The morning sun light trickled through the thick canopy of the mighty redwood trees. A gentle late summer breeze whispered as it swiftly blew through the nearby village's streets. Breaking off the weakest of leaves and sending them floating gently down to the dusty ground; littering the old dirt street of the little settlement of Redwell.
A middle-aged chocolate brown wolf stepped out of her restaurant home and into the courtyard where they would serve their guests. She sighed; the past night, there had been a strong windstorm which had left the courtyard in a state of disarray. It would only be an hour until they opened. She stepped over to counter front, and opened the window above it revealing her husband, whom was taking inventory in their kitchen.
"How bad is it?" The golden wolf asked.
"Nothing we shouldn't be able to fix, but we might open a little late today. Do we need to mark anything for this month's market trip?" she replied.
"Nothing more than the usual items," he said as he exited the kitchen and into the courtyard.
He watched as she started to move the heavy wooden chairs back into their usual places. Her ears flicked back as she lifted them off the ground, grunting in frustration when the chairs got stuck on a table's leg or a hole in the ground. He smiled at her.
She glanced up, "Tom, why are you looking at me like that?"
"I was just thinking of the day, 15 years ago, when I set my eyes on the most beautiful wolf I'd ever seen," Tom said smoothly, before pulling her close.
She rolled her eyes, "Save it for tonight you Cowboy Casanova. We have work to do. Now go wake up that son of ours, we're going need him this morning," she pulled away and walked over to the kitchen.
Tom sighed before returning inside and going up into their small apartment, above the restaurant.
Swirling wind was rushing past his ears and ruffling through his quills. The world was whirling past him, too fast to see. There were bright green grassy hills surrounding him. Checkered cliffs, and pathways. Some kind of energy jolted through his body. He was bathed in warm yellow sun light and a large smile was stuck on his face like a scar. Where was he? He didn't know, nor did he care. All he wanted, was for this to last forever.
Suddenly, something shoved him down on to the ground. However, he didn't feel any grass or cold soil, but rather soft blankets?
"Zephyr wake up bud, it's time to get up," spoke a sing-song-y voice that could only be one person.
Zephyr groaned, and cracked open a deep green almost turquoise eye. He glanced around realizing that he was still in the small gable room that he called his own, and not in the grassy field. He was disappointed that it had been nothing but a dream.
"Good morning!" His foster father, sang, before noticing Zephyr's look of disappointment, "Something wrong?"
"Huh? What?" Zephyr said.
Tom chuckled, "You just looked like you were disappointed with something, but I guess you still just waking up."
"Sorry Pa, I just was dreaming and…"
"Oh, a dream! What kind of dream?!" Tom asked enthusiastically, sitting at the foot of his adopted son's bed.
Zephyr, guessing that his Pa had his coffee today, thought for a moment before explaining, "Well, I was running through a field. A very hilly field, but it wasn't like my normal running. The world was rushing past me so fast it looking like nothing but blobs. Wind was beating against my face. It was exhilarating."
"Sounds like fun. Running so fast that the world looks like blobs? Sounds like you were in the running shoes of the blue blur himself."
"Aw Pa, do you really have to talk about those old legends right now?"
"Oh? What's wrong with my old legends?"
"Pa, I'm ten years old. I don't need you to telling me silly stories to keep me out of trouble."
"Silly stories? Silly stories?! My legends aren't just silly stories, son. They're as real as you and me."
"You don't need to lie to me, Pa. I mean come on, people who can run faster than sound, send bursts of energy from their bare hands, or teleport? It's got to be fake."
"Oh, no. No, they're not. I know for a fact that they are real."
"How?"
Tom, leaned in closer gesturing to that zephyr do the same, "Because I saw one," he whispered.
"What? No way! You're pulling my leg."
Tom laughed, "That's a story for later. Right now, it's time to get up," he patted Zephyr's shoulder, "And if you want breakfast, you'll get down stairs and help me with the courtyard, so your Ma can get started in the kitchen." He hopped off the bed and started for the hall.
"Hello, Zephyr!" shouted Mr. Ling the mail wolf, as he rode past Zephyr on his bike.
"Hi, Mr. Ling!" Zephyr shouted back, before returning to his chore of sweeping the court yard.
The morning rush was over, and most of the village had gone to their day jobs. The only people who were left in the restaurant the few stragglers who didn't have to be at work in the mines this afternoon. The brief, yet peaceful transition of breakfast to lunch had fell upon the little eatery, but that didn't mean that it was break time. While his parents worked on prepping the kitchen for the next rush, Zephyr took to his usual chores of cleaning the courtyard, and grabbing veggies from the garden behind the kitchen. Today he was in charge of the former.
