Brothers of Chaos
Chapter 1
It was quite often that the young child would read as the stars shone around the night sky.
For as long as the four year old echidna could remember(which, to be fair, wasn't saying much), he had decided to take up a mantle that could be seen as unheard of for someone of his age; he had become the Guardian of the mysterious Angel Island, a large floating landmass that was stationed high up around the planet Earth's stratosphere, as well as a large gem of incredible power, the Master Emerald, which was responsible for keeping the island afloat. This meant that, usually, days to him were calm and cloudy, with occasional breeze. Which was fine by him, to be quite honest; Knuckles hated the Sun.
However, even for a Guardian, he was still too young to take up such a caliber of responsibility. He had to broaden his horizons on an extremely wide scale, having to depend on the multitude of books present on the island to educate and nurture him, completely free from supervision.
This was because, as far as he knew, he was the last of his kind.
He didn't know what became of his parents. If they were alive after he was born, he was probably too young to remember them clearly now. All he knew was that he was the only one of his species on this island; the only other specimens on the island besides him were the small woodland creatures that populated the area, which the echidna tended to daily. All he could gather were that his ancestors were part of a prestigious warrior clan, who had one day decided to gain more power and influence by gathering the Chaos Emeralds; what happened after that was unknown to him, as the contents of the book after that point were unreadable due to age so very long time ago.
Usually, someone who was in the same predicament as the boy would either become bored or, in extreme cases, insane, due to the sensation of loneliness gnawing at their psyche, perhaps due to being the only sentient being on the island. Indeed, Knuckles felt a somewhat great degree of isolation on a regular days, but he often quelled that negative sensation by reading books.
What one could consider quite boring and an incredible waste of time for many others within his age group, he found quite compelling. He liked how they presented so much knowledge that could be absorbed into the average mind, he liked how simple they were to comprehend, and he admired how interesting some of the contents of said book could be. They presented a seemingly limitless amount of figures that played a huge part in ancient history; the Chaos Emeralds, the Time Stones, the Chaos Rings...
In fact, it was tonight that he had decided to whisk a book straight from the Hidden Palace, to take a look at while lying down on the large altar before him.
This seemed to be centered around ancient prophecies predicted by the shamans of the ancient Echidna civilization. And, he had to admit, some of them were quite interesting to go through.
"I see that what was once a mere stem on the ground has grown into a large olive tree. For many years, this tree grew larger as the owners of said tree maintained its fertility, and its fruits. The tree represents peace, and the soil represents the foundations that established said peace. However, in the foreseeable future, that tree will become corrupted by a spark, that would eventually become a flame – a large, roaring flame. This flame symbolizes wrath, power and leadership. This flame will consume the olive tree, and will eventually burn everything it stand"s for to the ground, forever. Whoa... pretty powerful stuff, here..." He had decided to flip towards another page. "Hmm... here's but another one.
"I see... two beams of light, one blue, one red, coming together, and travelling through the speed of sound, in a black void. Before them is a large ball of darkness, which seems to overpower the individual beams. However, guided by Chaos, the two beams will eventually spiral together, before transforming into a single, powerful beam, with the brightness of a thousand suns. The new powered beam will plough through the darkness, destroying it for good. And all will be well."
At that, Knuckles had decided to set down his book, leaving it at the steps of the altar. Reading was quite an... interesting venture, but he still had a job to do.
A short distance up the steps later, the echidna eventually laid his eyes upon what he considered to be the crown jewel of not just the altar but the entire island itself – the Master Emerald. He laid his hand upon the gem absent-mindedly – something that he would frown upon if anyone else were to do so – and immediately it seemed to glow. His sixth sense, able to predict traces of Chaos Energy, was almost overwhelmed by what he deemed to be infinite power; how else would such a glorious item exist in this world. Recollecting his thoughts, he turned away from the Emerald, staying in place with his arms crossed.
"Such power... how is it that I, a young child would be the one to protect such a precious artifact before me? To be honest... I don't really know how. All I know is that I will honor those that have came before me, by guarding this island till death, even if I have to spend the rest of my life in solitude."
Knuckles then laid down on the edge of the circle surrounding the Emeralds and started to stare at the sky. It was a cloudless night, thankfully; all the constellations in the night sky were present. Since he was so high up the planet's surface, the stars appeared bigger towards his point of view than at ground level. He figured he could do this until sleep overcame him. It wasn't long before he could see a blue streak of light appear; a shooting star! He looked up at what was his first encounter with one with amazement as flew at a steady pace, soon to disappear...
Only to realize that that wasn't what it was trying to do at all; in fact, it looked like it was heading...
Directly...
On top...
Of his...
Island.
"Oh, crap!" As soon as that line of thought entered his mind, the Echidna immediately jumped up with a start, as the star appeared ever closer. Jumping towards the Emerald's home, his body entered into defense mode, hoping to use his immense strength to over power the object. And even if he failed... he would be content knowing he died protecting his folly.
The good news was, to Knuckles' relief, the star wasn't aiming at his Emerald. The bad news, however, was that it still landed on the island, with a resounding BOOM.
"What the hell was that?! Whatever it is is not gonna stay here for long—I'll make sure of that. Hmm... he seemed to have landed towards the Ice Caps."
And with that, he dashed towards the ground zero of the crash site.
"Ugh... darn it... now... I remember why I never come up here... so cold...", the echidna moaned as he found himself using his spiked fists to finish climbing up a kilometer high mountain in the frozen tundras of the Ice Caps. He really hoped that whatever awaited him was worth such an arduous effort. He then turned towards what he predicted would be the site of the explosion.
