#reblogs r appreciated also ... im proud of this?? kinda?? wack

[rubyiiiusions]

i wonder how the sun feels when it falls // sonknux

word count 2489 - ao3 link

summary:

For his entire life, Knuckles had been alone. It was his fate-he was the last echidna, after all, and he enjoyed his solitary lifestyle, but…

It hurt, sometimes. And, in his typical fashion, Sonic was always there to help alleviate that age-old pain, words light and airy, smile carefree as the wind, breathless and sweaty as they fought in the light of the moon, and afterward picking blueberries and tossing them at each other, building a campfire and making s’mores, laughing at the stickiness of a melted marshmallow stuck in blue quills.

enjoy,,, theyre freaks <3

-

Knuckles could barely remember a time when he didn’t love Sonic. 

He’d loved him for as long as he knew what the word meant, and in every sense of it–they were rivals, friends, and somehow so, so much more. From the very beginning, the blue hedgehog had been different; the first of his enemies that actually put up a fight, that threatened his way of living first by shattering his world and then by rebuilding it, sweeping him into a whirlwind of taunts and laughter and too-warm smiles. Sonic got on his nerves in the best way possible, giving him an outlet for everything he struggled to express in words, a punching bag that fought back. He was infuriatingly stubborn–he never gave up, never left, not even after Knuckles got tricked and fought against him for the umpteenth time. It was a dance they’d perfected, stubbornly insisting on getting in each other’s way just to hear the other’s infuriated scoff, to feel the rush of battle as they sparred with words and fists, genuine smiles. 

For his entire life, Knuckles had been alone. It was his fate-he was the last echidna, after all, and he enjoyed his solitary lifestyle, but…

It hurt, sometimes. And, in his typical fashion, Sonic was always there to help alleviate that age-old pain, words light and airy, smile carefree as the wind, breathless and sweaty as they fought in the light of the moon, and afterward picking blueberries and tossing them at each other, building a campfire and making s’mores, laughing at the stickiness of a melted marshmallow stuck in blue quills. Sonic fell asleep curled next to Knuckles, and carefully a bulky hand snaked around his shoulders, pulling him closer, leaning into each other. He wasn’t built to handle delicate things, and while Sonic was usually anything but, now…

He trusted Knuckles. He was vulnerable around him, even after everything they’d been through. Knuckles swallowed, realizing that without noticing, he’d let his defenses down, too. 

He was terrible at reading body language. It was a language he didn’t speak, could barely understand, let alone translate. But even he noticed the way Sonic stumbled around Ares island, limping and smiling, a hand flickering with cyber-corruption. The moon was high above, mirroring the crescent on Knuckles’ chest. He wondered how many sleepless nights he’d had. Less than Sonic, for sure. 

A flicker. He yelped, spinning around, and there she was–that mysterious girl that had trapped him, reduced him to this. He let out a low growl, but she was floating out of reach, and Sonic still insisted that he shouldn’t fight her. Reluctantly, he lowered his fists, eyeing her warily.

“You care for him,” she noted, gazing at the blue hedgehog in the distance, sparring with one of the many robots littering the desert island. “Why?”

“What do you mean?” Knuckles scoffed. “He’s my friend. Of course I care about him.” 

“You argue,” she pointed out, still staring at Sonic’s figure, illuminated in the moonlight. “You don’t see eye to eye, you fight constantly. You claim that you’re friends, yet there’s this odd tension between you. It’s perplexing.”

“Yeah, we’re rivals. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, too.” Knuckles followed her gaze. A laugh found his ears, carried by the wind. “He annoys me, but I admire him. He’s strong, fast… he’s saved me more times than I can count.” He let out a small laugh. “And he depends on me, too. He’d never admit it, but he’d be lost without me.”

The girl hummed. “He’s a confusing specimen, isn’t he? Almost a shame that he has to die.”

Knuckles snorted. “You can try to kill him. I have too. He’s not going to lose. No matter what. I know him.”

He turned back and she was gone. Letting out a sigh, he vanished and flickered back into existence next to Sonic. Somehow, looking at his drooping eyelids, his words and faith in his rival seemed unfounded. 

“It’s dark,” he commented, not knowing quite what to say. “You seem tired.” 

Sonic brushed him off, waving a hand. “Psh. I’m fine, Knux. If anything, you seem like you’re struggling to keep up. Did I wear you out?” he teased, instinctively elbowing him. His arm fizzled through flesh, flickering in and out of existence, a constant reminder of the predicament they were in, the state Knuckles trusted Sonic with his life to help him escape. 

