The Storm
James Hayes
Sonic and co. are not mine but the property of Sega.
Theme and some words lovingly ripped from "The Storm" by Big Country.
It was a quiet winter's day in Knothole Forest, quiet except for the soft swooshing sound of two tails brushing against each other. As Tails walked along the path the deep forest resonated with silence, and not a living soul could be seen, though the layer of snow on the ground had obviously been disturbed recently. The small fox looked off towards where the village would be.
"Where is the smoke from all the cooking fires?" the small fox asked the empty evening air. "It's about dinner time. I hope the guy's didn't miss me too much from my recon mission down south." Tails licked his lips, anticipating the large meal waiting for him, back home.
"Gone, they're all gone."
Tails jumped, and nearly fell over as Sonic the Hedgehog appeared next to him as if by magic. The young fox was about to scold him for being so sneaky, but the look in Sonic's eyes made him reconsider. The usually upbeat hedgehog stood stolidly in the clearing, gazing off far over the horizon as if in deep thought. Tails gave him a look and decided to probe his friend's thoughts.
"What's wrong Sonic?"
"They're all gone, Tails, that's it, the war's over, we can leave here now."
"No way! The war's over? How? When? Why?" The young fox seemed to literally jump for joy.
"But at what cost? They're all dead, Sal, Chuck, Bunny, almost everyone in Knothole is dead. All our friends, my family, I've got nothing left here." A lone tear forged it's way down the side of the hedgehogs' beige muzzle.
"Oh gods, Sonic, What happened? Please tell me."
Sonic the Hedgehog, champion of the freedom fighters, optimistic, happy and carefree Sonic, this was not the Sonic that sat quietly on that snow covered stump. No, this was an older Sonic, battle-scarred and weary, who retold the events of the last night.
"I came from over that hill there," he gave an almost undetectable nod towards a slight rise in the distant trees. "The cold was especially fierce that night. Suddenly a flock of crows burst from the trees, and as I peered down at the village below I could see the flames, the gold an orange flames that enveloped everything. They attacked while I was away, killing so many so quickly. Gods Tails, the screaming. It was horrible, the things I've seen, atrocities that I could never hope to forget."
"Who was it that attacked? What of our friends, Rotor, Bunny, Antoine, and Aunt Sally?"
"Robotnik of course, someone must have given away Knothole's location. There were hundreds of Swatbots, entire legions of them." Sonic choked a little as he bit back the flow of tears. "Sal was killed in the initial impact; the others fought a good fight but most were dead before I even got there.
Rotor, Antoine, and I marshaled the remaining defenders and through some miracle managed to turn the tide against Robotnik's forces, causing them to flee. We were so angry and distraught we decided to chase them down and end this once and for all, vengeance for our fallen comrades.
We must have chased them for miles, and wept the entire way. Though the forest, then the plains that surround it we chased them. That was when those evil clouds gathered in the sky and loosed that hell-storm upon us, coating both us and our prey in the cold and wet.
Oh gods, Tails, this didn't have to happen." Sonic whined at last.
The small fox stood and placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder. "It's alright Sonic. What happened after that?"
Sonic looked out over the landscape and covered Tails' hand with his own.
"I can never return to this place again, Tails." He said solidly after some time.
The thought of leaving grated against Tails' nerves, if what Sonic said was true, there really was nothing left. But to leave the land that his friends had fought and died for. That seemed impossible.
"Nobody laughed or smiled when we had finished with our task." Sonic continued as if in another world. "There were no quips or sarcastic remarks, just the pounding of steel and the maddening patter of rain coupled with the moan of the powerful thunder. I finished Ivo myself; I rang the life from his miserable neck. It was a victory, but only in the loosest form of the word. Only time will prove the cost of that dread night."
Sonic stood from his stump and moved as if to leave the clearing.
"Wait Sonic." Tails spoke up." I want to go with you, but I can't. I couldn't stand to see what we fought and lost friends over just go to waste. I think it's time I make my own stand."
Sonic nodded solemnly, and gave his fox friend a smile. "Finally leaving the nest eh? Alright then Miles, but without the war to define me I am still nothing, doubly so without Sally's love. I hope you don't hate me for my decision."
"I could never hate you, Sonic" Tails embraced his long time friend tightly. "Good luck to you, friend. I am proud to have known you."
"And farewell to you as well. I can only hope your strength for peace will run from your hands deep into the roots of this land, gods know it is already too bloodstained for me to do good any longer." With those words of wisdom the blue hedgehog turned and raced down the path out of the forest."
"Sayonara Sonic the Hedgehog," was all that was carried on the wind as the twin tailed fox went of the next hill.