A/N: My other stories are still being worked on. Just because I am posting another story does not mean my other stories are on hold.
Enjoy
Chapter 1: From Far Away
Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the hedgehog or any related characters, only the plot for this story.
The serene silence of the forest was broken by two figures sprinting through it desperate to lose their pursuers. One was a male black and red hedgehog clad in the armor of a Japanese samurai. The other, a white female bat dressed in a purple robe that signified her position as a mage. In the arms of the bat was a clay urn the size of a pineapple. Shouts from behind them signified that their pursuers were gaining on them.
"We're gaining on them!" One of the pursuers shouted, "Archers ready your weapons. They must not escape with the artifact."
The bat and the hedgehog looked at each other in fear.
"Rouge," The hedgehog said drawing his katana, "Go on ahead, I'll stay behind and slow them down."
"Don't be ridiculous Shadow," The bat replied, "I won't let you sacrifice yourself for my sake."
"Then we need to stop and face them," Shadow said, "We'll be defenseless against their archers if we continue like this."
Rouge nodded in agreement and the two stopped and waited. Seconds later a shower of arrows rained down upon the two. Rouge touched her hand to a round red jewel that she wore around her neck and shouted an incantation. The arrows were deflected away from the two as if they hit a barrier. Rouge lowered her hands and Shadow got into a fighting stance with his sword.
"Get ready," Shadow said, "I'm going to need your power to defeat them."
Rouge nodded and touched the jewel on her necklace. As the soldiers began to surround them, Shadow began to glow. As soon as the soldiers surrounded them, Rouge muttered another incantation. With such speed that the eye could not follow him, Shadow zipped forward and slashed soldier after soldier until the they were nothing but a pile of dead bodies.
Shadow turned around to tell Rouge to release her spell only to see one of the soldiers get up off of the ground and hurl a knife at her. Even with his enhanced speed, Shadow was unable to outrace the knife. The blade hit Rouge in the back and dug into her spine. As Rouge collapsed, Shadow charged in rage at the soldier and decapitated him with a single swing of his sword. Shadow then turned and ran to Rouge who was on the ground.
"No, NO," Shadow shouted as he cradled Rouge in his arms, "This can't be happening, You saw into the future before we started this mission. We were supposed to get out of this together."
"The future is always changing Shadow," Rouge said, "I must have predicted wrong. I would heal myself but I never learned healing spells. Listen, I'm losing blood and I don't have much time. More soldiers will be here soon. We must not let the urn fall back into enemy hands. If they get it, our world will fall for good. I am going to send you to another world that is beyond our own. This will buy you some time but only a little bit for the enemy will find you. There, you will find someone else who you can form a contract with. Together you must work with her to protect the urn from the enemy. During your time there you will teach her how to use magic. When you fall in love with her, that is the time that you must return to this world and destroy the enemy for good."
"No one could ever replace you Rouge," Shadow said, "If you go I will vow to never love again."
"Trust me Shadow," Rouge said, "You will learn to love her. Together the two of you will have the strength to take down the enemy. It will take time, but you will succeed."
Rouge took the necklace off of her neck and gave it to Shadow saying, "Give this to her. It will help her use magic. There will come a time when she is strong enough that she won't need it. When that happens, victory is imminent and you must strike the enemy hard."
Rouge coughed up some of her own blood.
"It's time for me to go Shadow," Rouge said, "I will send you on your way."
Before Shadow could protest. Rouge snapped her fingers and Shadow was gone. Rouge closed her eyes and waited for death to take her.
***Meanwhile
"AMY ROSE!"
Amy woke and jerked up in her seat only to face the angry expression of her teacher. The female human glared at her before speaking.
"That was the last straw for you young lady," the teacher said, "See me after class."
Some of the people in the class burst out laughing but were immediately silenced by the stern expression from the teacher.
"Keep laughing and you'll see me after class as well," The teacher said, "Now turn to page 197."
Amy sighed, this wasn't the first time she had fallen asleep in class. In fact, class seemed to be the only time she was able to sleep. Ever since her father died, she had been having nightmares every single night. Hence, she hardly got any sleep. This caused quite a few incidents in class.
The class went forward, the teacher trying to cram as much information into the students heads before the bell rang. Luckily it was the last class of the day so there wasn't a risk of making any other teachers mad.
The bell rang and Amy packed up her books and waited for all of the students to file out of the classroom so the teacher could deal out her punishment without any interference. The last student to leave was a green hedgehog who was the resident heartbreaker and bully of the school. He called himself Scourge.
Scourge saluted Amy mockingly and Amy was very tempted to give him the finger. However, she resisted as it would only get her in more trouble.
Once Scourge left the teacher closed the door, looked at Amy, and sighed. The teacher immediately dropped her harsh attitude and softened.
