I need to do what my heart tells me to do!” She lifted Whistle and nuzzled her. “Aren’t you the smartest little baby? Yes, you are! Yes, you are!”

 

Whistle giggled in delight at the attention she was being given. With newfound determination, she spun around and struck the wisp construct with all the might she could muster on her tail. The impact cracked it open, shards of energy crumbling all around her. The lemur kissed her pup’s forehead before running at her top speed towards the Egg Carousel with Whistle wrapped around her arms as tightly as she could hold her.

 

Tangle looped her tail around a sturdy tree trunk as she began running laps around the mech. Whisper and Lanolin looked down in shock.

 

Below, Surge caught on. She used Tangle’s taut tail like a rebound rope, kicking Metal into it and slamming him with a headbutt as he bounced back. Those two continued going at it while Tangle desperately jumped over her tail, weaving a tightening web around the mech, all while Eggman tirelessly monologued to Whisper and Lanolin, unaware of the trap being set.

 

Once the lemur mother felt she couldn’t stretch herself any longer, she pulled her tail, causing it to tighten up. Eggman looked down, his eyes widened, just as Tangle’s tail pulled the Egg Carousel down like a collapsing tent.

 

A plume of snow and smoke exploded skyward. Tangle reeled her tail back with a zipping sound. The cloud cleared to reveal the sorry state of the mech. Poles had flown everywhere, flickies scattered from the duck badniks, the machine’s beak was crushed under its weight before it toppled over, and all its tentacles were limp on the snow. Oil and sparks leaked everywhere. A ring of fire caused by the leakage of its fuel combined with the electric sparks flying everywhere.

 

Whisper was stuck underneath the debris Egg Carousel, unable to move. Lanolin tried to get up from her landing spot in the snow, but was kicked away into the nearby forest by Metal before she could manage. The metallic hedgehog lunged at Tangle, only to be caught by Surge. She held onto his legs before spinning once, sending him to his daddy dearest.

 

Metal collided against the ruins of the Egg carousel, cracking its screen further. His metallic chirps grew more frantic, almost as if he was cussing the tenrec out.

 

“METAL!—” Eggman barked, but his creation was already gone before he could command it. 

 

Metal flew off to fight Surge. As well as she was holding up compared to the last time they fought, she was clearly exhausted and overwhelmed. Metal swept her legs and struck her mid-fall with a homing attack, sending her crashing towards Tangle and Whistle.

 

Tangle leapt back just in time to avoid Surge’s crashing body, only to be grabbed by the throat by Metal. She gasped, dropping Whistle into the snow.

The pup squealed.

Tangle’s heart dropped.

 

Whistle’s whining ended up getting Metal’s attention. His eyes locked onto the baby. He scanned her with curiosity, then sparks danced across his chassis. His eyes flickered erratically, buzzing like a scrambled heartbeat.

 

Surge took this chance, hitting Metal in the core using her elbow. Metal was once more reeling back. The machine recovered and stared at Tangle, who was desperately comforting Whistle. He took one step forward, slowly. Then he was punched in the face by Surge, redirecting his focus back to her.

 

With a garbled chirp, Metal grabbed Surge by the wrist and began pummeling her, fists thudding into her gut over and over.

 

Tangle ran towards Whisper, who had just gotten hold of her wispon from underneath the rubble. The lemur pointed towards Metal beating down on Surge. “If we don’t do something, Metal’s gonna kill her!” Whisper scoffed. “And?”

 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘AND’?! I know you don’t like Surge, but I’ve got a plan.” Tangle desperately tried talking some sense into her friend. Whisper groaned under the realization that she’d have to help her, even after how much she had hurt her. “Fine. Just this once.” she muttered flatly.

 

Surge held her mouth so as not to vomit up her lunch. Metal had stopped attacking her for a bit. Then he kicked her over the head, hard enough to launch snow into the air. Then an orange light appeared in his peripheral vision. The metal hedgehog had no time to move before a blast from the orange wisp struck the spot between him and Surge. Snow melted into water and splashed over both of them. The girl’s eyes widened like plates, and she grabbed Metal by the leg with zero hesitation.

 

“Gotcha.” Surge’s smile grew wide as she pumped electricity into the waterlogged machine. Metal shrieked before his eyes shut down, and burns had formed all around his body. He was smoking.

 

Surge got up, ready to brag about her victory, only for Metal to spring back to life. She tried to fight back, but it was too late. Metal clutched his hands together and swung into Surge’s skull. Knocking her out.

 

Eggman erupted into laughter from back inside the Egg Carousel. “You thought I wouldn’t fix that flaw after the little stunt you and Kit pulled?” His voice turned sharp as he smiled. “Let this be a lesson: never underestimate me. That mistake cost Starline his life.”

He drew a pistol from his coat and stepped through the shattered glass.

“Not that you’ll live long enough to remember it.” Eggman smirked as he pointed the gun towards Surge. His tunnel vision was getting the best of him once more.

Tangle wrapped her tail around his ankle and yanked. A loud crack was heard from the man’s body as he landed on his back against the Carousel’s frozen floor. His pistol fell and rolled away towards Tangle’s feet. Eggman gulped and began crawling away while on his back.

“Now now, don’t be rash, lemur. We’ve both made our mistakes, and…” His eyes met Whistle’s, just now noticing her existence. “We both have kids! What a small world, am I right? Heheheh!” 

Tangle picked up the gun with her free hand, She remembered when Eggman held her at gunpoint. Energy began buzzing from the weapon as she pointed it towards Eggman. He grew more desperate. 

“You think Sage would take it well if I bit the bullet? I doubt it! Congratulations on the pregnancy, by the way! W-Who’s the lucky guy?—” She bit her lip as she heard Eggman’s begging. She sighed, then launched the shot into the air while maintaining eye contact.

It exploded in the air like a firework, parting the clouds with its detonation.

Eggman exhaled out of sheer relief. 

Metal appeared beside him like a blur and picked him up. The man winced, rubbing his back. “Alright, Metal, we’re done here. I think I’m gonna need a chiropractor…”

The metal hedgehog glared at Tangle, silent and sparking, before blasting off into the sky with his creator in tow. 

The lemur sighed and stretched her tail, carefully lifting the remains of the Egg Carousel just enough for Whisper to crawl out. The wolf winced from her injuries, but still pulled her friend into a tight hug. Whistle, nestled between them, purred at the warmth of both her mothers.

You did amazing out there, Tangle,” Whisper said, taking Whistle from her exhausted arms. Tangle rubbed the back of her neck. “Psttt. It’s nothing.” She laughed before turning towards Surge. She ran to help her up.

“Wait,” Whisper called, stopping her. The wolf smiled as she stepped down from the wreckage, her pup still in her arms.

“I’d been debating whether to bring you and Silver to hunt down Mimic. Figured you’d want to stay with Whistle… but after what I saw today? Fighting with her in your arms?” She tilted her head. “You’re one of the bravest I’ve known, Tangle. He won’t stand a chance if you’re with us.”

The lemur sniffed and lightly punched Whisper in the shoulder.

“Hell yeah. We’ll just need to find a babysitter…”

That’s when Lanolin’s bell wispon chimed in the breeze. She stepped toward them, looking confused.  “Can someone fill me in on what happened here, exactly?”

Tangle raised an eyebrow. “Darn, Metal really clocked you, huh? Long story short— he knocked out Surge, I held Eggman at gunpoint with his own gun, then they flew off to Gaia knows where.” 

Lanolin tilted her head. “Geesh. Poor Surge. I should check on her.”But before she could move, Whisper called out, “Wait—Lanolin.”

The sheep turned.

“Tangle and I are going after Mimic. Could we trust you to take care of Whistle while we’re gone?” Lanolin blinked in surprise as Whisper gently handed her the pup.

“Awwwww. I’d be honored!” She held Whistle carefully. The little maned wolf tilted her head, sniffed Lanolin curiously… then smiled. Lanolin beamed. “Don’t worry. You can trust me with her safety.”

Whisper gave a rare, grateful smile. “That means a lot. Thank you.”

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

The sunset gave Emeraldville a nice orange tint. Whisper packed the last things she needed into her car. Tangle ate some chips off a can, sitting on the roof of Whisper’s car. 

 

“We’re going to pick up Silver on the way to track Mimic down. Should be easy.” Whisper said under her breath. Tangle picked up on her comment. She finished chewing the chips she was eating and swallowed before replying. “Heck yeah! Once we get Mimic, he’ll never escape prison ever again.” Tangle clashed her fist against her palm. Whisper grimaced. This wasn’t a capture mission, they were out to kill. Just as she went to remind her, a voice rang out from the distance.

 

Lanolin walked towards them absolutely livid. “You two left me in the snow! How could you do that?!” Her untied afro wobbled in the air as the young mothers looked at each other in confusion. Tangle shrugged before jumping from the car’s roof. “What do you mean? You came asking what happened, and then Whisper handed Whistle to you so you could take care of her!”

 

The sheep tilted her head in genuine confusion. “No? I was knocked out— And I wouldn’t have had to lie on the snow for who knows how long and then have to beg someone to take me back to Emeraldville if YOU hadn’t rushed me out of my office before I could grab my wispon! Do you know how unprofessional that is, Tangle? I could have died!” 

 

Tangle and Lanolin’s arguing blurred to Whisper’s ears as the gears started turning in her head. Her eyes widened.

 

“Wait… the bell. No—when I last saw you… You had it around your neck!” Whisper replied. Both girls in front of her turned to see her. Lanolin’s anger faltered upon realizing that something was deeply wrong. More than just her missing wispon.

 

“No wait, that’s part of the problem! When I finally got back to my office, my wispon was gone. And Maggie? No trace of her anywhere!”. Tangle’s tail went stiff upon hearing said comment. Her pupils dilated, and then her eyes met Whisper’s. They both pieced it together at the same time.

 

Tangle covered her mouth with her hands. Whisper clutched her chest. All she could mutter was “Oh no.”

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

Somewhere else…

 

A glint of metal traced gently through Whistle’s mane. The pup blinked slowly, yawning. Unafraid, unaware.

In the corner, Lanolin’s magenta Wisp trembled with rage, its glow dim but defiant.

“Don’t worry,” the voice rasped. “I won’t harm her… Unless you make me.”

Mimic leaned in towards Maggie, his eyes narrow, his knife steady in one hand, Whistle in the other.

“Do you understand, Maggie?”

Chapter 4: Fracture

Whisper’s truck hummed steadily as it sped down the highway. Her hands gripped the wheel a bit too tightly. Tangle sat beside her, silent. In the back seat, Silver tapped his knees in a constant rhythm, the only sound besides the noise of other vehicles passing outside.

 

The silence dragged for a minute until Tangle finally spoke.

 

“Are you sure he’ll be there?” she asked. 

 

Whisper’s eyes didn’t leave the road, but her grip tightened. Her fangs just barely showing.

 

“Completely sure.” 

 

Tangle tugged at her shirt nervously, slightly shrinking into her seat after hearing Whisper growl that out. Not loud enough to be a scream, but it certainly cut.

 

The drive continued silently for a few minutes. A few miles passed, just them speeding through the highway, not recklessly, but certainly pushing that line. Then Tangle exhaled harshly.

 

“I can’t believe you handed her off like that.” she said bitterly.

 

Whisper’s fur spiked up. “This again?” She asked, not turning to look at Tangle.

 

“It’s just-” Tangle tugged at her hair tuft, voice rising “-How does that even HAPPEN?! You’re SUPPOSED to be on the lookout for Mimic!” She complains.

