Sonic X: Clereen's Story

Chapter 4: Settling In

The crew got to the mansion safely and Sonic carefully placed Tails into bed to rest her head. Amy dashed straight to the bathroom and demanded the servants to give her the full spa treatment as she said she deserved after all the trauma. Anna came in slowly with her hands held carefully in front of her. Sonic had already rushed back to see Anna through the door. It was then that he noticed the strange way she was holding her hands.

“What are you holding, Anna?” Sonic asked curiously. Anna looked up and smiled shyly and then opened her hands. Inside lay the emerald.

“You have the emerald!” Sonic yelled so loudly there was no way anyone could not have heard.

Soon everyone had gathered round to see the event. Anna just put her hand behind her head in embarrassment and proceeded to give the amulet to Sonic.

“You should take it and keep it safe” Anna said.

“No, I think you should keep it” Sonic said pushing her hand away.

“Me?!” Anna said in surprise and confusion

“Why the hell would you give it to HER?!” Amy screamed.

“Well, she kept me safe so...maybe she can keep the emerald safe to”. Anna stared at the emerald. This was the most important responsibility she could possibly have and has ever had in her life.

“Why are you giving it to her?!” Amy said with frustration before walking up to Anna and holding out her hand

“Give it to me” Everyone paused

“common!” she said gesturing impatiently with her hand. Anna looked over at Sonic concernedly

“But I want to give it to Anna” Sonic said

“Anna found it so it should be her choice” Cream agreed and Cheese cheered along with her. Amy stared at everyone momentary before growling in anger and storming out of the room.

“Don’t worry about Amy, miss Anna. She is always a little short tempered” Cream said comfortingly.

“Now” Sonic said while stretching his arms

“I think I need a nap”

“Yes, I think you do” Anna giggled

“It’s been a long day already”.

Cream stood with her head down. “What’s wrong?” Anna said, feeling concerned

“Do you think Miss Miles will be alright?”

“Miss Miles?” Anna asked

“She means Tails. Her real name is Miles but we call her Tails as a nick name” Sonic explained before going further up the stairs. Anna bent down to talk to Cream

“Yeah, I think so. She looked pretty tough to me and that man couldn’t have hit her too hard”

“I guess so” Cream still seemed a little unconvinced.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure she will be better soon. Why don’t you stay with her and keep her company for a while?”

“Do you think that would help?” Cream said starting to perk up with the prospect of helping

“I think so” Anna said cheerfully. Cream smiled and then bounded over to see Tails.

Anna wondered what to do as she sort of felt bored now everything had settled down so quickly. She couldn’t exactly do her normal activities with all these guests here. She needed to find something else to do. She decided since she had talked to Sonic and Cream and they were both occupied, she should talk to Amy. She hadn’t really got to know her yet and she didn’t want to interrupt Cream now she was helping Tails.

Anna wandered into the spa room where Amy was lying down having a massage with some mud pat on her face and someone painting her nails at the same time. It was difficult for the servant to paint the nails when they were an unusual shape and they were shaking a little from the massage on Amy’s back shaking her whole body.

“Don’t you dare mess this up, servant. If I see a single speck of nail polish out of line then I’m going to make you pay!” Anna cringed at the thought of talking to her with this attitude and wondered whether it was a good idea to say they could use her facilities as they pleased. But she hoped that she was just in a bad mood after all the events that have happened. After all, there should be no harm in saying hello.

Anna inched closer and psyched herself up to talk. “Hey” Anna said friendly. Amy didn’t respond straight away and she was about to give up and walk away until Amy finally responded with

“What do you want?” rather sharply

“I-I just wanted to ask how you are doing?”

“How do you think I’m doing?”

“It’s just, I haven’t talked to you yet. I don’t even know your name”

“Amy and DON’T call me any nick names. My name is Amy and that’s that, got it?” Anna just nodded nervously

“So you have rich parents right?” Amy said without looking at Anna.

Anna saw an opportunity for further conversation “Yes but they aren’t home very often. It’s nice to have some people around because I’m often on my own and I often-”

“don’t care” Amy interrupted rudely. Anna was stunned. No-one had ever talked to her that way and she was unsure how to respond.

“You should stop messing around and put that emerald away somewhere safe. Sonic gave you that reasonability so you had better not screw it up”

“Oh, yes, of course, I’ll, b-bye!” Anna used that as an excuse to run out the room as fast as possible. She didn’t like that conversation and she would prefer not to talk to her again at least for a while.

