Butterflies On The Island

Characters-Respective Owners

The blue wonder had come to the island so often; it was almost like a ritual. Sometimes he brought Tails, sometimes he didn’t. No matter the instance, it was always about saving the world.

“More allies make a better fight!” He’d say.

Red doubted that.

Sonic had fought enemies on his own perhaps a million times. But who was counting? So it was to be expected that, after this fight, he’d brag of the victory.

Which is why whenever he saw blue blur coming his way, Knuckles would get feelings of annoyance and anger, just from that blur. Having too little social contact with the world, by now he’d developed how to feel whenever he saw his ‘friends’ approach.

Sonic, as stated, was annoyance and anger.

Tails was annoyance as well, the boy who tried to be like Sonic every which way.

Rouge was flaming anger. Probably after his emerald. AGAIN.

Amy, however, was something completely different. A feeling he’d never known, never heard of, and didn’t understand. But he enjoyed it. It was a good feeling.

No one else seemed to have that feeling of her when she was near. That included Sonic, her ultimate crush.

Sonic, bragging about all his past fights alone.

Amy adored each story. Knuckles adored her. But hid it. Pride was a factor in it, but so was confusion. He didn’t know how to properly express this strange, yet warm feeling he got when near her. Warmness when hearing her sweet voice talks of kindness, watching gain independence as she fought with as much guts as she could muster, and of course when seeing her more than attractive body. At least in his eyes. Her slim body fitting in that red dress, showing off her curves in a manner that caused the echidna to feel hot in the face when he noticed.

He didn’t remember how had gained this bit of information, but it seemed she used to wear a different dress, and even style her quills differently.

He memorized her entire being when it was time to go back to the Island. He didn’t want to forget…at least memories could keep him company as he stood atop the floating vessel. When no one was around, he got a deep sadness. He found it was called loneliness.

He found the warm feeling was love.

A thing Amy said frequently about Sonic, that she loved him; ever since the day they met.

A fight Sonic bragged about a lot. Metal Sonic was his foe, Little Planet his battlefield. Amy Rose his prize, apparently. She swooned as she was saved from the metallic grasp.

Of all fights Sonic bragged about, this was the one that Knuckles remembered the most. In perfect detail he could recall not only Sonic’s words, but also Amy’s. How she had never met a hero before. How her tarot cards had told her she would meet someone special that day.

Knuckles loved to travel. A funny thing, since that was something he could never do, with his responsibility to the Master Emerald.

Alone on his island, he sometimes thought of that brag. The brag brought ‘what ifs’.

What if Knuckles didn’t need to guard the Master Emerald?

What if, due to that, he could travel freely?

What if, due to both above, he went to Little Planet, on his wandering journey?

What if it was he that saved Amy?

He knew very well time couldn’t be changed. The past cannot be rewritten.

Sonic never bragged about Amy’s love.

Knuckle’s warm feelings of seeing Amy soon came with the crushing feeling of loneliness.

He tried to convince himself that if all the ‘what ifs’ had come true, something bad could have happened. If he was able to change the past, horrible consequences, right? The butterfly effect, wasn’t it called…

Amy followed Sonic everywhere, always wanting to hold onto him, loving him with every ounce of her being.

That could have Knuckles. Could have been.

Knuckles eventually got the loneliness when seeing the Master Emerald. When seeing butterflies.

“Change one small thing in the past,” Tails had defined it, “and the future could be changed in an unbelievable amount of ways. That is the Butterfly Effect.”

So Knuckles waits on his island. He waits for Sonic to come back and tell him the world is in danger. One more glance of beauty that maybe wasn’t meant to be his.

Sometimes he spots butterflies landing near him.

He always kills them.

Fin