The rough homemade broom scratched at the cobble stone floor. Zephyr had started from the far-left corner closest to the kitchen entrance, and continued to sweep left to right, all the way to the entry arch on the other side. Now, he was working on the side walk just beyond the entry arch. He didn't really have to do this, but it made the street cleaner and prevented the courtyard from becoming dusty faster. He was just finishing up, when a strong gust of hot late summer wind blasted through the streets, blowing off the first few leaves, of what would be many to fall in the coming autumn. His ears flipped back as he glared at the many tiny green culprits that just ruined his hard work.
His ear flicked, as a light innocent giggle caught his attention. Zephyr looked up, and saw Lily, playing the middle of the street. Lily was a two-year-old wolf, with a light violet coat and sparkly blue eyes. She belonged to the family who lived across the street from the restaurant, the Nightbrights. They specialized in cloth making, suppling the entire village with their clothes and any other fabric made necessities. As for Lily she was the newest addition to the long line of tailors, and the sweetest. The entire village pretty much had an unspoken rule that no one would ever touch the little pup when she was born.
Zephyr smiled to himself. The little pup, was honestly one of the nicer people he knew. Most of the residents in the village were wolves, and as such most of the travelers that came through were as well. A hedgehog was quite an unusual sight, therefore not really something to be trusted. Wolves trusted each other, as they were part of a pack; Zephyr wasn't really part of the pack. The only few people, who really accepted him without talking to him first, was his parents and Lily. Lily was, for some reason, never really startled by his different appearance. Even going so far as giving him the nickname, 'spiky'. Seeing the little girl laughing brought great joy to his heart.
*honk! honk!*
However, that joy, quickly turned to horror. A large truck abruptly turned the corner and started barreling down the street; right towards Lily. Zephyr's heart leaped into his throat, and something that felt like a sparking electricity seized his body. The world seemed to slow down, and he blinked. But before he could open his eyes again, there was something soft and warm in his grasp, a scream could be heard and he hit the hard ground. Strong wind was suddenly whipping against his ears, and ruffling his quills.
Zephyr, snapped his eyes open. He was breathing in gasping pants caused by what he thought was the world's largest adrenaline rush. He was on the other side of the street, with Lily in his arms. The truck never came to halt and continued to barrel down the street past them. What the heck just happened?
Though he couldn't try and figure out what happened, as a very familiar and very concerned voice, erupted through the loud wind, "Zephyr!"
"Ma?" he called out, still slightly freaking out.
Within the next few moments, two strong arms covered in soft fluffy dark chocolate fur had wrapped around him in comforting panicked embrace. Zephyr gladly returned the gesture. The warm comforting scent of cooking spices that stuck to her fur calmed him.
She pulled away, and began to check over the youngster, "Are you alright? What happened?"
"Madi! Zephyr!" Called Tom, as he ran out towards them.
"We're okay Pa!" Zephyr shouted, as Lily squirmed out of his arms and ran over to her frantic mother's embrace.
"What's going on!?" Mrs. Nightbright screeched.
"Zephyr? Baby?" Madi turned to him, "What happened?"
"I-I don't know. Lily was in the street…t-the truck came out of nowhere…a-and…" Zephyr stuttered.
"He must have run across the street, and grabbed Lily," Tom said, a proud smile grew on his face, he chuckled, "Our boy's a hero Madi."
Madi's eyes grew wide, her ears perked up and her brow raised, as she turned to her husband, "A hero? Tom! Our son just ran into the street!"
Zephyr's ears flinched back at the sound of his Ma screech, "Sorry Ma," He whispered, still bewildered.
Madi turned back to the young hedgehog, still being crushed by her loving and worried embrace. She pulled away from her son and lowered herself down to his eye level, "No, no, baby don't apologize. I'm not mad. You just scared me. Okay."
Zephyr, nodded slowly, as Madi pulled him back into a hug.
Outside, the situation seemed to had resolved itself. Lily was returned to her family, who thanked the young hedgehog profusely. Zephyr was hailed as a hero and he continued to be congratulated by the costumers throughout the lunch and dinner rushes. But this didn't feel solved to Zephyr.
That night Zephyr flopped, stomach first, onto his bed, utterly exhausted. Which was bizarre. The youngster usually had boundless amounts of energy, even on days where they were entirely slammed. He had never felt this tired. Was he getting sick or something? No, he didn't feel bad, just tired.
Zephyr took a deep breath, and rolled onto his back. He closed his eyes, letting his mind recounted what happened that day. He got up, his Pa joked with him, he worked as a server for the morning rush. And then…Lily. His eyes snapped open. He had…saved her? That was the only solution, to the problem. But he still didn't really understand what he did.
