Chapter Text
The first snow layered the landscape. It began accumulating on the roof of the farmhouse, as well as the few barns and sheds that occupied the fields. Among them was the shed intended to become the new ‘HQ’ for Sonic and his teammates. Winter had finally set in.
The shed itself had tripled in size, new rooms added on both of its sides. It now resembled a small house, just boasting a steel exterior. It had yet to be painted and detailed–tasks that were to wait until everything melted and thawed in Spring, and the interior hadn’t yet been touched. But from the outside looking in, it appeared complete. The electronic and plumbing portions still needed to be addressed, the former of which Tails was excited to tackle. The latter required the hands of professionals. Another thing on the list that would wait until warmer weather.
What livestock still resided after the year’s business reluctantly emerged from their warm shelter. New cattle, birthed earlier that year, had long since been weaned from their mothers and were left to learn of the world around them. During the Winter months, there were no fowl to awaken the farm’s residents, no eggs to gather. Their season had ended, the birds long having been sold off for their meat. A harsh reality, when one stopped to think on it. But necessary when bills and temporary farm hands needed pay. Come Spring, new chicks would scamper around a fresh enclosure. For now, a blanket of white was all that filled the space.
What remained now was whatever crop still endured the oncoming Winter, as well as lumber to be sold from their connecting tree farm.
The rising sun was still enough to rouse one of the farm’s residing foxes from her slumber. Blinding morning light had only crested the distant hills, yet it hadn’t bested the orange and black-coated vixen standing on her home’s back porch. Visible breath expelled from her gray muzzle. Nestled atop her mane of brown fur and settled between her wide ears, her tan Western-styled hat sat, adorned now with a pale-yellow ribbon tied into a fancy bow. A matching ribbon was tied around her neck, the tails of its bow falling against the light-blue tank top she’d chosen to wear. Dark-gray jeans replaced the navy-blue ones she’d worn previously, but her fingerless gloves and boots remained unchanged.
Clawed hands were pressed to her lower back, one clutching the other, as their owner surveyed the land. Tonya was typically the first to rise, and the early-morning silence usually was her only company. The first she noticed upon dressing for the day and stepping outside was ‘Jack Frost’s’ early visitation. All that was here a few nights prior was a layer of frost, now a couple inches-deep blanket of snow. She hoped what remained in the orchard was still salvageable.
Her left ear twitched as she heard the oak door behind her open.
“Alright, how many times are we gonna have to do this?” her adoptive mother’s voice playfully nagged. “You’re out here without a coat, again.”
An observation Tonya merely smirked at. “I’m not cold, Mama. ‘Sides, my winter coat’s growin’ in. You can look forward to the sheddin’, come Spring.”
Her human guardian stepped out to join her, for now warmed by her fuzzy bathrobe and house slippers. “Was wonderin’ what caught your eye. Winter’s come a lil’ early this year,” she said, the small fox at her side simply nodding her head. “Here’s wishin’ the orchard’s held up. We were supposed to collect the last o’ the Autumn harvest today. I’m prayin’ the cold hasn’t ruined ‘em.”
“Me, too. Are, uh…are the elder brothers up an’ movin’?”
“Of course they are. At least when I’m up, they do.”
“Hm. How ‘bout the younger brothers?”
“Heh–no. You’d think after a month, they’d be used to early risin’ like the rest o’ us. Only two o’ us get a pass, an’ that’s only because they’re away from home, most o’ the time.”
“Comes with the territory o’ fillin’ the roles as our ‘spokesmen’,” Tonya confirmed. “Anyway, ya want me to get them up?”
“If you’d be a dear. I just woke your father. He’ll be pitchin' in with breakfast, this time.”
“Oh, joy~” the vixen teased as she followed her guardian back inside the house. Both of her elder brothers had already set the table and seated themselves, casually chatting with their father. The man hadn’t yet donned a vest, but was already garbed in one of his preferred striped shirts and slacks. Tonya swiftly bid them all a good morning as she passed them by, stopping just short of the bending stairway that led up to her loft. She cleared her throat as she leaned up against the wall, crossing her arms as she readied her best ‘Draco Malfoy’ impression.
“Late for Quidditch practice, Prower? Madame Hooch will be utterly disappointed when she finds out about this!”
A sly grin crossed her muzzle as she picked up on some frantic shuffling.
“No! I can’t be late! I have to make Team Captain!” came the yellow fox’s reply. The resulting ‘thud’ implied he’d fallen out of his hammock.
“It’ll be points from Ravenclaw house. Just wait till Father hears it~” she continued, trying her best not to laugh. The most she managed was to diminish it to a wheezing snicker as she stepped away from the stairs. She had to be quick in positioning herself between the foyer and the kitchen, her bushy tail flickering as she hunched down. Silently, she counted herself down.
