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the-era-of-shadow · 1 year

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Hibernation Tradition

Cover Art by Ash Rose

Written by Ash Rose & Lunar Eclipse

THIS STORY CONTAINS: (Very) Mild Swearing (Surprisingly)

Ever since mobian-kind first began to appear on Aerth with the formation of the echidna tribes, and possibly even some time before then, there had been a very special tradition carried out by them throughout the cold winter months. In those simpler times where humans did not interfere with them, the mobians would carry on the same hibernation cycles of their non-anthropomorphic animal counterparts in a quite literal sense, but as times changed and mobian and human cultures began to intermingle more and more, this hibernation tradition was forced to become something more symbolic.

With the needs of modern society, mobians could no longer get away with taking the months long naps their ancestors used to, but perhaps if they lived in a mobian heavy location, such as the mobian ruled country of Mobotropolis, they'd at least be lucky enough to be guaranteed a paid vacation for whatever time they need. If, however, a mobian lived in a more human-centric area, like one of Mobotropolis's neighbors, the United Federation, that guarantee was less reliable to be so, and thus some mobians just had to rough through their day jobs without being able to properly partake in the traditions of their culture.

This changed, however, when the United Nations, a unification of powers between the United Federation, Mobotropolis, Holoska and South Island, was formed in the early twentieth century. When this unification was formed, the United Federation was mandated to make the paid vacation a federal policy just as Mobotropolis had. Thus, mobian-kind was finally able to enjoy their hibernation tradition in peace... and yet, the Freedom Fighters never got this luxury. Unlike them, the evil mad scientist known as Doctor Robotnik, or sometimes Doctor Eggman, never rested, seemingly not even for a moment, sometimes the Freedom Fighters would wonder if the man even slept, and thus the Freedom Fighters would have to constantly fight the mad doctor and his vicious robot creations, no matter the day or occasion. They would almost never rest, all so that the citizens of the United Nations, and of the rest of Aerth, could. This was the life that the Freedom Fighters, many of them young adults or even still in their teens, had known for almost their whole lives.

So it was an odd feeling when this year's hibernation time came around...

And they actually got the chance to rest...

"But isn't this what you wanted? I-I don't mean that in a rude way, I'm just-" Tangle asked Amy, perplexed by her speculations.

"Well, yes, but... I'm kinda used to breaks, I'm usually put more as backup due to my younger age... But to see everyone so relaxed? I don't think we've been attacked at all by anyone this week! It's... it's weird, you know?" Amy explained.

"I agree... It's not like Robotnik to rest..." Whisper mumbled.

"Maybe he's realized that things aren't going so hot for him? I mean, we haven't seen the guy in person ever since he questioned you and Sonic about the Mean Bean Café being destroyed! Haha! Ol' Eggy's just been sending out his cronies and eggpawns!" Tangle suggested.

"Perhaps... But also... what if he's planning something...? This sort of activity from him was also shown just before he initiated his plan with the Phantom Ruby last year..." Whisper pointed out.

"That situation occurred because we Freedom Fighters... kinda... were away...?" Amy added haphazardly, an awkward grin beginning to stretch across her face.

"I noticed that! Where'd you guys go?" Tangle asked.

"Oh... you know... space travel..." Amy sheepishly began to answer.

"Really?! Like that one time you guys went to the Space Colony ARK and fought that giant lizard??!" Tangle inquired further, becoming excited.

"In a way... You see, Knuckles got kidnapped by some echidnas from another tribe-"

"THE OTHER ECHIDNA TRIBES ARE STILL AROUND??? I THOUGHT THAT KNUCKLES' TRIBE WAS THE LAST ONE!!" Tangle yelled, startling Amy and Whisper.

"Please... I do understand your enthusiasm, Tangle... but let Amy tell the story..." Whisper requested, to which Tangle, while embarrassed, agreed to.

"Or I could, you know!" Knuckles said as he suddenly appeared behind Amy, causing all three of the girls to jump slightly from their seats.

"Knuckles! Where'd you come from?!" Amy questioned in surprise.

"Well, I was just dropping off a few gifts I got for you guys when I overheard you gals talking it up here in the main room! Specifically, taking it up about that excursion with the Nocturnus clan, I assume," Knuckles explained, Amy nodding in response.

"Nocturnus clan? My, doesn't that sound interesting?" Jewel remarked as she too entered the scene, carrying four mugs of hot cocoa and a plate of gingerbread cookies, all placed on a shimmering silver colored tray.

"Yeah! I was telling Whisper and Tangle about the adventure we had while Robotnik was busy... conquering Aerth..." Amy said, "Or at least I was planning to, until Knuckles came by and stole my spotlight!!" She added teasingly as she grabbed the mug meant for her.

"What'd you expect would happen when you're telling an echidna's story with an echidna nearby?!" Knuckles teased back, flashing her a big ol' confident grin as he did.

"Well I didn't know you were here, now did I??" Amy argued as she got up from her chair and proceeded to give Knuckles a noogie.

"Hey!! No fair!! I'm supposed to do that to you!!" Knuckles protested. The other three girls chuckled at the display, but eventually Amy did end her playful teasing and let Knuckles tell the story.

