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. Bookshire Draftwood (c) David Pitstone.

THE SEARCH FOR FAMILY

It was a sunny day as usual in the Great Forest. The river wound its way as usual around the huts belonging to the inhabitants of Knothole, the chatter of birds complimented the rustling of the leaves as usual, and the pollen in the air smelled sweet and heady. As usual.

A clattering noise came from Rotor's hut. He was working on something. As usual.

"Okay."

CLANG!

"That..."

CLANG!

"Should..."

CLANG!

"Be..."

CLANG!

"About..."

ClANG!

"It!"

Rotor sat back on his haunches and surveyed his work. A bizarre contraption sat before him, a squat, heavy metal box on four castors, with 3 jointed arms, a satellite dish, a handful of sensors, a simple keyboard and a small screen. He lodged his hammer back into his belt and switched the machine on.

"Bzzt."

A trail of smoke lifted from its inner workings and then lay silent. Rotor tapped an instruction into its keyboard and it whirred into life.

"Search-o-Matic? Can you hear me?" Rotor asked.

"Hello Rotor." its rusty voice said unenthusiastically, "Please input instruction."

"I want you to find Princess Sally Acorn," Rotor requested. The machine buzzed.

"Insufficient data. Please insert suitable DNA."

Rotor smiled, and pushed a hair from Sally's head into a small slot on the machine's side. It buzzed again.

"Data received. Searching."

The walrus sat back and waited as the satellite wound through 360 degrees several times.

"Hey, Rotor!" Bunnie greeted as she and Sally leapt up the steps to Rotor's decking. He turned and smiled at the two girls.

"Hey!" he called back.

"Is it working?" Sally asked.

"Well, I don't know yet," he admitted, "but it's trying to find you, Sally. It's good you've come so close, it should be easy to-"

"Target found," the machine reported. The three animals looked at it, and then at eachother. A red light flashed on and off on the keyboard.

"Where is she?" Rotor asked.

"Coordinates read as A009, T128," the machine said, bluntly. The animals gasped; the coordinates were based on a Universal Survey map; it was right!

"So... Do you think you can do it?" Sally asked tentatively. Rotor nodded a little.

"I think so, but we need to test it with Sonic and Uncle Chuck first. Give me a while to recalibrate it. And, Sally, can you get one of Sonic's quills? And a swab from Uncle Chuck's mouth?"

"Sure," Sally smiled.

The mid-afternoon was peaceful. Tails tossed a baseball to himself a couple of times before whacking it with a bat. It arced through the air and rolled to a stop in the grass. He trotted over to fetch it.

VROOOOMMMM!!!!

A sudden shock wave pulled his tails and all his fur to one side and he whipped around excitedly: it was his hero!

"Sonic!" he called.

"Hey, little bro!" the hedgehog greeted back. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Look what Sally got for me! Isn't it the greatest?" Tails proudly showed his idol the bat. Sonic had known Tails would get this present but he indulged the fox cub anyway.

"Whoah!" he said appreciatively, rolling the bat over in his hands. He opened his mouth to talk again, and yowled in pain.

"WOUCH! HEY, WHAT THE-?" he demanded as Sally joined them, giggling. As Sonic rubbed his smarting shoulder he glowered at the Princess, who was grinning and holding one of his deep blue spines between her fingers. "Yo! Someone lock you out or somethin' Sal?" he asked haughtily, his brow still creased in irritation. Sally laughed.

"Sonic, relax!" she soothed. The hedgehog was still not impressed. Sally looked over at Tails and said, "Honey, could you leave us alone for a minute?"

"Uh... sure," Tails said, thinking they were going to kiss again. Why did grown ups kiss so much? It was gross. He twirled his tails and took off. Sally's face straightened a little and she explained:

"Rotor's finished working on it. It works when you put your own DNA into it, but we're gonna see if it works with relatives."

"How where the what?!" Sonic asked, still put out that he'd had a quill pulled out and still did not know what was going on.

