Written by: Kagrulez

Sierra Skye, a talented fifteen year old girl, becomes an orphan when her mother mysteriously disappears, becomes raised by an angry alcoholic uncle and a sweet and close friend. Life was difficult almost all Sierra's life, she was without a father to protect her and now didn't have a mother to comfort her. When she and Jess run away to escape their uncle's wrath one night. The two begin to survive on their own. Sierra discovers her worth when she's visited by a strange white echidna and becomes surrounded by a group of talking creatures known as the Destructix, and then rescued by a black hedgehog known as Shadow.

Prologue:

The fire roared the flames growing as it consumed the small village. The heat was intense. I look in fear at the burning buildings surrounding me. I look at the burning building next to me, the flames whips and lashes out at my face. I look ahead; someone was walking slowly towards me. My heart begins to race in terror; every part of my body was screaming "Run!" I act on instinct and run as fast as I can into the forest. Darkness surrounds me; the only thing that was lighting the path was the burning fire.

I look behind me, the figure was still slowly moving towards me. I keep running, my heart racing faster. This is just a nightmare! This isn't real! But it felt so real, the blazing heat, the fear, it couldn't be a dream. My mind races, the adrenaline helped me to run faster but it didn't warn me of oncoming objects. I trip over something landing face first into the soil. I look behind me again; the figure somehow was now standing over me. I look up at him in fear. How did he get here so fast?

I look around for some way of escape, and that's when I realized that I was surrounded by more shadows. My eyes widen in shock. The figure standing over me smiles a cold smile as he watched me look around in fear. He raises his hand and shakes a finger at me to get my attention. I turn to him, my eyes still wide with fear, then turn away and shut my eyes to try and escape his dark gaze. "Not yet my dear, but soon... not yet... Wake up..."

Chapter 1: Kidnapped

I wake up with a start. Sweat was running down my face. I look at my clock, ten o'clock in the morning. I stretch and get out of bed, I walk over to my closet, and grab a laced bright red tank top and some Addicted jeans. I walk into the bathroom and look at my reflection. My dark long and wavy black hair cascaded down my back, my shocking blue eyes look back at me with kindness, and my skin a lovely olive colored texture. I didn't look all that bad. I come out of the bathroom and grab my bag; I notice a picture of me and my mother.

I smile at the picture of me and my my mother. My mother was beautiful with dark hair like mine, and looking at me with the same blue eyes as me. I was about six and ice skating with my mother, I look at the outfit I was wearing. A beautiful red skater skirt with perfectly white ice skates in hand. My mother was wearing a skater's outfit and skates as well. I smiled at the picture and grab it to take with me. I look at another picture of me and my mother at a singing contest. I was holding a first place ribbon with pride; my mother was behind me smiling.

I get ready and walk down the staircase. The house was pretty small and messy. Jess and I cleaned it as much as we could though it still looked like a mess. I enter the kitchen and notice my best friend, Jess, cooking breakfast. Sizzling bacon and cheese filled the room. Jess looks up from his cooking and notices me standing there. I smile at him; he was a handsome boy of eighteen, his wavy dark black hair, with an athletic and strong body the same olive hinted color as me, with green eyes.

Jess wasn't a part of my family biologically, but I still consider him family ever since Aunt Claire pulled him off the streets and had him live with her and Uncle Reese as though he was her own son.

As far as I knew Jess was the only "cousin" that I knew better than the rest of my family. "Hey Jess, I'm going out soon and -"

"You look tired." Jess interrupts, and as if on cue I yawn and nod.

"I had that dream again."

Jess frowned, "Again? You've been having that same nightmare for the past three months!"

I nod and sigh, "It's the same thing every night, the same village with the same fire, and those shadows. I don't know what they were but they were really creepy."

I shuddered, remembering the one shadow that had suddenly appeared from out of nowhere.

