Miles Prower was sat on his tyre swing. He was a smart fox, but his father didn't see it. He constantly belittled him at every opportunity, especially since he had two tails. Sometimes, he would hit every single part of his son's body, leaving him unable to move for the next few hours. All of this abuse left Tails feeling unsafe all the time, even when they weren't around. But his intelligence quite often trumped his father's brawn. When his dad started calling him "Tails", the fox fully embraced the name, making him stop using the name, but it stuck with the two-tailed fox.
Right when Tails thought it couldn't get worse, his father walked out, holding a pair of shears.
"Stop wasting your time making stuff like that, Miles," Tails' dad growled. "and get back to doing your homework."
"But Dad-" Tails started.
But before he could finish his sentence, the shears cut the swing's rope in half, causing it to fall to the ground. In a state of fear, Tails ran out of the garden and into the forest.
All the fox could think of was running.
He'd been running through the forest for around 10 minutes, and his mind was still clouded with fear. When he looked behind him, his father was nowhere to be found.
After a while, the fox found a cave, deep in the forest. Thinking quickly, he ran into it for shelter, and was immediately covered in darkness. Just then, the fox heard shuffling coming from deeper in the cave.
"H-Hello?" Tails stammered. "I-Is anyone there?"
The shuffling continued. Once Tails' night vision kicked in, he couldn't believe his eyes.
A scruffy, blue hedgehog, lying on a pile of leaves.
"A-Are you okay?" Tails asked.
The hedgehog grunted, as if it was the first time in ages that he had talked to someone.
"Do you... do you live here?"
The hedgehog nodded.
"C... can you speak?"
The hedgehog paused, and nodded again.
"W-What's your name?"
"Name... Sonic..." the hedgehog stammered.
"My name's Miles Prower." Tails said. "But I like to call myself Tails."
"Tails... That's... nice name..."
"Thanks... Sonic's a nice name as well..."
For the next few hours, Tails went back to the cave, and sat with Sonic, asking questions about his life. The hedgehog either responded with a grunt or a sentence missing a few words. It was clear the hedgehog didn't like to talk at all.
But strangely, Sonic was happy around Tails. It was clear that the two tailed fox was Sonic's first friend, and the feeling was clearly mutual.
But Tails knew that Sonic was in pain nearly all the time. He was lonely. And Tails wanted to change that. He wanted Sonic to be happy. And he would do anything to put a smile on the hedgehog's face.