Guiding Light

"Let's just not do a next time at all, huh?" Flame suggested, "We're gonna get faaaar the hell away from here in a little bit. That guy won't ever find us, even if he tries."

"Which reminds me..." the other hedgehog pointed out, "Once we get you two patched up, I'm gonna have some questions."

"Ugh, Mom, don't interrogate us," Flame protested, glancing at her mother.

The hedgehog returned the look. "Well, I need a better idea of what happened and why, aside from the vague text messages you sent me," she replied.

"He was here... for me." Wolf replies, "I happened to meet Flame... by chance... Helping me find food... Attacked with no warning..."

"He did seem pretty determined to carry you off when I got here," the hedgehog admitted, "What does he want with you? What kinda mess are you in?"

"I don't know... They've never told me..." Wolf replies, "Not the first time it has happened."

"So you just keep running into people out to get you, then?" the hedgehog asked, squinting her eyes.

"Something like that..." Wolf replies, "I'm sure they're all connected... somehow."

"Hm... Probably a conversation for later," the hedgehog sighed, "Either way, you're not gushin' blood from anywhere so maybe see if you can get enough strength back to stand. There'll be plenty o' rest time at home."

She moved away from Flame and Wolf, rising to her feet and looking around in some attempt to regain her bearings. She wasn't entirely sure where she'd teleported them to, but couldn't see which way the motel was from here either, so perhaps they would be alright for now. Her fingers flexed at her sides as she tried to gauge how long it might take her to recharge before attempting to make the trip back to the house.

"Don't wait on me getting back to my feet... If you can get out of here before that... feel free to." Wolf says, "If we're close to... where we had been staying... I think they'll be able to find us. They always have before..."

"Trust me, I will," came the reply, "But it's an easier trip to make on your own two feet than over my shoulder."

"What do you mean they can find us if we're closeby, though?" Flame asked.

He looks over at Flame.

"I don't know how they do it... but it's happened before." he says, "Left some of them behind and drove off some distance... and they found us again several hours later."

Flame snorted. "Well, hopefully it'll take 'em longer to find us where we're going," she pointed out, "Trackin' my mom is way different than tracking a car."

"Obviously they've got a way to track you," the hedgehog added, glancing back towards them, "Probably somethin' you're carryin' on you. ...Or somethin' under your skin..."

"Mom, you sound paranoid again," Flame sighed.

"Am I actually paranoid if there are really people huntin' for 'im, though?"

"...Maybe?"

"I guess..." Wolf replies uncertainly, "I have no idea what that could be though."

He slowly starts to sit up, even though his body protests the motion. He winces in response to that.

Flame sat back a bit to give Wolf proper room. "Need some help?" she asked him, raising her left paw slightly. She didn't reach for him yet, though, not wanting to grab anything injured.

The other hedgehog left them to it, still observing the surrounding area to pass the time until she was sure she had the proper strength back. She did idly look over a couple of the scrapes she'd acquired in the last fight just a short time ago. Her brow furrowed a bit, but it was nothing serious or too significant for now.

"More than I'm comfortable requesting from strangers..." Wolf replies, "Someday... I'll stop having the stuffing beaten out of me."

He finishes sitting up and then begins to roll over to get onto his paws and knees.

"Well sure," the purple hedgehog agreed, "You'll run outta stuffin' eventually."

"Pffft, Mom!!"

"What?"

Flame sat back as Wolf seemed to be moving on his own just fine for now. She squinted at the smirking hedgehog, however, trying to not to smirk herself at her mother's comment.

It takes about a minute for Wolf to roll over and then push himself up onto his knees. He looks up at the two hedgehogs.

"I'm sorry for getting you both into this..." he says.

"Well, apologizin' doesn't change the fact that it's too late for that," the hedgehog pointed out, "We're here, but we're also gettin' away so I'm not bothered." She let out a breath and turned back towards them. "If you can haul yourself up to your feet, I think I'm good to go."