"Sonic," Sally sighed, "Rotor's been working on his Search-o-Matic. Right?"

"Riiiiiight."

"And he said he wanted to test it on me by using one of my hairs. Right?"

"Right."

"Well, it worked. It found me!"

"Right. So how come you snuck up behind me and plucked me like a chicken?"

Sally took a deep breath. "Sonic, we're only going to be able to find our relatives - IF any of them are still alive - if Rotor can recalibrate it to find them. And for that he needs to test it on two people who are related. That means you and Uncle Chuck. Got me so far?"

"Yeah, but, ah, Sal... Uncle Chuck's spines aren't real. They're made of metal. So it can't work with us, right?"

"Well, not on his spines, no. But it might just work if we get DNA from his mouth. Sonic, take this." She handed him an airtight test tube with a small wooden stick tipped with cotton inside. "Take it to Uncle Chuck, get him to rub it on the inside of his cheek, put it back into the test tube and bring it back here. Can you do that?"

"Can I?" the hedgehog asked indignantly. "CAN I? Faster than a bullet, as agile as a cat, you won't even know I've gone!" He took the test tube and sped off into the distance before Sally could turn to Tails.

"Are you guys finished yet?" the fox cub asked in a slightly grossed-out voice.

"Yes, honey," she giggled. "Come on, let's get you some dinner."

Robotropolis was cold. The sickening miasma that lay over the city like a blanket blotted out all sunshine, even on a glorious day like this. That wasn't the only reason Sonic hated it.

"You're never gonna win, Ro-butt-nik," Sonic muttered to himself. "No way." He sped from his hiding place to a tall metal block some 8 tree lengths away. A trail of dust settled behind him. He glanced secretly around the corner.

6 SwatBots walked in single file along a pathway that, 15 years ago, had been a favourite play spot for Sonic and Rotor. Sonic's face didn't show it, but he felt sad inside. He missed those times, and he wished that he and Rotor - and the others - could have a normal life. Soon, though. Robuttnik couldn't stay in charge forever.

"Hey, SwatBots!" Sonic called. SwatBot baiting was his favourite sport. It always cheered him up. "Want some target practice?" he asked sarcastically.

"HEDGEHOG. PRIORITY ONE," the leading SwatBot announced, and raised its gun.

"Got that right!" the hedgehog replied and tore through the robot formation. "'Priority one!' Man, those guys sure know how to treat a hedgehog!" he laughed to himself, and hoisted himself up onto the wall. Red lazer shots fired behind him, to his sides, sometimes in front of him, but he always managed to dodge them. He laughed again, ran higher up the wall and disappeared into a large vent. The SwatBots' programming compelled them to assume he would come out the other end and they ran in the other direction. Turning their backs on him was the last thing any of them did. He leapt from the vent, somersaulted in the air, and curled up his hard, spiny back as he accelerated down towards them.

POP!

"HA!"

POP!

"YYYYYA!!"

POP POP POP!

"Ha haaaaaaa!"

"Stop hedgehog! You are under-"

POP POP!

"Ha ha! You're six feet under, chump!" the hedgehog smiled triumphantly at the wreckage in front of him. He looked to the West. "Now to find Uncle Chuck." He sped around a corner and disappeared from view.

Charles walked with all the robotic regularity expected of him. It wasn't hard to pretend to still be a robot, but it did get very dull. He turned, and stood in his allocated spot. He was on guard duty, expected to stand here, and warn his robotic colleagues should Priority One turn up.

Oh, if only they knew.

"Yo, Uncle Chuck!"

Charles' eyebrows raised a little in surprise, and then he deliberately relaxed his face so that nothing could be picked up on the many cameras operating in Robotropolis. Keeping his mouth as still as possible he answered, "Yes, Sonny?"

"I need your help. Rotor's making a machine to help us find our family and he wants to test it on us, Uncle Chuck. I need you to swab your mouth with this thing."