His Pa said that he must have run across the street and grabbed Lily, but as much Zephyr would like to believe he was, he wasn't that fast. Sure, he had won a few trophies from the annual Redwell youth running race, but even he couldn't go fast enough to push lily out of the way of the truck. Not without him getting hit by the truck at least.
Though, Zephyr couldn't dwell on this confusing event, as his door opened with a creak. Tom stepped in with a wide smile on his face, "Hey, Kiddo."
"Hey, pa," Zephyr said sitting up.
"So, how is Redwell's newest superhero doing?"
Zephyr groaned, "Pa, I'm not a superhero."
"Oh, don't be so modest kiddo, you saved little Lily's life today," Tom sat next to the young hedgehog on the bed.
"To be honest, Pa. I don't know what I did. I just saw the truck coming and the next thing I knew I holding Lily on the other side of the street," Zephyr flopped his head onto his pillow, "I felt some kind of spark go through me and then it was kind of jittery," he sighed, "I don't know."
Zephyr didn't see Tom move from the door way and to his bed, but he did feel Tom gently pat his head, "You alright kiddo?"
"No, I'm panicking! Ma's mad at me for running into front go a truck and I'm all of a sudden, a hero! Believe I'm glad that everyone made it out okay, but I can't drop it, and I don't know why."
Tom sighed, "Well, I can't tell you what happened, and I can't answer every question on the matter, but I can tell you a legend that might ease your mind."
"Pa, I'm glad you want me to feel better, but legends aren't going to help me right now. I need to know what happened. I don't know why, but it feels like I forgot something important."
Tom hummed, "Well, I wouldn't say they can't help you."
"Pa, their just stories. I'm too old to believe in this stuff."
"Hey, what do I keep telling you? They're not just stories. What did I tell this morning?"
Zephyr took a moment in order to recall that morning's conversation before breakfast, "That you know they're real because you saw one?"
"Yep. I was young and stupid, at the time. I don't really remember how I even got into the situation, but I could never forget what I saw there."
Zephyr leaned closer, "What happened?"
"Everything around me Zephyr was on fire. But it the normal kind of fire like the one we had in our stove; they were screaming."
"You mean the sound of the wood snapping under the heat?" Zephyr flicked one ear.
"No, son, these flames were alive, they were out of control. I could see faces in their wild dance; they were panicked. I honestly thought I was going to burn alive that day. But through the smoke and fire, someone came to save me. You know Zephyr, I was once like you. I thought that these stories were nothing but fairytales, but when I saw the flames calm and respectfully back away from them, as they walked towards me, I couldn't help but believe."
"Pa, is this really true?"
"Boy, I told you, I wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for whoever saved me."
"How do you know, that it was them who calmed the flames? Maybe they just found a safe path."
"Because, Zephyr, they were completely at ease with the chaos around us. The smoke didn't bother them, their eyes weren't squinting against the heat, and when They took my hand to help me up, I could feel something like a radiant warmth coming off of them. It made me feel safe, and calm.
"With a flick of their wrist a pathway through the flames was cleared. I could see the many faces of the flames. I could see that they now felt calm, like I did."
"What do you mean the flames felt calm Pa? How could a flame feel calm?"
"I don't really Zephyr, but I know one thing, whoever lead me out the fire that day, had some kind of kinship with those living flames."
Zephyr saw the sincerity and passion in his foster father's eyes. As much as he wasn't sure to believe in this or not, he couldn't deny that his Pa believed it.
"What did they look like?" Zephyr asked, "The person who saved you."
"Well, kiddo, I honestly don't really remember what they really looked like, and I didn't really get good look at them either with all the smoke in my eyes. But I do remember their eyes, I had never seen such a striking bright blue before and I think they had purple fur or some dark indigo like color. Other than that, I don't really remember what they looked like."
Zephyr rolled over in his bed. He opened his eyes and looked over to the old clock that hung on the nearby wall. 2:36, it read. The young hedgehog groaned, rolled over, pulled the blanket over his head, and shut his eyes tight. It was a desperate attempt to fall asleep, though it would eventually prove to be fruitless. Growling in frustration, Zephyr rolled out of his bed, and put on his shoes. Deciding that a short nighttime walk in the woods would help him get to sleep.
The cool night forest air filled his lungs and gave him a sense of freedom, as he trekked through the woods just beyond Redwell's borders. The tall looming trees casted long ebony shadows that streaked through the pale ivory starlight. The crickets played their melodies, in a chorus of chirps and chimes. A gentle breeze ruffled his quills, drawing a smile on his face.
Looking down the old forest path, he started to quicken his pace. Going from a walk, to a light run. He closed his eyes and deeply inhaled. Running was something that always helped Zephyr clear his head. He could always think better when he was moving. The gentle wind running through his quills, and rush of his heartbeat as it sped up was so addicting to him. The smile on his face grew wider.
