(A/N): still shook at how good this sounds
~~
The dog comes back, "Okay so the only person I know with a map is my boss...so I'm gonna have to take you to him,"
"That's a-okay!" Tangle smiles, "Let's go Nil!"
He nods and the dog leads them to where his boss is.
"So, how big is the map?"
"Pretty big, actually. We are running a business, after all, so we have a bunch of towns listed," he says.
Tangle gasps and looks to Nil, "Ohh! That's perfect then!"
"It'll be a lot more than we need to, which is good," he nods.
The dog laughs a little, "Guess you two like moving place to place,"
"Heck yeah!" Tangle exclaims, "And it's a lot more fun with your new friend!!"
Nil smiles a little. He's getting used to hearing that. When they got there, the dog introduced them to his boss. Overall, he was happy to meet them in person and gladly showed them the map.
"So, where are you two headin'?" he asks.
"We're not sure, but Nil here is trying to find a few things that may help with whatever he's planning to do," Tangle says for Nil.
The Mobian hums and thinks for a minute, "There may be one place you might want to check out, but it's quite a distance from here. You may have to make multiple stops at any town or village you pass by," he shrugs.
Tangle looks to Nil. His ears just lowered a little, "What is the place?"
"We know the city, but don't know where the client really is since they told us to put it in a specific alley so they'd pick it up,"
Tangle tilts her head, "That sounds pretty fishy,"
"That's what I'm saying! I feel like we're gonna regret giving them those Wispons, and you know that it has to come with their specific Wisps,"
"What's your say, Nil?" she then asks him.
"I suppose we'll check it out," he replies after a moment of thinking, "On the way there, we may end up finding a thing or two anyway,"
She sighs, "If you say so, then," she looks back at the map, "Hmm...so we'll be running into Windmill Village, then moving further, we can either stop at one of these towns," she points to the two.
"Either one brings us to the Mystic Jungle so...it doesn't matter,"
"Mystic Jungle, huh?" Nil thought he'd never step foot in that place again. It would most likely bring back very unpleasant memories.
Tangle continues to mutter to herself as she kinda looks over the map. They'll be running into a lot of towns and such. It'll take them a while to actually get to the city they're heading to.
"We'll just visit the first one we see. Again, it won't matter," he says, "I guess this is all we needed to know," he turns to the boss.
"We can give you a spare map! Smaller than this, of course, but it should work," the dog says.
Nil nods, "It'll help,"
"Go get them the map,"
"Of course, boss,"
As he went to another room, Tangle tilts her head, "So uh...what's the city like?"
"It's like any other city, really," he shrugs, "Little busy, tall buildings,"
The dog then returns with the map and gives it to Nil, "Here you go,"
Nil nods and takes it, "We best be on our way now. Thank you," he turns to Tangle, "Let's go,"
She nods and follows him after she waves goodbye to the other two.
"Uh...maybe we should get some more food," Tangle mentions.
"Ah, right. We should," he nods as he folds the map into a small square, "Can you hold onto this until we need to look at it?"
"Sure!"
Tangle puts the folded up map into the small bag she'd been carrying with her. They continue to look around for anything they could buy. It didn't really matter what. Only as long as it can fit in the bag.
Tangle hums as she looks around, "What're you craving for Nil? Is it bread again?" she joked.
"Not really. I was thinking berries,"
"And Chaos forbid me from ever getting my hands on a blueberry pie..."
"Berries, huh? Man, now that you mention it, I want some too," she pauses, "What sort of berries do you like?"
"I enjoy all kinds," Nil shrugged, "I'm not very picky,"
Tangle nods with a smile, "Yeah, same here. Where are we gonna find berries here though?"
He pauses and looks around, "Well, if I remember correctly, there should be a bakery nearby,"
"Ooh! What if they have a blueberry pie?" Tangle starts to fantasize about having one.
"Then I'm not sharing,"
She gasps and acts hurt, "Nil!! Why not just one piece? You can't eat an entire pie by yourself in one day!"
"I did once,"
"...oh wow,"
"Get yourself a piece of cake," Nil just stares.
"Ugh, great! Now that you mention cake, I'm gonna get cake!" she exclaims.