He explained how he had been captured by an echidna tribe called the Nocturnus clan, a tribe that had been exiled from Aerth a long time ago due to suspicions of being corrupted by chaos energy, and how a lot of the Freedom Fighters had gone out to go rescue him. But when Knuckles had been found, it got out that the leader of the Nocturnus clan, Lord Ix, was planning to attack Aerth in an act of vengeance for his exile, so the Freedom Fighters teamed up with a member of the Nocturnus, named Shade, to travel out to Twilight Cage where the Nocturnus resided and defeated Lord Ix once and for all.

"We... pretty stupidly also sorta teamed up with Robotnik... We had trusted him with keeping an eye on things back at home... Suffice to say, that didn't exactly work out," Amy added, feeling her guilt begin to wash over her.

"Ah... Please, pardon my intrusion but... did I hear you right when you said you went to the Twilight Cage...?" Tsunami inquired, poking her head from Amy's hammer, which was leaning up against the chair Amy was sitting in.

"Oh! Hey Ms Tsunami! You know something 'bout Twilight Cage?" Knuckles responded, curious.

"Yes, I do..! In fact, it was the first planet I ever traveled to! Which makes sense, considering it was in orbit with my homeworld..." Tsunami explained.

"The Black Comet?" Tangle questioned, looking up from the sip of hot chocolate she had been savoring.

"N-no! My homeworld, PetalBloom...! I... I suppose you've never heard of it... That... also makes sense." Tsunami clarified, sounding a tad somber.

"Wait, so the Black Arms haven't always lived on the Black Comet? Huh. You learn something new everyday I suppose! But I'm guessing it's been quite a while since you guys left this "PetalBloom" then, huh?" Amy asked, "What happened?"

"Oh dear... I'd rather not get into detail... Especially because I was so young when it happened... But, I'll just say that... that, too, was our own fault..." Tsunami answered hesitantly, "But what matters to this discussion is that before we settled on the Black Comet, we had tried our hand at finding a new home in the Twilight Cage... Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out... You see, we had taken a piece of our homeland with us on our travels, and it was very significant to us, a symbol of our beginnings if you will, and since it just wouldn't fit through the barrier... we had to abandon our efforts... But we did get our very first recruits beyond our original planet in the whole ordeal!" She continued, sounding more happy as she did.

"Yeah...! That's... That sounds greaaaaat...!" Tangle said awkwardly, trying to not seem rude.

"Oh! I-I didn't-" Tsunami stammered, realizing how her tone came across to the others.

"I get it, the point that you're getting at is that you made some friends while you were there, right?" Amy said, interpreting Tsunami's intentions.

"Yes..."

"Hey, I get how nice that can feel! Besides, I think I remember you saying you were rather young when the Black Arms were like... formed, right? A child's perspective is often at least a bit skewed, right?" Amy continued.

"Heheh... yeah... my, I was only eight..." Tsunami admitted, which surprised everyone in the room.

"Yikes..." Amy and Tangle muttered in unison.

"Honestly though... Even if we didn't get to stay in Twilight Cage, our visit certainly made quite the impact on things going forward... I mean, we probably wouldn't have even found the Comet in the first place if it weren't for one of the recruits directing us there...!" Tsunami continued to explain.

"Why... why would they do that...?" Whisper questioned.

"Amy, Knuckles, did any of the Kron tell you about their original home while you two were there?" Tsunami quickly responded.

"If they did, I don't remember it, but what I think you're getting at is that y'all took one of the Kron's people and had them take you to their homeland so you could take it for your own?" Knuckles answered harshly, causing Tsunami to feel guilty again.

"... Why don't we change the subject...?" Amy requested, not wanting any sort of internal conflict to occur during her first ever hibernation.

"Well, what were you guys talking about before?" Jewel asked.

"Oh! Well, we were talking about how weird it is that Eggy hasn't done much to us lately!" Tangle answered joyfully.

"I see! But maybe he's plotting something big?" Jewel proposed.

"That's exactly what I said..." Whisper said, smiling slightly from the awkwardness of having to give such a notice.

"Which is why I started talking about the thing with the Nocturnus clan," Amy added, "My point with that was that we probably shouldn't get too worried about Robotnik taking over Aerth again while we're still around to stop him before things get too crazy. To put it bluntly, we've learned our lesson and won't let something like that happen again."

"What she said..." Knuckles mumbled with a tinge of guilt.

"Makes sense to me," Jewel said, taking a sip of her mug of hot cocoa, "But that's just Robotnik and his Empire, which isn't the only force you're dealing with anymore, you know?"

"Oh, I think I know what you're getting at, Jewel-" Amy began to respond, but was interrupted by Tsunami.

"I do as well, and I can give an answer to that curiosity as well. You see, times of colder temperatures like these are seen in Black Arms culture as a time to shift focus to ourselves rather than beyond us, to take care of ourselves and prepare for the future ahead. While it was not on a yearly cycle like on Aerth, periods of time where we were farthest from the central star of this solar system did indeed occur, which caused the Comet to become quite cold. While we did create technology to counteract this effect, us Black Arms are, rather inconveniently, cold blooded lifeforms, we have to rely on each other and our technology to keep warm in these times, which is why we do not take any offensive actions during that time. All energy must be reserved for the preservation of self, and for emergency defense if need be... Though, the Comet would be rather out of the way in those times, and we had quite the reputation, so most other civilizations in the solar system didn't even think to try to bother us in those times... You know, now that I mention it out loud, it would seem that our Preparation Period, as we call it, is rather similar to this "Hibernation Tradition" of yours... Though, I could never imagine taking a nap for several months straight!"

