The Greatest of Hunts
By DreamShadow
Chapter One: Let The Hunt Begin
(Author's Notes: I didn't mean to take so much time off. Anyway, as promised a long time ago, this is my Rouge and Knuckles fic, meaning they'll be primary instead of sharing a spotlight with Sonic and Amy. This one might be longer than my last, as well, I wanted this one to be more in-depth. So with that, read, review, and enjoy!)
Knuckles looked around, finding himself in an all-too familiar situation. He was back at the space station just outside the meteor herd, standing over a pit of molten rock on an iron crossbeam. He was panting, sweating, from the heat of the lava and of battle. The thief in front of him was in the same state, Rouge was wearing out, as well. But this happened a long time ago, why was he reliving it?
"Stop fooling around, and give me back MY emeralds!" The two screamed at each other in unison. Knuckles wasn't sure why he said it just like he did before, he didn't want to. It was like he didn't have control of his own body, just watching from it's eyes.
"What are you babbling about?" Rouge taunted. "You call yourself a hunter? Attacking a lady, shame on you!" Knuckles remembered the first time that line crossed his ears, it got under his skin bad. It just seemed out of place now, though.
"What kind of lady steals gems, anyway?" He retorted, again unable to say different. None of this was right, Rouge was his friend now and he was insulting her all over again.
"Those belong to me!" Rouge said, just like before, and again stepped forward to take the rest of the emerald shards, just like before. Knuckles struggled now, trying to tell her to stop, trying to step forward to intercept her, but neither his voice or his actions ever came. He watched as the tall heel of Rouge's boot slipped, throwing off her footing as it did before, sending her over the edge and down toward the magma. Knuckles felt his heart stop suddenly, and out of instinct ran toward her, despite being here before it didn't change how scared he was in that moment. Something wasn't right this time, though. He came closer to Rouge, but never made the jump. He tried with everything he could to make the jump, to catch her hand as she fell as he did before, but his body refused to move, and his eyes refused to look away from Rouge, now falling without hope of recovering toward the lava.
**********
A sudden crash of thunder startled Knuckles out of his sleep, accompanied by a tightness in his chest like it has just been hit by a hammer. He was in a cold sweat, panting, eyes now wide as he sat up. Just a dream, but it has been haunting him for weeks now, it must have been the sixth time he's had it in the last two weeks. Every time it was the same, he would see the last fight he had with Rouge, the last standoff, and her falling. But every time the only part that changed was that he never saved her and every time before she hit the lava he woke up. It wouldn't have bothered him except for one factor, how scared he was. Growing up as the sole guardian of such an important relic as the Master Emerald, he was prone to nightmares, but he was used to them, they never scared him, but for some reason this never failed to scare him and it only got worse.
Knuckles stood, knowing he wouldn't be getting back to sleep, and looked around. There was a slight trickle from some dark storm clouds overhead in the early morning sky but they were passing, the clap of thunder must have been the last one the storm had in it. He sighed, just now getting back his breath, and turned toward the shrine sitting in the middle of his island where the Master Emerald sat. The clouds had given way enough for a sunbeam to come into the emerald, making it flash with colors and only adding to it's glow.
"Hard to believe something that can show that much beauty can make my life such a pain sometimes." Knuckles said to himself. He thought about the line a moment before chuckling slightly. "Well, at least it's not the only one guilty of that." He was thinking back to the dream and Rouge again. What was it about that bat that wouldn't leave him alone? It was getting to be a distraction, he couldn't guard the Master Emerald if he couldn't focus on it. It was times like this he wished there were other ways, but nothing would work. He could give the job to the Chaotix but that would be giving the curse of one to four. He could just leave it shattered and let the island drop but that would be risking someone getting all the fragments, not to mention if it was needed to stop the Chaos Emeralds. The last alternative he had been considering for quite some time, but it would just recreate a previous problem. It looked like his only way, though. Knuckles turned away from the Emerald, stepping out to the edge of the floating island and looking over at the mainland and ocean below.
"Guess it's all I can do." Knuckles said, thinking out loud. "Maybe if I get one thing off my mind I can focus on getting Rouge out of my head." With that the echidna turned and walked back to the emerald to begin preparations that would hopefully end his own torments.