Nil lets out a small chuckle, "Alright, fine. You can have a piece, but only this one time,"
Tangle gasps, "Really?!"
"Sure,"
"Yay!!" she jumps into the air and gives Nil a quick hug after she lands. The hug made him freeze for a moment, and he ended up nudging her away with the handle of his sword.
Tangle immediately lets go and backs off, "Personal space, gotcha. Sorry, I shoulda asked first," she laughs a little.
"We're not there yet," was all Nil said.
"Aight. I'll keep it in mind," she throws him some finger guns.
They continued to walk up until they finally found the bakery, and as promised, Nil gave her ONE piece while he had the rest. It shocked her to actually see that he finished all of it.
"You know, we can hang out here for a little bit so you don't end up getting a stomach ache or anything, y'know?" Tangle suggested.
He nods, "I was going to anyway,"
"In the meantime," she hums, "How about we talk about you for a while before we go? How about this? When's your birthday?"
"November 7th,"
(A/N: the day Sonic Forces was released)
She smiles, "Sweet! Mine is April 25th! See? Isn't this great? We're learning more about each other!" she seems very excited, "Now, what do you usually like to do during free time? Y'know, when you're not busy with adventures and all,"
"Admiring the view, I suppose. Especially watching the sunrise and sunset," Nil says.
Tangle hums, "Very relaxing, I'm guessing!"
He nods, "Helps me take my mind off things..."
"Mostly during those cursed seven months,"
She hums again as she tries to think of another question, "Hmm...what was the most memorable moment in your adventures?"
Most memorable? Before the war, everything he did with them was memorable, but thinking about it just hurts.
Nil said nothing.
Tangle quickly takes note of this and panics, "I-I'm sorry! Was that a topic too sensitive to you?! Y-You don't have to answer that if you don't feel like it!" she stutters as she waves her hands around.
"...thanks, Tangle,"
She slowly calms down and sits in her chair. She has a worried expression as she stared at Nil, "Aw...now I feel like I killed the mood. We were having fun just a second ago,"
"It's fine, really. I'm sure I'll tell you sometime in the future,"
"You sure? Okay, whatever you say. As long as you're cool with it,"
If he's ever cool with telling her about it. Tonight might end up being a long night. Those memories always come back to haunt him.
"Oh, by the way, are we going to leave tonight or stay here and leave tomorrow?" she then asks.
This snaps Nil out of his thoughts, "Um, we can stay in this town for tonight. Plus, I don't feel like heading out right now,"
Tangle nods, "Okay! If you're wondering, I actually spotted a motel not too far away as we were walking here. We can stay there!"
"Sounds good to me,"
After chatting for a few more minutes, Tangle led Nil to the motel and rented a room just for one night. Tangle ends up flopping onto one of the beds in there as Nil sits by the window and has his sword resting on his lap.
"You gonna stay up again even though we're in a safe place and not a cave?" Tangle jokes, her face still in the mattress.
Nil nods, "Yeah. It's a habit,"
"You do you, bud. I ain't judging,"
Nil looks at Tangle before smiling a little and looking back at the view. It wasn't much, but it suffices.
After a few minutes, the sun had already set and it was dark outside. The lanterns and streetlights were lit up and a few Mobians were still outside. Nil was still at the window, and Tangle was fast asleep.
He started to wonder what sort of trouble he might get himself and Tangle into when they do get to their destination. What if it's the doctor and he's planning to use the Wisps for something (again)? His body tensed as that thought crossed his mind. Should he even risk it at this point?
Nil just sighs, trying to calm himself. That is, until, the thought of Tangle figuring out who he was. She may have said she had a slight fascination and curiosity about how the power of the Phantom Ruby works, but how would she feel if she realizes her new best friend is actually one of the ones who started the war?
In a way, it's like losing everything again. Now, that thought left an odd feeling. Losing someone that makes him smile every now and then. It'll happen again.
Nil lets out another sigh, "So history does repeat itself," he thinks.
In the end, he sleeps by the window and not in the other bed beside the one Tangle's on. He was too preoccupied with his thoughts that he drifted off to sleep.