His heart was so filled with enjoyment, that he didn't stop running until he felt a sudden jolt of electricity shock through his body. Zephyr's eyes snapped open and he quickly tried to stop, but upon stopping his running rhythm, he was thrown to the ground. He tumbled, over himself over and over, as an unknown momentum forced him forward. He finally stopped once he rolled into the hard wooden trunk of a nearby tree. Shaking down a few of the dying leaves.
Zephyr groaned, as he gently moved himself into a sitting position. He panted, waiting for the strange tingling sensation that had overtaken his body to dissipate. He cracked his eyes open and his breath hitched with shock. Little sparks of blue lighting were flashing all around is body. His heart started to pound as he watched his hands shake so fast, they had begun to blur. His eyes grew wide, and his ear flipped back.
"What's happening to me?" Zephyr whispered fearfully.
Trying to calm his breaths, Zephyr carefully pulled himself to his feet, leaning on the tree he'd crashed into for support. His heart rate began to slow as the lightning began to vanish from his fur. His shaking calmed, along with his panic.
After trying to talk himself down, he decided that he would just go home and forget this ever happened. But once he started running, he suddenly hit another tree and rolled three backwards times until he was laying on the ground utterly bewildered. He quickly popped up, and jerked his around to see…his eyes widened in shock: he was at least 40 yards away from the first tree he ran into.
Zephyr leaped to his feet. The sparking blue lightning had once again surrounded his body and his breathing began to pick up. Did he just run 40 yards in less than a second? Is that what the lightning meant? He poked the tip of his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, when a sudden idea came to him. He very carefully walked, a little further down the path, until he could see the long dusty dirt, and the most importantly straight road.
Taking a deep breath, he took a step forward. Then another, then another, and then another. Until he had started to run. It didn't take long for the lightning to swell off of his body and form a protective dome around him. The wind was flowing through his quills, and blasting in his face. His eyes had begun to water, from the air but he couldn't close his eyes. The world around him was nothing but blotchy blurs of what they used to be, it was a mess, but it was beautiful. Zephyr felt like he had discovered something that was long lost. This feeling, this freedom, that he felt, he never wanted it to end.
But sadly, it did. The ground beneath him was suddenly gone. Zephyr didn't even see the cliff edge till it was ten feet behind him. He was now freefalling down into the nearby swimming late. But when he crashed, he didn't land in water. There had been a drought going on for the last two months, leaving the small lake nothing but a mud puddle.
Zephyr pulled himself out of the thick messy brown remnants of the lake. Still utterly shocked and bewitched by what he just experienced, he looked up at the moon and started to laugh hysterically. His breathing came in excited pants, and the largest smile was printed on to his face. He didn't care he was covered in mud; he had never been so happy in his life.
It was just like those legends his Pa talked about; he was just like those legends his Pa talking about. He had powers, magic in a way, and it felt so right. Sure, he loved working at his foster parents' restaurant, but it was never something he saw himself doing for all of his life. But this? This felt so right. Like it was his purpose. The reason he was put on this earth.
The joy he felt that night seemed like something he would never forget, or regret finding. But the young naïve hedgehog, would soon learn that the life of those with special gifts, is rarely an easy one.
Over the next few weeks, Zephyr would sneak out late at night and go running. The days would be normal, help out at the restaurant, do his chores, and chat with the costumers. He would be the normal adopted son of the local restauranters, but at night, he became a living legend.
Zephyr would experiment with his powers at night, but they were more difficult for him to handle than he had previously thought. He couldn't really stop without falling to the ground, and the lightning charge he would get from running, had some…explosive properties. But he never got hurt.
Zephyr had yet to tell his parents about his…gift. Partly because he didn't really know how to, but mostly because he feared his Ma's reaction. He did manage to ask Tom if there were any legends that had super speed, like him. To his shock, there wasn't just one who had super speed but he was a hedgehog as well. Sadly, Tom having never left the forest he grew up in, didn't really know all that much about them.
One morning, Zephyr asked his parents if it was alright to take a trip to library. This sudden request did make Tom raise an eyebrow as Zephyr was never really much of a reader, but Madi quickly said he could go stating, "The boy is asking to read, don't you stop him, Tom."
With permission in hand, Zephyr 'walked' to the library. The building was constructed inside of a very old hollowed out tree. Books sat on curved shelves that lined the walls, and a spiral staircase led up to the number of floors. Zephyr quickly made his way over to the history section, but he didn't find anything in the usual history books. Out of options there, but his curiosity not yet quenched, he decided to ask the librarian if there were any old newspapers he could look at.