**********
Far from the view of the Floating Island that Knuckles called home was where his race called home, the ruins of the ancient echidna race in the middle of the jungle, otherwise known as the mystic ruins. Here a familiar white bat clad in black and pink was doing what she did best, hunting down stray jewels and gems. Although Rouge was quite rich in jewels after her payoff from the Ultimate Lifeform investigation, this was still what she did best and it kept her mind off of things. As she walked out of the ruins, Rouge wore an annoyed look on her face, carrying a sack in her left hand that swung as she walked, a quiet jingle of something juggling around inside. Rouge walked a few feet from the temple's entrance before tossing the pouch out of frustration into one of the columns outside. It hit with a loud jingle and fell to the ground below, with numerous trinkets spilling out. Beaded pendants, a few gold wristbands and necklaces, a couple metal rings, but not a gemstone among the pile.
"The whole race must have taken a vow of poverty..." Rouge spat in disappointment. "Guardians of the most powerful gems in existence and they can't keep a few normal ones around." Rouge had been exploring every corner of the ruins for the past week on and off, with the small sack of artifacts the only thing to come of the effort. "Mystic Ruins, no kidding. My week of work ruined in an instant just like magic." She sighed as her frustration was vented, stepping back over to the bag to reclaim the trinkets, maybe a museum would trade them for a good-sized ruby. As she bent down to sweep the spilled items back into the bag she heard a familiar ring from behind her. Rouge stood up again and reached to a pocket behind her back, withdrawing a small black cellular phone, the same kind used by the president's Secret Service. Only one person called her on that phone. She opened it up and placed it to her ear.
"This is Rouge." She said into the receiver. It was all she was supposed to say, if she said anything else they were to assume she was in some kind of trouble.
"Rouge, my dear, I trust you know who this is." A male voice on the other end said. Of course she knew, it was the President again, same one she kept in touch with during the events on the ARK. "Myself and my departments just finished going over your report from the Ultimate Lifeform investigation." That news surprised Rouge, but not in a good way. Those events were a month and a half old, report filed the day after she stepped off the ARK.
"Good, and it only took six weeks." Rouge said sarcastically. "If you're calling about anything I might have left out I can assure you, everything is there." Rouge usually wanted to get jobs for the government done and her reports never left a detail out just so she wouldn't have to deal with it again.
"Actually it's about something else you encountered during the events." He continued. "Something my defense program took interest in." Rouge was afraid it was about that. Among all the details were the Chaos Emeralds she collected and saw the power of first hand. It was the only detail she regretted including in her reports.
"I know what you're going to ask and the answer's no." She quickly answered. "The Chaos Emeralds are too hard to get, I nearly died just getting three of them. I'm not in that business anymore." She knew what was to come next, an offer of jewels he thought she couldn't refuse.
"You jump to conclusions, my dear." He said, somewhat surprising Rouge. "The public is too aware of the Chaos Emeralds after the events of Station Square. To attempt to acquire those would draw far too much attention. I refer to the Master Emerald." Rouge was suddenly confused and upset, she didn't see why he would want the gem that just canceled out the Chaos Emeralds. Besides, the path to taking that emerald went through Knuckles, she wasn't going to do that again.
"That's out of the question." She replied with force, now pacing around as she talked into the phone. "Besides, it only cancels out the Chaos Emerald's powers, you'd have no use for it." She wanted him to drop this idea badly, she was just getting on good terms with Knuckles, this would wreck that in an instant.
"My defense department thinks otherwise." He responded. "They believe that, instead of the Master Emerald existing to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds, that it in fact has so much more power that it cancels out that of the Chaos Emeralds. It also makes for an easier task, it's guarded by the one lone echidna and it's existence unknown to the public." It was getting obvious she wasn't going to talk him out of the idea, but it wouldn't change her final answer.
"The answer is still no." Rouge said firmly. "I don't care what the offer is, this is not a mission I'm taking." Knuckles was so reclusive, so private, it was a miracle she even gained any trust with him, she didn't want to lose this.
"Again you jump ahead." He answered, his tone becoming more serious. "We are not asking or offering, this is an order. Remember you stole the Emeralds from the Security Hall and assisted in it's destruction. We may not overlook that crime much longer if you refuse. Accept now, though, and we may feel generous enough to... double the usual pay?" Now it was blackmail, though Rouge wasn't surprised. The jewels would be tempting for any other job, but this would ruin her trust with Knuckles, a much rarer find. Maybe there was a way out down the road, but for now, she wasn't left with much choice.