With all of the knowledge implanted into his brain, Knuckles had thought he had seen or heard of everything in life, and to not be surprised at the slightest abnormality. But all of that went through the window when he had seen what – or who, for that matter – had landed on his turf. It appeared to be a turquoise hedgehog, somewhere around his age, and he seemed to be unconscious. Cuts and bruises appeared all over his body, and his fur seemed to be extremely pale, his body no doubt starting to freeze over from the intense cold .
"Whoever this guy is, he seems to be in need of serious medical attention. He'll die if left untreated.
"I'm slightly against the idea of another person on this holy ground, but at the same time, I can't just leave him to succumb to his injuries... Hmm... It may be against my better judgement, but I'll have to take him to the Master Emerald. If my memory serves me well, the Emerald has the ability to heal those who are inhibitors of Chaos Energy. If nothing else, I'm living proof of that. But... will it work on him, I wonder? Wait, why am I just standing here? I have to take him to the altar, quick!"
Knuckles then picked up the child, causing him to elicit a moan. "Man, what is this guy made of?! No matter, at least I know he's still alive..." He then jumped off from the high mountains, only for his trademark dreadlocks to catch the wind blowing in his face, enabling him to glide from the icy landscape back to the Emerald's altar, the added weight making it harder for him to focus on his location. Eventually though, he managed to make it back. He still needed to perfect that technique.
The Echidna then gently laid the blue hedgehog towards the Master Emerald. To his surprise, upon contact with it, the Emerald seemed to not glow, but shine brightly; wisps of energy began reaching the young one, his body becoming warm within seconds, which slightly deepened his fur somewhat to a less sickly color.
"Now this, this is a shock... This intruder indeed seems to be able to manipulate Chaos Energy somewhat. But how? I am a Guardian, a descendant of the keepers of this power; it is obvious that I can use this power as well as I can. But... who is he? Wait a minute... his color is blue... and he seems to be able to use Chaos Energy... could this be a blessing in disguise? Could he be...?"
By this point, the wounds present on the hedgehog's body had been completely healed, and seconds after, his eyes opening in an instant, a confused expression appearing on his face. "Who... who are you? Where am I? What'is thin' tha's behind me?", he queried as he got up, dusting himself.
Knuckles' first expression upon seeing the blue hedgehog awake was shock – but not of the negative kind. "How... dare you! The Master Emerald is not merely a "thing"! Apologize at once before I turn you into spiny mincemeat!"
The hedgehog quickly raised his hands, and his ears perked up. He was quickly starting to worry - his spiked fists meant he could easily take that threat and run with it if he wanted to. "Whoa, whoa, buddy! Y'don't need t'go tha' far. I din' know, OK?"
The echidna's expression softened somewhat, but not by much – now that he was awake, he was going to answer a few questions – whether he liked it or not. "Hmph. Duly noted. Let's not beat around the bush here. This here is my turf. My home. I found you in an arctic wasteland not too far from here. After dragging you here – by the way, you weigh a ton – I took you to the Master Emerald, and you were healed, and here you are.
The hedgehog's eyes widened in shock. "Whoa... so I guess this thin', I mean, tha' Master Emerald", he corrected as he saw Knuckles' scowl, "saved my life, huh?"
"That is correct. Now that that is out of the way, time for my first question. How did you find your way onto this island?"
"Um... le's see. Uh... tha's da thin'... I can' really remember..."
For a second, Knuckles' eyes widened, only to bring them down again before the hedgehog could notice. "Nothing at all?"
"Nope. All I can remember up t'now wus me flyin'... Th' skie wus so cold..."
"Flying? So that was when you plummeted onto the island..."
"...Yeah, y'coul' say tha', I guess..."
And with that, Knuckles felt the need to face palm. Here he was, dealing with a guy who, judging by his language, seemed to be quite uneducated, and was also an amnesiac. What a perfect night this was building up to! No, no... more questions.
"Well, is there anything you can remember?"
"Nah. Jus' whatah tol' ya, an' my name."
"Alright... What is your name?"
"...Sonic. Sonic tha' Hedgehog."
"Alright, uh... Sonic, is it? One more question. Are you familiar with the concept of... Chaos Energy?"
The hedgehog's ears flat lined, as his expression appeared more confused. "Ah... Chaos wha? Wha's that? That sounds... cool!"
This time, the echidna could not stop the groan from erupting in his mouth. His mind was truly at a loop; a blue hedgehog had decided to land on his island, who seemed to be able to use Chaos Energy, but suffered from amnesia and appeared to know nothing about Chaos Energy? This specimen was truly one in a million. Sonic appeared sheepish.
"Alright, alright, one last, final question. Why, exactly, are you called Sonic?"
For what seemed to be the first time for the entire night, Sonic's mouth curled into a smile. "Oh, tha' I remember. Check this out!"
And at that, Sonic seemed to just... vanish, into a blue streak, bouncing and darting around the altar and around the green grasslands that bordered it. Knuckles' eyes remained in what seemed to be an eternal mixture of shock and wonder. No one could possibly go that fast!
After what seemed to be an eternity, the blue hedgehog skidded to a halt right next to him, the friction causing smoke to appear on the altar. He still carried that... cocky, smirk on his face.
"Impressed...?"
The echidna physically clamped his mouth closed, his mind uncharacteristically racing in thought. There was only coherent line of thought he could whisper out loud.
"Well, he'll make an... interesting companion. I have a feeling that he'll stay here for quite a while, so I'll have to make... the most of it, I suppose.
"Hopefully, he won't drive me insane in the process..."
And that is the first chapter of Brothers of Chaos! This is my first Sonic related fanfic on this site, so any constructive critisism you have can really be appreciated. I'll try and upload the next chapter soon. Thanks for reading!