Declaimer: I don't own Knuckles, Rouge, or any other SEGA® related characters. I do, however, own Tarosamo and whoever else you do not know!
Warning: Blood and sickness and Original Characters
Pairing(s): Your basic male/female; Knux/Rouge, Sonic/Amy, etc.
Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance, Drama, maybe a bit of Angst too...
Rating: PG-13 for mild language and violence
Author Note: The long awaited sequel! Everyone loved the first one! Ya know ya did.../wink/ I would also like to pre-apologize for any errors or lack of information and whatnot. My vocabulary is that of Vash the Stampede's (hehe), my grammar is horrid, and I don't know much. So, be warned! Other than that, I do hope you enjoy my story!
PS: Oh, and by the way...this takes on a darker turn than the first...just thought I'd let you know!
----------------
Blood of the Demon-- By SWT
Chapter I – Nightmares
Tarosamo found himself standing in an open field. A strange fog surrounded him, creating an eerie mist. All was quiet, not a sound was made. Tarosamo slowly made his way through the thickening fog in search of something. What? He didn't know. 'What's going on here?' But no one was there that could answer his unspoken question. The fog grew thicker and thicker with each step he took and soon he couldn't see much of anything. Suddenly, the wind started to pick up, blowing around him, whirling with the fog. The wind seemed to whisper to him.
'Death is among you...'
Tarosamo stood there confused. What was that supposed to mean? He didn't know. The voice left an eerie feel as a chill shot down his spine.
'You all will die...' It continued to whisper, lingering in the silent air.
The echidna didn't understand the meaning of the words. They were going to die? He shook his head, deciding it to be a trick of the wind...but it sounds so valid...
'You will pay...a life for a life...' And then all was quiet, the wind died down and Tarosamo was left in his confusion. What was that supposed to mean? A life for a life?
Than all so suddenly, a piercing scream sounded and that was when he noticed the blood red sky. Tarosamo glanced around in horror as blood, much like the sky above, caked the solid ground. He had no idea what was going on, and fear struck him dead in his heart like icy daggers.
Laughter sounded around him and he spun around and took a stunned step back. In front of him were the bodies of his friends, once alive and so full of life, now lifeless.
Knuckles...
Rouge...
Sonic...
Amy...
Shadow...
Tails...
Cream...
All of them, dead, blood pooling out from their corpse forms. Tarosamo glanced up to see a dark figure looming over his formal friends. The figure was covered in darkness, its eyes were the only visible aspect of the being he could see, as it glow a terrifying yellow color, burning like a candle in the night. The eyes were that of someone who has seen countless of evil things in its lifetime.
The echidna voice wouldn't come to him as he stared upon the creature who only smirked at him, a smirk of pure evil. It withdrew a claw that he noticed, just than, was in the back of the small fox-boy. The creature threw the boy hard to the ground and all Tarosamo could do was stare in horror as the once life filled boy plummeted to the ground with a dull thud.
The creature lifted its bloodstained claw to its face as the red substance dripped to the equally bloodstained ground. It continued to smirk as it brought its hands to its mouth, a long red tongue flickering out, tasting the sweet blood, enjoying the horror that filled the echidna's eyes.
Suddenly, five bright colors shot up from around the creature and shoot towards the echidna with a blinding speed. Green...Red...Brown...Gold...and Black, all shot at him...
--------------
Sweat drenched him as he sat up, gasping for breath. He was still for a moment, only his rigid breathing was heard throughout the dark room. He shakily lifted a hand to his forehead and pushed away the sweat as a drop fell into his dazed eyes.
That dream seemed so horrifying real. He could still remember seeing the bodies of his friends lying lifelessly on the cold blood drenched ground. The creature standing over them, dripping in their blood, enjoying the pain that he was going through.
Tarosamo shook his head, trying to clear those horrid images from his pained mind. It was useless, every time he closed his eyes, he would see them. All of them, dead, and the evil creature's smirk. Even though he knew it was a dream, he couldn't shake the fear that conjured from it.
What could it mean? Could it possibly be a prediction of what's to come? A Premonition of some sort? Lord, he hoped not. He wouldn't know what to do if that was the case.