"...Fine, I'll do it." She said with regret. Rouge quickly closed the phone and replaced it, not wanting to hear anything else. Her pouch of echidna relics was long forgotten about now, there were too many thoughts flooding her mind at once to be concerned with it. Most importantly was how she was going to live with herself after this.
**********
It was around noon now and Knuckles was still preparing, it has been some time since he last attempted this and he had forgotten how much effort it took to get started. He looked at the Master Emerald before him, it's center pulsing with a dim glow, almost like it was a beating heart. He had been focusing on it for hours, trying to get the right amount of energy out of it. It was so chaotic getting it right was near impossible.
His concentration was broken as a noise came from the edge of the island. Knuckles looked over to the front of the island where a strong updraft was located. Generally only he used it to get back onto the island after gliding down to the mainland, very rarely Tails would use it to haul Sonic up to visit, but his tails made a different sound in the wind, this was new. Knuckles moved to stand in front of the emerald, clenching both fists in preparation of some kind of attack or ambush from Eggman. A figure rose up, but hardly one he expected. A white bat with black wings dressed in black and pink. Knuckles dropped his fists, surprised to say the least as Rouge came down from the updraft, landing softly on the edge of the floating island. She looked up, eyelids half down as she smiled at Knuckles.
"Not the most friendly front door I've ever gone through." She said, stepping toward the red echidna. "At least put a welcome mat down or something." The look of surprise quickly faded as Knuckles regained his familiar composure.
"Rouge, what are you doing up here?" Knuckles asked, a bit of confusion obvious in his voice. Rouge stopped her walk and turned to her side, folding her arms and closing her eyes, but still with a sly smile.
"Well that's some hello." She said in teasing fashion. "No hi, no asking how I've been, it has been a month since we were last in touch." He was well aware of that, just a quick run-in when he went to the mainland for lunch one day, it was probably what started the nightmares he had been having.
"Fine, sorry." Knuckle said in a flat tone. "It's not that I mind the visit but you don't strike me as the kind to 'just be gliding by'." Rouge opened her eyes halfway again, turning her head to look at Knuckles.
"Such lack of faith, can't you soften up for once?" She said, drawing an annoyed frown from Knuckles. "I came up to visit because I wanted to, is it so hard to believe?" Of course it was a lie, given what she was ordered to do she wanted to be any place but here. But given how much she would be paid, not to mention keeping her own freedom, she had to do this. Knuckles sighed in defeat, he was getting the idea he wouldn't be able to talk her off the island.
"Well okay but your visit is going to be short, I'm in the middle of something." He said, turning back to the Master Emerald. Rouge turned to him completely, walking closer to the massive Emerald she was supposed to claim. Just the size was daunting, how she was supposed to take it to begin with without Knuckles noticing was confusing.
"So what on this tiny flying rock could you be busy with?" She said, still looking on at the Emerald. Knuckles raised both gloved hands, placing them on the top of the emerald. Rouge watched on as the emerald again picked up it's beating glow, growing slightly at a slow pace. A few minutes of silence passed and eventually Knuckles brought his hands off the gemstone, stepping back. Rouge continued to watch as the Master Emerald's inner glow absorbed into the remainder of the gem, making it give off a dim green light. It rotated on it's tip slightly, making a slow turn before stopping suddenly, flashing white before returning to it's normal appearance. Rouge turned to ask Knuckles what she just watched when she noticed he was now down on one knee, driving one of his fists into the ground, planting his barbs into the ground.
"You should hold on to something." He said. Before Rouge could find out what he meant the island suddenly jerked hard, knocking Rouge down onto her back. Knuckles chuckled slightly, pulling his fist up and standing again. Rouge, on the other hand, was slower to stand, now taking her turn to look annoyed.
"That was not funny!" She hissed. "You should have warned me the stupid island of yours could fly!" Indeed, the jerk came from a sudden start in movement and the mainland they previously had a view of was now slowly vanishing into the distance.
"It floats, doesn't it?" Knuckles said. "Does it really surprise you it could move in directions other than up?" Rouge brushed herself off, still somewhat annoyed. She looked over in the direction they were flying, out farther into the ocean, but wherever Knuckles made the island fly toward wasn't in view and the island wasn't going that fast so it was probably some time before they would even see it.
"I doubt this flight is just for fun, so what's the point of moving this rock?" She asked, genuinely curious now. Knuckles just now turned to look at her, as if he just realized who she was now that he wasn't so focused on the Master Emerald. It was the person that was distracting his duties and even his sleep constantly for the last month and having her this close didn't make any of it more clear.
