Chapter 7: Seeing The King

They went inside a castle and stood before the king.

"Your Majesty, we have captured a werewolf," one of the guards said.

The King; who was a ground brown squirrel with blue eyes. He wore a blue jacket with gold lining the sleeves and the collar. His crown was entirely golf and had a large blue stone in the middle. The King looked down at Sonic with a raised brow as Sonic glared back with angry emerald eyes. He stood and spoke.

"What were you doing in my city? You were wolves have your own territory."

Sonic looked away, anger in his emerald eyes and refused to speak, but a kick in the leg from the guard that was holding him made him wince. "I came here to buy food." The King and the guards looked surprised at the answer, but didn't seem to believe him.

Sonic looked at the King, who spoke again. "Do you really think I would believe that. One of my guards told me that two children came to them, crying because you attacked them!" The King exclaimed.

Sonic growled, glaring at the King. "That's not what happened. Those little punks were picking on someone I care about, so I had to stop them because you're guards didn't care if he was getting beaten up."

The King scoffed and shook his head. He looked at Tails. "Who are you? I don't remember my guards speaking of you," the King said.

Tails cried out in shock at being spoken too and hid behind Sonic. The hedgehog looked behind him at the fox and saw that he was hugging his legs, tails curled around him. Sonic's expression changed from anger to worry. He'd never seen Tails like this before. Had those bullies traumatized him? If Sonic wasn't being held by the guard he'd hug the fox cub.

The king frowned at the reaction, and turned to Sonic.

"Who are you?" A guard asked Tails. "Why are you scared?"

Tails looked up at Sonic as if pleading him with his eyes to speak for him and Sonic could never say 'no' to Tails, especially if he's like this. Sonic turned back to the King, a serious expression on his face. "his name is Tails." Sonic looked back at the kit with sadness in his eyes. "I don't know his real name. He was abandoned when he was only a baby because of his two tails. My Father saved him from being killed by a werewolf and brought him home. We were raised together, so were as close as siblings ever though he's a mortal and I'm not."

The King listened intently to Sonic and once he was done, his eyes opened wide at this. A werewolf attacked the fox and was saved by the hedgehog's Father. What does that mean? He nodded and was about to speak when a person entered the room. It was Sally.

"What's going on?" She asked.

Sonic turned and widened his eyes at who he saw standing there. It was the girl he saw a day ago after they came back from werewolf pack. "You? You're the princess?"

The King and guards were shocked at how Sonic knew Sally and Tails was afraid something would happen after Sonic said that. The King looked at Sally. She knew this werewolf?

"Sally, you know this, werewolf?" The King asked Sally.

Sonic growled at still being called a werewolf. "Quit calling me a werewolf! Do I really look that much like them!" Sonic looked himself over. The King turned from Sally to Sonic and stared at him. Sonic couldn't be a vampire, but he looked too much like werewolf to be one.

"He's a hybrid, father," Sally told the king.

The King turned back to Sally with shock on his face. "A hybrid!? How is that possible?"

Sonic looked back at the King with a bored expression on his face. "I don't know. Werewolf bites are fatal to my kind yet I survived one." Sonic shrugged his shoulders at the King.

The King turned back to Sonic with a raised brow. "So, you're a vampire ... or were one." Sonic grumbled and folded his arms across his chest.

The Werehog nodded and sighed.

"What are you going to do with him?" Sally asked her father.

The King thought about it and then looked at the hedgehog. "Throw him in the dungeon!"

The guards grabbed a hold of Sonic and he widened his eyes in shock. "Hold on! I'm getting thrown in a dungeon for saving my younger brother from bullies!?"

The King glared down at Sonic with anger in his eyes. "We don't need you causing a ruckus in the city and also ... stay away from my daughter!"

Tails watched his brother being carried away and looked at Sally. He stood up and ran over to her, tears appearing in his blue eyes. "Please, stop them! Sonic's the only thing close to a family I have! He can't be put in jail!"

"I can't," Sally said. "Father's word is law."

Tails choked up a cry and turned to the King, tears falling down his cheeks. "Please, let Sonic go! He did nothing wrong! He was only protecting me!"

Sally looked at her father, who saw Tails and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but he will be staying in the dungeon for a while for he did..." The King's eyes then narrowed. "...as well as meeting Sally."

"But what about me? Where will I go while Sonic's in the dungeon?!" Tails exclaimed, sounding terrified.

Sally and his father looked at each other, then back to Tails.

"You can stay at the inn in the village," Sally told him.

Tails widened his eyes and tails curled around his body out of fear. "Go back ... out there? I can't ... not without, Sonic. He protects me from bad things."
Sally looked at the eight-year old in concern. He really did have a strong connection with the hybrid?

"What should we do, father?" Sally asked the king.

The King thought about it for a while and then looked back down at the boy. "Would you like to stay here while your friend is in the dungeon? That way you can see him if you want."

Tails widened eyes and smiled, wiping his tears away and bowing, grateful. "T...Thank you," he responded back. Tails was shaking with both joy and fear. He was afraid of staying somewhere without Sonic being right by him, yet Sonic was in the same area as him, so he felt kind of safe.

Sally walked down and took Tails' hand. "Come; let me show you where you're staying."

Tails looked to Sally with surprise on his face and nodded. "O...Okay," Tails said, looking down, shy."

The princess smiled and led Tails down the hall and into a room. Tails looked around it and sat on the bed. The mattress was soft and cushiony, it was quite comfortable. He was sitting in a four-poster bed and beside it was a maroon wooden bed-side table. The cupboard and and edge of the mirror was the same colour. There was a door that led out to a balcony.

Tails looked around the room and the back at Sally, ears lowered. "I hope I'm not being too much of a bother just so I can stay near Sonic?"

