Notes: I'll try and update more often now, but no promises. That goes for all a'my stories.

It's almost summer vacation, so hopefully I'll be uploading all the time then.

Warning: Implied violence.

Rated: T because story.

Uploaded:5/17/13

Sacrifices of the Heart Chapter 14

Broken Skin

Sonic walked slowly through the trees, his friends leading. He hadn't been worried about the lack of sleep he had gotten a few hours ago, when he had woken up, but that had changed. He was exhausted. Forcing his feet to move faster so as to not hint at his lack of energy, he squeezed his eyes shut.

This had been a stupid choice.

He shouldn't have wasted time thinking when he could have been sleeping. It had been a little while since he had felt the to familiar feeling of rage bubble up inside him, and now that his mind was tired, he could feel that anger creeping up on him. He didn't want to snap in front of his friends, but as he felt himself falter, he realized he had to make a decision.

He could say nothing, black out, and explode in front of his friends, or say something, get them to back off, and rage to an empty forest.

He liked the second choice.

"Tails," he rasped, and watched as a few heads turned, but the ecstatic fox leader kept walking. He called louder, "Tails!" The volume of his own cry forced his feet to stop moving and his eyes to clench shut as he held his head.

This immediately set off warning bells in everyone's heads.

Tails turned, and when he saw Sonic, he immediately ran to his side.

"Sonic? What's wrong?"

After taking a deep breath, Sonic forced his eyes opened and raised his head, "You all need to leave. Now."

Tails looked up at him confused, "What? How come?"

Pain flashed through Sonic's head, and he flinched, his eyes shutting again. Amy and Chip rushed towards him.

"Sonic? What's wrong? Why do you want us to leave?" Amy cried, her voice sending jolts of pain through Sonic's skull. He looked up at Chip, pleading for the little sprite to understand.

He did.

And when the look of realization flickered across his face, tears flashed in his eyes.

"Tails. We have to go. Now." Tails looked at Chip, and seeing his tears, held his tongue.

"Please," Chip continued, "We need to leave, now. You need to trust me."

Tails growled under his breath, and turned to face his friends, "We're leaving." He directed his words at Chip, "How…how far away should we get?"

Chip looked at Sonic, who was folding in on himself, and his eyes widened, "A long ways away! We need to go now!"

So they ran, and even the densest of those among them realized what was going on. And they couldn't help but wonder how often this would happen, and what the toll would be. But they couldn't focus on that right then. Their feet slammed into the dirt ground as they hastened to put as much distance between them and Sonic as possible in the time they had.

They just wished they knew how much time that was.

Sonic struggled past the trees, leaning on them for support as he tried to greaten the distance between him and his friends. He was relieved that Chip had gone with them, so he wouldn't be hurt, but at the same time the thought that the little sprite had left him sent a pang of hurt through his chest.

He heard a crunch, and wasn't surprised to see that he had destroyed a tree off to his right. Clenching his teeth shut, he bit back the howl of anger that he desperately wanted to release. He had to get away from his friends. He had to let his rage out or it would consume him, but he couldn't let his friends be hurt in the process.

He heard a rustling in the space beside him, and on instinct lasted out. His fist slammed roughly into the trunk of a tree, and he saw a person flicker into being on his other side.

Shadow.

Sonic growled before clenching his fists, trying to stifle the panic that had sputtered to life upon seeing his friend. Shadow watched him for a moment, before growling himself and lashing out himself at a fallen tree, denting it with each blow that landed.

And Sonic realized that Shadow understood what he was feeling. He had been angry long before he was, and he felt his mouth moving, "Does it help?"

Shadow growled, before his eyes flickered to Sonic's face.

"No."

And then Sonic's vision went black, and a howl burst past his teeth.

And he felt his claws tear through skin.