The news around town seemed strangely happy for such a…depressing setting.

I sat in the barbershop, watching the TV as it blared the news about the incident. Around me, the place was full of reporters, talking to the barber about whether or not he'd really cut this kid's hair. It all seemed so superfluous to me.

But then…I didn't really understand the whole situation, I guess. I wanted to feel joyous like the rest of these people but, for some reason, I just couldn't. I was happy for the people who were saved, I guess. I just wasn't happy.

My eyes gazed around the very plain barbershop as people started to leave. The barber, whose dark skin and soothing voice, seemed more perturbed by the sudden group of people, than happy like they had been. It was as if he didn't want them there.

"Now…you said you wanted a hair cut?"

I snapped back to reality and looked at him briefly, before nodding. I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted specifically. I had come more to get off the street as opposed to getting a haircut. I sat down at the seat next to one of the windows and looked out. The setting sun's last bit of light gave a beautiful glow and warmth to the city.

"You seem awfully young to be here alone," he said. I looked up at him and said nothing. I looked back down, eyes shifting around as I tried to think of a response.

"Not in a mood to talk, eh?"

"I'm sorry…it's not that…"

"Oh? Something on your mind?"

"…Yeah…"

"Hmph. Girls your age shouldn't be thinking about boys yet…"

"What? Hey!"

I looked back up to him feeling somewhat irritated. The worst part though, was actually the fact that I could feel myself blushing.

"Aw, settle down. I'm just joking, young'un."

A sigh and I fell back into my chair.

-+-

"I guess I'm just tired is all…" came the soft, saddened voice. Her eyes gazed back out the window and focused in the general direction of the incident from just a few hours ago. It seemed like so much had happened in such a short amount of time. And yet, at the same time, nothing had changed.

"That's not the voice of someone who is tired, though. That's the voice of someone who's depressed," was the response. The man's voice was deep and soothing, not nearly what she'd imagined from him upon first sight.

"I've lived a long life…seen many things. If there's something I know, it's how to cut hair, and how to read the signs people subconsciously make that tell you how they're feeling."

The fox-girl's eyes widened slightly as she listened. To her, though this all made sense, it seemed odd coming from this barber who worked in a small, out-of-the-way store.

"Well…you can read me like a book…" she said, smiling softly, getting a little more comfortable. Having the figure of someone who understood what was on her mind made her feel somewhat better. Knowing that she really didn't have to tell him anything for him to understand made things yet better.

"Sorry for the wait," he began, after a long silence, "Apparently this boy saved the day, and he just happened to be the last customer I had." He chuckled after the comment, murmuring something about the boy being a prick.

"It's alright; I'm in no rush."

-+-

When all was said and done, he handed me a mirror.

"Not bad, considering you didn't tell me what you wanted. I think it's you."

I looked at the girl staring back at me. Prior to this visit, my hair had grown so long that I could barely see past my bangs. I could've looked into this same mirror and I wouldn't have recognized the person looking back at me. But now I was looking into the bright blue eyes of a girl who's bangs seemed to stand perfectly on their own out over my face. Everything was smoothed down so it was all more like my natural fur, as opposed to head hair.

I smiled and handed the mirror back to him. I took off the towel he had wrapped around me and jumped off the seat onto the ground.

"You know…" he began, "sometimes life will get ya' down. Just try to keep your chin up, and you'll find that life always gets better. It just takes time."

What he'd said whirled around my head and lingered for a while as I thought it over. I smiled again and hugged him.

"Thanks for listening…" I said, softly nuzzling him. He hugged me back and stood up.

"You best be getting along, young'un. It's getting late…but listen: if you ever need a place to hang out to get away from it all, feel free to stop by again."

I nodded and turned towards the door.

"Oh, wait. I forgot to ask…what's your name?"

"Hm? Oh…my name is Miles Prower…"

"I'm Bermington. Y'all can call me Bernie though."

