Chapter Text
Tails had experienced winters before on his home planet. He remembered the seasons changing as the days got shorter and the nights became longer when the lush green faded into a beautiful amber until the last leaf in the forest fell from the branches. He especially remembered when the forest around his workshop was covered in a thick white blanket.
Often, he would watch many of the kids in his village playing in the snow, throwing snowballs, building snowmen, and making snow angels.
It all seemed so fun.
But trudging through the cold blizzards of Siberia was not fun.
He could feel the snow getting into his eyes, making the already low visibility of the nightly environment even worse. He could vaguely make out Sonic's silhouette in front of him.
The wind was strong, threatening to knock him over. It was freezing, even for him with his thick fur.
He glanced at the glowing screen of his Miles Electric. His device being the only shred of light in the haze of darkness. The monitor was phasing in and out of static, losing and regaining the signal from the compass.
Sonic was barely trudging ahead of him, snow sticking to the back of his quills. It was amazing that he seemingly wasn’t freezing despite having shorter fur.
They had been navigating this storm for what felt like forever now, taking occasional breaks to rest and warm up when they could. Key word being “could.”
To make things worse, Tails’ invention's navigation was leading them all over the place, with the storm constantly scrambling the signal while they tried to find a straightforward path.
In short, they had no idea where they were going.
“I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT FIND MY WAY!” He heard Sonic yell over the howling blizzard. “WE ARE COMPLETELY TOTALLY UNEQUIVOCALLY LOST!”
He shielded his forehead, checking his device again.
The screen was totally static now, and the compass coordinates were at risk of being lost. This storm was too thick!
“SONIC!” He cried, getting the hedgehog’s attention, “IN THIS WEATHER THERE'S NO WAY WE'RE GONNA GET ANY READINGS ON THIS THING!” Right now, finding shelter and waiting out the storm seemed like their best option. “SHOULD WE GO BACK??”
“NO, NO, NO!” Sonic quickly shook his head. “THERE'S A LIGHT UP AHEAD!” He pointed towards a small wooden inn about a mile ahead of them, a dim light exuding from one of the windows. “MAYBE WE CAN TAKE SHELTER IN THERE!”
Tails reluctantly followed behind his hero, trailing behind him like a duckling until they reached a small snowbank just outside of the inn.
“So how do we get in?” Tails asked, rubbing his arms to stop them from shivering.
Sonic peeked over the snow mound, seemingly spotting something. “Ah, perfect!” He hopped down, a mischievous grin on his face. “Okay, so I spotted some clothes on the porch and as much as it sucks for whoever poor soul owns them, we can put those on and we’ll blend right in!”
Tails was not fully convinced. His past experiences with inns flashed in his mind. He could still remember all the eyes that locked onto him when he walked into those places, the usual liveliness turning into silence, all of them making him feel like he didn’t belong.
“Are you sure about this?” He asked hesitantly. “We don’t know who’s inside!”
Sonic quickly flashed him one of those trademark happy-go-lucky grins of his, “Don’t worry! On Earth, people are very welcoming and love taking complete strangers into their homes!”
Tails was tempted to doubt him, but he trusted Sonic’s judgment.
He followed the blue hedgehog over the snow bank, the two quietly creeping up to the porch.
“Alright, I’ll take that one. You take this one.” Sonic told him, tossing him a pile of clothes before slipping on a pair of snow pants and grabbing a red coat.
Tails caught the clothes, looking down at the ones in his arms. He quickly slipped on the green jacket, which fit snugly onto him.
Next came the pants, which were clearly way too big for him. But Tails wasn’t one to give up easily as he slipped them on, hopping a bit to fit his shoes through the bottom. It was a bit uncomfortable tucking his namesakes into them, but he was able to do it, wrapping them around his waist underneath the waistline.
“Hey, could you help me with this?” He asked meekly, his baggy arms now making him unable to put on the hat and scarf.