"Jess, this time there was a little bit more to the dream. When I was running away, into the forest, one of the shadows was following me. At first I thought that I had outrun him but then I fell, and out of nowhere he was standing over me! He said, "Not yet my dear, but soon... not yet..." and then I woke up." Jess was about to answer me when someone yells from upstairs. "SIERRA! GET UP HERE!" Jess and I glance upstairs. Jess stops and both of us look above us. Jess looks at me, rolls his eyes and continues his cooking. I call back upstairs "Coming Reese!" Uncle Reese and Jess were the only family I had, my father died in the war and my mother disappeared when I was eight. Since then I've been living here with my Uncle and cousin. I walk slowly up the stairs and into my Uncle's bedroom. I hated coming into this bedroom, it was always a mess and it always smelled like garbage. I crinkle my face in disgust. Suddenly Reese walks out of the bathroom. He was a tall and rather good looking guy with his hazel eyes and his dark brown hair.

Reese motions for me to come closer. Hesitantly, I walk towards him. I used to enjoy being around him. He was always playing with me, like the father that I never had, but my mom was a little cautious whenever I was around him. Back then I didn't understand why she felt like I was so unsafe around him. Now I do. Reese is unpredictable, one minute he's happy the next he's punching the drywall for something that you said. Right now he looked angry and I was scared. He looks at me and frowns. "Where ya goin'?" I shiver and answer bravely "I'm going to hang out with my friends; if you need me I'll have my phone."

To my surprise, Reese only nods and grumbles "Just don't go getting into trouble..." With relief I run out the door yelling my goodbyes to Jess. I reach into my pocket and pull out my IPod and begin to listen to Auburn and Carrie Underwood. I walk past alleyways and was careful not to look into strangers' eyes. Where I live, so much as looking at someone in the eye meant trouble. I head to an old beat up park and just hang around there. I didn't really have friends, at school I was known as a freak and people were afraid of me. Suddenly an old memory where all these problems began, entered my mind.

Sierra's memory:

I was going to a middle school called Black Wood Jr. High. It was the last day of school before summer, and I was on my way to history, my final class for the day, when a jock came at me and grabbed my arm. I looked at him in surprise and annoyance but soon in fear when I saw the intentions in his face. Terrified I remember struggling to escape but couldn't and soon enough friends of the jock holding me surrounded me. I remember being so scared and angry, I felt so helpless... and then it happened, suddenly the jocks were all pushed by some unknown force, a whole football field away from where I was standing. From that day on no one bothered me, but soon rumors began flying around about the incident. I was called a freak, and a danger to society. After that Mom moved us to another state and brought me to a new school. She was the only one who knew about my power. Nobody, not even my family, didn't know. Only Mom.

End of memory

I look up into the sky. Since Mom disappeared, everything has changed. Jess's parents separated just two weeks after my mother disappeared, leaving Jess and me with sweet Aunt Claire, but then Jess's mother died in a car crash twelve months later. Since then, me and Jess have been stranded with Uncle Reese, a now grief stricken alcoholic. A tear runs down my face. Jess and I always spoke of running away whenever Reese was angry and drunk. We'd speak of running away to Wyoming or sweet old California. I wipe away the tear and look ahead of me.

Finally I reached an old beat up park. No one came here, that's why I liked it. It was the perfect place to be alone and at peace. I walk over to the swing set and sit down. I always come here to just let go of everything, my anger, my sorrow, and my fears. I get up and begin to walk around, when I all of a sudden felt like someone was watching me. I look around quickly to see who it was. No one was there. I finally decided it was nothing and shrug it off and walk out of the park.