 

“You distracted me,” Whisper muttered under her breath. “Maybe if you kept your head in the game, Whistle wouldn’t be in Mimic’s hands.” Tangle’s eyes widened a little at that comment, offended.

 

“Oh, so now it’s my fault you got fooled by his disguise?” Tangle snapped. Whisper didn’t turn, but her anger could be read in her face.

 

“Shut up,” she said flatly.

 

Tangle crossed her arms and looked in a different direction. Silver clenched his fists and spoke.

“Can’t you see this is what Mimic wants?!” He shouted. “Get a hold of yourselves! Blaming the other doesn’t matter right now! Whistle’s safety does!” Both girls fell silent. Whisper’s hold on the wheel faltered a little.

 

“You’re right.” Whisper spoke after nearly a minute of silence. “We can’t allow ourselves to argue at this moment. Not while Whistle’s in danger.”

 

Tangle crossed her arms. “Speak for yourself. I have a lot in my mind-!” She pointed at Whisper, but then immediately backed down upon getting a glance at her teary eyes.

 

Tangle looked down. “I didn’t mean—”

 

“Save it,” Whisper interrupted quietly. “We’ll talk after we find Whistle, no earlier, no later.”

 

Tangle sank into her seat and looked out the window with shame.

 

Silver crossed his arms, doing the same towards the opposite side.

 

“There’s a fast food joint a few miles away. We should get something to eat,” he said. Everyone else remained silent. He fake coughed to try and get their attention, assuming they didn’t hear him.

 

 “Gotta stay sharp, right? Can’t throw punches on an empty stomach.”

 

The two girls remained silent. Silver looked at them awkwardly.

 

“Sure,” said Whisper as she adjusted her rearview mirror. “We can make a small stop to eat and go to the restroom. No more distractions after that.”

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Silver opened the door to the place for Whisper and Tangle. They stepped in without saying anything.

Tangle sat as far from Whisper as the booth would allow, turning just enough to avoid looking at her. In response, Whisper turned away, too. Silver sat between them, trying to calm the tension of the situation.

He glanced at Tangle, then leaned slightly her way. “Hey,” he said with a small smile, “Is it normal for THAT to happen in the present?”

Tangle’s eyes came back to life as she turned in the direction where Silver was pointing. A waitress on roller skates fumbled with the tray she was holding and almost dropped it.

Tangle blinked, then snorted. “God, yeah. No one capable works to serve this junk...”

Silver laughed, and for a moment, so did she, even if just for a second.

Whisper’s nose twitched. She hadn’t meant to listen, and she certainly hadn’t meant to feel anything.

But she felt a hint of jealousy.

“So, what are we ordering?” he asked. None of the girls answered for a second, then Tangle spoke. “Fries,” she said, less hostility behind her voice than before, but it was still clear that he hadn’t managed to cheer her up much, if at all.

 

A sweat drop fell from Silver’s brow. He’d seen Tangle angry before, upset even, especially during training whenever the topic of Lanolin’s blind trust in Duo came up. But this? It was beyond what he expected from her. Especially since joking didn’t remedy the situation.

 

“That’s a great choice!” He said, trying to cheer up Tangle. The lemur chuckled and hit him in the shoulder.

 

“Okay, yeah! What about you, Whisper?” He questioned. Whisper remained silent, her gaze fixed on the window, like she didn’t hear him.

 

They sat in silence, the buzzing fluorescent lights above them were the only sound.

 

Fries it is.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Tangle put her seatbelt on, and the second it clicked, Whisper hit the gas at full speed, fast enough to almost make Silver drop his lunch, in a cardboard box, two burgers, some fries, nuggets, and a large soda. He decided to keep his grub steady using his telekinetic powers and began to eat.

 

“Yknow,” Munch . “, The best thing about the past? No need to look for food all day, AND I can actually taste this stuff.” Munch.

 

“Man, I remember when Sonic first offered me a chili dog. I think I,” Munch ”,Almost choked.”

 

Tangle held her fist to her mouth so as not to chuckle at Silver’s misfortune. Whisper remained stoic. The lemur beside her noticed and immediately went back to angst and anger, looking in a different direction.

 

The sound of Silver eating was the only thing filling the room until Whisper broke the silence. “He’ll be at Rainbow Ravine.”

 

Tangle cocked an eyebrow. “How are you so sure? What if he’s tricking you AGAIN, huh? We can’t bet it all on one place when Whistle’s on the line!” Whisper side-eyed her.

 

“Because he was spotted there, Tangle. I trust my source,” she spat. Tangle clenched her fists. 

 

“And what if your source is Mimic?! What if this is another trap?!” she snapped, her voice cracking under the weight of it.

 

“I know they’re not Mimic. Paid people to be on the lookout for him and notify me if he’s spotted. He’d have no idea who they are to impersonate them.” She explained.

 

But Tangle kept nervous. “Well, sorry for not being comfortable with your explanations! It’s almost like your recklessness got Whistle kidnapped! Oh wait, IT DID !” 

 

Whisper flinched. 

 

Tangle slammed her fist against the door in frustration. The lock clicked and swung open. Caught off guard, the lemur lost her balance and tumbled back, eyes clamping shut.

 

Tangle missed the speeding asphalt by a few inches, her fur whipped wildly in the speeding wind. She opened one eye to see Whisper clutching her by the shirt, teary-eyed. Not only that, Silver’s telekinetic aura surrounded her whole body in a teal hue.

 

The wolf pulled her friend back in the truck and slammed the door shut. Tangle let out a gasp as Silver dissipated his telekinetic aura.

 

“Holy SHIT.” Tangle spat out as she caught her breath, her heart beating like a war drum against her chest. Whisper held her free hand and squeezed lightly to calm her down. All while not taking her eyes off the road for even a second.

 

“It’s okay. It’s okay. We’re here.” She said, almost too fast, but Tangle managed to process her words, allowing her to slump back on her seat like a deflated balloon, all while she held her hair tuft tightly.

 

“Tangle, are you okay?! You almost hit the road!” Silver shouted, climbing over the seat to check her, only for Whisper to push him back into the backseat.

 

“Seatbelt. Both of you.” They scrambled to put on their seatbelts. Whisper’s tone didn’t invite much argument.

 

They stayed silent for a good 15 minutes before they reached traffic. Whisper’s truck screeched to a halt, and then she immediately slammed her head down on the wheel, making the horn sound.

 

“What were you thinking?!” She said to Tangle, not turning to look at her. Tangle rubbed her arm and looked off, disappointed in herself.

 

“I was just… Angry and scared. I guess I took that out on you, and, er— your truck. That wasn’t okay to do.” Tangle lowered her head upon finishing her sentence, too shy to look at Whisper in the eyes. Yet, the wolf was still holding her hand like it mattered more than either of them wanted to admit. Tangle’s heart skipped a beat, and her breathing got funny, and then Whisper let go.

 

Whisper pinched the bridge of her nose. Stressing out as well.

 

“Guess it’s partly my fault. I have… Not been communicating my feelings well either, admittedly.” Whisper faced Tangle finally. Her eyes were swollen and partly red, tears still coming out of her eyes and snot out of her nose. “I just… Feel at fault for this.”

 

Tangle scrambled to grab Whisper. The wolf seemed dumbfounded upon seeing both of Tangle’s hands wrap around hers. Tangle shot her a determined look.

 

“Girl, I’m— So sorry I antagonized you. B-But Silver’s right! This is what Mimic wants. So…” Tangle sighed. “We gotta keep the punches to the bad guys— alright?” 

 

Whisper blinked twice, then smiled.

 

“Alright!” Silver said as he clenched his fist in victory, he had managed to mediate them for now. “Let’s do this then!”

The traffic cleared, Whisper stepped on the pedal and drove at the max speed her truck could manage. A green sign overhead read “RAINBOW RAVINE — 80KM AWAY”.

 

Whisper had just one thing left to say. “Alright, Tangle. Let’s find our daughter.”

Chapter 5: Finality

Notes:

Warning: Mimic uses some misogynistic language here. Not that bad but It's still worth warning.

RAINBOW RAVINE - 4:18 PM

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

“Anything else for you today?” the waitress asked. Whisper shook her head. “Not yet. I’m still waiting for my friend.” She said.

 

 The waitress nodded. “Okay! I’ll come check on you in a bit!”

 

The bell above the door jingled behind her as she walked away.  Whisper remained seated, taking in the view as she sipped her coffee. Unaware of who was observing her in the distance.

 

Or so it seemed.

 

“Sloppy, Whisper. Very sloppy.” A raspy voice rang from nearly a mile away. Mimic observed his old teammate through a spyglass, lying down between some bushes.

 

“Completely out in the open. Weapon not in immediate reach. In a crowded space.”

He snorted.

 

“...When you know I could be any of them.” He grinned, clutching his spyglass a little harder. “Your time with the restoration really made you soft. Still, you tracked me, all the way out here.”

 

Just as he started to rise, he stopped dead in his tracks.

 

He froze.

 

Whisper was staring directly at him.

 

Mimic barely had any time to react before she launched a shot of her Orange wisp towards him. The octopus rolled away just in time to avoid becoming calamari, a boulder behind him completely obliterated. 

 

He growled and clutched his knife.

 

“How did she-?” Before he could finish, he heard a distinct zipping sound. He looked back as he ran to take cover. Tangle’s tail came into view, acting as a bridge between the two cliffs.

 

“Thanks,” Whisper said to her friend, who had correctly followed her instructions to wait in the shadows until the time was right. With that said, she quickly ran on her tail, crossing freakishly fast and landing on the same cliff that her nemesis had been stalking her from.

 

Once Whisper had made her way to the other cliff, she gave Tangle a thumbs up, a signal for her to swing towards her. Now looking for Mimic, Tangle spotted the sly octopus running into a warehouse out of the corner of her eye. She pointed towards him.

“There!” She yelled. Whisper equipped her mask fully and grabbed Tangle by the waist tightly. She then used her Orange Wisp’s power once again, creating an explosion with her Wispon that sent both of them crashing into the roof of the warehouse.

 

Mimic flinched as they came crashing like a meteor in front of him. Whisper got up, disregarding her partner as she walked towards Mimic. The octopus took a step back.

 

“Where is she.” The slight filter on her voice created by the mask made it echo throughout the empty warehouse.

 

No response. Whisper aimed her wispon towards his head, Tangle got up behind her and immediately brought her hands to her mouth in surprise that Whisper would take it this far.

 

“Final warning. Where is Whistle.”

 

Before Mimic could answer, the wall of the Warehouse exploded inward as a Cargo Truck surrounded in a teal aura slammed right through like a battering ram. Whisper barely dodged it. She hissed through her teeth, frustrated.

 

“It’s no use, Mimic!” Silver’s voice rang. Mimic took his chance and shapeshifted into Whisper before Silver looked in his direction. His eyes widened. 

 

“Crap…!”

 

“That’s Mimic, he stole my Wispon during our struggle!” Mimic yelled, using Whisper’s voice. The masked wolf scoffed and created a buzzsaw with her pink wisp.

 

The construct rocketed towards Mimic, and he instinctively returned to his normal form as he dodged, missing the sharp saw by a hair. The truck was sliced into two pieces.

 

“The wisps wouldn’t obey me if I were you,” Whisper barked under her breath, but loud enough for Silver to hear.

 

“Good catch, Whisper!” The psychic said, clenching his fist in victory before lifting the two halves of the truck, aligning them to crush Mimic. The octopus gulped.