He slowly got up from his twin size bed and made his way blindly towards the kitchen for a glass of water, or something to get his mind off the dream. He passed a window that overlook a house not too far from his own; the home of Rouge and Knuckles.
He decided to live on Angel Island alongside Rouge and Knuckles to protect them as he was destined to do so. He made a vow to that of Knuckles' father to forever protect his son from any harm or danger as long as he was to live. And he plan on carrying out his order, no matter what.
He glanced out of the window, noticing that the lights in the other house were out, which meant that the residence were asleep, hopefully, peacefully. He shook the jumble of cobwebs from his mind and continued to make his way to the kitchen were he decided to prepare himself some coffee, since it seemed like he wouldn't be able to sleep anymore that night. He quickly took a glance at the digital clock on the microwave; 3:45 am. He had a good hour and a half before the sun would peek above the horizon and warm the world with its brilliant glow.
He got a kettle and poured the water from the faucet, not bothering to turn on the kitchen light since he really never needed the light to navigate around the house. He turned on the burner and watched as the blue flames danced around before placing the kettle of water overtop it. He took a seat at the small round table and sat in the dark, lost in his thoughts once more.
His mind traveled back towards the past, when he was nothing but a mere child. He could never remember his parents, wasn't sure if he had any to be honest. He was found wandering around his home planet, Echidnoplios, at the age of four, by an elder man who served the king and queen of that planet. That was some hundred years ago. He was than taught to serve the king and queen and any future heir, in this case, Prince Knuckles.
Just because he served the king didn't meant he led a peaceful life. Anything but.
-------------
It was 9:15 am, and Sonic the Hedgehog walked down the sidewalk of Station Square, tossing a small velvet box up and down in his gloved hand. The blue hedgehog had been contemplating for weeks if he should ask Amy Rose to become his bride. He knew that he loved her, more than anything, in fact. But he wasn't sure if he was ready for that kind of commitment, being only nineteen-years-old. And he also knew, without any doubt, that Amy Rose would say yes.
He sighed, his eyes moving with the movement of the small box being tossed in his hand. Maybe he should ask her tonight? But what would he say? How would he say it? Why must this be so damn confusing?! He cursed silently at his own cowardliness.
Then, before he could blink, his velvet box was snatched from midair as it was being tossed. Sonic glanced around him and found a figure retreating into an alley, with the ring box.
"Hey! Get back here!" He yelled before dashing after the figure in black. Thankfully with his speed, he caught up with the thief before he could get too far. The figure was only slightly shorter than he and he grabbed him by the hood of his cloak.
The figure struggled to free itself as it was being held by the taller blue hedgehog, but said nothing.
Sonic growled in frustration and turned the figure around, allowing the hood to fall off of it to reveal a small kitten. Sonic gasped as he let the child go. What surprised him the most ware the child's black eyes...they were so...dead. Nothing like a child's eyes should be. "Hey...kid, you okay?" He asked hesitantly.
The kid only snorted and ran past the grown hedgehog. He didn't look any older than eight as he ran from Sonic. For a kid, he was pretty fast, but not faster than Sonic the Hedgehog as he ran after the child that had stole from him.
Once again he caught the kid, keeping a firm grip on him this time. "Got'cha! Now, could you hand over what's mine?"
The kitten narrowed his eyes in a way that didn't look right on an innocent young face such as his. Sonic held the child up by the scuff of his neck, making him look directly into his eyes. Sonic had a hard time focusing on the child's lifeless eyes. The way the kid looked at him was, in a way, eerie. Sonic had to control himself before releasing the child again.
"Where's my box?" That wasn't a question but a demand coming from the blue hedgehog as he held the child above the ground.
The kid made a move to kick Sonic in the stomach, but he caught on the movement and block the child's booted feet before it could do any damage. Glaring at him, the kid reached into his pocket and tossed the box into the air, away from the two and farther down the alley.
Sonic grunted and dropped the brat before dashing off after his possession before he lost it again. As he ran, he didn't notice the dark look the kid gave him or the evil glint in his lifeless eyes.