"Amy, Amy," The teacher said, "Why can't you sleep at night like anyone else."
"You already know the answer to that," Amy replied sourly, "I keep having nightmares about my father dying in that building. Or have you forgotten what happened."
"I know," The teacher replied, "Your father was a firefighter and died when a burning building collapsed with him in it. It was in the papers. Sorry for yelling at you, I know you're going through a lot but I can't have you sleeping in class."
"I know," Amy said, "Other students might get ideas."
"Exactly," The teacher said, "Well, since you're going through a lot I won't give you detention. But please for the love of God try to get some sleep at night."
"I will," Amy replied.
"Alright," The teacher said, "You can go home now."
"Thank you," Amy said, picking up her backpack and walking out of the room. Since the teacher held her after class she would have to walk home. The buses ran on a pretty tight schedule.
Amy walked down the hall and out of the school. It was cloudy and slightly windy but that was to be expected of fall in Station Square. At least the air was crisp. Amy tugged at her coat to keep herself warm from the cold breeze.
Amy walked down the Station Square boulevard. She passed the shops as they were closing and walked down the subway entrance to catch a train home. The subway was mostly abandoned which was surprising that most people were getting off work at this time. Amy did the usual routine of buying a ticket and feeding it into the machine so she could get on the train.
Once on the train, Amy put in her headphones and turned on her music. It was one of the few things that could comfort her when she was in a bad mood. She smiled as the song For Those Who Wait by FireFlight came on her Ipod. She thought the song described her pretty well. After her father died she had been waiting, waiting for her comfort to arrive. Whether it was a friend or something else she was waiting for comfort to arrive.
After 15 minutes the train came to a stop and Amy got off and walked toward the exit. She immediately wished that she had stayed on the train as the exit was blocked off by three thuggish looking panthers. Amy started to turn around but the thugs noticed her and began to walk toward her. Amy turned around to get back on the train but it had already left. She was alone and three lowlifes were about to corner her.
"Easy princess," the leader of the thugs said, "We just want to talk."
"I've had a really bad day," Amy said, "Could you please just let me go. I don't have much money."
"You think we're going to rob you," The lead panther said, "No no, we just want to talk. What's a little high school girl like you doing in a rundown subway like this. You miss the bus or something?"
"I fell asleep in class and the teacher held me back after class," Amy said.
"Oh so you're a bad girl," The panther said, "We can't just let a bad girl like you walk off without some punishment."
Amy sprinted to the exit but was blocked off my one of the thugs.
"Where do you think you're going?" The thug said pulling out a combat knife, "We're just getting started."
The other thugs also pulled out knives and Amy began to shiver in fear.
"Scream if you want little girl," The lead thug said, "No one is here to save you."
There was a large flash of life and a black hedgehog wearing the armor of a samurai appeared between the thugs and Amy. In his right hand was a katana, in his left was an urn and a necklace with a jewel on it. The thugs halted as the hedgehog looked from them to Amy and back to them.
The hedgehog clearly realized what was happening because he put out his hand toward Amy and said, "My name is Shadow. If you want to live, take my hand and say 'I accept the terms of your contract.'"
Amy desperately grabbed the Shadow's hand and said, "I accept the terms of your contract."
There was a flash of green light. The samurai hedgehog let go of Amy's hand and turned to face the thugs.
"What were you planning to do to this girl?" Shadow said.
"Not much, just a little rape and murder," The lead thug said.
"You'll have to get through me first," Shadow replied getting into a fighting stance.
"I doubt that sword is even real," The lead thug said, "Come on boys, lets gut this freak."
The three thugs charged.
Three swing of a sword later, the thugs lay on the ground with their heads next to them. Amy screamed at the sight. Shadow put the urn in the pocket of his armor. He then touched the jewel on the necklace he was holding and muttered 'disintegrate.'
The bodies of the thugs crumbled into dust and blew away in the wind of the subway.
Amy stood there thunderstruck at what had happened. She finally closed her eyes and began to talk to herself.
"This is just a dream," Amy said to herself "Samurai don't exist anymore. When I open my eyes I am going to wake up in my bed and everything will be normal."
"This is reality, not a dream," A voice said. When Amy opened her eyes, Shadow was still there, looking stern.
"I am real," Shadow said, "Don't think for a moment that I am an illusion. Believe me this is as strange to me as it is to you. Luckily for me, my previous contractor instilled the culture and language of this world into my brain."
"Contractor?" Amy said, "What do you mean and who are you."
"I'll explain later," Shadow said, "For now I must get rid of this armor."
Shadow snapped his fingers and his armor and sword vanished in a puff of smoke. The next moment, Shadow was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweat shirt with a hood attached to it.
"I'll escort you home," Shadow said, "I will fill you in on who I am along the way."
Amy nodded and, still slightly confused, led Shadow out of the subway.