 

“WAIT!” Tangle yelled, her voice cracking. Whisper and Silver turned to see her. “If we kill him, we won’t have any clue as to where Whistle is!”.

 

Whisper thought of it for a second, lowered her gun… 

 

Then immediately pointed it at Mimic again.

 

“We’ll beat the information out of him.” Tangle bit her lip, realizing she had made the situation even worse.

 

Mimic grunted and jumped away just as Silver made the truck halves descend on him, slipping into the darkness of the warehouse’s lower level through a pipe opening. Small, but just wide enough for an octopus to squeeze through. If it’s bigger than his beak, he can fit.

 

Whisper looked towards the pipe and sighed, running towards the metal stairs that led to the subfloor Mimic had retreated to. She tested the stability of the stairs before getting ready to grind on the rail.

 

“He’s had this place rented for a few days,” she spoke quietly. Then she pointed towards Tangle. “Find Whistle. Don’t get involved.” Tangle blinked twice upon hearing Whisper’s command.

 

“But-” Tangle tried saying before Whisper interrupted her. “No ‘buts’, Tangle. Do it.” Tangle bit her tongue and flailed her arms around in frustration before heading off, cooing Whistle’s name in hope of a response.

 

Whisper and Silver descended to the darkness of the warehouse’s basement. Too dark. Whisper lit up her Wispon using orange once again, wielding it like a torch.

 

“Where do you think he is?” Silver asked. The eye on Whisper’s mask shrank as she scanned the dark room.

 

Out of the shadows, a swing sliced Silver’s shoulder open. He hissed from the pain and clutched his wounded arm.

 

“Silver!—” Before Whisper could finish, her nose twitched upon detecting a smell. She turned just in time to block a knife swing from Mimic. He leaned closer to her face.

 

“I’m curious about the pup-” Whisper pushed Mimic with her wispon before he could finish talking, activating the blue wisp and swinging the construct created around the weapon. The octopus shapeshifted into Jewel to fly away from the attack, then back to his normal form, letting himself fall on top of Whisper. Silver narrowed his eyes and lifted his blood-soaked glove, trapping Mimic in a teal aura before slamming him against a steel beam.

 

Mimic reached for his neck, grabbing a golden necklace neither of them had noticed. Whisper’s pupils shrank when she realized what was going on as it morphed into a bell in his hand.

 

 She had been so dead set on finding Whistle that she completely forgot that Mimic had also stolen Lanolin’s Wispon… And the wisp inside.

 

Silver remained confident and smirked, lifting debris scattered across the ground, circling them around him to taunt Mimic before he would skewer him with them. “Don’t worry, Whisper, Lanolin’s wisp won’t obey Mi—”

 

With a mechanical clink, a shriek of magenta energy emerged from within the bell. Whisper covered her ears, but Silver couldn’t react in time. He instinctively moved the debris he’d been holding to make a makeshift shield, but the blast launched it straight into his chest. His ears bled from the piercing screech.

 

Silver clutched his ears as he screamed and fell to the ground, the searing pain of the cut on his shoulder or the bruise on his chest completely muffled by the new pain coming from his ears. “AgGHHHH WhAT THE HELL?!”

 

Whisper growled, pumping her Wispon like a shotgun before shooting three pink wisp buzzsaw projectiles towards Mimic. The Octopus lifted the bell and unleashed another soundwave. The pink saws crumbled into dust. Whisper grimaced and took cover behind a steel beam. The structure shook from the impact.

 

“I don’t get it,” Whisper said, still collected, jumping at Mimic and trying to smash him flat with the blue wisp’s power, but the octopus simply weaved out of the way and flicked the bell, creating a sharp sound that cut Whisper’s cloak, barely missing her waist. “Why are you helping him, Maggie?” She pleaded to the Wisp powering the weapon on Mimic’s hands.

 

“Tsk-Tsk-Tsk. That won’t work. See, I commissioned this Wispon to be modified so she can’t escape. Can’t hear what’s going on.” Whisper cursed under her breath as she dodged a second shot. “Cost me a fortune,” He continued. “But it’s definitely worth it to avoid any slip-ups!” Whisper jumped above another sound blast and struck Mimic in the face.

 

“Wouldn’t matter anyways; I convinced Maggie that I’ll skin that little twerp of yours if she rebels!” He said as he wiped a streak of blue blood from his split lip, proceeding to strike Whisper in the gut.

 

Still, Whisper caught him by the wrist and slammed him to the ground. He lifted his Wispon, and Whisper pointed hers down at him.

 

Silence. Tense silence. One shot could end everything.

 

“...As I was saying about the pup. What’s the deal with her, huh?” Whisper bared her fangs as Mimic spat poison with his words.

 

“For someone who pretends to be all silence and discipline, you still found time to roll around and pop out a brat,” he continued. Whisper’s finger wrapped around the trigger. Mimic’s did too.

 

Then the silence broke.

 

“You keep wearing that mask like it makes you untouchable, but clearly someone got close enough to touch.” He gave Whisper a smile that made her sick to her stomach.

 

Whisper narrowed her eyes and pressed the barrel of her wispon against his throat.

 

It only takes one shot. She got ready to press the trigger, but then—

 

“I found Whistle!” Tangle screamed as she quickly ran down the stairs, the poor pup whining in her arms. “Poor girl… It’s been two days and sh— WOAH!” Tangle jumped back upon seeing the scene before her, almost dropping Whistle. Mimic took the chance and kicked Whisper’s wispon up.

 

The charged rocket shot obliterated the ceiling of the basement, letting light slip through.

 

Tangle didn’t hesitate; she wrapped Whistle around with her tail, coiling enough for her to be safe but not to squeeze her. Tangle practically glued her to her back, carrying her baby like a backpack. Rushing towards Silver’s aid while Mimic pushed Whisper off him with both legs.

 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Tangle said as she lifted the near-unconscious Silver from the ground. She looked back at Mimic and Whisper circling each other, frowning as her hands were metaphorically tied—nothing she could do to help.

 

Silver, however, was raging. He struggled to keep his eyes open through his blurry vision and hearing. But he could distinctly see how Mimic and Whisper were about to tear each other apart.

 

Tangle gulped out of nervousness. “Man, you could cut the tension here with a knife, eh, Silver?”

 

 The weight she was holding disappeared. 

 

“Silver?”

 

She turned and saw a streak of teal light rocket towards Mimic. “SILVER, NO!” She reached a hand out and yelled, but it was too late. Silver tackled Mimic through a steel beam, using his telekinesis to move instead of his wounded body.

 

Whisper grimaced. “I can handle it,” she said.

 

He looked back at the wolf, his eyes shrank from the adrenaline. “No… No! I won’t let another one of my friends kill themselves to handle something I couldn’t defeat.”

 

He looked down. Thinking about the past.

 

Of a warm echo that disappeared in an effort to seal Iblis a long time ago.

 

“Not again. Not on my watch.” He shot a determined look at Mimic.

 

Rouge’s sultry voice cackled from his throat. His membranous wings unfurled as he dodged an incoming orange Wisp blast from Whisper, the explosion shaking the room, making his ears twitch again. Not the time yet.

Silver grunted, lifting a sharpened metal pole and hurling it at Mimic like a javelin. The shapeshifter caught it between his legs. He flapped his wings and spun in the air as he grabbed the makeshift weapon from the plush thighs it rested on and hurled it back with a grunt, not at Silver, but at Whisper. The pole struck the barrel of Whisper’s Wispon just as she tried firing another shot.

 

The weapon exploded on Whisper. Another ear twitched. Silver looked back to see his wolf friend land safely, but weaponless. Her wisps made a protective circle. All 4 of them.

 

Mimic smirked as he noticed Cyan’s absence. “So that’s why you haven’t used him yet.” He cackled, his wings keeping him airborne, still biding the perfect time to strike. Silver yelled as he lifted up a giant concrete pillar off the ground and hurled it at the flying Mimic.

 

The octopus laughed, returning to his normal form, not looking back as he shot another wave of magenta sound energy towards the wall behind him using the stolen Wispon. The sound ricocheted, striking the concrete pillar Silver had hurled, pulverizing it.

 

The soundwave didn’t stop, however, striking Silver, shattering his aura like glass as he hit the ground HARD. Tangle and Whisper were both sent back by the resulting shockwave.

 

Mimic cackled as he unleashed more attacks on the defenseless Silver. Again. 

 

And again. 

 

And again.

 

Tangle and Whisper shielded their ears from opposite sides of the room, trying to endure the deafening barrage.

 

It was only when Tangle felt something hot and wet on her tail that she turned around.

 

Her heart sank.

 

Whistle was crying, her ears were bleeding.

 

The lemur rushed to cover her pup’s ears with her hands, but Whistle kept crying. A cry no mother should hear. A cry of agony.

 

Tangle winced with each fresh blast of sound, but she didn’t move.

Her hands stayed locked over Whistle’s ears. No matter what.

 

Whisper’s ear twitched even as she covered them up, picking up on the distant sound even when muffled by the incoming sound barrages.

 

The world froze when she realized what had happened.

 

The room shook with every attack unleashed, but it felt like nothing to Whisper. Her heart was beating like a drum, beating so fast she felt it would burst out of her chest at any second. Tears began to swell from her eyes. Things had gone from bad to worse. And now…

 

All Whisper could do was think.

 

Of her dead teammates. Of her Cyan Wisp. Of Tangle. Of Silver.

 

Of Whistle.

 

Mimic had taken so much from her and now…

 

And now…

 

Now…

 

Whisper screamed at the top of her lungs, clutching a broken-off concrete pillar and rushing Mimic, pushing through the pain and striking him in the head with a sickening, wet, CRACK!

 

“ YOU MADE HER CRY .”

 

Whisper’s scream echoed through the basement, a scream so primal, so livid, that Tangle feared her friend had wounded her throat. Still, she gently laid Whistle down, then sprinted back to Silver, dragging the unconscious hedgehog back towards where she had left her pup.

 

Once Silver was safe, Tangle turned, just in time to see Whisper beating the brakes out of Mimic, pinning him down to the floor and punching him in the face. The lemur ran to try and separate the two, only to stop right in her tracks when Mimic stabbed the rampaging Whisper in the stomach.

 

Mimic pulled the knife back and headbutted Whisper hard enough to throw her to the floor. Now on top of her, his nose completely broken alongside his lip, he took heavy breaths.

 

“You moved from diamond cutters to having a girlfriend and a baby so quickly. Nice to know I'm not the only one who thought they were replaceable.” He said. Whisper choked as his hand wrapped around her neck. She hated him. She hated being compared to him. She wanted him dead.

 

“Guess that’s why Cyan isn’t sticking around anymore, huh?”

 

Mimic raised his knife.

 

And Tangle’s tail wrapped around his wrist. The octopus barely had any time to look back before Tangle pulled on heir tail, it tightened like a rope and broke his hand. He dropped the knife in agony as he was pulled to the floor, his chin hitting the concrete hard enough for it to scrape his skin. The lemur pulled again, dragging Mimic closer to her.

 

She kicked his head so hard that the concrete cracked beneath it. Blue blood began filling his right eye.

 

“YOU HURT MY FRIEND.”

 

She kicked again. Harder.

 

“YOU HURT MY FRIEND .”

 

She kicked even harder this time.

 

“YOU HURT. MY. DAUGHTER.”