For the rest of the day I wandered the streets until it started to get dark. Reluctantly I began to walk home. "I hope Jess is okay." I said to myself. Suddenly I felt like someone was watching me again. Chills ran down my spine and I look around nervously. "Okay, this is definitely starting to creep me out." I say to myself. No one answers but the wind. I continue walking but in a quicker pace. After what seems like forever, I see my house. I walk inside and begin looking for Jess. "Jess, I'm home! Where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen!" comes the reply. I smile and walk into the kitchen. The smell of hamburger wafted in the air. I smile at him then notice that Reese was missing. "Hey, Jess, where's Reese?" I ask. Jess shrugs and answers "Most likely at the local bar." My face fell. That wasn't a good sign. That usually meant trouble once he got home. I frowned at the thought but immediately turn it back into a smile. I wasn't about to let Reese get the best of me. "That food smells good Jess, can't wait to start eating."

After we had finished eating, we talked for a while until it was about twelve thirty, I decided to go to bed and said goodnight to Jess and went to bed. As I lied on my bed, I listened to the rain fall and patter against my window. I felt someone watching me once more. I get up out of bed and go to my window. I look out to find out who it was but it was too dark. "It's probably nothing. I shrug off the feeling and return to my bed. I listen and watch until my eyes closed and I drifted off to sleep.

A green figure watches the sleeping girl and frowns. It's been hard watching the girl and hiding when she turned around. The figure scowls, he had been watching the girl for some time now and was tired, and he desired action. A voice breaks into his thoughts and the figure picks up his communicator. "Did she see you?"

"No."

"Good. It's almost time to go onto step two, be ready."

"No problem."

The figure puts down his communicator and turns back to the girl. He smirks at her and disappears.

I walk past burning buildings once again. The heat swept across my face. I look toward the dark forest ahead of me. I finally decide to take my chances and head for the forest. I began to hear footsteps and look back to see the same black figure. "WH-who's there?" I cry. The black figure stops and begins to chuckle. He puts up his hand. "Soon, have patience..." Before I could answer I woke up.

These dreams were starting to make me worry. Will I have these dreams forever? I thought. I get up and dress into jeans and a black tank top. I straighten my hair, and finish getting ready for the day. When I finished, I walked downstairs to help Jess with breakfast. Reese was sitting in the living room watching television. I turn to see Jess. He was wearing a black shirt with jeans. Jess notices me and smiles. I return the smile and finish helping him with breakfast.

The day went by quickly; Reese had given us a full list of chores for us to do around the house. By the end of the day, I felt like Cinderella. When dinner finally came, Reese left the house and back to the local bar. We were relieved that he had left but were a little nervous of what was going to happen when he got back. We shake the nervous feeling off and enjoy our evening.

The rest of the evening me and Jess played games and shared stories. Finally bored I grab Jess's hand and go outside. Jess and I lay on the grass and look up at the stars, naming as many constellations as we could until car light blind us. Startled we stand up just as Reese emerges from the car. We look at him in surprise; he was home earlier than usual. Reese approaches awkwardly, clearly drunk. Reese looks at us with a drunk and angry expression. He looks at Jess then at me. I watch him fearfully. He was dead drunk, that was definitely not a good sign. Reese points his finger at me and says, "You... come here." I shake my head and draw closer to Jess. Jess steps in front of me protectively. "I SAID COME HERE!" yells Reese and advances.

I look at Jess in awe; he was so big, so threatening. Jess doesn't pay attention. He glares at Reese with anger, clenching his fist tightly. "Don't touch her..." Jess growls. Reese stops in his tracks. He looks at Jess in surprise then smirks. "You care about her J? How cute..." he slurs. Reese continues to walk towards us. Jess holds up his clenched fists. "I'm only going to warn you once old man, don't touch her. You've caused us enough grief." Reese laughs coldly but continues walking towards us. "You don't know the meaning of grief Jess... not even a little." Reese shoves Jess aside forcefully, and puts his hands on my shoulders. My eyes widen with disbelief and fear. I shudder and try to pull away but he has me in an iron grip.

Jess gets up and jumps at Reese. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH HER!" Reese tries to dodge the flying fist but was too slow and received a sucker punch to the jaw. Reese lets me go and falls backward holding his jaw, blood was running down his nose. His eyes were wide with rage. Jess pulls me towards him protectively. He lifts my face up and looks at me with concern. "Are you okay?" he asks. I nod and put my face against his chest. Jess looks at Reese with anger.

