So...if there's anyone here who wasn't completely scared my the prologue... XD Just kidding. Here's the first chapter! Not really much to say about it, except that it takes place looong before the prologue's events.


Another important note: I've never played Sonic Rush adventure, so I don't know much about that Jeweled Scepter thing of the koalas...so don't get mad if I get something wrong on that. (I just hope Wikipedia has some info...)

Disclaimer: ...You know what? Forget the disclaimers. I think we all know that no one on FF.N owns Sonic...or anything else on here.

"Emerald Chronicles"

By Blaze-Fire-Kitty (Ferny)

Chapter One

"The stars are so beautiful..."

My amber eyes intently watched the glimmering little lights above me as the battle raged below me. Not far away from the castle was a clearing in the nearby forest. In that clearing, on that pretty night, blood was spilling and souls were falling.

I sat on the edge of the balcony, from which I could see the entire forest where the battle was being fought. But I didn't pay attention to that. I thought the battle was pointless. But even though I, as the princess, had commanded none of my warriors to fight, they insisted upon attacking the small village who'd made themselves right at home on the royal property.

Many thought it was unfair and wrong for a group of villagers to just start living on that land, but I didn't mind. As if they had anywhere else to go... Doesn't everything in this world belong to me? Whether I want it to or not?

"Princess!"

My main warrior, assistant, and good friend came bursting through the large double doors that led from my bedroom to the balcony. When I turned to look at him, I nearly fell from the balcony in shock (he managed to grab me in time and pull me back up). His entire left side was torn open, and bleeding profusely.

"Stripes!" I gasped. "What happened to you?"

It was the first time in my life when I'd seen Stripes not look so confident...and that scared me.

The badger collapsed onto his knees and coughed, then gazed up at me with pain-filled eyes. "Jaz is dead!" he cried.

My blood felt like it'd turned to ice, and my strength gave away. I fell to my knees in front of Stripes, and tears began to streak down my face. "No..."

Jaz was another friend of mine, and she also worked at the daycare center. She was very popular for being the only dog of the golden retriever breed, but also for her kind and caring personality, and her relentlessness for justice.

"What happened to her?" I burst out. Stripes wasn't listening. He'd fallen onto his elbows, and was now crying and screaming at the ground. Of course. He was in love with her, I think...

"Stripes," I said again, this time, my commanding voice luckily found its way back into my throat.

Stripes looked up at me. He was lost, broken, defeated. I could see that. But then the words echoed in my head:

You will fight to the death for your kingdom. No matter what. Let nothing get in your way.

"Send out another fifty soldiers. Send five more medical teams. Send two guards to make sure the children are still safe. I want you to find Mint and Sparkz, and have them get some explosives ready. Bring them and the explosives here." I was amazed by how sure of myself I sounded, and it looked like Stripes was too.

"Princess..."

"Then head to the ER and get that wound taken care of. For now, wrap some bandages around it. That will help with the bleeding. There should be some on the big table near my bedroom door."

Stripes slowly rose back to his feet, grabbing my arm for support, then nodded. "Yes, Princess."

I watched him limp away, feeling a little guilty for sending him on so many errands when he was hurt so badly. But I knew I couldn't do them. I couldn't leave the safety of the castle.

If my life were taken, then the entire world would fall apart. Seriously.

Even though it already had.

No sooner than Stripes had left did a flash of white race up the wall, past me, then skid to a stop, almost crashing into the door. I could feel the fur on my tail instictively stand up.

"Silver!" I hissed as the white hedgehog ran back to stand next to me. "You scared me!"

He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Eh...sorry. So, any news on the battle?"

Facepalm. "Are you serious?"

Silver cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Yeah."

Another facepalm. "You mean you weren't fighting?"

"Of course not!"

...Why are you such an idiot?

But I couldn't say that. I knew it would hurt his childlike feelings.

A loud shriek rose from the forest below, and Silver was already looking out from the balcony, searching for the source. A moment later, he hung his head. "That's awful..."

"What happened?" I rushed, with panic rising inside me once again.

When Silver turned to look at me, grief shone in his eyes. "I think Shelby was just killed."

No!

My hands and knees began trembling, and I grabbed onto the balcony rail. There was no way I'd let myself fall down.

No way I'd let myself look weak in front of Silver.

"Why must this happen?!?" I shrieked suddenly, causing Silver to flinch. I might as well have forgotten my stay-strong plan. I knew I was crying again; being a pyrokinetic with flames raging through my bloodstream, tears usually just sizzled away when they ran down my cheeks.

I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry."

"It's not that simple, Silver... We're not kids anymore. It's not like we're fighting with bullies on a playground!"

I felt his amber gaze burning into me. "It's exactly the same, only this time, the bullies and the playground are just a lot bigger." When I shrugged away from him, he continued: "Think! It's just like that day when we were really young! It was just us and a few other friends at the playground, when a big group of about fifteen big kids came up. They pushed us and said 'get out!' You said, 'no, we were here first!' Don't you see? That's what this is! We were here first, and this is our land, but someone wants to take it away from us. Sure, there's more of them, and maybe they're bigger and stronger, but we have to fight for what's ours!"

I couldn't say anything. All I could do was watch Silver fall apart in front of me; I, as his best friend, knew that a dramatic speech from Silver meant that he was completely terrified.

But he was right. I couldn't just let the bullies take my playground away.

"Silver, go send out fifty more troops!"

...Profusely. Anyone notice that word in there? I guess I got that from Trauma Center, 'cuz I'm not even sure what it means. I just know they mention it when they're talking about a big cut that bleeds really bad-Oh, sorry. Hopefully that wasn't too bad, and I hope the characters weren't too OOC *cough-Silver-cough*. Review plz!