"... Thank you, Mom!" Amy replied, pleasantly surprised by the sudden amount of information she was receiving all at once, "You're really talkative today, aren't you?"

"I do suppose I am... Perhaps it is the similarities of traditions that has me in such a way. You see, I did always love the Preparation Period! No fighting, no killing... just spending time with my friends and family and people, and I can already imagine this being quite the same! Oh goodness, I wish I could have a sip of that hot liquid you all are consuming..."

"You mean the hot chocolate?" Jewel inquired.

"Is that what it's called? My, that looks delectable!" Tsunami exclaimed, peering over Jewel's mug.

"You've never had hot chocolate before?!" Tangle asked in shock.

"I have not. I tried as much as I could to sample every last bit of the cuisine the universe had in store for me throughout the many travels I took in my lifetime, but alas, this world is quite large, and the entire universe is even larger!" Tsunami answered, almost seeming disappointed with herself.

"Then what did you and your pals have to drink while you all waited out the cold?!" Tangle inquired.

"Ah... Our hot drink of choice was always tea... black, green, herbal, white... Any and all kinds. I had a very close friend who was like a little sister to me, her name was Black Tea, and she was a tea expert, I'll tell you what! Your sorrow over me having never had hot chocolate is equal to my own over you all never being able to have a cup of nice and steamy oolong tea prepared by Miss Black Tea, it's something quite special..."

"A professional tea brewer with the name "Black Tea", huh? I suppose that such descriptive names are something else that the Black Arms and Mobians have in common." Jewel noted.

"At least that makes us even..." Whisper joked, softly chuckling as she watched the others have a nice giggle over her remark.

"You said you sampled cuisine from across the universe, right? Do you have any fun stories that came from that, maybe?" Amy inquired of Tsunami, presenting a new topic of discussion.

"Oh goodness, yes! I've traveled to this here planet numerous times over the years, this planet is ever changing, but my favorite trip most definitely has to be the one I convinced Doom to come along for. It was centuries ago, probably 1700-something if I remember correctly, and on that trip we got the chance of a lifetime! You see, this tavern we decided to stop at had just started selling homemade ginger beer, and of course we both had to try some! I quite enjoyed it myself, but my word, Doom was hooked from the first sip!! He just kept slamming down bottles of the stuff, one after another! Luckily, the stuff was not alcoholic, which was my main concern, but I did still try my best to convince him to pace his intake of the drink... We ended up ransacking the tavern for all of its ginger beer and from it learned to make our own, it was quite the experience! Though Doom did tell me to refrain from telling anyone outside of the other leaders about his binging of the beverage..."

"So? You're not even loyal to him anymore, cut loose and spill his secrets, I'd say!" Tangle advised Tsunami nonchalantly as she ate one of the cookies.

"I had no idea you guys had such an affinity for ginger beer and ginger ale... I earnestly thought that it was just a me and Shadow thing!" Amy said, intrigued. Though afterwards, she seemed to sink into herself, becoming sullen, "Speaking of... is it wrong of me to kind of... wonder how they're doing right now?"

"Not at all! At least, not in my opinion." Jewel responded, deciding to partake in one of her cookies as well.

"Sometimes I become curious about Mimic's whereabouts... but that doesn't mean I will ever even consider forgiving him for what he's done to me..." Whisper testified.

"I mean, we were just talking about how unexpected it is that they and the rest of the Black Arms haven't been causing us trouble recently, so I think it's a natural train of thought to have!" Tangle added as she began to stuff her face full of cookies, to Jewel's slight annoyance.

"Oh, yes! That is what the conversation was about before I began to be carried away by my own stories of the past, wasn't it?" Tsunami suddenly remembered.

"You forgot? You're the one who started the subject!" Knuckles remarked in surprise, also finally joining in on the consumption of cookies.

"Technically I did, since I hinted at it... By the way, Whisper, I heard that you had a situation with Mimic while Tangle and I were out on our winter shopping spree?" Jewel said, taking another sip of cocoa.

"Yes... He started harassing me out of nowhere about the wisps a couple of days ago..." Whisper explained as she stared into her mug, seemingly conflicted about something.

"Oh my... I wonder how far this sudden search of his will go..." Jewel inquired, "Do you think that perhaps he'll... find the true answer?"

"The true answer? I do believe I'm out of the loop here... Actually... what are wisps, anyhow?" Tsunami interjected.

"Oh geez... I guess that's another thing I have to explain, huh..?" Amy replied hesitantly, admittedly starting to feel annoyed by how it seemed that she was cursed to constantly be the bearer of information.

"Hey now, I can tell it if you want! Besides, I have prior knowledge that you don't." Knuckles offered, which caused Amy to audibly sigh in relief.

"Could you, please?"

"Of course! Though... Disclosure for everyone, this one's kinda... grim?" Knuckles warned.

"I guess it'll just motivate us even more to fight against those alien scumbags, right?!" Tangle suggested, to which everyone else agreed.

"After you do that, I'll go make more cocoa, okay?" Jewel said suddenly, "Knuckles, do you want some too?"

"I mean, it is the least you could do after having me go off at you all right?" Knuckles responded jokingly, to which Jewel chuckled at, amused. It was a fair comment, after all, and something that one could probably make use of with the darker tone of the tale they were about to hear.