Charles thought for a moment. He flashed the red lights in his eyes - a signal that he had been issued another instruction, but actually a function he was in control of these days - and said quietly, "Follow me." He walked mechanically towards the tunnels he patrolled by morning, forsaken pathways with few cameras and fewer visitors. Sonic quietly followed.

"Okay, Sonny, give me the swab." He reached out for the glass tube in Sonic's hand, unscrewed it, rubbed the cotton on the inside of his mouth, plugged it again and gave it back. "I should get back on guard duty now, Sonic, but good luck!" He hugged his nephew. "And tell Rotor from me, 'Well done!'"

"Will do, Uncle Chuck!" Sonic said, softly. He sped away into the darkness, back to Knothole, back to his life in the sunshine.

Rotor tapped on the keyboard and squinted into the little glass screen. It looked about right. Now all he could do was test it.

Unable to do any more for now on this machine, he picked up a carrierbot and screwed its wings on, and looked down at Bunnie and Sally talking below.

Everyone in town thought that he liked Bunnie. Of course he liked her, but only as a friend, not in the dates, flowers, dinner kind of way. She was kind of like his sister. Why not? They both had big front teeth! He chuckled lightly to himself and got back to screwing the carrierbot's wing on.

But what about finding his family? What if this machine worked? He was quite sure it would, but what could it mean for him? For all of them? Would he find his parents? Did he have any brothers? Any sisters? That would be cool. Rotor glanced over at the Search-o-Matic again. Perhaps. Perhaps...

"Yo, Rote!" Sonic burst in on Rotor's thoughts. He looked down at Sonic.

"Hey, Sonic! Did you get it?" Sonic proudly waved the glass tube and grinned. He climbed the ladder that led up to the walkway around Rotor's bedroom.

"One mouth swab from a Mr. Charles Hedgehog!" Sonic announced proudly as Sally and Bunnie climbed up the ladder behind him.

"Okay," Rotor said, feeling a little tense, "here goes nothin'!" He switched the Search-o-Matic on and it buzzed.

"Search-o-Matic?" Rotor asked.

"Hello Rotor." its said, "Please input instruction."

"I want you to find the relatives of Sonic Hedgehog," Rotor said and pushed Sonic's quill into the slot on the machine's side. Sonic and Sally exchanged looks and Sally saw the nervousness in Sonic's eyes. He gave her a small, nervous smile and she took his hand.

"Data received. Searching."

The four animals held their breaths. The Search-o-Matic buzzed for a while, and then stopped.

"One possible relative found." The machine said dispassionately. Sonic looked outraged.

"I don't want 'possible'! Is it or not?" he yelled at the machine.

"One possible relative found." The machine repeated. "Insufficient data to confirm. Please insert DNA to confirm."

Sonic still looked angry, but Rotor calmed him. "Sonic, put the swab in the machine." The hedgehog suddenly remembered the swab in his hand and unscrewed it. He plugged the cotton on the stick into the machine's specimen slot. It buzzed again, its satellite turning.

"Information confirmed. Sonic Hedgehog has one living relative, Charles Hedgehog. Coordinates available."

The animals all sat back, unwilling to speak. Sonic had just been told that he had only one relative. Either this machine was wrong or his parents were dead. Sally glanced sadly at her friend, unsure of what to say. Sonic just looked at the ground, his expression unreadable.

"Sonic-" she started, and then stopped. She had no idea of what to say. His brow creased, and the turned and climbed down the ladder. The animals watched him walk into his hut and shut the door. Nobody spoke for quite some time.

"Sonic, look, Rotor didn't mean to upset you. He was just doing what he thought was right," Sally tried to soothe the hedgehog, but Sonic was furious. He said nothing. He just stood at the window, looking out, leaning on his arms.

"I know how you must feel-" she began, only to be cut off by the hedgehog. He whipped around.