He was about to give up on the newspaper idea when he stumbled across, one very interesting article. Zephyr swallowed thickly, and gently gripped the capsule that held his mother's letter to him hung around his neck. The more he read, the more questions he had. The article was from over twenty years ago, and described an individual with super speed saving a city from a large water monster. But what shocked Zephyr the most was the picture on the front page. The picture was of a hedgehog that looked almost exactly like him, just a few years older. Digging deeper into the article he found that hedgehog had gone by the name of 'Sonic', but the youngster didn't find much more than this story, as two short columns into it the rest of the newspaper had abruptly ended with ripped and missing pages.
After hitting a dead end with the newspaper, Zephyr tried a bit more of a modern approach. The library had computers, but after a bunch of the village boys got one of them infected with a virus, they became strictly for research purposes. Thankfully, the librarian on duty saw how hard Zephyr was working and allowed him onto one.
Sadly, looking up 'Sonic the Hedgehog' or 'Station square monster attack' didn't give him much information. The only thing that he got was a short clearly old Wikipedia page on the character. The page claimed that the hero was nothing more then a legend invented up by the victims of natural disasters and unknown incidents.
Zephyr's ear twitched suspiciously. This page seemed off. It made this 'Sonic' sound like nothing but a children's story. Yet, the article pointed to him being a living individual. The picture on the cover was proof of that. Someone wasn't telling the truth.
"Slow down when you're cutting those carrots, Zephyr. You'll cut yourself," Madi said, as she stirred the large old metal pot on the restaurant stove.
"Sorry, Ma," Zephyr said. Trying to slow down enough for his Ma's sake. It was difficult though the world just seemed to constantly move in slow motion now.
Zephyr would rather be working outside in the courtyard, but they were having a slow day, so Madi decided that it would be the best time for Zephyr to learn a few more of the menu's recipes. Not that Zephyr didn't mind cooking, it was actually one of the few things that he could usually sit still long enough to do. It's just he had other things on his mind.
Tom suddenly came rushing in through the kitchen door, it slamming loudly behind him. A frantic look on his face.
Madi nearly jumped out of her fur and knocked over the pot, at her husband's antics, "Tom! Honestly! You've better got a good reason to nearly causing chaos in my kitchen."
"Pa, what's going on?" Zephyr asked pulling himself away from his carrot cutting.
"There are imperial guards outside," Tom said.
"What?" Madi said, "Since when does his majesty care about us lowly peasants? King scourge has never sent guards anywhere near here before."
"I don't know, but their asking for everyone attendance in the village square," Tom said.
Madi nodded, before rushing over to Zephyr and gently grabbed his shoulders, "Zephyr, baby, me and your Pa will be right back. Mind the soup, and don't go anywhere."
"Ma? What's going on?" Zephyr asked again.
"We'll tell you when we get back okay," Madi planted a quick motherly kiss on Zephyr head, before rushing out with Tom to attend the meeting.
Zephyr stood there in the kitchen shellshocked. King Scourge had actually, sent people to his small village? If this was true there was no way that the young reckless and curious hedgehog was going to stay put.
Deciding that running to the square would be too risky, Zephyr managed to sneak out of the restaurant after he set the soup to a lower temperature. Having grown up running around the small town of Redwell all his life, he was well aware of all the short cuts and secret passageways. That knowledge allowed the youngster to creep into a good hiding place close enough to the square in order to listen in. But he would soon wish that he'd had stayed in the kitchen.
The guards had been sent to investigate reports of a super powered individual hiding out in this forest. They were to apprehend them before an accident happens and take them to a rehabilitation camp to "save" them from the "horrid curse" set upon them. Zephyr couldn't listen anymore after that. He raced out in to the woods, not caring about the possibility of some one seeing him. That had apparently already happened. Now it was only a matter of time before the guards found him, and then who knows what.
Zephyr had heard of these rehabilitation camps, and what he found out wasn't very comforting. They were rumored to horrid places, that were more like experimentation wards rather then a place to rid people of certain "curses". The worst part though, is that it felt unnecessary. Zephyr didn't see his powers as a curse, and he didn't want them to be taken away.
Over the next few days, Zephyr didn't go running, and stayed inside of the restaurant. He began to feel trapped, making him restless. He would constantly jump at certain sudden sounds. Tom and Madi had also taken quick notice of Zephyr's sudden change in behavior, but they just assumed that he was bothered by all the soldiers walking around, and well they weren't technically wrong.
Though, all this panic came to ahead one day. The soldiers had apparently found out about the recent research trip to the library. Wanting answers, they stormed the restaurant. That was the scariest day of Zephyr's life. They came in screaming, screaming for answers, and asking if he was the one who was cursed, because apparently hedgehogs had a higher chance of having powers.