"Never touch her again!"

Reese lets out a battle cry and flies towards me and Jess. Jess pushes me aside and advances towards Reese. The two collide and begin to fight, violently beating at each other. Finally Jess grabs Reese's head and bangs it hard against his knee, knocking him out unconscious. I stand there too stunned to move, Jess grabs my hand, breaking the trance, and we run out of the house, and into town.

Jess and I run aimlessly about the streets until we couldn't run anymore. I stop to catch my breath. A tear rolls down my face. I was angry, angry at Reese, angry at my mother, and angry at myself for not being able to defend myself and allowing Jess to take all the damage. I yell out in frustration and punch a brick wall. Jess puts a hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I turn around and sob into his chest. Jess only stood there and held me, comforting me the only way he knew how. "Everything is going to be okay Sierra." he puts his hand on my head and I close my eyes. Jess was the only one I knew of who actually cared about me.

I look up at him and wipe away my tears. "I... I could've helped you! I could've helped you fight him off! Why must I always be so scared? It's not fair!"

Jess looks at me with pity. "No... You couldn't. Reese would've hurt you. I couldn't bear that risk." I look at him in surprise. He really did care about me. I smile and hug him. "Thank you." that was all I could say. Jess only nods. "Let's go find a place to sleep."

A shadow stood above a building looking down at the two teenage kids wandering the streets. He turns his head towards the boy known as Jess, who was keeping a watchful eye on the girl. The shadow looks at the girl as well. Something caught his eye and fixes his eyes more carefully on her. The figure sensed a powerful force coming from her. The figure was taken aback. He'd never felt so much energy in a living thing before other than himself, and a few rivals. The sleeping girl twists in her sleep, then suddenly yelps. "They're here..." says the figure and disappears into thin air.

I was surrounded by burning buildings. There were screams of agony and fear coming from everywhere. I look around to find the people making the noises, but the village was empty of any life but me and the burning fires. I look up to see the shadow figure walking towards me. I felt every part of me screaming Run! But I was too scared to move, I watch as the figure drew closer and closer until the figure was standing right in front of me. My eyes widen as the darkness disappeared and revealed a creature smiling a dark smile. He was white with glasses at the brim of his face; his golden eyes were surrounded by black. His head was outlined with strange black markings, and his hands and feet were bandaged and wore a dark black cape with symbols on it. He smiles at me.

"Hello Sierra..."

I step back in surprise. "WH-who are you and how do you know my name?"

The creature chuckles and steps towards me. "I am Dr. Finitevus. As for your name... Well let's just say that I've known about you long enough to know your name and why you're out on the streets." I gasp and take another step back away from the Dr. Finitevus.

"H-how did you know...?"

"I've been watching you very carefully ever since your mother went missing."

I look up at him, now angry and shocked, "HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MY MOTHER'S DISAPPEARANCE?"

Dr. Finitevus held up a hand for silence. Reluctantly I stayed silent to hear what he had to say. "Everything will reveal in time, but now I must insist that you come with me." I shake my head. "No, I won't!" I start to run but something grabs hold of me. I look down and see that my feet had disappeared into a black hole. "Hey what the-?" Dr. Finitevus interrupts me, "Surely you didn't think I'd just let you walk away from me that easily did you?" I look at him, angry that he was so calm about all of this. "What do you want from me?" I ask harshly.

"It's not what I want from you; it's what I want with you."

I begin to feel afraid. Dr. Finitevus walks up to me and grabs my face. "You see, you're no ordinary human girl, my dear. You can do things that others can only imagine, things that most people can only wish for. You have immense power, pure energy." I tug away from him and struggle to break free. "Leave me alone!" I scream, suddenly a burst of light shines brightly and a force shoves Finitevus away from me. The hole that had held me was gone and immediately I run as far as I can away from him. I hear him yelling after me, "You are only stalling what's to come, my dear, but soon everything will happen as it should!" After that, I wake up from my nightmare and see the sun shining into my eyes.

