So I've decided to just upload all the stories that I have written in my long absense to give everyone something to read. They won't be uploaded as frequently as the stories I had up before, since I'll be focusing on those for a while.
I do hope everyone likes all my stories, and review help a lot with inspiration.
I slowly woke up, yawning as I stretched out my stiff joints. My eyes traveled over the living room. The sofa was overstuffed and a dark brown, and had a dark red blanket folded up on the armrest. The chair was similar, overstuffed and just a shade lighter, with my favorite white shawl draped over it. The TV was set up against the opposite wall; the only attachments a DVD player and a Wii. There was a thick shag rug in the middle of the floor, looking more fit for sleeping on than for decoration.
"And that's exactly what I use it for." I mumbled to myself, getting up off the rug in order to make my way towards the kitchen. The wall changed from chocolate brown to sterile white as I made my way over to the fridge. I looked into the fridge, finding nothing but a quarter gallon of-now expired-milk and some meat. At least I think it's meat...
"I should go grocery shopping soon." I said aloud, closing the fridge door after one last suspicious look at the meat-thing. I looked around for something to entertain myself with before doing so, as the nearest store didn't open until 4:30. My eyes landed for a moment on my book bag, but I quickly looked away. Homework wasn't started until 5, at least.
"Hmm..." I hummed, running my hand through my short hair. It caught a snag; making me realize that I hadn't brushed it before rushing off to school late. "Well, that's something." I said, walking off to find a hair brush and a mirror.
After locating a brush, I stood in front of my bathroom mirror, brushing through my knotted hair. It went easily enough; the red hair was extremely short. It was basically a boy cut; the longest was barely five inches. The right side of my face didn't really have bangs, just hair that got longer as you got closer to the side of my face. My left bangs were much more prominent; it was simply a long chunk of hair that nearly covered my eye and reached down to my chin.
After brushing my hair, I carefully examined it for flaws with my silver-black eyes. I finally walked back into the living room and plopped down on the couch. I sighed heavily; it was only 3:30, and I had nothing to do.
A knock at my door distracted me from my boredom. I got up quickly, jumping at any chance to stave off the boredom until the store opened. It was only when I opened the door that I realized who it could be.
"Son of a-" I exclaimed, not allowing myself to finish before I slammed the door close as fast as I could. A foot shoved itself into the space just before the door could close, making it impossible to shut the intruder out.
"Hey, babe." Said a sleazy voice. The foot kicked the door open, making the door slam against the wall.
'It's a good thing I had that rubber stopper put on the wall.' I thought, eyeing in disdain the unwelcome person currently ruining my afternoon.
"I'm not your 'babe', Jack." I said disgustedly, hoping that my obvious lack of interest would give him a clue. Of course, he didn't so much as blink at this; it only made him step closer.
"You know you want me, Eve." He said, grinning slimily as he leaned in towards me. I grimaced at the smell of his breath.
"No," I said firmly, elbowing him out of the front door. "I don't!"
I had grabbed the handle and was just about to close the door on him, when he grabbed my other arm and yanked me outside. The door slammed behind me, automatically locking us out.
"Listen, babe." Jack spoke normally, as if I hadn't just shoved him and tried to lock him out of my house. "I got something the other day-the guy I got it from said it was real interesting." He pulled something out of his pocket with his free hand; the other was still wrapped around my arm, filthy fingernails digging into my skin.
Despite myself, I had to look at the-probably illegally acquired-item that he had. It was a little mechanical remote; similar to one an evil villain might use on an early morning kids show. It only had two buttons, and was pretty cheap-looking as well.
"Wanna go someplace private and find out what it does?" He asked in what I assumed was supposed to be a seductive way, making my gag reflex show itself.
"How much did you spend on it?" I wanted to see if he had paid a lot to get the piece of junk before I humiliated him. He grinned, obviously taking this as a sign of interest.
"Only...a couple grand." He grinned, trying to impress me with his money. I burst into laughter.
"Oh, man!" I forced out between chuckles. "I think you were just ripped off!"
"Waddya mean?" He was now completely confused.
"It looks like a cheap kids toy. Or a garage door opener." I shook my head. "What kind of idiot would spend a few thousand dollars for a piece of junk like this?" I continued to laugh, trying to rile him up enough to get him to let go of my arm.
"Oh yeah?" Jack was now scowling deeply. "I bet it does something really good! Like...open a portal to another world, or somethun'!"