"If you have to know, I'm taking it back to where I got it." Knuckles answered. "This 'rock' is just part of the real Floating Island. The first time Eggman tried to take the Master Emerald it was hidden deep in that island, but it's too large to watch it at all times. It's not as safe, but it grants me some actual freedom." Rouge caught an odd tone in Knuckles's voice as he spoke that last part, almost like anger.
"Sounds like you're getting sick of the job." She said seriously, her normal act now dropped. Knuckles shook his head in response, wanting to get that idea out of her head.
"You've got it all wrong." He said bluntly. "It's not that I'm sick of it, I've just been... distracted lately." Knuckles almost spoke too quickly and mentally scolded himself for nearly slipping. "It's just until I get everything straightened out, I'll come back for it then. It's just temporary." Rouge was beginning to notice a habit Knuckles had when he spoke, talking about one thing he ends up mentioning something else that needed explaining. She decided not to ask about whatever the distraction was, at this rate they would go on forever. Though it at least gave her an idea...
"Well if this real Floating Island is really so big, it must be a long walk to haul this big jewel through." Rouge said, now stepping closer to the Master Emerald, making Knuckles a little edgy as she did. "If you wouldn't mind some company, I'd like to see this place." For how much she valued it, Rouge was disgusted her only option was to use Knuckles's trust to get the emerald. If he was just going to leave it there, she could take it easily without him knowing it was her, at least some relationship with him would be safe. As it was Rouge was even hoping Knuckles would pull his usual loner routine and say no just so she wouldn't have to get it this way.
"This is my job, Rouge, I have to do it on my own." Knuckles said, his usual attitude taking over. It only lasted a moment before he started thinking, the trip would take a few days on foot, maybe time enough to figure out why Rouge wouldn't leave his head. What better chance did he have? Besides, he could still leave the emerald and actually have some time to himself for a change. "...but if you want to tag along it's your decision to make, I won't stop you." He continued. The answer surprised Rouge, despite the idea she expected Knuckles to turn her down without even hesitating.
"Well at least you'll have company now, right?" She added. The comment was half-hearted, though, her mind was too lost on what she still had to do, she had an easier way out now but it was still just as hard on her.
"Yeah, assuming you last, the place does get fairly rough." Knuckles taunted. He smirked slightly, the half-insult wasn't serious, just back to the usual word trading he did with Rouge.
"Hey, don't forget who you're talking to, I'm still more of a hunter than you'll ever be!" She retorted, also adding a kidding tone to the taunt. One of the things she liked about Knuckles was that he could keep even with her in so much, not just hunting and fighting, but friendly trash talk, as well. At least now that it was friendly, that is.
"Alright then, we'll see about that here." He retorted with a smirk. Knuckles turned and stepped back to the emerald, looking out in the direction it was flying in. Their pace was by no means quick, such a large rock could only fly so fast even with the Master Emerald as an engine.
Hours passed as the island flew with little change. Same speed, same clouds going by overhead, same land and water going by below. Rouge had made herself comfortable near the island's edge, laying on the short grass and keeping away from Knuckles as she considered her position. She was here, she had a plan, over and over she tried telling herself to just get it over with, when it was done she would probably never see Knuckles again to know if he blamed her or not. So why didn't knowing that make her feel better...
"Rouge, you awake over there?" She heard from across the small island. Rouge sat up from her spot, pushing up to her feet to look at Knuckles on the other side. "We're about to make landfall, I didn't want the shock to catch you off guard again." Rouge scowled somewhat at the comment, not that she expected Knuckles to drop it so easily. The white bat stepped across the island, passed the Master Emerald, still glowing in the center, over to where Knuckles stood, looking out into the distance. They were close to another floating island, but much larger than the one they were standing on. From here Rouge could make out the large mountains, vast jungles, flowing rivers and waterfalls, even the remains of several small ruins. The sight was breathtaking and Rouge suddenly realized why it was so hard to guard the emerald on such an island. As the large island loomed closer, she suddenly wondered if she was going to pull this off or if she was in over her head...
End Chapter 1
Next: Chapter 2 - New Experiences
History Lesson: You'll note I haven't called either island Angel Island yet, and there's a reason. Sonic Team messed up when naming the island Knuckles lived on in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. Angel Island was the first stage in Sonic 3, a normal, non-floating island. The Floating Island was where Sonic & Knuckles took place, which is where Knux and Rouge are now in this story.
