THE SAVED AND THE SUFFERING
A/N- Chapter four! I'm getting back into the flow of writing…yay!
Okay, this may shock and/or horrify you but…I don't own Sonic or his company! SEGA owns Sonic and all those other people. Celestial and I own all the others though.
As the female hedgehog that Knuckles had encountered earlier walks casually away, she turns back and notices that the echidna who had refused her of helping him was having a large amount of difficulty. She stops and watches his limp form slump to the lush grassy ground.
After debating with herself for a short time of whether or not to help him she soon decides that the better choice is indeed to assist the injured and unconscious male. "I guess I shouldn't just leave him here to rot." The hedgehog walks over to him. She grabs hold of both of his arms and drags him a few feet. The icy blue female then attempts to hoist him over her shoulder and try to carry him. She makes sure not to poke him with her quills as they are twisted upwards. (Like Shadow's) This works rather easily for a short while, but he starts to get extremely heavy and her legs beg her to stop and rest as his body weight begins to become too much for her to hold up.
Following many long and antagonizing minutes, tired steps, and difficulties of carrying the echidna, the hedgehog arrives at a small camp area surrounded by thick forest and a long way from the beach where she had recently been.
The blue female lets the crimson red echidna's body fall unassisted to the ground. It makes an audible thump as Knuckles hits the firm dirt ground, landing on his side. Blood still leaks out of his body at a steady rate and must be stopped soon if he is to live.
There is a large; forest green colored tent a few feet away. Near it there are a few weapons, black in color, glinting in the scattered sunlight. There are also a few covered knives on the ground. The hedgehog leaves the red echidna alone on the ground for a few minutes and enters the tent.
While she is inside the shelter, a pair of eyes in the distance watch the motionless male lying on the forest floor. The one that the eyes belong to slowly moves closer to the camp area.
Suddenly, the female hedgehog comes back out of the tent and the eyes disappear into a thicket of trees. She walks over to Knuckles and drags him into the tent.
Inside the tent there are two hammocks. The hedgehog puts the male echidna onto one of them and starts to treat his grave wounds.
Much later, Knuckles' purple eyes flutter open. He is lying on the same bunk that the hedgehog had formerly set him on. He is covered in a thin, white sheet and there are bandages wrapped around his head, back, and part of his neck. He tries to sit up but feels a burning ache. The male decides to stay lying down as to keep the pain at a minimum. He simply lies there, looking at the tent around him, wondering where he is or who had brought him here.
In a short while his rescuer comes into the tent. She is dressed in black jeans, a black shirt, and there are a few bracelets and devices on her wrists. "You're up," she says with a hint of happiness in her tone. She looks at him with her sharp sapphire eyes, outlined in raven black fur. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay I guess," says Knuckles quietly. "Um…where am I? What's going on and how did I get here?"
"Well, first of all, I think you'd want to know the name of your savior," remarks the hedgehog with a smirk. "My name is Silhouette and my friends call me Sil for short."
"And my name is Knuckles," says the crimson echidna. "Will you be so kind as to answer my other questions now?" Knuckles becomes annoyed with his lack of information.
"Our location is South Island," states Silhouette. "And-"
"South Island?" Knuckles cuts off the blue hedgehog, giving her a quizzical look.
"Yeah…South Island," she repeats.
"How did I get here though?" questions the echidna. "I never came to South Island…"
"Well…I brought you here," says the female. "To the tent…but the island…?"
"So you don't have any idea how I arrived on the island?"
"Not at all."
"Oh…okay then," says Knuckles, puzzled.
"Sorry that I couldn't help anymore," says Silhouette. She begins to leave. "I'll let you rest some more. You need it."
"Wait…" says Knuckles.
"What?" Silhouette stops and looks back at him.
"Um…thanks," mumbles the ruby colored male.
"You're welcome," says Sil just as quietly and smiles just barely as she exits the tent.