"You are so immature!" I snickered. Of course, the prospect of going to another world was pretty cool, but I would never let him know I thought that. Especially when the object in question was a cheap, two-button remote.
"I'll show ya!" He shouted, yanking me down the street. I yelped, instantly stopping my laughter and beginning to fight against him.
"Hey! Let me go, you jackass!" I didn't normally curse, but I was pretty pissed off. Besides; the insult worked with his name.
He showed no signs that my struggle was affecting him; he just continued to drag me into a long-forgotten alley. I felt my fear rising; I wasn't strong enough to fight off this guy if he decided he wanted to do anything.
He suddenly stopped, making me stumble before I regained my balance. He pulled the remote back out, glowering at me darkly. He proceeded to press one of the buttons in defiance.
Nothing happened. I raised an eyebrow, just barely keeping myself from grinning smugly. He scowled, pressing harder on the other button.
"Well?" I asked, my voice thick with smug sarcasm. Jack began shaking the remote, making the batteries bounce around inside. He stopped after I heard a weird 'click'; signaling that the batteries had fallen into place. He pressed the first button again, with the same result as the first time he tried.
"God dammit!" He screamed. He threw the remote down to the ground, lifting up a foot to crush it with. He was suddenly stopped as a light burst out near the remote, blinding us both and making him release my arm.
I got my sight back first; he was too busy screaming like a little girl and curling into the fetal position to let his eyes adjust.
It was a portal! I shook my head, not wanting to let the sleaze ball on the ground know he was right. So I reached for the remote, hoping to turn it off and tell him that he was imagining things.
However, as I reached for the remote, a wind came from the portal, blowing out and messing with my balance. It stopped for half a second, but before I could regain my balance, the wind started again, in the opposite direction. I was suddenly pulled towards the portal, toppling head over heels into the light.
I groaned, rubbing my head as I forced myself up off the cold ground. I shook my head free of the haze, then rubbed it again as that brought a new wave of pain. I slowly opened my eyes, expecting to see my kitchen walls. I had fallen asleep on the cool kitchen floor before, after all.
I was extremely surprised to see a hazy, polluted sky and cold earth. I stood up, slowly looking around in horrified amazement.
The entire area was gray. Steel and stone took over everything, leaving no place for shrubs or trees to grow. The hazy clouds above choked any life out of the city area.
My head snapped to the side as someone shouted. My eyes locked on a small figure falling from a window close by. I shot forward, running as fast as I could to reach the figure before it slammed on the ground.
Just as I got near it, I twisted my body so that I would land on my back. As the figure slammed into my stomach, my breath was knocked out of me from the momentum. My back hit the ground before I could catch my breath, leaving me stunned.
I blinked slowly as the small figure uncurled, ruby red looking up at me. Small arms clutched at my middle as the red disappeared. I wrapped my arms around the red-eyed figure comfortingly as it started to shake.
"Shadow!" The same voice called from behind me. Now that I wasn't quite as overwhelmed, I could tell that the voice was male. The pain in my back prevented me from turning around, but the person seemed to be running closer to me.
"Oh, thank you ma'am!" The voice said again, now relieved. I saw him run in front of me, blinking in surprise as I saw who he was.
Or rather, what he was. He seemed to have the same reaction when he saw me, stopping dead in his tracks and staring, mouth hanging open.
Long brown locks were tied into a ponytail at the base of his neck, over the collar of a long white lab coat. He had on plain blue jeans from underneath his coat; the rest of it was buttoned up, so I couldn't see his shirt.
However, what really caught my attention were the pointy ears on the top of his head, a shade lighter than his hair. The rest of his body was covered in hair the same colour of his ears, and he had a long, elegant tail that was the same colour as his hair. He had a pure white muzzle, and dark green eyes.
The shape of his ears and tail made me think of a wolf.
"A human!" He suddenly seemed hostile. He took a few steps back, eyes flicking from me to the small form in my lap. "Give Shadow back!" He ordered, taking a stance, as if he expected me to not listen to him, just for spite.
I raised an eyebrow in irritation, wondering how someone could do that to a person who just saved someone's life. I stood up, holding the small child in my arms carefully.
"Listen, bud." I started off, my voice irritated, but not icy. He had probably had some problems with humans before, so I wouldn't go too hard on him. "I'm assuming that you had a problem with a human before, and I won't blame you for disliking him."