"KNOW HOW I FEEL?!" he shouted, angry tears in his eyes. "HOW CAN YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL? I NEVER KNEW MY PARENTS, SAL! I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER THEM! I DON'T KNOW IF THEY DIED, OR WHETHER THEY DIDN'T WANT ME, I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF MY MOTHER WAS RAPED!" This last statement choked him up. He was telling the truth, he didn't know, but he didn't like to talk about that to Sally. It was horrible. He looked away, sobbing.

"Sonic," Sally put her hand on his shoulder and sat on the end of the bed next to him. "My mother died when she gave birth to me. I never knew her, and I know I'll never see my father again. I DO know what you're going through. Please believe me..." tears filled her own eyes, and Sonic looked around at her, his own eyes wide and lost. They hugged eachother and cried.

"I'm sorry, Sal," he choked into her shoulder. She tried to respond but her words came out as sobs and they just held eachother tighter. Neither moved for a long time.

Eventually, Sally took a deep breath and pulled away from Sonic. "Sonic," she began weakly, "I know my family's so well known that I should already know where they all are, but I want to find out if I've got any relatives too. Will you come with me?" She pleaded, and swallowed salty tears. Sonic looked into her eyes, saw the fear and pain she showed nobody but him and Bunnie, and smiled as reassuringly as he could.

"Sure, Sal." He hugged her again and then wiped the tears from her eyes. "Do you want to go now?" She nodded. He took her hand and led her back to Rotor's place.

Rotor felt awful. He'd upset his best friend, and he didn't know whether Sonic would forgive him. He had no relatives either. All dead, then. He pushed his food around his plate and sighed. He wasn't hungry. In fact, he was going to bed. He took his plate to the kitchen area at the edge of his hut and made for the ladder. Somebody knocked on the door and he jumped.

"Hey, Rote," Sonic's voice floated quietly through the door. "Can we talk?" Rotor's eyes widened.

"Uh... Sure," he called shakily and got up to open the door. He looked sheepishly at Sonic, and than at Sally. He looked at the ground. "Sonic, I'm sorry about... You know. I mean, I... I didn't mean to..."

"Rotor," Sally interrupted kindly, "are you going to let us in so we can talk about this properly, or are you gonna let us freeze on your doorstep?" Rotor's face registered surprise and then he stood back to let the two in.

"Look, Rote, it's-"

"Sonic, I'm so sorry-"

The two friends spoke at exactly the same time, looked at eachother, and shared an investigatory laugh. "Look, man, it's okay. I'm not mad at ya," Sonic said. Rotor's shoulders relaxed and he smiled.

"Cool," was all he could say. The two guys stood there, unsure of what to say next.

"Rotor... I want to f-find my family too," Sally stuttered. Rotor nodded understandingly and made for the ladder.

"Follow me," he said, quietly.

The three sat around the machine as Rotor turned it on. As it buzzed, he held out his hand for another hair from Sally.

"Search-o-Matic? You awake?" Rotor asked.

"Hello Rotor." it greeted dully, "Please input instruction."

"I want you to find Princess Sally Acorn's family," Rotor requested. His machine buzzed.

"Please insert suitable DNA."

Rotor pushed the hair into the machine. It buzzed again.

"Data received. Searching."

Well, that hadn't been so bad. Sonic had forgiven Rotor. Rotor had got over the news he kind of knew already anyway, and Sally had... Well, she'd held it in, as she always did.

She didn't have family either. The Search-o-Matic had malfunctioned, having found King Maximillian Acorn in a parallel universe but unable to provide coordinates, but that was, in a way, more proof that Rotor's machine could pick up any relative on the planet.

Rotor snuggled further down into his bedsheets. He still felt bad, but he was tired too and thought that sleep was better than sorrow. So he tried to clear his mind...

Bunnie looked away, over at the search-post visible from Rotor's balcony. Antoine was over there, watching out for intruders, glancing occasionally over at the gathering of freedom fighters on Rotor's balcony and evidently wondering exactly what was going on here. He knew it was Bunnie's turn, but he couldn't be there as it was his turn to be sentry. There was only him next. As Bunnie looked his way, her face was hidden from Sonic, Sally and Rotor, but when Antoine saw it his own face dropped in concern. He looked suddenly sad. His shoulders slumped, and then he looked away, over in the direction he was supposed to be looking. He didn't seem to dare look Bunnie's way again.

