Chapter Text
Knuckles leaned his back against the tall stalk of the mushroom and let the shade after the day’s exertion soothe him.
It wasn’t entirely easy despite the fact this was a good place to relax – warm but shaded, with the soft but densely growing stalks muffling sounds and giving the place a heavy quiet quality.
A good place to relax, but even so, he’d been too often disturbed here. It annoyed him, that theft of what should have been a place of easy respite and relaxation.
He frowned, shoulders tense again and sat up straighter. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. There was nothing here to disturb him right now. The Island was still, as soft and quiet in the sunshine as this one zone. There was nothing to do. No threat, no immediate chore, no friendly but noisy visitors.
At the centre of it, and behind his eyes the light of the Master Emerald was equally soft and quiet. Chaos ebbed and flowed through the Island with no more urgency than the breeze, or the stream just at the edge of hearing.
Rest was a task too, something which was required of him, and he concentrated on it with the same focus he tried to bring to his other responsibilities. He relaxed, deliberately.. Breathed, slowly.
Rested and slept as the shade, then sun, then shade again moved across him, easy and soft.