Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are copyright SEGA Enterprises LTD. and/or Archie Comic Publications. Delphine and related characters are copyright Delphine Kiminsu. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Does anybody really know where we should go? --Meredith Brooks, Down By the River ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Running Part 1: Confusion --Delphine Kiminsu "This is stupid -- don't you get what's going on?!" "I know exactly what's going on! It's you who's out of it!" "I'M OUT OF IT?!" he shouted. "You're the one walking around this village like you own the thing!" "What?! What the hell are you talking about?! I've done no such thing!" "Oh, sure! Just because everyone thinks YOU'RE in charge..." "Well with the way you've been locking yourself up in this hut, I AM in charge! And Bunnie, too!" "Damnit Del! You know why..." "Yeah, I know! But that doesn't mean I'm going to let this village fall apart while you're in here feeling SORRY for yourself!" "FEELING SORRY FOR MYSELF?! WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?! MY GIRLFRIEND IS DEAD!!" "You think I don't know that? I'm letting you sit in here and chill! You don't HAVE to be in charge yet!" "I'd rather have someone who knows what they're doing in charge when I can't be." "EXCUSE me? Yeah well, I'd rather talk to a person than a load of hot air." She turned on her heal and swiftly walked to the door. "A load of hot air?! Look who's talking!" She stopped short and whirled around to face him. "I'm a load of hot air?" she asked hotly. "Well then, I really hope Bunnie can handle this village on her own for a while longer." "Why?" "THINK about. If you CAN." She stormed out. Sonic glared after her. Delphine angrily grabbed her pack out of the closet and threw it onto her bed. "Well if he's going to be such an asshole then he can just screw himself because I'm sick of his shit--" As she was talking she pulled out an extra pair of clothes, a pen, and a journal. As she was pulling out the journal, two more fell on top of her. She stopped her storming and picked them up. A few weeks earlier, she had caught Jamie reading the first journal. "Jamie? What are you reading?" Jamie picked the book up and proudly showed it off. "I found it under the couch." Delphine snatched it out of her hands. "And why didn't you leave it there?" she asked angrily. Jamie's face fell. "I was just gonna read it, I wasn't gonna do nothin' to it." "You were going to read it. Remember what I told you? Leave everything where it is unless you ask me first." "I'm sorry," Jamie whispered. Delphine sighed and picked her up. "It's all right. I'm not mad." She looked at the journal and sighed again. Her hand went over the brown leather covering, traced over the lettering. "Why does it say Darren Kiminsu?" Delphine looked at Jamie. "Because it was my father's." "O-oh. So that's why you wanted me to leave me alone." She thought a moment. "Why was it under the couch?" Delphine sighed once again and sat Jamie down on the coffee table, and sat on the couch in front of her. "Because... Because I'm afraid of what I'll find in it." "Why?" "Because... I don't want to find anything bad. To me, my father was the greatest guy and the greatest hero. But... I don't know what he was really like. This is his personal journal. It'll probably tell me EVERYTHING. Do I really want to know everything?" Jamie looked at her thoughtfully. "Well... I think you should read it. Maybe your dad was even better than you think he was." Jamie yawned. "I'm tired." "Okay. I'll put you to bed." Delphine snapped back to reality. "Her room had been built by then..." she murmered to herself. She placed the journal on top of her own inside of her pack. Then she looked at the other one. It had been Sally's. It was pink, with Sally's name written on it in black ink. Bunnie had found it, and, after reading it, had given it to Del, insisting that she read it. Delphine had only read the first page. It was simple stuff. The journal began a number of years ago. 32.6.4, was the date. It was a might smaller than her father's. Her father's was a large, 9" by 12" book. Sal's was a 6" by 9". Her own was 4" by 6.5", and it was green with thread lettering in her own name. He father had given it to her, telling her to write in it. She had planned on it; now she was going to take action. She tossed a pencil inside, then walked to the kitchen. "I'm going to need enough for until I find a place... at least a month's worth of provisions. And I'd better pack some medical supplies, too." "Where're you going?" "Good question, kiddo." Delphine turned. Standing in the doorway, she saw Comet, with Jamie on her back. "Just where , exactly, is Delphine going?" "Nowhere in particular." *literally* she added telepathically to Comet. "Oh, " Jamie said. *what do you mean?