The tiny fox despised winter as he sat, shivering. It was way to cold, and he always slipped on the ice that was hidden underneath the soft puffy snow. He knew he was lucky to have such thick fur, and his two tails, a birth defect which allowed him to curl up and feel much warmer. If he didn't have his second tail, then he most likely would have frozen. But as lucky as he may have been, the sorrow in his heart couldn't help but continue to grow.
At this moment, He was curled up in a ball, resting against a log in the large beautiful woods of West Side Island. This was where he had been since he was born, and ever since his parents death left him as an orphan.
The small fox knew nothing about his parents, except that they were dead. He wished with all of his heart they could be alive again, but he knew it would never come true. His parents were dead, and he could do nothing about it.
He didn't have any friends either. Every single person he knew thought he was a freak because of his twin tails. Many were superstitious, and thought he would bring bad luck. Perhaps he did, since his life was filled with so much tragedy.
As the fox sat in the cold, feeling anguish overtake him, he suddenly heard the sound of something plowing... no, running through snow. He heard the sound steadily getting louder, as if the source were coming closer. The fox didn't know what to do, ignorant of whether the approaching person was a friend or foe. He wanted to hide behind a log, not wanting to be beaten or called a freak again, but he felt too cold to move, and decided that perhaps he should simply accept his fate. A blue figure appeared on the horizon, and out of the top of his eye the fox saw him as he approached. He was a blue hedgehog with green eyes that shone with determination. He had red running shoes and white gloves, both wet from traversing the snowy woodland, and the spikes that came down his back were razor sharp. When the tiny fox saw the strength in this hedgehog, he shrank back behind his tails. He looked much tougher than the other bullies he knew, and he was about to run him right over. He shrank back, preparing himself to be covered in snow.
The famous Sonic the hedgehog was running through the wasteland feeling very confident and determined. Eggman had been up to his old tricks again, and sonic had stopped him successfully once again. As he ran across the snowy landscape to get back to his home, He grinned, remembering beating Egghead again, and seeing him flee, spewing curses back at the victorious hedgehog.
It was a great memory, but sonic was a little sad. Fighting Eggman was his job, and many people respected him and called him a hero, but he had never had a true friend. He was afraid the Eggman might hurt anyone he got too close to, so he had always tried to stay away from any possible relationships. But he still felt lonesome quite often...
Then, Sonic suddenly saw a ball of orange fur in his path. The hedgehog screeched to a halt, which caused snow to shoot out in front of him, barely missing the object he was looking at.
"...Huh?" The hedgehog walked over to the orange ball, and then noticed a small muzzle sticking out from behind some more fur. It was a fox, he saw, and he suspected this to be yet another one of Eggman's victims. Why did that evil doctor always have to ruin the lives of the innocent like this? He knelt down next to him, smiling, and tried to make him self look kind and nonthreatening.
"Hey, what are you doing all the way out here? Why aren't you at home?" he asked the fox, hoping to find out what had happened to him.
The small kit sniffed the cold air in and hid his face further in his fur. "I don't have one."
Sonic suddenly felt very sad. Eggman must have destroyed his house. "Well... Where are your parents?"
"Dead...I think."
Sonic's heart ached for the young little orange kit. He looked around, not seeing anything other than tees covered in snow, but what did he expect? They were in the middle of the woods.
"Well come on, let's get you out of the cold, okay?"
The fox shivered again, and didn't look to be any less worried. The fur parted around him, and for the first time, Sonic saw that the fox had two tails. He had no idea what had caused it, but this certainly wasn't something he saw every day.
"Why should you?" said the fox meekly as it turned it's head away. "I'm just some mutated freak in the middle of the woods."
"Why not?" said Sonic, shocked at how depressed the kit seemed. "In my book, nobody is a freak, and nobody deserves to freeze in the middle of nowhere if I can help it. I'll take you to my house, and you can warm up there."
The young kit looked up abruptly, amazed. Someone actually wanted to bring him home with them?... inside their house? He had never known such kindness in his life! The kit slowly nodded and let the hedgehog pick him up into his arms. The hedgehog's legs suddenly began to run in place at an insanely fast pace, and the kit watched as a smirk crossed his face.
