by Daniel Harris

(c) 1997 DHE, Inc.

It was very dark when Daniel Slyder quietly snuck out of his post high above in the trees surrounding Knothole. He had remembered when Sally had so kindly allowed him to stay, overruling the majority of Knothole's hundred or so citizens who wanted him out. Lucky he was, yes, for Sally could have just as easily let him continue roaming the forest until he died, or was killed by Robotnik. Yes, that was something he didn't want to do ever again. He used to spend entire nights awake, fearful of capture, or worse, of not waking up again. Sleeping under the stars in crudely made tents, lean-to's really, made from any leaves and sticks he could find was not his idea of the good life. Sometimes he would be lucky enough to find a cave to sleep in. Now he was safe, or at least he felt so.

He knew it would not be easy living among the Freedom Fighters, and it had not been. First there came the "test", an obstacle training course that was more likely to have killed him than Robotnik, for they used live ammunition in the weapons on the course. One mistake and you were dead. Pretty good motivation for finishing the course perfectly. Fortunately, Daniel was trained, almost too well it seemed, and completed the course many times over, a few in record time. Then came the long, seemingly endless nights on watch. Every other night for two weeks he was made to stand watch for the entire camp, all night. It had nearly broken him, but at last, Sally bestowed upon him the honor and classification of Freedom Fighter. He was given a regular post high above in the trees, watching the skies every third day from 2100 to 300 hours.

His reputation as a mass murderer was not forgotten, however, so there was a digital surveillence system set up to watch him watch the sky. To be fair, Sally had ordered Rotor to hook up all of the posts to the system, which she explained away to Daniel as "something we should have done a long time ago, anyway." But Daniel wasn't fooled. He knew why she had set it up, but he held his tongue, with her, at least. Mouthing off to the Princess and Head-Bitch-in-Charge is likely to get you run out of town. He wasn't so forgiving with the lower ranks, however. Prejudice, from Day One, had been a nagging problem for Daniel. He was constantly harrassed verbally, and even on occasion physically, because of his "bloody" reputation. What baffled Daniel more than anything else was that no one seemed to be afraid of him. They went right on cursing at him, calling him all sorts of foul names, spitting at him, and so forth, just because they knew they could get away with it. During the day, within earshot of the higher ranking members of Knothole, he would pretend not to hear, and carry on with whatever it was he was doing. But if someone insulted him or got in his way when the others weren't around, look out. He would open all the floodgates of his pent up frustration, usually leaving the perpetrator with a few words to swallow himself, and even with the odd black eye. Sally and the others never really noticed it, and Daniel was far too proud to tell anyone about what was going on. But, after a few months, it died down, then stopped altogether. Daniel figured it had either been that: 1. he had scared them to silence, or 2. that they just got bored and stopped. He had hoped it was number one.

They had been very careful about what weapons to give Daniel, as they knew he was quite handy with all sorts of weaponry, and (so the rumor goes) prone to snapping and killing without warning. In actuality, Daniel Slyder's whole reputation of being some kind of "serial killer" was vastly overblown. Sure, he used weapons to get his point across quite oftener than anyone else. Sure, he even once accidentally wounded a staff sergeant back in Mobitropolis when he stepped too close to the target Daniel was aiming at. Sure, that had gotten him court-martialed, and he knew that was when the rumors must have started, but he didn't care. He knew who he was, and that was all that mattered to him.

Lately, another member of his species, a rather unorthodox raccoon by the name of Chris Petrucci, had taken a liking to him. Daniel was so surprised when he found out there was another so like him that it even once brought tears to his eyes, although he will never admit it. They just happened to meet on the test range one day, and, for the past month, have been inseperable. Sally called it "the biggest show of macho bullshit I've ever seen" and, truly, pretty much all those two would do would be to test weapons together, arm-wrestle, try to show off to the ladies, and such.

He continued to think about his friend as he slowly climbed down the ladder to the ground, jumping the last four feet just to show off. Chris had planned on meeting him here to assume his post for the night, as his was immediately following Dan's. But as Daniel peered into the shadows of the forest, Chris was nowhere to be found.

"Damn! He said he'd meet me here! That bozo, he's probably giving it to that rat girlfriend of his right now..." he said, trying to keep his voice low.