 

Mimic clenched his teeth, grabbing the stolen wispon with his free hand…

 

But then Whisper’s Blue Wisp hovered as fast as it could, snatching the bell right out of Mimic’s hand. He looked up in astonishment.

 

“Blue…!”

 

The wisp didn’t bother looking at Mimic, it spun and launched the wispon to the other side of the room.

 

The other wisps worked together to crack the Bell Wispon open. A color-muted Maggie floated out, overused. She looked at the scene and brought her tentacles to her face in surprise.

 

Mimic raged at the loss of his custom-built weapon and strongest form of attack. With nothing left to lose, he shapeshifted into the strongest form he had.

 

Now taking the form of Zavok, Mimic freed his aching hand from Tangle’s grasp. His monstrous red form allowed him to effortlessly launch the girl across the room. The lemur’s body dropped. She grunted, shaking and trying to get up.

 

“Stay,” Mimic sneered, pointing at her like a scolding parent.

 

Then he turned around to see the downed Whisper once again. She clenched her teeth as the shadow over her grew.

 

He growled in satisfaction as he lifted his foot, intending to crush the wolf.

 

“I would say I’ll miss you,” he said confidently. “But that would be a lie.”

 

Before he could crush Whisper’s skull, however, he felt a sharp pain.

 

His head rotated like an Owl’s, only to see Tangle digging his own knife into his back. She stabbed again and again. Mimic began shrinking back into his true form with each stab, blood leaving his body in heaps, both from his back and mouth.

 

“WwhreWAIT…!” croaked, but Tangle kept digging the knife into his back, harder each time, until he was once again in the cold ground, his own blade lodged into his chest through his back.

 

Mimic coughed, struggled to get up.

 

Then the life left his eyes.

 

Tangle took in a deep breath.

 

Then collapsed, breaking down into tears.

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

“I’m sorry you had to do that,” Whisper said as she limped. Tangle was supporting her weight with one arm. In the other, she carried a sleeping Whistle. And with her tail, Silver, still unconscious.

 

Tangle looked down, shaky breaths. 

 

“I know how much you valued life and…” Whisper couldn’t finish talking. Tangle turned to see her, still pensive.

 

“The reason I didn’t let you kill Mimic was because I thought he wasn’t worth you losing your last shred of innocence.” She took a deep breath. “But today was a life-or-death scenario. And after how he hurt Whistle, I just- I couldn’t.” She would have buried her face in her hands if she could, but she had more important things to hold right now.

 

“I’m sorry it had to be you.” Whisper said, looking down. “If I was a little more—”

 

Tangle shushed her.

 

“Not the time to think about that, alright?”

 

Whisper stared at Tangle and laughed a little.

 

“You always know what to say.”

 

The two girls smiled.

 

Whistle’s steady breathing weighed against Tangle’s chest.

 

“She’s strong,” Whisper said.

 

Tangle nodded. “I think she’ll grow up to be someone amazing.”

Chapter 6: Reminiscence

Jewel blew on the tea to cool it before passing it over to Tangle.

 

“Thanks, Jewel!” She grinned, taking a sip with one hand while cradling Whistle in the other.

 

“How’s everyone?” The beetle asked. Tangle blinked, caught mid-gulp. “Everyone?” She asked, leaning towards Jewel in her chair.

 

“I heard Silver and Whistle were hospitalized,” She clarified. Tangle let out a tired sigh before taking another drink. Whistle’s wide amethyst eyes scanned the room, her nose twitching at every new scent.

 

“Yeah. But they’re better now! Two weeks sure lets your body do wonders,” Her voice gradually softened as she talked, clearly not wanting to remember that experience so soon. “Lil Whistle is doing great!” She let her cup of tea rest on the table as she got up and lifted Whistle with both arms

 

The pup began giggling and flailing her little legs around, her tail moving freakishly fast with excitement. “Yes, you are! Yes, you are!” The lemur mother said before nuzzling her baby.

 

Jewel laughed nervously. “Haha. You’re a pro at this, huh?”

 

Tangle nodded proudly as she sat back down and rocked Whistle in her lap.

 

Then, without warning, Whistle bit down on her mother’s chest fluff with zero hesitation. Tangle instinctively closed her eyes and braced herself, only to sigh in relief as the pain never came. “Right, she doesn’t have her fangs yet.” Both girls fell into awkward laughter.

 

“Honestly, did your genes even try?” Jewel teased between chuckles. Tangle blinked twice in confusion. “Huh?” 

 

“I-I mean, she’s like, ALL Whisper with maybe a little bit of Tangle, you know?” She clarified as she rubbed the back of her head, still giggling.

 

“Speaking of,” the beetle continued. “Where is she?”.

 

Tangle’s eyes drifted to the ceiling, her hand gently patting Whistle’s head, who was now more focused on trying to catch a moth with her little paws. “Whisper? She’s uh, still looking for that temple — the one where Noctavia cursed us. Cyan is still… Yknow.” Jewel nodded upon hearing her friend.

 

The Lemur paused for a second to sip her tea, then continued. “Well, I wouldn’t call lil’ Whistle a curse; those were Noctavia’s words. In my eyes?” She looked down at Whistle and beamed. “She’s a blessing”.

 

The beetle girl looked around for something to say and avoid the topic at hand, but it was really getting to her by this point. She put a hand to her forehead, as if she were having a migraine, and then closed her eyes before speaking. “Man, where did the years go?” Her voice cracked.

 

Tangle raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

 

“It’s just— ” Jewel scrambled for the right words to speak her mind. “It feels like yesterday your biggest worry was wanting sleepovers and pizza parties… Not… Restoration stuff…” A dry feeling came to her mouth as she said that. “O-Or raising a baby,” she continued.

 

Tangle laughed. “Yeah, I guess. But to be fair, she DID come crashing into my life with no warning. Kind of like—” Jewel didn’t let her finish. “Whisper, I know. I know.” She sighed.

 

Tangle crossed her legs on her chair, letting Whistle rest on her lap. “Guess the years HAVE flown a bit too quickly. Heh.” She began reminiscing. “Do you remember the day we met?”

 

Jewel’s antennae perked up. She flew over to her sofa and laid down, almost like Tangle was her therapist.

 

“Heh. How could I forget it?”

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

The summer winds made the leaves flow like a calm stream under their warm breeze, and the forest near Spiral Hill Village was filled with the voices of rowdy schoolchildren on their field trip. One. Two. Thirty. Thirty kids wearing bright backpacks, all led in a single-file line by an underpaid Reindeer, their teacher. “Alright, kids, don’t get split! A forest like this can be quite tricky to walk through without a guide!”

 

The students nodded as they followed her like the light from a candle in the darkness. But one of them was trailing behind.

 

Always, trailing behind.

 

The beetle grub struggled to keep up with her classmates. Her oversized pink sweater was not particularly helpful in fighting the summer heat. Her school ID Card read ‘Jewel the Beetle’. An ironic name considering the dull, yellowish appearance of her developing carapace.

 

“W-W-Wait!” She adjusted her oversized glasses, struggling to keep up due to her frankly oversized and overloaded backpack. The two students in front of her snickered at her misfortune, hurrying up their pace, causing a domino effect that made everyone in the line subsequently increase their walking speed.

 

“You’re such jerks!” The grub complained at the two students in front of her, gradually trailing behind more and more from the rest of the group.

 

The spider student laughed at her misfortune. Her Kestrel sidekick joined in the laughing shortly after.

“Maybe you’d catch up if you weren’t carrying an entire museum in your backpack,” The spider girl cooed teasingly. Jewel clenched her teeth and got prepared to try and respond, only for the Kestrel to speak over her. “More like Jelly the Beetle!” He spoke between a laugh, only to notice his friend was dumbfounded. “C-Cuz she’s like. She shakes. Like a bowl of goo.” The spider blinked twice before cackling in a cruel tone.

 

Jewel pouted, raising her finger. “That’s enough—” Just as she walked towards them, the Kestrel side-stepped her. “Careful, four-eyes!” he bumped her arm. Not hard, but hard enough.

 

Her feet got caught on a root, she slipped, and then—

 

Thud.

 

Her glasses fell sideways, her bag opened, letting the contents inside (mainly geology books) fall like an avalanche, alongside papers, notebooks, pencils, and the like.

 

The spider girl snorted. “Oops! Our bad.”

 

She extended a hand towards Jewel. The girl reluctantly reached towards her hand, only for the girl to move it out of the way and fistbump her sidekick before walking back to the line, laughing like a riot.

 

Jewel’s eyes became puffy, her face practically turned red from her blush, and then she began to cry. Silently. Before she realized it, she couldn’t hear her classmates in the distance anymore. She cried for a good two minutes, letting all her feelings out on the dirt.

 

Jewel struggled to get up, panicking upon noticing the absence of her classmates and teachers. She quickly retrieved her belongings and began following the dirt path in hopes of finding someone to guide her out of the forest at the very least.

 

“Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.” She vented to herself. She’d pull her antennae in frustration, but due to her young age, they weren’t developed enough, just small stumps on her dull, squishy body. The grub continued complaining, her teary eyes filled with frustration as she kicked the dirt.

 

“I-I just w-w-ish.” She exhaled and sat down, covering her legs with her arms as she did. “I wish I had a f-friend.” She swallowed saliva.

 

And then the leaves of the canopy began rustling and falling. Jewel yelped and covered her face, expecting some kind of wild animal to pop out and eat her.

 

What happened wasn’t that far off from what she imagined.

 

“Woah! I haven’t seen anyone like YOU before!” A mysterious voice called. Jewel slowly opened her eyes, only to be met with deep, amethyst eyes staring right back. Was that a… girl?

 

She was hanging upside down, her tail coiled around a branch at what seemed an impossible distance for such a limb to cover. Jewel pieced two and two together as she heard the elastic sound that echoed from the girl’s tail as she uncoiled it, managing to flip and land on her feet in front of her.

 

The lemur shook herself to get some leaves and branches off her body, still, her hair tuft practically looked like a bird’s nest with how tangled it was.

 

“Your hair is uh. Tangled.” Jewel nervously said, trying to start conversation.

 

The lemur girl blinked twice, then ran a hand through her hair. “Hmmm. I like that.”

 

Jewel tilted her head. “What?”

 

“I like that name!” Tangle smiled.

 

“Tangled? Like, the adjective?” Jewel questioned as she adjusted her glasses.

 

The lemur shrugged. “Tangle. Tangled. Tanging. Fun words!” She spun around, her tail flowing in the wind like a ribbon. Jewel frowned.

 

“A-Actually, it’s ‘Tangling’, not ‘Tanging’,” she said that last part a little more quietly, but Tangle still heard her.

 

“Woah. You’re really smart! What’s your name?”

 

Jewel blushed at the question. Or maybe at her? “J-Jewel.”

 

Tangle beamed. “That’s a good name. You’ve got a good name, Jewel!” She gave the beetle grub a thumbs-up.

 

“T-Thanks. A-Are you from my school?” Jewel asked. This girl looked maybe a grade younger, give or take, which meant she shouldn’t be out here alone. Why was she out here?

 

Tangle scratched her chin. “Nope. I’m homeschooled.” As she talked, she spotted a snail and jumped to grab it. “My mom says I shouldn’t ‘mingle’ with…” Trailing off once she caught the small gastropod, she walked towards Jewel and showed her the snail in her palms.

 

“That’s a- uhm. Garden snail.” She observed the little thing slowly creep in Tangle’s hand, leaving a trail of slime behind. “I don’t… like bugs, sorry.” Jewel looked the other way.

