I had a random thought one day, and instead of just throwing it away, I decided to write it down. Way too soon, this was over like 20K+ words, and I still had new ideas. So either I'm just too random, write too much details, write boring, or really might have some hidden talent. I want to find out which one it is. It is my first fanfic, though if people appreciate what I write, it can get pretty long.

Author's note: Tails doesn't get his nickname until later on in this chapter. And though he knows his real name (Miles), that won't be revealed until a later chapter. But for the sake of you understanding who is who, he'll be referred to as Miles for now.

And another note: Sonic is 14, Tails is ? (will also be revealed later) Ages are not really comparable to Earth ages.

Warning: contains some violence

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic etc, though you already knew that

Running

It was winter on Mobius. The way the snow just covered up everything was beautiful; everything looked so different. Sonic was out for an evening jog in the forest, a nice and thick shawl protecting his neck from the icy weather. Most people would have also picked a jacket in this weather, but he didn't like how hot it got when jogging. He preferred jogging through the fields around his home in the Mystic Ruins, but since those were covered in quite a layer of snow, he had decided to through the forest a change, hoping the snow would be less thick there. While the snow was indeed less thick, it was still hard work, but going a bit slower did give him the ability to marvel more at the beautiful surroundings.

On the forest floor you could see all kinds of tracks: the tracks of various woodland critters were everywhere, here a couple had had a nice stroll through the woods, there a few kids had been running after each other, and... drops of blood? Sonic stopped, scratching his head. This is something new... A little off the path he could hear children yelling. Oh well, they're probably playing and one of them has scratched a branch or something

He was about to continue, but didn't. He'd sworn he heard a scream slightly above the yelling. He listened, but when nothing came, he thought he'd just imagined it and shrugged off the thought. But there it was again. He decided to make sure and wait a bit longer this time, and surely enough, he could now distinct a scream every once in a while above the yelling of the kids. It wasn't much louder, and at first you wouldn't even tell it was there, but here it was again, for the fourth time now. He decided to investigate what all the commotion was about, and silently followed the many footsteps leading off the path, and the occasional drop of blood. When he came closer, the occasional scream clearly audible now, he could also start to make out some of the words that were yelled. He tried to think of a game where people yelled "Freak!", "Take that!", "You want some more?", but couldn't think of any.

Another scream, and then it hit him: this wasn't a game.

It was winter on Mobius. Miles didn't like snow. He didn't like how his dirty orange fur was a lot more visible against the white snow than it was against the forest floor. And how he could be followed by his footprints. He hated how it made avoiding the inevitable so much more unavoidable.

He was tired. He had been wandering around town, looking for food, when a gang of bullies had spotted him and gave chase. Not that it was possible to mistake anyone else for him: no-one else around here had two tails. He had often wondered what he had done to deserve all this. Because this wasn't the first time they did this. Or the second. Or the hundredth. The thousandth time maybe? Probably even more. And no one cared.

In the city, most of the snow had melted, making running easy, but he didn't like the town. The risk of running into another gang, or more general being run over by a car, was too high. So he took to the fields, but here there was much more snow, where he couldn't run as fast. It also didn't help a lot that snow came in through the hole in his left shoe, which in turn basically caused his left foot to start freezing. Not that his shoes weren't watertight to begin with, so his right foot wasn't much better off. All the other people wore jackets and warm shawls. Not to mention their shoes actually kept out the snow.

He looked behind him and saw that 'the gang' was gaining on him. He figured he could keep in front of them for maybe another minute, provided his legs would keep up. Which he knew they couldn't. He hadn't found anything to eat all day, and his already not very high stamina had dropped completely to zero right now. He set himself to use up what little energy he had left to try and lose them in the forest, though he knew the situation was hopeless. Speeding through the forest, his right arm received a huge gash from a low-hanging branch, which was now leaving drops of blood on the otherwise perfectly white snow as he ran further. He hadn't even seen it, though he felt the pain, and he gripped it with his other arm as he ran further. The sounds of his pursuers came nearer and nearer...

