DISCLAMIER: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog in any way. Sega does.

Pink: Hi everyone!

Diet: Again? He really doesn't learn…

Cherry: WHIPPED TOPPINGS!

Pink: …..right. Anyway, it's time for yet another chapter of a "Whisper in the Winds." Tails gets a bit more attention in this one, but nothing to horribly in-depth yet. Maybe next chapter?

Diet: Odd, considering the authors favorite StH character is Tails…

Pink: Yes…. And also, thanks again to Cimmerian for reviewing! The author assures me this is going somewhere, don't worry!

Diet: Suuuuure it is. Right, he knows exactly where he's going.

Pink: Well, anyway, enjoy the show, and don't burn your eyes out! ^_^

Cherry: ….. I did nothing in this…..

Day. Night. They have no meaning at this hour. It is not the second day, nor the second night. It is a kind of twilight. Look at the sky. You see a sky somehow black and inky, yet a deep, rich blue at the same time. This is the sky the children of light live under in this hour. Is it not beautiful? Is it not as a dream?

Is it not a dream itself?

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"A Whisper in the Winds", a Sonic the Hedgehog Fanfic by A Lonely Gray Kitsune

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It was beautiful, this world, this landscape she had created. Soft, warm green grass blanketed a landscape blessed by a sliver sun. One tree of white bark and leaf rose up from the otherwise flat landscape. And under that tree was…

"Shadow!" A young, female voice rang out, a voice full of a newborn elation and joy.

A girl pink of fur and red of cloth ran up to the black mass which sat under this tree, a bizarre contrast to the tree. The mass moved, revealing crimson eyes, a pair of scarred, yet happy globes. A smile from the black one.

"Shadow…" the girl said, relief and happiness singing out in her voice.

"Amy." The black one returned, his voice telling of a waiters whose wait had ended, with more than favorable results.

The girl of light embraced the shadow, tears running down her face. He was here. The dark being she had longed for, for so long it felt. They were together now, under a sliver sun. Warm. Comforted. Together. These were all the things they wanted, and all the things they needed. Now, they were happy…

But the grass turned a dull, dead yellow, and the sun fell to the earth, dim and cold. The tree rotted and turned a sickly purple and in an instant, the warm and beautiful landscape was replaced by a mat of deformed, cold death.

The child of light watched all of this in horror. And the dark angel, with scarred red globes, globes just moments before filled with happiness, was no more than ash blowing on a hollow breeze.

"….no…" tears fell again, but not ones of joy.

It was gone. The light, the joy. The love. And she was alone, just as when she could truly be called young. Alone.

ALONE.

"NOOOOO!!!!"

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Awaken. And what does she see? The rain as subsided for the time. A black and blue sky of night, yet it is not, it only appears as such.

Amy sighed. She hated her dreams as much as she loved them. They were so real… she could feel the warmth of the grass beneath her feet, drink in the silver light of a sun, and…. she could see her shadowed angel, breath in his scent; see him… hear him….

Tears came unbidden from emerald globes, globes rife with pain and loneliness. She was beginning to hate existing itself, if waking offered no comfort, and her dreams only tortured her with tastes of what could have been real.

Another sigh. Perhaps that tree would still be there….

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Sonic lay upon a bench in the same park that harbored that tree. It allowed for leaning, it could almost be used as a bed, if need be. Sonic had no need for a bed; sleep was the last thing he wished to obtain. He hated his dreams. They showed him visions of an angel in red, with brown furred wings, a being perfect in every manner, something that made him whole in a way he had wanted for so long. He also loved his dreams.

But, all that's all they were, dreams. They weren't real. This begged the question: was she real? Sonic was terrified of the answer. What if she wasn't? God, he needed her. She gave her something he had never felt, something he needed in order to breathe properly. What if she was no more than an illusion? A picture that could walk and talk and pretend to be capable of love, yet have no soul, and give no true love? The thought of it terrified him more than a thousand of Eggman's armies. The thought of it is why he did not notice the blue furred girl sit down next to him.

"Hiyas!" A friendly voice greeted.

"Huh!?" instantly the troubled blue hedgehog was snapped out of his revere.

"Hi." She greeted him. She seemed happy to see him, and carried a level of affection reserved for very close friends, or perhaps even lovers.

Sonic did not know what to make of this, so he returned an uncertain, "Hi."

"How are you?" a friendly question, but one she obviously wanted answered.

"I'm…fine." He then decided to take in her appearance: A pretty looking cat furry of light blue fur and eyes. Hair of the same color fell down to the middle of her back. A light purple t-shirt and black pants adorned her, along with black boots. Quite normal, in fact the oddest thing about her was the white necklace around her neck….

"You're not okay." She stated. There was no arguing, it was a fact to her.

"Why do you care?" Sonic replied with a simple question, no hidden tones or hints towards thanks at her caring or annoying at it.

She just smiled.

"Look, I do have a lot on my mind. Could you just go?"

The smile faded. "You're seeing an angel."

To say Sonic's interest jumped would be an understatement. His expression remained the same, but his eyes told of an eagerness to know more.

"You don't know if she's real, and fear that she's not. You cannot enjoy the time you spend together because you don't know if it is truly happening."

"Y-yes…" Sonic was now transfixed upon this seemingly normal girl.