 

“...You’re a bug,” Tangle replied.

 

“I-It’s not the same thing!” Jewel’s face turned red as she yelled.

 

Tangle scratched her chin. “I’m pretty sure it is.”

 

Jewel stomped the ground a few times in frustration before turning around. “I need to go back to my class.”

 

“Why?” Tangle asked, beginning to walk beside the beetle grub.

 

“So that I can find my teacher,” Jewel explained.

 

“Why?” Tangle asked again

 

“So that I can go back to school when the field trip is over.” The beetle grub replied, a little irritated now.

 

“Why?” The lemur asked once more

 

“So that I can go home,” Jewel said, annoyed.

 

“Why?” Tangle giggled, noticing the girl’s frustration.

 

“So that—” Jewel caught on and began laughing too.

 

Soon, both girls were laughing as they walked through the dirt path. Somewhere up ahead, voices echoed, faint at first, then clearer. Her classmates

 

“Guess that’s where your classmates are,” Tangle said, narrowing her eyes and spotting a crowd of children in the distance. She grabbed a cool stick off the ground and began walking in the opposite direction.

 

Jewel grew nervous. “Wait! Tangle! Where are you going?” She asked.

 

The lemur shrugged. “Wherever. You need to go back to your school and stuff,” as she continued walking away, a little hand tugged at her oversized cyan shirt.

 

“But I want you to stay!” Tangle looked back at the desperate girl. Her eyes grew a little wide. “Wait, does this mean we’re friends?” She asked. Jewel nervously smiled. “I guess?” Tangle immediately grabbed both of Jewel’s hands. “FOR REALSIES???” Jewel backed down a little upon being screamed at. “Y-Yeah. I g-guess?”

 

Tangle began jumping in excitement, and Jewel followed suit; both laughed. “Just wait till I tell my mom about you! Oh, we’ll have slumber parties. And tea parties. And tea slumbers parties ! and—”

 

“I don’t think that last one is a thing, but I can try!” Jewel interrupted the lemur.

 

They walked towards the source of the distinct sound of more than a double dozen children congregated in a small place. Lo and behold, Jewel’s class was having lunch in a small bench area. She headed to a small table, no one even noticed that she had returned, much less that she had gone missing. But for the first time, someone was sitting beside her for lunch. Tangle.

 

“Ohhh, you brought food?” Tangle craned her neck to get a good look at the clunky lunchbox Jewel had brought with her, inside: A ham and lettuce sandwich with way too much mayo, a lukewarm box of orange juice, and a box of strawberries. Tangle scratched her chin. “That’s it? My family eats like, four times more than that.”

 

“What? No, no, this isn’t a normal lunch. It’s just for school.” Jewel spat out in embarrassment.

 

“Ohhhh yeah, that makes more sense.” Her tail waved through the air as she searched for something in her pocket, pulling out a tangerine. “I love tangerines,” she said as she struggled to peel it.

 

“Ever had strawberries?” Jewel asked.

 

“Nope. Are they like, fruits or some kind of ham or something?” Tangle said, not glancing at Jewel as she struggled to get to the fruity inside of her snack.

 

Jewel opened the plastic box and grabbed a strawberry, handing it to Tangle. The lemur girl sniffed the fruit a little before eating it in one bite.

 

The beetle grub got nervous as her new friend seemed to freeze in place. “Uh, Tangle?”

 

Before she could say anything else, Tangle grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. “OH MY GOD THIS IS AMAZING IT’S THE BEST THING EVER ACTUALLY CAN I HAVE MORE???”

 

Jewel smiled and handed her the box. “You can have them.”

 

She rested her face on her hand as she watched Tangle absolutely devour the strawberries. “You’re so weird.”

 

“And yhouhre sho ghenehroush!” Tangle replied between bites, her mouth full.

 

Then a shadow fell across the table. Jewel’s shoulders stiffened. Tangle gulped down the last strawberry and noticed the sudden change in the demeanor of her friend. “Hey, you okay?” She asked. Upon getting no response, she turned around and saw the Spider Girl leaning against a wall.

 

“Who’s that?” She whispered to Jewel, but her friend didn’t answer once again; she just whined.

 

“Well, well, well,” the spider sneered. “Looks like the class joke’s got a friend.”

 

Tangle frowned. “Can’t really miss her, especially when her face is in the dirt.” The bully continued. 

 

Tangle’s ear twitched, and she sprang from her seat. Jewel’s heart skipped a bit, and she tugged at Tangle’s shirt to try to stop her. “Don’t—!” But Tangle continued walking, making Jewel lose her hold on her.

 

Tangle cracked her knuckles. “You’ve got a real talent for talking, y’know that?”

 

The spider girl blinked. “Uh… yeah?”

 

“Cool. Let’s see if that mouth of yours works after this.” She wound her fist back.

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

Tangle covered her face with her free hand, making a dissatisfied expression. “Don’t remind me of that.” She grunted.

 

Jewel kept laughing, nearly spilling the wine in her glass onto her carpet. “Oh, and then that stupid boy- I -hic- can’t even remember his name, he tried tackling you and you -hic- ”

 

“Shoved his face into the trashcan, I know,” Tangle rolled her eyes.

 

Whistle yawned, worn out from the day. Her little eyes fluttered shut as she drifted into soft snores.

 

“Awwwwwww,” Both Jewel and Tangle said. “She’s adorable,” Jewel whispered, cupping the pup’s face in her hand.

 

Tangle smiled as Whistle breathed softly in her arms, safe. “Hey,” she mumbled to Jewel, half-asleep herself.  “Thanks for the tea, girlie.”

 

“Anytime,” Jewel said softly.

 

Tangle yawned. “You’re still the best friend I could wish for.”

 

Jewel smiled, but her eyes shimmered. She held back a small sob.

 

“Yeah. You too.”

 

She paused and looked at Whistle. Noticing the small rings around her eyes, the patch of darker fur between her eyes, and her hair tuft.

Maybe she’s more than just a little bit of tangle.

Chapter 7: Mindscape

“Careful! You’re gonna drop ‘em!” Rough barked at his bro, who struggled to keep the bag of rings and jewels he had on his hands from falling as they both narrowly dodged a pink buzzsaw. The two skunks gulped and looked back to see a figure running towards them at freakishly fast speeds. Whisper shot at the ground, creating an explosion with the power of her Orange Wisp, allowing her to be sent flying in the air and landing in front of the two thieves.

 

The two skunks’ eyes widen and they turn the other way. Rough just barely jumps over another shot from Whisper. “We wouldn’t be doing this if YOU didn’t get us kicked off Clutch’s mansion!” Tumble protested. Rough gritted his teeth. “Me? This is YOUR fault! You’re the one who kept interrupting his beauty sleep, you nimrod!”

 

“You’re the one who ruined his toast, ya DOOFUS!!!” Tumble replied as he ducked under an orange rocket blast; however, the subsequent explosion blocked their path. The two goons skidded to a stop, then took a left. Whisper followed suit, cocking her gun.

 

“You better hope this stunt works or else I’m gonna kick your non-existent tail!” Rough complained. Tumble gasped, genuinely hurt. “You do NOT joke about that!”

 

Rough looked to his side, then scratched his neck. “My bad, bro. Got too heated,” he apologized. “STILL, WE NEED TO REACH THAT DARN- HOW THE HELL IS SHE SO FAST?!” He screams, eyes widened so much they nearly pop out of his skull.

 

Whisper lands in front of them after having used Green Hover to glide over them. The two skunks turn and run, only to violently crash into each other. Whisper can’t help but snort. Dazed, Rough and Tumble shakily get up, then book it back to where they came from. Whisper shakes her head. “Those two. Won’t ever change.”

 

She resumed the chase, spotting the two thieves bursting into what seemed to be an abandoned Eggbase. She lit up the tip of her Wispon with the help of her Rocket Wisp and used it as a torch as she pursued through the darkness.

 

She stopped in her tracks upon catching the two skunks in a crossroads. 3 paths. Each villain went in a different direction upon spotting her. Whisper waited… And soon enough, she heard each of them slam into a dead end. The bros reunited in the middle section, where Whisper waited for them, eating a croissant.

 

“Sup.” She said, raising two fingers in a peace sign. Rough and Tumble screamed at the top of their lungs and ran down the middle hall. Whisper dusted off the crumbs and jogged after them, ready to finally wrap this up. The wolf tilted her head upon arriving in a more open room with a circular machine in the middle. Suddenly, it came to life, shining a bright orange. She covered her eyes with her hand. 

 

Whisper lowered her hand, squinting at the swirling orange light of the machine. It pulsed with a slightly brighter shine that REALLY irritated her eyes.

 

Rough and Tumble jumped from the back of the machine, pointing at Whisper in victory. “Ha!” the bigger of the two skunks cackled. “We did it! We did it!” 

 

Whisper narrowed her eyes. “Did what?” Rough pointed dramatically at the portal. “An old Eggman thingamajig. Thankfully, it wasn’t broken. Just needed some energy!” Tumble chimed in, pounding a fist into his palm.

 

Whisper cocked an eyebrow, unamused. “And this is useful because?” Tumble grinned from cheek to cheek. “To get a fresh new start! Ditch all the wanted posters those shmucks have for us!”. The wolf snorted in response, remembering a poster featuring the duo that explicitly said ‘NOT WANTED. NO REWARD.

 

Rough smirked. “It’s not a bluff!” Tumble continued, “You’re gonna jumble!”. Then they both talked at the same time. “It’s vacation time for Rough & Tumble!”

 

The two villains cackled victoriously until they noticed the portal shutting down. “AHHH!! WE NEED TO GO NOW!!” Rough screamed, jumping first into the portal. Tumble followed with no question. Whisper hesitated for a second… Then jumped in just before the machine ran out of power.

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

Whisper struggled to open her eyes after the light enveloped her. The air felt salty, like a coastal city. It was warmer too, and she oddly felt like she wasn’t touching ground. Whisper blinked twice after opening her eyes, realizing she was in the air and quickly falling towards the sea.

 

The wolf lifted her cloak, scrambling to get the backpack she hid underneath it safe. She launched it in the air just in time for her Green Hover Wisp to catch it and keep it airborne. Immediately after, Whisper crashed into the water with a loud splash. 

 

The wolf hit the sandy bottom and shot up in a split second. She flicked away a starfish that had clung to her face, then shook herself dry. Her head was spinning like crazy

 

Green Hover descended and handed Whisper her black backpack. The wolf peeked inside, and Whistle slept peacefully, unaware of the chase and subsequent dimensional crossing that had just occurred. Whisper sighed in relief. “Good,” she whispered.

 

The wolf began walking towards the coast, noticing the drag of her now-wet cloak. She sighed and discarded it, letting it float away in the vast, orange sea. Whisper continued her trek, her ears twitched, picking up on the distant sound of the skunk duo getting up to mischief already.

 

Whisper stepped onto the sandy beach and upped her speed, trying to avoid running into bystanders, jumping over backpacks, dodging volleyballs, and ducking under frisbees (even if her brain told her to go bite it). This place was kind of overwhelming for her. She stopped in front of a Koala mother comforting her child, whose ice cream had been dropped to the ground. Whisper winced at the sight of the crying Koala joey.

 

“Have you seen two skunks?” She questioned. The mother nodded and pointed towards the inner part of the village. Whisper nodded. “Got it.” 

 

She swiftly arrived on the streets of Windmill Village. She scanned to try to find her target. Then her fur spiked up, she rolled out of the way of a giant blast of blue flames just in time.