“Hardly,” he snorted. “But I’m not sure I trust you to take down that titan while you look like you’re about to collapse.” 

“Please.” Sonic yawned. “I could take that hunk of junk down in my sleep. ”

“It almost blew you up yesterday.”

“That’s beside the point.”

“I–” Knuckles bit back his concern, turning away. “Fine. Just… be careful, ok?”

“Please.” Sonic laughed, far too strained. “Careful? Where’s the fun in that?”

-

He was limp, frozen in place, flickering and corrupted. Knuckles mirrored him, trembling at the sight. Amy let out a cry, running to Sonic, and he tried to force himself to do the same but he couldn’t move , paralyzed by shock, dread, the world spinning so much he barely noticed the ground that felt solid at his feet. 

“What happened to him?” He asked, head spinning, and this all felt like a scene from one of those horror movies Rouge loved to watch with him, something that couldn’t be real, there was no way, but there Sonic was, paralyzed, grinning, ever upbeat, the spitting image of the optimistic hero, the light of hope, snuffed out. 

“He took on so much cyber energy,” Tails’ voice was soft, miserable, almost shrouded in disbelief. “It… it corrupted him.”

“Meaning?” His ears were ringing. 

“He’s stuck between realities. He’s in limbo. He… he lost.” 

No. There was a lump in his throat, forcing its way out in the form of a tiny, choked cry, finally finding the strength to stumble forward. It was all blurry except for him, a frozen statue, eyes open, flesh blackened and flickering that vile red, corrupted through and through, and, of course, the small, pained grin on his face. His hand found a once-blue shoulder and didn’t pass through it. He forced back a sob. He can’t be dead. He can’t–

He didn’t lose. There’s no way.

Eggman was cackling(he was here, of course he was here), but it was faint background noise, deafened by the ringing in his ears, and Sonic wasn’t breathing, Chaos, he wasn’t breathing – 

“Wake up,” he breathed, barely audible, shaking Sonic’s shoulders, and he was stone-cold. “Please. You have to wake up. You can’t--” 

A rumble, booming ominously in the distance, shaking the very ground below his feet. Knuckles pulled away, jolted back to reality, looking around frantically. Whoever did this to him is going to pay, he thought, grim. His light of hope had been snuffed out, but what could he do except fight on? It was all he knew how to do anyway. Hope was a weak drug compared to vengeance. 

“Since time immemorial I have languished here. Now, the locks are broken. I shall tear down the walls between dimensions and consume all.”

Knuckles growled, clenching his fists and stepping forward, mouth parting to shout his defiance to the stars, standing between it and the fallen celestial next to him. Eggman was panicking, shouting something about mobilizing the Egg Fleet, but it was helpless. If Sonic had lost, what chance did any of them have of winning? A broken record of his own hopeless concerns, data backing up the inevitable conclusion, the girl he’d seen earlier gripped Eggman’s shoulder, shaking it frantically, eyes flicking from Knuckles to Sonic to the sky and back again. “It won’t be enough! It triumphed over the Ancients’ technology! My simulations show a success rate of zero percent!” 

Of course, Knuckles thought, grim, blood running cold, turning back to look at Sonic again. His eyes were no longer green, consumed by that sickening, flickering, lifeless red. He stepped back, still in disbelief, looking down at his now-solid hands. He sacrificed himself for us. You selfless idiot. 

“No!” Tails’ voice cut through the daze, drawing his eyes to him. His face, screwed in determination despite the tears brimming in his eyes, somehow mirrored his brother’s in a way that tore and shredded at Knuckles’ heart, tugging at his heartstrings. Things will never be the same again, will they? “Sonic worked too hard for us to give up now. Those visions we saw… we can drive back the corruption and bring him back!”

Knuckles inhaled, gaze traveling from his hands, no longer flickering, to the corrupted hero. Of course. When he freed me, the energy keeping me prisoner went into him. A small, sad smile found its way to his muzzle. We’ll see who’s self-sacrificing now, you bastard. You’ve saved me time and time again, it’s time to return the favor. 

His hand found Tails’, Amy grasping his other fist as if her life depended on it. Her voice was shaky, full of emotion that Knuckles wished he knew how to express. “Sonic, you still have love to share with this world, too!”

“Sonic, I want you to see the hero I become!” Tails cried, squeezing Knuckles’ hand tightly. The world was beginning to hum, echoing in his ears. He stepped closer to his friend--no, so much more, that warmth in his chest, that faded from enemies to rivals to friends to whatever they had been, could be if this only worked. He supposed that he could call that love. Whatever it takes. 