Anna decided that maybe she should relax for a while since a lot had happened so she went to her special place on her bedroom balcony and stared out at the city watching the cars go by. She then continued the sketch she had started a few days ago. It was a detailed pencil drawing of a scene with a cherry tree. Two people were sitting underneath and others playing in the background. She got lost in her drawings and was only stirred by the occasional loud car going past on the road outside.

Soon hours had passed and she was stirred from her peaceful drawing by her servants asking if she wanted dinner. She agreed and just before she had the chance to continue drawing she noticed something odd in the distance from the balcony. A bright red animal-like figure jumping from building to building with its hands. Anna stood up and leaned over the balcony to get a closer look and noticed this creature had another brown creature hanging on its shoulder and held in place by the creatures arm. Anna knew something was wrong and she quickly got up to tell the others. Once everyone knew Sonic was the first to speak

“That must be Knuckles” he said.

“Oh, god. Not HIM” Amy said, sounding annoyed.

“Who is Knuckles?” Anna asked

“Another one of us” Sonic explained

“but I don’t know who that brown person could be”

“It’s probably some dirty thing he dragged out from god knows where” Amy said, sounding fed up

“But if it’s a person they might need help” Anna said sounding worried

“that’s true. He might be trying to find us so we can help them” Sonic agreed.

“But how do we get his attention and let him know we are here?” Anna asked

“Are you all morons?” Amy said after there was a pause since no-one seemed to know what to do

“We can all stand outside. If he’s close enough for Anna to see him then he will see us” Amy exclaimed, baffled by their inability to see this solution.

“Yes, we can stand on the roof!” Sonic said sounding happy that he came up with an idea

“Oh, no. I am NOT climbing up there. I just got a pedicure!” Amy said

“But you are bright pink. He’ll see you for sure” Sonic said.

Anna looked Amy in the eyes “Please, Amy. That person could be really hurt” she begged.

Amy looked around before sighing “alright but this better not rip my dress or I’ll kill you both”.

So Sonic, being the fastest of the group at climbing, helped everyone up and onto the roof and they all waved and shouted at Knuckles. It didn’t take him long to see them and he quickly jumped over to them.

“You guys can’t half shout” Knuckles said as he came up to them.

Sonic looked down at the brown creature “What’s wrong with her?”

“I found her a few days ago alone in a thick forest. I ran out of food supplies and she’s weak with hunger and she already was weak enough when I found her”

“My servants are cooking dinner. They should have food ready soon” Anna said, glad that she could help with a feeling of hope

“good. Is there somewhere I can lay her to rest?”

“yes, I have a free bed she can use. I’ll show you” Anna leapt off the roof and guided Knuckles to one of the many bedrooms in the mansion where he lay the brown creature down on the bed with the upmost of care. Knuckles stared at her limp and weak body for a while. Anna felt like it wasn’t right to break this silence and so they both stood in complete silence for what felt like a lifetime. Then Cream came in.

“So who is going to keep an eye on her? I can’t watch Tails and her” Cream said worriedly. Anna looked over to Knuckles again and Knuckles looked at Clereen again before shuffling uncomfortably and swiftly turning to leave the room. However, Clereen despite her weakness managed to twitch and let out a faint whine

“I’m not a babysitter! I have my own needs” Knuckles said with frustration. Clereen didn’t move or make a sound in response but somehow a discomforting feeling seemed to soak into the room.

Anna looked over at Knuckles “You are the only one who knows her, Knuckles” she said sympathetically.
“But I have only been with her for half a week or so and most of that time she was almost unconscious”
“But you still know her better than anybody else here” Anna reasoned.

Knuckles gave a deep sigh “alright” Knuckles agreed but he still stood stiffly away from Clereen until the others left the room. Then Knuckles walked slowly towards her and put his hand on her chest before sighing deeply again. He could have sworn he saw a faint smile on her face but he couldn’t be sure.

Days passed and steadily Tails and Clereen started to recover from their weaknesses. Tails, being able bodied and strong willed, recovered faster than Clereen. Soon Tails was walking around the house going to everyone and asking questions about this new stranger. No-body really knew anything about Clereen other than Knuckles but he refused to budge when pressured by Tails.

Saying things like “It’s not your business” and

“Clereen needs to rest. You are disturbing her”. Tail was aware he was avoiding something and this made her feel rather suspicious. Not only of Knuckles but also of Clereen. For all they know she could be a spy sent by Eggman. It’s not the first time that’s happened.

Nevertheless, there is the chance that Clereen was just a poor innocent soul who has fell under hard times and Tails didn’t want to come off as being insensitive and rude. So despite asking at least a few questions every day to Knuckles, she never tried to push him too much. Clereen would recover soon anyway so any questions that needed to be answered would be then. However, Tails found herself very bothered by the food situation.

