Grassblade
By - Madness

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A/N: My first Sonic the Hedgehog fic. But don't worry...I have it allll in here *points to head*. So let's mosey!

BTW....this takes place in the earlier days...you know, when the games of STH went up to Sonic and Knuckles (for Sega Genesis). I don't remember the Freedom Fighters; henceforth, they don't exist. =T It's just Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Robotnik [Eggman], and...a special guest. ^_~ Oh, and I put in Shadow too, just for kicks. I don't entirely know *his* story, though...so I kinda improvised. Don't hurt me. OOC may be here.

Disclaimer: t_t Derf.
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CHAPTER ONE

Sonic stared up at the sky wistfully. It had been precisely 3 months after that grueling ordeal with Robotnik and his plan to capture the emeralds...for like the 17th time now. It was indeed time for a looooong break, and Sonic was more than willing to indulge.

"Sonic?"

Of course, he wasn't alone. He never would have made it past another one of Robotnik's schemes without his best friend Miles "Tails" Prower. Sonic turned to his friend.

"Yeah?"

Tails's eyes were glued to the ground. "Do you think Knuckles is still against us?"

Sonic had desperately hoped not. As an enemy, the guardian of the master emerald proved to be a great match to Sonic. Then again, it was highly unlikely that Knuckles *was* against them anymore.

"Nah, I don't think so, man. He hasn't tried to get us off this island, so I don't think there's a problem between us anymore." Sonic assured him, and Tails sighed.

"I know, but it's been really quiet for a while now. It doesn't feel right," He looked up at Sonic with worried eyes. "Maybe Robotnik is planning something again!!"

"Don't worry!!" Sonic patted Tails on the back, "I'm sure everything's fine! Besides....."

A tremor in the ground interrupted him for a second, but he brushed it off quickly. "...er...and besides, there can't...."

The ground began to shake more violently, and Sonic and Tails froze.

"S-Sonic....I told you...!!"

"Calm down, man!"

The ground beneath them began to split; the rocks began to shift in different directions...and Tails was basically freaking out.

"I told you! I told you! I knew Knuckles was still against us!!!!" Tails covered his eyes. "Darnit...now we have to fight against him again..."

A different voice answered him. "No you're not."

Sonic and Tails blinked simultaneous, momentarily forgetting about the violent earthquake. They turned around to see a cat; not just an ordinary cat, though. This cat had brown fur with sharp black stripes; her tresses were as black as night, and her eyes were as silver as the bracelets she wore around her slender wrists. Her clothes were merely red robes draped over her form. Her distinguishing feature, though, was that of a golden ring which was delicately attached to a silver chain which in turn was connected to her left ear, as sort of a long earring.

She smiled at them. "Don't worry, I don't believe Knuckles is against you two anymore. He knows he was tricked by Robotnik, and therefore he doesn't believe Robotnik's lies anymore."

Sonic gaped. "H-how do you know so much about...." he cut himself off, and the cat grinned at him cheerfully.

"I'll tell you later," she promised them, "But first, we should go talk on another island. This one is ready to fall to the sea."

"The SEA?" Tails gasped, "But I thought....wasn't it..."

"The Master Emerald was stolen, but only a fragment of it remains on the island that I reside on. It's not far away I assure you! But I suggest we go there immediately; I know that Sonic cannot swim."

Sonic glowered at that, but Tails grew suspicious of the cat and her knowledge. "Fine. We'll go. But before that..!"

The cat, who had already begun to leave, glanced back at the fox. "Yes, Tails?"

Tails opened his mouth to speak...but didn't. Sonic knew what Tails had wanted to ask the cat, though. "He...I mean, *we* want to know your name first!"

The cat smiled again. "It's best if you leave this island *right away*. If I tell you my name, it'll only delve further into an explanation...and I don't want that right now. Please follow me."

"We won't ask questions...." Tails responded, but Sonic brushed it off.

Sonic grabbed Tails by the wrist. "How are we getting off this island?"

"How else?" the cat pointed to her left. "In that direction is a connecting tunnel to the next island -- the island on which I reside. If we get there quickly, then..."