Tom, Madi, and even some of the costumers who were being served, were quick to try and stop the enraged soldiers. It wasn't long before a scuffle broke out, that ended with tom having a black eye to nurse. During all the chaos that day, Zephyr had remained frozen where he stood. Every fiber of his being had to him to run, to get away from this place, but his conscious told him that running would only make it worse. Make them blame his Ma and Pa for keeping him a secret when they had no idea. It was then he decided that he would run, just not now.
That night Zephyr packed a small bag, and wrote a small goodbye note to his parents. It shattered his heart to leave them so suddenly, but he couldn't let them continue to be harassed by these soldiers, and he needed something. Something he couldn't find in his home village. Answers. There was only one way he was going to get them.
As he stepped out in the courtyard, he looked at the capsule that hung on neck. His parents had never hidden the truth about how he was found in the river from him, and was thankful for that now. His powers had to come from somewhere, and his birth family was the only place he could think of where he could learn more. He took off, blasting through the streets making sure that he was seen leaving Redwell, hopefully the soldiers would leave once they knew he was gone.
Now, he was on his own. He was going to follow any clues he could find in his mother's letter and get his answers. So, up river he went.
It had been one week of going up the river, and Zephyr still hadn't found any sort of city. His days now consisted of mostly running, though he would occasionally take breaks were he just walked, snack breaks and naps. It was boring, hard and really draining. When ever someone told an adventure story, they usually left most of the journey to the indented destination out, now the youngster understood why. It was extremely boring.
After a good half an hour of running, Zephyr decided to stop and to rest for a few moments, well he tried too anyways. He may have been very good at going forward with his super speed, however turning and stopping were two completely different stories. His legs curled underneath him, sending him flying, he then tumbled on the ground for a few feet, before finally screeching to a halt; on his face. The young hedgehog let out a tired groan, then picked himself up and brushed off all the dirt and grass.
Laying himself on the grass, near the newly made face-shaped hole, he began to fiddle with the small cylinder capsule tided around his neck and quickly became immersed in his own thoughts. Most of them about his parents, not just his birthparents, but his foster parents. Where they doing okay? Did they miss him?
He couldn't wonder for long though, as his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by his stomach roaring with hunger. Zephyr sighed and opened the small brown bag he had with him. He took only a small apple from it and ate it with dread. He only had three of them left and had forgotten to bring any money with him. The apples could last normal people maybe two days. After he discovered his speed, a meal that used to last him three hours, would now only last him thirty minutes. What he had was only going to last him the rest of the afternoon, at most. If he tried to make them last any longer his would have dizzy spells and possibly collapse.
Finishing the small red fruit in his hand, Zephyr stretched himself out on the warm soft green grass. The bright sun felt comforting, and warm. Eventually his eyelids slipped down and he fell into a fitful sleep.
It was dark.
Zephyr was walking through a forest. Snow blanketed the ground. The trees that were tall, strait, and thin seemed to be holding up the starless sky. He stopped and looked around; something was off. The snow looked different; it didn't shine like the last winters had. It seemed dull, like it was covered in dust. He was surrounded by snow and ice but he didn't feel cold nipping at his body. He continued to walk, putting the thoughts of the dull snow and the absence of cold out of his mind.
As he continued, a little flurry of snow gently began to fall, and the once still night air began to whip and whirl. "I need to find shelter, before this gets worse," Zephyr thought.
He continued to trek through the ever-growing deeper snow. Suddenly something caught his eye. Something that no matter how heavy it snowed, or how strong the wind howled they could not hide it. He went towards it and soon he could see it clearly; a patch of snow that was stained red. A chill slivered up his spine. Blood.
Zephyr looked up, hoping to see where, or who it came from. But as he looked around, he found not the victim but only more stained snow. He leaped forward; someone was in trouble. The longer he followed the trail the stronger the winds and heavier the snow became. After a while he thought that the trail was never going to end, but suddenly a faint green light shined from up ahead. Panting, he pushed forward, following the trail and praying he was almost there. He crawled through a break in the trees, into a clearing, and strait toward the glow.
The heavy snow suddenly stopped, the harsh wind went still, and Zephyr felt like he was choking. Inside the clearing was a gruesome sight. Corpses, spread across the ground, like a sea of death. They everywhere, all of them clearly freshly slain as the blood that soaked through the snow was bright red and the burns that coated the bodies were still smoking. All different species, a fox, a bee, a wolf, and many more. All drenched in blood, all lying on the ground, dead. Zephyr just stood there, his mouth agape, his heart pounded, and his stomach churned. What had done this?
"Help! Help!" Someone shouted from up ahead.
That voice. Why did he know it? Zephyr shoved down the fear he felt and began to make his way through the field of corpses; careful not to step on any of them.
"HELP! HELP!" The familiar voice was closer.