 

When the smoke cleared, Rough and Tumble were frozen inside a giant ice cube. The two skunks look at each other in a panic, their eyes the only thing they could move. A feline silhouette stepped on top of the ice construct they were trapped in. Whisper narrowed her eyes.

 

“Blaze?” She whispered. No. The shape of the ponytail didn’t match, and the clothes were different. Not to mention the fact that she didn’t recall the pyrokinetic cat having ice-adjacent powers. Whisper lifted her wispon up, pointing it at the mysterious feline. “I’ll be bringing those two with me.”

 

 “Our plan was tight,” Tumble’s teeth chattered, “but we fumbled-” Rough continued as he shivered.

 

The silhouette cackled in a specific tone that really pissed Whisper off. Arrogant and high-pitched. The feline proceeded to kick the ice cube with enough force to send it flying into the distance. The skunks screamed. “LOOKS LIKE IT’S BLASTING OFF AGAIN TIME FOR ROUGH AND TUMBLEEEEeeeeₑₑₑₑ”. A twinkle of light shone as they disappeared on the horizon.

 

Whisper’s hand moved to the Wispon’s trigger, but before she could fire, a familiar voice rang out from the distance. “ARCTIC!” Whisper turned to the source of the sound, a purple cat using flames to remain airborne. Blaze. Which meant that the mysterious cat…

 

“Ohohoho!” Arctic the Cat cackled as she dusted off her uniform. “I’m afraid you’re out of luck, Prrrrincess,” she continued. Whisper snorted at the way she rolled her Rs, but then remembered she needed to take this seriously. “Two to one. Shouldn’t be hard.” She spoke up. Blaze turned to see her in shock. “Whisper?! Why—  How?” The two girls didn’t have time to do small talk. Arctic lift into the air by shooting blue flames from her hands, causing the air around them to go cold. Whisper cursed under her breath; she wouldn’t have discarded her cloak earlier if she knew they’d deal with this.

 

“I don’t have time to deal with your cronies right now, Lord Metanull awaits! Toodles!!” Arctic cackled once more before launching herself backwards with her ice flames, leaving frozen scorchmarks behind as she flew into the horizon.

 

Whisper sighed, “Guess I’ll have to pretend I know what’s going on.” She turned to face Blaze. “Who was that?” she asked. Blaze cracked her knuckles. “I can explain it over at my castle. I assume you didn’t come here intentionally, did you?” Whisper shook her head in response. “Was taking care of the baby before this.”

 

Blaze tilted her head in confusion. “Baby? Someone had a baby while I was gone?” Whisper smiled in response, setting her backpack on the ground, grabbing a sleeping Whistle, and showing it to Blaze. “Mine.”

 

Blaze blinked twice. “Okay. Explain when we get to my castle. She shouldn’t be out in the cold.”

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

Whisper walked up the stairs as she followed Blaze, her Wisps contained within her Wispon while Whistle still stayed inside her backpack, head popping out as she softly snored. She stared at some portraits of people she didn’t recognize, then talked. “...And now I’m here.”

 

Blaze scratched her chin. “I see.” Her heels tapped on the stone stairs. “Truth be told… the moment you mentioned a baby, I already suspected she was yours.”

 

Whisper tilted her head. “What do you mean by that?” Blaze glanced down at Whisper’s chest, then coughed and kept walking.

 

“Oh, no. Remember, Whistle is magic. I’m not… You know.” Whisper clarified. Blaze paused, sighing in frustration. “Nevermind that thought, then.”

 

Once the stairs stopped after what seemed like hours for Whisper, Blaze pushed a large wooden door open, and the smell of incense rushed to the wolf’s nose. It twitched twice before she sneezed, startling her Wisps enough for them to burst out of her Wispon in a panic. Still, Whisper walked in behind Blaze. The princess’s room was filled with cool colors everywhere, a large bed in the middle, and, near a window, her royal desk, with some half-signed papers still sitting near a quill and a small recipient containing ink.

 

Whisper felt a breeze hit her and suddenly regretted discarding her cloak even more than before. Now crossing her arms, she tapped her foot to get Blaze’s attention. “Well, I explained everything… Now’s your turn. Explain what the deal is with that cat. Arctic.”

 

Blaze sat on her desk’s chair. Not particularly a throne, but still fancy. It creaked as she stretched just like a domestic cat would. “Well, it all started a few weeks ago. Around the time you said that ‘Noctavia’ person cursed you and Tangle. Some of my past enemies made a resurgence out of nowhere. Johnny, Captain Whisker, all who I thought I had already… dealt with.”

 

Whisper nodded, paying attention. “However,” Blaze continued. “They were also being persecuted, specifically from the kingdom up north. That is where Arctic comes from.” 

 

Blaze snapped her fingers, a small flame burnt a string, which caused a worldmap to fall and cover the view of the window. “The Sol Kingdom, my kingdom, is at the southernmost island of this archipelago." Blaze got up from her chair and turned to point at the map.

 

“The Glacies Kingdom is Arctic’s homeland.” Blaze grew quiet for a second. “Truth be told, I haven’t ever gone there. And I usually couldn’t have cared less that they’re pursuing the thorns on my side… However… They have a drive for conquest that has begun to trample on my citizens’ business more and more… And Arctic seems to think I work with Whisker?” Blaze scoffed at the thought. “What a joke.”

 

Finally, she turned to see Whisper. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

 

Whisper thought for a second. “I guess so. But I have a question,” she pointed at Blaze. “What’s up with that ‘Lord Metanull’ guy Arctic mentioned?”

 

“This is the first time she mentions him. I’ve… got no idea.” Blaze replied. As she did, she pulled a rope, causing the map to roll itself up, leaving the orange sky free to shine through the window once again. Blaze stepped away from her desk, walking towards a shelf. Within a glass box, on top of a purple pillow, the Sol Emeralds rested, their warm colors contrasting Blaze’s cooler room.

 

“I can get you home before the sun sets with the Sol Emeralds, but… There’s one thing I want to be sure of first,” Blaze said as she lifted the box, walking to set it on her desk.

 

“What would that be?” Whisper asked, cautiously.

 

“That baby is a Tangle’s daughter, too. You deliberately jumped in that portal while knowing Whistle could get hurt.” Blaze finished setting the Sol Emeralds on her desk, then turned to face Whisper. “Two people other than yourself were at stake is what I’m getting at… Meaning…”

 

Blaze disappeared in a blur. Whisper’s fur spiked. She snapped her arm up just in time to block a strike from Blaze, who came from her left.

 

“...You’re either very confident of your skills, or very stupid,” Blaze smirked. Whisper tried to sweep her, but the cat elegantly jumped at just the right moment. As she did, she spun, delivering a kick that the wolf yet again blocked with her arm. 

 

Whisper jumped backwards, moving the backpack containing Whistle to her arm and setting it down in a corner of the room. With less grace than she’d like, she used her Wispon as leverage, pointing it against a wall and shooting a contained burst of Orange Rocket. Rocketing towards Blaze, she drove her fist forward at just the right moment to catch her mid-dodge, making the princess lose balance and fall to the ground.

 

The Diamond Cutter landed on her feet, she rapidly turned around with her Wispon pointed outward… but Blaze was nowhere to be found. Whisper suddenly felt a surge of hot air behind her. She turned around just in time to see Blaze ram into her while enveloped in a twister made of fire.

 

Whisper gritted her teeth, making a barrier with her Blue Wisp, stopping Blaze’s momentum and launching her to the other side of the room. The wolf put on her mask just as the barrier fizzled out.

 

A sea of flames emerged from Blaze’s hands. Whisper rolled away from the blast, running away from it as Blaze turned. “Her room must be fireproofed…” She thought. Whisper launched a book from the ground into the air, then kicked it forward. It cut through Blaze’s burst of flames and struck her hands hard enough to make her stop the attack. The diamond cutter smirked at the confirmation of what she suspected; she could use Blaze’s room against her without fear of getting her things burnt.

 

Whisper moved to try and strike Blaze with her variable wispon, wielded like a hammer thanks to her Blue Wisp. However, she stopped for a second. A flash of purple went past her head, giving her a nasty migraine. Her breath hitched. That messed up her attack. Blaze took the opportunity to punch Whisper in the gut and disarm her. Now behind her, the cat twisted the wolf’s arm to her back and pinned her to the ground.

 

Whisper growled, feeling Blaze’s breath against the back of her head. Unable to fight back. After a few seconds, the princess let go and backed away from the Diamond Cutter. Whisper moved her mask to the side and tried to catch her breath. “Something on your mind?” Blaze questioned, crossing her arms.

 

“No. ” Whisper replied, frowning. Blaze cocked an eyebrow, not buying what the girl said. “Fffffine,” the wolf grumbled. “I’m a bit distracted, s’all.”

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Blaze tilted her head. “Ehhhh…” Whisper mumbled, unsure of her comfort with the situation she was being pulled into. The princess scratched her chin. “I won’t press further. But… If you do not wish to talk,” the cat lifted her arms, the Sol emeralds floated up from her desk, slowly surrounding her.

 

“After I restored Sonic’s memories with them… I’ve been looking into the relationship the Sol Emeralds have with the mind. If you were willing,” Blaze stretched a hand. “ They can help you figure out what’s going on.”

Whisper looked down for a moment… Then, she looked back at Blaze and grabbed her hand. “Okay.” The wolf awkwardly followed Blaze’s movements and sat down. Then she remembered Whistle and rushed to check on her.

 

“Still asleep. Sleepy baby.” She smiled at the pup, cozy in its little blanket inside the backpack. With that safety now assured in her heart, Whisper returned to Blaze and sat down, mimicking her meditation pose.

 

“Close your eyes,” Blaze said. Whisper nodded in response as she shut her eyelids. “Breathe,” the cat continued. “Here, in darkness, everything’s okay. Listen to the waves, and let them fade away.”

 

The Sol Emeralds began circling Whisper and Blaze, and the background of the princess’s room suddenly finds itself fading to black. Now in darkness, a single flame stands between the girls, on top of it, a teacup. Steam begins rising from it.

 

“ Here comes a thought .”

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

Whisper opened her eyes. All of a sudden, she and Blaze were in a seemingly endless blue space. The steam, soft and fluffy as a cloud, rose indefinitely. Little puffs of it broke out periodically. A purple light shone in the distance.

 

“Let the warmth of the Sol Emeralds guide you. I’ll wait here.” Blaze said, her eyes still closed. Whisper nodded and began walking towards the light, farther away from Blaze with each step.

 

The puffs of steam began closing in on Whisper. She ignored it at first, continuing her path towards that warm light.

 

“Whiiiisper…”

 

She froze. That voice was familiar. Too familiar. Whisper turned slowly, her heart skipping a beat upon seeing the steam take the form of her old teammates. They stared at her with such gentle looks. Not a drop of anger towards her failure. But she still took a step back. Whisper shook her head, trying to clear her mind. She took deep breaths, and when she opened her eyes, they weren’t there.

 

The wolf sighed in relief. “Not what I’m after,” she said, returning to her previous path shortly after. 

 

Steam began closing in on Whisper from both sides. She shut her eyes and began running, trying to avoid looking at it. However, she soon noticed she wasn’t going anywhere. She opened her eyes and saw the light still far away.

 

“Seems I have to face it then. Not run. Whisper turned to see the cloud, staring as it morphed into Mimic. Giant, towering.

 

Unamused, Whisper walked through the steam, forcing it to come undone as she waved her arms. “You can’t hurt me anymore. You’re dead.” 

