Sonic scrambled off his back and got to his feet, brushing over a skinned knee. "Ahh… oomph!" Of course, Sonic fell right on top of him, knocking the wind out of Knuckles. Knuckles tried to countersteer when a sharp blow hit him from the side, but the thermals were against him and suddenly he was, along with his blue spiked load, dropping the last few meters onto the rocky ground. The air was even rougher here, stirred up by wind blowing over the rocks. Due to the extra weight and probably further adverse effects Sonic had on Knuckles' glide the descent still wasn't near as gentle and slow as the echidna was used to, it was more like a fall with a bit of horizontal distance being covered as a bonus.Īlthough he wouldn't have admitted it aloud, also the echidna was glad when they crossed over a cliff of the mainland. At least he was keeping somewhat still from then on. Knuckles grunted, at both the comeback and the hedgehog's tight hold on his back. "You shut up and get us somewhere safe," Sonic insisted. "I'm spoiling the AIR? Hello? This is about the dumbest thing you've ever said, and that's saying something!" "I'm not trying to drop you, but if you don't hold still, I'll begin to consider it! Don't move around on my back and don't you ever pull on my quills! You're spoiling… the air!" Even as he finished the sentence Knuckles had an odd feeling that it would make no sense to anyone but himself.Īs expected, the reply was quick to come. "I'll chill out when you stop trying to drop me!" Sonic's fingers dug into Knuckles' shoulder when a light downdraft hit the gliding echidna. "You're gonna drop us into the water!", Sonic complained and he sounded unfamiliarly close to a panic. "Stop doing that! Hold on to my shoulders or something!" Probably Sonic was too startled to do anything else but comply and Knuckles was able to regain stability. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very clever thing to hold on to a several feet drop to the left followed as the angle of Knuckles' gliding quills suddenly changed. He could feel Sonic sliding off to the right again.Īpparently the hedgehog had felt it too he gave a small yelp and yanked hard at Knuckles' leftmost dreadlock-quill as the first best thing to hold on to in reach. It was a challenge gliding in these conditions on his own… and that meant not even speaking of that idiot hedgehog on his back. The steady wind blowing from the sea met the rocks there, resulting in twirls, up-drafts and down-drafts and generally unpredictable winds. "Sit still, Sonic," he repeated in a growl, trying to adjust his balance to match the turbulence that increased steadily the closer they got to the coast. Not that it really surprised him… considering the 35 kilo of very unstable weight sitting on, well, more like clinging to his back. "Hold still! I just can't glide like that!" From the sparkling sea below, a slight updraft registered in Knuckles' stomach, but the effect on his glide was close to non-existent. A fresh and painfully acute pang of annoyance hit the red echidna, not actually caused by Sonic's slightly hysteric scream, but more by the fact the blue hedgehog was doing his absolute best at totally upsetting his balance.