Of Fear and Family Ch. 1

He was only 8 years old, and despite being a genius child he still had all the fears and insecurities that came from his young age. Most of his friends often forgot how young he truly was due to his vast array of knowledge and technical know-how...

He thought it was the end, as the small child panted, stumbled, and ran. His eyesight was blurred, though from the rain or his own tears he could no longer tell. His feet hurt, bare and unprotected from the harsh rocks and branches that covered the forest floor. Why was this happening?

His whole body throbbed, and he knew without a doubt that his arm was broken and one of his tails was sprained, disabling him from flying the skies to escape the terror he found himself in. The small body was littered with scratches, just deep enough that each drew a thin sliver of his crimson life source. How long ago was it that he had escaped from Doctor Eggman's fortress, who was chaos-bent on wanting to examine and experiment on the two-tailed fox kit? Wanting to know where his brain capacity came from, along with his genetic mutation.

He held back a whimper as the bone chilling howls came from behind him, ever seeping into his mind to haunt his nightmares for weeks to come, if he lived that long. His escape was all a blur to him, as his memories of just why he was alone and running in terror from his pursuer resurfaced to the forefront.

*Flash back*

It had been only a few months since they had restored the planet to normal, after the fiasco with Dark Gaia and Eggman. Sonic had been acting differently, a bit more on edge and animalistic compared to normal. He was still his easy-going, adventurous and cocky self, but he...was more possessive of his close friends, and a bit more ruthless when he fought. No one else seemed to notice...perhaps Amy and Knuckles had, but they dealt with the changes in their own ways.

Tails had noticed the quickest though, as he and Sonic were practically inseparable. At first it was small, he would make notes vaguely in his mind that Sonic stood a bit closer to him than usual. Or Sonic would suddenly check up on him often if Tails had been shut away in his workshop alone. Sonic also had a shorter temper when it came around that somebody was bullying the young kit, and it took Tails calling the others in desperation to help get Sonic to calm down.

Sonic had also become strange in the fact that he often took in Tails scent, though Tails himself was unaware of this fact. When the kit fell asleep, Sonic would also gather the child up into his arms and hold him, or bring him to Sonic's own bed and cuddled the kit close to his chest as he slept.

So it was that one day, feeling a little over-pressured by his suddenly more affectionate older brother that Tails had snuck out of their shared home into the forest for some relaxation and peace. He was feeling overwhelmed. Everyone in town and neighboring towns often came to him to either want an autograph, pester him about the hero-Sonic, or wanted the 8-year old genius to fix something or another for them. The President had G.U.N create a website for the heroic duo for when emergencies came up, the two would know about it right away if G.U.N couldn't contain it or if it was an issue they didn't want to deal with. Instead it had given everyone on Mobius their address and it never got better.

Tails had used his superior knowledge to take down the site immediately after the first week, but the damage had already been done. And it was there, in that forest where he was captured by surprise as he was lost in his reflections by the devious Doctor.

What happened next was a horror in itself, as the child was starved, weakened by paralyzing medicines and poisons injected harshly into his blood stream. The doctor fed him just enough to barely survive, and subjugated him to grueling tests and experiments, just short of slicing the child open. It was because of Eggman that one of his tails were sprained, close to the breaking point. This treatment had gone on for about a week and a half, perhaps longer as the kit never got to see outside and not once ever saw a clock to tell the passage of time. It was on the night of a full moon he couldn't see, when it happened...Tails awoke to the sounds of explosions, the shattering of metal and...Eggman's own terrified screams and the darkest, scariest growling the child had ever heard. And Tails had heard a lot of scary growls during his adventures with Sonic.

The wall closest to him exploded, the shrapnel slicing his bruised and battered flesh as a larger piece smacked his arm, causing him to cry out as he felt the bone snap. Through the debris and dust he saw it, a large, hairy creature he thought he would never witness again.

Sonic in his Werehog form.

At first Tails wanted to call out in relief at the familiar sight, but his words stilled in his throat with a painfully choking gasp. The werehog looked...feral...wild. He couldn't see the familiar light of Sonic's personality within the dangerously glinting green orbs of his eyes. He wasn't to sure as the sight was still a bit blurry, but the thick fur also seemed to be darker in color, along with a dark aura that radiated away from the werehog's body. Before the beast could get any closer, another of Eggman's battle machines attacked it, and the teary blue eyed boy used that chance to escape.

Following the destruction, Tails found the broken down wall that led outside into the cool night air. Judging from what he could see from what appeared to be a full moon, it was still early in the night, perhaps around 8pm. Weak and struggling to stay up on his shaking legs, Tails hesitated before sprinting into the forest. His motivation? The terrible howl that wasn't very far behind him...and gaining fast. The beginning of the rain and ominous thunder didn't help as a storm came rolling from out of nowhere either.

*Flashback End*