“Sonic.” His voice was far shakier than he would have liked. “We’re even after this, ha!” 

And everything flickered to black. 

-

 “You look tired,” Sonic commented, pushing through the brush as he followed Knuckles through his island. Knuckles snorted, laden with something… more. “You’re one to talk.” 

“Nah.” Sonic shrugged, and though Knuckles was unsure if his grin was real or not, it still made his heart shiver and pound in his chest. “I’m more awake than ever after punching through that planet. Eclipse cannon who, am I right? At least I finished the job.” 

Both paused, a bitter taste spreading across Knuckles’ tongue. It wasn’t just Sonic that had sacrificed in the face of the End. The girl–no, her name was Sage –had given everything she never had and something more. 

“Hey,” Sonic murmured, breaking the silence, leaning down to scoop a sad-looking chao off of the ground. “You alright?”

“I’ve been away for a while. I guess they’ve grown dependent on me to shake the trees for them.” Knuckles absentmindedly punched the trunk of a tree beside him, catching the fruit that fell and handing it to the chao. “Here you go, little guy.” 

The chao chirped happily, curling closer to Sonic as it munched on the triangle fruit, seemingly content to remain in the hero’s arms. This time, his smile was genuine–Knuckles was sure of it, and it made his head spin, the tiny laugh that Sonic let out. His head was spinning in a good way this time, like he was sliding down a hill, leaping into a pile of leaves, freefalling as far as he could before gliding just inches above the seaspray. 

“Sonic?”

“Mhm?” The hedgehog turned, eyes glimmering with joy as he scratched the chao on the belly. 

“I–” he paused, trying to find the right words, and giving up when he realized he never would, there would never be a way to encapsulate the way Sonic made him feel, but he’d try anyway. Funny how losing him, even if just for a moment, made everything feel so much more temporary and simultaneously shoved it into place. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad that you’re alive.” 

Sonic laughed, joyful and free and real . “Wow, thanks for the sentiment,” he joked, playfully elbowing Knuckles, careful not to disturb the chao that had clambered onto his shoulder. 

“No.” Knuckles looked away. Why were his cheeks burning? “Sonic, when you got corrupted, I–I guess it made me realize how much I need you, how much I care about you as… well, as more than just a rival or a friend. More than I thought. You’re just so… so free, and yet you care so much, even though you don’t have to. You sacrifice so much not just for your friends, but for your enemies, for people you’ll never meet. So… thank you, I guess.” He bit his lip. “...Don’t make me say it again, you know how I am with feelings–”

Sonic swallowed his yelp of surprise, hands suddenly clinging to his dreads, pulling him close, somehow sweet and frantic all at once, and oh.

Oh.

That’s what that was. 

He began to pull away but Knuckles pulled him closer, deepening the kiss, hands coming to cup his grip on his dreads, and suddenly he was being shoved backwards, pressed against the trunk of the tree he’d just punched to give the chao fruit. Sonic hummed against his lips, parting for just a second before diving in again, clinging to Knuckles as if his life depended on it, not the other way around. “I love you too,” he murmured against his lips, and Knuckles shuddered, refusing to let the kiss end. It didn’t feel real but it somehow felt so, so right , as if he’d been waiting for this his entire life without realizing it, and maybe he had been, maybe that was what he’d been missing all this time. It was like he was walking on a cloud, Sonic pulling him up among the stars, outshining all of them with the way he unraveled Knuckles, piece by piece, delicately yet completely pulling him apart and cradling him close. He was trembling like a leaf, Knuckles realized, and suddenly they were falling.

They separated with a gasp, Sonic tumbling to the ground and swearing as he lost his balance, Knuckles following with a yelp. In an instant, they were a tangled pile of limbs and fur on the forest floor, stunned into silence before Sonic laughed, raspy and real . 

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that,” he admitted. Knuckles scoffed. “What, you waited ?” he teased. “Do I know you?”

The chao let out a whine and Sonic winced, turning to look at it, sitting grumpily on the floor with crossed arms and an upturned nose. “Sorry, little guy. Didn’t mean to drop you.” It peeped, frustrated, and Knuckles sighed in contentment, holding out a bulky hand for it to climb into and pulling it close. “Really Sonic, have more respect for the wildlife,” he scolded. 

Sonic sniffed, turning up his nose. “I had more important business to take care of.” Knuckles growled playfully, capturing him again.