I nodded and smiled again, before opening the door and leaving. As I walked out towards the edge of the city, I thought about all that had happened that day, what I'd accomplished. As I wandered, the sounds of life around me seemed only to be background noise. People made their comments, cars drove by, and various TVs made praises to this…"Sonic the Hedgehog" kid. I have to admit…I didn't care for it. I was jealous of him and what he'd done and all the attention he was getting out of it.

But then, at the same time…I wanted to meet him and see if he really was the pompous person I saw on TV everywhere I looked.

After leaving the town, I made a hard left towards the forest, putting my hands into my pockets for warmth. As I walked, a cool breeze blew over and I felt a shiver run up my back. This wasn't a good sign.

I jogged back to my campsite and began setting up the tent. I took two looks around to make sure I was well hidden and then took off my clothes, getting back into the river. How it had done so seemed beyond me at this point but it was still just as warm as it had been earlier. A good thing as I really just wanted something warm to sink into now anyway.

Now I just need to find out what to do with my life…

-+-

"Listen, for the last time, it's something I've been able to do all my life!" I shouted at the crowd of reporters for the fifty-millionth time. Even for me it was getting old. I couldn't stand this bullshit anymore. All they cared about was how I did it. What about the people who were killed? What about the injured and homeless left in the wake of all this? They weren't really saved.

Yet here I am, unintentionally hogging all the attention.

I zoomed off towards the outskirts of town. No warning, no reasoning (least, as far as the paparazzi was concerned). After leaving town, I dashed for the nearest part of the forest and literally just dived the fuck in there.

I'll admit it wasn't one of my crowning moments of intelligence. I gotta tell ya, that thorn bush fucking hurt like a bitch!

I scrambled my way out of the long and winding vines, making my way towards my tent. I'll jump in the river when I get there. For now I needed to concentrate on getting there without making another wondrous leap of faith.

I groaned loudly and moved on, pushing branches out of my way as they came. Various other little, thorny plants were avoided with extreme prejudice. Though it didn't help much in the end, because some of them were bigger than I had originally thought. I tripped on, like, four of them. No doubt I had blood streaming from all over me because of all the spikes in my flesh.

At this point I'm resisting all urges to just scream out in agony. I want to, but who knows who will hear if I do. This forest really isn't all that far away from town.

I finally get back to my campsite to find that it's just as I'd left it this morning. Nothing has changed. Which is good, because most of this stuff has a lot of value to me.

I quickly take my clothes off and toss 'em to the side, doing a cannonball into the river. The warm water feels fucking awesome. Or…at least it would…

If I didn't have a million poison tipped plant thorns stuck in my body.

I let out a yelp and quickly clasped my hands over my mouth. I could hear my voice echoing around the forest, as if to mock me. And with that, I was under the water, screaming as loud as I could. All this before coming back up to inhale very heavily and cough up any water that had found it's way too far into the back of my mouth.

It was terrible. I must've screamed under the water for about ten minutes before finally coming up for air. I pulled myself out of the water, save for my legs and looked down. All the blood that had stained my fur was pretty much gone, with more coming to take it's place. I ran my hands over my arms and midsection, to see if I could find the thorns. As I did, I removed them. I gotta tell ya, it was a very slow and painstaking process. It sucked major ass.

But there was some good to come of all of this.

While I was doing that, I heard what sounded like a soft voice off in the distance. It was singing a very familiar song. Well…the tune was familiar. I couldn't tell what the words were.

I pulled myself out of the river and stood up, listening for where it was coming from. Faintly to the west, it seemed, but being that I was in such an area as I was, it could've been from the East and just be coming back. Thankfully, my logic (or ears, in this case) proved correct. Following the voice, I managed to find myself wandering a good couple of miles down the river. As I wandered, I thought about the song and tried to remember where I'd heard it before. 'Course, nothing came to mind. I think I was still in too much pain to think straight.