He came to a clearing, where one of his pursuers overtook him. He stopped, looked around, praying there would be another way out, but there wasn't. It was one of those small clearings with really only one path through it, and thorn bushes everywhere else. He couldn't go forward, because one of his pursuers blocked that path. The only other way, backwards, was blocked by the rest of the gang: he was trapped. He considered going through the thorn bushes, but quickly decided against it: he had done that once, in pure desperation, but running with thorns was extremely painful, and in the end they still found him. That, and his right arm had a huge gash, he shuddered at the thought of a thorn sticking in there. He was completely worn out, with no way out, and did the only thing there was left for him to do: collapse to the ground and hope they would go away quickly. Which of course didn't happen.

The gang certainly wasn't going to let him off easily, which they never did anyway, but after chasing him for so long, they decided they would give the kit an 'extra special treatment' today. Which basically meant that they would not only hit, kick and stomp him, they would also use sticks, and continue until literally every square inch of his body was at least hit once. The only thing different today was that they quickly saw his bleeding right arm, and decided to give that 'a bit more attention' today.

He was so used to being beaten up, he usually didn't even bother to scream in pain anymore. But every time they hit his wounded right arm, he felt immense pain, so much more intense then when they would 'just' kick him. He let out a loud scream every time they hit him there, which somehow seemed to encourage the gang to hit him there even more often and still harder. "Hey guys, we should really get him wounded more often! I love how hard he screams every time we hit him there!" The others just continued to hit him everywhere they could, throwing in the usual mix of taunts, "Take that!", "Freak!", and "Do you want some more?" being their personal favorites.

This had been going on for a minute or so when they suddenly became aware of a blue hedgehog who was slowly and silently, but steadily, walking towards them. "Uh oh guys, we have company!" one of them shouted, and they were gone in an instant.

Sonic was walking steadily towards them, his eyes in obvious rage, when one of the kids noticed him, shouted something to the others, and they were gone in a blink of his eyes. 'Cowards.' thought Sonic. He decided not to follow them, let his anger subside and concentrate on the pathetic heap of orange fur lying in front of him on the ground, bleeding, bruised and crying.

This was difficult. Any of the usual openings, like 'Are you alright?', or 'Is something wrong?', were just so... inappropriate. Since the kit was lying face down on the ground, his face buried in his arms, he couldn't see his face. He wasn't even sure the kit had noticed he was there at all.

Miles noticed the hitting and shouting had stopped. He didn't know what made them stop so suddenly, and much sooner than normal, but if even they were afraid of it, then it must be very scary. And probably going to hit him even harder. So he had decided to do as if it weren't there, not move at all, and hope it wouldn't notice him.

Sonic had stood in front of the kit for over a minute now, the kit seemingly still unaware of his presence. He couldn't really see it clearly, but the kit seemed to be holding his right upper arm for some reason. He decided to break the awkward silence by simply saying "Hello? Anybody home?" No reaction. Miles had heard the words but they belonged to the scary thing, so he wasn't going to answer.
"Hello?"
Miles became irritated now: whatever the scary thing was had certainly seen him, but not hit him. It didn't make any sense.
"Go away." came the reply from the orange mess.
"I'm not going to do that." Sonic replied.
"Just hit me already then!"
"Why would I want to do that? Don't you think you've had enough of that for today? I saw what they did, you know."
Miles was completely broken now. Nothing the scary thing said made any sense. His brain wasn't even working properly anymore. He just wanted to be left alone and cry himself to sleep, just like so many other nights.
"It isn't very polite to not look at somebody who's talking to you, you know?" Sonic said.
The orange heap gave a grunt. Something moved and for a moment, an orange and white, or should I say dirty orange and gray, face looked Sonic straight in the eyes, then it went back to the position it had been earlier in. "Now please go away?" the orange heap tried to ask, though it sounded more like crying.

The way that tear-drenched face had looked at him, even for that short moment, was what had made Sonic's decision. "No"
Miles flinched as he received his answer. Truth be told, he had expected that answer. But, he had also expected to have a shoe meet his face the moment he looked, which hadn't happened. So far, the scary thing, whoever he was, hadn't hurt him at all. It confused him, but the pain is his right arm was overpowering any ability to think reasonable. So it remained silent again, until the other decided to break it: "This is going nowhere. Look, let's just start over again. I'm Sonic, what's your name kid?" Silence. But Sonic knew the other heard every single word he said. "Aren't you going to answer me?" More silence. Miles was so confused. He tried to think straight. Who was this person? Why is he still here? And why hasn't he hurt me yet? Hurt. His thoughts traveled back to his right arm. Ow.

