A Hedgehog in Transylvania

by The Chuckinator and VanFullMoonHelsing

Chapter 1: Entering Transylvania

Sonic was sleeping in his bed. He was having a peaceful sleep, until his alarm clock started making the noise to wake him up, so he hit the snooze button, got out of bed, and yawned. Sonic put on some his socks, sneakers and gloves, then walked downstairs, opened the front door and smiled as a morning breeze came in through the doorway and blew past his quills. He stretched and ran out of the house, hearing the door slam behind him.

Sonic loved going on morning runs; he was very active and liked to exercise a lot. He ran through Station Square, feeling the wind rush past him. A smile crept onto Sonic's face. As he ran he turned a corner, closing his eyes, not noticing a portal opening in front of him he ran right into it, shocking him. Sonic tried to stop, but he fell through the portal, which closed behind him. He screamed, and everything went black. He fell through the swirling colours and came across a bright light at the end, then fell out of it and landed on dirt ground.

He groaned and stood up. Sonic looked around, wondering where he was. Everything he saw looked so old. Was he in another time? If so, he had to find out what happened. He stood up and saw trees and bushes surrounding the dirt-like beach he was on and saw the ocean not too far away from him. A few minutes later, he saw a boat reach the shore and two people walked off. He hid in a bush just in case they weren't friendly. Sonic saw one of them wearing a long trench coat and hat and the other was wearing a robe. The human with the hat and trench coat had a crossbow and Sonic's eyes widened when he saw it. He wondered why the human had all that fancy gear and sighed, wondering what he should do.

The humans were bringing two horses down from the ship as they walked down the ramp. Once they got down the shorter one with blonde hair got out a map.

"Okay, so we have to go through this forest and we will come across some mountains covered in snow. We will have to travel along them to get to the village," he told the trench coat human.

He nodded, his hat bobbing with his head. "Good. We should get moving then. Come along, Carl."

Sonic watched them leave. He was intrigued by what they had said, and decided to follow them. The two got on their horses and began to ride through the forest. Sonic following behind them, closely, yet not too closely. He stayed out of sight, wondering what they were up to. He needed information about this time, and perhaps they could help him.

Yet if they were up to no good maybe he shouldn't get near them and stop whatever they were doing. The crossbow was giving Sonic suspicions of what kinds of people these humans were, yet the smaller one looked more like a monk while the taller one looked like the hunter type. Suddenly, the taller man on the horse stopped and looked around, hearing something. Sonic continued to stay out of sight, hoping he would not be seen.

"Carl, stay here," the trench coat human told the shorter human known now as Carl.

"Wh...What's going on, Van Helsing?" Carl asked, a little shaken.

The human, now known as Van Helsing, got off his horse and aimed his crossbow at a bush. "I believe we are not alone." A small squeak came from Carl in fright as he believed it was a monster.

Sonic's eyes widened and he gulped as the crossbow was aimed at him. Van Helsing kept his aim and tightened his grip on the handle and near the trigger in case the person following them made any moves to attack. The bush rustled and Van Helsing's hand immediately grabbed someone, then threw the person out and aimed the crossbow at him.

Sonic was surprised at this and froze instantly, not used to crossbows at all, only lasers. Van Helsing stared at Sonic, shock and confusion was written on his face along with Carl except his was a mixture of fascination.

"What...are you?" Van Helsing asked.

"I think your better question would be who...not what," Sonic said. "The name's Sonic the Hedgehog."

Van Helsing's brow lowered. "Hedgehog?"

"Hedgehogs are small creatures with spikes on their body that they use to protect themselves from predators, Van Helsing," Carl told him.

"Thank you, for that Carl," Van Helsing said, rolling his eyes.

"But you do not look like a hedgehog. As a matter of fact you are taller than an average hedgehog and are also blue," Carl added. Van Helsing didn't even know what Carl was talking about.

Sonic smiled. "I'm anthropomorphic," he said. "It means I'm more of a human than an animal. And can you put that crossbow away? It's kind of intimidating."

Van Helsing nodded and lowered his crossbow. He didn't trust this hedgehog, yet Carl found him quite fascinating.

