Disclaimer: All Sonic Characters © to Sega/Sonic Team/DIC/Archie Comics.
Fan characters belong to the writer of this fiction, which is me: Lynxia aka Patty Hendriks.

Life before and after Death

Chapter Two:

Don't Give Up

It has been days after Jenna fell of the cliff and died instantly. It also has been raining for while...

Bronx walks across a muddy trail, feeling exhausted and lifeless. He has been wandering with no food and no sleep and there doesn't seem to get an end to it. He is soaked by the pouring rain and the cold nibbles on his bones, but he keeps on going, pulling the stretcher he made out off branches along with him. It's strapped around his shoulders with old ropes, the end of the sticks dragging across the ground, leaving deep trails in the mud. Wrapped in a cloth, the lifeless body of Jenna rests on the improvised stretcher, completely wet and empty.

Bronx pants a he feels his boots sink further away into the mud and he stops for a moment to catch his breath, trying to pull himself lose. He knows what to do... He just doesn't know where to go. He has been looking for days and still hasn't found a trace of what he is looking for.

After he found Jenna's body, he took her with him with the promise he will find a way to bring her back to life. He carried her body for a while, looking for items he might be able to use and build the stretcher so she was easier to carry. Not being able to look at his fragile, yet bruised and dead Jenna, he wrapped an old blanket around her to hide her from his sight. It would be much easier to handle all this.

The bright flash of lightning which cuts through the dark sky forces him to continue his tiresome walk to a place where Jenna might be able to come to life again. He grits his teeth as he continues, the mud making sipping sounds as he pulls his feet lose by every step.

He left the village without a word... without a sign. He thought it was best to disappear without a trace to keep him and Jenna's family out of trouble. He didn't want to bare the burden of the family's grief signed across his heart. He just couldn't face the consequences of what happened and would have happened if he would have returned to the village with Jenna's soulless body.

His vision becomes blurry and he raises a clenched fist to rub his eyes to focus. He can't give up now. He needs to get where he thinks he can get help. That is if there is any help. His breath slowly escapes from between his lips and he stumbles forward as he feels his strength disappear in his legs, mud splattering everywhere as he tries to regain his balance. His head hangs low with his eyes closed, the head spikes hanging down in a depressing way and he sighs deeply, raindrops dripping down from his dark fur. He is a wreck... a tired, hungry, emotional wreck and he just can't go on anymore.

With a held back scream, he falls down on his knees and feels the tears which have been flowing as long as it has been raining. It's hopeless... The world around him spins around like the planet is crumbling apart and the rain just won't stop falling. He tilts up his head to look up towards the dark clouded sky and the glance in his eyes show he is far away with his thoughts.

His arms hang limp by his side, his gloved hands resting in the mud and now he feels the ropes around his shoulders sting through his flesh. They have been cutting as long as he walked, but it didn't bother him. Not even the blisters on his feet...

His eyes twitch once and he lowers his head again, almost having no control over the muscles in his body.

The lightning lights up the path in front of him, but all he can see are shadows dancing in front of his eyes. He feels the strength slowly slip away out of his whole body and without him even noticing it, he tumbles forward to fall into the mud. He blinks slowly as he feels the thick cold mud press against his fur and he tries to lifts up his arms to get up again, but all he can do it move his fingers a little bit. He turns his head a little so he is able to look towards the stretcher and grimaces with a painful expression across his dirty and wet face.

"Jenna... I am sorry..." he whispers with a wheezing voice and with all his might tries to raise his hand towards Jenna, knowing he won't be able to touch her. His trembling hand falls limp back into the mud and he gasps, closing his eyes as he feels he is slipping away. He has to stay awake for Jenna, because he can not break his promise to her. He just can't...

As he opens his eyes, all he can see through the blurry vision is a sharp green streak staring down at him from out the darkness around him. It glows in an evil way and even though the lightning gives away features of a creature standing by him, he feels a wave of surprise collapse down at him. All he can do is squint his eyes to bring out a very soft sound, before his head falls back in the mud. His eyelids become heavier and in the far distance he can hear sounds. Someone is there... Very close...