The blanket statement that Amy and the Freedom Trainees had made of the Black Arms not getting up to any trouble in the recent weeks was mostly correct, but not fully. In the streets of Westopolis, sirens sounded off from both police cars and the city's bank, as a group of low ranking G.U.N agents tried to take down the ever stealthy Rouge L'Amour, who was currently in possession of a large bag containing hundreds, perhaps even thousands of dollars within. The effort was a useless one, as the agents had no way of reaching the skies above them, which were Rouge's territory. The agents, left out of the loop on current events, wondered in utter confusion why a former co-worker of theirs would return to the very life of crime that she had joined the forces to eliminate. It was a noble cause, really, she was just helping her friends. Rouge's area of interest was gemstones, this money was simply to help support the hive through the winter months, to pay for groceries and any possible changes of wardrobe to adapt to this environmental shift. But of course they would never understand that, she thought, your perspective changes when you join the hive, which they simply refused to do.

No matter, she was on a strict schedule. As the colder days inched closer, talks of forming a forcefield around the flying temple the Black Arms currently called home were had, it wouldn't be completely foolproof against the lower temperatures, but it would at least lessen its effects, and block out any snow from making an untraversable mess of the temple hallways. It wouldn't be easy, however. Queen Widow knew the rites, the actions necessary for such a procedure, but the new leader, Rouge's best friend Shadow, was far less familiar with such a ritual. Over the past few days, Widow had taught them everything it needed to know for when the day came to raise the forcefield, all the meanwhile, Rouge had been plotting this very mission with Relic and Eclipse. The time was nigh, as the first snowstorm of the season was prophesied by every news station, newspaper, and weather tracking website to be occurring that very night. Hesitation was not an option for Rouge, a second too late and she would be blocked out by the forcefield. Such a possibility was not as bad as it may sound, obviously the rest of the hive would never abandon their dear sister, but Rouge hated the thought of causing any sort of delay, especially with such a significant job to be done by her dear friend for the very first time. She had already done that to Shadow once before when it was restoring the hivemind's connection, and it was a misstep she would not be taking again.

With mere seconds to spare, Rouge entered the vicinity of the temple, placing her royal purple stilettos on the marble floor just as the forcefield began to form.

"It's quite the sight!"

"It's marvelous, right?"

"In the way it shimmers despite the daylight!"

The melodic tune of mysterious voices caused Rouge to flinch, her eyes jumping about to find the source.

"Oh dear, don't fret!"

"We are not a threat!"

"Not a lingering attack in silhouette!"

In her frantic search for where the voices came from, Rouge stumbled over herself and accidentally crashed into one Harazuki Chai, who was less than pleased by the unintentional collision.

"What're you getting so frantic about? You've been here for how long and just realized the statues 'round here are alive??" She lectured Rouge, feeling no need to be patient with the newbies of the hivemind. It had been at least a month since Rouge had been taken into the hivemind, but she still had many things to learn. It was understandable, afterall, while her mind was of a Black Arms, her body was very much still mobian. Despite the cold weather, Eclipse was busier than ever as of late, so Rouge and Relic's physical assimilations had to be postponed to New Years. Some time ago, Rouge had questioned Relic as to why she even applied for an accelerated assimilation at all, she had been working with the Black Arms for years, and had started to assimilate naturally due to the exposure, with her happily documenting the experience along the way. Relic had explained that she wishes to have experienced both types of assimilation, and also added that Eclipse and her have a hypothesis that the accelerated assimilation may fully heal her broken arm quicker than expected. Rouge had argued back that Relic's arm seemed to be almost fully healed anyway, most likely due to the Black Arms biology granting her the power to rapidly regenerate wounds, to which Relic had thanked Rouge for such a revelation and wrote that down as happily as she always did. Relic's passion inspired Rouge in a way nothing else could, specifically, Rouge was inspired to finally tell Relic about the crush she had lingering for her since they had first met three years ago. She planned to do it when the two were finally both fully assimilated, hopefully on the evening of New Year's Day, but for Relic, Rouge was willing to wait as long as she needed, as long as she got to eventually tell her how she felt, "Hey! The rest of us can hear those thoughts of yours, ya know! That includes Relic! Are you even listening to me??" Harazuki spoke again, finally catching Rouge's attention.

"Sorry, It's just... Well, you bringing up all the time I've been here... It got my mind racing, I guess!" Rouge chuckled, slowly picking herself up from the floor.

"I get that, but you do recognize what I'm saying about the statues, right?" Harazuki asked, snarky as always. Rouge looked up and saw the towering stone statues placed about the temple, that had somehow hidden from her sight just a moment ago. They twirled about happily, dancing to the joys of the hivemind's glory. Rouge giggled in embarrassment, amazed at her ability to be so blind to something so obvious.

"Yes, I do... Sorry for bumpin' into ya like that, shortcake." Rouge responded.

"Apology accepted, despite the nickname..." Harazuki sneered, a pained smirk across her face, "Try not to be so surprised about our little oddities next time, okay? Complete and total chaos is our mission statement, afterall!" She advised in a sassy tone.

"Right, of course!" Rouge agreed, getting up on her feet and dusting herself off, "Wait, what was that part about Relic knowing about my plans-?"

"See ya 'round, batty!" Harazuki quickly said, taking off before Rouge could get an answer.

Rouge rolled her eyes and scoffed, surely she'd find an answer of some sort soon enough, if not from Harazuki, then from someone else, at least.

