Not far from the destination now, the group that Johnny led were just setting camp for tomorrow. All of them decided to spend the night. Johnny was just looking at the stars with Rose, laying on the soft, grassy ground. Sonic and Knuckles were out sitting by the campfire, trying to keep warm from the cold, chilly night.
Mario was in the shelter made of boulder and trees, cleaning his hat and gloves. "Oh mama mia." he muttered. "It sure is a cold out a here." Then he immediately put his signature gloves back in his hands, along with his hat back on his hair. At least it wasn't raining, otherwise, he and the others would be freezing to the point of probably turned into icicles in the middle of the night
Knuckles was just sitting on a rock, with his arms crossed and his eyes closes along with a blank look on his face, neither happy, or sad, just emotionless. For Sonic, he was just rubbing his hands close to the crackling flames. "You cold, Sonic?" asked Knuckles flatly
"Heh, of course i'm cold." the blue hedgehog replied. "It's always like this in the autumn. Can you blame me?"
"Hmph, I'm pretty much used to is." then the red echidna opened his eyes. "You should be used to it, too. And hey, at least you're not in water." Sonic had a horrified look on his face
One thing that Sonic hated was water and swimming, not drinking it of course because he needs it, but being in a large body containing water. Just thinking about it made him want to vomit and cower under a bed sheet. "Ain't that the truth, Knux." he remarked proudly.
Knuckles made a sigh and said "Sonic,"
"Hmm?"
"Why am I so gullible?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean every damn time Eggman comes, he persuades me like i'm a puppet or a marionette, something like that. I mean, I might not be Tails, but I feel dumber than everyone else in this world."
Sonic made a sigh out of him. "Ah, Knuckles, nobody's perfect. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. And you, you are what you are, which is just fine."
The red echidna made a small smile. "Thanks, Sonic."
"No problem, buddy."
"So do you see any constellations, baby?" Rose asked her boyfriend. "Because I wish I can see any one of them."
Johnny chuckled. "I don't think so, babe. I mean I wish I i can find some, but unfortunately, it's a little hard to say. Wait.... oh, wait! I!- nevermind."
"What's wrong?"
"I thought I saw Orion, but i was wrong." Then he continued looking around the skies and the stars within the universe. Rose kept close to him, feeling the warmth of her boyfriend's arm keeping her cozy.
Clinging close to her, she asked Johnny "Do you really think Colin's okay?"
He frowned and sighed "I... do not know for sure, but one thing i know is that he is trying to stay strong, like his big brother would always do."
"I hope so."
"Me too."
"Hey guys!" Sonic called out. "Are you coming in the shelter? It's getting really late."
Both humans sat up and looked back at the campsite. "We're coming." Johnny called back to them. "Come on, Rosy. Might as well hit the haysack."
Rose made a cute yawn, and flipped her long, black hair. "You're right. I could use some shuteye myself." Then they both went inside the little shelter Knuckles made from scratch, and all called it a night.
***
As they were all asleep, it was so peaceful throughout the night, and none of George's henchmen were out trying to get the little posse.
All of a sudden a branch was heard being broken, and Johnny immediately awoke. Worried that it was an enemy, he pulled out his sword. And quietly snuck out of the tent. It was all too still to the point where it was becoming a little scary.
Nonetheless, Johnny had a weapon with him, and he remembers how bravely and well he fought with previous enemies before. All of those fencing lessons payed off for him, after all. He looked and saw that the cooler was left open with the light on.
Curious and cautious, he looked to see what was going on. Johnny didn't know if it was a bear, or a wolf trying to eat all the food. Alas, he did not see anything living. After one long, still minute, he came to a realization that it was probably just a bear that ran off.
He closed the cooler and headed back to bed. It was just then he heard a large branch break from above him, and saw a gray and blue figure yelling and falling on the ground. Luckily, Johnny stepped out of the way so it wouldn't crash on him.
"Ow." The thing said. It looked like a large, humanoid raccoon with a blue hat on his head, and a blue long-sleeved shirt. A small red pouch was attached to his left leg, and he was holding a peculiar cane with the head on the shape of a C.