When I got to where it seemed I could find the source of the voice, I looked around briefly and saw what looked like another campsite. I kept close to the river, but ducked behind a nearby bush so as not to be seen. I looked around again, but this time I saw someone. She was an orange, fox girl, had three bangs that hung down in front of her face (but managed to keep perfectly out of her eyes) and…she had two tails.

I had seen some weird things before, but the whole "duo tail" thing was probably the strangest I'd seen yet.

She hummed her little song as she just kind of lazily floated around in the water. By the looks of things, she was far more comfortable than I had been. Obviously wasn't in as much a rush as I was getting into the forest.

My eyes gazed over her, examining her figure, and then looked over to her tent and the stuff she'd had laying around.

Nothing special, really.

A few pots for cooking, a book or two, a spot to build a fire. Not like mine which had all sorts of things I had brought from my home. Hell, I'd even put together a makeshift stand for my guitar. From the looks of it, this girl was humorless and had no real interest for entertainment…or something.

A couple books? Who lives out in the woods with nothing but a couple of books to keep 'em company? What an idiot.

I shook my head and looked back at her. Her head was laid back now, as if she were looking up at the sky. Would've thought she was too, had I not noticed her eyes were closed. I gotta say, she may not've been the brightest tool in the shed, but she was kinda cute. She was well kept, figure wise. Despite being an obvious bookworm, she looked as if she'd gotten enough exercise to keep a fine shape. Granted she looked a little too young to be in any sort of bad shape but still.

After looking at her for a little while, I looked back to the campsite and made my way towards it. I figure, while I'm here, might as well, see what she's got lying around.

-+-

Sonic moved quietly towards Miles' tent, making sure to avoid any twigs or other noisemakers on the way. All for not, it seemed, as every time he would put his foot down, a soft noise would emit. One he was dead sure would give him away.

Miles', however, was sleeping and had no idea that Sonic was even there. The soft noises he was making were not enough to wake her. Unfortunately for him, there really was no way of knowing.

As he made his way closer to the tent, he looked around a bit more. He found a couple more books here and there, along with some other random things like utensils for cooking and eating with. Nothing special in his eyes. It seemed like the girl had only set up camp as a place to sleep at night as opposed to a place to actually live in.

Sonic looked around a little longer before finally deciding to leave. He turned to head off, but noticed the girl's clothes on the ground. At first he thought nothing of it. But then he got an idea.

A dash from one spot to another and then he ran off, hoping that the noise he had made in the ruckus would catch her attention.

Fortunately for him (but unfortunately for her), it did.

-+-

I caught myself before I slipped into the water completely.

Had I been sleeping? I must've drifted off while sitting here…

Although I kind of wished I didn't have to, I figured I'd probably been in the water long enough and, thusly, had to get out. Not something that was high on my list of to-do things, honestly. The water was so cool and so warm at the same time; it was as if I were in a nice home again. Getting out only reminded me more of my condition and where I was.

I stood up and headed for my tent, picking up some of the books I had left scattered around when I had unpacked earlier. I didn't really have much intention of reading them. I figured I'd be too busy trying to get a real home to have time to spend here.

Still…nothing like a good read before sleeping, I guess.

I wandered around a while, picking up some more of the things I had lying about. A couple pots I had left out from earlier that morning was really it aside from my…clothes?

Glances went left to right as I searched for my ragged clothing, knowing full well that I had left them next to the tent. I looked for quite a while before finding strange footprints in the ground.

"Hmmm…"

The tracks led around in what seemed like circles. But in the end there was a pattern or, in this case, a path to follow. After following it for several minutes, I was able to locate my clothes. They were balled up in a bush, just a few feet away, which was a relief at first. Though, right after that my thoughts quickly went onto who would've done this, and then back onto how I was going to manage a home in the city.

I'm so single-minded…Ugh…

I slumped back to my tent and laid down for the night. Thinking back, once again, on the events passed, I shut my eyes and slowly drifted into sleep.