You are human

Curiosity killed the cat.

She was sweaty, tired and muddy. Yet she carried on digging through the dirt ignoring everything, her aching limbs, the beating sun, only concentrating on finding evidence of past civilisations.

(Y/N) was a determined and amateur archaeologist. It was her passion to dig up secrets of the past, fitting seeming though she was currently studying History. And the sight she was digging at had taken her six months to get permission to dig here, and even then the council had only given her a weekend. So she had to make the most of her time and try and find any artefacts she could.

So far she'd found a couple of vintage coins but not much more, but she figured that with how determined the council were in denying her curiosity to dig up this area, there must be something of worth in the soil. Perhaps this was where a great battle was held? Where an ancient Royal was buried? Who knew! 

As she carried on digging, dusting and metal detecting long into the morning and well into the afternoon she didn't find anything, but then her shovel hit something hard with a loud CLANG!

She had struck gold! Or rather, emerald.

Excitedly she dug away the dirt and dusted it away until a large emerald shard was visible.

"What do we have here?" She asked out loud holding the item to her face.

Picking it up the large shard was rather heavy and reflected the light in a lush green pattern. In fact it appeared to be glowing...

(Y/N) failed to notice it's aura getting brighter, until the point she was practically blinded!

"What the heck!?" She yelled shielding her eyes.

She would have let go of the shard but her inner archeologist refused. It got so bright to the point that all she could see was white! Standing still she felt as though her hand was tingling with energy as it held the gem. Until eventually the light dimmed down, almost instantly.

Blinking with her regained sight she didn't feel any different, but when her eyes came back into focus she realised  that she wasn't in her digging sight.

"What the heck...?" She asked again more quietly.

She was now surrounded by lush green forests, trees going up to the sky's, the grass as green as the emerald she was holding, any glimpses of sky revealed bright blue accompanied by a cool summer breeze.

How on Earth did I end up here?

And more importantly how would she get back? She had to admit the area was nice but this was not her home.

"Who's there!?"

(Y/N) jumped at the voice. It was deep, almost angry. And the first thing she thought was that she might be on some private property. So in a root reflex she began to run from whoever was there, but that was stupid she soon found out as that only gave her position away.

"Hey stop!" The same voice from behind her.

Clutching the emerald shard closer she sped up, hoping a miracle might come about and get her out of this situation. Her hopes weren't answered as the forest quickly formed into a clearing and she nearly went straight over a cliff!

Her heart raced as wobbled at the edge looking down and seeing that she seemed to be on a floating island! Then suddenly a rough hand grabbed her by the arm pulling her back to safety. 

"What the hell did you think you were doing!? Don't you know your Angel Island!?" The owner of the voice scolded her for risking her life.

Regaining her balance she looked at who she had been running away from and only became more baffled and scared.

"W-who!? What are you!?" She shrieked at the red hybrid animal but as she did she stumbled back towards the cliff.

"What are you doing!? Do you want to fall off a cliff!?" He shouted at her again pulling her back to safety.

"S-sorry..." She stuttered at an utter loss.

She guessed that if this guy, or whatever he was, was going to get mad at her then he would have already rather than saving her life twice.

Meanwhile the weird thing just stared at (Y/N) with a confused expression as she looked like a befuddled mess, obviously not fazed by this humans confusion. All he really cared about was how she ended up here and why she had a shard of the Master Emerald.

"Who are you and what are you doing on my island?" He asked suddenly his voice back to its slightly angry tone.

"Uh, w-well my name is (Y/N) (L/N), I'm an archeologist, and I don't know myself why I'm on this island." She said slowly.

But as she spoke she saw that he was staring intently at the shard she was holding. So giving a large sigh she held it to him.

"I can tell it belongs to you, and this things caused me enough trouble as it is." She said practically throwing the shard at him.

That stupid Emerald had made her big council for six months and sent her so where she didn't even know. But as soon as he took the emerald shard she saw just how much it meant to him by the way he looked at it and held it firmly in his boxing gloved hand.

"C-can I ask?" She said suddenly.

He looked by at her expectantly.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Knuckles, Knuckles the Echidna."

******************************

"So your entire tribe and species were wiped out?" (Y/N) asked running her hand across an old statue taking in its details.

Looking back Knuckles just gave a nod.

After the explaining how she had ended up on his Island Knuckles told her that she was somewhere called Mobius, and this Island was called Angel Island which served as an area for the Master Emerald to stay protected. Which (Y/N) had found a shard of, Knuckles had then briefly mentioned how he was the protector of it.

Then there was the problem of her trying to get home, but they couldn't find any immediate solution. And so a couple of days passed and (Y/N) found Knuckles to be a big softie as he offered for her to stay on the Island in the mean time, trying to help her feel comfortable in the new world, proving himself as someone nice to talk to.

Eventually their conversations in the few days in that they knew each other led to the mention of Knuckles' people, which naturally led (Y/N)'s curiosity being sparked and she'd carefully asked questions about the History of the Emerald and the Island.

He opened up quite quickly about his tribes past, how they were destroyed by perfect Chaos and the Echidna Tikal sacrificing herself to keep the peace. And how he was now alone.

"So are you all alone up here?" She asked as simply sat down in front of the ME.

Which she still couldn't get over its size.

"Not exactly, I have the Master Emerald and the Chao's to keep me company." He replied. 

It still must be very lonely, she thought.

She then went back to looking at the old relics and statues along with the hieroglyphics carved into the ruins, her inner archeologist sparking. Unaware that Knuckles was watching her with interest.

True there were some humans on Mobius, but this human was from Earth. And yet she didn't appear at all afraid that she was on a completely different planet, instead she had become besotted with its History. Not that he minded, he was pleased to find someone who took interest in his people's past, seeming though not many people now a days did.

However there was one thing that was really confusing about her.

"(Y/N) you don't seem at all worried that there's no way for you to return home at the moment." He suddenly commented.

This made (Y/N) stop for a second, before she looked back at him with a smile.

"That's right, I'm not worried." She smiled.

"Why?" He asked confused.

"Because I've made a friend and this place is incredible! Not only that you have the most interesting History! My History on Earth was getting a little boring, but now I can learn this worlds History as well!" She exclaimed like a child.

This left Knuckles a little speechless, mainly at the fact she had said they were friends so suddenly.

"But if your already bored of me then we can start looking for a way for me to get home straight away, if you want." She offered quickly sitting down next to him.

"That's not what I meant, I was just wondering if you missed your home." He confessed.

"Not at all, it was boring there. This place is much more exciting." She smiled.

So although curiosity might have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Bonus:

"By any chance did you hurt you butt when you sat down that fast?"

"Yes."