He tries to look back up again, but all he can see is that eerie glowing green which just keeps staring down at him. Lucky for him he is too tired to panic and without hesitation or a fight he closes his eyes, letting himself slip into the peace and darkness of the unconsciousness.

"Hey sleepyhead, wake up already!"

His eyelids feel heavy and his mind reacts like he is awakening from a dream, the voice which was talking to him as guidance to the real world. Slowly the hedgehog opens his eyes and smiles when he sees a familiar face beside him. The smile across her lips fills his chest with joy.

"Morning already?" he asks as he sits up and lifts up a hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes, looking at the grey hedgehog standing beside him.

"No, silly. It is almost evening. Have you been slacking off again?"

Bronx frowns as he stares towards the female hedgehog who giggles softly and he raises the corner of his upper lip to smirk.

"Well, I couldn't resist..."

"Yeah and I bet the Elders won't resist to punish you for falling asleep while knotting nets for the fishermen," the female hedgehog with the pink streaks across the head spines chuckles and she folds her hands together behind her back, her dress gently blowing in the wind.

Bronx lowers his head to look down at his right hand and sees he is still holding a piece of rope between his fingers. He then lets his gaze go a bit lower and sees the unfinished nets he was supposed to work on laying on the ground by his feet. He holds back a shocked gulp as he realises in how much trouble he will be in now and quickly looks back at his friend.

She looks back at him with big questioning eyes, her smile slowly fading when she catches his panicked expression. She flutters slowly with her eyes and the smile returns again. She slowly lowers herself down at the sack of sand Bronx is also sitting on and says softly," Scoot over..."

Bronx quickly gives her more space to sit down beside him, wondering what she is up to this time. He narrows his eyes in a confused way as she bends forward and takes a rope and a small part of a net in her hands. She sits back up and starts to knot the rope together with the net and remains silent, her pink eyes focused on what she is doing.

"Jenna...? What are you... doing?"

The female hedgehog looks up from her handy work when she hears Bronx and gets a sheepish grin across her lips, tossing the other side of the net she is holding towards him.

"Helping you out of trouble, as usual," she says softly and continues to knot, Bronx staring towards her with big surprised eyes. Yes, she always helps him out of trouble; he should know that by now...

He looks down at the net across his legs and then at the piece of rope he is holding and nods to himself, puffing his chest a little bit up. "Right!" he says to himself and starts to work on the net on a high tempo to catch up the time he used to sleep instead of working. He presses his lips together as he concentrates on the knotting and looks from the corner of his eyes towards Jenna, who sits beside him. There is a peaceful atmosphere around her as she sits there, knotting with a smile. She looks so innocent this way. He slows down a bit and pulls up his shoulders as he takes a deep breath to say something to her. He opens his mouth and says softly," Thank you, Jenna..."

She looks up from her work and only nods towards him, whispering," You're welcome... Just don't give up, even if it looks worse. If you just try to get where you want to go... you will make it. I swear you will."

She pats him on the shoulder to encourage him and her smile fades as she stands up from the sack, her expression suddenly looking as if she is ashamed of something. She steps backwards away from him and closes her eyes, still whispering," I have to go now... Just don't give up..."

"Jenna...?" Bronx looks up at her as he wonders what is going on and stands up to follow her. Suddenly stings of pain go through his shoulders and he isn't able to move forward anymore. He grits his teeth at the sudden happening and looks towards his shoulders, seeing ropes tight around them. They hold him there, as if he isn't allowed to leave and cuts through his flesh with every movement he tries to make. With loud gasps Bronx tries to understand what is happening and quickly looks towards Jenna who is standing far away from him in complete darkness. Their village has disappeared and all there can be seen are weird moving marking of black and red around them.

"Jenna!" Bronx screams out towards the one he loves and tries to reach with his hand towards her, feeling the pain swell in his shoulder. The ropes won't let him go and wrap even tighter around him, now also around his waist and legs," I won't give up! Darn it! Jenna, wait!"

Jenna looks sad and helpless as she gazes back towards him and slowly turns around to leave him. As she stands with her back towards him, the red markings in the darkness around them float quickly towards her, swirl around that fragile body and clutter together against the back of her head. It slowly starts to turn into flowing blood, streaming down her neck and between her shoulder blades towards the ground, creating a small pool of blood around her which becomes bigger and bigger as the blood continues to flow out from the back of her head.