Sonic, already decked out in his disguise, was quick to help. “Hold still.”
Tails nodded, letting Sonic kneel down and take his scarf.
He tensed when Sonic’s hand brushed his shoulder but relaxed as he gently wound the scarf around his neck.
“Is this too tight?” Sonic asked in a surprisingly gentle tone.
“It’s fine…” He murmured shyly.
The smooth fabric on his fur actually felt nice, aside from the snow still biting at his skin. Even his fur couldn’t stop that.
Once the scarf was tied, Sonic fitted the cap over Tails’ ears.
“That okay?” He asked, his voice slightly muffled to Tails due to his ears being partially blocked.
“Yep!” Tails nodded. It amazed him how gentle and considerate Sonic had been to him. “Thanks.”
Sonic gently patted his head. “No problem!” Tails could tell he was smiling under his scarf. “Now, let’s get inside where it’s warm!”
The pair walked up to the front door, Sonic reaching up to grab the door handle.
“Now listen,” Sonic glanced over his shoulder towards him, “I’ve been in a place like this before, and things get rough really quickly. Just follow my lead and we’ll be okay. Got it?”
Tails nervously nodded. “Got it.”
He attempted to swallow the lump building up in his throat as the hedgehog opened the door and the two stepped inside.
It was a broken shack of a bar, the kind of place you avoided when going out for dinner. It was the kind of place that Tails really didn’t mesh with.
The room was silent, and he could feel all the patrons staring at him and Sonic. They were all so much bigger than him, like giants.
Silence.
Tails felt his fur stand on end from underneath his coat. He almost felt tempted to reach for Sonic’s hand.
Now Tails knew why Sonic had them wear these disguises. They couldn’t risk freaking out the locals, especially locals like these. Or in this case, risk these patrons discovering that they weren’t one of them.
A quartet of gamblers crowded a green-top table, one with a wicked scar across his eye.
Tails flinched back, shuffling slightly behind Sonic.
Another patron stabbed a large knife into his table.
He gasped, Sonic also stepping back.
They looked over to the fireplace and saw a kindly old woman sitting in a rocking chair and knitting what looked like a sweater.
Tails sighed in relief, he and Sonic exchanging glances. Sonic seemed to be just as on edge as he was, what with how tense his shoulders were. At least there were some friendly folk here.
That is until the elderly woman turned, revealing the sweater with a skull and crossbones.
Sonic yelped while Tails screamed.
A loud chop drew Tails to the sight of a large man brutally slicing off the head of a fish with a meat cleaver, shoving the head off the chopping board.
And as the fish's head rolled towards him, Tails could’ve sworn he heard the fish whisper, “ Run.”
His head felt light.
They were in a room filled with a bunch of… of… he didn’t know how to describe them! Brutish? Savage? Intense?
His legs wobbled. He couldn’t feel them.
The fish’s head stared up at him with its dead eyes.
Dead.
Before he knew it, he was tipping over.
“Table for two, please!” Was the last thing he heard before everything went black.
His eyelids were heavy. He could feel it as he tried to force them open. Sounds began to register in his ears, although muffled.
“Tails…?”
Someone was shaking him. He could feel something on his shoulder.
“Tails…?”
The smooth yet warm fabric of the coat he was wearing registered next, feeling it against his fur.
“Tails!”
He gasped, his eyes now wide open.
He looked around, realizing he was sitting in a wooden chair at a small round table. The inn occupants were back to their usual business; eating, drinking, talking, shouting, etc.
Chaos, his ears would be ringing if not for the hat over his head.
“Hey, Tails? Tails!”
He snapped his head over to see Sonic shaking him by the shoulder. Underneath his mask, he could see a look of concern on the hedgehog’s face.
No one had ever been concerned for him before. He was still marveling at that.
“Huh? Sorry, what?”
“I asked if you were okay?” Sonic sat back in his chair, looking relieved. “You were out for quite a bit.”
