Queen's notes: Fear me readers, I give you joy and happiness, only to start to break your heart. Yes, in fact we are back to this part of the story, only I'm expanding on it to develop characters more. And to kill you will Feeeeeels

Chapter Twenty Four:

The Valley

"You had better have a good reason to be here with a kit that's been missing for five months."

The voice was on the soft side, but a power was hidden somewhere with in it, just like his body that hid his true strength. The new Anthro had gray fur and quills that stuck up almost wildly behind him. Two gold rings were pierced through the base of his left ear and a silver ring through the right ear.

Unlike Sonic, this new hedgehog was broader in the shoulders. He was not nearly as lean, but built for power instead of speed. He also was taller than the three travelers; he seemed, in fact, to be even taller than he really was thanks to the long, silver streaked quills that were lifted above his head. His wrists were wrapped for extra sport and his black and red shoes were dirt-stained from long hours of walking in the woods.

The gray hedgehog stepped out of the shadows that were cast from the thick forest around then. His crimson colored eyes narrowed, flicking from Sonic to Jessy then down to Tails.

"ECHO!" The fox kit yelled and launched himself from the blue hedgehog's arms in a jump that impressed the others, his twin tails spinning against one another as he landed in open hands of the Guardian of Fox Valley.

"Miles, are you alright?" Echo asked after he let the boy hug his neck and lifted Tails up so he could get a good look at the fox kit to make sure he was not injured in any way.

"Yeah!" Tails nodded energetically, "Sonic and Jessy saved me and brought me back! They're really, really nice, so was Amy before she had to leave. Did you know that Jessy can cook better than dad can! And you won't believe how fast Sonic can run! He's like Zoooom! And I saw some biiiiiiiiig human cities! And I learned how to work the Inter-Net on a computer! I got to see another big Zone too! And I tried a kiwi Italian soda; it's my favorite drink now. OH! And Jessy got me real kiwis! They're a lot more sour then the soda, but still good. Have you or Jen ever tried a kiwi before?"

"No..." Echo shook his head, the quills rattling as he set the hyper fox down. He raised an eye ridge up at the over sized jacket on Tails as the kit rambled off as fast as the blue hedgehog could apparently run. He caught the human's scent on it and guessed the woman had given it to the boy against the slight chill of the Warp Ring.

"Hey Echo!" Tails cut himself off as he realized something, "Maybe Jen could take cooking lessens from Jessy so you don't have to cook all the time?"

There was nothing like an exited Tails to enthusiastically break awkward ice into the consistency of a smoothie for everyone to metaphorically share. All three of the adults managed to face palm in the last minute of babbling.

For some reason Echo blushed, the insides of his ears flushing as he straightened up. Sonic snickered, not bothering to hid it as he now saw a living being, not that moment of terrifying towering Guardian, he crossed his arms as Sonic leaned against Jessy's motorcycle. However, his movement drew Tails' attention and the fox ran back to him. Reaching up to grab the blue Anthro's hand, Tails dragged him over to the other hedgehog.

"Sonic this is Echo!" The boy said before going over to Jessy, who picked him up. "He's the Guardian."

"Nice to meet you Echo." Jessy said walking over with the squirming fox. "Tails has been talking non-stop about you and this valley."

"I can see that." Echo said as he bowed shallowly but still politely to Jessy, who flushed a wee little bit, "Welcome to my valley, and thank you returning Miles back to his home."

"It's no problem." Sonic shrugged and offered his hand to the other hedgehog, "We don't have any real place to be. Besides, it was the right thing to do."

Echo grasped the offered, gloved hand loosely so not to hurt the other hedgehog. "Not many from outside our valley would say that, thank you."

"Where's Jen?" Tails asked as he looked around, knowing that Echo was never far away from his best friend, Jennifer.

"She's back at the ruins, Jenny was hurt in Robotnik's attack. I need to get her before taking you to the village." The gray hedgehog turned away and glanced back, tilting his head in a 'follow me' gesture before partly melding back into the trees' shadows.

