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Age 8
“Flash, hurry up!”
Sonic stopped, waving giddily to Flash. In an instant, he appeared at his side.
“I can’t tell where you’re going.”
“Everywhere!” Sonic grinned, reaching out his arms. He was buzzing with energy, almost delirious with joy.
The first day had breezed past, the forest littered with neatly dispatched monster corpses before sundown. And now with no instructors breathing down their necks, the rest of the month stretched out beyond them like a bright sky. It was the closest Sonic had ever been to freedom in his life.
Even the forest was beautiful, despite the village’s attempts to snuff out everything in it not suited for training. The quiet here was more of a susurrant hush, rather than the cold silence he was used to, and even though it was dark with the trees twisted thick around them, holding leaves above like a carpet, a few golden pinpricks of light still shone on them. Looking up, you could almost think they were stars.
They’d found a clearing, a small exhale in the held breath of the forest, where they’d decided to set up camp the day before. There, while sitting around the campfire, he’d told Flash about his dream. Seeing the way his eyes had glowed as he talked, the excitement began to bubble up inside him uncontrollably. The dream was no longer just his.
“I thought we were going to practice techniques,” Flash said, raising an eyebrow. But he was smiling too.
“We will,” Sonic replied, beaming. “I just heard something. I wanna go see what it is.”
He’d heard it just before dawn, while they were still blurry from sleep. Like nothing he’d ever heard before, something piercing and high, something almost like water flowing, something sharp and bright. He’d set off immediately then, and Flash had followed close behind.
Flash tilted his head. “What did it sound like?”
“I don’t know! But it was really pretty.”
Sonic darted off and landed in the next tree, Flash arriving next to him a moment later. He cupped his hands behind his ears, straining to hear. Flash did the same.
“I think we’re getting closer.”
After a couple of trees passed in the same fashion, he stopped Flash, grabbing his wrist.
“There it is!” he whispered.
They perched on the branch, stock still, breaths held, the sound crystallizing clear in the air.
“Do you hear it?”
All of a sudden, Flash let out a snort. Sonic whipped around to glare at him.
“What?”
“Sonic, that’s a bird. It’s birdsong.” Flash pointed to a branch a few trees away, on which a small brown bird was perched, trilling away.
Sonic scowled for a second at Flash, but couldn’t keep it up. He turned to stare at the bird, marveling at its streaked plumage and the music coming from its tiny beak.
Aside from killing techniques, the village had given them the barest rudimentary education, so Sonic at least knew what a bird was. But this was the first time he’d ever seen one, not to mention heard its song.
“It’s beautiful.”
He felt Flash nod slowly beside him.
“…It’s been a long time since I’ve heard one,” Flash murmured.
They stayed like that for a while, until the bird flew off. Sonic watched that with wonder too. Then it was silence, for a few moments, until he heard a low humming begin next to him.
“Flash?”
“I… think someone sang this to me once.” Flash continued humming a soft melody, his brow furrowed. Sonic stared at him, eyes wide.
Flash opened his mouth then, and the scratchy hum turned into a hitching prolonged ‘ahh’. The sound wafted around them.
“Flash, how’d you do that?” Sonic grabbed Flash’s shoulders and shook them wildly, cutting him off.
Flash frowned. “I just did.”
It was Sonic’s turn to frown. He sighed, and said: “Okay, I’ll just copy you then.”
Flash nodded, and began singing again. Sonic joined in, his voice loud and confident, but terrible. After a few seconds of his off pitch singing, Flash stopped him.
“You’re doing it wrong,” he said, smiling.
“I sound great,” Sonic retorted. “Maybe it’s your ears.”
Turning, he darted off back to their camp. He started to sing again, as best he could, and from behind he could hear Flash do the same.
Age 14
When they told him he’d be moving up to class 4, Flash couldn’t help but feel a little bit smug. It’d been many years in class 5, enduring the most grueling training. But it’d been worth it, now that he was getting stronger and they were finally recognizing it.
The only problem was who he’d be leaving behind.
“Flash.”
Sonic sat down next to him, pressing his shoulder into his.
“You’re moving up to class 4?”
He nodded, keeping his gaze aimed forwards. Sonic leaned away and back onto his hands, and began tapping a foot.
