The woods were dense, overgrown to the point where sharp turns and double-backs were your only means of navigation. Too dark to see anything, and with such heavy hanging vines and leaves hastily cut through via sharpened quills, viability was far lower than what they hoped. Sonic huffed with effort, turning to make sure Tails was keeping up with him every step of the way.

It was the third set of footsteps that brought them to move faster. The owner of the footsteps were silent, the only thing heard were heavy huffs and the sounds of small twigs snapping beneath every other step.

Sonic's arm shot backwards to reach for Tails, the kit grabbing his wrist and nearly yanking himself forward with a squeak of fear and exhaustion. Both of them weren't in the best of shape-- Sonic's leg had been injured and Tails wasn't fit for running this long.

"Sonic!" Tails called, Sonic's arm suddenly being pulled upwards as Tails spun his namesakes and launched him up into the air. He was swung to the side haphazardly, his free hand reaching up to grab at Tails' hand and he looked down to where he almost ran just to see a wide, deep fissure, stretching so far that even a well placed jump would get him so far. Only Tails saw it-- Sonic was glad he could see in the dark so much better than him.

Sonic looked back as the fox chugged forward, eyes widening at the glowing eyes of their assailant as they leapt and sailed over the fissure as if it was nothing, covering more distance than them as the exhaustion finally caught up to Tails and he slowed.

"C'mon bud," he panted, looking up to Tails as a drop of sweat dripped from his temple. "Drop me, I'll carry you!" He tried his trademark smile, but it was a bit crooked as Tails gave him a tired glance and gave in, letting him fall.

Sonic gasped in slight surprise but found his footing as he touched the dirt once more, balance immediately falling short as he accidentally leaned too far back to catch his fall. The edge of the fissure crumpled under his weight, and he slipped one of his shoes coming free and slipping down into the void. He looked up, catching the fleeting eyes of Tails as he continued to fall, until--

A hand caught his elbow, pulling him back up from the pit and back onto land.

"There, you're It." Knuckled grunted, crossing his arms as Tails finally landed. "Can we please stop playing tag now? It's well past time Tails would have gone to bed and you scraped your knee."

"Aww," Sonic groaned, sitting up and looking at the echidna. His eyes still held that odd shine to them at night, but as he tilted his head to look down at him with that condescending frown, the glow went away. "But we were just getting started!"

Tails made a point in yawning loudly, stretching his arms above his head and fluffing up his namesakes. He scratched at an ear and Sonic only pouted more, crossing his arms back at them as if they were the ones not making sense. "Fine!" He grumbled, turning around and reaching into the dark 'pit', which was only about an arms length deep, and fished out his slightly muddy lost shoe. "We'll continue this tomorrow, then."

"Fine by me, just get Tails to bed." Knuckled continued on like a tired parent, helping Sonic to his feet and waving for Tails to come closer. The kit followed, not at all bothered when he was hoisted up on Knuckles' shoulder. It was just seconds later that light snoring could be heard, and Sonic smiled sheepishly, looking up at the moon.

"Okay, okay, I get it, it's late." he admitted, and Knuckles sighed.

He still could hardly see a thing heading back to the Tornado, lucky Knuckles had the advantage of home territory. His eyes widened in realisation. Home territory. No matter where he would try to hide, Knuckles knew the place like the back of his hand! A grin broke out on his muzzle and he hid a giggle, knowing full well where to host the next match of tag.

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