"Alright! Hang on!" There was a loud bang, and the scenery that the fox had watched around him for his entire life flew by them as they sped through the forest. The kit was surprised how fast the hedgehog could run. In fact... it almost reminded him of someone. He wrapped his tails around himself, comfortable knowing that at least he was out of the snow, and curled up in the hedgehog's arms. Tired from being awake and afraid for so long, he quickly fell asleep. Sonic felt something warm in his heart as he watched the kit, smiled lovingly, and carried on running.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the hedgehog's house. Sonic had to open the door to get in, but he didn't want to let go of the little fox and disturb him in his sleep. He eventually manged to get in and shut the door behind him by turning the handle with his teeth. Then, he carefully placed the little fluff ball on a couch next to the fireplace, making sure not to wake him. Sonic sat down next to him, and began stroking the kits fur, smiling at how cute he looked with his tails wrapped around him.
While the warm glow of the fire casting a comfortable atmosphere around the house, the hedgehog began to think what he should do with the kit. He had no family, and because of those two tails, most likely no friends or place to live either. He had nothing, and to make it all worse, the kid looked to be four or five years old at the most. Sonic stared at the kit, who was now fast asleep. He decided to let him stay here for a while, at least until he woke up. Then he would decide what to do once this blizzard was over.
As Sonic stroked the kit's hair, there was a sudden twitch of it's ear. The fox slowly uncurled from his little ball of fluffy protection and yawned cutely as he sat up. His rubbed his eyes and looked at Sonic, and then instantly jumped back in terror.
"Ahh! Who are you! W-Where am I!" yelled the kit in confusion.
"Huh? Don't you remember? I found you out in the forest and brought you here, to my house."
The fox slowly remembered why he was here and moved back to the couch, where he sat down, feeling guilty. Instinctively, his tails wrapped around his body again, offering him whatever protection they could.
"...Oh yeah... Sorry..."He said shyly. "it's just that... nobody's ever been this nice to me before."
"Why?" Asked Sonic, even though he feared he already knew the answer.
"Because of these." The fox held up his two fluffy tails for him to see.
"So? That just makes you special and unique, not a freak." Said Sonic. "you would have frozen out there without them, so it's a good thing you did."
"But everyone thinks I'm some sort of freak!" yelled the kit, raising his voice in anger. "If I didn't have them, I wouldn't get kicked around by those bullies, and c-called a mutant... a-and..." His voice trailed off as his screams of anger changed to sobs of loneliness and despair.
Sonic looked at the Little fox, feeling nothing but sympathy. It was obvious that he had known a lot of suffering, and at that moment, Sonic knew that whatever happened, he wanted to fix this kit's life. just like his determination to help those who were oppressed by Eggman, he wanted to help this fox find a better life.
He reached out a placed a hand on the fox's shoulder."I don't think you're a freak." The fox looked up as Sonic continued. "Just because you're different from other people on the outside, doesn't mean you're different on the inside. The only person who's a freak is the one that wants to make other people's lives worse."
"R-really?"asked the little fox, his eyes beginning to fill with tears. Sonic smiled warmly.
"Yes. Really." The fox sniffed, pulled his head away, and began to cry. Sonic felt a little bit taken aback. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"You (sniff) really don't think I'm a mutant freak?" Sonic smiled.
"Of course not little buddy, you're a fox, and if anything, your tails just make you a better person." Sonic patted the fox on the head, but Tails suddenly hugged him, pulling himself close to his new hero. Sonic was surprised, but didn't pull away, not wanting to make the kid unhappy. Sonic forced a chuckle.
"So, what's your name buddy?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.
The fox looked at his shoes. "M-miles Prower..." he said shyly.
Sonic smiled. "Hey, why the long face? That's a great name!"
Miles shook his head.
"I hate it..."
"Why?" asked Sonic, who cocked his head in confusion.
"...Say it over and over."
Sonic repeated the name in his head. "Miles Prower... Miles Prower... Miles Per hour..." He blinked. "...Oh."
Miles sniffed and turned his head away again, so Sonic tried to make it better.
"Hey hey hey! Don't worry! I'll give you a new name!"
Miles stopped sniffing and looked up, ears pricked.
"R-Really?"
"Yup! What kind of name would you like?" Asked Sonic.
The little fox thought for a few seconds, and then shrugged. "I don't know. Something original. Something that'll make sense, and isn't too much of a mouthful."
"Okay."said Sonic. He thought hard. What would make a good name for this little kit? He glanced around the room, looking for something that might help him think of a name. His eyes fell on the kits two tails, and an idea came to him. Sonic grinned and snapped his fingers.
"I've got it! I'll call you Tails!"
"Tails!" Said Miles, "That's a great name! Thanks!" Tails hugged the blue hedgehog again, happy to finally be called something he liked.
Suddenly he sat up again, letting go of Sonic."Oops, I'm sorry. I never asked what your name was, Mr. hedgehog..."
