No One Should Be Alone

Hi! This is my second fic, first for Sonic. I wrote this a while ago. It just sorta grappled my brain and wouldn't let go, so I had to start writing. I'm not going to continue it, but if anyone else would like to then go ahead! Just mention me first, kay?

So, without further ado, read away!

He could feel the magnificence emanating from it as he brought the plane down on the island. It was an amazing island, an anomaly that he had found only by accident; a myth often told in stories around campfires, which no one really believed could actually exist.

Sir Charles Hedgehog, or 'Uncle Chuck' to his nephew, had found something impossible and utterly breath-taking.

He had found an island. A floating island. An island floating in the sky.

The Angel Island.

Charles shook his head; this wasn't why he was here. He hadn't volunteered to go exploring, he had to find King Maximillion Acorn's daughter.

Sonic was going to get an earful for this one. Princess Sally had stolen a vehicle and flown away whilst her father had been in a meeting with the palace officials, and there was little doubt it was because of one of their foolish dares. It was only a matter of time until one of them went too far, farther than they had gone already.

'Those two are going to get themselves killed one of these days.' Not to mention poor Rosie was worried sick; although the two trouble-makers had snuck off before, the seven-year-old princess (or Sonic for that matter) had never commandeered a ship before, and definitely not one that she had no knowledge of how to pilot.

Despite the urgency of the situation, Charles couldn't divert all of his attention away from the beauty of this place. He looked up towards a flock of birds-- feral, not sentient mobians-- which were nothing like any bird he had ever seen before, just as he stepped into a clearing. There was a snap sound, and Charles was rapidly pulled upwards.

The next thing he knew, the cobalt blue hedgehog was uncomfortably hanging suspended off of the ground in a rather small net, upside-down.

He hated to admit it, but he had no idea how he was going to get out of this.

A few minutes and several failed escape attempts later, and Charles heard voices. At first he was shocked, but then someone had to have set this trap so someone had to live here. They seemed to be coming towards him, so he decided to wait and see if they were dangerous, paranoid, or just playing games. The latter seemed most likely, as the voices sounded like they belonged to children.

As they came closer, Charles was able to distinguish some of the sounds. It comprised mainly of laughter and shouting; these were children, who were obviously playing. Charles kept expecting to hear Sonic yell "Too slow!"-- Especially considering how much the girl sounded like Sally.

Wait, what?

Eventually these sounds stopped, and after some silence talking started. It was a little while before the now slightly dizzy hedgehog could really understand what was being said; the first sentence was the most shocking question he had ever heard.

"What's a 'Dad'?"

It was a young boy, he sounded about the same age as Sonic but his voice was a bit deeper and very different regarding tone. There was no playful innocence; he seemed cold, detached and slightly harsh. Charles had heard voices with similar qualities, but not in anyone under thirty-five, let alone a child that wasn't even in double digits yet.

"Huh? How can you not know what a Dad is?"

Charles gasped. That was unmistakably Sally.

"Don't you have a Dad?"

"No. Maybe only surface dwellers have them?"

"But everyone's got a Dad, or a Mom, or someone! No one's all alone!"

"I am. I told you. So… they're all people? Are they elders or something?"

Elders? Interesting word choice, but how could this boy know nothing of family? Charles was jumping to conclusions; perhaps the people on this island just used different words for them, it was incredibly isolated and it was entirely probable that the residents had their own language… but then how could this boy understand and speak fluent Mobian? Something didn't feel right.

"Um… no. Most people have a Mom and a Dad, but some people only have one or the other, some don't have any at all and live with other relatives or adoptive parents: they're people who look after a kid that they didn't have themselves. Like I have a Dad, but my Mom died. They aren't s'posed to do that, and it made my Dad all upset, but they do sometimes. Anyway, they love you and cuddle you and give you presents and tuck you into bed and read stories and-- "

Something cut her off. There was a muffled sound, and the only explanation Charles could come up with was that the boy had covered her mouth.

"You're using a bunch of words I don't understand. 'Presents'? 'Cuddles'? I know what dieing is, but not 'love'. I've read about it, like I did about 'friends', but it was vague and not very helpful. Explain."

He stopped abruptly after the last word and it took Charles a moment to realise that was all he was going to say. There was silence for a moment. When Sally finally spoke, the disbelief in her voice mirrored Charles' feelings exactly.

"You've… never been given presents?"

Silence. He must have shaken his head or something else to signal the negative, as the young princess continued.

"No one's ever cuddled you?"

Silence again.

"You've never… you never, ever, had anyone tell you that they love you?" She sounded on the verge of tears at this point, and Charles wasn't surprised. A life without love… was it even possible? It was a scientific fact that even if sentient mobian children could physically survive alone, they would simply die without care or contact. Even if an abandoned infant could support itself, it would die from lack of love.

Silence.

"… No."

A twig then snapped as the boy pushed onwards, the empty coldness in his voice making Charles unsure if he wanted to see this child. Yet still he came, and soon entered the clearing.

The boy stopped dead staring up at his captive with suspicion and distrust. Odd emotions to see in the eyes of an apparent eight-year-old. Not that he was like any other eight-year-old Charles had ever seen, and this had nothing to do with the conversation he'd just heard.

The boy was an echidna.

Just a bit of randomness. Reviews would be appreciated.

~Your Friendly Neighbourhood Bamf