Flame looked over as her mother began to approach. She grunted softly as she started to climb back up onto her feet again, then held out her uninjured paw to Wolf to help him up as the older hedgehog also came to a stop beside them and did the same.

Wolf reaches up and takes hold of Flame's offered paw. He then does the same with the other hedgehog, but then pauses as he looks at her. He tilts his head slightly.

"Um... haven't we met before?" he asks tentatively.

The hedgehog furrowed her brow a little at the question. "Eh?" Her head tilted as well. "I don't.. think so," she replied, "What makes you ask?"

"Well, you do have at least two celebrity kids," Flame pointed out.

The hedgehog glanced at Flame. "And I've melted enough expensive cameras that I don't have to worry about anybody gettin' in my face," she reminded her.

"Just... you look familiar..." Wolf replies.

He shakes his head slightly.

"Maybe I've seen someone who looks like you before. Hedgehogs are rather common." he adds, before grasping the hedgehog's paw.

Now with the two hedgehogs helping support him, Wolf gets back up to his feet. He winces once he's upright.

"Ugh... I hurt all over..." he grumbles.

"Well, if there's one thing we're apparently good at, it's multiplyin'," the hedgehog commented rather offhandedly as she helped Flame pull him up. Flame gave her a look and was about to say something when Wolf started to protest his current state and her attention returned to him.

"Don't worry, you'll get better," the purple hedgehog assured him, maintaining hold of his paw.

Flame let go of him, leaving her mother to keep supporting him as she went and picked up the backpacks she'd dropped upon their arrival.

"Now, you kids ready?" the hedgehog asked, glancing at the two teens.

"Ugh, yes." Flame nodded.

Wolf looks over and is about to respond, when he suddenly hesitates. He then glances back over his shoulder.

In the distance, the group of them would be able to see what looks like an explosion but without and fire, as a large portion of a building is blasted apart. A few moments later, the vague outline of a figure can be seen heading towards them. Following a large arcing path, the figure lands about a city block from where the initial blast was, then another blast follows and the figure goes airborne again heading right towards Wolf and his companions.

Wolf looks back at the hedgehogs.

"We're going right now, right?" he asks worriedly.

Both hedgehogs perked up their ears, turning sharply in response to the sound and sight of the distant explosion. Flame went a little wide-eyed, but her mother's eyes only narrowed. Her hold on Wolf's paw tightened.

"Bloody hell..." the hedgehog muttered.

She reached out for Flame as well and grabbed on to her upper arm. "Hell yeah," was her only reply to Wolf as she continued to stare back at the rapidly approaching figure. There was a pause of a few moments before the flames so familiar to her flared up around the trio, whisking them away from sight and off the rooftop.



When the flames died down and flickered away, the three would find themselves standing out on a sidewalk. The day was cloudy and grey here and it was rather humid outside. From the looks of it, it had been raining recently. Looking around, it seemed they were in a suburban neighborhood, right in front of a decently-sized house at the corner of two streets. Skyscrapers and other tall buildings could be seen off in the distance, indicating they weren't too far from a large downtown area.

The hedgehog glanced around, letting out a breath and slowly releasing her hold on the two teens. That had been a much closer call than she would have preferred. She shifted her attention to Wolf to see how he had fared after the sudden journey.

Wolf had tensed right up as the wall of flames rose up around him and the two hedgehogs with him. When they disappeared, revealing their new location, he felt rather disoriented by the experience. Wolf closes his eyes and bends forward a bit, placing his paws on his legs and just taking several slow breaths to calm himself.

Flame took in a deep breath, glancing around them, then also looking to Wolf. "You okay there, Wolf?" she asked him.

The hedgehog took more over to one side of him, lightly setting one paw against his shoulder. "You're not gonna barf, are you? The sickness oughta fade in a little bit," she said.

Admittedly, at the mention of Wolf potentially heaving there on the sidewalk, Flame also took a little step back.