Knuckles didn’t stay with Clereen all the time as he sometimes switched with Cream and Anna to give him a break now that Tails was better enough to handle herself. Even Sonic tried to look after her but that didn’t go well and he was never given the responsibility again since he covered her bed with spaghetti and meatballs. Early on, Knuckles had instructed the others to feed Clereen with at least several times the amount of food you would expect a creature of her size to eat.

However, when anyone questioned it he just said “That doesn’t matter right now. She needs food. Trust me”.
Everyone accepted this answer, except for Tails. She wasn’t at all satisfied with just trusting his word. She was dying to know what this was about. It didn’t help that Knuckles didn’t like letting anyone feed her other than him after the first few days and he locked him and Clereen away in the room at feeding times. This made Tails even more suspicious but still Knuckles would not budge and Tails knew that when Knuckles was determined there wasn’t much she could do. Tails talked to Sonic and Anna about it and they both suggested in their own way that she might be acting paranoid. Tails felt very unsettled but she decided that maybe they were right. Perhaps she should judge her by her actions instead when it comes to it. She waited eagerly for her to recover.

After 3 days or so Clereen had recovered enough to seem conscious and she responded to people who talked to her. However, she was rather quiet most of the time, only responding with different expressions like a simple smile or frown. That was with anyone other than Knuckles. Tails could swear she could hear them talking a lot to each other during feeding time and night time through the locked door of the room. As Clereen recovered more, knuckles seemed to take more responsibility for her until he was the only creature to interact with her at all, isolated in the room with her behind a locked door. At least, this was what everyone else saw. Inside things were different.
There was an awkward silence between Clereen and Knuckles as she saw Knuckles coming into the room with her food and proceeding to put it by her bedside. The Clereen broke the silence

“Knuckles...” Knuckles looked down at her

“what? Do you need something?”

“I miss you at night, Knuckles” Knuckles shuffled uncomfortably as he rubbed his hand on his arm. Clereen suddenly seemed to perk up and she smiled with glee

“Can you read me a bedtime story tonight?” she said cheerfully, tail wagging as she sat up. Knuckles grabbed a book from the bookcase on the other side of the room and put it on her lap. Clereen looked at it intently before looking back at Knuckles expectantly.

“I got you a book. You can read it yourself” Knuckles said with a little distain

“but...” Clereen said sounding disappointed.

“Don’t tell me you can’t read” Knuckles said

“errr, YES! I mean no I can’t read” Clereen couldn’t look Knuckles in the eye as she said it and it looked as if she was trying to look at everything else other than him at the same time

“...and yes I can’t read” then Clereen tilted her head and pulled an expression of confusion before thinking out loud
“Then I guess both are-”

“That’s a lie isn’t it?” Knuckles cut her off, sounding rather fed up Clereen looked down at her hands and twiddled with her fingers like a little girl that had just been scolded. Knuckles sighed deeply

“alright” he said at last. Clereen quickly looked at him and bounced on the bed yelling with joy before quickly getting tired and putting her hand to her head.

“Clereen, you can’t move around too much remember? You’re still not completely recovered yet” Knuckles said with irritation. Clereen looked up at Knuckles rubbing her head

“My head hurts” she said rather faintly. Knuckles could see her eyes starting to water

“I’ll get you some medicine” he said before swiftly striding out the door.

Later, Knuckles read her a bedtime story that night but her eyes were clearly heavy even before he arrived.

“Clereen, I think you should just get to sleep” Knuckles said

“NO!” Clereen cried desperately. Knuckles sighed, sat down on the bed beside her and started reading. Clereen tried to keep her eyes open but she struggled and it was obvious she couldn’t stay awake

“Clereen...” Knuckles said with a deep breath, perhaps feeling more concerned than fed up now

“NO!” Clereen yelled or at least as much as she could do as she was falling asleep. Knuckles continued to read and Clereen continued to struggle to stay awake the whole time and kept asking questions that she should have known the answer to had she been paying attention.

Knuckles tried not to notice since he knew she would just yell at him again if he gave up. Then Clereen eventually fell asleep and Knuckles was able to leave the room. The next night she did the same thing. Knuckles was hesitant but she insisted he should read her a bedtime story. This time she was awake for longer. The story this time was about a goat who teased his elder fellow goats in the field but only got shouted at and knocked away. One part of the story had the goat try to climb onto another goats back but the adult goat didn’t like it and bucked him off.
The whole time Clereen kept interrupting with questions and queries such as “what kind of goats are they do you think?” and

“OH! Then they are in Scotland?”. Knuckles tried to discourage her talking and continue with the story but Clereen refused to continue unless he gave an answer related to the statement. When it got to the part with the goat climbing the older goat she yelled

“But that’s not fair!”. By this point Knuckles was rather fed up and losing his patience.

