I always end up adding an OC into my stories—whether by appearance or by mere mention. It's a habit of mine that's been with me since childhood. Even as a tyke, I always made myself one of the characters in whatever show or movie I was watching or book I was reading. Am I ashamed of this? Not really—in fact I rather like inserting someone or something of my imagination into my works—makes me feel as if I've actually contributed to the canon world already established.
Anyway, now that my rambling is complete, there are a few choice notes I'd like to give everyone the heads up on:
1. All of these chapters/mini-shots will circle around Ozzie Burroughs, an original character of mine. Read his description on my profile and my Deviantart profile (Kooky4U) to receive the full info.
2. These pieces will, more often than not, involve some level of romance or friendship. I'll throw in a bit of humor, family, or other genres to spice this up a bit; other than that, though, do expect mushiness ahead.
3. I've also added music cues. The names of songs will be indicated by parenthesized words in bold, followed by either their source or their composer. I own none of the songs I will use in this series. They'll stop with a cue in a similar way.
A young fox kit wandered around the edge of a large, silvery, moonlit lake, his twin tails swaying in the soft, cool breeze. Aside from his typical, red-and-white shoes, his only clothing was a dark orange jacket.
Billions upon billions of stars far above him dotted the vast, ebony sky, the light of an arm of the planet's galaxy stretching across like a giant, glowing snake.
But the Moon was the true center of attention. Set into its full phase, the silvery-white orb dangled like a ball left forgotten by the children of the gods, the outlines of its craters visible in the distance.
If only Tails Prower could bring himself to enjoy such a scene.
He'd come here in search of a friend, but to no avail so far. This search had been going on since the late afternoon—ever since Amy Rose mentioned that a certain someone never showed up at the Rabbit household.
This happening in itself worried Tails. The missing person, despite being as quiet and almost as secretive as Shadow, never once missed out on seeing the sweet-faced Cream, her adorable cherub, Cheese, and their kind-hearted mother Vanilla, all of whom were worried sick for him as well.
Hence why Tails came here; he and his friends agreed to split up in search of their elusive friend. The fox had searched in the all places he could think of where the person could be, and, more often than not, he chanced upon one, two, or even three of his friends being there as well. He did not consider these reencounters good signs.
Eventually, the search party narrowed down to Tails, Amy, and Sonic, the fox's first best friend and the rose's self-proclaimed boyfriend. Everyone else had either tired out or, in the case of Cream and Cheese, had to return home before curfew. It wasn't as if they didn't care; they simply didn't see the sense in losing sleep over someone who always came back on his own accord.
'As much as Amy, Sonic, and I know that, too...we can't help this feeling that something's wrong this time.' Something was amiss...terribly amiss. The question was: what?
'Is this the place Sonic told me about, by the way? I can't see anyone out here.' Tails furrowed his eyebrows in concern as his bright blue eyes scanned the area; he seriously hoped he'd come across the right place this time.
He could see in the dark just fine, with or without his active flashlight. His natural night-vision was more than enough. The moonlight helped a little, too.
Unfortunately, none of these aids were enough to ease his search. All the fox could see around him were the numerous, deciduous trees that formed a thick wall of vegetation and wood around the grassy clearing and its lake.
Tails slowly shook his head and gave off a heavy sigh then held his head with one hand as the worry began to manifest into tears that threatened to leave his eyes.
A laugh escaped him when he noticed the tears, though. He wiped some of the moisture away with a sheepish smile. 'I guess I'm still a softie deep down, even after everything I've seen and been through.'
"Tails?"
With everything else so silent, the sudden voice sounded explicably loud in spite of its softness, startling Tails so badly that he nearly jumped out of his fur. Turning around, the lupine discovered a chubby, slightly taller mole with midnight-black fur and a peach underbelly standing about a foot behind him, his deep, chocolate eyes speaking volumes for his concern towards the weeping junior in spite of his near lack of words.
The mole stepped a bit closer to the kit, putting down the large golf-bag he'd been toting over his shoulder. He pointed at the fox then made an "okay" gesture, punctuating it with a tilt of his head.
Tails chuckled at the gestures, already understanding what his friend was trying to ask him. "I'm okay, Ozzie...especially now that I've found you. Everyone's been searching all over for you."
Ozzie narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"Yeah, everyone's been looking for you all day," Tails continued in a somewhat accusing tone and with a gentle but displeased frown. "Where were you? You had us all worried sick!"
These words triggered Ozzie's sense of empathy, as well as his conscience, making the mole heavily sigh then look away from Tails in shame. This display of regret quickly melted the fox's already weak façade of anger. Tails could never bring himself to stay mad at the burrower for long.
Tails tilted his head as his sky-blue eyes shone with evident worry. He took a step towards Ozzie. "Did something happen today, Ozzie? You look kind of angry."