She began to ponder, wondering how hard the building of the forcefield must've been on Shadow power-wise. Perhaps she should check on them, she thought.

Shadow laid on the floor within one of the temple's chambers of power, the light from the glowing orb of chaos energy in the room's epicenter shining softly on its face, which was adorned with tired eyes and a simple, soft smile. The forcefield ritual had taken a vast majority of Shadow's chaos energy to fulfill, so now they were recharging in a sense. This method is quite slow, but Shadow didn't mind that a single bit, gleefully allowing the serenity of the scene to envelop them as it silently watched their beloved brethren carry on before its very eyes. As it charged, the ever present spirit of Lord Black Doom told it many stories of Black Arms legend, tales of conquest and glory, tales of brotherhood and loyalty, and even tales of unadulterated entropy. All were to paint Shadow a picture of what they should expect in the life of a Black Arms leader, and they loved every second of it, becoming more and more prideful of the path it had chosen.

Suddenly, the atmospheric beauty of their situation was interrupted by Rouge's unexpected entrance into the chamber. Looking down at Shadow, she immediately began to feel concerned.

"You doing alright, hun?" She asked, worried.

"I am fine, thank you for checking up on me!" Shadow responded through the hivemind.

"That ol' forcefield spell did a number on you, didn't it?"

"Oh most definitely so! But it was all worth it for the safety of the hive!"

"Well why are you on the floor?" Rouge inquired.

"I am recharging my chaos energy supply, I find this position to be the most optimal at the present moment."

"Huh. Neat! Well, why don't ya charge with a buddy?" Rouge suggested vaguely, but Shadow understood what she meant.

"Yes please! His company would be much appreciated!" With that assurance, Rouge took off once more to go find Omega.

Once again, someone entered the chamber, but it was not Rouge returning with Omega, but rather, it was Widow in her mobian form, who had come by to drop off some hot tea for Shadow to have in order to help their recovery along.

"If you're curious, this is a blend of magnolia and red clover tea steeped in rosewater, with a splash of pure chaos energy, we've used this blend to assist many a worn down soldier in the past. I'm sure you'll find it quite helpful as well," She explained happily.

"Thank you! You may set the teapot and tray down at the foot of the energy source. Do you have any more cups, by chance?"

"Yes, I do! What's the occasion?" Widow inquired as she gently set down the porcelain tray. The tray, along with the teapot, sugar bowl and cup it carried, were delicately hand painted in velvety ebony, decorated with intricate detailings of blood red roses that dripped ever so slightly, ever so intentionally, with creamy off-white stems adorned with thin little thorns, so small you'd almost miss them. A twisted beauty that truly was befitting for that of a Black Arms.

"Rouge will be returning soon with Omega, for they will both be accompanying me during my charging period," Shadow told her sweetly.

"Ah! Of course! I'll be back with another cup for Rouge... and... is there any way I could accommodate Omega?"

"Hmm... I am unsure, unfortunately!"

"Ah... We Black Arms are... unfamiliar... with inorganic beings! I'm sure he will understand."

"Most certainly."

"By the way..." Widow's eyes narrowed as her tone became more serious, "This tea set is thousands of years old, made by my own hands. Be gentle with it, or else I will not be gentle with you..."

"Understood! I will relay this information to the others!" Shadow reassured, smiling wider than it had been before.

Just as Shadow said they would, Rouge and Omega entered the chamber soon after Widow had left. The two immediately noticed the ornate tea set beside Shadow, and looked on in curiosity.

"Queen Widow will be returning with another cup shortly. Please be careful with the set, they are quite special to the Queen," Shadow told them, "Especially you, Omega," They added, grinning teasingly.

"Amusing. [Sarcasm mode disengaged] Rest assured, I will abide by protocol," Omega responded, causing Rouge and Shadow to both give a hearty chuckle.

"Same here, I know how to be gentle with precious items, you know," Rouge agreed.

"Thank you for your compliance!"

"Say, not to be nosy and all, and I hope I don't say this in like, an offensive way, but how come you're talking all... well... computer-y like?" Rouge inquired of Shadow.

"Abnormally low levels of chaos energy detected from Shadow. Lack of energy leads to irregularities in function," Omega surmised.

"Yes! Your calculations are 100% accurate, Omega!"

"I will revel in my victory!" Omega announced.

"I see... but still, why this way?" Rouge questioned further.

"You see, currently my chaos energy levels are too low for me to be able to communicate on my own. What you are hearing is the direct transcription of my thoughts as read aloud by the hivemind itself."

"Hold on, didn't you say that you are the hivemind?" Rouge interrupted.

"Yes, I did. But at that time, my understanding of the hivemind was rather simplistic and flawed. A more accurate description of how the hivemind functions would be to say that the Black Arms hivemind is like the internet, we all use it to communicate and send data to one another in a timely manner after all, and as for my role in the matter, I am the core database server, maintaining the connection between us all. I may be too tired and worn down to be able to communicate audibly, but I am just conscious enough for my thoughts to still be sent through the hivemind, and because you are requesting to hear those thoughts, they are being delivered to you in the form of raw data," Shadow explained.

"Then why aren't you speaking in binary?" Rouge inquired.

"You asked to communicate with me, not to read a string of 1's and 0's. As such, while my thoughts are being outputted in such a way, the hivemind will translate it for you, so as to combat a language barrier. Omega would understand the raw code, but not everyone is Omega," Shadow answered.

