A little girl was running down the street away from her house. She had blond hair with brown highlights with a blue bow in her hair, brown eyes, she was wearing a light blue dress now tattered and ripped. Black Arms had invaded westopolis and destroyed her house killing her family .she stopped and remembered her mother's last words to her

" sweetie run and hide but take this always remember who you are and that I love you so much." her mother had handed her a gold ring before she was gunned down by the aliens.

She shed a tear thinking of how her mother loved her so much that she died trying to protect her. She kept on running and running in the ruins of buildings, hiding when ever she heard a sound. Her feet were killing her as she ran she had no shoes on as she walked though broken glass and wires. It had been days since she had last eaten, she smelled the sweet aroma of food she kept walking towards the aroma .she saw a black hedgehog with red stripes on his quills eating a piece of bread. His ears perked up as he heard the sound of little feet.

"Come on out! I could hear you a mile an away." he said in a threatening tone. She ran away from there as fast as her feet could take her.

"Did you not heard me tell you to come out!" the hedgehog said appearing in front of her .She accidentally fell down ,he slowly walked over her ,she kept scooting backwards until she was pressed against the wall. She held her head between her knees and put her hands on her head. She heard him coming closer and closer .she could feel her spine tingling from how close he was .she peeked her head out to see him down on one knee staring at her. He could hear her whimpering and ever so gently he reached over to her and touched her head.

"What's you name? Where's your family?" he asked the trembling girl.

" M…Maria. And my family was killed by the aliens. M…my mommy was trying to protect me when she was killed." she said shakily ." My name is shadow. You don't need to be afraid of me . Here take it you look like you haven't eaten in days ." He said pulling out the piece of bread he was eating earlier . She took the bread he offered and ate it in one bite.

" T…thank you .S…shadow."

" Come on I take you to a place where you'll be safe." shadow said standing up offering his hand to help her. She tried to stand up but a piece of broken glass was embedded in her foot making it hard for her to stand.

" What's wrong ?"

" M.. my foot hurts to stand." Maria said biting back tears.

Shadow scooped her up in his arms and ran north.