By DreamShadow
Chapter One: Let The Hunt Begin
(Author's Notes: I didn't mean to take so much time off. Anyway, as promised a long time ago, this is my Rouge and Knuckles fic, meaning they'll be primary instead of sharing a spotlight with Sonic and Amy. This one might be longer than my last, as well, I wanted this one to be more in-depth. So with that, read, review, and enjoy!)
Knuckles looked around, finding himself in an all-too familiar situation. He was back at the space station just outside the meteor herd, standing over a pit of molten rock on an iron crossbeam. He was panting, sweating, from the heat of the lava and of battle. The thief in front of him was in the same state, Rouge was wearing out, as well. But this happened a long time ago, why was he reliving it?
"Stop fooling around, and give me back MY emeralds!" The two screamed at each other in unison. Knuckles wasn't sure why he said it just like he did before, he didn't want to. It was like he didn't have control of his own body, just watching from it's eyes.
"What are you babbling about?" Rouge taunted. "You call yourself a hunter? Attacking a lady, shame on you!" Knuckles remembered the first time that line crossed his ears, it got under his skin bad. It just seemed out of place now, though.
"What kind of lady steals gems, anyway?" He retorted, again unable to say different. None of this was right, Rouge was his friend now and he was insulting her all over again.
"Those belong to me!" Rouge said, just like before, and again stepped forward to take the rest of the emerald shards, just like before. Knuckles struggled now, trying to tell her to stop, trying to step forward to intercept her, but neither his voice or his actions ever came. He watched as the tall heel of Rouge's boot slipped, throwing off her footing as it did before, sending her over the edge and down toward the magma. Knuckles felt his heart stop suddenly, and out of instinct ran toward her, despite being here before it didn't change how scared he was in that moment. Something wasn't right this time, though. He came closer to Rouge, but never made the jump. He tried with everything he could to make the jump, to catch her hand as she fell as he did before, but his body refused to move, and his eyes refused to look away from Rouge, now falling without hope of recovering toward the lava.
**********
A sudden crash of thunder startled Knuckles out of his sleep, accompanied by a tightness in his chest like it has just been hit by a hammer. He was in a cold sweat, panting, eyes now wide as he sat up. Just a dream, but it has been haunting him for weeks now, it must have been the sixth time he's had it in the last two weeks. Every time it was the same, he would see the last fight he had with Rouge, the last standoff, and her falling. But every time the only part that changed was that he never saved her and every time before she hit the lava he woke up. It wouldn't have bothered him except for one factor, how scared he was. Growing up as the sole guardian of such an important relic as the Master Emerald, he was prone to nightmares, but he was used to them, they never scared him, but for some reason this never failed to scare him and it only got worse.
Knuckles stood, knowing he wouldn't be getting back to sleep, and looked around. There was a slight trickle from some dark storm clouds overhead in the early morning sky but they were passing, the clap of thunder must have been the last one the storm had in it. He sighed, just now getting back his breath, and turned toward the shrine sitting in the middle of his island where the Master Emerald sat. The clouds had given way enough for a sunbeam to come into the emerald, making it flash with colors and only adding to it's glow.
"Hard to believe something that can show that much beauty can make my life such a pain sometimes." Knuckles said to himself. He thought about the line a moment before chuckling slightly. "Well, at least it's not the only one guilty of that." He was thinking back to the dream and Rouge again. What was it about that bat that wouldn't leave him alone? It was getting to be a distraction, he couldn't guard the Master Emerald if he couldn't focus on it. It was times like this he wished there were other ways, but nothing would work. He could give the job to the Chaotix but that would be giving the curse of one to four. He could just leave it shattered and let the island drop but that would be risking someone getting all the fragments, not to mention if it was needed to stop the Chaos Emeralds. The last alternative he had been considering for quite some time, but it would just recreate a previous problem. It looked like his only way, though. Knuckles turned away from the Emerald, stepping out to the edge of the floating island and looking over at the mainland and ocean below.
"Guess it's all I can do." Knuckles said, thinking out loud. "Maybe if I get one thing off my mind I can focus on getting Rouge out of my head." With that the echidna turned and walked back to the emerald to begin preparations that would hopefully end his own torments.