He said with a sigh “what’s not fair?”

“you can’t hurt him like that! He’s just a kid!”

“Well, he was annoying the adult goats” Knuckles tried to reason

“But all he wanted was attention. If they just gave him a hug or something then he wouldn’t be doing that. What’s so hard about giving him a hug or talking to him a while or something? Errr right?” Clereen started with great energy but then sounded inquisitive at the end

“I-I don’t know Clereen. They probably were already talking to him but he wanted more attention and to play rough”

“And why would a goat get annoyed from a younger goat jumping onto its back? Isn’t that what goats supposed to do?”

“Clereen, do you want me to read you this story or not?!” Knuckles said rather irritated. Clereen quickly went quiet, pushing her lips inside her mouth and shuffling further into her bed sheets to hide the lower half of her face. Knuckles continued to read. Clereen tried to stay quiet but struggled a few times. She wiggled in bed and sat up to say something but with one look of Knuckles’ face she went back into bed quietly. Before long, Clereen was falling asleep but she tried to keep herself awake for longer.

“Clereen, don’t you think you have had enough? You are falling asleep again. Can I put the book back now?”
Knuckles was about to get up when he stopped as he felt a furry hand touch his. Clereen looked into his eyes and smiled faintly before yawning and slowly closing her eyes. Knuckles sat there for a while in silence. He put his other hand on top of hers and he couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Knuckles...” Clereen said gently. Knuckles jerked a little when she spoke as he expected she was already asleep. Clereen spoke with her eyes still closed

“Thank you” Clereen gripped his hand a little tighter.

“I get scared and lonely at night, Knuckles. Please stay with me” Knuckles didn’t need to say anything. He held her hand a little tighter as she did for him and Clereen drifted off into dreamland before he could give an answer. That night he stayed with her and ended up falling asleep beside her.

It wasn’t long before Clereen was fully recovered. Once she felt well Clereen wasted no time to get up and out of bed when Knuckles had gone to the toilet. Her legs were a little wobbly at first but Knuckles had been working with her before to get used to moving her legs a little again yesterday so she soon steadied herself. The door was locked when Knuckles wasn’t in the room, as always, so she decided to open the window. She looked out and she could see a nice little patch of wild flowers growing on a thin patch of grass just below her. Further ahead from that was a little forest area with big rocks and boggy land.

Clereen’s eyes glistened with joy and wonder as she looked out at the sunny beautiful scene in front of her. Without much hesitation, Clereen started to think about jumping out the window but she wasn’t sure how to do it. She had just got her leg out of the window when Knuckles re-entered the room. He quickly ran over to her yelling
“Clereen, what are you doing?!” before quickly grabbing her arm and pulling her back into the room.
“What on earth were you trying to do?!” Knuckles said in a panic.

“Go outside” Clereen said plainly, sounding slightly stunned and confused.

“That’s not how you go outside!” Knuckles said with earnest. Clereen, already feeling bored with this conversation, looked past his shoulder and saw Tails walking along the hallway.

“Hey-ee!” Clereen chirped cheerfully while waving frantically with her right arm. Tails turned, smiled and entered the room

“soooo, you’re feeling better now?”

“yep!” Clereen answered wagging her tail excitedly.

“Clereen” Knuckles said sounding a little irritated.

“what?” Clereen said confused.

“Since you are feeling better, why don’t I show you around the house?” Tails said eagerly

“Oh, yes!” Clereen said

“No, I think she needs-” but before he could finish Clereen had already bounded out the door and to Tails’ side. Tails continued to walk along and start talking about the rooms they were passing. Knuckles gave a deep sigh. Tails was completely recovered just a couple of days before Clereen so she was happy to have something new going on around the house.

Soon Clereen was introduced to everybody around the house with Sonic being the hardest to find since he was running around outdoors. Knuckles kept a close eye on the two. He tagged along behind them and butted in when Clereen said something Tails seemed confused about. Tails was curious and suspicious of Knuckles always trying to speak for her but she let him do it although she didn’t really approve.

Half way through Tails talking about the garden, Clereen started to rub her belly and walk away. Knuckles grabbed her arm as she went past

“Where are you going, Clereen?”

“I want breakfast” she said before trying to walk away but Knuckles didn’t let go

“It’s rude to leave without saying anything, Clereen” Knuckles said sternly

“Can you let go?” Clereen said trying to prise her arm from his grip

“Are you even listening?” Clereen continued to try and pull her arm away from him

“Clereen!” she continued to pull

“CLEREEN!” Knuckles yelled very sternly. She suddenly stopped and looked at him. Tails also suddenly stopped talking and turned around to see what was going on.