Sonic and Jessy blinked and then stared at one another at the name Robotnik, the mechanic frowning and the hedghog pinned his ears back for a moment. Sonic shrugged though, seeing no reason not too go and opened his arms as Jessy passed Tails to him. The woman walked back to grab and walk her motorcycle after the Anthros.

"What ruins are you talking about Echo?" the mechanic asked once she caught up to others, she had most of her attention on keeping the motorcycle upright over the dirt path.

"They're very old, Jenny and Grandma believe that ancient fox and echidna type Anthros lived here long before the Warp Rings opened to the Old World." Echo said, standing aside for a moment until Jessy was abreast of him and he helped her with the bike. Only keeping one hand on the nearer bar as he nodded at her 'thank you.' "Here. Anyways, Jenny has her heart set on translating all of the old text at the ruins. She thinks that she will find a way to Angel Island."

"Angel Island?" Jessy looked over at Echo, or more up at his red eyes.

"I thought you said that place was a myth sis." Sonic tiled his head, one ear tipping up higher.

"There is far more to it than that." The gray hedgehog said, "But that will have to wait. Here, let me take this up Jessy dear and I shall come back for you three."

Jessy and Sonic choked after they walked into a clearing. It wasn't the small cliff or the skeletal remains of buildings that made the two falter. It was the sight of Echo effortlessly lifting up Jessy's motorcycle with one hand over his head. The gray Anthro crouched, the muscles on his legs rippled under his fur before Echo power jumped up to the ruins. The three left behind heard the thump as he landed.

"Whoa..." Sonic's eyes had widen to emerald plates, taken a bake for the first time like so many had been like at seeing his speed for the first time.

"Holy...!" Jessy wheezed, hands still out as if holding her motorcycle- where she had been holding it to steer a moment ago.

"Echo seems sad."

Jessy and Sonic blinked, coming out of their awe at different mental gears.

"What was that lil' buddy?" Sonic flattened his ears to the side as he made a top-priority mental note to never, ever get on Echo's bad side if he even didn't blink at lifting that heavy bike up like he did. Sonic knew he was faster, but if the other hedgehog even got one hand on him...

Eep!

Jessy shook her head and turned to look at the kit that was still in Sonic's arms. "Why do you say Echo is sad Tails?"

"He's really quiet, and hasn't looked at me much." Tails looked down, pulling on one large ear in a nervous habit, "Its not like before."

"I'm sure it's okay Tails." Sonic said, lifting the boy up high, trying to cheer him up before setting the kit down on his feet.

"If you say so..."

"Yeah, I do!"

Echo slammed into the ground, a crack or two forming into the earth and scaring the daylights out of the three. Well, in truth, he only scared Sonic and Jessy . The latter giving a short scream and the former scooping up his sister and bolting to the other side of the clearing where they clung together.

It highlighted one of Sonic's first instincts when he was startled: Run away from what-ever then see that the threat is.

The grey hedgehog blinked a few times as Tails giggled softly, pushing his hands to his mouth.

"Holy crap! Don't DO that to me!" Sonic said, taking one of Jessy's lines that she normally used on him as he came back in front of Echo. He had Jessy in his arms as the woman tried to jump-start her heart again, muttering something about going to an early grave thanks to hyper and jumpy hedgehogs that were all over the place now.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to scare you…" Echo lifted his hands up, but they could see that he wasn't hiding the not so small smirk forming. He hadn't meat to scare them but didn't feel ashamed to take some amusement out of the reactions either.

"I wasn't scared!" Sonic sniffed trying to recover some of his dignity as Jessy leaned on his shoulder after being put down.

"Yeah right," Jessy whispered as she tugged on her hedgehog brother's ear. He shook his head a movement that turned into a full-body shake, making Jessy yelp and took half a step back to keep from falling on her rear end by way of vibrating hedgehog.