Jess was next to me looking at me with concern. "Are you alright?" I look at him and show my fear. "My dream..." I didn't need to say anymore, immediately Jess asks me what happened and I tell him from the beginning with the burning buildings and screams, to the very end with my meeting with Dr. Finitevus, but cut out the special abilities that I wield part as best as I could. When I finished telling my story, Jess stands up and begins to walk towards the exit of the park. We decided to sleep at the park where it was open, in case Reese went searching for us we'd at least be able to run away before he'd catch up with us. I get up as well and catch up with Jess. "Jess? What are you-" I began to ask when Jess turns around and hugs me. "It's nothing; I was just trying to think of a place to go for safety. Come on, we need to find a better hiding place."

"Okay." Jess takes my hand, and we walk out of the park without another word.

For the rest of the day we wandered the streets and bought some sandwiches with some cash that Jess had taken before we ran away. As I was finishing my food, we began to hear sirens and immediately we begin to run. We run to the outskirts of town and into a tall grass field and lay low until the sirens were long gone. Jess tells me to stay put and checks out the area. I wait patiently for his return. It seemed like forever when he finally came back, grabbed my hand, and took me to an abandoned house. We stay in hiding for the rest of the day. Jess left to explore the strange area that we were staying in. I grab my IPod and listen to music until he returned. "This place should be safe enough to stay for the night." he says. Soon night had come, I was afraid to fall asleep in fear that Dr. Finitevus was waiting for me, but Jess told me to try and get some sleep and soon enough I was dreaming the same dream.

I see the same burning buildings with the same screams coming from unknown people. I wait and soon enough I see Dr. Finitevus walking towards me. I stand tall and try not to show my fear. He stops in front of me and smiles. Before he could speak I begin to ask him some questions that had been bothering me since last night. "How did you come to find me?" I ask. Dr. Finitevus seemed amused when I asked and answers me calmly "I became aware of you after a strong wave of power had appeared from nowhere approximately about two years ago. Since then I had learned about your existence and of the powers that you wield."

I suddenly remember the incident with the jocks and become angry with myself but I didn't show it. "Why do you want me? What can I do?" I ask. Dr. Finitevus walks closer to me until we're face to face. "You are the key to the end of all this war and destruction. The power that you wield is extremely strong, with help you could become unstoppable." he replies. None of this made sense.

"What do you mean?"

Dr. Finitevus chuckled and puts out his hand. "Why don't you see for yourself?"

Everything was so confusing, I didn't understand any of it, but I knew one thing, this guy was no good. I look at him in the eye and scream "No!" and run away. This time he didn't stop me but said, "You can't run forever! My patience is wearing thin, I will use force the next time we meet, and I promise you, it will be very soon!"

For the next few days, I don't receive any more visiting's from Finitevus, and for once, able to sleep in peace. Jess was troubled about it but didn't say anything. I'm a little worried but decided to leave it alone. We wander away from the city and into the countryside. I enjoy feeling the warm sunshine on my face and smell the sweet scents around me that didn't smell like trash and cigarette smoke. We find an abandoned hut that looked pretty old. We explore the inside and see that it was sturdy enough to stay in, and with that, we made our new home comfortable enough to live in.

Jess walks over to me looking very serious. "In case, I'm not there to protect you, I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself." I was surprised by this but didn't argue. Jess and I practiced day and night, fighting each other. To my surprise, I was pretty good. Each day we began to fight harder and with each day passing I got closer and closer to beating Jess.