Bronx's eyes are wide open, his pupils small as he stares to what is happening to his beloved Jenna and screams to get her attention, but all there is silence. With agony he watches her slump down through her knees into the pool of her very own blood and falls limp, not moving at all. Her open eyes are completely white, the pink pupils have disappeared and all there remains are tears falling down her face and mixing together with the blood. All there can be heard are the sounds of the tears falling down in the thick red liquid, echoing through the darkness.

Bronx just keeps struggling against the ropes, standing till his ankles in Jenna's blood and feeling how it rises. He just keeps screaming, crying but there is no sound of his despair to be heard.

Slowly Jenna's lifeless body disappears as the blood rises further and Bronx stops screaming and struggling, feeling he has failed to save her and that it his fault... again...

Small waves come out off nowhere and crawl across the large amount of blood into every direction. In the centre of where the waves come from, the blood starts to bowl and splutter and Bronx looks towards it, tears falling down his cheeks. Something is rising from the blood... something pure, but also something dark... It doesn't feel right.

The blood makes way for a bright glowing orb which makes its way out off the red thick liquid and hovers above it, catching Bronx's complete attention as it slowly starts to take shape of the person he knows best. Completely white and glowing brightly in the darkness around them, a transparent version of Jenna stares down at Bronx, looking unforgivably sad. She opens her mouth and her lips move as if she is saying something only towards him, but as before, it remains silent. As she closes her mouth, her voice suddenly echoes loudly inside of Bronx's head.

"Don't give up..."

She spreads her arms, laying her head back in her neck and her chest starts to glow brighter and brighter until it blinds Bronx. She lights up the darkness which held them imprisoned and the strength of the bright light almost knocks Bronx back. He stretches out his arms towards her, screaming her name, but the only thing he can hear is her voice which keeps repeating those words inside of his head. Then, with a big explosion of light all ends and there is nothing more left of all what has happened...

"Jenna!"

In a snap Bronx sits up, but as quickly as he came up, the fast he lays back down as a heavy sting of pain goes through his head. He groans loudly as he presses the palms of his hands against his eyes, trying to rub away the effect of the bright light which blinded him.

"Jenna...?"

He takes one hand away with slight hesitation, daring to look trough the protection of his eyelashes to see what happened. His fur is dry and the ground underneath him is solid, so it's obvious something has happened while he was unconscious.

He is in an empty room with in the centre the table he is laying on and from what he can see; there is no exit. The lamps which hang above him almost blind him with their bright light and everything is quiet. It's a silence which doesn't make him feel comfortable and he shifts a little bit, every muscle in his body feeling sore.

There is no sign of Jenna's body anywhere.

He feels a jolt of panic go through him when he realises this and without thinking sits up, regretting it immediately. He grabs for his head with a wince as it hurts, feeling dizzy and seeing the room spin around him.

What happened...?

"Jenna?" he whispers as he takes away his hands from the sides of his head and looks around, more questions boiling up. There is neither blood around him nor any sign of Jenna... It was just a dream... He sighs softly and covers his eyes behind his hands as he holds back a sob, whispering," it was just a dream... Oh, Jenna, where are you...?"

A soft hissing sound of air being pushed aside from out a narrow crack makes his ears twitch and quickly he tilts up his head away from his hands to see where it came from. His eyes lock onto a door which slowly slides open and he sits up more, ready to get off the table as quickly as he can if that is needed.

"Jenna..?" he asks softly as he narrows his eyes and someone steps in through the open door, looking towards him with a broad smile.

"You are awake! That's a good sign."

The voice is sweet and filled with excitement which makes Bronx stare bluntly towards the figure who doesn't walk but rolls further into the white room. Wearing skates and a tight bodysuit, a blue husky smiles towards him and he notices the sharp green glowing streak across the visor which is attached across the eyes of this creature.

He shifts a little bit as he sits there and feels uncomfortable in this current situation. The husky comes closer towards the table and says excited," I am Pepper the Husky. Welcome to me place of miracles!"

-To Be Continued-