Chapter Text
“The gate’s stuck.”
“The gate’s not stuck, you’re just not pulling hard enough.”
“Well, if I pull too hard, the humans might wake up.”
“Would you two cut it out? Your shouting’s going to wake everyone up if you don’t.”
Tails’s eyes opened up to darkness. It was still night outside, otherwise the sun would’ve shone through the tarp over the cage. What woke him up this time?
“It’s not my fault they don’t know how to open a gate.”
Voices.
He sat up quickly, nearly hitting his head on the top of the cart. Someone was here– no, multiple people were here. Tails shifted upwards, his palms scraping against the wood floor.
His mind raced, trying to determine who could be here in the middle of the night. Slowly, the gate to the cage creaked open. Whoever was pulling it froze, and Tails could hear them breathing deeply.
Anticipating something. Anticipating humans.
Tails knew the humans here slept like rocks. He wasn't afraid of them, not really. Being surrounded by them since he was born had almost desensitized him to their cruelty. Almost.
Even slower than before, the person opened the gate.
“Hello?” The first voice asked.
The fox pressed himself further against the bars, watching the open space where the bars were now parted. Despite his fear, it was like new air was rushing into the cage, dizzying his head and heightening his senses.
Maybe if he could…
He pressed himself forward. Pain shot up his leg, making him let out a hiss against his will.
The small murmurs went quiet.
“Are you alright?” The third voice whispered.
The third spoke up, “We're not going to hurt you.”
Clearly. He thought. If you were humans, you'd have grabbed me already.
Finally, Tails pushed himself closer to the gate. He needed to get out. This could've been his one chance. Ignoring the pain, he shoved himself through the opening.
The three voices all gasped and made their own noises of shock and concern. Tails felt a hand on his back for a second.
Acting on instinct, the fox forced himself around and clawed at the hand. The owner let out a yelp and pulled back. Tails pulled himself up, gritting his teeth until they hurt almost as badly as his leg.
The air was cold on his skin, not as warm as underneath the tarp. It burned his lungs, like he'd been drowning for years and could finally breathe.
He looked at the treeline that surrounded the circus camp. Finally, he could leave.
Tails took a step forward.
Then collapsed into the dirt.
Amy tossed another handful of dry leaves into the growing campfire. The flames licked up into the sky, disappearing into small, flickering sparks.
“We can't take care of a child.”
She looked over to Knuckles, who was leaning heavily against a tree. His gaze was intense, staring down the fire like it could be warmer if he glared enough.
“Well, what do you propose we do?” She asked as she pulled short, pink locks of hair from her face. “We haven't encountered a safe haven in weeks. We don't know anyone else who can help.”
Knuckles breathed out sharply, not responding. He knew she was right, but that didn't exactly mean the echidna was wrong. The supplies they had were meager at best, and rations could only be split so much until someone had to stop eating for a while. Adding another mouth to feed to their little group, especially a malnourished child, wasn't the best idea.
“What do you think, Sonic?” Amy asked, looking over to the other hedgehog.
Sonic was sitting closest to the fox, observing his slow breathing and twitching limbs. They looked calmer than Amy had seen them in a long time.
“He'll die if we don't help him.” They decided. “If he joins us, those chances lessen.”
Before anyone else could say something, a small whine came from the fox. Sonic watched as his face scrunched, then his eyes shot open.
With more energy than the others could've anticipated, he sat up and tried to stand. It didn't exactly work, and the fox came tumbling back down like he had before. He steadied himself, glancing around the camp.
Amy stood, raising her hands. “Hey, hey, you're alright.” She said, her voice low and soft. “We're not going to hurt you.”
The fox stared at her for a long moment, seemingly turning the words in his head over and over. As if the sentiment was so foreign he didn't understand it.
“Are you hungry?” Amy tried. That, at least, warranted a nod from the kid.
Once their rations for the night had been split, Amy carefully slid a larger portion over to the fox. When her hand reached too close, his lips curled back like he was threatening to bite.
She pulled her hand back quickly, and he closed his mouth just as fast.
“Sorry.”
His voice was small and so raspy that none of them could understand at first.
“It's… alright. I'm sure you're scared.” Amy smiled at him, watching as he took the food and slowly bit into it.
The fox paused with the food in his mouth, holding it for a second before continuing to chew. Another bite, a bit faster. Then another, and another, until in just a moment the ration was gone.
After giving him water, they finally made progress in getting him to talk.
“What's your name?”
“Tails.”
Sonic paused, glancing at the two, furred appendages that must've been his namesakes. “Actually?”
“Since I can remember.” Tails nodded.
“How long have you been with the humans?” Knuckles finally spoke up.
“Since I was born.” He paused, thinking. “Those ones you found me with? A year, I think.”
“You think?” The echidna questioned.
“Hard to count in the dark.” Tails explained.
The silence was heavy. Amy had known this conversation would be hard, but that wasn't to say she was prepared. “How old are you? Eight?” She guessed, though she felt that was generous.
“Ten.”
Sonic let out a small hiss between their teeth. They avoided looking at anyone by looking at the fire.
“Who are you?” Tails continued, apparently deciding it was his turn to ask questions.
“I'm Amy.” The pink-haired hedgehog introduced herself. “I've been in these woods the longest, so I'm kinda the leader.”
A grunt from Knuckles told the group he disagreed.
Amy ignored him. “That's Knuckles, and that one,” she pointed to the other hedgehog, who blinked back to awareness at being mentioned. “Is Sonic.”
“What are you all doing in the woods?” Tails asked.
Sonic leaned back, eyes leaving the fire but not reaching the group. “Running.” They said.
“Traveling.” Amy corrected. “To… someplace.” Her brow furrowed and she went quiet.
Knuckles took it as a sign to speak for her. “Amy thinks there's some sort of village hidden from the humans. We're heading there.”
“Oh.” Tails murmured. “Okay. Good luck.” With that, he pushed himself up to his feet.
Sonic stared at him in utter confusion. “Where are you going?”
The fox paused at the treeline, tilted to keep pressure off his left leg. “Away.” He said, like it was obvious.
“No?” Sonic questioned. “You're injured, clearly. You won't get far from the humans like that. It's safer to stay with us.”
Tails looked down at his leg. “Like this, I'd only slow you down.” He shook his head.
“We're already slow.” Knuckles said. Amy smiled. She knew that, despite his earlier protests, he would never allow a kid to wander off into the woods. “And we haven't been caught yet. You'll be fine among us.”
The fox glanced away, like being slow wasn't the only reason he was hesitant. Still, he slowly came back to the fire and sat down.
“I'm not injured.” Tails said. “It's healed, just not properly.”
“Still bad.”
He looked down at his hands.
Sonic moved closer, their eyes still off somewhere else but their expression otherwise concerned. “Can I see it?”
Tails's ears pinned back against his head. They hesitated, not really knowing what that was a sign of. They hadn't met many foxes before. Honestly, besides the brief interactions they'd had with mobians at the safe havens, Amy and Knuckles were the only people they'd been around for two years.
The fox was silent and still as Sonic continued their approach. The hedgehog raised their hand, reaching to pull the fox closer and examine him.
Suddenly, Tails's pupils dilated, the black almost consuming the blue of his eyes. His jaw opened and he lunged forward toward the hand that had become a threat in his eyes.
Sonic didn't know if they screamed when Tails's teeth sunk into their hand.