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Knuckles stood at the edge of Angel Island, looking down on the lights passing below. A world, separate from his, where the people laughed and sang and lived alongside one another, never alone, never isolated. Not really.
There were always signs of life, of others, even if you couldn't see them. Sure, it could be too loud, too bright, too crowded sometimes. He didn't understand the customs or culture--no matter how much Tails and Sonic and Amy explained to him, it seemed like there was always something new popping up that he didn't understand when he went down to visit.
That was frustrating. Kind of embarrassing.
But they were usually patient with him.
Usually.
But he got the feeling it got old sometimes. Having to explain basic things that 'normal' people learned and understood simply by existing within a society. Manners, accepted norms, even those nonverbal cues and societal expectations. All foreign to him, because he grew up alone, surrounded by nothing but wild animals and chao.
Did that make him little more than a wild animal himself? No matter how similar he was to the others, was he always separate from them? Different in ways no one could see, but just knew were there?
His brow furrowed, and he turned away from the edge, walking back toward the Master Emerald shrine. Clouds moved in above and around the island, heavy with rain and blocking the moon, but he knew this island like the back of his hand and could traverse it even in the pitch black. He wouldn't get lost.
The Emerald wouldn't let him get lost.
The furrow in his brow drew deeper.
Was he heading to the Master Emerald shrine because he wanted to, or because he had nothing better to draw him?
All these years, for as far back as he could remember, he'd been proud of his duty, his responsibility. He was the Guardian of the Master Emerald. He was the only thing standing between it, and those who would use it for evil purposes. The Emerald wasn't meant for mortals to use, it was . . .
His feet slowed, face pinching in thought.
What was it meant for?
Why did it exist in the first place?
This giant gem, holding unimaginable power, able to nullify the chaos emeralds, had existed for unknown centuries. His own people had tried to take it, which resulted in their downfall.
But now, somehow, he was here. The last of the echidna, existing after the death of all others, thousands of years ago.
Why?
To guard the Master Emerald.
The thought came to him almost immediately, like a conditioned response. He never really gave much attention to his existence, he was here, he had a job to do, and he was going to do it to the best of his ability.
But sometimes . . .
. . . sometimes things didn't make sense.
And sometimes he thought about how unfair it was. That he should be all alone up here, his only mission in life to stand watch over an inanimate rock.
And even now, when he had friends, people who cared about him and wanted the best for him, even now he couldn't be away from Angel Island for too long, without feeling like he was shirking his duties. What he was made for. His entire purpose in life.
No matter how much fun he has with the others, there comes a point when he feels he needs to get back. A pull. A sense of guilt at wanting something for himself.
Because he was the guardian of the Master Emerald. And that came before everything else.
His feet kept moving, carrying him around trees and over well-trod ground.
It was important. He knew it was, just as Sonic and the others knew it was important to keep fighting Eggman and whatever villains cropped up to cause problems. Sonic could no sooner stop fighting any more than Knuckles could stop guarding. It was ingrained in them. Who they were.
But . . .
Was this something that Knuckles chose to do?
Sonic chose to be a thorn in Eggman's side. He chose to reach out, even after Knuckles had fought both him and Tails when Eggman tricked him and stole the Master Emerald out from under him. Sonic didn't have to do that. He could have simply focused on going after Eggman. But he didn't. He reached out to help Knuckles. That was a choice.
And the more Knuckles thought about it, the more he was sure he didn't have one.
If Sonic were hurt, or captured, other people would step in to pick up the fight. He wasn't replaceable, per se, but others could fight like he did.
But there was no one else to do what Knuckles did.
He didn't have a choice.
This was his life. Always had been. Always will be.
The faint glow of the Master Emerald caught his eye, and he emerged from the forest surrounding the shrine just as the first droplets of rain fell. They hit his nose, his muzzle, the top of his head. Icy little taps of wet, trickling down through his fur.
Knuckles stopped at the bottom of the shrine steps, staring up at the gem. Brows still furrowed. Almost glaring at it.
"Why me?"
He wasn't aware he'd spoken aloud, but his voice filled the quiet of the night.
"Why is it my duty?"
The gem didn't respond. Just glowed steadily.
He set a foot on the bottom step, hands fisted and teeth grit as he began to climb.
"There are countless beings in this universe. Many who are kind of heart and pure of soul. Why is it my duty alone to watch over you?"
He was halfway up the stairs. A raindrop hit his eye, and he blinked it away.
"How am I here at all? My kind died out many centuries ago. Was I simply conjured into existence for your service? Your convenience?"
His voice was a growl now, and the rain fell harder. Maybe spurred by his growing emotions, or simply a coincidence. The connection he felt with the gem before him seemed to tremble, as the Master Emerald tried to soothe him, to calm his angry mind.
He rejected it.
"Or am I simply a form of punishment for those who tried to take you for themselves all those years ago? Echidna were selfish, so you made one that you could control, tether to you like a pet on a leash."
Knuckles reached the top of the shrine, glaring into the Emerald's facets. Lightning struck nearby, toppling a tree and sending flickies and other animals scrambling.
"WHY ME?!? Why should I be made to atone for something I was not involved in? Why should I bear the punishment of actions that already brought the anger of Chaos upon them?"
Thunder cracked above him, and he growled into the glowing surface of the Emerald.
"THEY'RE GONE! PUNISHED FOR THEIR SINS ALREADY! WHY ARE YOU KEEPING ME PRISONER UNDER THE GUISE OF DUTY??"
The storm raged around him, and Knuckles lifted his muzzle to the sky and screamed. Roared. Raged at the injustice of living a life for something else, something powerful and dangerous but lifeless and unfeeling.
Fury filled him, and he turned back toward the Emerald, pulling his fist back, his arm trembling with barely restrained strength.
He could see it in his mind's eye, see himself bringing his fist against that cold surface, shattering the gem into glowing shards. And then he saw himself smashing every shard, pounding it again and again and again, until there was nothing left but green dust.
He wanted to. Part of him wanted to so, so badly.
To rid himself of this literal stone around his neck. To destroy that which kept him chained to this island, kept him isolated and contained.
He tensed, ready to lash out.
A moment later, he dropped his hand back to his side, letting out a sound that was part whimper, part groan.
His head drooped forward, and he leaned closer, resting his forehead on the glowing surface of the rock that both gave him purpose, and held him back.
"Why me?"
His voice was softer now, a whine coloring the edges.
"Why me?"
His muzzle was soaked from the rain, but warmer tracks ran down to mix with the dampness already there.
And this time, when the Master Emerald reached out to him, tried to soothe him, he let it. Blinking tears down his cheeks as he closed his eyes.
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