"Rahght," Bunnie's voice sounded uncharacteristically dull and final. Nobody else spoke, but Sally walked over to her and put her hand on her friend's shoulder. Bunnie turned slightly. "Ah appreciate your tryin' Rotor. Now ah think ah'll just go for a walk."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Sally asked tentatively.

"Uh... Sure," Bunnie asked in the same tone of voice as if she'd said, 'Whatever'. The two lowered themselves to the ground and walked slowly along the river bank, saying nothing.

"Oh, man! Sonic," Rotor groaned, "what did I do this for? It's like I've upset everyone with this..." he gave the Search-o-Matic a vitriolic look and fell silent, unable to express how frustrated he felt at the machine he'd made that seemed to be causing so much trouble. Instead he looked at the floor. Sonic sat down with him.

"Hey, Rote, it's cool. It's kind of cool to know about... About stuff. You know?" Sonic tried to explain. "I guess I'm kinda not hoping any more." He finished. They both felt sad for a while. Finally Sonic shrugged and said,

"Well, I guess there's only one of us left." Rotor looked at Sonic, who was pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. Rotor tried to suppress a laugh.

"I guess I saved the worst till last, huh?" the two laughed lightly at the reaction they guessed Antoine would have. But neither could really laugh at the coyote's misfortune and they both looked glum again.

"Hey, it'll be over by tonight," Sonic said.

The Knothole Freedom Fighters sat around the Search-o-Matic, listening to its buzz, watching its satellite turn. It was searching for any living relatives on Mobius of a Mr. Antoine D'Coolette.

Antoine didn't seem to know whether to be hopeful or pessimistic, the two expressions kept changing on his face. After a few seconds he looked at Sally as if to ask her how he should feel. She could only give him the same uncertain look back. Suddenly the Search-o-Matic bleeped.

"One possible relative found." The machine announced. Antoine gasped, and looked intent, his ears pointed toward the machine, awaiting its next words. "Please insert DNA to confirm."

Rotor tapped a button on the machine's keyboard and said, "We can't confirm with DNA. Where is he?"

"Insufficient data."

"Uh... Where is... she?"

"Coordinates to follow." the machine buzzed and announced the coordinates, which Rotor jotted down. Meanwhile, Antoine sat back on his haunches. He stared at the machine. At first he said nothing. Then he turned to Rotor and asked breathlessly,

"Shee iz my mother, yes?"

Rotor shrugged. "I don't know, Antoine. Search-o-Matic, what is this relative?"

The machine buzzed again. "Matching DNA is of a female sibling."

"Oh mah Golly-gosh!" Bunnie sang, gripping Antoine in a sisterly hug. "Antoine, you've got yourself a sister!"

Antoine, for a moment, seemed to be struck dumb by the news. Finally he whispered, "Velvet." Then, all at once, he asked all his questions at once: "But what is she to be looking like? Iz she alrahght? Where iz she? Doez she wanting to be meeting me? Does she to be know-"

"Antoine, whoah!" Rotor laughed. His mood suddenly soared to ecstatic heights. His machine had done some good after all! "We're only working on the fact that she's got your DNA! We can't tell what she looks like, just that she's your sister and that she's..." He checked the map he'd based the machine's coordinate system on. "in the Mannietta Coast. Whoah," he said, half to himself, "she lives in a major geyser pocket."

Antoine still looked amazed. His mouth worked for a moment, and then he found his voice again. "Can you to be, err... contacting 'er?"

"I'll get right on it."

The moon grew fat twice, and Rotor's carrierbot still hadn't returned with news of Antoine's sister. Perhaps she didn't want to contact him? Perhaps she was sick, unable to answer? Perhaps-

There were so many possibilities. Perhaps, just perhaps, she had recorded a message of her own, and that message was on its way. The Mannietta Coast was a long way off, it would have taken a whole moon cycle for the carrierbot to get to her in the first place. Antoine refused to give up hope that she would get in contact. But that didn't mean he found it easy to be patient.