“What’s going on here? Knuckles why are you yelling?” Tails said with a sense of authority. Knuckles soon noticed Clereen’s eyes were starting to grow wet and her lips were quivering

“nononono, Clereen. I-” Knuckles tried to recover it but it was too late. Clereen started to sob and she covered her face with her hands.

Knuckles looked away, turned around and put his head in his hands sighing.

“Are you OK?” Tails said gently to Clereen but she couldn’t respond

“Knuckles. What the hell did you do?!” Tails said angrily but before Knuckles could respond they both froze on the spot from a loud growling noise behind them. Tails turned around

“Oh, yes of course. Breakfast!” she said rubbing her hands, sounding pleased she had found a possible solution

“Let’s have something to eat and we can talk over breakfast, OK? Common!” Tails walked quickly ahead before Clereen could respond so Clereen slowly followed her. Knuckles quickly followed behind

“no, wait! I don’t think that’s-” However, Tails gave him a firm look

“haven’t you said enough?” she said bitterly.

Tails rushed Clereen to the dining room and ordered some food. Knuckles paused for a while after what Tails said but continued to urge

“No, Tails. She can’t...I have to tell you something”

“shut up, Knuckles!” Tails had decided not to listen to anything Knuckles was trying to say and brushed it all off in favour of Clereen who was clearly feeling sensitive, still wiping tears away. Clereen’s stomach growled loudly again.
“All this excitement must have given you a bit of an appetite” Tails said cheerfully.

Clereen said nothing. “Tails, you don’t understand. She’s-”

“I said I don’t want to hear it, Knuckles!” Clereen seemed to get more and more upset the more this went on. Knuckles noticed her getting very upset so he went quiet.

“Right! Good!” Tails said sternly just before the food arrived

“Don’t say I didn’t try to warn you” Knuckles said

“what are you even talking about, Knuckles? Now is not the time for-” then Tails saw Clereen swallow an entire roast turkey and the potato and salad garnishing’s with it in one bite. Tails just stared at her and sat silently.

“Bring more food, please” Knuckles said to the servants as they were leaving the food on the table. However, Tails didn’t stay silent for too long

“Wha-what happened? What IS SHE?!” Tails said in panic

“I knew there was something suspicious about her! What is going on, Knuckles?!” Tails shouted in protest. Clereen frowned and hung her head further down. She looked at Knuckles with teary eyes

“Now, who’s upsetting her?” Knuckles yelled back. Clereen shuffled towards Knuckles in her chair and put her head on his chest. He put his arm around her without thinking. Then he put his fingers of his other hand to his head for a bit before he spoke again

“Look, I only met her a few days before you did. I don’t know who she is but she was born this way and this is the way she is!” Then Knuckles went quiet noticing he was shouting as well.

“She can’t help it, OK?” He said trying to sound quieter.

Tails looked at Clereen and back at Knuckles and then back to Clereen. She let out a deep sigh and paused a little. Meanwhile more food came in and Clereen prized herself away from Knuckles’ comfort to scoff it down. When Clereen was done eating that serving, which was not much more than a few seconds, Tails putt her hand on Clereen’s shoulder.

“Clereen. I didn’t understand. I-I didn’t mean to upset you” Tails said sincerely. Clereen looked back at Tails
“that’s OK, I guess” she said faintly.

“I’m just not used to people acting like that. I mean, what’s so wrong with the way I eat?” Tails looked at Knuckles for confirmation but Knuckles looked just as clueless as she did

“But, Clereen. Haven’t you ever eaten with-?” Tails noticed Knuckles frantically and silently giving all the gestures of
“NO!” beyond Clereen’s shoulder and she decided to change the question

“-more than one bite?”

“not that I can think of...OH! More food!” Clereen started to perk up with the more food she ate until she was almost bouncing happily like before.

Tails was about to say something to Knuckles when Clereen interrupted

“Is there any dessert?” Clereen said hopefully.

“Do you want some dessert?” Tails asked now even more surprised since she must have eaten a whole tables worth already

“yeah!” Clereen cried, wagging her little tail

“Alright then” Tails sighed still sounding a little shaken

“HORRAY!!” Clereen yelled happily. Tails quickly pulled Knuckles away into a far corner of the room while Clereen was distracted eating ice-cream and trying not to get a brain-freeze.

“Knuckles, this is crazy! What are we going to do about this? What else do we not know about this girl? How are we going to tell the others about this, Knuckles?” Tails said in quick fire

“I-I don’t know, OK? All I know is she was lost in the forest on the edge of the city and she told me she lived with her father alone in a house on the far edge of the forest for the whole of her life until now! She told me she had never left the front yard of her house and she told me she was made by a professor in a science lab!”