“You won’t have me around as much to teach you then.” Sonic laughed. “Sure you’ll be okay?”
A small smile split Flash’s face.
“I’ll be fine.”
They were sitting together in an isolated unlit stairwell, one blanketed by cobwebs and darkness. But they were both used to seeing in the dark by now.
Flash looked over at Sonic, noting his clenched jaw and the storm brewing in his gray eyes.
“Maybe you can join me soon.”
Sonic exhaled, then gave a dry laugh. “Nah, I’m too good for them.”
Flash raised an eyebrow at Sonic, earning a cheeky grin from him in response.
They sat in silence for a little while longer, until Sonic stood up, grabbing Flash’s arm.
“Spar with me.”
In seconds, they were at the training grounds, knives drawn and clashing against each other. The rhythm they settled into was instant and familiar, with an unconscious certainty of the other’s movements, as if their bodies were extensions of the other connected by blood circulating from body through blades to body.
Still, Flash could sense something was off. The way Sonic moved betrayed a simmering beneath the surface, his face tense with it.
“It might help us get into upper management.” Flash shouted over the clamor of their fighting.
“What?” Sonic jumped away and tossed a shuriken at Flash, who dodged with a tilt of his head.
“If we keep moving up the classes, maybe we can get into upper management more easily and take over the village,” he said, launching himself off a tree to aim a kick. “Like you always wanted to.”
Leaping out of the way, Sonic darted behind Flash, blade in hand.
“Like we always wanted to,” he said, striking at Flash.
Flash’s blade rose in a swift arc, meeting Sonic’s at its apex and sending a shower of sparks raining on them. They stopped, breathing heavily, then smiled at each other.
“Right.”
Flash watched as Sonic began to walk off, steps jaunty with that spring that he knew meant he was excited.
“You can report back to me then,” and Flash could hear the grin in Sonic’s voice, “whatever intel you find that might be useful.”
Flash nodded, joining Sonic at his side as they walked back, their hands brushing against each other.
“We’ll still train together, right?” he asked, glancing at Sonic.
Sonic smirked. “Of course.” He took Flash’s hand. “How are you gonna get better without me?”
Age 9
“Pass me that pen,” Sonic ordered, nudging Flash with his elbow. “This one’s got no ink left.” He chewed on the cap absentmindedly as Flash gave him the other one.
They were gathered around a big sheet of paper Sonic had gotten his hands on, hiding from the instructors in an abandoned corner of the village. Sonic lay flat on his stomach and scribbled away, while Flash sat cross legged opposite him watching.
“And here,” Sonic said, drawing a big circle and labeling it, “is where we’ll build the playground.” He added some more scribbles. “Flash, what do they have in those again?”
He felt Flash lean forwards, resting his chin on his hand. “Slides, I think. You sit and go down. Um… swings too. You go back and forth on those.”
Sonic frowned. “That doesn’t sound very fun. Are you sure?”
He glanced over at Flash, who shrugged, looking away.
“…I don’t know. I’m not sure if they ever let me play on one.”
Sonic sighed. “Well, me too.” He reached out to pat Flash on the shoulder.
He continued working, angling his paper to catch the minuscule amount of light there was, which in this windowless room came from a tiny crack in the wall. Through it came a pinprick shaft of sunlight, dust motes dancing in its path. He’d shuffled back as it moved ever so slightly over the course of the day, making sure the sheet was in its course.
After adding some more embellishments, he grabbed the paper and thrust it at Flash.
“What do you think?”
Flash took it from him gingerly, spreading it back down on the floor. Sonic watched him expectantly, breath held, as Flash rested his cheeks on his palms and began to pore over the paper.
A minute passed, and the look on Flash’s face grew ever more somber. Sonic began to swing his feet impatiently.
“Well?”
“Sonic, I thought you knew how to write.”
“I do!” He jolted up in indignation. “What, you can’t read it?”
Shaking his head, Flash held up the paper and pointed to a particularly scribbly section.
“What does this say?”
“Dormitory,” Sonic said, drawing out the syllables one by one, and rolled his eyes. “That’s where everyone will sleep.” He grinned. “For as long as they want.”
His handwriting was perfectly fine, he thought, as long as he could read it. Even if the village thought it deserved the worst marks.