The days turned into weeks and still no nightmares or meets with Dr. Finitevus. Soon I forgot all about his promise. I walk down the field. Jess was exhausted from our training earlier this morning. I wasn't quite tired yet so decided to take a stroll. The country side of the country was beautiful, I enjoyed every minute that past being outside and walk around with my IPod in hand. The feeling of being watched still made me uneasy, and when the feeling returned I was always on my guard. Today, the feeling had returned. I was sick of it and turn to where it felt the strongest and yell "I know you're out there! Come out and show yourself!" No one answers but I wasn't about to give up that easily, I walk towards a rather large oak tree and sit there. "You don't have to answer me, but I know that you're there!"

Finally I give up and become bored. I stand up and look up at the tree, the tree's branches were a little high but that didn't stop me. I quickly place my foot on the bark of the tree and push upwards and reach my branch. I pull myself up and begin to climb. As I'm climbing a memory comes into focus. I have always loved to climb trees and had become pretty good and fast at it. I remember my mother climbing our big tree at home, after me. I remember her soft and loving blue eyes and long silky dark hair. I remember her sweet and gentle laughter whenever I did something funny. The memory fades and I smile at the memory.

I finally reach the top of the tree and look out at the land below. The golden fields stretched for miles and miles, the sun shining on the meadows gave it a glowing look, the sky was a beautiful sky blue. I secretly hoped that Jess and I didn't have to leave. It was nice here and the fields were covered with wild strawberries and peaches. "I hope we stay here for a while." I said to myself.

Deciding to check on Jess, I enter the hut and notice him lying on a bed of old blankets stuffed with dried grass beneath it. I look over at Jess who was still asleep and smile. He works so hard to protect me. He's like the big brother that I've never had. I'm lucky to have him around. I thought. I go back outside and back towards the oak tree to relax. When I reached the tree, I settle down and drift off into a deep sleep.

Dr. Finitevus scans the area for Sierra. Finally he closes in on an area in the countryside. He notices her sleeping under a large oak tree. He smiled at his success, "Scourge!" A green hedgehog entered the room, with a smirk on his face. His eyes were sky blue, on the top of his head were red sunglasses, he wore a black torn jacket with flames designed on the arms, he wore green punk-like shoes, and had two nasty scars spread across his upper torso. "What's up old man?" Scourge asks. Finitevus rolls his eyes in annoyance, he despised that nickname. "It is time for step two."

Scourge shrugs. "Kay."

"The girl, we need her. She is very vital to my plans. I need you to go in and bring her back here alive and safe. I don't want her in any harm."

Scourge begins to walk out the lab door when Dr. Finitevus stops him. "Oh, and there's one other thing you might want to consider. There's a boy no more than at least eighteen with the girl. He seems to be very protective over her. Bring him down; I don't want him spoiling my plans."

Scourge nods and leaves the room, glad to find something to do.

Scourge and his gang open up a portal to the world known as earth. He'd been here before but not very often. The portal opens up on the other side. As Finitevus said, they were to go to the countryside and search for the girl. Scourge walks out of the portal and into the sunshine. The tall grass surrounded him. He looks around for a tall oak tree that the doc had mentioned. At last, he spots the tree not far from where he was standing. About a yard or two away the tree stood, being the only tree in the sea of gold it wasn't hard to find.

"Fiona, stay close but stay hidden. The rest of you, search for the kid, he'll be close by to help the girl if she was in danger."

Scourge's gang nod in unison and go their separate ways. Scourge heads towards the tree, sneaking up from behind. Scourge looks at the sleeping girl. He smiles wickedly. Here is the girl the Doc needed, sleeping like she had no care in the world. He stood over her for a little bit before reaching out and grabbing her by the mouth. Like he expected, the girl snaps immediately awake, thrashing and kicking. He laughs and grabs her arm, forcing it behind her back. She was pretty strong he had to admit, but not strong enough. The girl thrashed about a little while longer before giving up, finding it useless.

"Glad you decided to knock it off." Scourge said. The girl looks up at him in surprise and anger. "Now, let's go see your little boyfriend." Scourge smirks and drags the girl to the hut.