Fate of a Prince
Chapter 1 –The Mission
Slash! Slash! Slash! Again, again, and again, the sound of the whip against his back; dreadful pain caused by the severe punishment; Yells and cries of the creature owned by the night, red and black, blood and pain. A hedgehog. Ebony fur, mixed with bright red stripes, and crimson eyes, but there exist an extra red in this scene, blood. A long time ago these were the events that occurred, a time where castles were the homes of kings, and knights, where battles were fight for power, and also when the pain and the consequences were worst. An ebony creature, his hands hanging over his head in different directions, both wrist chained to two different walls, his whole body lack of any strength was dependent of such chains to stay on his feet, sweat flowed down his quills, the agony was dreadful. But, what he had done to won this kind of treatment? Simple, the fact of his true being, the fact of being someone important for the enemy, a prince, which had been captured…
***
It's been 17 years since the fastest thing alive had born, a common –okay uncommon- child born between noble people (luckily) seventeen-year-old hedgehog, azure fur and emerald orbs, peach arms and abdomen, by now a great knight –Well not that great- Sonic The Hedgehog, his name was; By this time he is officially a knight but, a beginner. His skills with the blade were magnificent, his techniques on battles were great, but he was missing something… a purpose. What is knight without a purpose? No a knight, just a man with a blade in hand.
It's a common day in the castle of Dalibor, a great country ruled by King Jurian; the sun at the top of the sky, the wind carrying the voices of birds, children laughing and playing. Sonic is been in the training room for 5 hours already; The sweat flows down his brow, he finds himself panting of the exhaustion. The emerald-eyed hedgehog had been using his blade against the training figures, practicing his techniques and final attacks, the sun is right at the top of the firmament, it should be midday. His responsibilities as an official knight of the king will start at any moment; the knight took his sharp and perilous sword, its friend and weapon, in its peculiar sheath. Sonic's tutor and protector told him to meet him right at midday in the principal room, the blue hedgehog was about to take his way out of the training room, he was curios about what his trainer wanted, what could it be? What is so important? Sonic questioned in his mind. The blue creature walking on the many corridors of the castle, to the right, two left and straight; the huge door for entering to the principal room right in front of him, decorated with red and gold, with King Jurian's symbol: red and black forming a flame, representing the blaze created by the sun and the darkness of the night.
The hedgehog by the name of Sonic entered into the room, as he expected, his protector was there, patiently waiting for him, it was obvious that he already waited for some time, his face told that he was a lit piss for the late appearance of his student. He was a red echidna, purple-eyed, a great master of the battle axes, with magnificent abilities in fights hand to hand, and one of the greatest warriors in all the king's army, also protector and trained of the teenager hedgehog, Knuckles. The red being took care of Sonic when his parents died, Sonic just 5 years old was alone, until the echidna came and taught him the art of the blade and the honor of a real knight, but our great blue hero still needs to learn some things in life.
"You're late, Sonic" the red echidna exclaimed with a cold and a little upset voice.
"My pardons, Sir, the time pass fast when I'm training"
"We'll discuss later your punctuality, I'm here to talk about something more important than that, but I'm not sure if you are ready for this kind of mission" Now Sonic wanted very badly to know what was all these things about, what mission was Sir Knuckles talking about? Why he didn't think Sonic was ready for it? After all, the same echidna taught him how to fight and be precise in every movement he made.
"Whatever you are talking about I'm ready for it" responded the hedgehog to his teacher and almost second father for him "obviously I'll be grateful if you told me what is all this about, for sure" Sonic smirked in a fun way.
"Well…" started Knuckles debuting if tell him or not, finally he decided "the king wants my strongest warrior for a special task, in any other case I would be the one carrying with these kind of operations, but by the time the enemy is putting all his forces against us and I can't put in danger the whole country if I left my position in this war"
"So… there is a mission that you can't do, but the King Jurian really wants to put it on work, but you can't do it because you would put in danger our complete strategies of battle? Tell me of I'm right" Sonic questioned to Sir Knuckles.
"You caught it fast, yes, but the mission is not as simple as its sound, the most important being for the king is in danger right now and needs the help of someone capable to save him, so I need to know if you would be able to hold this duty without any mistakes made in your way" said the echidna to his apprentice.
"Okay, let me see of I get it… someone important to the king was kidnapped by the enemy and you want me to save whoever this is… right?" asked the azure hedgehog like a kid; After that comment and the childish attitude of the young hedgehog, the guardian was getting annoyed, he though Sonic wasn't taking it seriously.
"You know, I don't think you are ready for this, you are just acting like a child, I better tell one of the others" Knuckles frowned, and started walking away the room.
"Oh c'mon…" started Sonic "eh…my pardons sir, I'll take it seriously" the blue creature apologized with the red echidna, taking a serene and mature position.
"…Fine, the prince was captured by King Jurian's greatest nemesis," said the red knight.
"W-What? Prince Shadow was captured?" questioned Sonic more for himself than for the guardian "In that case Sir I'll be in my way the most quickly possible, I just need the location where the prince is found right now, and he will be in his home sooner than you could imagine" The echidna looked at the hedgehog for a pair of seconds hesitating about his decision, but he finally decided to let his young pupil go to this mission, in his heart he knew the hedgehog was the indicated to rescue the youngest member of the royal family –only son of the king- but he also had a deep feeling that problems would come and they would not be an easy challenge to defeat, but Knuckles didn't have any other option, the only thing he could do was trust in his apprentice.
"You can find him in Dabaron's castle dungeons, if you don't knew it, Dabaron's castle is the enemies location and property, you would have to take the pad through the dark forest to find this palace; It has a great defense is a magnificent fortress and they would never have any mercy for you, so you have to be careful and be sure any mistakes are made. Always know I'm with you, Sonic, not as your professor but as your friend and family, now go and save the prince" The blue knight was completely aware of the words of his friend and he knew he trusted in him, Sonic didn't want to deserve the warrior that raised him, so now this was personal.
"Thank you, Knuckles, I wont deserve you be sure about it" the hedgehog didn't let the echidna say any more words –he didn't have, anyways- a blue bur was the last symbol of the hedgehog the rubicund knight saw, his little like-brother had grow and now was a man –that still need to learn more- and now the hedgehog was on his way for saving the only future heir of the throne.
***
It was dark everywhere, the pain was still there, now everything he could hear was distorted, and his view now was blurry, he was about to pass out, he couldn't take it any longer, it was too many agony for him; yet he still fight for being free.
"Don't worry my darling, prince, I'm sure your father will come sooner or later, but before that happens I would want to have some fun with you" a cold and dark voice sounded, Shadow didn't know who it was, but he didn't really care, he just wanted to get out of such place; one more lash, the whip was once more over his back, the crimson-eyed hedgehog felt from his feet –almost, half of his body was carried by the chains- one more hit, but this time on his abdomen, and a last one on his head, and there is when the dark prince lost consciousness.
To be continued…