**********
Far from the view of the Floating Island that Knuckles called home was where his race called home, the ruins of the ancient echidna race in the middle of the jungle, otherwise known as the mystic ruins. Here a familiar white bat clad in black and pink was doing what she did best, hunting down stray jewels and gems. Although Rouge was quite rich in jewels after her payoff from the Ultimate Lifeform investigation, this was still what she did best and it kept her mind off of things. As she walked out of the ruins, Rouge wore an annoyed look on her face, carrying a sack in her left hand that swung as she walked, a quiet jingle of something juggling around inside. Rouge walked a few feet from the temple's entrance before tossing the pouch out of frustration into one of the columns outside. It hit with a loud jingle and fell to the ground below, with numerous trinkets spilling out. Beaded pendants, a few gold wristbands and necklaces, a couple metal rings, but not a gemstone among the pile.
"The whole race must have taken a vow of poverty..." Rouge spat in disappointment. "Guardians of the most powerful gems in existence and they can't keep a few normal ones around." Rouge had been exploring every corner of the ruins for the past week on and off, with the small sack of artifacts the only thing to come of the effort. "Mystic Ruins, no kidding. My week of work ruined in an instant just like magic." She sighed as her frustration was vented, stepping back over to the bag to reclaim the trinkets, maybe a museum would trade them for a good-sized ruby. As she bent down to sweep the spilled items back into the bag she heard a familiar ring from behind her. Rouge stood up again and reached to a pocket behind her back, withdrawing a small black cellular phone, the same kind used by the president's Secret Service. Only one person called her on that phone. She opened it up and placed it to her ear.
"This is Rouge." She said into the receiver. It was all she was supposed to say, if she said anything else they were to assume she was in some kind of trouble.
"Rouge, my dear, I trust you know who this is." A male voice on the other end said. Of course she knew, it was the President again, same one she kept in touch with during the events on the ARK. "Myself and my departments just finished going over your report from the Ultimate Lifeform investigation." That news surprised Rouge, but not in a good way. Those events were a month and a half old, report filed the day after she stepped off the ARK.
"Good, and it only took six weeks." Rouge said sarcastically. "If you're calling about anything I might have left out I can assure you, everything is there." Rouge usually wanted to get jobs for the government done and her reports never left a detail out just so she wouldn't have to deal with it again.
"Actually it's about something else you encountered during the events." He continued. "Something my defense program took interest in." Rouge was afraid it was about that. Among all the details were the Chaos Emeralds she collected and saw the power of first hand. It was the only detail she regretted including in her reports.
"I know what you're going to ask and the answer's no." She quickly answered. "The Chaos Emeralds are too hard to get, I nearly died just getting three of them. I'm not in that business anymore." She knew what was to come next, an offer of jewels he thought she couldn't refuse.
"You jump to conclusions, my dear." He said, somewhat surprising Rouge. "The public is too aware of the Chaos Emeralds after the events of Station Square. To attempt to acquire those would draw far too much attention. I refer to the Master Emerald." Rouge was suddenly confused and upset, she didn't see why he would want the gem that just canceled out the Chaos Emeralds. Besides, the path to taking that emerald went through Knuckles, she wasn't going to do that again.
"That's out of the question." She replied with force, now pacing around as she talked into the phone. "Besides, it only cancels out the Chaos Emerald's powers, you'd have no use for it." She wanted him to drop this idea badly, she was just getting on good terms with Knuckles, this would wreck that in an instant.
"My defense department thinks otherwise." He responded. "They believe that, instead of the Master Emerald existing to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds, that it in fact has so much more power that it cancels out that of the Chaos Emeralds. It also makes for an easier task, it's guarded by the one lone echidna and it's existence unknown to the public." It was getting obvious she wasn't going to talk him out of the idea, but it wouldn't change her final answer.
"The answer is still no." Rouge said firmly. "I don't care what the offer is, this is not a mission I'm taking." Knuckles was so reclusive, so private, it was a miracle she even gained any trust with him, she didn't want to lose this.
"Again you jump ahead." He answered, his tone becoming more serious. "We are not asking or offering, this is an order. Remember you stole the Emeralds from the Security Hall and assisted in it's destruction. We may not overlook that crime much longer if you refuse. Accept now, though, and we may feel generous enough to... double the usual pay?" Now it was blackmail, though Rouge wasn't surprised. The jewels would be tempting for any other job, but this would ruin her trust with Knuckles, a much rarer find. Maybe there was a way out down the road, but for now, she wasn't left with much choice.