Tails felt a bit of heat rise to his cheeks in embarrassment. Right, he fainted earlier.
“I’m fine.”
“Good, that’s good.” Sonic nodded. “So… uh, how about we order something? I’m kinda hungry.”
Tails felt his stomach subtly growl underneath his jacket. “Y-Yeah, we should.”
“Oh! Looks like one of them’s coming!” Sonic pointed out. “Would be nice if they spoke English.” He grimaced.
“Oh, I can help with that!” Tails perked up before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his miles electric. He quickly turned on the automatic language translator. He had never tested it before, but hey, it's the first time for everything.
The waitress approached the table. She was a tall and rather big woman with the ends of her hair tied to two separate ponytails. A bit of fat on her cheeks accompanied her scowl, almost making her look like a bull.
She placed two menus down on the table before asking, “Chto by vy khoteli zakazat'?”
He glanced down at his device, the audio receivers quickly picking it up and giving him the translation, ‘What would you like to order?’
He quickly scanned the menu and ordered the first thing he saw, “Two beef stews, please!”
“Dva govyazh'ikh ragu, pozhaluysta!” The miles electric repeated in Russian.
The waitress simply looked annoyed as she grabbed the menus and stormed off.
Well, at least now he knew that his translator worked!
“Where’d you get all these gadgets?” He heard Sonic ask curiously.
Tails hunched his shoulders bashfully, “I invented them! It’s… kinda my thing.” He looked directly at Sonic, “In fact, my inventions are how I discovered you!”
“Remember that night at the baseball field? Your energy blast reached all the way to my home planet!” Tails would never forget that day, seeing all of his instruments light up as a shockwave of chaos energy shook the universe. “I saw you save your village from that crazy mustache guy!”
“Wait, so you’ve been watching me this whole time?” Sonic questioned, “Even in the shower?”
“Ha, that’s a trick question!” Tails grinned, “Sonic the Hedgehog prefers bubble baths.”
“Man, you're good!” Sonic sounded genuinely impressed, causing the young fox to blush sheepishly under his ski mask.
“When I learned Knuckles was on your trail, I knew I couldn’t just sit back and watch anymore! I had to come warn you!”
Sonic was silent, and Tails couldn’t help but feel anxious about what was going through the hedgehog’s head. Was he impressed with him for coming all this way to find him, or was he creeped out that he had been spying on him for the past nine months?
He felt his stomach sink slightly. Maybe he came on too strong.
Before he could say anything, he heard a faint buzz coming from Sonic’s pocket.
“Oh, what…? Hang on one sec, Donut Lord’s checking in.” Sonic quickly pulled out his phone and typed his response.
It was honestly amazing that he didn’t have any typos.
“You know… your lucky to have him.” Tails tried to swallow the meekness in his voice.
“Hmm? You mean Donut Lord?” Sonic asked, putting his phone away.
“Mm-hmm.” Tails nodded. “He lets you stay in his house, eat his food, and checks in on you. It’s clear he cares for you.”
“Oh, pssst!” Sonic laughed bashfully with a dismissive wave, “I mean obviously he does ‘cause I’m his best friend!”
“I thought he said that was his dog?”
“You saw that-? Hmm, best animal friend maybe, but not actual best friend.”
“Well, technically, we’re all animals.” Tails shrugged.
Sonic sputtered a bit before shaking his head with an amused smile, “You’re quite the kid, huh?”
Tails shrunk back a bit in his seat, “S-Sorry, I-I didn’t mean it like that…”
“No, no! It’s okay! You’re fine, dude! Totally fine!” Sonic perked up, peering over the kit’s shoulder. “Oh, and hey! Looks like our food’s here!”
Tails looked down at his lap, fiddling with his gloves. Good. He could take his mind off this awkward conversation. He was feeling pretty hungry, after all.
When a bowl filled with water and a raw piece of meat hanging out was placed in front of him, he immediately lost his appetite.
Why? Why did the universe hate him so much?