----------------
Angel Island was, still is, one of the most beautiful islands in the entire world that floated in the sky. The grass was the greenest, the trees were the lushes, the fruit being the sweetest, and the plants were exquisite. That was one of the reasons why Rouge the Bat loved Angel Island. It was so beautiful to look at and nothing could ever compare to it.
Life has been the best ever since she and Knuckles gotten married and decided to settle down after that last fight with Sameo, not even two and a half years ago. She was content with her new life here with her husband of nearly four months, and life couldn't be more prefect.
Currently, she was resting on the soft green grass, dipped in the morning dew, but that didn't disturb her from the peaceful stance she was trance in. She enjoyed the cool wetness against her white fur and closed her blue eyes with a pleased sigh.
Then, suddenly, it was interrupted by a dark shoulder looming over her and her eyes snapped open and she smirked, seeing as it was only her husband.
Knuckles purple eyes watch her with amusement as he sat down on the dew covered grass with her. They said nothing, as they were only contented to be in each other presence, both enjoying the gentle breeze that swept by them.
Rouge placed both her arms behind her head as she stared up into the cloud filled sky, watching as the fluffy whites floated around above them, creating weird shapes of different forms. She always enjoyed watching the clouds in the sky, it was so comforting. She smiled softly as her eyes drifted shut for a short snapped.
Knuckles glanced at her and smirked when he noticed his wife drifting off into slumber. She was so cute, when she lay like that, without a care in the world. He was finally happy that now he could spend his life with the one woman he loved with all his heart. Nothing could ever come between them, and he would make sure of that.
He gingerly reached out a gloved knuckle to her soft fur covered face and smiled at the contact it made. He sighed, pleased to finally be able to live without the worries of being condemned to watch over the Master Emerald for the rest of his life, alone.
Yes, life was so prefect now, everything was just right with that demon lord out of their lives.
If only he knew how wrong he was.
-------------
Tarosamo wasn't able to get a wink of sleep since he first awoken ten hours ago as it was now 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Every time he closed his tired eyes, the continuing images of his lifeless friends flashed in his mind eyes.
Once more sighing, he got up from where he sat on his couch and decided that he would take a walk to perhaps clear his mind, but for some reason, he knew that wasn't likely to happen.
Ignoring his deepening thoughts, he headed out of his small house and almost instantly, a rush of the cool spring air hit him. He loved the spring. Spring and fall were his favorite time of the year. He couldn't explain why, but it was. Rather it was the change in weather from spring to summer, autumn to winter, or if it was just the feel of the crisp night air. He didn't care exactly what the reason was; all he knew was that he loved spring and fall.
He stepped outside and closed his eyes, for once, not reliving the feel of his dream the night before. He took a quick look around of the part of the island that was visible to him and watched as the wind caress the leaves of the tress and played with the lush green grass.
He was currently dressed in his normal attire which consists of a pair of purplish-blue pants, an armor vest which was the same color and his scarf that covered half of his face which danced with the wind and his sword sheath on his back.
He started his walk, taking in all the beauty the island had to offer. It was really amazing to be living on this floating paradise, away from the city down below and closer to the stars at night. Nothing could ever compare to Angel Island, especially at night where the stars were the most visible.
He decided to take his travels into the semi-thick forest that surrounded the island. As he went deeper into the forest, the darker it had become, even though it was still daylight on the island. He love walking through the forest, and had done so every other day for the pass two years since he had taken residence on this lovely island. The forest was name Elysia Forest, which meant "Blissful Forest", and it truly was blissful.
He than spotted something he haven't notice before on his other journeys though this same forest. A dark cave sat in the middle of a cove, illuminating a darken feel to it. Tarosamo found himself drawing nearer to the mysterious cavern. Standing just outside the mouth of the luminous cave, he tilted his head to the side in a curious manner before taking a cautious step inside.
That was when the prefect world he once knew turned upside down once again.
---------------
/sighs/ Well, that do you think? Kinda took a slight turn from the first one, eh? So far, I've been up for 32 hours and I am nowhere near being tired! Heh, anyway, please, review and tell me what you think!
Arigatou!
Ja ne!
SapphireWhiteTigress