The human readied himself for what the creature would do to him. The raccoon immediately got up and looked at Johnny. His face was covered in a black mask and he looked like a burglar or a thief of some kind. "Don't move!" He warned "so god help me I will kill you if you try anything funny!"
"Hey hey hey, easy there, killer." Said the raccoon. His voice was like a smooth-talking man's voice like the kind of man who would always get the girl. "Please put the sword down."
"No! Who are you? And what do you want?"
"Relax. I mean you no harm."
It was just then the others came out of the shelter to see what the commotion was all about. "Hey! A thief!" Knuckles exclaimed, seeing the raccoon. He, Sonic, and Mario readied themselves for a fight, too.
"How dare you a try to steal from us!" Mario said. "Feel the wrath a my punches of fury!"
"Wait!" Johnny warned. "I'll handle this." He then turned his eyes back to the thief. "Now, drop your cane."
The thing did what Johnny told him to do and waited for something else to happen next.
"Now answer my questions, who are you?"
"Well, my name is Sly, Sly Cooper." The creature adressed. "A descendant of the famous Cooper clan from my book. The Thievius Raccoonus."
"And why are you here?" Asked Sonic
"I've had my eyes on you guys for quite some time." Sly remarked. "I heard about what happened with you're brother. Johnny Fraser, and I want to be a service to you. Plus I might need your he,p to get back home to my world by defeating Clockwork."
The others were a little unsure to trust him. "How do we know we can a trust you?" Asked Mario.
"You look like a thief."
Sly laughed. "Yes, but I'm an honorable thief. And my code is that I only steal from other thieves, not from innocent lives or civilians like a regular cat burglar would. As a matter of fact, I have saved the world before."
"A thief fighting for justice?" Asked Knuckles with a raised eyebrow. "That's ridiculous."
"Well, haven't you ever heard the story of Robin Hood? Pretty great story and all, but you heard of him, right?"
"Yes, but he is not make believe." Knuckles noted
"True, but an honorable thief like me is not. I have morals and I do fight for justice. Just try not to blow a fuse, hothead. Wouldn't want your head to blow a casket."
The red echidna growled at Sly's cheekiness.
"Look, if you are really willing to help me find my brother, will you come with us with no tricks or thoughts of deceiving us for your own selfish gain?" Johnny said
Sly smiled and nodded a yes. "Trust me, I would be more than happy to see you and your brother reunited again. And I promise no tricks and all that. A thief's honor."
"Well... alright." Said Johnny reluctantly. "Just please help me if you really want to help save Colin."
Sly nodded again.
"By the way, how did you explain the cooler open?" Asked Sonic
"Oh. I was hungry, and even an honorable thief like moi needs his food to sustain the breath in his handsome body." By the sound of that, he sounded a little narcissistic, but turns out, he does seem like a good guy like Robin hood would be.
"Well, I would love to hear what happened with you, but I really need some sleep." Said Rose, and she made a yawn while stretching her arms in the air.
The others minus Johnny agreed and went back to the shelter.
"Look, sorry if I scared you, Johnny. Oh, and for spying on you and the others."
"It's cool. I could always use the extra he,p trying to get my brother back to me and Fluttershy in Ponyville. I might not trust you completely, Sly Cooper, but I suppose I will let you help me and my friends."
"Of course." Then Sly picked his cane back up back there in his hand. "You can just get some sleep while I can keep watch from George, his henchmen, or Clockwork try to find us. Raccoons are nocturnal, after all." He winked
"Wait, this Clockwork is working with George, too?"
"Yep. That kids gets around, unfortunately."
Johnny rolled his eyes "too damn true it hurts so bad." He agreed. "But like I said, no tricks or stealing from us."
"I promise. We'll make a great team together."
Still a little suspicious of this mysterious charmer, he went back to bed anyway to get more shuteye.
Sly was out watching out for any bad guys that might try to attack him or the campsite. While doing that, he looked back at the sleeping posse, and smiled at all of them. "I'll help you get Colin back to you, Johnny. I promise." He looked out through the landscape with his binocucom and wondered "I hope that kid's okay. What would an evil monster and an evil kid want with a poor, innocent child like Colin?"