Chapter Title: Salvation

AN: This was an idea that popped into my head a few years ago (2014 to be exact) but was never published so I hope you enjoy! (｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

Chapter 1

Sonic watched the crowded men in the road as their flashlights roamed the forest in search of their target. The Ferals. Or also known as himself, feral since birth, and so he lowered his head and hid deeper into the bush he was hidden within and disappeared into nature just as a bright light flashed at where he once was hidden.

The young hedgehog ran through the forest as the voices grew nearer behind him and he leaped over fallen trunks and past tree branches avoidantly. He sucked in a heavy breath, trying to ignore the piercing pain at his side as he ran—which was proving to be quite difficult at the moment as he kept stumbling. Adrenaline rush being his only will power at the moment.

His breath came in small spurts, hot and nervous. At his sides, tanned fingers curled into sweaty fists, swinging forward as if it would make him faster. Behind him, he could hear the baying howls of the dogs and jeering laughter of his enemies. Mud smeared his sweaty face as sweat dripped from his matted fur.

"Please Chaos, let me live." he cried aloud, throwing himself forward with even greater abandon. His lungs and heart were pumping, but the air didn't seem to be enough as he sprinted forward, panic trembling in his exhausted limbs.

Sonic jumped over a small hill and slid into the small ditch underneath it, slamming his back against the hard ground wall and sliding down. The breaths he took were quiet due to past experiences which had taught him how to keep silent.

That was until he heard the clanking of a shotgun that his emerald green eyes shot up and he swallowed a hard gulp down his dry throat. A barrel was pointed right at his face and Sonic found himself frozen on the spot and staring into fiery red eyes in complete fear.

Wet autumn leaves cracked behind him and Sonic felt a trickling fear rush down his spine. The Officials had caught up to him and now he was corned. At the hands of his captures, Sonic gripped a big rock that sat beside him, preparing himself to attack when needed to in order to survive.

He could hear the Officials stop above the ditch he sat hidden."Have you seen a feral near here?" Asked an officer, adjusting his eyes on the man with a shotgun.

Sonic shut his eyes tightly in fear and anguish, preparing himself for the worst to come. Awaiting himself to be turned into the officials and shot right there on the spot.

"No." Came the gruffly voice.

The azure hedgehog's eyes flew open in surprise; clearly taken aback at the lie as he stared up at the man. Moonlight shown over him and Sonic made him out in the light. It was a ebony hedgehog with velvet red stripes but he held a stoic expression so Sonic had no idea what he was plotting.

"Well keep look out just in case," One Official explained. Sonic could see their shadows from below and his brows furrowed. There was at least four of them. "One got away from us not far from here so be careful." He warned. "You know how dangerous they can be."

The ebony hedgehog nodded, resting the shotgun on his shoulder. "Noted." He said.

They stood there in silence for a moment before Sonic could only assume that the bloody eyes of the hedgehog had made them uneasy. Until finally, the Officials parted a farewell that was answered by the ebony being. When they parted, those very bloody eyes turned back to Sonic, boring holes into his own.

Sonic wasn't sure what the next course of action should be as he watched the ebony hedgehog with confusion. This was illegal. What made him save him?

He couldn't wrap why any Normal was willing to save his life but when he felt a warm fabric cover his shoulders, he blinked up and that's when he came to his conclusion.

He decided it was kindness.

"Thank you," The azure hedgehog finally said coarsely, pulling the big jacket closer to his body.

The ebony hedgehog didn't bother answering as his bloody eyes darted around. He clicked his tongue."Shut up and come with me." He suddenly snapped, pulling him by the arm. "You understand don't you?"

Sonic grimaced, but nodded nonetheless. He wasn't in any position to fight back. He was hazy and at his lowest point.

"Here," The ebony hedgehog ordered as he shoved a piece of cloth at Sonic. "Sniff this out and I'll follow."

Sonic raised a brow in confusion as he took the cloth in his hands and looked up at Shadow confused. He wanted him to sniff out something? Was this why didn't he turn him into the officials? None of this made sense.

Shadow narrowed his eyes at him however and frowned, "You Ferals know how to trace by scent, right?"

"Yes, we do." Sonic finally said, raising the cloth to his nose and taking a whiff of the scent. He would ask questions later, but now he was gracious he hadn't turned him in.

—•—

Emerald eyes observed the kitchen before him as he waited for the ebony hedgehog—who by now he knew was named Shadow—who had exited the room to put his gun away.

Calling it a dining-room was somewhat misleading. It was a room. They ate in it. That was all. In it stood an old wooden table, two wooden chairs and a pair of thread-bare velvet curtain. The rose vase in the center of the room was dying and their petals fell onto the table, adding to the meager ambiance of the room.

This was his first time in a kitchen (or house for the matter), but he had expected more to it. He wasn't able to examine the rest of the room when his ears flickered at a distinct sound and the creaking of the wood sound as someone approached from the other room.