Sonic grinned and gave his trademark thumbs-up. "They call me Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog."
Tails gasped. He had heard stories about this hedgehog, the one who was the hero of all Mobians for fighting against the evil Dr. Eggman. He couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of that sat back in awe, looking at the blue hedgehog with new eyes.
"Y-Y-Your Sonic! As in THE Sonic!"
Sonic smiled and nodded. "The one and only!" Tails continued staring in awe until Sonic glanced at the clock. It was already past eleven-o-clock. "Wow! Man, we've got to get you to bed. it's way past your bedtime."
Tails frowned."I don't have a bedtime, I stay up as long as I want."
Sonic grinned. "...Not anymore you don't."
Tails blinked and his eyes widened. "W-What do you mean?"
"'Cause your living here with me from now on!"
The look on Tails' face was indescribable. His heart was radiating with joy, and he felt like the happiest kit on all of Mobius.
"WHAT! R-REALLY!" he yelled with glee.
Sonic nodded."Yup. I've been thinking about it for a little while and since neither of us have any family, and we both desperately need some friends, why not?" Tails yipped with glee and tackled the hedgehog so hard, they both fell to the floor.
"Ow! Watch what you're doing there, little bro!" Sonic laughed. Tails starred at him, still extremely happy.
"Little...bro?"
Sonic nodded again."Yeah, you'll be the little bro I never had!" One second later, Sonic knew he should have kept his mouth shut, since Tails, now simply overpowered with glee, was nuzzling the hedgehog as well as hugging him so hard he couldn't breathe. Sonic eventually shrugged and thought to himself. "Ah, what the heck." He hugged the fox back for a while, letting him get all of his emotions out, then he got up and carried Tails to his new bedroom.
"Hey, wait, where am I gonna sleep?" Asked Tails, "There's only one bedroom, which is yours."
Sonic smiled."Well, looks like tonight, we'll sleep together, and tomorrow we'll go getcha' a bed, how's that?" Tails hugged him again, only not as hard this time. "I'll take that as a yes." Said Sonic, making the kit smile.
Then, the hedgehog suddenly went through another door, instead of going into the bedroom Tails could see. In this room, there was a sink, toilet, and bathtub, all of which the fox had never seen before. Tails was puzzled.
"Wait, what are we doing in here?" he asked. Sonic smiled, and placed him on the ground. He turned a switch on the wall, and water started filling the bathtub. The kit wasn't wearing anything at the moment, which didn't surprise Sonic all that much since the kid had been alone for a while.
"I'm Givin' ya a bath." Said Sonic. The cub's eyes widened as Sonic grabbed him and placed him in the water when it was full. He almost regretted it, since the fox yelped as he touched the hot water, but Sonic turned the faucet back on and added some cold water to the bath, and it got better. Sonic added some bubble mix in too, which made the kit giggle as he watched the magical spheres rise from the water and pop whenever they touched anything. Finally, the hedgehog took a bottle that said "head and shoulders" and poured a gooey green substance onto the kit's head. Sonic took off his gloves and rubbed the substance in between his hands before lathering the fox's fur. He kept rubbing it in for a few minutes, until the kit was covered in a mountain of bubbles. Sonic chuckled at the cute sight, then took a large cup, filled it with water, and held it above the cub.
"Incoming waterfall!" he said playfully. The water fell down in a large single stream, then split as it hit the kit's head,and flowed down over the rest of his body, taking the bubbles and dirt with it. The fox giggled as Sonic filled up the cup again.
"Waterfalls can't fly!" Tails laughed as another stream of water came crashing down on a few more rinses, Sonic put the cup away and pulled Tails out of the wrapped him in a green towel to dry off as the water drained from the tub.
"In my world they can! Now come on, bedtime squirt."Sonic chuckled and began ferociously drying him with the towel, eventually making him look like a green fluffy twinkie with it wrapped around him. Then Sonic took it off and placed it on the counter, where he would deal with it tomorrow, and turned back to the directed Tails into his room next door, as the hedgehog shut off the light in the bathroom and followed.
Upon entering, Tails looked around the room. There was a bed in one corner, with a nightstand and a dresser, and a closet on the opposite side, while the snowy outdoors could be seen through a single window. His ears pricked as a voice appeared from behind him.
"Go on, get in bed."Said Sonic. Tails looked at the bed. It was at least a half a foot higher than he was, and he heard Sonic stifle a laugh as he watched the kit attempt to climb up, but fell back onto his butt every time he tried to get up.