Days and days passed. Raids on Robotropolis were made. Adventures were shared, and day after day, Antoine would look at the sky, wondering where that carrierbot was. The others wondered, too.

Rotor sat on a wooden platform cantilevered half way up a tree; he was on sentry duty. He was bored, a little impatient to get back to a new project of his, and a little hungry. The receptor device for the carrierbot he had sent in search of Antoine's sister was clipped to his belt, as it had been for a few weeks now. Until now it had been silent. Until now.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP...

Rotor semi-panicked, unclasped the device, and set it down on the platform to keep it still. The carrierbot was close; Antoine's sister had sent it back!

Suddenly, he could see it. It flew - a little jerkily - in from the East, answering the call its receptor made. Eventually it touched down on the platform, bumped into Rotor's receptor, and rolled to a standstill. Rotor took a deep breath and picked up the bot. There was a new recording on there, only 30 days old. He pressed the start button.

The recording started with a bassey crackling as the unit was switched on. There was a pause, and then: "Hello," a female voice began, a little hesitantly. The sound was tinny, but audible. Her accent was different from Antoine's. Rotor knew what it was instantly: it was English. "I've just listened to the message you sent me, Antoine. I thought you were dead! Listen, I'd love to meet you, just like you asked. I don't know how you're going to get to me, but I'll keep this... thingy and wait for you at the spot you asked me to. Oh my gosh! I'll meet you soon, okay?" And with that, the microphone gurgled as she switched the unit off.

Rotor felt elated! He stood up and paced over to the edge of the platform to see if Antoine was with the others at ground level. He was.

"...so I looked straight at Robuttnik and said, 'your butt's so big, you make a bear look like a stick insect!' Next thing he knew, I'd juiced it outta there! I got the-"

"Antoine!" Called Rotor. The group looked as one in his direction. He was still halfway down the ladder and descending as fast as he could. The carrierbot was clipped to his belt and swung as he stepped onto the ground. He jogged in their direction and handed the unit to Antoine. "One message from Miss. D' Coolette!" he announced.

Antoine turned the unit in his hands as he looked for the start button. Rotor reached over and tapped it. The other Freedom Fighters gathered behind Antoine and looked at the unit over his shoulders. The message played again, and as it did, the team looked at eachother and quietly made triumphant noises.

Antoine smiled and began to laugh. "She iz... Fantastique!" He said finally. He looked up at Rotor. "What do we to be doing now?" Rotor turned to Sonic.

"You ready to go get her, man?"

"Soon as you want!" Sonic replied. "Just gimme an ol' map!"

Rotor smiled and went to fetch Sonic a map of the Mannietta Coast. A few moments later and the hedgehog was on his way.

Night was falling as Sonic darted down the side of the hill, picking his way deftly between the black rocks. Below him he could see the village that corresponded to his map. And over there, to the left, he saw the clump of trees, the oasis beside which Velvet had been instructed to meet him. There was a tiny speck of a person there. He leaned into a curve and sprinted her way.

On level ground, he slowed to a jog so that he could get a good look at her before she heard him approaching. She had her back to him, her arms folded, pacing slowly this way and that. Waiting.

Her fur was exactly the same colour as Antoine's. Sonic rarely saw Antoine with his uniform off, but on the two or three occasions he had, on blistering summers and on the odd occasion the group went for a dip in the river, he had seen the saddle of grey fur on Antoine's back. Velvet had the same markings. He noticed that she had a sparsely-furred tail, and Sonic thought back to when Antoine had lost his.

Her clothing was more sparing than her brother's: a strip of blue fabric tied around each wrist, black boots and a hat, which, as he came closer revealed itself to be a trilby. He called a greeting and she turned to face him.