Flash sighed, flipping the sheet over to the blank side as he came over to sit down beside Sonic, pressing their arms together. Pen in hand, he began to write.
“I have good handwriting. I can teach you.”
Scowling, Sonic stared down at the paper. After a few seconds, Flash finished writing and leaned back.
“See, that’s how you write dormitory.”
Sonic squinted at Flash’s writing. He didn’t think it really looked much different from his, the lines just as wobbly and unsteady, although it did seem to be at least trying to look fancier. He still couldn’t read it, anyway.
“Flash, I don’t think you can write either.”
Flash raised an eyebrow, pursing his lips slightly. “It’s better than yours.”
Scoffing, Sonic took the pen from Flash and leaned back over the paper. He wrote the word again, gripping the pen tight and pushing it down.
“You’re gonna rip the paper!” Flash hissed, trying to grab it from Sonic.
“There!” Sonic stuck his tongue out at Flash, passing the sheet back.
Flash scanned the page. “Well… it looks a bit better. But try it like this.”
They spent the rest of the afternoon like this, passing the paper back and forth, laughing as they clambered over each other to write and fix the other’s writing, their original plans on the opposite side forgotten for now.
Age 15
It had been a couple of weeks since Flash had last snuck away to train with Sonic, and now he was having trouble concentrating. Of course, he didn’t need to focus to spar with Sonic, since that came like a reflex to him. But as Sonic was babbling away, he found himself taking longer and longer to respond.
“Meet anyone as good as me in class 2 yet?”
He deflected Sonic’s blow, and shot away and up into the air. Just as he was about to launch into a newly learned technique, he felt Sonic go still.
“Hey.”
Landing back down with a soft thud, he looked up to see Sonic lean back against a tree and sigh.
“You’re not listening to me.”
Flash walked over to Sonic, who met his gaze coolly.
“Sorry,” he said flatly.
“You can just say it,” Sonic spat, “if you don’t want to train with me anymore.” He glared at Flash, his eyes suddenly fiery, before he looked away.
Flash felt a twinge of annoyance, now foreign in his chest after so long. He quickly squashed it down. “I do want to train with you.”
“It sure doesn’t feel like it.”
The words came out spiked in anger and hurt, so sharp it made Flash almost recoil. He was about to respond when Sonic turned and sped off, calling out over his shoulder: “Whatever. Let’s train.”
They started up again, fast. Flash could feel the boiling resentment in Sonic’s hits, in the way his movements became steadily more erratic and forceful.
On his part though, Flash was certain he was doing a great job keeping his cool, his movements steady and measured. But a strange anxiety was threatening to bubble to the surface.
At first, he’d been hopeful that it might really work, that they really could take down the village from the inside. But now he wasn’t so sure. Even if the treatment got better with each class, nothing changed, every new instructor he met was just the same as the last.
It was evil all the way up.
Sonic was yelling something at him now, something choked with feeling, but he couldn’t hear.
He had clawed his way up the ranks, numbing himself a little more every day to do it. The training he endured had made him stronger, but still he felt like something was slowly being chipped away from him, as he fought every day surrounded by stony masks.
Only when he was with Sonic did he feel those emotions drip back into him, and like moving a limb gone numb, it was uncomfortable. It hurt. Seeing Sonic’s stubborn refusal to play by the village’s rules, going through torture every day without him, filled him with an unwelcome worry. It made him want to yell at Sonic, shake him and tell him off.
And that scared him even more, that he could still feel like that.
Flash came to a stand still, staring at the ground. He felt a whoosh of air as Sonic appeared opposite him.
Sonic crossed his arms, scowling. “What’s wrong?”
He still needed to get stronger. No matter what he decided to do, he knew he had to be strong to do it.
Flash raised his head, looking Sonic in the eyes.
“Let’s stop training together so much.”
He couldn’t bear to see the way Sonic’s face crumpled, so he turned away.
“If we get caught,” he found himself saying despite it all, a tremor working its way into his voice, “you’re the one who’d get into more trouble. So let’s not meet so often.”
He was about to leave when Sonic spoke up behind him.
“That never stopped us before.”
It was just a whisper, but Flash could still hear the way it cracked open.
“I’ll still find you,” he allowed himself to whisper back before retreating, his face fixed impassive.