"Quickly!?" Sonic's chest puffed up arrogantly, "Don't make me laugh! You just leave it to me, miss, and we'll be there even faster than a measly 'quickly'!" And with that, he tossed the cat over his shoulder and sped off to find the tunnel.

Once there, they entered the tunnel and made it to the next island before it was disconnected.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Eventually, the island that Sonic and Tails had been spending their vacation on sank to the sea, just as the cat had said. And now, it was time for her to answer a few questions of theirs.

Tails, who was still very hesitant about trusting the cat, began to interrogate her relentlessly. "What is your name?! Where did you come from?! How do you know so much about us!? How did you know that the Master Emerald was stolen, unless *you* stole it?!"

"What!?" The cat took a startled step back, "That's ridiculous! Why would I steal an emerald that was the basis of the floating islands state? The emerald keeps the islands from sinking...and I *live* on these islands!"

"But then why isn't *this* island sinking...?" Sonic questioned, growing more suspicious himself.

"Because..." the cat sighed, and shook her head, "It's a long story...all I could say is that I managed to snare a shard of the Master Emerald before it was stolen."

"Why??" Tails and Sonic asked simultaneously. he cat facefaulted.

"I'll explain later." she promised, and she turned away from them to stare at the sky. She crossed her arms in front of her; her black, chin-length, dead straight locks waved in the wind. "I hope it doesn't get dark soon..."

Sonic stared at her for a moment, inwardly trying to convince himself that she was not his enemy at all. 'But she knows so much...it's hard to call.'

He even stopped himself from thinking that she was beautiful.

Still, he asked her, "What is your name...?"

Her eyes tore away from the sky, and she looked at him with an almost soft gaze. "My name is Kitsune...and I know, I KNOW my name means 'fox' in a certain language....but I guess my people are just funny like that. Heh...for a cat to be called a fox is kinda awkward, anyway."

"I like it." Sonic said helpfully (and a little too eagerly).

Tails glared at him. Of course, his older brother-figure was naturally a sucker for a pretty face. But being only 8 years old, Tails just wasn't a part of it. He cleared his throat loudly, startling both of them.

Kitsune sighed. "I guess I should say...that we should find Knuckles now."

"No!" Tails insisted, "You still have to explain to us why you know so much!"

"Okay, okay," she said slowly, and decided to sit down on the soft green grass. "As you can tell, I come from a family of cats. Well....actually...I'm one of the last of my kind. My ancestors...they...um...." she hesitated.

Sonic's eyebrows furrowed. "They what?"

Kitsune looked up at the sky again. "They're a little too pushy."

Sonic and Tails sweatdropped. "Um...yeah?"

"Yeah, and...to tell the truth, I come from a long line of ring makers. That's basically the extent of my ancestors' work."

Sonic almost laughed. 'Okay, so her ancestor makes rings. That's not so weird...' he eyed the bracelets around Kitsune's wrists. 'She must've made those. Not bad!'

"Okay, we believe you, Kits." Sonic told her, and Tails sighed. "So, uh...you said we should go find Knuckles?"

"Yes. We should."

"You know where he is?"

"Not too far from here."

Sonic tossed Kitsune over his shoulder again, this time holding back a blush. Kitsune directed him to Knuckle's place. "To your northeast, and then once past the carved wooden bridge, take a sharp right turn down past the clovers."

"Gotcha."

As Sonic sped in the direction Kitsune gave him, they spoke along the way (cuz...it really wasn't as close as she thought..).

"So, Kits...you make rings, too, then?" Sonic asked, dodging a boulder in the middle of the road.

"I'm learning. I'm only 16 years old...even though I've been training for as long as I could remember. It's not easy at all, but I manage...with the aid of the emeralds of course."

"Oh." Sonic didn't hear her last sentence as he was partly concentrating on where he was running to. "Uh....why do we have to find Knuckles again?"

"Cuz he asked me to find you two while he protected the remaining floating island."

"Ohh, so THAT'S how you know us. You asked Knuckles!"

"Well...he told me all about you guys! But still...I find it strange that you didn't question me about my ancestors and ring making all too much."

"What's there to ask?" Sonic slowed down a little bit, not wanting to admit that he took a wrong turn somewhere. Damn clovers.

"Don't you find ring making....different?"