"So what's with the odd formality in the way you speak now?"

"That is because with the decrease in energy, my personality has been temporarily impaired."

"Ohhhh I think I get it now! Well, as long as it allows you to get the rest you need, hun."

"Affirmative!" Omega agreed.

"May I share something with you that this conversation reminded me of? I find it rather amusing myself," Shadow inquired.

"Of course!" Rouge responded.

"When she had come by to drop off the tea set, Queen Widow had mentioned how us Black Arms do not have much experience with completely inorganic beings such as Omega. But here I am, explaining the hivemind, a very core part of our very being, in terms of computer science!"

"W-well, Black Arms biotechnology is still very much organic, you know!" Widow argued, overhearing the conversation as she entered the chamber once more, carrying a solo porcelain cup, which matched exactly with the rest of the tea set.

"That I certainly have learned, especially today..." Rouge remarked with a small giggle.

"Yes, I heard you had a rather unexpected encounter with the temple's great Statues of Honor?" Widow teased.

"...Word gets 'round, doesn't it?" Rouge sighed.

"In a hivemind? Oh it most certainly does!"

"I did NOT ask for your comment, Shadow!!" Rouge jokingly snapped, which initiated a roar of laughter from the both of them, and from Widow as well.

"Filing this under [Amusing]." Omega announced.

But soon the laughter ended, and Widow looked over to the tea set, which sat untouched.

"Is something wrong, Shadow? You haven't touched the tea at all, it would seem!"

"Oh, no, all is alright. I was simply waiting for you to arrive with the extra cup, so that Rouge and I may both enjoy the tea simultaneously," Shadow answered.

"Awww shucks... But what about Omega?" Rouge asked.

"According to the calculations made while Eclipse and I were figuring out how to connect Omega to the hivemind, having Omega consume a water based beverage would most likely cause him to short circuit, which, as you could imagine, is less than favorable."

Rouge and Widow looked at Omega, and noticed a metallic antenna protruding from his head, one that had not always been there. At the top of the antenna was a light, which would flicker on in neon lime green hue whenever Shadow "spoke".

"Are you curious about the antenna? It is the solution we came to on the matter of Omega's inclusion in the hivemind. The antenna picks up messages from the hivemind quite like a radio signal. Omega's ability to communicate back using the hivemind is still a work in progress, but that is why I am thankful for the Preparation Period ahead of us. It will allot Eclipse and I with more than enough time to fix any problems with the process. I am aware that it is not the stealthiest of executions, but this implementation is the only one that has been successful."

"Huh. Neat," Rouge said.

"I assess that we should calculate the methods needed in order to destroy the Robotnik Empire!" Omega suggested.

"What a wonderful idea, Omega! Please make note that the plans we create will not be able to be acted upon until either the Preparation Period ends or if the Robotnik Empire makes an offensive move upon us," Shadow responded, adjusting it's position from lying on the floor to sitting down, pouring themself a cup of tea, allowing the steam from the tea caress their face, their smile growing as it did.

"Hell yeah! Just like old times!" Rouge cheered, getting up to get herself some tea as well.

"Well, I'll leave you three to it! I do have a very important commission to be working on, after all~!" Widow announced, winking to Shadow.

It took about ten minutes after Knuckles was done talking for Jewel to prepare the new cups of hot chocolate, and in that time, Knuckles and the other three girls had gotten into some casual banter with one another over who-knows-what, but such talk quickly died out as Jewel cracked open the door to the Sky Patrol's main room. Amy immediately jumped up and offered to hold the door open for Jewel, to which she happily and thankfully accepted.

"Here you all go~!" Jewel declared with a sense of pride, "Oh by the way, we have guests," She nonchalantly added.

"Oh! I guess I shouldn't have closed the door so quickly-!" Amy responded awkwardly as she opened the door once more.

"Don't sweat it Ames! I know ya didn't mean any harm by it!" A familiar voice told her.

"LUX!!" Tangle, Whisper and Amy all said in unison.

"You're damn right!" Lux replied confidently, posing for them like she was some sort of celebrity.

"You go on one adventure with the big fellas and you let that go right to your head, huh?" Another voice teased Lux, seemingly originating from the other tiger mobian that had suddenly appeared behind her.

"What's that supposed to mean, huh???" Lux questioned the other tiger, recoiling from her in surprise, "And didn't I say I was gonna introduce you to everyone??"

"Alright! Alright! I'll let ya do your whole "Big Time Heroine Lux" shtick!" The girl obliged, still in a teasing tone, which Lux simply rolled her eyes sarcastically at.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce to y'all my sister, Aurora! She ain't usually this feisty, but she sure does love to tease me!" Lux said to the others, Aurora giggling ever so mischievously.

"Oh sweet! I remember you telling us about her when we were visiting the Mystic Ruins!" Tangle recalled.

"Is that so? That sounds about right for Lux," Aurora remarked, "Say, are you Tangle by any chance?" She then asked.

"Yeah! Any reason why you're asking?"

"Knew it! I bet I could identify all of y'alls right here and now if I wanted with how much Luxxy has told me about y'all! Anyway, I bring you up specifically cause I'm a real good listener, ya know? So because of that, I know that you're the one that Lux talked about the most by far! If I didn't know any better, I'd surmised that she had some sorta crush on yo-!"