At that instant, Chris jumped up from behind the tree and tapped Daniel on the shoulder.

"Yahhhh!" Dan grabbed his hand and wheeled around to face him. "You freak! You wanna wake everybody up!? Don't do that! Where were you, anyway?"

"Heh, heh. Sorry 'bout that, Dan. Oh, me? Just in those bushes, over there, trying to be real stealthy-like." He placed his hands on Daniel's shoulders and looked around quickly, darting his eyes as he did so. "These trees have eyes, you know. And ears." He gave Dan his most paranoid glance, complete down to the look of mock horror on his face.

Daniel knocked his hands down. "Cut that out, Chris! Damn, man, are you tanked, or what?"

Chris tried to straighten up a little. "Naw, man, just tired. It's near 11:30, you know. And I ain't slept in near a day."

"Yeah, well, you better get yo' tired ass up in that tree 'fore I bust yo' head, boy! C'mon, get wit' y'all!" Daniel playfully shooed Chris away as he tried his best to imitate Bunnie, trying at the same time to stifle a chuckle and failing.

"All right, all right, I'm going, I'm going, man!"

When he was about six or seven rungs up, he called back down, "Say, Danny Boy, where is it you're goin' tonight, anyway?"

"I gotta go see a Princess about a dragon!"

Now it was Chris' turn to imitate Bunnie. He whistled, "Whoo wee, that's mah man Dan goin' straight fo' the prize! Looking to get a bit o' her puddin', eh, Danny Boy? Be sure to tell her I sent ya'!"

"Now it ain't like that, man! And keep your damn voice down or you're gonna wake up the whole camp! And didn't I tell you to get yo' ass up that there tree? Go! Shoo!"

Chris put his finger over his mouth in a "hush" manner, gave Dan the thumbs up, and continued up the rope ladder.

"That boy better get a move on. Hope no one's watching the cameras, or they're gonna miss me real quick. Just hope Chris looks enough like me to fool 'em." he thought to himself.

Lighted only by the nearly full moon, and by the burning desire in his heart that he had tried to quell, Daniel rushed off into the faint lights of Knothole. He hoped that Sally was still up, and that he wasn't too late. Too late for what, exactly, he did not know.

The ground felt soft and cool under his feet as he ran swiftly across the central meeting area, under the fiberglass canopy, past the operations shelters, all bathed in a quiet darkness now, and towards the back end of Knothole, where all of the village huts were. Located behind the less vulnerable buildings of Knothole for protection, they were always lighted by small floodlights, again, for protection and safety. They were undetectable from the air, blocked out by the dense foliage. Without some sort of very sensitive equipment, you would never know Knothole even existed, and even then you would have to know what you were looking for. These were the faint lights that Daniel now ran towards, trying to avoid the path of each one, to keep from being seen. He knew that Sally's hut was the largest of the forty or so he encountered, located almost at the very back of the camp. Straining his eyes to focus in the dim light, he noticed very few huts with their lights still on, and none with visible activity inside. About two dozen yards or so from her hut, Daniel turned and ducked behind a small storage shed and stopped to catch his breath. He had been in an almost dead sprint from the lookout tower up to now, and even the most athletic of us cannot handle such strenuous activity so late at night.

He turned around, found an old bucket, overturned it, and sat down. He was amused to find that once he did so he was completely immersed in the inky blackness of the shadows, rendering him invisible to prying eyes. He reached up and ran his fingers through his stringy black hair, and as he did so he noticed something. He was out of breath for not one, but two reasons. One, he had just ran the equivalent of eight one hundred yard dashes all at once, and two, because his heart was pounding with passionate feeling. He cursed himself for feeling that way, and thumped his sweaty chest to try and quell the fire. Sally wasn't his type. He wanted a kind, gentle girl for his companion, not some regs-pounding holier-than-thou battle axe like her.

"Damn!" he thought to himself, "I can't go in there like this! I'm afraid of what I'll do to her if I let my emotions get out of control. Hell, she might not even be up.....oh, man, what am I doing out here? She hardly even knows me, and I'm gonna look like an idiot if I chicken out and take off on her, after planning all this."