The place where research and other unknown things are done on echidnas is just a few miles away from Knuckles and Silhouette's location. Knuckles does not know very much about the facility or what exactly goes on there, all he knows is that it's dangerous to be there if you are an echidna. Silhouette on the other hand knows more than most other furries.
She sits outside next to the small amount of weapons. The female holds a little piece of paper and smiles just barely. Her eyes hold sadness though. A deep sadness that has never been consoled, that has never been healed or close to it. Her mind still heavily scarred from that night not so long ago…
Sil lets her mind focus in and out of reality. She lets her memory rest but she never forgets what she lost. Her eyes fill with tears but refuses to let them spill out, refuses to cry over something that is gone forever, something that she can never get back. Something she will have to live without…
"You stupid retard…" she says with a melancholy happiness. Silhouette puts what appears to be a small photo of someone back into her pocket.
Oo00oxXx
/Research Facility/
A maroon female echidna with long dreadlocks walks silently down a metal covered hallway with numerous doors leading in and out of certain rooms. She looks rather laid back with nothing on her mind. Her clothes are very ragged and blood stained, torn in some spots. She appears to be quite fine until a bell sounds throughout the whole area. Her eyes dilate and she suddenly quickens her pace, soon breaking into a quick run. Her worn sneakers making audible taps on the glinting steel floor.
Her tan muzzle begins to grow pale and her yellow eyes quickly change to the emotion of fear. Sweat begins to bead on her forehead as she sprints down the never-ending hall. The soft light at the end is her goal. She must get there before it's too late…before she is too late.
As her destination grows near she slows down a bit and reaches it. The echidna walks into a large, white room. Seated at multiple rows of tables are several other echidnas. As she disturbs the peacefulness and order of the room the attention is turned to her. She walks quickly over to her seat, her heart pounding furiously against her ribs, using them as a drum.
"So nice of you to join us Cinder," says a male's voice through an intercom system. The owner of the voice is not seen anywhere, however. "I'll be seeing you after this announcement is through."
Cinder glowers down at her hands as the voice continues to speak to everyone. She pays no attention to the information being given. She knows that she will not need it, as she'll be doing things other than drills. How could she have been so stupid? She knew exactly when to be there and yet she was late…again… The maroon female begins to quiver slightly. As she does this, an arm is put around her. She looks up at the male who had done this.
It was her brother. She was in such a hurry to arrive that she had not noticed him. He-like Cinder- has long dreadlocks, only they are sooty black along with the rest of his body. His ruby eyes hold compassion for Cinder as he tries to comfort her. The voice on the intercom stops abruptly and all the others
get up and file out of the room.
Cinder's brother sighs and gets up. "Is there a reason for why you were late?"
Cinder gets up as well and they begin to walk out. "Not a good one," confesses the female. "I was on my way and the signal suddenly sounded…I ran as fast as I could but I still couldn't make it in time." Cinder's eyes fill with tears. "Why does this keep happening, Pyre? I'm sick of this…all that ever happens to me is bad."
"Cinder…" says Pyre. "Let's try to look a bit more on the bright side."
"There is nothing good about any of this," says the female stubbornly as she nears the room feared by all echidnas that dwell in the building.
"We do get to learn all the best fighting moves," he says with a small smile. "I know you like that."
This does not make Cinder smile though, as she has just reached the door leading to the source of all her physical pain. Her brother watches, feeling helpless, as she walks in with a look of defeat written all over her face. Pyre walks away slowly back to his room, knowing that he will need to help his younger sister when she returns. If she does.
Cinder enters the room silently and is greeted by a baneful voice.
"You've been so late for everything for a while now," says the same voice from the intercom. "What have you been up to?" The male sits in the shadows of the dark room. The walls are painted deep crimson and the only light that is being shed is from a lone purple candle sitting on a small black marble table near Cinder. The golden-orange light being emitted from the candle dances across the highly polished marble. "Well, you know the drill. Go in through that door. Maybe this time you'll remember the lesson that you are taught."