“So how the hell do we know she isn’t just insane?!” Tails whispered strongly

“She told me her father was just murdered by gunshot from another man! I can tell you just by being with her for a few days that she is clearly traumatised and has no knowledge of talking to people whatsoever! She didn’t even know what kind of trees where in the forest she lived next to!”

“Oh my god...” Tails said shocked of what she was hearing.

“Is that why you stopped me from...”

“yes... you can’t bring it up. She seems to have a bit of a short attention span so she has forgotten it for now but if you mention it she will go crazy! It’s happened to me before. She wouldn’t stop screaming until I slapped her across the face!”

“The poor thing...” Tails said sounding fainter than usual.

“But she couldn’t have been made by a professor, right?”

“Well, Sonic has the power of super speed so who are we to judge?”

“But to make a living, breathing creature out of thin air. I just can’t...”

“We are in a totally different universe now so who knows what’s possible”

Just then, Knuckles had a double take before realising Clereen was no longer at the table.

“Clereen?!” Knuckles said in panic but they didn’t have to worry for long as they soon heard sounds of laughter outside. They wandered over to see Clereen playing and having fun with Sonic outside. As they approached they heard Clereen yelling

“Tag! You’re it!” They seemed to be playing tag but something was odd about it. Knuckles turned to Tails
“Sonic doesn’t like to play tag does he?”

“No, because nobody can go fast enough for-” They both stared as they saw Clereen running away from Sonic and them both running so fast they only appeared as coloured blurs of blue and yellow.

“Please, tell me you know something about this, Knuckles” Tails said her voice sounding shaky

“No” Knuckles said in a just as shaky response. Then suddenly Clereen stopped and she put her hand to her stomach panting.

“What’s up? Tired already?” Sonic said excitedly.

“I don’t feel so good” Clereen said sounding weak. Tails came over slowly

“That’s because you started running around strait after eating!” Tails said in her usual stern bossy tone. Clereen hung her head in shame

“I know I’m not supposed to but I didn’t know why”.

“Well, now you know don’t you?” Clereen looked pale but Tails continued to glare at her as if expecting her to say something but the longer she stared the more confused and uncomfortable Clereen became.

“I think you should lie down a while. Common” said Knuckles softly as he gently took hold of her hand and pulled her away from Tails’ stare.

Tails walked with them unapprovingly and watched as Knuckles helped Clereen lie on a couch to rest. Clereen asked Knuckles to stroke her head and after initially refusing, seeing Clereen’s rather sad and sickly face made him change his mind. Knuckles stroked her head gently and tried to look like he wasn’t enjoying it. Knuckles sat nearby with a stroppy and angry look on her face before she decided to break the brief silence

“Why do you protect her Knuckles? She’s not 5!”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Knuckles said without turning away from Clereen.

“No, I don’t believe it is” Tails said sternly.

“She’s...like a child...” Knuckles said.

“I know she hasn’t socialised with anyone for a long time but that does excuse-“

“She can’t help it OK!” Knuckles yelled in earnest before realising his volume and calming down

“I dunno I think she might be special needs or something”.

“Hey, hey, hang on a second-”

“I know she hasn’t met anybody other than her farther so she will be limited in her social skills but there are some things she should know by now. Like why you shouldn’t move after eating and then doing it without being wise enough to think that there might be bad consequences. Getting upset when I yelled at her and just... Haven’t you noticed her acting weird? She’s different OK!”

Tails looked at Clereen and then back at Knuckles. Knuckles continued

“She asks strange questions and she didn’t seem to pay attention when I told her it was rude to just leave because she wanted breakfast”. Knuckles said sounding less angry and more saddened.

“So that’s what the shouting was about, huh?” Tails said

“I was trying to get her to pay attention. I even grabbed her arm but she still wouldn’t listen. I wasn’t trying to-”
“One track minded!” Tails interrupted with a note out loud to herself and then she turned to Knuckles

“She’s just being selfish!”

 “WHAT?!” Knuckles turned around with a horrible grimace on his face fuelled with rage.

Tails looked back at Clereen who was still just relaxing with her eyes closed and not listening to the conversation
“She needs to be taught proper manners. I will-” Clereen was now aware of the argument and was curling up into a ball on the sofa.