"Okay, boy, calm down. Remember why you're here. You need Dulcy, not her." he said to himself as he drew in a deep breath and let it out. He sat quietly for a minute, listening to the silent serenity of a dark forest on a cool summer night. The only sound was of crickets, a sound he had become quite familiar with over the years, having lived so long among them. He knew that he only had a few hours before the changing of the watch, and he was determined not to squander them. He gathered up all of his resolve, stood up, and began the short walk to the dimly lit hut.

It had been a rough day for Sally. The raid on Robitropolis that morning had failed, costing over a dozen lives and many pounds of precious supplies when an explosive package misfired. The accident had nearly killed the Princess herself, as she was leading the squad next to the one that was decimated. She was not injured physically, but she was very shaken mentally, and had blamed the failure of the mission on herself. She had shut herself up in her hut, and would not even go to the evening staff meeting, which was required attendance for all high ranking personnel. After the meeting, Bookshire, who was concerned about her condition, both medically and emotionally, had come by to try and comfort her, but she would not even answer the door. Daniel was unaware of this, and oblivious to her condition as he now approached the door.

He knocked lightly, knowing that if he got no answer after a minute, he could leave and not have to wake her up. Daniel stood and listened for a few minutes, then, not hearing anything, quietly called out, "Sally? You awake?" Still hearing nothing, he put his ear to the door to see if he could hear Sally sleeping, for she was known to snore quite loudly at times. Still nothing. Disappointed, he sighed deeply and began walking away, back towards his post. Just then, he heard a noise from inside the hut that sounded like someone falling off of a chair. He stopped and turned back towards the direction it was coming from. As he looked, he saw Sally run up to the window.

"Who...who is that out there? Is that you, Chris?" she called out in a fairly raspy voice to the figure outlined in the moonlight.

"No, Sally, it's Daniel! I wanted to talk to you about something...are you all right?" he noticed she was leaning quite hard on the window sill, which might have been the only thing holding her up. He came over to the window, looking very concerned.

"Daniel? What...what are you doing out here so late? Aren't you supposed to be at your post?" she said, looking indeed quite baffled.

"Chris is taking over for me tonight. I wanted to talk to you. I mean just you...no one else. There is no one else inside there with you, is there?" he asked, looking over her shoulder to the inside of a hut that was only lit by her small oil lamp, the one she kept by her bedside.

"No, it's just me. I didn't feel like talking to anyone today. You shouldn't have come here, Dan. I'm not feeling too good. Not to mention I'm dead tired." Sally actually did look almost dead. Her eyes were bloodshot, her fur was in tangles, and she looked nearly ready to collapse.

"Do you think I could come inside for a few minutes? I only have a few things to ask you." he pleaded, taking Sally's hands in his own.

"Sure, since you got someone to cover for you, I guess it's okay...let me unlock the door for you. Daniel, Daniel, please, let go of my hands!" Sally tore her hands away from Daniel's tight grip, leaving his view as she went to unbolt the door. Daniel seemed to snap out of his trance, and realized what he had done. He clenched his fists and cursed at himself again. He seemed to be have been doing that alot tonight.

He stood there, kicking at the small rocks surrounding the hut, noticing how they banged off of the side. "Oh, man, I'm already pissed at myself. I wonder why I even came here...she doesn't even sound with it tonight. Maybe I should just leave now and spare the trouble..."

At that moment, Sally finished unlocking the door and pulled it open, covering Daniel in a rectangle of bright yellow light. "Daniel? You still want to come in?" said the shadow in the doorway. "Well, too late now." Daniel thought. "Guess I better at least look at her..." and slowly raised his head.

It was then when he saw her. In the months before, Daniel had only seen Sally at staff meetings and such professional surroundings. He never had the chance to really notice her, to look at her body, to see her beauty. It was now that, as he looked up, he saw her for what she really was. She wasn't a hard, cruel, calculating war monger. In that moment, she wasn't the harsh, overpowering bitch she seemed at times. Daniel saw only a fragile, beautiful creature, with hips that seemed to sway in the moonlight. He thought he could see her chest rise and fall with each breath, even from where he was. She seemed...

"Hey, Dan! You want to come in, or what?" A slightly annoyed voice snapped him out of it.

"Sorry. Coming!" He practically ran into the hut, brushing past Sally as he did so.