Sonic patience was running out now. "Well if you're not going to answer me, I'll just start by thinking up one for you. I'll just call you..." He looked him over, his eyes falling on his twin tails, and without thinking, he finished his sentence: "... Tails" The moment he finished his sentence, he finally got a reaction from the kit, although it wasn't really the reaction he'd been hoping for. It scared him.

Miles knew what was coming. You had to be blind to miss them. The reason nobody liked him. He braced himself for the witty remark that would obviously follow. "... Tails" The way the other one said it, so soft, without any trace of venom. And it described him so well. Just like 'Freak', 'Mutant' and 'Useless' described him so well. He couldn't hold it in any longer, and simply exploded with crying.

The way the kit exploded with crying right after he said it, actually scared Sonic. "Wow kid, calm down! What's wrong with such a nice name?"
In his crying, Miles had unknowingly let his defense of not answering at all down. He didn't know what he was saying, or that he was even saying anything at all.
"Everything! I hate them! Everyone hates them! I. HATE. MY...tails..." Now that he spoke the word himself, he was surprised at how nice it sounded. Yes, it described him perfectly. And yes, it was about his bodily feature he hated so much. But for some reason, it was different from all those other names. The way the other had said it. The way he had just said it himself. It didn't have to be... negative? How can something directly related to his much hated feature, not sound negative? It was all so confusing. The person who wouldn't go away. The pain in his arm. The name. The involuntary twitch his tails gave when he heard himself saying it. And then the person's reply: "I don't hate them." The way it didn't sound faked for a change. The other person hadn't even hit him so far. Maybe he really meant it. But could he trust him? No, he wouldn't trust him. But maybe he would go away if he just did what he wanted, which seemed to be just talking.

Miles tried to get into an upright position, but his strength failed him. "Here let me help you" and before he had a chance to refuse, he found himself sitting upright against a tree. Sonic was finally able to get a better look at the kit, but what met his eyes wasn't pretty. Those tear-drenched eyes, looking so empty. The messed up and dirty fur.
"Y-you don't h-hate them?" the kit spoke for the first time of his own accord, continuining his sobs and an occasional sniffle.
"Of course not. Why would I?"
"Ev-everybody does. I'm sorry, you d-don't have to h-hear all this."
"It's okay, just tell me everything. I'll listen."

Sonic didn't know it, but while he was doing what seemed natural, to Miles it all seemed so... weird? He wasn't used to people actually listening to what he said, and receiving answers in a verbal form instead of non-verbal. "Ev-everybody hates m-me. Day after d-day, people h-hit me. Because o-of this." He waved his tails a single time.

Sonic didn't want to believe what he had just heard. But a kid his age wouldn't just make something up. How old was he anyway? He didn't look too big. Three? Four? Certainly not five. Anyway, just take one look at the kid: his fur was a complete mess and dirty, like he wasn't washed in ages.

"B-but you w-won't believe that, I'm s-sure." While the other person seemed to be really listening, surely he wouldn't believe him. He had no reason to, seeing that nobody ever believed anything he said.
"I believe you." came the calm and very serious sounding response from the other person.
"Y-you d-do?"
"Have I lied to you about anything else so far? Like when I said I wasn't going to hit you?" Miles realized the person had a point. He had even helped him to sit upright.
"N-no. No you h-haven't." A small gush wind had thrown ice cold air on his open wound. Miles clutched his hurt arm. "Aaaaaawww!" he cried.
"What's wrong Tails?" Sonic asked, unconsciously using the name he had thought up earlier. Miles did notice how he mentioned the name again, it just sounded so... nice.
"M-my a-arm... it-it h-hurts... s-so m. ."
"What happened to it?" Sonic asked, trying to sound like he didn't know.
"Y-you didn't see w-what they d-did?"
"I saw them hit you pretty hard."
"Y-yes. B-but is u-usually goes on longer."
"Why do they do that, anyway?"
"I-I don't know. B-but they s-seem to enjoy it m-more if I s-scream real hard." Something clicked inside Miles' head. "Y-you h-heard my s-screams?"
"Yes, had you screamed any less loud, I wouldn't have heard you above the yelling of the other kids, and I would have just thought it were some kids playing in the forest."
"W-was I r-really that loud?"
"Yes Tails. Someone sounded in extreme pain, so I just followed the noise and here I am."
"W-why do you keep c-calling me that?" Miles' asked.
"You won't tell me your name, so I just thought up one. I hoped it would make talking to you easier. If you don't like it, you could have just said it and I would make up another name. You just said you hated it."
Miles pondered for a moment. Then came his very shy reply, "I-I don't h-hate it. I a-actually quite n-nice. At least it's not s-something n-negative like everybody e-else does."
"What do others call you then?"
"F-Freak. M-Mutant. U-Use-less. A-and so on."
"That's not really nice. Are you okay if I call you Tails then?" Miles nodded. Why was it that he trusted this person so much? Why was he able to talk about such things to this complete stranger he had already forgotten the name of? Was it because he really hadn't hurt him so far, where others would have long done so? Was it because he didn't hate his tails?
"C-can I ask you s-something?"