"You're fine," Sally told him.

Tails looked down at the floor, hands clenching together in nervousness. "It's just ... I'm not used to being around my own kind. I was raised around vampires, so I'm more used to being around Sonic. That's why I'm freaking out so much around anyone mortal." His tails wrapped around his body. "But now that a Sonic is in the dungeon I feel more vulnerable now. Out on the street before Sonic became a hybrid he was always with me, so I wouldn't be bothered..." His eyes filled with tears. "...but now he can't enter the street without someone noticing his appearance!"

Sally sat down beside her; she felt sorry for Tails.

"Sonic has always been like a older brother to me and seeing him like ... makes feel like I'm being insulted or hurt too." Tails' tears fell down his cheeks at this. "He's hurting on the inside. I can tell. He's never looked so sad before and he's pushing it all aside to take care of me. Why can't he take care of himself as well?"

"Maybe it's time he did," Sally said.

Tails looked at Sally; the tears still falling from eyes. "I guess." Tails looked away from her. "He doesn't listen to anyone, but me. He's very stubborn."

"I see."

Tails nodded and looked down in sadness. "When do you think Sonic will be released?"

"I'm not sure," Sally said. "It's up to my dad."

Tails sighed at her answer and nodded. "Will I be able to see him sometime?"

"Probably."

Tails looked up with a smile on his face. "Can see him now!?"

"Sure," Sally said, standing up.

Tails smiled at her and stood up also and followed her out of the bronze coloured doors. They walked down some cream coloured stairs before coming to a dark oak door. Two guards stood on each side of the door, and looked at them.

"I am here to visit a prisoner," Sally told them.

Tails looked out from behind Sally and up at the guards. He froze when he saw them. They looked really intimidating compared to him. Tails his back behind Sally, shaking. The guards nodded and stood aside, opening the door. Sally and Tails walked into the dungeon and saw Sonic in a cell.

The hybrid was yelling at a guard and holding a stake in his face. "For the last time I'm not a werewolf! I don't eat meat!" Sonic yelled at the guard;who was posted outside his cell. The guard was glaring daggers at Sonic as if telling him to 'eat it or starve'.

Sonic growled and took the meant, biting a chunk out of it. He made a look of distaste and swallowed. Sonic stuck his tongue out in disgust and and threw the meat in the guard's face. He'd rather starve than eat meat. He drank blood not ate meat. He also ate fruits which he recently found out about. He didn't eat meat. "I'd rather stave than eat that!"

"You will eat it or I will force it down your throat, wolf!" The guard yelled.

Sonic growled at the guard, grabbing hold of the bars and glaring at him. "I told you I'm not a wolf! I'm a vampire! I won't eat meat I drink blood!"

"From what I hear, you're a damn hybrid. So that means you're both. Now eat the damn meat!"

"I don't wanna!" Sonic yelled back, letting go of the bars and turning his back to the guard, nose in the air. He was being stubborn and Tails knew that. The guard had just about had it with Sonic and looked ready to go into the cell and force-feed it to him.

"Enough!" Sally yelled.

The guard and Sonic both turned their heads to look at Sally. The guard got on a knee and bowed before the princess and she just rolled her eyes as did Sonic. He never got that treatment when he was prince of vampires.

"Leave us," Sally told the guard, who nodded and left. Sally looked at the Werehog, who tossed the meat aside.

"What do you want?" Sonic growled at her. He wasn't in the mood to be talked to by the princess of the guy who just threw him in jail.

"Tails wanted to see you, so we came down here."

Sonic unfolded his arms and approached the cell bars and bent down as Tails approached Sonic. "Hey, kiddo, how you holding up?"

Tails shrugged his shoulders at Sonic. "As good as I can get, I suppose." Sonic frowned at that and sighed, knowing the fox wasn't used to bullies.

Tails noticed his brother's expression and sighed as well. Sally smiled.

"I'll leave you two to visit," she said, and walked out of the room.

"I'm sorry," Sonic said, regret in his voice. "I shouldn't have let you go alone."

Tails smiled at Sonic to try and cheer him up. "You didn't know I'd get attacked, Sonic."

"But I'm supposed to protect you. What kind of older brother let his younger brother get beaten up like that?" Sonic asked, ears bending back. "Now, people think you're a freak."

Tails looked down, but then looked back up and put a hand on Sonic's; a smile in his face. "That's another thing we have in common. We're both freaks of nature." With that Sonic smiled back at Tails.

Tails chuckled, but sighed. He didn't like being called a freak. Not after those bullies had said it to him.

Sonic put her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. "Hey, if anybody's a freak here ... it's me. You're one of a kind, bud." Tails could feel tears full his eyes and sniffed. Sonic could always cheer him up when he was feeling down, especially after what happened. A smile came to his face and he nodded. Sonic grinned and gave a thumbs up. "Now, stop thinking that about yourself, because once I'm out if here, I'm not gonna let you outta my sight again," Sonic told Tails

The fox chuckled at what Sonic said. "Okay, but as long as you don't think lowly of yourself of either," Tails told Sonic.

The hedgehog blinked and rubbed the back of his head, nervously. "S...Sure."

Tails smiled and saw a guard walk up. "It's time for you to go," he told Tails.

Tails blinked and sighed, standing up and smiling at Sonic. "Thanks for the talk. I'll see you again tomorrow sometime."

Sonic waved at him, smiling too. "Thanks for coming to see me, bro. You don't need bother seeing me everyday. I'll be fine."

Tails looked at him in worry and Sonic saw a hint of fear in his eyes. "But you can if you want to."

The Werehog smiled and watched him leave, then leaned back against the wall of his cell.