"However, you thinking that I'm going to do something just because I'm the same species as someone you met is prejudiced. It's like saying that the first anthro I met was a wolf that hated me in a white lab coat; therefor, I'm going to assume that all wolves will have the same attitude and all wear white lab coats." My rant was coming to an end, so I sharpened my tone up a bit.
"And, considering the fact that I just saved your Shadow's life, I believe you don't have too much reason to so much as be rude to me." I finished.
The wolf was speechless for a few moments. He stared, then suddenly broke out of the trance and looked sheepishly at me.
"I'm sorry for judging you so quickly, and without adequate cause." He apologized. "My name is Raze." He held out hand for me to shake. I instinctively moved the small figure still clinging to my waist up to cradle in my left arm, the other hand going out to shake Raze's.
"Eve." I replied with my own name. "So, does Shadow fall out windows on a regular basis, or did I just get lucky?" I asked jokingly, irritation forgotten instantly. His eyes suddenly went wide, and he pulled me to an alley beside two looming buildings.
I raised an eyebrow at his behavior, but not two seconds later, I heard the humming sound of an engine. I peeked out to see a machine that looked somewhat like a round tank floating in the air. It shined a beam around the area, which I ducked away from, then flew away.
"Sorry for pulling you aside so suddenly; Robotniks swatbot patrol would've seen us if I had taken the time to tell you." Raze explained. I nodded, loosening my hold on the child in my arms.
Suddenly, something clicked in my head. 'Red eyes, Shadow, Robotnik...' I looked quickly down at the child, eyes widening as my late realization was proven correct.
He was basically a younger Shadow the hedgehog. He was smaller, his feet and hands a bit too big for his body. His fur was soft and fuzzy, but not so long that it made him look poofy. His quills weren't sharp yet, just a bit poky. His eyes were wide, innocent, and trusting, staring at me in confusion as I looked him over.
"Er, here." I said awkwardly, handing Shadow over to Raze. As soon as the kid left my arms, he began to kick and fuss, squirming in Raze's arms so that he had a hard time holding onto him.
"I think he likes you." Raze quickly handed the kid back over to me. As I cradled Shadow back in my arms, he settled down, one hand clutching at my shirt. Yeesh, this kid was small. He fit perfectly into the crook of my arm.
"Well, he's going to have to go back to his parents sometime." I commented, not looking up from the little Shadow.
"Actually, Shadow's mother died in delivery." Raze said distractedly, ears twitching as he looked around. I sharply glanced up, wondering why he had said that so unconcernedly, when I saw the concentrated look on his face.
Raze's face paled, and he pulled me across the street and into another alley. I gave him a weird look, and was about to ask what the point of that was when he turned to me suddenly.
"How did you get here?" He asked me frantically. I raised an eyebrow, my blank look making him continue. "You appeared out of a blue portal. That's why Shadow was leaning out the window. It's another world, right? How'd you get here?"
"A remote of some-sort." I answered automatically, while wondering how he knew of different worlds.
"Where is it?" He asked, looking out from the side of the alley.
"I don't-" I cut myself off as I felt something in my pocket. I shifted Shadow over to one arm in order to pull it out. I blinked as I saw the remote. "Okay..."
"Is your world safe?" Raze asked as he glanced at the remote.
"Nowhere is 100% safe, but there's nobody trying to take over the world or anything." I answered, still staring at the remote. Raze nodded, then turned back to me.
"Let me see." He said, holding his hand out for the remote. I handed it to him, not suspecting him to do anything.
He pressed the top button, the blue portal opening without fuss this time. As soon as it opened, Raze pushed me towards it.
"Go!" He sounded urgent. I stumbled through the portal just as the air behind me went red.
"HALT, CITIZEN." A robotic voice sounded from through the portal, then it closed, remote on the other side.
I stared in disbelief at the space where the portal was previously, sitting with my hands behind me to support my weight on the ground.
"What the...?" I said intelligently, still staring at the spot. The sound of sniffling snapped me out of my trance, making me glance to the side. The small Shadow was curled up on the ground, me having accidentally tossed him to the side when we fell through the portal. His eyes were filled with tears, but he was still trying his hardest not to actually cry.
"Oops." I muttered to myself, getting up and scooping Shadow into my arms. I rocked him back and forth for a while, waiting as Shadow slowly calmed down. His bright red eyes looked up at me curiously, one hand clutching at my shirt.
"Oh, man." I moaned, pacing back and forth nervously within the alley. "He forgot to grab his kid..."
Again, reviews are wonderful for inspiration!