Sonic stopped in his tracks, slack-jawed. It was Antoine... but female! The eyes were larger, but the youthful, open look in them was exactly the same. The muzzle was shorter and blunter and the ruff was smaller, but her smiling expression rested just as lightly on her face as it did on Antoine's. Her build was slightly curvy - heavier than Sally's - but not fat.

"Gee," he said, taking the look of her in. "You look just like him!"

She laughed. "Do I? That makes sense!" Her voice was similar too - Antoine's, but lighter and, of course, feminine. But it matched just as much as the face. Sonic picked up a woven holdall from the ground next to her and slung it over his shoulder. He turned to face back the way he'd come, assessing his route back up.

"We've got a long way to go," he said, turning back to her. "You ready?"

"I meant to ask you about that," she replied. "This Knothole of yours is miles away, isn't it?"

Sonic nodded, smirking. "Yeah!" He knew the question that was coming.

"So how do you suggest we get there so fast? And so late?"

"BOLLOCKS!" she screamed, cringing against the blue hedgehog as he sprinted through the woods at unnatural speed. Trees whipped by so fast she barely registered them before feeling the eddies of wind as they created. How did he manage not to hit them, she wondered?

"Pretty cool, huh?" this 'Sonic' laughed.

"Uhm..." Velvet hesitated, not so sure. He seemed to be enjoying the run far more than she was. She fell into silence as the hedgehog continued to run perilously close to worryingly solid objects.

Surely if he ran this fast then the journey would be over quickly, wouldn't it?

It was a dark, warm night by the time the pair got back to Knothole Village. Velvet walked - slightly shakily - by Sonic's side, the holdall of her possessions still on his shoulder. He led her through the village, past peaceful round huts, lit unusually by electricity, and towards the edge of the Great Forest. He held open a way for her through the branches and leaves. Soon, they began to hear voices and they found themselves in a clearing.

Velvet surveyed the open space. A warm camp fire flickered at the centre, its embers red hot, casting golden light on the other animals. There were four looking back at her: a slim brown ground squirrel with a fiery red shock of hair, a rabbit, partially obscure behind the male to her left, who was a walrus, and a coyote. She was vaguely aware of Sonic putting down the holdall next to an empty space and sitting next to the squirrel. Velvet locked eyes with her brother for the first time in 10 years. He looked terrified.

Without a word he stood up and stumbled forward. She ran, colliding with the male who was once a pup smaller than she but was now as tall as her. They wrapped their arms around eachother and laughed, and wrestled, and cried, spinning around, only gradually slowing.

She held him at arms' length to look at him properly. "It's so good to see you," she said warmly, her voice tinged with tears.

"Oui, oui! Je vous ai manques tres beaucoup!" her brother - Antoine - replied.

"Nous avons beaucoup pour nous remettre au courant sur!" She agreed. She appraised him, her head tilted to one side. She smiled and hugged him again.

Finally they turned back to the others. The squirrel had walked around to this side of the fire and Velvet guessed, rightly, that here was her future queen. She bowed. "Princess Acorn," she addressed the squirrel with respect in her voice, "it is an honour to meet you."

Sally laughed. "Oh, we don't live on ceremony here! I'm Sally. Relax," she suggested, handing the coyote a drink.

Velvet looked down at the drink. "I think I'm going to like it here," she commented, and the group laughed. "So, little brother," she said, looking back at Antoine. "Aren't you going to introduce me to everyone?"

"Oui, oui, of course!" he said happily, and pointed to Bunnie. "Zis is Bunnie Rabbot..."

"Hi," came the rabbit's Southern drawl, and Velvet saw that the rabbit's arm and legs were roboticized. Her eyes snapped back to Bunnie's face, suddenly keen not to stare. She didn't want to appear rude.

"Ze Princess you 'ave met," Antoine continued, "And Sonique..." there was a discernable pause. "You 'ave met 'im also." Velvet flicked a gaze at Bunnie, who rolled her eyes at her. Velvet was sure Bunnie had just tried to give her information. She wondered what it might be.