This observation was true. Usually, the mole had a distant, tired look in his eyes; not this time, however. Both his body and his eyes were more alert than usual; and Tails didn't miss the tightening that rippled throughout the mole's muscles, particularly the ones in the jaw.
And just as quickly as the tension came to Ozzie, it vanished, the mole exhaling a great deal of air before looking back at Tails.
'You have to fess up,' his conscience reasoned. 'He's your friend and has been worried for you all day. Telling him is the least you can do.'
Smiling for the first time today, Ozzie draped one of his thick arms around Tails' shoulders and guided the curious fox to the edge of the lake, where they sat together, their haunches kissed by the cool dew of the grass, their reflections clear yet melted in the water.
Tails could only feel the need to have his questions answered increasing by the second at Ozzie's behavior, wondering what the mole was trying to convey. "Ozzie, what's—"
"Shh." That interjection was the only thing that left Ozzie's lips before the mole gestured two of his fingers to his own eyes, closing his eyelids as he pulled the digits down.
The meaning didn't lose itself on Tails who, despite his still growing befuddlement, followed the mole's unspoken orders. With his vision now restricted to the darkness of his eyelids, the fox felt the solid forehead of his earthbound big brother gently touch his, the warmth of the mole's body much stronger than the parasitic cold of night.
Not that Tails noticed anymore—torrents of memories already consumed him in their embrace.
The Bloodlink had taken effect.
Darkness...nights...starless nights...earth...ground...barren ground... almost barren ground actually...
Save for the massive, multi-spiked tower of stalagmites protruding from the side of an even more imposing mountain...
At one point, all of this monument will have eroded away in nothing but plain and dust. And as Talpideans knew, such times were not as far off as most mortals think.
Ozzie Burroughs didn't care. He knew his memory of this place would remain inside his mind, preserved even in death.
He glanced at a pebble near his feet before listlessly kicking it away, its pattering heavily echoing in the dark quiet. It only seemed fitting he'd returned to his former birthplace. After all, he'd been born here twice—thrice if you count his time as—
No! Don't go there! Never go there! Never again!
'I am Ozzie Burroughs. No one else. Nothing else. I am a Talpidean. I am me. And I am...,' He let his head drop in realization, 'quite possibly the lousiest of stepsons, friends, and big brothers.'
How long ago had he been gone already? Late morning by the time he'd left...and nighttime had been set for about four hours by now.
So he'd been gone for about half a day? That meant half a day for his newfound friends and family to be worried sick for him—without him even bothering to think about them once until this very moment.
Lovely move, Ozzie.
Maybe he was still getting used to having so many friends and family members. Even during his time with his uncle Gabriel, Ozzie normally spent most of the time by himself, either perfecting his geokinesis or his Primal Form, or just simply thinking and reflecting.
Times were different. Things were different.
He had a family this time—a more complete one, too. He had friends—real friends, not fabrications manifested by a madman. And most importantly, he had a home.
A place to return to everyday...
A place to feel warm and safe...
A place to be in the arms of loved ones...
So what was he doing here instead, surrounded by memories upon memories of pain and loneliness?
Paying his respects and nothing else...because this would be the last this place would ever see of him again.
'I've spent enough time mourning for the past. I have a future now. And this time, no one's taking it away from me, not even the gods.'
Reaching into his golf-bag, his resolve strong as ever, Ozzie pulled out a single bouquet of white lilies, no wrapping at all and all of them handpicked personally by the mole himself. Since this visit would be the last one he'd ever pay to this wasteland, he at least figured he'd make as firm of a statement as possible.
He set the flowers down on the eroded main road that led to the desolate city. Already the wind began to pick away at the petals, drifting them away into oblivion.
Ozzie wouldn't have preferred anything less.
"Goodbye...everyone..."
And just like a film strip, the memory frayed away into black, Ozzie's staccato farewell echoing into silence. The Bloodlink had served its purpose.
Tails, unprepared for the sudden return to reality, gasped.
He...He had had no idea. He did, however, realize how wrong he'd been in accusing Ozzie. He resisted the misty sheen that dared to leave his eyes and instead turned his sight to the mole, whose large, half-lidded, brown eyes stared back with an attentive blankness.
"Ozzie...I'm—OW! Hey!"
The addressed merely smirked. He had just delivered to Tails a considerable flick to the forehead to cut off the fox's apology. "Softie," Ozzie teased in his raspy but deep voice.
Though his glare did not subside, Tails, in spite of his smarting forehead, matched the mole's smirk with his own. "You're a big jerk, Ozzie. You could have just told me, you know."
That playful jab earned the little fox a ham-sized noogie, courtesy of a genuinely smiling Ozzie.
Just like his big, earthy brother Tails wouldn't have preferred anything less.
The ending is weak. I know. And I'm sorry. :(