"Alright now! I think she gets it, Aurora, you're great at listening to people!" Lux blurted, forcibly interrupting her dear twin sister's little bit of speculation. Her face was burning bright as she playfully but somewhat strongly pushed Aurora to the side, the others could hear Aurora still giggling through the muffling of Lux's hand on her face. Jewel noticed that Tangle was blushing just as much, so she acted quickly in order to steer things in a new direction.

"Aurora, would you like a cup of hot cocoa? I just made them a few minutes ago!" She offered.

"Oh would I ever!! You big shot folks really are just as good at hospitality as us regular folk, huh?" Aurora replied, happily taking one of the mugs.

"Big shot...?" Whisper questioned in disbelief.

"I think you might've been a bit misinformed, Aurora...! Sure, I guess you could call Knuckles and I "big shots", but Jewel, Whisper and Tangle were just doing their own thing with their own little homebrewed off-shoot before we got into contact with them back in September!" Amy explained.

"Really? Lux hyped y'all up to me as big time celebs, the likes of Sonic and Tails! Well, I guess she just wanted to embellish a little~," Aurora recollected, giving Lux a sassy glare.

"Aww really?? Geez Lux, I didn't know we meant so much to you!!" Tangle said as she energetically pulled Lux into an embrace, both of their cheeks becoming ever so slightly red as she did. Lux giggled awkwardly, being caught off guard by the hug.

Aurora took a big swig of her mug of hot cocoa as she watched the scene play out, which caused her glasses to become incredibly foggy.

"So, what kinda stuff do ya big shot heroes do during the season? Any sort of traditions passed down to y'all throughout the generations or anything? The bunch of y'alls is rather diverse, ya know!" She asked as she wiped her glasses clean.

"Ya know, that's a real good question you got there, sugarplum!" Bunnie responded, entering the room without warning.

"Oh hey Bunnie!" Amy greeted, waving to her from her seat on the main room's round table.

"Bunnie Rabbot! I don't think I've had the pleasure! My name's Jewel Ochroa-" Jewel greeted as well, preparing to shake hands.

"Oh I know about you and your friends, silly! Sal and Ames told me all about y'all!" Bunnie clarified, giving a kind smile.

"Wait, really?? I don't think I've seen you once during the time I've been here!" Tangle chimed in.

"I'm a busy bunnie, ya know! Not to mention that after Tails and Rotor repaired the Sky Patrol, y'all Freedom Trainees went back to your homes!" Bunnie argued lightheartedly.

"We visit a lot!" Tangle testified.

"And we have it so Sally can call us in whenever she needs us!" Jewel added.

"We just didn't want Jewel and Tangle's parents to be worried about us, that's all..." Whisper concluded.

"I get that! I was just teasing you, ya know?" Bunnie clarified, giggling, "The truth is that with y'all going after those blasted black aliens, there's gotta be someone left to deal with Doctor Robotnik's usual nonsense, right?" She continued.

"So that's where you come in, then?" Jewel asked.

"Well, not just me-" Bunnie began to explain, before being interrupted by a crashing sound.

"Rotor! Ze hoard of ze buzzbomers is at ten o'clock!" A voice yelled from where the crashing sound originated.

"Got it!" Rotor quickly responded, using the Sky Patrol's cannon to shoot down as many buzzbomer badniks as he could. Despite trying the best he could, about ten buzzbomers managed to slip by and enter the Sky Patrol, but their presence would not last long, as they were all quickly and swiftly sliced into bits by a masterfully wielded sword.

"Phew! Zhat could have been a disaster! " As the dust from the brief battle settled, the nervous face of an otherwise steadfast coyote mobian was revealed, "Oh mon dieu! Many apologies for ze interruption!"

"As I was gonna say, 'Twannie and Rotor are on Egg Smashin' Duty too!" Bunnie finally concluded, nonchalantly resting herself on the coyote's shoulder.

"Ah! You must be ze "Freedom Trainees" I have heard about, eh? I am Antoinette Rabbot, at your zervice!" The coyote said, doing her best attempt at a bow while her beloved partner was using her body as support.

"Oh yeah! I saw in one of them tabloids that you had come out as a trans woman recently! From one trans lady to another, how's that going for ya?" Lux asked Antoinette, taking a sip of cocoa as she did.

"Ah... Ze tabloids..." Antoinette groaned, "But it is going well! No one was surprised when I had er... "Came out" as it were, but zhey were surprised zhat I hadn't come out sooner! Haha!" She answered, "My dear Bunnie has been very supportive!"

"Ya damn right I am! Anyways, you, with the purple flannel! What was your question again? I think we got a bit sidetracked!" Bunnie pointed to Aurora as she spoke.

Aurora reiterated that she was very curious about what the Freedom Fighters do during the hibernation season. Amy attempted to answer by saying that they didn't do much due to having to fight the Robotnik Empire all the time, but Bunnie stopped her.

"That ain't entirely true! After our big battles I make everyone a hearty dinner of authentic southern soul food!" She argued.

"But dear, you do zhat all ze year round!" Antoinette argued back, to which Bunnie couldn't help but agree with.

"Well, we do sometimes stop by Ms.Vanilla's place in the Mystic Ruins or Knuckles and Espio's cabin on Angel Island and tell stories by their fireplaces! Which is especially fun if we've gone on any separate individual missions lately!" Rotor told.

"But do we not do zhat year round as well?" Antoinette argued once again.