Next to the maroon echidna is a metal door leading into a white and completely empty room. She glares at the shadowed male before walking into the room, trying desperately to hide her terror and panic that seem to be creeping up on her. She stands very still once entering the room and then standing in the middle of it. Cinder takes slow deep breaths, trying to keep herself under control.
"Put your arms out," says a monotone voice. She does so, knowing that she cannot resist. It would simply make it much worse for her if she ever did or anyone else for that matter. Cinder lets out a nervous and shaky sigh.
A metal machine materializes around her. There is a platform where she stands and coming out of the platform are four snake-like metal cords with large silver rings attached to the very end. The rings slide onto her upper arms and upper legs, all four having one appendage to itself.
Cinder braces herself for pain. This method of punishment had never been used on her before and she knows that it will probably be worse than what she has ever endured before. Each time she is called to this room her injuries and memories only grow more painful as well as in number.
The rings are smooth and cold against her maroon fur and nothing is happening yet. She is wondering if the device will possibly try to stretch her body to the point of breaking or try to pull her joints out of their sockets. In a moment she is wishing that it had been going to do that.
Razor sharp spikes suddenly shoot out of the insides of the rings and bite into her flesh. Her warm blood seeps through her already battered T-shirt and drips onto the snow-white colored tiled floor, coloring it scarlet. Her eyes water and tears threaten to fall from her eyes, and her teeth are clenched so tightly that a crowbar could not get them apart.
The spurs begin to spin ever so slowly, causing Cinder immense pain. She cries out from the intense suffering. The fur and flesh is torn away from the ringed areas of her legs and arms. Blood spills and drips out of the new wounds and covers the metal torturing mechanism and her clothes become soaked in the scarlet fluid. The crimson liquid pools around the platform. The thick needles start to spin faster, removing more of her flesh, causing more pain, and digging deeper into her limbs. Her pain filled screams rent through the whole area, reminding the other echidnas that this is their punishment for being late or disobeying the rules.
Salvation never reaches the female while she is still aware of the world around her. Blood loss and agony cause her to pass out. Her body hangs limp, being held up by the vile instruments of torture. The rings split almost in half and Cinder falls to the ground in a heap.
The hoops are full of the echidna's lifeblood and fur, the spikes still hold small chunks of flesh that were just ripped off of her body. The machine used to torment fades away just the way it had appeared.
The fall had awoken the female and brought her back into her world of hurt and distress. Cinder is face down in a large pool of her own blood. She tries to get up and find a place where she can have shelter and will feel safe, an asylum. She must get to her brother and her friends, as they will help her. Her legs and arms scream in agony and her head spins. Her chest falls and rises abnormally and her breathing becomes ragged and uneven. She crawls sluggishly to the door and uses the doorway to help herself sustain a standing position.
She leaves a drunken stripe of deep red fluid across the floor and walls that she used for support. In time she finds her room where her brother is waiting for her. The maroon echidna falls into the room with a loud thump and Pyre is by her side in an instant. His eyes widen at the bloody sight. He had hoped this would never be done to her as it had to him. He still had the deep scars to prove it too, and his fur was thin there as well.
"Pyre," whispers Cinder while wincing in pain.
"Cinder…what is it?"
"Thank…you…" Cinder falls unconscious from her weakness and over exertion. The male echidna carries her to a bed and lies her down, knowing he could very well lose his sibling, the only one that he cared for, that he had ever cared for.
A light green echidna runs rapidly into the small dark room with white bandages. "Did you need me here sooner?" asks the female in a panicky tone. Her orange eyes meet Cinder in her horrifying state.
"She's in really bad shape," states Pyre. "We need to stem the flow of the blood and we need to do it fast…"
A/N- Haha! I'm so mean ending it here! Just be thankful I didn't end it somewhere worse! Did it suck though? Please tell me in a review! I'll have the next chapter up soon as long as I get some reviews!