"Uh..." he thought about it, "not really...I mean, I think it's cool that you make bracelets and stuff."

"Rings! Gold ones!" Kitsune shook her head, "I MEANT that we make those golden rings!!"

Sonic screeched to a halt, accidently causing Kitsune to fall off his shoulder and hit the ground with a 'thud'. "W-what did you say that you make?"

"Golden rings. Those things that are energy sources...I'm the last creator of them. I already told you that I needed the emerald to make them!"

"B-but...." Sonic stuttered, not understanding a word of it. How could a mere cat make those RINGS?? Soon, Tails caught up to them.

"You always go too fast when you don't have to, Sonic!!!" Tails complained, and then Sonic told him the news.

"You make the golden rings?"

"I guess it's hard to explain...which is why we need to find Knuckles now! We can explain more later!"

"What's with the whole 'Knuckles' thing? Why is he so important to you?" Tails asked in Sonic's place. Kitsune sighed.

"BECAUSE he's in charge of these islands AND he's the guardian of the Master Emerald. But what he *didn't* tell you guys is that he has a partner in protecting the Master Emerald AND these islands, and that person is ME!"

Sonic began to feel dizzy. What? Knuckles and some cat-girl? This didn't make sense at all. "I thought Knuckles worked alone."

"He does. Er...he *did*."

"I'm confused, Kits."

"Okay, okay, okay...I'll un-confuse you. First, my name is Kitsune, a cat who is descended from a long line of golden ring-makers. Ever wondered how those rings were made and why they existed? It's all because of my ancestors, which I will explain later! Secondly, something is *very wrong* on these islands, cuz someone stole the Master Emerald, and the islands are thereby SINKING! The only reason that this one island isn't sinking is because I managed to snag a shard of the Master Emerald before it's disappearance! Why? Because, like I said before, I need the aid of an emerald to make the rings...so I was gonna make some rings when the Master Emerald was stolen, but now I *can't* because then this island would sink. THIRDLY, I am Knuckles' partner on these islands because we both need eachother in different ways -- he needs a friend to protect the islands and emeralds with, and I needed a friend AND some emerald power to make the rings!! GET IT??" :::DEEP INHALE:::

Sonic blinked. "Okay."

Tails nodded. "Yeah, let's go see Knuckles now then."

Kitsune sighed heavily. "GREAT. Let's go. And I wish to never have to explain that ever again."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Robotnik sat in his flying...er...whatever it is, and stared at his computer screen for a long time. Simply surveying the area. Simply plotting a new scheme to kill Sonic. Nothing was different, everything was just as usual.

....okay, truth was, he had sent out one of his latest and best men to get the Master Emerald for him. Shadow, a hedgehog that so closely resembled Sonic that it wasn't even funny (except for the black fur and red stripes...), seemed to have succeeded as he entered Robotnik's chamber almost immediately.

"Robotnik."

The crazed doctor turned to him and scowled. "Did you bring the emerald??"

"Of course! That dumb echidna didn't even get the chance to notice that his precious emerald was being stolen right from under his nose."

"Excellent!" Robotnik put a hand to his chin and rubbed the mound thoughtfully, "...you did not run into problems, however? I hear that Knuckles has gained an ally while I was in the 'rebuilding stage'."

"Oh yes. Her." Shadow closed his eyes to think. 'She was there...I remember just staring at that one... Man, she looked so serious with those eyes. She'll be sure tell Knuckles about me.'

"Well?"

"She happened to catch me in the process of the great theft."

Robotnik impatiently tapped the side of his seat. "I hope you know what I want you to do with her." With that, he raised his free hand and made a slicing motion across his throat. "And do it before she gets to *Sonic*, even."

Shadow smirked. "She's probably already told."

"Do whatever it takes. Capture her, torture her to no end, even use her as a bait for Sonic....I like those ideas...."

Shadow stared at him before responding. "Do whatever I please?"

Robotnik rubbed his hands together. "Whatever you wish."

~~~
A/N: ^^;; Wow. Came out longer than I expected. So, whatcha think? And BTW...I don't know where Shadow came from *originally*, cuz I don't have the game...but I *do* know that he was 'made'. So, uh, I improvised. Sorry if it doesn't go accordingly with the games.

R/R !! =D