She appeared in the room with a simple green dress. With quills in a bun and her head held high, she waltzed on with an effortless saunter. The clicking of her rain boots added rhythm to the soft classical music that played onward without pause.

"Shadow, dear, have you gone to the garden—" A pause, the pink hedgehog watched Sonic in shock when she entered the kitchen. She automatically knew he was a feral by his physical appeal which consisted of Shadow's big jacket that barely helped cover his masculinity. The dirty and messy quills just added to her suspicions and she stepped back in fear.

Sonic watched her out of words to try to explain himself as to why he was in her kitchen and pointed at the door Shadow had gone out from. "Um," he paused, not sure how to begin though he didn't have to.

Shadow emerged from the other room uninterested in the exchange between the two and simply said, "He helped me find the missing chaos."

And that was the end of that conversation.

—•—

"Are you aware he is a Feral?" Amy asked, placing on her bed-wear with a deep from plastered across her face.

"Very much so," Shadow looked over at her unamused as he closed the room to their bedroom. "That is why I brought him."

"Have you gone completely mad?" Amy hissed, glaring at her husband who walked past her carelessly and to their closet. "If the officials find out we're hiding a feral we're as good as dead!"

That he was well aware of himself, but there was no other way. He thought over the list of consequences that would result for them if they were to be caught as he adjusted the buttons of his button sleepwear. The outcomes always ended severely when it came to Ferals.

Ferals are undomesticated, wild, and dangerous creatures despite sharing the same genes. They used to share equal rights and privileges, but that was until some began turning back to their primal instincts and therefore had to be cast out from society. This is where the great divide began between Ferals and Normals.

They turned into the damned that needed to be cleansed from the world, and so they were hunted down by the Planet Officials. Normals had finally grown to understand that Ferals were in the way and needed to be put down for the sake of the Normals well-being. Hiding Ferals was going against your Normals and resulted in death, or worst; torture.

Shadow placed his hands onto his wife's shoulders and lifted her chin to meet her fearful gaze. It was in that moment he remembered why he was willing to go as far as putting them in danger. There was a reason for everything he did, and it was not simply out of generosity.

"Do you remember when my father placed his faith in me for the sake of the future of the farm?" He asked, eyes narrowing as her head hesitantly nodded, unsurely. "Must I remind you that that was eight years ago and I have yet to provide you with a heir."

It took a moment for the realization to hit her but the moment her eyes widened and fury consumed them with quills rising behind her to demonstrate how upset she was that Shadow knew she was about to explode. And she did.

"You have gone mad!" Amy beckoned, shoving his own hands away from herself. "You want him to bed me?"

Shadow remained silent and this was enough to answer her question as she glared at him. His stoic expression never faltering.

"I will not let have anything to do with Ferals." She stated coldly, arms crossed. "I want him out of here tomorrow morning!"

—•—

Sonic watched the moonlight shine through the broken roof as the cedar shingles stuck up in places like donkey teeth. The shed must have been little more than a glorified even in it's hay day. But now it looked for all the world like a giant had sat on the roof, for it sagged terribly. The windows were gaping holes for the wind to rush in and out through and the door hung on it's hinges at a jaunty angle, although now it was really just a frame. It was a rotting heap, bowing down, subservient to the element.

He sat at the very far end of the shed, back up against the damp wood of the wall, body aching, cheeks burning with the flush of fever. He would have cried for help, but there was no strength in his voice, just a whisper. His breath quivered in short, quick gasps every time he inhaled, his lungs having no choice but to painfully and rigidly take in the chilled air around him.

He couldn't seem to stop shaking either. Sometimes it was rough, other times he could manage, but every time he'd get close to sleep, a new spell of violent shaking would force him awake. "I'll get better. I'll get better," he repeated to himself, feebly rubbing away at his arms in a sickly attempt to cease the unsettling chill that continued to run down his spine and made his skin crawl.

He held his hand against side and perched the big jacket open and his eyes met the color red. It sprouted out of his open wound, taunting him. He touched it with a shaky hand as he lowered his eyes tiredly.

The blood flowed thickly from Sonic's body. In the moonlight of the night it was indecently red, as red as any rose in bloom, but for Sonic that moment would be forever grey. For even as he watched in despair as it dropped from between his fingertips he couldn't't help but feel anguish overwhelm him.

The fever was burning him up, body and spirit. He sat there so still as his skin radiated the heat from his blood. His usual peachy skin glowed in the worst way and his limbs fell limply when he raised them. He thought that he maybe he had a few hours left, less perhaps.

Sonic chuckled bitterly as he palmed the sides of his head. "Sorry, mama," Sonic mumbled to himself as his eyes began to flutter shut. "I might see you sooner than promised."

AN: Updates will depend on reviews since that's what inspires me to write without losing interest but let me know what you guys think so far and the romance shall begin! \ (•◡•) /

Also what do you think about Amy disliking Ferals? (I'm sure she will change her mind on that quickly ) (¬‿¬)