The kit rubbed his back side. "Oww!" Sonic laughed, then picked up the small fox cub and placed him in the soft blankets of the bed. The kit instantly relaxed. He had forgotten how relaxing a bed was, since he hadn't been in one for a year or two. He grabbed all of the blankets and cuddled with them, feeling how soft and comfortable they were as he closed his eyes. Then he heard an impatient grunt come from above him. He opened his eyes to see Sonic looking down at him, tapping his foot, yet with a playful grin on his face.
"Move over, ya fluff ball!" The hedgehog exclaimed while Tails giggled. Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Oh, think it's funny do ya? Well how about this!" Sonic suddenly leapt into the bed and attacked the small cub with a barrage of tickling. The kit howled with laughter as he felt fingers traveling up and down his stomach and sides. Sonic noticed him yelp twice as loud as one of Sonic's stray fingers entered the kit's belly button. With an evil grin, he continued wiggling his fingers around, invoking even more giggles and laughter. After a while, the small orange cub managed to wriggle his way out of Sonic's grasp and hide underneath the blankets, trying to escape from the tickling fingers. Sonic just chuckled. "Blankets won't save ya' now!" He then took the blanket, and making sure Tails was at the bottom, took all four edges and held it as if it were a bag. He peeked his head in and saw Tails being forced to be in a ball position because of the bag, but he was still giggling, waiting for what Sonic would do next. Sonic glanced at the clock, and saw how late at night it was. He let go of the blanket's edges, which made it fall and for Tails to roll out giggling. "Alright little bro, it's getting late. we'll play tomorrow okay?" He said, laying down in the bed. Tails nodded reluctantly.
"Promise?" He asked.
"Promise what?"
"That we'll play again tomorrow!"Tails said eagerly.
Sonic chuckled. "Of course, Tails. I'm gonna play with you so much, you might actually get sick of it after a while!" Tails shook his head.
"No (yawn) way..." Sonic smiled.
"That's it. Bed. Now." Tails smiled and got into the other side of the bed, curling up with the blankets once more.
"Promise you'll be there when I wake up tomorrow?" The fox asked, a little worried.
"Of course I will! Now come on, we won't be able to play tomorrow if we're tired." Tails nodded.
"Okay..."
The comfortable bed, combined with the fact that it was late at night, proved to be like a sedative as the fox and hedgehog both fell asleep quickly.
The sun slowly came up the next morning, sending light through the window and warming everything in the room after the cool night. One certain hedgehog was awake, and was about to get up when he heard someone move next to him and yawn loudly. Sonic remained perfectly still, waiting for the right moment to strike. Tails gazed at him with hesitation. He didn't want to do anything in the new house without Sonic's permission.
"...Hey Sonic... Are you awake?" Sonic felt Tails gently shaking him. Yes, now was the moment. Sonic suddenly sprang up and tackled Tails to the floor, which caused him to yelp in fear at first, but then instantly turn to laughter, realizing it was just more playing. Sonic pinned the giggling fox to the ground.
"That's big bro Sonic to you!" The hedgehog said, grinning evilly before resuming the tickling session he had started the previous night. Tails began laughing again, but he was skilled at being able to escape from holds due to his small size. He slipped out of Sonic's hand and ran into the living room. Sonic got up slowly and followed him through the door. He looked around, trying to find Tails. It was quiet... too quiet. Sonic was carefully scanning the area, straining to hear every sound with his ears. He had to admit, the kid was very good at this. He grinned again, thinking up a plan.
"Hmmm...I wonder where you are..." he said as innocently as possible.
Tails, being only four years old, couldn't help himself from giggling. Sonic heard the giggles coming from behind the couch, so he jumped over it quickly and tackled the fox who was crouching there. "I thought so! You giggle way too much, little bro!" Tails laughed happily, but Sonic had a lot of things he wanted to do that day, so he grabbed the fox and pulled him up from behind the couch.
"Come on, little bro, let's get you a bed of your own!" Tails smiled and nodded as he and Sonic ran out the door.
At that moment, there was no way Sonic would ever be able to guess what a mechanical genius Tails would become, and how the two close friends would help each other fight evil. However, it was at that moment, when a simple act of kindness changed to a lifelong bond, when Sonic no longer felt lonely inside. He knew that Eggman might come after Tails, and try to use the fox to control him, but he didn't care. he knew he had done the right thing, and now, at long last, he had a true friend. Was it coincidence? Was it destiny? None of it mattered in the face of the golden future that sonic saw, and he was all too eager to meet it head on.