Sonic could see the kit was trying really hard, though he couldn't resist to throw in a little joke here, if only to see the kit's reaction to it. "Sure you can, although you just did by asking me if you could ask something." Tails thought for a moment, then smiled at his own stupidity. It was a very small smile, and it was only there for a second before he realized what he was doing and removed it from his face, but Sonic had already noticed. "Am I right, or did I just see a veeeeery tiny smile right there?" Sonic half asked, half laughed, glad his little joke seemed to have landed correctly. Tails couldn't believe what just happened. This complete stranger had made him smile, something he hadn't done in years.
"I-I think so. H-how did you d-do that?"
"I just made a little joke. I'm glad you seemed to like it. Now what was you question?"
Tails remembered what he was going to ask before the little joke, "W-what was your n-name?"
"I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. But that reminds me, you still haven't answered my question."
"Q-question?" Tails couldn't remember it.
"About your arm. What they did to it."
"Oh... that."

It was weird. While talking to Sonic about something else, the little joke he had made, the pain in his arm had actually started to get less. Though it was instantly back now that he was reminded of it. But Sonic had listened, and seemed to believe, everything so far, so he decided to tell what happened. "I-I was r-running, t-the other kids p-pursuing me. I tore my a-arm on a br-branch. It was bl-bleeding but it could h-heal in a few days. B-but when the kids had c-cornered me and started hurting me, they d-discovered that it-it hurt a lot m-more than n-normal if they h-hit me there." Tails had started crying again. Sonic thought that the kid, having told him at least this much, must at least have some sort of trust in him now, and decided to touch him. It was just a simple stroke on the head, but it scared the kit.
"S-Sonic. W-what are you d-doing?", the fear in his voice plainly evident. Touching was just hitting, but then very slow, was it?
"Tails, stroking someone's head, or back, usually works to calm down someone who's crying. It also shows that I care for you. I won't continue if you don't like it, but even then I'll still care for you."

The word 'care'. Until now, that had always had a negative meaning for him. It had also often been preceded with the word 'take'. But not this. The feeling the gentle stroking gave him... it felt... so great... and so relaxing. He was already calming down. Hearing no protest from the kit, Sonic continued a little longer, before he stopped and asked: "Can I see your arm?" The kit thought for a moment.

'Can I see your arm?'. Not 'I want to see your arm.', 'Show me your arm.' or just forcing it. He knew Sonic probably wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, but at least he had asked it nicely. It makes so much difference. That was what made Tails' decision.

The kit slowly removed removed his left hand from his right arm, clenching his teeth and holding in cries of pain. Tears were once again in his eyes, but he was glad it was his own decision, instead of Sonic just pushing his arm out of the way. Surely that would have caused even more pain.

Sonic just stared at it. It looked very ugly. It was a big wound, a gash along the length of almost his entire upper arm. The skin underneath the fur was visibly red from the beating it had taken earlier, and though the bleeding had stopped now, the wound was filled with dirt. It would certainly infect if it didn't get cleaned right now, and even then it would most probably still infect. Sonic's home was too far away, maybe Tails' home was nearby and they could clean the wound there.

"Tails? Is your home somewhere nearby?" That question seemed to hurt him, though Tails didn't think Sonic meant to ask him that on purpose, so he answered truthfully. "Y-yes a-and n-no" Sonic didn't realize yet, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I... I... No..."
"Tails?"
"I... don't have a h..home. B-but I u-usually live around h-here in the f-forest."
"Waaaait a moment (wow Sonic and slow!), did you just say you don't have a home?" The teared eyes told him all he needed to know really. He should have seen it, no-one with a home would be as dirty as Tails was. He was speechless for a moment. "You-you've been living out here all your life?" Tails slowly nodded.

