DISCLAIMER: "Sonic the Hedgehog" and most other characters and situations in the following story are copyrighted trademarks of Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics and/or DIC Productions. Permission to reproduce this specific material may be granted by the author so long as you email first. (c)2007 native_pangean@fsmail.net.

Summer Heat

It was midsummer, and the sun shone white-hot on the glossy green back of the Great Forest. The sky was a perfect, vivid blue, devoid of a single cloud, and the scent of pollen hung languidly in the air like a lover's perfume. The leaves were angled toward the dazzling rays and even the ground was responding to the heat, beginning to break into standalone hexagon shapes. It was the kind of heat a Mobian might enjoy, but might just as much want to escape.

In response to this blistering heat, the Knothole Freedom Fighters had gathered by the delta to soak up the rays and play in the crystal water. It was a balmy day, perfect bonding time, and the adolescents loved it.

Sonic and Rotor reclined calmly on the river's grassy bank on the grass, relaxed in comfortable silence. Sonic lay sprawled on his side, one arm draped out beside him and his spines angled against the ground. Rotor let his mind wander, visiting other places behind lazily closed eyes. To Sonic's right, the siblings Antoine and Velvet lay, the tan of their pelts matching exactly, their grey saddles identical. Antoine's uniform was hooked on a broken branch a little distance away; Velvet reached down drowsily and picked up her drink, taking a quenching sip. Antoine's ear occasionally twitched at the sound of Sally's voice; she, Bunnie and Tails were playing in the water, splashing eachother and seeing who could hold a handstand for the longest.

"This is the life, man," Sonic's voice lifted into the hazy air above them, an unusually lazy drawl to his tone. A drowsy chorus of replies followed it.

"Uh-huh."

"Oui, oui!"

Mmm..."

Silence reigned for a while longer: it was just too hot a day to say, or do a great deal. Without a word Antoine hoisted himself up and disappeared into the bushes for a few moments. The group had responded well to her announcement a couple of nights ago, but she had been most relieved of all to see that Sonic was not at all bothered that she was gay. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying the extrovert company. Then Tails interrupted her thoughts.

"Auntie Velvet, can you really read the future?" he asked, bounding enthusiastically up the bank. She lifted her sunglasses onto the top of her head and grinned.

"Yes and no," she answered. This made Tails pause for a moment, but then he smiled again and sat down beside Sonic.

"Can you read Sonic's future?" Velvet glanced at Sonic, who grinned in response. She sat up and made to look as if she were concentrating. It was a little while before she spoke again:

"At some time in his young adult life - in the next 10 years for sure - he's going to become leader of a large group of people. I don't see who they're going to be, but he will, sure as this is a river bank. I see an argument on the horizon - Sonic's going to fall out with somebody in a big way."

"What about Sally?" he asked, transfixed.

"Sally will find difficulty in her early 20's, which will resolve by the earlier stages of her middle age. And she will travel somewhere close to the waist of the earth, but not for long. The time span is 7 or 8 days if what I'm seeing is right."

"Wow!" tails enthused, his young features amazed. "I wish I could do that!" Velvet tilted her head to one side.

"You can, every bit as well as I do," she countered. Tails looked amazed at the news.

"Can I?" he asked happily. Velvet shuffled along her blanket, inviting Tails to sit beside her, which he did. She drew his attention to Rotor.

"What do you think is likely to happen to Rotor in the next 10 years?" she asked. Tails looked at her, unsure of what she meant. She elaborated. "Rotor, we both know, is down to Mobius, more of a listener than a talker, and is often prepared to spend a long time getting something right. He wouldn't be an inventor if he wasn't. Agreed?" The fox cub nodded, still looking confused. "So we might guess that he'll eventually invent something that'll be of great use to a lot of people.

"But we don't know for sure, so let's be ambiguous about how successful he'll be. He'll invent something else useful sooner or later: maybe something that'll make more money than he could dream of, or maybe something niche but helpful to a few people. Let's leave him to decide just how accurate what we're saying now is.

"So if I say, 'in your mid-20's you'll make your fortune', then I'm probably right. Not because he really will, but because you can call your mid-20's any time of life between 21 and 29. Or perhaps he will get it right at around 25. He might have settled down with a family and have kids to look after from about 27 - a lot of people do. Perhaps he'll take a few years out after Robotnik's killed and do no inventing at all until 23 or so. Either way, Rotor will take what I've said and make it as significant or insignificant as he wants it to be.

"So do you see? A fortune teller can take a fact that almost anybody could guess and elorates or glamorises it, making it sound more significant than it really is. All you need is to sell the information to them, make it interesting."

"Yeah, I get it!" Tails squealed happily. Rotor glanced at Velvet, who glanced at Sonic, and the three laughed.

"So remember who predicted your success when the mobiums are rolling in," she added to Rotor with a wink.

Not too long after this, Tails had announced that he was thirsty. Bunnie had taken him to her hut to find one for him, and Sonic, who had begun to grow bored, had followed them. With the group disbanding, first Rotor and then Antoine had decided that they had things to do and had packed up to leave, until only Sally and Velvet were left.

The two females were the last to leave, the princess walking next to the sister of the Captain of the Guards as she dried her hair. As Sally ruffled a towel through her generous red mane Velvet asked her, "How do you lot get by? You know, financially? You don't seem to have jobs of your own."

Sally sighed. "Handouts," she said, her tone making it clear that she didn't like the situation. "The rest of Knothole supports us." She half folded the towel huffily and flung it onto her shoulder.

Velvet smiled sympathetically. "You'd rather they didn't have to."

"Uh huh," came Sally's response.

Velvet lapsed into silence and thought about this. True, it wasn't very moralising for the Freedom Fighters to be do dependant. She shrugged internally and forgot about it. It was too beautiful a day to worry about such mundane things.

A cobalt flash wiped the conversation from her mind completely as it announced Sonic's reappearance. The hedgehog fell into step alongside the two females. "Hey, Sal, hey Vel," he said briskly. He seemed refreshed and more on the ball than before. And he seemed to have something on his mind. He turned his attention to Sally.

"Sal, you wanna start this new mission tomorrow?"

"Yes, Sonic. We might as well do it sooner than later," she said philosophically, her tone becoming more businesslike, the way it always did when the pair had tactics to talk about. Velvet listened silently as the two talked. The princess turned to face her way.

"Velvet, did you feel confident with the last mission?" she asked. The coyote waggled her head and then plumped for a nod.

"I'd be interested to accompany another member of the gang on a mission, yes," she replied, not sure quite how she felt about missions yet. Sonic and Sally shared a look: Velvet had gone with Antoine last time and the French coyote was notoriously disorganised and cowardly when it came to missions. His behaviour would not have been encouraging for her.

"How about going with Rotor and Bunnie?" Sally suggested good-humouredly. "Antoine'll be along too, but you'll see what those two do on a mission." Velvet bowed her head: as you wish, princess.

"Rote says he's ready anytime," Sonic added. At this, Sally gave him a flirtatious look.

"And will you be ready, hedgehog?"

"Like you gotta ask? Just watch me!" Sonic replied, bravado in his voice.

Velvet knew flirting when she saw it: these two adored eachother. With a private grin she angled off toward home, leaving the pair playing verbal chess. Or maybe verbal draughts, knowing Sonic's brain-power. She glanced at the ground and gulped down a laugh.

A new mission, though. That would be interesting...

TO BE CONTINUED...