"Where are you from?" Carl asked as Van Helsing turned from Sonic and got back on his horse.

"That's kind of a funny story. I'm from the present...you know, time travel and all that? One moment I'm running through the city where I live and next moment a portal opens up, now I'm here! I don't even know where I am."

"You are in Transylvania, year 1888," Van Helsing said, not paying attention as he grabbed the reigns of his horse.

Sonic's eyes widened. "Where are you going? I can't just stay here; is it okay if I come with you?"

Van Helsing shrugged. "As long as you do not get in the way of our mission."

"You mean your mission," Carl said, almost flatly as he lowered his eyelids.

Van Helsing rolled his eyes. "Fine. You are just the brains."

Carl scoffed and started trotting ahead. Van Helsing chuckled at this and began to follow. Sonic watched the two and soon began to follow them. He sighed as thoughts ran through his head: how did he get here? What mission was Van Helsing on? Sonic shrugged and looked at Van Helsing, who looked back, wondering what was going through Sonic's mind.

Van Helsing was also wondering why this person had been brought here to them when he was about to kill Dracula. Was it a message from God that he needed help and this hedgehog was it? Van Helsing shook his head as they continued through the forest.

"So...what kind of mission are you guys on?" Sonic asked.

"That's none of your business," Van Helsing replied, growling.

Carl looked back at Van Helsing slightly, "If he is coming with us he has a right to know."

Sonic stayed silent, wondering what they were up to. Van Helsing sighed and looked at him. "Fine," he muttered. He looked at Sonic with a slight glare. "We are going to a small village located in the middle of the mountains in Transylvania to hunt down and kill Dracula and hopefully save the life of a family he's after."

"Dracula?" Sonic asked, and a grin appeared across his face. "Cool! Sounds like fun."

Van Helsing's glare narrowed at Sonic. Carl stared at Sonic in shock. "Are you mad? This mission is dangerous! Not to mention Dracula can unleash any sort of nightmarish monster on us! And we do not even know his plan!"

"I've faced villains before," he said. "Plus, I'm pretty fast."

"So is Dracula," Van Helsing said, as they continued on through the forest, finally reaching a river bank and made his horse trot across it to the other side as it led to the mountains. Sonic just stared at the water.

"I...er..."

Van Helsing and Carl looked at him in confusion, yet Van Helsing's held annoyance. "What?" Carl asked, seeming curious to know.

Sonic hesitated. "I...er...I'm afraid of water. I have aquaphobia."

Carl and Van Helsing blinked and looked at each other before looking back at the hedgehog. "Interesting. A hedgehog that is afraid of water. Interesting," Carl said.

Van Helsing rolled his eyes. "Can we talk about it being interesting later and get him across first so we can get moving?"

Carl nodded, looking up. "Right." He looked at the water. "It is shallow. You should be able to just walk across like the horses did." He looked around. "Or if you do not want to do that, jump on those rocks just beside you." Carl pointed to some rocks just a few meters away from Sonic, who looked at the rocks and sighed.

"Fine," he said, and jumped over the rocks to the other side, while Van Helsing and Carl waited over at the other side. Once everyone was on the other side, they continued to walk. "You said Dracula is fast. How fast is he, exactly?"

Van Helsing shrugged his shoulders, keeping his eyes on path as they walked along it to the mountains. "Don't know, but on information we have already...it sounds like he can go very fast."

"Vampires are so fast they seem to appear in front of you and then disappear before reappearing behind you at times," Carl explained.

Sonic nodded. "He sounds fast...but no one's faster than me!"

Carl and Van Helsing looked at him, eyebrows raised.

Sonic smirked. Van Helsing frowned. There is something...about this hedgehog that I cannot quite put my finger on, but he seems suspicious yet his character does not. I still better make sure Carl is careful around him, Van Helsing thought.

Carl looked at Sonic in shock. "You would not be faster than Dracula though. He's a vampire you are a hedgehog."

"Can a vampire run at the speed of sound?"

Now Van Helsing was even more suspicious of the hedgehog. How could he run that fast? "Dracula could probably run that fast if he wanted to. We will have to see when we meet him."

Sonic nodded. "We better get going, then."

Van Helsing nodded, and they continued on their way.