 

Her path continued, each attempt from the steam to faze her failing. Surge. Lanolin. Cyan. Whisper was able to ignore those distractions with little trouble, and she got closer to that light every second. The steam then changed its shape into that of Tangle’s. A knot formed in Whisper’s throat.

 

“Move.” She said, walking through the steam doppelganger of her friend and co-parent. However, the mass had other plans. Suddenly there were two, no, three, no, twenty tangles all surrounding her, suffocating her. Whisper shut her eyes, trying to think of something else… But she couldn’t. She couldn’t clear her mind.

 

“Why am I thinking so much about her?!” She growled, opening her eyes and running past the steam clones with brute force. So close… yet with each thought, another Tangle appeared. And another. And another. 

 

Whisper held her head. “Why…” She gritted her teeth. “Stop getting in my head…” She growled, pushing them off her. “CAN’T YOU SEE YOU’RE DISTRACTING ME?!” 

 

Between her hastened breaths, it hit Whisper. Tangle. That was distracting her. She’s been thinking of her all day; she can’t stop thinking of her.

 

The steam spun around Whisper, taking different shapes. Her smile. Her chest. Her hands. Her shoulders.

 

Whisper clutched her head as the memories unraveled around her. Those shared laughs, each blush, the way her ears twitched, the way she moved her tail differently around her.

 

“I can’t… I shouldn’t feel like this about her.” The steam sizzled in response. It's cloudy mass spinning around Whisper faster. “...She’d never like me that way…”

 

The steam hissed. Was it laughing? Was it sobbing? Whisper couldn’t care less. It closed in on her once more.

 

“...So what?” Whisper punched the ground. “So what if I feel like this…” 

 

“I…”

 

“I can’t keep hiding from this.”

 

The steam screeched, launching itself in all directions away from her. Whisper stuck out her tongue at it before walking towards the orange light. It was warm, but not too warm.

 

“Whatever happens, I’ll tell her the truth.”

 

Her vision was enveloped in white light.

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

Whisper grunted as SOMETHING pulled her cheek hair. Once she woke up, she saw Whistle playing with her fur. The wolf mom pouted and gently pushed her pup away for a second. She tasted her own breath as she lifted the top half of her body. Her hair was messy, birds were chirping outside, and she was on… Blaze’s bed? She looked to her right side, seeing a Koala staring at her. Whisper awkwardly raised a hand. “Hi.”

 

Gardon pointed at the door of the room. “Her majesty has everything ready for your departure. You may leave now.”

 

Whisper frowned. Rude.

 

The wolf put on her shirt and grabbed her pup, beginning to make her way to the outside of the palace. She never took in how large it was. Even the littlest of sounds made echoes that seemed to repeat hundreds of times.

 

Whistle began babbling random vowels as she stretched her arms out, trying to touch a portrait depicting the Jeweled Scepter. Whisper flinched and walked a bit farther away from any paintings. Still, she kissed her pup in the forehead, getting a giggle out of her.

 

“Already trying to talk… Very impressive.” She awkwardly smiled.

 

Having arrived on the outside, the summer breeze felt like a nice change of pace from the current winter of her home dimension, the coastal air making her nose tingle a little. Whistle sneezed on her shoulder. Whisper stayed silent for a second… Then chuckled, holding Whistle closer as she approached Blaze, who had already opened a portal back home with the help of the Sol Emeralds.

 

“So… What was distracting you?” Blaze inquired, curious to know if her method had yielded any results. Whisper hesitated for a second, but then spoke with the same confidence she knows she needs to have to tell Tangle.

 

“Love.”

 

Notes:

This chapter is, also, a sort of pilot for another fic I'll make. I apologize for the long exposition. I can only hope it came off naturally

Also, I apologize for the lack of update; ArtFight and exams have been kicking my ass. That and procrastination

Chapter 8: I love you.

Whisper walked through the snow, her extreme gear jacket moving slightly with the strong wind. After a bit of struggle (and help from her wisps pushing her), she reached their vacation cabin. The wolf girl tried the handle… And it was frozen, so she kicked the door open.

 

Tangle, who was previously giggling while looking at her phone, jumped up from her couch in shock, quickly turning off the device and setting it on the table in a panic. She turned to see Whisper and babbled for a moment, trying to find the right words to excuse herself. “Hey, Whisper, how’s it going?”

 

Whisper shook the snow off her like a dog as she closed the door. “Your nose is bleeding.”

 

Tangle wiped her nose with her wrist, then followed Whisper into the kitchen, her tail waving behind her as she tried shoving her nose in the grocery bag the wolf had brought. “Oooo, watcha get?”

 

“Food. And bottled water. Locals said we’re getting snowed in,” The wolf said as she set the bag on the kitchen counter. Tangle leaned against the counter, both her arms behind her back as she looked up and sighed. “Picked the wrong vacation spot then?”

 

Whisper nodded in response, “Yes.”

 

“Man, Lanolin’s gonna be pissed when she wakes up from her beauty sleep.” Tangle’s comment prompted both to laugh.

 

“How much did she spend in this cabin anyway?” Whisper asked as she walked back to the living room, her wisps trailing behind her the same way Tangle did, now with her arms crossed behind her head.

 

“You think Lanolin paid for it?” Tangle brought her fist to her mouth to cover her laugh. Whisper turned around. “She didn’t?” The wolf tilted her head, genuinely taken aback. Maybe she’ll understand this better at a 45-degree angle.

 

“Nah, it’s covered by the restoration. Well, uh, whatever was left of the money people gathered for it anyway.” Tangle dug in her jacket’s pocket and unwrapped a chocolate bar, beginning to munch on it.

 

“Hm. I figured Lanolin had covered it.” Whisper said, sitting on the couch. Her landing caused the cushions to make her slightly bounce. She unzipped her jacket and removed it. At the very least, it was comfortable for her to be wearing less around her friends for once. She smiled when the fireplace’s heat finally hit her, as well as the cinnamon-y scent the cabin had. For the first time since their final fight against Mimic, she felt like the chaos was far away from her.

 

“Why?” Tangle asked as she leaned over the backrest of the couch, her chin and crossed arms barely visible, her chocolate bar held in her left hand as she gave it another bite.

 

“She has a wealthy girl personality.” Whisper continued, snickering.

 

Tangle scoffed, “Yeah… Suuuure… What makes you think that?”

 

“Well, for once, she has way better manners than you do,” Whisper replied

 

Tangle finished her chocolate bar, realizing her rudeness and what Whisper was hinting at as she sucked on her own fingers. “Oh crap! Did you want some?”

 

“Nah, that stuff would kill me.” Whisper laughed, sinking on the couch with a sigh of relief, her Wisps flew back into their respective canisters inside her jacket.

 

“Fair.” Tangle shrugged and jumped over the couch to sit beside Whisper, stretching her legs over the table as she cracked her knuckles. “Anyways, my point is, you wouldn’t say Lanolin has a ‘wealthy girl’ personality if you knew any wealthy girls.”

 

“Why? Do you know any wealthy girls?” Whisper turned to see her friend. Tangle immediately blushed and nervously looked away. “Noooo… Maybeeeee?” She turned back to see Whisper and stuck out her tongue playfully, trying to dismiss the question.

 

“I’ll take that as a no,” Whisper said, trying to hide her own blush as she got up from the couch and awkwardly stepped away from Tangle, then ran all the way up to the upstairs hall, bumping into Silver. Both barely avoided falling. Whisper caught her breath before looking at Silver.

 

“... ‘Sup.”

 

Smooth.

 

“Whisper, are you okay? You look as red as a tomato.” Silver asked, pointing out the girl’s not very subtle blush. Whisper clenched her teeth and fists and groaned for a second before sitting down, her knees close to her face. Silver understood and sat beside her. “Anything on your mind?”

 

“...Tangle.”

 

Silver was taken aback. “Did something happen with you and her? You two are the best of friends!”

 

“Not precisely. It’s something about her that I’ve been… worried about for a while,” Whisper continued, covering her face with her mask. Silver patted her on the shoulder. “May I know what it is?”

 

Whisper mumbled the answer. Silver blinked twice. He didn’t hear a single word of what his friend had said. Whisper’s ears spiked up upon her realizing her mistake. She turned to see Silver, face still covered.

 

“...Forgot your hearing is still dicey after what happened with Mimic…” Whisper took a deep breath, getting ready to tell someone what she feels, for real this time. “I like Tangle. Like, like her, you know?” Whisper’s anxiety eased a little by the fact that Silver just said “Oh,” instead of immediately judging her.

 

The time traveler got up and leaned on the railing at the end of the hallway, which allowed him to see downstairs.

 

Down there, Tangle looked to both her sides to verify no one was looking, then dug in her ear. She struggled to get the earwax off her fingers while repeatedly saying “ew”, then scratched her butt through her clothes without washing her hands.

 

“...Are you sure?” Silver asked, deadpan.

 

Whisper nodded, moving her mask to her side and leaning on the railing the same way Silver is.

 

“I just don’t know how to tell her.” Whisper sighed before hitting her cheeks with her palms to try and focus. Silver crossed his arms, thinking.

 

“And you’re sure this isn’t just because of Whistle?” He asked, wanting the best for his friend.

 

“Yes. Been feeling like this since before she came along.” Whisper replied, blowing air at her bang when it got in the way of her observing Tangle, who was now lying on the couch trying to find something to watch on the cabin’s TV. The wolf girl sighed at the sight of the lemur groaning and trying to find something to watch. Something that Silver found completely mundane.

 

“She’s just so dreamy,” Whisper said. Tangle then immediately hit her big toe on the side table when she tried to get up from the couch, holding back the urge to curse at the top of her lungs. “Speaking of Whistle, where is she?” Silver asked, turning to see the wolf beside him.

 

“Tangle convinced me to trust Vanilla and Cream with her. I’m sure she’s fine.” Whisper said.

 

“Well, if I know something, it's that Whistle won’t be safer with anyone who isn’t Vanilla. She’s terrifying when she wants to be.” Both the wolf and the hedgehog laugh at the comment, prompting Whisper to clear her mind of distractions. “Yeah. You’re right. Thanks for the talk. I’ll think about how to confess to her,” she said.

 

Silver nodded, “Good luck. I’ve got your back.”

 

Whisper punched Silver in the shoulder. “You better.” With that said, she began walking away, staring at the falling snow outside. Each snowflake piling up further, making the previously dark green forest the cabin was located in look like it was covered in grated coconut. Even within the warmth of the Cabin, Whisper shuddered. It might not be cold in here, but it sure was cold out there. Thankfully, all of her wisps were inside.

 

Well, save for one.

 

Whisper frowned as she began walking downstairs, thinking of Cyan and how he was absorbed into the Dampening Demantoid. She could only hope he was still alive, and hope he wasn’t suffering, and hope it was warm. She really wanted to hope it was warm. At least like that, he wouldn’t be out in the cold, and it would at least be like he was here in some form, and if he was here, and if he—

 

“Whisper! Snap out of it!” Tangle caressed the wolf’s cheeks with her hands, staring at her light blue eyes as she tried to bring her back to reality. Whisper held in a gasp and pushed Tangle’s hands away from her by grabbing her wrists and shoving them towards her body. Whisper sniffed and wiped some tears from her eyes.

