Tails looked down at the broken gadget in his hands as he walked through the forest. Those bullies were on his case every day, so he never managed to catch a break. He was frequently picked on by the others, whether it was because he was the school nerd, or the two-tailed freak, or the lonely orphan. Today was just the latest in a long line of bad days, and he hated the fact that he had gotten used to it by now. This was his life, and that was all there was to it.
He was ripped away from his melancholic reverie by the sound of rushing air and impossibly quick footsteps. The twin-tailed fox scurried over to behind a bush and peeked over the shrubbery into a clearing, just as a streak of blue light rushed in, before slowing to a halt to reveal a blue hedgehog. This hedgehog only stopped for a moment, however, before blasting off again in the direction of the coast.
Of course, being the curious mind that he was, Tails decided to follow him.
Inevitably, Tails lost sight of the hyper-speed hedgehog almost instantly, but he had lived in these woods for most of his life, so he was pretty good at tracking. Being a fox also helped, with his keen senses of hearing and smell. Therefore, it didn't take him long for the trail to lead him to the beach, where, instead of a blue hedgehog, he spotted a bright red biplane. The hedgehog's scent was all over it, so Tails assumed it was his. Upon closer inspection, he could see that the paint was a bit scratched and scuffed in places, so he assumed that she'd seen her fair share of action in the Mobian skies. She had a pretty cool paintjob too, with a white stripe along the side, and in large white letters, the word "SONIC" was written near the tail. Tails was quickly enthralled, so he hopped up to the cockpit.
"This plane looks pretty fast. But, I'm pretty sure I could make it faster!" Considering how fast the hedgehog was with his own two feet, Tails doubted he'd mind if he tinkered. And, maybe a new lick of paint would be appreciated, too. So, Tails made a mental note of where the plane was, before running back to his self-proclaimed workshop back in the village to gather some supplies.
"Hey kid, what are you doing there?"
Tails nearly had a heart attack when he heard the voice. He was about two-thirds of the way through repainting the plane blue, like its owner, when the voice had interrupted him. He turned to see who it was, and, of course, it was the hedgehog in question.
"I'm really sorry, sir. I just really liked your plane, and I couldn't help myself. But, I like to build things, so I thought I could retune it to give you more speed in the air." It was almost imperceptible, but Tails was sure he saw the hedgehog's ears perk up at the word 'speed'.
"I like what you've done with the colour, too!" The hedgehog laughed, before quickly sprinting to the side of the plane. "Name's Sonic, though you probably figured that out already." He gestured to the tail of the plane.
"Honestly, no. I thought it was the name of the plane."
"Nah, she's the Tornado. But it is an easy mistake to make, I suppose." He chuckled again. "Now, who do I have to thank for this new tune and spiffing new paintjob?"
"My name's Miles Prower, but most people call me Tails." He hopped down from the cockpit to accept the handshake that the hedgehog was offering.
"And why do they call you Tai-" He cut himself off when he noticed the twin tails. "Ah. Ok, that makes sense. Pretty cool."
That made Tails stop. He thought it was cool? Nobody had ever called him 'cool' before. They had always seen his namesakes as an excuse to tease and bully him, and suddenly, here was this complete stranger saying it was cool. He honestly didn't know when he started crying, but he had reached a gloved hand up to wipe his eyes before he could stop himself.
"Whoa, sorry buddy. Did I offend you?"
"No, not at all. It's just that, everyone always makes fun of me because of my tails." He paused, as another lump made its way to his throat. "N-Not even my parents wanted me. It's just a bit of a shock to hear someone being so nice to me." Had he been able to see through the tears, he would have been able to see Sonic approaching him, before kneeling down and giving him a warm hug, which the younger fox gladly accepted.
"Now now, don't cry. Never let anyone tell you that there's something wrong with you. I think it's pretty awesome that you have two tails. I bet there's a bunch of awesome things you can do with them. And, let's not forget that you've managed to fix up my plane too. You must be pretty smart!" He paused for a second, before ending the hug and holding the fox's shoulders. "You know, I'm about to head out on my next adventure. I could really do with a mechanic… and a friend. You interested?" For the second time in that short conversation, Tails was stunned into silence. A friend? Really? Was this really happening? With a massive grin on his face, all Tails could do was nod vigorously, before attacking the hedgehog with another aggressive hug.
"I'll take that as a yes, then! Well, you'd better go and grab your stuff, then. I can finish the paintjob today, and we can leave tomorrow morning. Sound good?"
"Yeah! Thank you so much!" Tails quickly broke the hug, before running home, with the biggest grin on his face. He had a friend!
Of course, eventually, he was going to grow to hate that word: 'friend'. But, that comes later.
Hey guys. Right off the bat, I wanna say that this story will have absolutely nothing to do with Game Over. It's just another Sonic story that I wanted to try, which will hopefully be a lot more light-hearted than my usual work. I do need a bit of a mood lifter right now. My mother sadly passed away this past weekend, so I'm not quite in the right mood to write my usual dark stories about death, doom and gloom. Therefore, The Lonely Dragon will unfortunately be entering another hiatus (it won't be as long this time, I promise). That's why I'm writing this story now: as something to keep me going until I feel ok enough to continue with the other story.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my re-imagined / extended version of the way Sonic and Tails met in Sonic X. I was inspired to do this chapter after reading milesprower06's story "Sonic and Tails: An Origin Story", right here on FFN!
Right, that's all I have to say for right now, so I'll see you in the next chapter! Ciao for now!
OnTheSpectrum