Once inside, Daniel looked around at the hut, his eyes having adjusted to the dim light. It was an absolute mess. There were clothes strewn everywhere, a few tables were overturned, and bottles of all sorts of stuff were on the tables that weren't knocked over. He backed up into the hut, taking it all in. He wondered if she always kept it like this.

"Daniel, look out! Don't back up!" Sally put up her hands to warn him, but to no avail. By the time Daniel realized what he was doing, he had stepped onto an empty bottle and began to fall backwards...

It was quiet. Quiet and dark. Wait, there was light...a dim one, next to him. Am I dead? No, wait, I can hear something. Someone's running water...Ow! My head hurts! Ouch, so does my ankle! What's going on here?

"Are you okay, Daniel?" That voice! Now I remember! He opened his eyes to find a sweet face, with big blue eyes staring back at him. "Hi, Sally. What happened?"

"You took a pretty nasty fall back there. You slipped and hit your head on the table. No, don't try to sit up. I want you to rest for a while. Here. I've got another one on your hurt ankle." With that, she took the wetted cold compress and placed it gently on his forehead. Her fingers brushed against his ear as she took her hand away, and it sent shivers down his spine. He felt embarrassed at acting like such a clutz.

"Sally, I'm...sorry. I usually am more careful than that. I feel like a dork..."

"Don't worry about it, Dan. The way I feel tonight, I couldn't walk a straight line if I wanted to." She turned and sat down on the bed next to him. Daniel then noticed where he was. He was lying in her bed, in almost the same spot she would sleep on. The thought gave him more shivers.

"Are you cold, Daniel? I could give you more covers if you want, or maybe a drink..."

"Yeah, Sal, that's something else I wanted to ask you. What's with all the bottles, anyway? These look to me like tetrahol." He picked one up that was next to him on the nightstand and smelled it.

"That's exactly what they are, Dan." She picked up one that was on the floor and looked at it in disgust. "I've been trying to get myself drunk all day, but I'm just as damn sober as I ever was. This shit just doesn't do it!" She heaved back and whipped the bottle across the cluttered room, where it hit the wall and shattered. "I'd give anything for some real liquor around here! I've tried to replicate every possible recipie for alcohol I know, but it all comes out tasting like piss!" She sat there with her eyes closed for a minute, her head buried in her chest. The room flickered in the candlelight. Daniel got out of her bed and crept over to the chair she was sitting in, limping a bit from the cut on his heel. He put his hand out and touched the fur on her shoulder. Sally rubbed her eyes and sat up. Daniel quickly withdrew his hand, embarrassed.

"That's okay, Daniel. I'm fine. I just needed to release some tension. Today wasn't exactly the best for me. I just can't stop thinking about all those people I coulda saved..."

"What do you mean, all those people? What happened today, Sally?"

"It's, it's...nothing. I mean, well...oh God Daniel! It was all my fault!" Sally threw herself against Daniel and began sobbing, convulsing as she did so. "Goddammit! I can't believe I let that happen!"

"Let what happen, Sal?" Daniel pulled her fingers from his chest fur.

"Let all those people die! I'm the head of goddamn Freedom Fighters and I can't even protect my own! What good am I..." she turned her head away from Dan, but Dan pulled it back gently.

"Sally, listen to me. You don't deserve this...we don't deserve you. You're too good for us. We all make mistakes, and this one proves how human you really are." Dan smiled slightly at her.

Sally sniffed. "Really? You're not just saying that to get something, are you?"

Dan's eyes narrowed as he realized that she must know why he was there. "No, of course not." He said after a moment. "Look...you mean a great deal to all of us, and we're all behind you. We know it wasn't your fault. Just believe me, Sal. I know I haven't been the best Freedom Fighter, but I know when someone's in pain. And you're in more pain than I've seen most people in right now."

Sally slowly wrapped her arms around Daniel and pressed her head against his chest. In moments, she seemed to calm, and her body stopped quivering. "You're right, Dan." She allowed herself a small chuckle. "Mmm...you're also warm. You don't mind if I just stay like this for awhile?"

Dan hugged her close. "Of course not. Stay as long as you like."

It was dawn before Daniel left Sally's hut.

The End