* Comet asked. *I'm outa here. I don't need to deal with a certain hedgehog's load of shit anymore* *load of shit? I thought you guys were best friends!* *well apparently Sonic doesn't like that situation anymore* *but... what will you tell everyone?* *that I'm outa here. I don't need to tell them the details of what happened* *what DID happen?* *I said no one needs the details* *all right* Comet sighed. Jamie looked at her. "Hey, are you two doing that thing again?" Delphine walked over to them and picked Jamie up. "What thing, Jams?" "The telapthy thing!" Delphine and Comet grinned. "Telepathy. Yeah, we were." "What were you talking about?" "Stuff." "What kinda stuff?" "Secret stuff." "Oooooh. Okay!" She looked around. "Hey, whyjoo pack a bag? Are you going somewhere?" Delphine sighed. "Yeah Jams, I'm going somewhere. Speaking of which, I need to get Dimi to watch you while I'm gone." "Awww. Why? Why can't I come with you?" Comet looked at Delphine. *maybe you should. She WAS a nomad, she can live in the conditions. I think...* "You're doin' it again!" Jamie accused. Comet sighed. "Did you ever think, kiddo, that we do that because we don't want other people knowing what we're saying?" "...Oh. Sorry." "It's all right." Delphine looked at Comet. *I can't bring her with me. Not yet. After I find somewhere permanent, I'll come back for her* *Fine. I'm coming with you* *WHAT?!* *You heard me. I'm coming with you.* *But... why?* *You're my best friend, Del. I have no place here if you're not here* *yes you d--* *No. I don't.* *All right* Outloud, "C'mon, Jams. After you help me pack, I'll bring you over to Dimitria's place." "But I want to go with you. I really, really want to go with you! Please?" "What is this?! I'm not running a travel agency!" "I'm sorry." "No, it's not just you." Delphine looked at Comet. Comet shrugged. Delphine put Jamie down and knelt in front of her. "Listen, Jamie. I don't know where I'm going, and it could be very, very dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt." "I won't get hurt. Why don't you know where you're going?" "Because... because..." "It's okay. You can tell me." "It's beacuse... I'm leaving Knothole. I'm not coming back. Ever." "You're leaving Knothole?! But... but why?!?" Delphine sat back with a sigh. "I'm not welcome here anymore." *ridiculous* "Why not?" *good question* "Sonic hates me now. And since he's the leader, I guess I can't be here any more." *even more ridiculous* *shutup Comet* "Well... I guess... is that why you wanted me to stay with Dimitria?" "Yeah. So I could come back for you and not have to come back here." "Oh. Okay. Guess I should pack too?" "Yeah. Go ahead kiddo." Jamie ran off to her room. Delphine stood up and looked at Comet. "Del, are you all right?" "I'm fine." "Are you sure?" "Yeah." Comet looked at her. "If you say so, Del." The three of them left Knothole late that night, and arrived at Dimitria's hut an hour after dawn. Dimitria was surprisingly already up. After hearing the story, she agreed to watch Jamie. After Jamie had gone to the guest room, Dimitria asked Delphine why she couldn't just "handle it." "It was the final straw, that's why." Dimitria sighed. "You know, I could stop you if I wanted to. But... I don't want to. I think you should do what you want to do. If you're done with the Freedom Fighters, then I guess you should move on." Delphine looked shocked for a moment, then glared coldly at Dimitria. "I know what you're trying to do. Don't bother. I'm leaving. Period. If you don't understand why, fine. Just watch Jamie until I find somewhere. It's not like you have to actually DO anything. I know you don't like to DO anything, you just WATCH." She stood up and turned away from Dimitria. Dimitria stood up angrily, knocking the chair over. "Don't you DARE talk to me like that!" "WHY NOT?! YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER!!" She stormed out of the hut. Dimitria stared after her. "N... no, I'm not." She walked over to the chair she had been sitting in and put in upright. Then she sat in it again. She put her head in her hands with a sigh. It was several hours later. Delphine was riding Comet, and they were flying towards who-knows-where. "That didn't sound all that great back there," Comet said, breaking the silence for the first time since they