#yaaaawn.

“NO! Just… just no, Shadow! You don’t get it do you? This… this has nothing to do with you, or Eggman, or anything!” “Then what is it about?” “Me! It’s about me! My life, my team, my people! My mistakes! I was- no I am the leader of the Knothole Freedom Fighters, the one everyone one depends on… and I failed them. I-I’m not gonna do so again! I refuse to do so!” With that he paused, breathing heavily. I remained silent for a bit… he was clearly suffering from some form of survivors guilt, no doubt caused by being his team’s only survivor aside from the dragon and the AI that might as well have been dead until recent events. “Tell me about them, your teammates.” He doubled back at that, not expecting the sudden change of conversation. Whatever he was holding back… the Knothole Freedom Fighters were clearly the key. Judging my question to be safe, he took a deep breath, bracing himself. “I- aside from Dulcy, and now N.I.C.O.L.E, I am the leader and last living member of the most prominent and influential Freedom Fighter faction out there… and for good reason. Before we came along… before this whole mess started and Kintobor was still in control, we had no hope. The question everyone faced wasn’t whether we would be caught or what would happen when Kintobor caught us… it was when and how we would be caught. So we had two choices, sit there and wait out the inevitable huddled like scared feral mice, or we could fight back tooth, nail, and spines. Some couldn’t handle the choice, they found a third option, one I can’t even blame them for, I don’t suppose I need to tell you what that was. I… I once saw a lady drown her own newborn so they wouldnt have to live in that kind of world… her body was found not long afterwards. Me and the others, we were determined to survive. We started off by doing small things at first… sneaking in for some food or medicine here, a scavenging mission for some building materials there… simple, terrifying for us ‘cause we were just little kids, but simple.” He paused, letting what he just said sink in. Three options, hiding in fear, suicide, or try to fight back. It’s no small wonder what he chose, and I wouldn’t have expected anything else. “Then, as time passed we started moving onto bigger stuff… full blown missions and raids where we’d blow factories up and save lives. We suddenly became a full on resistance and as our name grew so did everyone else’s hope. More and more Freedom Fighters started popping up until we stopped being a nuisance and became a full on threat! Years passed, and eventually we managed to beat him back, to save everyone!” At this part he let’s out that same bitter chuckle, “Man, me and those guys faced so much together, and it was just the beginning! Every time we beat down one enemy, another would pop up and we’d continue the cycle. We didn’t care though, nothing could touch us! As long as we had each other we were invincible! Sure, times were rough, but we loved each other, we loved what we did, and that’s all that mattered. Or at least… it was until… that day.” With that, dull, lifeless green orbs stared into my vermillion, “Shadow, when that day happened, I lost everything all over again, and this time there was no way to get it back! I… it wasn’t the first time I lost a teammate… or a friend… but those guys… they… you risk a lot in this life. It… it was all my fault, I let arrogance get to my head, let my team get split apart with no backup plan, and everyone paid the price for it. Sal… Rotor… Ant… Bunnie… I’m s-so sorry! It’s all my fault!” With that, the blue hedgehog burst into sobs, unable to cope with what he had just admitted to me, his rival. I could sympathize, afterall, we aren’t too different now that everything was out, were we? I had lost Maria and my home on the ARK just as he had lost his teammates and home in Knothole. No doubt there’s still more he’s holding back, things only his deceased friends could understand… but… I’m likely the only confidant who’d understand he has outside of Fable’s Haven.