It was past sundown at the Restoration storage facility where evidence and scraps were gathered. Only two people were present at this hour sorting the items, Lanolin and Blaze. Lanolin had been spending extensive amounts of time at the Restoration doing anything she can do to aid the people. Many rightful see this as a form of self-imposed atonement ever since her actions at the Clean Sweepstakes despite having both apologized and been cleaned of any wrongdoing since the event. Some have even felt sympathy for the sheep as it is clear she has not forgiven herself for her mistake.
While not carrying the same weight, Blaze had volunteered her time away from her empire to aid in this effort in particular. The evidence and remains being sorted currently were from the remains of the Sylvania Castle, a hybrid castle and mechanical flying machine belonging to the family of ermines who are now largely absent. Having been at the scene of the crisis, the princess was also providing any intel she could of the events, though much of them are a blur to her for the wrong reasons.
“You know, I can find someone else to help me, your highness,” Lanolin said to break the silence. “I wouldn’t want to take up what little time you have here.” She was trying to convince Blaze to spend her time elsewhere feeling she would be better off exploring the world than aiding her.
Blaze turns to her holding a box of scrap saying, “It’s no hassle, Lanolin. With my kingdom at peace, there’s no rush to handle any conflict. If anything aiding you and the others is just as important as aiding my people.” The feline’s benevolence for the inhabitants of a foreign dimension could not be more apparent.
“I appreciate it, I really do. It’s just…” Lanolin struggled to express her own self-loathing feeling it would make her pursuit of redemption feel moot.
Blaze set the box down before approaching the sheep placing a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. You don’t have to do this alone.”
Lanolin was breathing a bit slower and heavier in that moment. “It’s not that. I… I just…” She could not put what was intruding her thoughts into the proper words. “I need to do this…because I’m responsible for it.” Her words were vague, but they were enough to show how she had been handling the fallout.
“Lano,… You don’t need to…”
“I need a moment to inspect something.” The sheep slowly walks away from Blaze finding a different part of the facility to be alone.
Blaze was concerned, but rather than pry further she continued to aid in the sorting. Upon grabbing the box from earlier, she began to empty its contents inspecting them. Unfortunately, these were materials familiar to her for the worst possible reasons.
On the opposite side of the facility, Lanolin was going through contents from Rainbow Ravine, the last known location of the late Mimic the Octopus. The sheep was looking through the contents until she found what was left of the traitor. His combat knife.
The mere sight of the weapon brought back the memories of her failure. How she had let a sleeper infiltrate the Restoration, break her trust with the others, and ultimately culminate in the destruction of the headquarters. The fault was not hers alone, but being at fault at all weighed on her ever since she learned the truth of his deception.
“You really did succeed in what I was trying to prevent, didn’t you?” She spoke to the blade as if she were speaking to Mimic. “You got in my head like you did Whisper. The only difference is that she overcame you. I never did.” A single tear ran down her cheek. “I never will either.” The sheep’s hand began to tremble as she held the knife as her other hand moved towards it wrist first. “I can never atone,…so you won after all.” The blade slowly approached her wrist until a sudden bang shook her causing her to flinch and release the weapon.
Looking behind her, she made her way back to the opposite side of the facility. Upon searching for the source of the sound she suddenly flinched again as the bang repeated. The closer she got to the source, the more it repeated until she had found where it was coming from. The sight of what Lanolin saw left her silent in distraught.
Blaze was standing before the nearest wall holding a piece of the Sylvania Castle evidence. She struck the wall with it creating the sound her friend was startled by. After a few more strikes, she released the object which was an armored mask.
Lanolin approached the feline slowly not saying a word as she looks down at the mask in its damaged state. She began to remember why it was there, and she also put together why Blaze would react as she did to it. It was a reminder of not just the events of the castle but also how she had been used by its heir.
“Blaze,…” The sheep finally tried to speak to her friend. “It’ll be okay.” She was panicking a bit in her head feeling she picked the wrong thing to say.
“Will it though?” Blaze’s voice cracked a bit, her breathing mirroring Lanolin from earlier. “After what happened,…I don’t deserve my title.” The feline kept her face turned away from her friend not wanting to see her groveling.
Rather than keep her distance, Lanolin acted on impulse and approached her friend. In that moment, the sheep wrapped her arms around her in an embrace. Under the normal run of things this was something she hardly ever does with anyone, but this was not the normal run of things.
Blaze did not attempt to push her away in this instance. Instead she slowly brought her arms around the sheep as her breathing began to calm down. This was the first time since the castle incident she let herself be vulnerable, and Lanolin was the first one she allowed to see her like this as well.
“Don’t hold it in, Blaze. Let it out.” Her hand gently rests on the feline’s head as she comforts her.
“You…don’t think less of me…because of what happened… Do you?”
“Telling me about it makes me think better, actually.”
“I let my guard down… I couldn’t fight it… I… I…” Her eyes were welling up with tears over the events that transpired. Even attempting to reveal what she did was hard enough on her.
“It’s okay. I know how it feels. The only difference is I did what I did willingly.” Lanolin was no longer keeping how she felt to herself anymore. Seeing Blaze sharing the same pain made bottling up her own no longer necessary.
Blaze looks up at Lanolin her muzzle wet with tears. “It wasn’t your fault though.”
Lanolin slowly runs her thumb across her friend’s face wiping away her tears. “You weren’t to blame either.”
The feline slowly began to form a smile on her muzzle as she slowly retreats from their embrace. However, she kept a hold of her hands after pulling back. “I can tell you don’t have a lot of practice with this.” Her voice was no longer cracking.”
Lanolin looks away with a soft chuckle. “That’s more Tangle’s forte. I just thought it would be something she would say to people she cares for.” The sheep then covers her mouth with one hand realizing what she said.
Blaze’s muzzle was now a hint of red hearing those words. “Oh. I see.”
“I really don’t have a lot of practice with this.”
“That’s okay, Lano.” The feline was beginning to purr a bit having taken her words as a compliment. “Maybe we can talk more about this later over tea.”
The sheep smiles a bit at her request. “Why wait? My shift ended a while ago anyways.” She still had a grasp of one of Blaze’s hands. “Anywhere in particular?”
Blaze smiles as she slowly leads the way. “I know a small place close by that Sonic showed me after our Eggperial City incident.”
Lanolin followed her as they walked past the Rainbow Ravine evidence. She eyed the knife sitting out only now she was no longer shaken by the sight of it. [Looks like you don’t have as strong a hold as you thought.] She slowly took the lead of Blaze as they left the facility, both with a newfound trust in one another. Perhaps sometime more than that as time goes on.