 

“Yes. I’m fine. Was just. Thinking.” Whisper stretched her arms open. On cue, Tangle jumped into her embrace and hugged her, patting her on the back, causing Whisper’s tail to betray her and begin waving from side to side at a rapid pace. Tangle scratched the fur on Whisper’s back for a bit. “Wow. Your fur’s so soft in here.”

 

Tangle then stopped the moment it hit her what she was really doing. Her eyes widened at the same time Whisper’s did, and they both awkwardly stepped back. 

 

“I-I’m gonna go to the kitchen.” Tangle pointed her thumb behind her.

 

“Me too.” Whisper spat out. “I MEAN I’M GOING TO THE BATHROOM.” She corrected herself.

 

The girls ran in opposite directions, arriving at the exact opposite room they wanted to be in. Whisper, in the kitchen, leveraged her weight against the door of the kitchen pantry, trying to stay up on her shaky legs as she took heavy breaths. Whisper’s blush and the heat in her face only retreated once she washed her face with cold water, splashing the liquid repeatedly for a total of 3 times until she felt clear.

 

“I need to tell her how I feel.” She said to herself, getting ready for the confession of her ultimate feelings.

 

Tangle, having closed the bathroom door behind her, sat on the closed toilet and gave out a sigh, clutching at her fur. “Tangle, you’re such a creep.” She said to herself, unhappy with her recent behavior. “You know she doesn’t like that kind of contact, so why did you…” The lemur girl continued before gulping, “What’s my excuse this time?”

 

She turned on her phone, her heartbeat calming down as she stared at her lock screen photo; Her with Whisper and Jewel. It was that night after the threat of the Metal Virus had been neutralized. She was holding Jewel by the waist and pulling her closer while Whisper drank in the background. The lemur smiled and brought her phone close to her chest.

 

“Man, I’ve screwed up with her so much.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “I can’t see why she even gives me the time of day after I mess up so often.“

 

Tangle got up from the toilet, determined.

 

“ I need to apologize to her.”

 

Both girls walked out of the room they had run to, converging in the middle of the living room. Tangle opened her mouth to talk, but Whisper was quicker to the draw than her.

 

“Tangle.” She said, prompting the lemur to stop her apology dead on its tracks. She blinked while looking at Whisper, who looked to the side, rubbing her arm in embarrassment. From the second floor, Silver noticed what was going on. “Wow! Are they…?”

 

Just then, Lanolin opened the door to her room, her wool completely messy from how much she had slept. She yawned, scratching her rear through her shorts. “I slept more than I wanted to, ugh.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “These last few months have been so stressful for Whisper and Tangle. I should make it up to them.” 

 

Silver’s eyes widened, realizing Lanolin was about to ruin Whisper’s confession. He waved his arms. “Hey, maybe you should wait, I’m sure they don’t mind!”

 

And downstairs, Whisper stepped closer to Tangle. The lemur’s tail instinctively twitched. A reflex, a reading of her main escape method, should she be faced with a threat. But Whisper was no threat to her. That’s what her head said. Her heart thought otherwise. It was beating as fast as a machine gun shoots, making her body ask all sorts of questions. ‘Are we dying?’ ‘Is she gonna kill us?’. The wolf cupped Tangle’s hands within her own, slowly opening her blue eyes, locking them with Tangle’s lavender. “There’s something… I’ve wanted to tell you for the longest time.”

 

Upstairs, Lanolin tried to walk past Silver, who blocked her way by stepping in front of her. She tried to step aside from him, he stepped in front of her again. Lanolin groaned.

 

“I don’t have time for this, Silver.” The sheep groaned, putting a hand on his chest and shoving him away with a light tap. Barely fazed by Lanolin’s attempt to push him away, Silver looked for another way to distract her. 

 

“Crap. Well, I can’t stop her with my powers; they haven’t been working correctly since Mimic almost made me deaf. And I can’t risk the furniture either. That would be attacking my friend and you know what they say about not doing unto others what you don’t want done to yourself, and even then that too would ruin Whisper’s confession since she’d yell at me to let her go, not to mention that…” Silver thought to himself. Lanolin was taken aback by how he came to a stop dead in his tracks. Waving a hand in front of him while he was too busy with his out-of-character overthinking. She shrugged, continuing to walk downstairs.

 

“What would that be?” Tangle said between a nervous chuckle and a whimper. Whisper bit her lip as she tried to find the right words. “Well. I think… I’ve been struggling with this ever since… You were turned into a zombot.” Whisper finally turned to see her friend in the eyes once more.

 

A knot formed in Tangle’s throat. “You were my… First friend after what happened with the original Diamond Cutters. And I was so worried that something like that could happen to you, that I didn’t… I didn’t value that friendship until you were gone.”

 

“W-Well,” Tangle chucked, too nervous to know what to say. “We’re friends! I-If that’s what you worried about—”

 

“No. It’s not that.” Whisper interrupted her, clutching her hand a little tighter. Tangle’s heart skipped a beat. “After that, I drove you away, thinking that might happen again, but being honest. Ever since then, I just… Haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. A-And now, with Whistle in our lives… I think I can finally say what I’ve wanted to tell you.” Tangle’s face turned pink. Her body went completely stiff, her breathing got faster, something she could barely hide from her best friend.

 

Lanolin crept closer to the first floor, much to the chagrin of Silver, who snapped out of it and flew to cover the sheep’s path once more, his weakened psychic aura flickering in and out. 

 

“Hey— What’s gotten into you, Silver?” Lanolin frowned. “Just let me pass, seriously.” Silver looked to Whisper and Tangle. Still busy.

 

“Please, Lanolin. Whisper’s in the middle of something very important with Tangle! Just wait a few seconds!” The sheep tilted her head, craning her neck around Silver’s figure to get a look at what Tangle and Whisper were doing.

 

“The truth is,” Whisper’s smile made Tangle all the more nervous. 

 

“I love you, Tangle the Lemur.”

 

Tangle let out a little gasp. Silver sighed and eased up since the confession was done, all while Lanolin covered her mouth with her hands, tears swelling up in her eyes.

 

Tangle stepped back as Whisper let go of her hands. Looking down for a second, fidgeting with her fingers as she tried to think of what to say back.

 

“Whisper… Don’t you have anyone better to say this to? I just… Don’t know if I have what you want.”

 

“Tangle…” Whisper cusped Tangle’s chin on her left hand, raising her head so that they could see each other in the eyes again. The lemur’s eyes instinctively looked away before staring into Whisper again.

 

“ You’re all I want.”

 

Tangle’s eyes couldn’t resist the urge to tear up. She sniffed before jumping at Whisper with her arms stretched open, hugging her as hard as she could. For a second, Tangle couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore. “You’re all I want too, Whisper!” Both girls kept giggling during their embrace.

 

Silver’s eyes drifted away from the scene, a bit embarrassed by seeing people do public showings of affection. Still, he couldn’t deny that the scene had gotten him emotional. Lanolin ran towards Whisper and Tangle the moment they got up from the carpeted floor of the cabin, hugging them both hard enough to make their bones make a cracking sound.

 

“I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!” She shouted as she embraced her teammates. Whisper and Tangle both blushed harder than they ever had during their little moment. “W-Wait, really?!” The lemur questioned. “B-But I thought I hid it so well…” Whisper said under her breath.

 

“Of course I knew, you idiots! You two might as well be perfect for each other, you’re the only nimrods who couldn’t tell the other was crushing on you!” Lanolin turned to see Silver and waved her hand towards him, calling him to the group hug. The time traveler shrugged, walking towards them and joining the embrace, cushioned between Tangle and Lanolin.

 

“Lanolin’s right. If I’m being honest, I was surprised to know you two weren’t dating. This would have happened sooner if you had better communication.” He said with a bit of sass in his voice. Tangle pouted, “Well, aren’t you one to speak on being honest with your crush?”

 

Silver frowned. “Oh, don’t you dare!” Silver angrily reached for Tangle as she began dialing someone on her smartphone, breaking up the hug as she made a break for it, as the hedgehog desperately chased her to stop whatever she planned on doing.

 

Whisper and Lanolin nearly tumbled face-first into the floor as their teammates became a blur,  making the house shake a little as they ran upstairs.

 

“Looks like Tangle won’t stay out of trouble just because you’re her lovergirl,” Lanolin said. “Well, I think this warrants a celebration. I heard there’s a pizza joint nearby. I think I have enough spare change to afford a treat for you both.”

 

Whisper smiled at her friend’s kindness. “That would be wonderful.”

 

The sheep approached the door and turned the handle. That’s when Whisper realized. She had been so distracted with her confession that she didn’t even think that Lanolin would try to open the door. “LANOLIN WAIT—”

 

“Huh?” Lanolin turned just as she opened the door. A pile of snow burst from outside the cabin and directly on top of her, leaving only her horns sticking out of the frost.

 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

Lanolin shivered beneath her blaklet. A string of mucus hung from her puffy nose as Tangle handed a hot cup of coffee.

 

“Thank you,” Lanolin said to her friend before beginning to drink her coffee. Its warmth helped her cope with the cold she caught due to her little mishap.

 

“I’m sorry,” Whisper said for what must have been the thousandth time. “I get it, stop apologizing,” Lanolin responded as she groaned, clutching her forehead, while Maggie floated over to get her another hot water bag. Silver had long teleported away to the nearest city to try and get a medic for the next morning.

 

Tangle’s phone buzzed. She cursed. “Shit. I forgot to check my messages all day. Let’s see here. 99+ missed calls from Cream… and 99+ missed messages… Also from Cream. Oh, crap.”

 

Whisper’s ears perked up, she ran over to the sofa Tangle sat in. “Check the messages. I need to know if Whistle is okay or not.”

 

“Let’s take a look…” Tangle pressed the notification button, seeing the most recent messages. 10 loaded without the need to scroll up, they read:

 

CREAM THE RABBIT 🧡 — 5:45PM

 

Just calling to inform you that it’s snowing around my house too! I hope your vacations are going wonderfully, Ms.Tangle and Ms.Whisper! ⸝₍̗⁽ˆ⁰ˆ⁾₎͕⸍∘˚˳°✧

OMG (Oh my Gaia), I completely forgot to wish a nice vacation to Ms.Lanolin and Mr.Silver, too! Please tell them I wish them a happy break! Especially Mr.Silver! Mother told me he had to go to the hospital recently. 

 

/)/)

( . .) 

( づ💗

 

[CREAM THE RABBIT 🧡 sent an attachment]

 

[It was a GIF of a puppy holding a cardboard heart saying “Get well soon!”]

 

CREAM THE RABBIT 🧡 — 6:02 PM

 

Ms.Tangle PLEASE answer my calls asap! Whistle sneaked out of the house and idk what to do I can’t find her I’m so sorry i’m sorry!!

 

CREAM THE RABBIT 🧡 — 6:40PM

 

I found her! I thought she was a goner! I’m so so so so so so sorry I promise I’ll never allow this to happen again.

 

CREAM THE RABBIT 🧡 — 7:52 PM

 

A lot just happened.

 

Mr Clutch did like!!! Ugh!!! I’m so angry I don’t wanna think about it!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Whistle’s safe!! Mother prepared a bath for her and me!! Take care

 

[CREAM THE RABBIT 🧡 sent an attachment]

 

[It’s a picture of her inside a bathtub, brushing Whistle while she stuck her tongue out during her focus. Whistle was also sticking her tongue out, imitating cream. They were both completely covered in foam, as was the water. A rubber duck floated sideways.]

 

“Yeah, she’s safe,” Tangle smiled. As she reacted to the attachment with a thumbs up, then promptly marked everything as read.