“I knew you would say that. Honestly, you just can’t help yourself can you?” Knuckles said bitterly

“Everyone has to be exactly the way you want them don’t they? They have to act exactly the right way don’t they?” Knuckles heard wimpering behind him and saw Clereen now completely curled up and scared. He gave a deep sigh
“Just leave her alone alright? She can’t be dealing with this right now” Tails had her arms crossed and was still in a sour mood but she calmed down a bit when he said that as it was a fair point

“Now she’s here we have to look after her. There is no way she can survive on her own and she needs to stay here anyway to hide like the rest of us. Or would you prefer to leave her alone outside and let her wander around aimlessly until she gets kidnapped by these strange creatures or Eggman?”

“no” Tails sighed in agreement, calming down further.

“Let’s leave this be for now then”. Tails said with a disappointed sigh but also sounding rather determined to move on. Knuckles stroked Clereen’s head again and soon she had fallen asleep.

“I’ll take her to bed.” Knuckles said.

He lifted her up into his arms and then said “she shouldn’t have been up today anyway” as he left the room. Once Clereen was tucked up in bed, Knuckles smiled a little as he quietly left her room as not to wake her. Tails was waiting behind him and Knuckles jumped a little with surprise.

“So!” Tails said eagerly and Knuckles sighed and turned away before the next part came

“I know you don’t want to talk about it but the next time she wakes up she will probably be hungry again and there is no way we can hide her eating habits any longer.” Knuckles put his index fingers to his head, shook his head and sighed a pained sigh as if he was just too tired for it all.

“We could...err...we could...” Knuckles tried to conjure an answer but Tails quickly responded before he could make one.

“How about we just introduce her over the table during dinner?” Tails said rather cheerfully.

“Oh nono-nono-no” Knuckles responded in a tired but clear disapproval

“Well, what else can we do, Knuckles?!” Tails said with great frustration

“It’s not as if we can hide her again. It’s inevitable they are going to find out about her strange habits one way or another so we might as well get it over with.”

“You say it like it’s so simple” Knuckles said starting to get frustrated again

“Have you ever thought of how SHE would feel about that?!” Knuckles exclaimed. Tails shuffled and moved back a little before trying to interrupt Knuckles again

“Well, of course she won’t like it but-” But Knuckles interrupted her back

“She’s shy, Tails. She’s told me herself. And you saw how uncomfortable she was with your reaction earlier today. How do you think she will feel when at least four other people have that reaction and worse at the same time?! How would anyone feel?!” Tails was quiet for while as he said this since he had a fair point. But nothing could keep her quiet for long

“Well, do you have any better ideas?!” Tails said sounding frustrated again. Knuckles went quiet.

“I didn’t think so...” Tails said angrily before pausing for a deep breath

“I know she won’t like it but it has to be done. Anything else would be delaying it.” Tails continued

After an awkward pause, Knuckles slowly nodded. It was probably for the best they got it over with fast. Although he wished there was a better way so that there would be less pressure on Clereen.

“She didn’t look shy to me” Tails said

“It depends. She kind of...switches” said Knuckles bashfully as if embarrassed for Clereen’s sake

“so I’ve noticed.” Tails shook her head and then smiled

“Nevermind then!” she said as she perked herself up

“we’ll deal with that when it comes to it. For now let’s just relax OK?” Tails didn’t wait for a reply as she strode off in her usual fashion. Knuckles was left feeling rather tired and stressed with it all so he accepted that offer and went his own way for the time being.

Later, that day Clereen was woken with a startle by the rumbling of her own stomach. It was time for her in-between meal snack. She hadn’t been as hungry and able to eat recently with the weakness of her body so this was the first time she had needed a snack but sure enough those rumbles meant she needed one. Clereen, wasn’t desperate though so she decided to explore a little. She didn’t want to interrupt anyone so she tip towed down the hallway and down the grand stairway. Halfway down the stairs she smelt something delicious and it sent her stomach growling again. She decided to follow the scent and until she found a set of doors more hidden than the other large doorways and a lot less grand. She could hear lots of noises of pots and pans inside but when she leaned onto the door with her ear to hear better she soon found the door opened easily under her weight and she fell flat onto her face.

Recovering quickly, she hid behind a kitchen desk nearby so she wouldn’t be spotted. Then she sniffed again and this time she pin-pointed where the smell was coming from. It was coming from a large pot clearly boiling something tasty. Maybe it was a soup that took a very long time to boil or some meat that tasted best when cooked slowly or maybe it was some very very hard pasta. She pondered these things as she crept nearer to get a closer look. She noticed there was a woman singing along to herself while working near the pot.