The youngster ran up over a snow drift and found himself staring at what looked like a creature made of wild green tongues of blazing fire. The creature was holding what appeared to be a young woman dressed in a dark brown cloak in one burning hand and in the other was pressing a flaming crooked blade against her throat.
The cloaked woman, quickly turned her head, "Zephyr," she whispered.
Zephyr stared at the woman; how did she know his name? Although her face was hidden by the cloak's hood, there was something familiar about her. As if he knew her. Realization, suddenly hit him.
"Mom? Is that you?" he asked.
"ZEPHYR! RUN! DON'T LET HIM TOUCH YOU!" she shouted.
The creature of green flames, turned sharply to look at Zephyr, its burning scarlet eyes piercing the youngster's soul. It quickly lost interest in its victim, and lunged toward the Young Hedgehog, blade swinging.
Zephyr quickly turned around and started to run. The creature followed suit going almost as fast as the young hedgehog and when it couldn't catch up to him it would send blasts of green fire hurdling towards him. Zephyr dodged the fire blasts, while trying stay ahead of the creature. A feat that was very difficult for him as he couldn't maneuver very well in the thick snow. He kept stumbling, nearly falling down many times.
He tried to make a hard right, but he slipped on the snow. Zephyr was sent tumbling down into the snow. The creature quickly caught up to him. Zephyr looked up into the burning eyes, it felt like he was suffocating. He couldn't move, he felt hypnotized by these eyes, why did they look so…? The creature readied itself for a final fire blast.
"This is it," he thought.
Right before the creature shot the fatal blast, the cloaked woman, his mother, jumped in front of him. She screamed in agony, as the green flames licked at her body, slowly burning her away. The smell of burnt flesh and fur quickly filled the air.
"NOOOOOOO!" Zephyr shouted.
Zephyr jolted up, screaming. He was drenched in a cold sweat, and gasping for breath. His head turned violently searching for the beast of fire green fire. But he was still on the hilltop that he had been on earlier, although now it was bathed in starlight. Had it been nothing but a dream?
"Whoa, didn't mean to scare you, kiddo," said a voice from behind him.
"What?" Zephyr's ears flicked up and he quickly turned his head. Standing behind him was elderly raccoon. His fur ranged from a light peachy color to a deep tangerine. He was wearing a beige cowboy hat and had dark but kind eyes.
"Oh, no sir you didn't startle me. It was just nightmare," Zephyr reassured the stranger and himself a little bit, before his stomach started to growl again.
"Well, it sounds like you need something to eat. Come on, kiddo, my truck isn't too far from here," said the raccoon.
Zephyr looked around confusedly before eventually getting up and following the old raccoon, letting his stomach guide him. His stomach led him to a dust banged-up truck, clearly over twenty-years-old. The raccoon went to the bed in the back, and gestured for Zephyr to sit with him. The young hedgehog hesitantly joined the elderly raccoon, as he pulled out two sandwiches and two scones.
"Thank you," Zephyr said, as he took the sandwich and scone he was handed. "Are you sure you can share with me? You don't even know me."
"Don't worry about it kiddo, I won't be able to eat all this myself no matter how hard I try." Said the raccoon.
"Well, if you insist, thank you Mr. uh," Zephyr said, uncertainly.
"Oh, Neavel the name is Neavel,"
"Thank you, Mr. Neavel," Zephyr took a bite of the sandwich. The unusual flavor made his face scrunch up and his throat closed. He hoped that Neavel didn't noticed, but to his surprised the raccoon began to laugh.
"Sorry, I should have warned you. My wife is a great woman, but I didn't marry her for her cooking," laughed the old raccoon.
"What did she put on this?" Zephyr started to inspect the sandwich.
"Ketchup and baloney."
"Yeah, that's not good flavor combination."
"I'll pass that info on to her," Neavel laughed again. "I don't think the scones will be any better most of her baked good are hard as rocks."
Zephyr picked up his scone, and broke it in half. It was tough and crumbling. "Does she use any baking powder?"
"I don't think so."
"Well, there's your problem."
Neavel laughed again, "You're one funny boy, what your name?"
"Zephyr sir."
"Well, it's a pleasure Zephyr. Can I ask why you are out here? It not safe for a kid out this late."
Zephyr decided to take a chance, and carefully told Neavel a watered-down version of his story, leaving the part about him having powers out. All while eating the odd tasting sandwich; it may not have been delicious, but he was too hungry to care. Neavel seemed to be listening with great interest, occasionally nodding, and humming.
"So, you're on the road now, looking for your birth family?" Neavel asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. There are just some things I need answers too and my birth family are the only people that might have them."
"Zephyr are you sure, this is a good idea? I'm sure your folks are worried sick about now. The saying goes 'that ignorance is bliss'. The answers looking for about your family, you might not like."
"Mr. Neavel, I couldn't have stayed. I can't explain why but I need to know where I come from."
