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Waves crashed along the shoreline. On top a cliff stood a blue hedgehog, and a plane.
The hedgehog packed a sweater into the small compartment under the driver's seat. He moved to the front of the plane to make sure the propellers were in place properly, and to make sure they spin.
It was an old plane whose engine had busted and crash landed years ago. It belonged to someone he knew, but they didn't want it anymore, so the hedgehog claimed it as his own.
He wasn't an engineer by any means, hell, he barely even knew what he was doing. Even so, he's sure he got the engine working properly again... Hopefully.
If anything, he knows he was able to patch up the rest of it! ...That's not very assuring, is it?
He sighs, leaning against the biplane and letting himself slump into the grass.
Was this actually going to work?
The hedgehog quickly shook off the self-doubt that was creeping into his head.
Of course it was going to work! it needs to. He needs to get out of this place.
He hops up, pushes up his glasses, and jumps into the cockpit.
The hedgehog cautiously starts the engine, and is met with a pleasant surprise when it actually turns on.
It worked!
His eyes sparkled in awe. He then donned a determined smirk, and started his course.
It was a bumpy start, he thought the plane was going to fall and crash into the water below, but it didn't. He kept flying.
He wanted to yell in triumph, but he couldn't bring himself to. Instead, his joy was silent, but still strong.
The young hedgehog had no idea where he was heading, but he knew he was excited for the adventure.
The hedgehog eventually lands someplace. It was very green, much less water around (which he was happy about), and had a lot more hills. It was a beautiful, natural place. It made the hedgehog smile.
However, due to the hills and mountains that dominated the land, it was difficult for him to find somewhere to land, but he managed to find a clear and flat enough field.
Unfortunately, he had no choice but to land. The engine in the Tornado ('heh, like that? named it myself.') had started to give out about an hour into flying... Had it been only an hour? who knows. He wasn't keeping track. He felt no need to.
He had to figure out some way to fix it if he was going to keep going on his adventure. He couldn't just stop here and be content!
Though...
The hedgehog gazed around his surroundings. Perhaps there was someone else here who could help.
Plus, he is hungry...
It's decided, then! Time to go explore.
He makes a mental note of where the Tornado is located, and takes off in one direction.
Well, he made a friend. Sort of.
Turns out there were other people who inhabited this place! Also turns out, some of them are mean.
A kit was being beat up by older foxes. They seemed to be just older than the blue hedgehog. (which he is now realizing he sticks out due to his fur color. that's fine.)
The older foxes spotted him first, but he was the first one to make a move.
And, before that little fox kit could say 'hedgehog', those bullies were taken care of.
The kit was hurt, but they managed fine. they stood up with little to no issue, as if they were used to pushing through the pain. (which made the hedgehog worry about how often this occurs.)
They stared at him with big eyes in admiration, and the hedgehog started to get hot with self-consciousness. This was his first time being recognized like this... He did just save this poor foxes butt. Probably their life, too, man they look so young… Those older kids could've killed them if they weren't careful.
He waves his hand dismissively to the kit, unsure of how to respond. He promptly turns around, and starts to travel once again. He hopes this kit is able to find their way back home, but he is a stranger to this place. He can't help them find their way, just because he saved their life once! He's not some sort of *hero*, and he needs to find someone to fix his plane--
As the hedgehog walks and is about to break into a run, he notices the kit is still following him.
He turns back and cocks his head to the side, questioning.
"Um." The kit started anxiously, "Thank you, I mean. For saving me." Their voice was very quiet. The hedgehog waves his hand once again. "No, really..! No one's stood up for me like that before... And you were so fast, like you were going the speed of sound!" They exclaimed, waving their hands for dramatics. They spoke so fast that he had a bit of a difficult time making out what they were saying.
The speed of sound...
Like Sonic?
I like the sound of that.
Sonic sends the kit a smile.
He's happy he was able to save them, but he doesn't know how to communicate that he's just some guy who just happened to be traveling that day.
But... He can see why they would look up to him so much. He does have super speed, and this kid probably has never seen someone like that before.
That's when Sonic notices the 'strange' thing about this kit. Their tails.
Is that why they were getting beat up? Could that be another factor to why they are so enamored by Sonic? Because he's also unordinary?
A sense of understanding washes through Sonic.
He then kneels in front of the kit. (as if he's THAT taller than them. It's mostly to make them not feel on edge)
"Do..." Sonic starts, cringing slightly at the sound of his voice. It's fine, he's 11, he can still pass. "Do you... want to go... with me?" Sonic managed out, his voice raspy from not speaking for a long time. He speaks slowly, not only to deal with the vibrations in his throat, but also so he can sign to where the kit can start getting an understanding of how he 'speaks'.
The kit blinks before it seems to click in their mind. "Oh. Oh, yeah! I'd like to tag along."