“Four…three…two…”
Not a moment’s hesitation. She lunged forward just before a flash of blue filled the corner of her vision, her arms wrapping around the hedgehog’s abdomen and pinning him against her. “HA! Victory is mine!” she cheered, amazed with herself at her latest ‘capture’. Without giving Sonic a chance to complain, she carried him into the kitchen to show the others. “Look, Ma! Both hands~”
Each of the humans within earshot glanced to find the playfully-pouting hedgehog in the fox’s arms, his own crossed over his chest.
“Aha! I told ya!” Mak grinned as he lightly smacked the tabletop. “Time ya paid up, chum~” He held a palm out to Jake, said brother exaggerating a sigh as he withdrew fifty dollars from his wallet. “And I’d reckon that’s earned you some banana cakes,” added Mordecai with a playful smirk of his own.
“Yes!” Tonya beamed to herself, then cast a glance at her younger brother. “‘Fastest thing on Earth’, my fluff! I succeeded where Eggman failed. Tsk–amateur!”
Adjusting himself in his “sister’s” hold, Sonic returned a snarky glance of his own. “Hey, you only succeeded this ONE time! And besides, unlike Eggman, I trust you.”
The vixen’s ears lowered at his words, a touching smile upon her lips. “Awww…wrong choice!” Suppressed gremlin energy returned to her being as she locked an arm around him, freeing her other hand so its claws could “assault” his peach-toned stomach.
“Hey–no! STOP! QUIT IT!” her victim laughed, only able to struggle in her clutches for a short time before he’d fallen to the floor. It didn’t help him any, as he was just as immediately pinned down, the “ambush” continued. His flailing proving useless, he resorted to shielding his “weak spot” with his limbs–at least until he’d laughed himself to tears.
“An’ here, Eggman made this look so tough. Silly me~” Tonya played, ceasing her tickle attack to reach and tap her victim’s nose with the pad of a finger. “Boop~”
“Ack! AND I’ve been ‘booped’ too?! How merciless are you?!” Sonic played along as he tried to catch his breath. This only prompted the orange fox’s “vile laughter” until she noticed Knuckles and Tails enter the kitchen. The three of them exchanged looks. “Yeah, I defeated your leader. What’cha gonna do ‘bout it?” she challenged them, a padded hand gently pinning the hedgehog’s head down. Luckily, both teammates understood the game.
“Sonic’s been bested?! Whatever should we do now?” prompted Tails, peering at the echidna with a look of feigned worry.
“We avenge our fallen,” Knuckles stated with a smirk, playfully bumping his fists together. The grin on her face widening, Tonya leaped from off of Sonic to run to the back porch’s door. “You’ll never take me alive!” she proclaimed, throwing the door open to dash outside. Knuckles was the first behind her, Tails courteous enough to close the door behind them. They left a recovering Sonic to sit up on the floor.
“Are you alright, hun?” Josephine asked, once the “anthros at play” had gone outside. “Yeah, I’m fine,” the hedgehog confirmed, drying his eyes with the backs of his gloves. “We’re just playing, that’s all. They know not to hurt each other.” He happened a look through the nearest window, spotting the other three “at war” in the snow.
“So long as nobody gets hurt. Tonya can get to be a lil’ too much, for some. But I’m glad to see her gettin’ along with others o’ her own kind. It’s been…we’ll say, void from her life for quite some time.”
“And I’d say she needs it. Maybe we all did. Tails, especially. He seemed to take a shine to her considering him her brother. Given that she once had one by blood, it makes sense. Also…” Sonic stood and turned to his adoptive human brothers. “You guys placed a bet?”
Jake merely shrugged, feigning innocence. “Fifty bucks if TonTon managed to bag you. Ten bucks more for every week she failed,” Mak explained. At that, Jake objected, “Nah. She just lucked out, this time. Sonic LET her catch him, that’s all. Am I right?”
Sonic honestly hadn’t even thought of that. “Uh…y-yeah. Definitely!” he attempted to play off. “Won’t happen again, though. Count on it.” Plates of food were soon brought to the table, just as they heard the back door open once more. Although somewhat damp, the three other anthros returned, Knuckles carrying Tonya over his shoulder, her facing forward so her ‘look of defeat’ was on full display. “Well, I tried,” she excused. A knowing smirk from ‘Mama Josephine’ was sent the vixen’s way.
‘Lil’ Gremlin.’
“Alright, enough o’ the horseplay for now. Sonic, could ya be a darlin’ an’ fetch your siblin’s some towels? It’s time we be seated,” spoke the Lady of the House, she resuming control of the “children” and getting everyone settled for the first meal of the day.
It was a rather uneventful yet comfortable morning, as it had been for the past month. But all “good things” come to an end eventually, and today would be no exception…