Um... The writer's a "she", everybody. And no, Sonic won't kill himself, I swear. Anyway, enjoy!
Sonic leaned against a tree, panting for breath as he slowly slid down the trunk so that he sat in the dirt at its roots. How there were even trees down here was beyond him, but it wasn't something he took the time to ponder. He sucked in more air, wincing at how dry and painful his throat was. He was so exhausted. His body hurt. His heart ached. And yet, as soon as he could breathe normally again, he forced himself to stand. I can't give up. Knuckles was still out there. Sonic was sure of it. The fact that he hadn't seen any hint of his friend meant nothing. He just hadn't searched in the right places yet, that was all. That had to be it. What other reason could there possibly be? There was no way Knuckles was dead. It just wasn't possible.
However, Sonic readily acknowledged the fact that Robotnik could be dead. In fact, he very much hoped that the man was dead. This is all his fault. The young hedgehog did his best to drown out the small voice in the back of his mind that reminded him that it was his emerald that had caused all of this. When he'd begun thinking of the Emeralds as his, he honestly had no idea. But they certainly weren't Robotnik's. Still, the fact remained that he himself had found them, thus allowing Robotnik to get ahold of one. His gaze drifted to the hazy sky, which was still filled with ash and smoke and dust, giving it a dull orangeish-brown color. The air near the ground was little better. It was almost painful to breathe. Despite it being mid-morning by now, it was dark. Behind the thick clouds, the sun was little more than a dim yellow-orange ball. Looking down, Sonic wondered if he would ever truly see the sun again, shining down in a blue sky like it had always done before now, like it was always supposed to do.
It was then that he thought to wonder where the Chaos Emerald Robotnik had stolen was now. He stretched his senses to the limit to try to locate it, only to find that he couldn't feel any of the Emeralds. They're all gone, then? He frowned down at the ground. I'll have to find them all over again. Or... maybe not. As he lifted his eyes and gazed off into the horizon, he found himself feeling... relieved that they were gone. He considered the damage they had caused, the destruction they had wrought, the lives they had taken, the evil they had empowered. His frown deepened. Perhaps it would be better if they remained lost.
SUPER short, but I feel it's fairly important. Posted 02-14-15.