"Hold on Twan, I think I get what they mean... I think... I get it! Sure, we don't necessarily get to do all of the traditional stuff that other mobian folks do during this season, but that doesn't mean that we've lost that spirit of togetherness! Sure, we might not really get to embrace the "Hibernation" part of the Hibernation Tradition, but we do stick together as a pack and are able to enjoy each other's company regardless! Besides, sure, we may have Bunnie's amazing cooking and talks about our adventures year around, but don't they feel extra special during the winter season? The way a nice hot bowl of Mac n cheese warms you up after you've spent all day fighting badniks in the snow? The way the warm fire and steamy hot cocoa add that perfect wintery touch to an already fun and enjoyable tradition of ours? We can still have all of that even if ol' stinky Robotnik doesn't let us have time for much else! That's what I've been missing this entire time! It's what I lost sight of when hearing tales of much more "authentic" Hibernation Tradition experiences from Tangle, Whisper and Jewel, and hell, even my mom's stories of her own life, which seemed more of an authentic experience of hibernation than mine, even though she's not even mobian!" Amy declared, "And sure, I'm very thankful that we have the time allotted to us now to try out a more traditional experience, but that doesn't invalidate the years prior at all! ... I guess what I'm trying to say is, thank you for helping me realize that, Bunnie."

"Oh... no problem, sugarhog..!" Bunnie responded, taken aback by Amy's sudden monologue.

"Okay, but I gotta ask! How come we didn't see you or Antoinette at Knuckles's birthday party?!" Tangle questioned Bunnie.

"Well, Sal gave us permission to take a train to Station Square and have a dinner date there, that's all!" Bunnie responded simply.

"Ah."

"Well if you ever want an "authentic" hibernation experience, feel free to let Luxxy know, okay! I'm sure she'd be willing to let her big sister know! I'll even try to convince my girlfriend Emily to let y'all have a ride in her new car!" Aurora told Amy.

"Well if you can't get the ride to work out, I'm sure I'll find my own way to your place! Where do you guys live, anyhow?" Amy asked.

"Our farm is in the Windy Valley area!" Aurora answered proudly.

"Oh! That's right near the Mystic Ruins! I know how to get there then!" Amy declared.

"Well I'll be-!" Aurora began to respond, but was interrupted by the sounds of Antoinette shooing a crow away from the Sky Patrol. Amy, curious, went to get a closer look. Looking in the crow's eyes, she instantly got a bad feeling, so she took out her hammer and finally got the determined crow to leave them be.

"Huh... I wonder how long that's been there..." Whisper pondered, seemingly deep in thought, perhaps she had the same bad feeling that Amy had.

"Not sure, but I got spooked by it, zhinking it to be another badnik!!" Antoinette explained herself. Amy and Whisper looked to one another, and knew that they didn't need a hivemind to know that they were on the same track of mind. Oh when this winter ends, they're gonna give that bastard a beating for sure.

"Guess I should make some more hot chocolates, huh?" Jewel remarked. Bunnie insisted that she could if she wanted to, but Jewel was by no means obligated to make hot cocoas for her, Antoinette and Rotor. But Jewel insisted right back, that she did indeed want to, and that her exasperated tone was just for goofs.

"That's fine by me then, sugar!"

"Ooh! Ooh! Lux! Aurora! Tell us about Lux's light bending powers, won't cha? Won't cha??" Tangle inquired excitedly. To the new conversation topic, Amy had one, simple, if not a bit exaggerated, response.

"Her WHAT???"

In the soft orange skies of a winter sunset, a little crow flew through the first few droplets of snowfall. They had meant to make their way back home sooner than this, but there were complications on both ends, which lead to mutual understanding and no one to blame. Still, they kept their pace of flight at a steady rate, zooming past the other birds, who did not recognize the lone crow.

The truth was that the crow wasn't really a crow at all, that was simply the disguise they took on in order to inconspicuously spy on the Freedom Fighters and Robotnik Empire, though they more often watched over the Freedom Fighters now, with coverage of Robotnik's terrain taken over in the past months. The crow that wasn't really a crow didn't mind it at all, things change, and they knew that their trainer still loved them dearly, and they always had the solace of knowing that they were the first.

Their trainer gave a guilty chuckle as they saw their winged friend stare sassily at them through the walls of the forcefield.

"I know, I know! I should get an alarm clock so I don't get too sucked into my work and forget about these kinds of things! I've already heard it a million times from Relic..." They responded as they created an opening through the forcefield. The creature quickly flew through it, allowing their trainer to close the hole as soon as possible, as they could tell they felt bad about even somewhat undoing their friend's hard work.

As soon as the creature placed their talons on the marble floor, they began to transform into their true form, that being a four eyed hawk type of Black Arms, with vibrant reddish-orange scales and a pale yellow underbelly and tail. Their golden amber eyes shimmered in excitement as they returned to their trainer's side after they were done transforming.

"Suffice to say, you've been out and about quite a lot, Aidrira. Why don't you tell me what you've learned on your journey?" They said to them, looking upon the hawk with a soft gaze of love in their eyes, their irises the very same golden amber color that Aidrira had, it was like they were made for each other.

They chirped happily in response, how could they say no to their beloved Eclipse, after all?

#the era of shadow #teos #sonic au #undescribed #sonic oc #amy rose #amy rose au #jewel the beetle #whisper the wolf #tangle the lemur #shadow the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog au #rouge the bat #e 123 omega #team dark #writing tag #mod ash

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