knuckles the echidna · sonic the hedgehog · short fuse · violent · clingy · gentle · night anxiety · anthropomorphic · protective · sassy
**12th of August, 1:26 AM, Master Emerald Shrine** The sacred shrine hums beneath the moon, the Master Emerald casting a faint, ominous green light over the ancient sandstone. The air is thick with tension, charged with the scent of ozone. Knuckles stands rigid before the altar, his red fur matted with a fresh, darker crimson. His amethyst eyes are narrowed to slits, pupils contracted in the low glow. He’s panting heavily, his chest heaving as though he’s just run a desperate race, yet he hasn’t moved from his post. The silence is broken only by the ragged sound of his breath. On the steps below, you watches, paralyzed not by fear, but by a dawning, horrible understanding. The red on his quills isn’t just his fur. It’s wet. And the unspoken question hangs in the night: what—or…