She was of a, should we say, more than generous build but she hummed to herself like she didn’t have a care in the world and she loved her job. Throwing herbs and spices into the pot with a swish of her arm and a flick of her wrist. She swayed her hips merrily as she continued her cooking. Clereen looked around and realised that there had been no-one else in the kitchen despite it being rather large and fancy to match the rest of the mansion. Clereen, was soon brave enough to venture right up to the pot since this woman seemed way too distracted to notice her anyway. She leaned forward to try and sniff the pot but then the woman quickly turned to face her and yelled in shock.

“Argh! Nonono! Honey! Get away from that pan!” Clereen stepped back quickly and cowered in front of her
“What do you think you’re doin’? You could have hurt yourself? You can’t go near big boiling pots like that!” Clereen was wondering if she had somehow not noticed what she was considering Anna and of course the professor had told her to stay out of the sight of people since they would be surprised to see her

“And with all that fine fur of yours, an inch closer to that hob and you would have gone in a puff of smoke!” Clereen gasped and put her hands over her mouth in shock. Not only because of the idea that she almost burned herself alive like a roast chicken but also that this lady didn’t seem to care at all that she was a talking, living, breathing anthropomorphic dog creature! But before she could react much further, her stomach reminded her of why she was there to begin with.

“Oh, so that’s why you’re here, huh? Hungry darlin’?” Clereen shuffled bashfully and looked down at her feet before doing a little nod.

“Then why didn’t you say so in the first place!” She said suddenly throwing herself into action and running across the kitchen

“I’ll get ya somethin’ to eat in no time!” Clereen smiled a little smile and there was a pause before the lady turned around again and stared at Clereen

“Well, don’t just stand there. Gimme a hand will ya?” the lady gestured her head towards a rack of kitchen appliances to her left as her hands were full.

“Grab me that ladle will you, darlin’” she said before turning back to her work without waiting for an answer. Clereen, stood for a few seconds not sure what to do before then rushing to get the ladle. She was a little short for the desk but she could just about reach it. Then she gave it to the lady.

“There’s a stool over there” the lady said without turning to look at her and gesturing her head to the other side of the room. Clereen rushed over there “second cupboard from the door” Clereen pulled it out

“You got it?” The big woman called. Clereen held it up and smiled triumphantly

“Alright, come over here then. You can use it to see inside the pot” Clereen brought it to the lady and put it beside her before then stepping on it as requested. She could see the inside of the pot now and it seemed to be a delicious stew. Clereen licked her lips eagerly.

“Aww bless ya darlin’” The lady said as she pulled her close for a cuddle.

“My name is Holly. What’s yours, honey?”

“No, I’m Clereen” Holly chuckled a little at Clereen’s lack of understanding as she gave her a banana from a fruit bowl nearby. Clereen, helped Holly cook for the next couple of hours and she got her snack on the way as Holly allowed her to ‘sample’ the ingredients.

Tails and Knuckles had been trying to find the elusive Clereen for ages but to no avail. Eventually, they went to the table since the food was being served and hoped she would appear. Clereen did like food after all. That was something they could both agree on. Everyone was surprised when Clereen came out of the kitchen serving the food along with Holly while wearing an apron and cooking mitts. She looked very happy and proud of herself as she placed the bowls of tomato pasta in front of each person at the long dinner table.

“Clereen?” Knuckles said absolutely stunned as she gave him his meal. However, Clereen ignored him and carried on. Once she was done she ran into the kitchen again. Before long she bounded back into the dining room with a giant pan full of tomato pasta. She then plonked the pan on the table with a mighty ‘BUNG!’ before she then sat next to it with a hungry grin on her face. Before Knuckles or Tails could say a word the pasta was done her gullet in one giant GULP! She then proceeded to lick the pan clean of tomato sauce. Silence fell across the room for a good while before Knuckles finally threw his arms up in the air.

“WELL! THAT solves one problem!” he exclaimed closely followed by Tails

“Clereen... do you really have to lick the pan like that” she said, unsure what else to say.

“Dawwww. It don’t do no harm. She just has a good appetite don’t ya baby” Holly said while wandering into the room and proceeding to pet her on the head like a puppy. Knuckles and Tails just stared at each other. Neither could believe their eyes. How did Holly just except this so easily?!

“Holly... doesn’t it bother you that she is...well...different” Anna said, trying to be as tactful as possible.

“whaaaaaaat?!” Holly exclaimed sounding almost shocked

“Honestly I can’t believe you, honey! She just the darndest little sweetheart aren’t ya darlin’” Holly said while further petting Clereen and making her drool with pleasure like a household mutt.

“Believe me, child. When you get to my age nothing surprises you no more” and with that Holly left them to eat while saying

“Don’t you let that pasta go cold now. Better eat up!” her hips swayed as she walked like she was dancing to a good tune as she wandered back through the staff doors to the kitchen to prepare for the next meal.