Age 10
The night was cold, even colder than usual. Sonic was shivering, curled up as small as possible in his bed, grasping at his thin hole-riddled blanket. Cradling his right hand, he cursed the village, dreading what would come for him tomorrow.
Training that day had been especially grueling. They’d been in the swamp the whole day, and Sonic had been feeling weak and feverish. At one point, an irksome stump had gotten in his way and he’d tripped, earning a slash on the hand by way of punishment. They’d forced medicine down his throat for the fever, but left him to deal with the wound himself. A true assassin would have to endure injuries worse than a little cut on the hand.
Flash had bandaged it for him—they’d both gotten fairly good at patching each other up over the years—but it still throbbed and ached, especially in the biting cold. He squeezed his eyes shut, hard as he could. It was no use moping, he had to make use of the scant time they had to sleep.
Sonic felt him before he heard him, a sudden warmth in the cold room.
“Sonic?”
He opened his eyes. Even in the almost total darkness he could see Flash, with his mop of bright hair, peering at him from the doorway.
“Are you cold?” Flash whispered.
Sonic shook his head, teeth chattering. Without a word, Flash came over and clambered into his bed. Sonic shuffled over to make space, then scooted closer to Flash, the new heat warming up the rickety bed instantly. Flash spread his blanket over them, and settled in.
They lay staring at each other for a moment, their breaths warm against the other’s face. Flash’s face was pale and haggard, and streaked with smudges of mud left over from their training. As he reached out to wipe it away, Flash took his wrist, turning his hand around gently to examine it.
“Does it still hurt?”
“Of course not. I’ve suffered worse.” Sonic smiled and turned onto his back. Flash let go of his hand and did the same. Side by side, they lay staring at the ceiling. The room grew a little lighter, the moon having decided to send a ray through the room’s narrow window.
“We’re gonna get in trouble when they find us in the morning,” Sonic murmured.
“It’s okay. I’ll wake up early and go back to my room.”
Sonic turned his head to gaze at Flash, his face lit by moonlight. “You sure you’ll be able to find your way back?” he teased, nudging him with an elbow.
“Shut up,” Flash retorted, glaring back at Sonic. “Of course I will.”
“Really? How long did it take you to find my room this time?”
He was rewarded with a swift kick to the shins that he dodged quickly enough not to feel the brunt of. Laughing, he aimed a punch from the side in retaliation.
“Stop, they’re gonna hear us!” Flash whispered, grabbing his fist. But after a second, he started laughing too.
Once they stopped laughing, Flash turned his head back towards the ceiling, and pried open Sonic’s fist to lace his fingers with his. Sonic smiled and squeezed his hand.
“When we achieve our dream,” Sonic announced, “there’ll be no more cold nights.”
Flash snorted. “How are you gonna do that?”
“Lots of heaters,” Sonic declared. “How many do you think we’d need?”
“A lot. Maybe a million.”
“A billion!”
Sonic began to sway his feet back and forth, tapping his fingers on Flash’s knuckles as he thought about it. He felt Flash exhale next to him.
“Then you won’t need me to keep you warm,” Flash said softly.
“Didn’t need you in the first place.” Sonic grinned. “But you’re welcome to come over whenever you feel cold.” Sonic yawned and closed his eyes, squeezing Flash’s hand. “I wouldn’t mind.”
Flash laughed and squeezed his hand back.
They drifted off together like that, hands held, foreheads pressed against each other, warm and content.
Age 16
“Top of the class, huh?”
Flash stilled, watching Sonic as he dropped down in front of him. Straightening, Sonic glared at Flash, his eyes dark.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Flash averted his eyes, and walked on. “You were going to find out soon enough.”
“You’re just going to ignore me like that?” Sonic snarled, blocking his way. “You think you’re too good for me now?”
Flash stayed silent, stepped to the side and continued moving.
“I wasn’t finished talking!”
A kick came flying down at Flash. He leapt out of the way, unsheathing his sword.
They began to fight in earnest, Sonic flipping back and up into the air, sending a cascade of shuriken at Flash, who blocked them with a quick slash.
He hadn’t wanted to see Sonic. In fact, he hadn’t thought about him in a long time, couldn’t remember when they’d last spoken. Seeing him now like this, he felt a flicker of something in his chest, but then it was gone.
“I know you’re hiding something!”