"An zis... is Rotor! 'E found you wiz ze compuerre!"

"Hi, how ya doin'?" the walrus greeted rhetorically. There were two empty seats beside him, so Velvet walked around to sit there, guided by Antoine. She looked him in the eyes.

"So you reunited me with my brother." It was a statement, not a question.

"It was nothin'" he mumbled shyly.

"Hardly," Velvet said, holding his gaze. "Thank you."

Antoine glanced at Sally and Bunnie. Bunnie leant forward and whispered, "Antoine! Why's she got an English accent?"

"I am not to be knowing," he whispered with a shrug - Velvet and Rotor were in a conversation next to him, unable to respond for the moment. He turned around to ask her, but she clearly hadn't noticed the question. He tried for a moment to get a word in, without success. He wondered how he was going to attract her attention. Then, an old memory came to him and he smiled.

"So d'you do a lot of inventing, then?" she asked the walrus.

"Well, I do a little. It kinda started because we're Freedom F-"

"Arrggh!" Velvet interrupted, shrugging. Antoine was poking her in the ear. "Gerroff!" she laughed. He poked his finger into her ear again. Rotor watched, dumbstruck, and then started to chuckle at the bizarre scene. "Look, you're doing nothing for Anglo-French relations! Stop it!"

Poke. Rustle. Jab.

"What?" she laughed, finally turning to him.

"Why are you speaking wiz zis Eengleesh accent, seester? Where iz ze French?"

Velvet glanced at the group, who were torn between amusement at Antoine's way of getting her attention and avid interest in her reply. She addressed the group: "I travel from town to town a lot, and when I don't know anyone well enough to get a job, I do a spot of fortune telling. The accent is my way of branding myself as a mysterious visitor from afar. It's something you do in that line of work."

Reader, on Mobius, the English quarter is steeped in history and myth. The English accent is the sound of mystery, the unknown. It is exotic and unusual. This very exoticism, reader, was the reason for her choice of accent.

"You can read fortunes?" Bunnie squealed. The coyote nodded. "Ah've always wanted mah future told!"

And with that, Velvet shuffled forward and looked into Bunnie's palm.

The stars had long since come out and turned their circles against the sky. Bunnie stretched and said, "Ah don't know about you guys, but ah'm gonna get me some sleep!" There were murmurs and yawns of agreement among the group and the Freedom Fighters began to disperse. Velvet picked up her holdall and allowed Antoine to lead her towards his quarters.

They chatted about this and that as Antoine unlocked his front door and indicated the space on the floor of his one-bed hut where Velvet might sleep, ready with blankets. It was a small space, not even long enough for her to lay full length, but after today, it looked perfect.

"I zeenk zat a teller of ze fortunes will be useful for us!" Antoine said conversationally, untying his boots.

Velvet shook her head. "Don't you believe a word of it, Tony. Fortune telling is a scam. It's just a bit of fun!"

Antoine looked confused. "But you were to be knowing zat Bunnie will 'ave a friend 'oo will be depending on 'er. You said!"

"And a generic statement it was," Velvet countered. "Think of your line of work. Of course she's going to meet a new person. And Sonic said that she's amazingly strong, so she must be useful to you guys. She's statistically likely to help with the person she meets. And she's outgoing and sociable - she won't hold back if she gets a chance to be helpful."

Antoine thought for a moment, and then made a large shrugging gesture. "Ah, of course. Eet eez ze clever way wiz words, yes?"

"Exactly."

The pair prepared for bed in companionable silence for a while. Antoine noticed that Velvet kept glancing at him, and he raised an enquiring eyebrow at her.

"Um... Tony?" Velvet began. She seemed to find it hard to find the right words for a moment, and then sighed. "It doesn't matter," she concluded with a tired smile and turned away to straighten out the makeshift bed.

Antoine cocked his head to one side. Then, with a sigh, he slipped off his jacket and climbed into his own bed. "Goodnight, Velvet," he said softly.

"Goodnight," She replied.