had taken off. "So." She shrugged. "Just commenting." They flew on in silence. "Jared!" Jared Matte and Devon Comber looked up at Tails. They were in the gym. Devon had been holding the punching bag while Jared had been punching it. (what a concept, punching a punching bag!) Jared wiped the sweat off his brow. His black leather jacket was over on the bench, and his white tee-shirt had gotten tighter over the past couple of months. Devon's shirt had gotten a little too tight of late, so he had taken his off and it was over on the bench next to Jared's jacket. "What's up?" "Sonic kicked Del out of Knothole!" "WHAT?!" "Thaht's naht exactly how it'all happened," Bunnie said as she stepped into the room. She stopped when she saw Jared and Devon. "Well! Ah'm not sure I've evah seen such good looking humans." "We're exceptions to the rest of them,"Jared said. "What'd you say about Sonic kicking Del out?" "He didn't kick her out. They had a fight and she left." "And if Sonic hadn't said what he said, Del wouldn't have left," Tails said with crossed arms. All three looked at him, surprised. "Yeah, I know. You all think he's my role model. I don't want someone who kicks his best friend out as my idol, okay?" "Uh... okay..." "What's going on here?" Tails looked behind Bunnie. "Gee Sonic, we were just talking about you," he snapped. Jared glared at Sonic. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" "I think I'm the one in charge now." "I think you're a moron." Jared glanced at Tails, then went back to glaring at Sonic. Sonic stared at Tails. "What?" "I said I think you're a moron. Idiot." Tails twirled on his heal and flew off. Bunnie leaned against the doorframe. "Ya'all are doin' well. Ya kicked ya best friend out, and now Tails hates ya. What will ya'all do next?" "Shut up." "No, let's keep going." Sonic looked at Jared. Then he looked back at Bunnie. "What is this?" "Nuthin'. Nuthin' planned, anyway. We were'all just discussing your stupidity." "You can't do that!" "Why? You gonna kick us out, too?" Sonic glared at all of them. "Just what DID happen?" Sonic looked at Devon. "We had a fight and she couldn't handle it." "She couldn't handle it, or she'd had enough?" Sonic looked at Jared. "I think she didn't feel like having to deal with your shit anymore." "MY shit?! Maybe you should think about what she's been do..." "You mean taking control? Leaving you alone? Letting you deal with what happened in your own way? You've been sitting in your hut taking a shit since what happened! MAYBE she didn't feel like taking care of TWO kids anymore!" Sonic walked up to Jared and glared at him. "Or maybe she was just a bitch." Jared punched Sonic. Sonic punched back. They fought until Bunnie and Devon pulled them apart. "Cut it out!" They glared at each other. Jared yanked his arm away from Devon and walked over to the bench, pulling his hand through his hair. He picked up his jacket and headed for the door. "Jared? Where're you going?" "I'm gonna go find her." "How?" Jared looked at Devon. "I'll find her." Tails landed the plane. "Do you want me to wait?" Jared looked up at him. He had his jacket on again, even though the weather was even warmer here. "Yeah. He might not come with me. And besides, I can't fly." Tails nodded, and Jared left to find Knuckles. Knuckles the Echidna was running through the tropical forest, chasing running something. from something He wasn't sure what, but it was definitely something bad. VERY bad. The tigress leaped over a log. After the echidna had headed after her, she had quickly doubled back so that he was the chasee and she the chaser. She wasn't sure he realized it yet, but... he was right ahead. She was having fun... playing with him. She would catch him when he tired of chasing her... She laughed. This would definitely be fun. Knuckles stopped and dropped to one knee. He was exhausted; he had been chasing running her for hours. He stood up and leaned against a tree. guess I can't keep up with a tiger guess you can't "What the..." "ROAR!" The tigress leaped upon him and pinned him to the ground. "WHAT THE HELL!" "It's been fun," she growled. "But after all this running, I've gotten hungry." "What..." "I'm gonna eat you, get over it." She raised one massive paw and extended her claws. Knuckles swallowed and struggled to get away. "Hey, tiger!" The tigress looked up in time to get swatted by a huge tree branch. The end of it was on fire. She jumped back with a growl and tensed. "Don't even think about it." Knuckles looked up at the figure behind the stick. "Jared, what're you doin' here--" The tigress sprang at Jared before he could answer. He jumped out of the way and landed hard on his face. The tigress raised her claws. Jared rolled out of the way just as she brought her paw down upon where he had just been, creating deep scratches in the earth. "ROAR! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES ME TO GET DIRT OUT OF MY CLAWS?!" "No, and I don't plan on finding out, either." He glanced at Knuckles. He had got up and the two of them ran. The tigress ran after them. Jared glanced at Knuckles. "What's up ahead?" "A cliff." "Great." "Overhanging a river." "Better." "The fastest river on the island." "Great." Jared sighed. "I'm jumping. You jumping?" "Yup." "Great." They cleared the trees and saw the edge of the cliff ahead of them. Behind them, the tigress roared angrily and gained speed. Knuckles took a glance behind them, and quickly looked ahead again. The tigress let out a roar and leaped. "GET DOWN!" Jared and Knuckles dropped to the ground and the tigress leaped over them and whirled around to face them. She now blocked the cliff edge. "Oh man." "Going somewhere boys?" "Not anymore." "If we jump over her, we'll make it," Knuckles said lowly. "All right. You go first." Knuckles nodded. He slowly backed up, then leaped over the tigress. "WHAT?!" Knuckles glided through the air, then dropped into the river. The current quickly over-took him. The tigress looked at Jared. "Don't think that YOU'LL pull that one off." "I wasn't planning on it." The tigress slowly circled around Jared. "Does your little friend realize that tigers can swim?" "No. That's why he went first." "I see. So you're going to play hero." "Right." "Uh-huh. What does the hero do when the bad guy kills him?" Jared swallowed. "It doesn't happen that why. The hero doesn't die." "This isn't a game, kid. The hero can die, and WILL die, if you catch my meaning." Jared kicked the tigress in the head. "So much for your meaning." "ROAWR!" The tigress struck out with her claws, pushing Jared off the cliff and putting three long claw marks in his stomach at the same time. Jared screamed, and when he hit the river he sucked in a lungfull of water. He resurfaced quickly and spit it out. The current swiftly carried him along, and he struggled for the shore. When he finally made it, he collapsed onto the sand, his own blood staining the lapping water around him. He heard footsteps coming towards him. They stopped in front of him, and he heard a voice say, "Jared?" Jared spat out a mixture of blood and water. "Are you aware that tigers can swim?" Knuckles stared at him. "...No." Jared rolled over onto his back and tried to sit up. His stomach muscles protested, and he looked down at himself. He turned pale. "Oh man." "It doesn't look that bad." "Naw, it's a good thing that I can't get up." He rolled over again and pushed himself up. Knuckles tried to help him stand but was pushed away and Jared stood on his own. They started walking. They didn't care where they were going, they just walked. "Why are you here, anyway?" Jared explained the situation to him. "...and I need you to come with me." Knuckles stared thoughtfully at the ground, letting all the information sink in. "All right. I just need to take care of a few things." "Okay. I'll be at Land's End with Tails and the bi-plane." Knuckles went one way and Jared went the other, although the latter had to stop once or twice due to his injury. Comet gasped. "I need to land." She swooped down, opened her wings, and lowered to the ground. Delphine jumped down and looked around. "We're in a tropical jungle or something." "Yeah." Comet laid down. Delphine climbed a tree and looked around them. "Well... not all that much here..." "Hey!" A high, squeaky voice called out. "Get outa my tree!" "Huh?" Delphine looked up and saw a very pissed monkey-like creature. "Out!" "All right, geeze..." Delphine started climbing down. "Now!" The monkey pushed her. Delphine reached out to grab a branch to hold herself... ...but she missed. When she realized she was falling, she screamed. Knuckles and Jared walked along the path. Only minutes ago, Tails had landed the plane on Mobian soil and they had left to find Delphine. Tails had promised to give Sonic the worst time. "How do you plan on finding her?" "I know which way she went. I'm hoping she keeps going in a straight line until we have something else to follow." Knuckles grinned. "Like she ever went in a straight line." "Hey, you never know. It's a start." "We--" Knuckles stoppped when an arrow embeded into the tree next to him. "Or maybe a stop, mate." To be continued...