a/n: So yeah, Sonic and Knuckles story, yo. I got the idea in my head after reading some stuff. Also, the lovely KazunaRei gave me some inspiration with her works, and she mentioned in at least one of them that there's a lack of Sonic and Knuckles friendship stories, which is true. I think there's a lack of friendship stories in general, but you know. Vocal minority.
Sometimes romance is yucky, though.
Anyways, this is for her (hearts) and the rest of you cool cats, too. Enjoy to the max.
Knuckles recognized the hum of the engine from afar. Aircraft tended to pass by the island in the clouds, and he had learned to identify them by the sounds they made…he didn't have much else to do, anyways.
Because of that, he knew when a certain someone had arrived in his biplane.
The diesel (or bio-diesel, as Tails had mentioned) engine was distinct in its rumbling, from when it was taking off to when it was landing. He saw the plane dip around the old Launch Base before swooping towards his location. Knuckles blinked before remembering something, and soon thought nothing of the plane's vertical descent and landing.
The pilot stepped out, patting one side of the red plane before bounding up the steps of the Emerald Shrine towards his friend.
"Testing out the new VTOL gear, huh?"
"VTOL? Pretty fancy term for a hermit to use," the blue hedgehog said with a grin.
"I'm not that detached from society. Besides, Tails has been talking my ears off so much about the plane specifications that I had to absorb something," Knuckles said.
Sonic nodded. "True, true." He paced around the Master Emerald, looking at it from different angles.
"You ever think about ditching this rock, Knux?"
"You ever think about life with no legs, Sonic?"
"Hm." Sonic nodded thoughtfully. "Seems like a no."
Knuckles rolled his eyes. "You know that I have to guard the Master Emerald. It's the controller of the Chaos Emeralds as well as a source of infinite power. Eggman or whoever could take it and wreak havoc with it…"
"Hey, come on. Have a little faith in your pal Sonic!"
"…or use it to resurrect some ancient beast that even you would have trouble with. You implied that Chip had to save your sorry butt after you beat the complete Dark Gaia."
"True…"
"I know you're convinced that you're all that and a bag of chips, but I have my own role to play. At the very least, you could say…I make your job easier, or something."
"Hey, that makes sense," Sonic said with a smile. He patted Knuckles on the shoulder. "Good looking out, bro."
"Whatever. It's not like I'm doing it for you or anything. Idiot."
Sonic snickered. "Yeah, yeah…I love you too, man."
Knuckles grunted and went back to looking over the horizon.
About an hour had gone by without Knuckles noticing…likely because his loud-mouthed visitor wasn't being so loud-mouthed. He was sitting cross-legged in front of the Master Emerald, staring into its facets.
"Cat got your tongue, or something?" Knuckles said as he turned back to his position.
"No…I'm just thinking. Reflecting, I guess."
"Hm. Something's on your mind."
It wasn't said as a question, since Knuckles knew that Sonic wasn't ever quiet unless he was in a serious mood.
"A few things."
"Like what?"
"When I asked you about the Master Emerald, I got to thinking…I wanted to ask you what makes it so special."
The echidna sighed. "I guess…it's all I have left. The memories of my people, the reason for my existence…it's so many things in one. I was given this responsibility to basically watch over the fate of this planet in a way. The Master Emerald is that powerful."
"Yeah. I guess it's just more than a shiny rock, once you understand it. I guess…I'm just thinking. I have things to protect, too. Just that I'm not always around for 'em, like you are with the Master Emerald. I'm just reckless at times, like I don't care, when I really do."
He sighed. "I…don't get another chance if they shatter into pieces. I can't put 'em back together…you said that I couldn't take on everything myself, and you're right. I can't. So what happens if everyone's counting on me, and I can't come through? What happens if I fail? It's pretty depressing, and…never mind. I'm probably boring you." Sonic went silent again.
Knuckles turned from his spot and sat down beside Sonic, letting out a breath of air.
"The Master Emerald needs to be protected. But by no means is it powerless," he started. "It can be used to super-charge the Chaos Emeralds, negate their energies, perform Chaos Control on a massive scale, transform and gain incredible power, heal, and move an entire island through the sky for all eternity. That's just off the top of my head…and I learned a lot of that stuff from meeting you, Sonic."
"…"
"What I'm trying to say is…the things we long to protect can be the same things that lift us up when we're in trouble. And living, breathing friends tend to do that just a bit better than giant magic gems. Especially when they believe in you. Like I do."
"…You, Knuckles?"
"Are you an idiot? I had to since I didn't know how to transform and chase a fat scientist through space, or beat up ancient gods of destruction, or time-consuming creatures. But heck, I don't regret trusting you then, and I don't now."
"We're kind of the same, huh?"
The echidna snorted. "Hardly. I have to stay up here while you get to run around as you please."
"No. It's not like that."
Knuckles looked over at Sonic, confused.
"You don't have to stay here. You choose to. You choose to fulfill your duty, your destiny as the one who guards the Master Emerald and this whole island. You're not as restricted as you think you are, Knuckles. And because of the bonds I've made, good and bad…I'm not as free as you think I am."
Knuckles thought on it for a moment, realizing that he was right…there was a twisted sort of connection between Sonic and Doctor Eggman, and by extension his friends. They were targets for the lunatic, all because they knew Sonic and happened to get in his way. Sonic didn't have to care about their safety, but he felt responsible for them. He, in his own way, was bound to protect them from Eggman, because it was his fight above all else. He was bound to fight for the planet against anyone or anything that threatened it, and that was his choice.
He was right. They weren't so different from each other after all. Maybe their strengths and flaws were nothing alike, but when it came to the important things…
"But...you're happy with your life, right?"
Sonic nodded. "Yeah. I…I think I can say that I wouldn't change a thing at all, as strange as that sounds."
"No, it doesn't sound that strange," Knuckles said as he rose. "I feel the same way."
"That's good to know. You know, you're important, Knuckles. Like, a behind the scenes guy that makes everything work, yeah? I think it's cool that you're just so chill with the role."
Knuckles shrugged. "It is what it is."
"Sure is. Anyways…I guess you want some peace and quiet now, huh?" Sonic said with a smile.
"If you'll give me some," he replied.
"Will do. I'll see you later, Knux."
"Yeah, I guess. Hey, Sonic."
The hedgehog turned as he reached the steps.
"You're not alone, remember that."
"Yeah," he said with a nod. "Neither are you, Knuckles."
"Right. See ya."
Sonic had reached halfway to the Tornado when a thought came to mind. "Hey, Knux?"
"Yeah?"
"…You wanna go snowboarding?"
"…"
"I found this wicked halfpipe the other day, you know…"
Knuckles smiled and shook his head. Well…a little fun couldn't hurt, right?
"Sure. Just need to grab a board somewhere."
"No need," Sonic said with a smile. He tossed the echidna a red snowboard, painted with a flame motif.
"You totally planned this all along, didn't you?" Knuckles asked with a brow raised.
"Well, I was planning to ask and expected you to say no or something," Sonic said as he pulled his own blue board from the Tornado's back seat, "but whatever. It's all good, right?"
"Yeah, I gue-"
"Race ya! Ready-set-go!" Sonic took off in a blue blur.
"Hey! Get back here!"
Knuckles ran through the trees, following his friend to the snowy peaks.