Sonic nods. He really doesn't want to speak again, as much as he'd like to ask more questions. He continues on his path, heading back towards the Tornado. Surely he has something to write with in it…
When the two arrive back to the Tornado, Sonic gestures towards it. The kit's eyes sparkle.
“A plane! There’s never planes around here!” They run over to it, inspecting it. They excitedly list off details about it, and Sonic just smiles at the sight. The kit seemed so shy and depressed, the hedgehog is just happy to see them smiling. Then, they frown as they think. “It’s broken… Do you have tools? I can fix it!”
Sonic’s ears perk up at this, and he nods, jogging over to the plane to lift up the driver’s seat that revealed a little compartment. He pushes the sweater aside and pulls out a toolkit, offering it to the fox.
He then pulls out a notepad he had stashed in his sweater pocket, as well with a pen. He quickly scribbles something down on a random page, then offers it to the kit.
[It’s small, but it should work]
“Oh, that’s fine! I can make do.” The fox smiles before getting to work on the plane.
Sonic watches as the fox works, sort of hating the fact that they’re fixing his plane up for this stranger… Plus, they’re still hurt. Sonic is sure he has a first aid kit somewhere, as well as some snacks. He’ll get the kit taken care of when they’re done with the plane.
Which doesn't seem to take long. The kid knows what they’re doing! They come over to Sonic offering the toolkit back, Sonic takes it and offers a snack in return.
They frown, reluctant. They take it, and eat it quickly. Does this kid take care of themself?
After they eat, Sonic sits the fox down to tend to their injuries. They insist they’re fine, but Sonic isn’t taking that.
After they’re done with that, Sonic takes out his notepad again and writes a question. A simple one.
[What’s your name?]
“Oh… uhm, Miles Prower.” The fox responds, his ears lower a bit. “A lot of people call me Tails. What’s yours?”
Sonic pauses. Maybe he could bring the kid some comfort if he told them his real name, then the nickname he dons.
[Nicky. I like to call myself Sonic.]
“Sonic… I like that! Because you’re fast, right?” Miles grins.
Sonic nods, then points to his tails. [Maybe you could reclaim the nickname?] The kid frowns at this suggestion, so Sonic quickly starts writing something else, but…
“Well… Maybe I won’t mind if you called me that.” Sonic tears his eyes away from his notepad to look at the kit. “I mean, we both are odd… You named yourself after your oddness, so… I could too!” The kit, Tails, seemed to find comfort in Sonic, and Sonic was happy about this.
He thought running away from his home, from his family, would be very lonely… But it’s the opposite. He has a new friend, someone he saved. Someone who admires him for something that isn’t a dumb title given by his mother.
Plus, the kid is really sweet. He doesn’t seem to have any family who cares for him if he was so adamant on coming with Sonic…
Sonic feels protective of him.
He’s gonna raise this kid so good. He’s taking it as a challenge.
Time passes, he travels the world with Tails. The more time passes, the more time Tails seems to be comfortable with that name.
And the more time that passes, Sonic feels more comfortable talking to him.
It’s a few words here and there, but now he’s speaking sentences. He hates his voice, and he hates the vibrations in his throat, but it’s not like Tails ever forces him to talk or judges him about it.
Sonic has also been teaching the fox sign language, he’s gotten pretty proficient in it. The two have days where they only communicate in sign. It’s comforting to Sonic. When he lived with his mother, being silent wasn’t an option. He despised that.
Eventually, they keep meeting more people. The more people they meet, the more Sonic has to speak. He pushes through it.
Knuckles didn’t know sign, but the guy was pretty quiet himself when he wasn’t yelling about his island.
Amy also didn’t know it, but she was much louder and also extremely touchy. Whenever she would hug him or touch his arm, or anything, his skin would crawl.
He didn’t like people touching him. He tolerated Tails since they’re brothers, but he barely knows Amy.
At some point, she noticed how he’d always cringe away when she would touch him. She asked about it, of course, and Sonic replied with some excuse about just not liking touch. The truth was too complicated to get into, and something that kids shouldn’t really hear anyway.
The experiment was rough, is all he’ll say.
As time went on and he got more friends, he kept having to push himself further with speaking. It got to a point where he could push past his discomfort about his voice. The vibrations in his throat were much more bearable, as well.
Then, he meets a hedgehog who is also quiet. Not mute, just doesn’t speak much. He admires this, and he wishes he could be as quiet again.
Though, he doesn’t do anything about that. He’s content enough with the choices he’s made on how he wants to present himself to other people. Besides, being snarky and seeing people’s reactions to the things he says is fun.
Never would he have thought that running away would’ve been a good idea. He still clearly remembers the self-doubt he felt before taking off in that biplane. He remembers looking down at Christmas Island, his home, one last time before flying away from it forever.
It’s a weird feeling. He sort of misses his home. It was beautiful, and his family probably missed him…
However, he can’t go back. He can’t go back to a place where he’s expected to be a princess, expected to rule a kingdom… That’s not his style.
He wants to be free.
And he is.