"...Fine, I'll do it." She said with regret. Rouge quickly closed the phone and replaced it, not wanting to hear anything else. Her pouch of echidna relics was long forgotten about now, there were too many thoughts flooding her mind at once to be concerned with it. Most importantly was how she was going to live with herself after this.
**********
It was around noon now and Knuckles was still preparing, it has been some time since he last attempted this and he had forgotten how much effort it took to get started. He looked at the Master Emerald before him, it's center pulsing with a dim glow, almost like it was a beating heart. He had been focusing on it for hours, trying to get the right amount of energy out of it. It was so chaotic getting it right was near impossible.
His concentration was broken as a noise came from the edge of the island. Knuckles looked over to the front of the island where a strong updraft was located. Generally only he used it to get back onto the island after gliding down to the mainland, very rarely Tails would use it to haul Sonic up to visit, but his tails made a different sound in the wind, this was new. Knuckles moved to stand in front of the emerald, clenching both fists in preparation of some kind of attack or ambush from Eggman. A figure rose up, but hardly one he expected. A white bat with black wings dressed in black and pink. Knuckles dropped his fists, surprised to say the least as Rouge came down from the updraft, landing softly on the edge of the floating island. She looked up, eyelids half down as she smiled at Knuckles.
"Not the most friendly front door I've ever gone through." She said, stepping toward the red echidna. "At least put a welcome mat down or something." The look of surprise quickly faded as Knuckles regained his familiar composure.
"Rouge, what are you doing up here?" Knuckles asked, a bit of confusion obvious in his voice. Rouge stopped her walk and turned to her side, folding her arms and closing her eyes, but still with a sly smile.
"Well that's some hello." She said in teasing fashion. "No hi, no asking how I've been, it has been a month since we were last in touch." He was well aware of that, just a quick run-in when he went to the mainland for lunch one day, it was probably what started the nightmares he had been having.
"Fine, sorry." Knuckle said in a flat tone. "It's not that I mind the visit but you don't strike me as the kind to 'just be gliding by'." Rouge opened her eyes halfway again, turning her head to look at Knuckles.
"Such lack of faith, can't you soften up for once?" She said, drawing an annoyed frown from Knuckles. "I came up to visit because I wanted to, is it so hard to believe?" Of course it was a lie, given what she was ordered to do she wanted to be any place but here. But given how much she would be paid, not to mention keeping her own freedom, she had to do this. Knuckles sighed in defeat, he was getting the idea he wouldn't be able to talk her off the island.
"Well okay but your visit is going to be short, I'm in the middle of something." He said, turning back to the Master Emerald. Rouge turned to him completely, walking closer to the massive Emerald she was supposed to claim. Just the size was daunting, how she was supposed to take it to begin with without Knuckles noticing was confusing.
"So what on this tiny flying rock could you be busy with?" She said, still looking on at the Emerald. Knuckles raised both gloved hands, placing them on the top of the emerald. Rouge watched on as the emerald again picked up it's beating glow, growing slightly at a slow pace. A few minutes of silence passed and eventually Knuckles brought his hands off the gemstone, stepping back. Rouge continued to watch as the Master Emerald's inner glow absorbed into the remainder of the gem, making it give off a dim green light. It rotated on it's tip slightly, making a slow turn before stopping suddenly, flashing white before returning to it's normal appearance. Rouge turned to ask Knuckles what she just watched when she noticed he was now down on one knee, driving one of his fists into the ground, planting his barbs into the ground.
"You should hold on to something." He said. Before Rouge could find out what he meant the island suddenly jerked hard, knocking Rouge down onto her back. Knuckles chuckled slightly, pulling his fist up and standing again. Rouge, on the other hand, was slower to stand, now taking her turn to look annoyed.
"That was not funny!" She hissed. "You should have warned me the stupid island of yours could fly!" Indeed, the jerk came from a sudden start in movement and the mainland they previously had a view of was now slowly vanishing into the distance.
"It floats, doesn't it?" Knuckles said. "Does it really surprise you it could move in directions other than up?" Rouge brushed herself off, still somewhat annoyed. She looked over in the direction they were flying, out farther into the ocean, but wherever Knuckles made the island fly toward wasn't in view and the island wasn't going that fast so it was probably some time before they would even see it.
"I doubt this flight is just for fun, so what's the point of moving this rock?" She asked, genuinely curious now. Knuckles just now turned to look at her, as if he just realized who she was now that he wasn't so focused on the Master Emerald. It was the person that was distracting his duties and even his sleep constantly for the last month and having her this close didn't make any of it more clear.