Sonic didn't even bother to ask about parents, or anyone maybe looking for him, because he already knew: no-one would be. Though he did promise himself silently to find out about Tails' parents someday, and give them a piece of his mind.
"Sonic are-are you s-sad?" Tails had noticed how Sonic had stuttered in his last sentence.
"Yes Tails, it makes me very sad to hear what you just said."
"I-it wasn't my ch-choice, you know..."
"I know, but I'm going to give you one now. I could take you back to my home, clean your wound and bandage it, and let you sleep in my house until you have a home. Though it's not exactly nearby, so we'll have to get the worst dirt out of your wound now. And that will hurt quite a lot, but not in the same way those kids treated you. Or if you don't want to trust me, which I can understand, you can stay out here. Although we're still getting the worst dirt out of that wound."

It was so hard for Tails to believe what Sonic had just said. Home. It was what he had never had, and always wanted. But it meant he would had to trust Sonic. Trust that he won't hit him. Trust that he will really find him a home. It would be so much easier for him, and for Sonic, if he just stayed out here. But he knew this wound would need extra care. Care that the hospital wasn't going to give him, since they hated him. Besides, the bullies would probably be waiting him up there. Or if he didn't show up, they would just find him again, and beat him up again. Going with Sonic might solve all of those problems, and the prospect of a clean wound, a home, and just being away from the bullies seemed so nice. It all came down to one question really: could he trust Sonic that much?

"Yes" was his thought, and without realizing he said that aloud.
"Yes to what?" Sonic intervened in his train of thoughts, having waited patiently for the kit to give an answer.
"Yes, I-I would like to go t-to your home, if-if that's alright with y-you."
"Of course it's alright. But you understand that your wound is going to hurt twice then?"
The kit nodded.
"And you're okay with it if I do that?" Sonic asked, just to make it sure.
The kit nodded, this time a little slower.
"That's very brave of you, you know. Now, let me get some clean snow, and get the worst out."

A few moments later Sonic came back with quite a lot of snow. "Okay Tails, now this is going to hurt real hard. It's also probably going to bleed again, though I have a way to stop that when it's mostly clean. But if it hurts so much you want to scream, just scream, promise me that."
"I... promise."

The kit actually stayed pretty silent. There were a few sobs and ow's, and he saw Tails wincing, but other than that, nothing. Sonic was amazed by how much this kit could take.

It hurt, hard. Maybe even harder then when the kids had hit him there earlier. But somehow, it was so much more tolerable now. Maybe it was the knowledge that it needed to hurt this much, if he ever wanted it to get better. And that it was Sonic who did it.

Soon, the wound was bleeding again, in combination with the snow washing away most of the bigger dirt. It almost even looked clean, though Sonic knew it would have to be properly disinfected, something he wasn't looking forward to. Sonic took off his shawl, and wrapped it tightly around Tails' arm.
"Sonic? Why are you doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"Putting your shawl around my arm?"
"That stops the bleeding, and prevents a lot of new dirt from coming in."
"But-but, what if you get a c-cold because of m-me?"
"Tails, I couldn't care less about getting a cold, not if I'm saving your life with it!"
"Y-you really mean that?"
"Of course. What makes you doubt that?"
"It's j-just that, a-anybody else would just w-walk away like I w-wasn't even here..."
"Ssshhh, it's okay now. Besides, I'll just buy a new shawl, they don't cost that much. But let's get going now, it's getting late."

Tails tried to stand up, using the tree to support him, but he was so tired, he just fell forward. He would have made a nosedive into the snow hadn't Sonic seen this coming and catched him. "Tails, I don't think you can walk the whole way, you can barely stand! Shall I carry you?"
"N-no please, I-I can do it." Tails said, trying (and failing) a second time.
"Tails, it wasn't really a question." Sonic winked.
"Oh." Tails looked at the ground, then looked at Sonic. "Then, y-yes? Please c-carry me?"
"That's better."

Well there you have it, the first chapter. Let me know what you think of it, what did you like, what not, etc.
Edit Jul 16, 2012: changed line breaking and paragraphing because it was a mess