"Up there right?" Sonic looked at Echo then up at the top of the cliff, his ears flicking back and up twice.

"Yes..." Echo tilted his head as he picked up Tails, letting the kit half fall over his shoulder so he could get a free piggy-back ride.

"See ya up there!" Sonic backtracked then, two steps he was back to Jessy, grabbing her before he bolted at the cliff face. Sonic grinned and tightened his hold on Jessy, who had her face pressed into the spot between his neck and shoulder. "I got you sis, don't worry."

For some reason Sonic felt he had to show some of his own skills after seeing Echo's power jump. And he did, not just from the reflex to run away. Sonic didn't run nearly at his full speed, but fast enough to let him run straight up the cliff face.

"You are trying to give me a heart attack!" Jessy said as she was put down on her feet.

"OW!" Sonic sidestepped away after Jessy retaliated for the stunt by pulling his ear again, this time not playful but a sharper mostion. He turned to face Echo as the other hedgehog power jumped up to them.

"This way." The gray Anthro waved them to follow. He closed one eye as Tails climbed up to sit on his head. Echo smiled, he was well use to the ways of young foxes and really didn't mind it.

"Echo!" a new woman's voice greated from ahead.

"Jen!" Tails screamed again as the fox kit launched himself at a dark haired human, his twin tails spinning against one another fast enough that he almost glided down to the ground. Tails sprinted the rest of the way and out right latched onto the young woman.

"TAILS?!" Jennifer had a light brown vest on, a green shirt under and a long skirt that had once been red, but time and use had worn it down to a more brownish color. Her right leg was stretched out, wrapped in a solid, protective cast.

She was pretty, if a bit on the short side, everyone but Tails seemed to be taller then her. Tears of relief formed in her brown eyes as she hugged the kit against her, demanding to know if he was alright, where he had been and how he got back. Tails rambled off again, repeating what he had told Echo, but adding in more things about Sonic and how he was saved.

Jessy grinned as she leaned against her motorcycle, hoping she was safe from shenanigans there as she looked over and saw the soft look Echo was giving the girl. It wasn't hard to see or guess that there was a deeper level between these two. She looked back at her adoptive brother and returned his thumbs up at the real victory.

Tails was home.

"Where's Momma and Dad Jen? I want them to meet Sonic and Jessy!" That single question though, as it turned out, marred the victory.

Jennifer's happiness at seeing the kit died, draining away like water down a sink as the kit asked her his question, "...you don't know yet." It wasn't a question but realization that just slapped her.

"They just came from the Warp Ring, he couldn't have." Echo looked away, he's ears flattening back against his head.

Sonic own ears came up as he stepped up beside Jessy. They looked at one another, a bad feeling creeping into both of them.

Don't say it. Don't say it. Please don't say it... the mechanic prayed as she remembered some of the things Tails had said the past two weeks as well as a few thing Echo had said too.

"Jessy isn't bad like Robotnik!"

"Robotnik kit-napped me..."

"Fox Valley was attack by those Hunter Robots."

"I was lost when Robotnik kit-napped me..."

"I hope my Dad and Momma are okay too Sonic."

"...Jenny was hurt in Robotnik's attack." Echo's voice from a few minutes ago resounded with other things Tails had mentioned over the trip.

Please don't say it... Sonic thought, willed with every fiber of his being from the bottom of his stomach to ever strand end of fur and quill.

Tails looked from Jennifer to Echo, his large ears curved forwards as he picked up on something. Something the two were holding back. Something he wouldn't like. Something he knew was bad, very bad.

Wide sky blue eyes trued up to the Guardian Fox Valley, "...where's my Momma Echo?"

Added Note: Uhhg, this next chapter is going to hurt so much to write

Reviews:

Mayoko93:
Have some more of the big grey fluffy butt n.n and a lot more in coming chapters, that should be coming sooner, I'm going back to my writing goal of 1000 words at least instead of 2000, so its easier to get chapters out more then a few months apart...epp