"If you have to know, I'm taking it back to where I got it." Knuckles answered. "This 'rock' is just part of the real Floating Island. The first time Eggman tried to take the Master Emerald it was hidden deep in that island, but it's too large to watch it at all times. It's not as safe, but it grants me some actual freedom." Rouge caught an odd tone in Knuckles's voice as he spoke that last part, almost like anger.
"Sounds like you're getting sick of the job." She said seriously, her normal act now dropped. Knuckles shook his head in response, wanting to get that idea out of her head.
"You've got it all wrong." He said bluntly. "It's not that I'm sick of it, I've just been... distracted lately." Knuckles almost spoke too quickly and mentally scolded himself for nearly slipping. "It's just until I get everything straightened out, I'll come back for it then. It's just temporary." Rouge was beginning to notice a habit Knuckles had when he spoke, talking about one thing he ends up mentioning something else that needed explaining. She decided not to ask about whatever the distraction was, at this rate they would go on forever. Though it at least gave her an idea...
"Well if this real Floating Island is really so big, it must be a long walk to haul this big jewel through." Rouge said, now stepping closer to the Master Emerald, making Knuckles a little edgy as she did. "If you wouldn't mind some company, I'd like to see this place." For how much she valued it, Rouge was disgusted her only option was to use Knuckles's trust to get the emerald. If he was just going to leave it there, she could take it easily without him knowing it was her, at least some relationship with him would be safe. As it was Rouge was even hoping Knuckles would pull his usual loner routine and say no just so she wouldn't have to get it this way.
"This is my job, Rouge, I have to do it on my own." Knuckles said, his usual attitude taking over. It only lasted a moment before he started thinking, the trip would take a few days on foot, maybe time enough to figure out why Rouge wouldn't leave his head. What better chance did he have? Besides, he could still leave the emerald and actually have some time to himself for a change. "...but if you want to tag along it's your decision to make, I won't stop you." He continued. The answer surprised Rouge, despite the idea she expected Knuckles to turn her down without even hesitating.
"Well at least you'll have company now, right?" She added. The comment was half-hearted, though, her mind was too lost on what she still had to do, she had an easier way out now but it was still just as hard on her.
"Yeah, assuming you last, the place does get fairly rough." Knuckles taunted. He smirked slightly, the half-insult wasn't serious, just back to the usual word trading he did with Rouge.
"Hey, don't forget who you're talking to, I'm still more of a hunter than you'll ever be!" She retorted, also adding a kidding tone to the taunt. One of the things she liked about Knuckles was that he could keep even with her in so much, not just hunting and fighting, but friendly trash talk, as well. At least now that it was friendly, that is.
"Alright then, we'll see about that here." He retorted with a smirk. Knuckles turned and stepped back to the emerald, looking out in the direction it was flying in. Their pace was by no means quick, such a large rock could only fly so fast even with the Master Emerald as an engine.
Hours passed as the island flew with little change. Same speed, same clouds going by overhead, same land and water going by below. Rouge had made herself comfortable near the island's edge, laying on the short grass and keeping away from Knuckles as she considered her position. She was here, she had a plan, over and over she tried telling herself to just get it over with, when it was done she would probably never see Knuckles again to know if he blamed her or not. So why didn't knowing that make her feel better...
"Rouge, you awake over there?" She heard from across the small island. Rouge sat up from her spot, pushing up to her feet to look at Knuckles on the other side. "We're about to make landfall, I didn't want the shock to catch you off guard again." Rouge scowled somewhat at the comment, not that she expected Knuckles to drop it so easily. The white bat stepped across the island, passed the Master Emerald, still glowing in the center, over to where Knuckles stood, looking out into the distance. They were close to another floating island, but much larger than the one they were standing on. From here Rouge could make out the large mountains, vast jungles, flowing rivers and waterfalls, even the remains of several small ruins. The sight was breathtaking and Rouge suddenly realized why it was so hard to guard the emerald on such an island. As the large island loomed closer, she suddenly wondered if she was going to pull this off or if she was in over her head...
End Chapter 1
Next: Chapter 2 - New Experiences
History Lesson: You'll note I haven't called either island Angel Island yet, and there's a reason. Sonic Team messed up when naming the island Knuckles lived on in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. Angel Island was the first stage in Sonic 3, a normal, non-floating island. The Floating Island was where Sonic & Knuckles took place, which is where Knux and Rouge are now in this story.