"Let me ask you something." She said it with honesty, as though expecting either possible response.

Sonic said nothing, but merely nodded.

"Does it matter?"

"What?" the question caught Sonic off guard.

"Does it matter if it's real?"

"Yes." He said with complete conviction.

She nodded, seeming to need no more of an answer than that.

"Have hope." She said, her affectionate demeanor returning, "She may just be more real than you think." With that she gave a smile that could have lit up a black hole. She got up.

"Wait."

She looked down at the blue hero.

"What's your name?"

She just smiled. And then she was gone, as though she had never been.

Silence was all that left Sonic. Was this a dream as well?

Did it matter?

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The grass seemed bright somehow, under the black and blue sky. It was little comfort to the girl curled up under the tree. She sat there, alone. She hated it, being alone. She was alone as a child, but at least then she could take comfort in inanimate objects, her naïve mind giving them life and light. Yet that mind did not comprehend that it's only friends already had minds, and these minds mocked her, patronized her. Imagine how happy this mind must have been when it found that out.

And just like that, she was alone. Cold and alone. So, she latched onto the first thing that was warm: a blue land cowboy known as Sonic the Hedgehog. And she chased him! How she chased him. She did so, because it made her feel warm, or at least she could ignore the cold. Then, she realized she was unwanted by this comfort, this person. Not that she could blame him, but it did not change the fact she was once again cold. Alone. Then….

Then came the being known as Shadow, a person whom also knew loneliness, and pain. But yet this angel in a demons guise knew anger! Vengeance! What could calm his soul; give him peace, if only for a short while.

Why, this pink rose, of course!

She could give him affection, a reprise from the pain, just as he could her. And for such a brief time, it was good.

But it wouldn't last. They were on opposing sides of a war that had raged for many years, and this damned them. They were pulled apart long before they wished to be parted, and next time they would meet, she would pull Shadow out a pit of cold hate, and send him to his death. She never even got the chance to kiss him goodbye….

The last she saw of his was a flash of light, as he gave himself to deaths embrace, his mission accomplished. But why? Why did he leave her? Why did he die? It wasn't fair….

More tears. This time, with far more intensity than before. Soon this turned to outright sobbing as her despair and hopelessness took her. She sat their, shaking against the tree, in darkness, just hoping, praying it would stop… but it wouldn't. She nearly collapsed inward as two are encircled her, giving light and warm to the taxed girl, who's consciousness finally gave out.

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Innocence. A trait usually gifted to children through naiveté. How lucky they are, that they can enjoy everything so purely, so happily. It is a good thing. Therefore, I always hated situations where innocence could not be enjoyed while it was had, or worse, taken away. This is probably why I felt for Tails plight as I did. He was worried, praying for his friends, losing sleep over their own blight while ignoring his own. Bless the poor boy.

Still, I do not know what he was doing out on the edge of the "runway cliff" at his home in Mystic Ruins in pouring rain, with an umbrella over his head and a portable heater next to him.

He sat, and stared at the cold, pounding rain. It had started up, and he had gone to sit out in it. Why? He liked the rain. Although the same could not be said for the sniffling rabbit girl that now looked upon him. One sniffle was promoted to a sneeze and exited.

Tails looked over, surprised. His eyes meet a pitiful site. A shivering, wet, cream colored rabbit, no older than six, looked at him in mild fear.

"Hey, you look cold…" She said nothing.

"Its warm over here, come on." He patted a spot of grass next to him and smiled warmly as the air around him.

She hesitated, and, nearly collapsing due to her shaking, walked over.

"Y-you look horrible, who long have you been out here?" he asked, more than a bit concerned and afraid for the girl.

She just huddled in between Tails and the heater, shaking.

Tails was amazed at how thoroughly soaked the girl was. Every inch of her fur was wet, and the dress she wore could have been made of water turned into cloth by an amateur sorcerer who only invoked half the spell.

"You feel okay?" he just knew she was going to come down with a fever, he just knew it…

"I…."

"Yes?" he said.

She sniffled a bit, yet did not sneeze. "I'm Cweam."

She had a lisp, Tails realized. "I'm Miles, but everyone calls me Tails." He smiled reassuringly.

She smiled a bit. "Okay...Tails."

He smiled right back. They stayed out by the heater, watching the rain. It was warmer out here than it could hope to be inside, right now.

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Deep within an endless labyrinth of steel and smoke, a single being stirred. This being was the creature know as Ivo Robotnik. He was a creature of desire. He desired power with which to create a mechanical heaven, or hell, depending on your point of view. He believed his desire would soon be sated, by a voice, a whisper.

Can you hear him, imploring, begging the voice, with a mixture of anticipation, greed, and disgust? Can you hear it whisper his name? And then…taunt him? Laugh as he screams in rage? Can you hear it?

Then can you tell me, do you think this is a portent of doom?

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AN: I wanted to break out of the sort of rut I was getting into. I think it worked, myself. This is going somewhere, basically what's supposed to be happening is set up, and in some cases, "building up steam" so to speak. Anyway… if this chapter seemed more bizarre than normal, this is because I wrote this in the early morning hours, so, nyeh.

Also, Cream will not die of pneumonia in the next chapter. Right. With that said, ja!