Once he’d moved up to class 1, he had finally realized what he needed to do. It was all planned out now; he had to destroy the evil at its roots. And he knew he had to be the one to do it—he’d trained so hard just for this purpose, feeling nothing, just getting stronger—he was the only one strong enough to.
Sonic leapt behind him, kunai raised to deliver a strike. Spinning out of the way, Flash countered with a toss of one of his own and dashed off through the trees.
“Get back here!”
As he’d made his way up the ranks, encountering everyone else in their graduating class, he’d realized that they were all too far gone, he would need to eradicate them as well. Nothing flowed through their veins but the village’s poison.
But Sonic—no, he had already decided what to do about Sonic. There was no way he was going to let him interfere with his plans, he wouldn’t understand. It was better to go about it alone.
“Have you forgotten about our dream?”
At this, Flash stopped. Sonic did the same, breathing heavily as he glared at Flash.
“I haven’t forgotten anything,” he said. “I have my own plans now. I don’t need you to get involved.”
Sonic scowled, charging forward with his sword raised, which collided into Flash’s with a crashing screech. They slashed back and forth at each other across the training grounds, swords singing through the air.
“Your own plans?” Sonic snarled. “You’d be nothing without me!”
He could feel Sonic’s strikes ratchet up in speed and intensity as his eyes began to burn brighter.
“You abandoned me!” Sonic howled, driving his sword at Flash. The force of it caught him off guard, causing him to lose his grip.
It evidently caught Sonic off guard as well, as both their swords were sent spinning away from them to land out of sight in the trees. Cursing, Sonic dove at Flash, pinning him to the ground. Ninjutsu forgotten, he began throwing punch after punch.
“Fuck you!” Punch. “I don’t need you!” Punch. “I never needed you!”
Flash blocked as best as he could, pushing off the ground and sending Sonic tumbling back. Springing up, he aimed a series of kicks at Sonic that threw him crashing through a line of trees.
“Ugh!”
For a few seconds, Sonic lay motionless on the ground. He began to cough and push himself up onto his arms as Flash walked over, but didn’t stand up.
Flash came to a standstill at Sonic’s feet. He stared at Sonic.
Yes, he thought, so he was strong.
But then Sonic looked back at him, and the flicker in his chest reignited into a storm. He crouched down, and before he could stop himself, extended a hand to Sonic.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
Sonic’s glare was icy. “Get away from me,” he hissed, and was gone as the sound of instructors yelling came closer.
Flash stood up, turning away from the empty space in front of him. He ignored the instructors and began walking, crushing the storm inside of him smaller and smaller until he no longer felt it at all.
He was right, he thought. He couldn’t let Sonic distract him from his goal.
Age 8
“Flash, hurry up!”
Scrambling up a winding tree, Sonic called out to Flash as he clambered up the next one over.
After returning from the morning’s brush with birdsong, they’d spent the rest of the day working on techniques and sparring with each other. Then, as the day wound to an end, while they were collecting firewood in preparation for the night, Sonic had noticed the sky growing distinctly pink.
Grabbing Flash, he’d shot for the highest point he could reach.
A sunset! he’d thought giddily. He didn’t think he’d ever seen one, at least not properly, from the oppressive high walls of the village.
As he grabbed the next branch up, he snuck a look at Flash. There was a look of quiet determination on his face, and although he hadn’t appeared to be as excited, Sonic recognized a bright shining in his eyes that suggested otherwise.
All of a sudden, there were no more branches to grab, and they emerged into the wide open sky.
They were greeted by a swirling of colors, a shock of orange radiating out from the red-white sun fading into deep blue, with scattered clouds of pink and purple dotting the horizon. Rays of golden light blanketed their faces and the wide expanse of forest they overlooked, and despite the chill of coming night, Sonic felt warm.
“Pretty,” Sonic breathed. He didn’t think he’d ever seen this much color in his life. Next to him, Flash nodded and sighed his assent.
They perched above the trees, the wind tousling their hair, watching the sun sink steadily below the horizon. After a few minutes, the sun was almost gone, and Sonic turned to gaze at Flash.
His eyes shone even brighter in the twilight. Sonic smiled, as Flash turned to look back at him, meeting his gaze. He smiled back.
I’m not alone anymore, Sonic thought, and was filled with hope for the future.