"Well, it's your decision kiddo. So, how are you going to find your family, if you don't know where you are originally from?"
"My parents found me in the river. I'm just going to keep going up stream."
Neavel shook his head, "That's not going to work Zephyr. The river ain't a solid lead. About four miles upstream another river joins this one. And who's to say your mom didn't travel far from her home to send you away or that your birth family didn't move around."
Zephyr looked at the ground, suddenly feeling helpless. He never thought of these possibilities. The river was his only lead, the letter his mother left him didn't describe anything about their home, except that had recently became dangerous. His ears drooped; the odds were completely against him.
Neavel must have seen the sudden hopelessness on his face, as the elder continued, "But there is a town called Refuge City a little way up the river. If you need a ride, I'll take you there. You could ask around. Maybe your mom was from there."
Zephyr mentally debating for a moment, before accepting, "Yes, I could use one. Thank you, Mr. Neavel."
Throughout the night Zephyr rode in the back of Neavel's truck. Driving was strange to Zephyr, sure he had been in cars before but after learning about his powers, it just felt slow and unnatural. He continued to think about what Neavel had said. The old raccoon was right, the river wasn't a solid lead, and he needed to start looking into the alternatives. Maybe he'd find something in this 'Refuge City'. Even though Zephyr knew that it was a small and fragile hope, it was still a hope none the less, so he held on to it. Eventually the young hedgehog fell asleep in the bed of the truck.
It was late morning when they finally made to Refuge City. Zephyr said goodbye to Neavel and thanked him once again. As he entered into the city the youngster's eyes went wide. Zephyr had never seen anything like it before. The tall metallic buildings seemed to hold up the sky; they were nothing like the small wooden and stone builds back in Redwell. The people there were different as well. Everyone was dashing all over the place and their expressions were unpleasant, while back home the people walked slowly and always had smiles on their faces. But after a few moments the youngster shook off his awe; there was work to do.
Zephyr began to search for any sign of his birth family. He asked around the city, went to the police, the hospitals, city hall and even the local library. However, by the time the sun was starting to set, he had found nothing. No one recognized the letter and there was no birth certificate or record for a Zephyr the Hedgehog with A.R.H as a parent's initials. The thoughts that his birth family had nothing to do with this city, began to linger in his mind.
He rounded the corner of 4th Street and Phoenix Ave when he heard the sirens of an imperial truck. Zephyr looked up to see one storming down the street and countless people running to get out of the way. Zephyr couldn't help but duck behind some trash cans in a nearby ally. After what happened in Redwell, he really didn't want to be seen.
Though, he couldn't help but be a bit morbidly curious. Zephyr looked out from his hiding place, and watched as the people continued to run in order to get out of the truck's path. His ear flicked with annoyance. These guards seemed just as obnoxious as the ones who raided his home. Constantly shouting at people to get out of the way, and blowing the truck's, rather loud, horn. Though it seemed that Zephyr wasn't the only one there that found these practices distasteful.
Amongst the moving crowd a lone figure remained still. The figure was wearing pale blue jean shorts, with black leggings underneath, and a dark green sleeveless jacket with hood worn up. They wore dark green wrist guards rather than the traditional white gloves and strange looking shoes that had large discs stuck on the outside of the ankle. Zephyr couldn't tell what species they were, but he was sure that they had black fur. They stood unmoving in front of the truck.
"Either this guy is brave or completely insane," Zephyr thought.
The imperial truck stopped fifteen away from the figure. "Hey buddy!" shouted an imperial guard as he stepped out of the truck. "Can you get out of the way? Your kind of in the way of the king's guard."
The figure remained still.
"Ok, come on, I need you to move!"
The figure turned around and started to walk down the street; they were mocking him.
"ARE YOU DEAF!? GET OUT OF THE ROAD!" Anger was starting to ring in the soldier's voice.
The figure kept walking, calmly, paying no mind to the soldier.
"OK, I DIDN'T WANT TO DO THIS," the soldier pulled a weapon that looked like a silvery crossbow, that didn't need any arrows to shoot, "PUT YOUR HANDS UP, AND TURN AROUND! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR DEFYING THIS KING'S GUARD!"
The figure stopped, but they didn't turn around or raise their hands. The guard had had enough and fired the silvery crossbow. A bright white energy blast headed straight for the figure, but before it could hit them there was a flash of bright blue light. The figure was gone and, in their place, two smoldering scorch marks. One from the weapon, the other from the flash.
"HE'S CURSED!" Shouted one of the soldiers. All of them began to glance around wildly, looking for something.
A second later the figure appeared in another bright blue flash behind the imperial truck; thirty feet in the air. They flung their arm across their body as if they were throwing something and the truck exploded in a bright green light. After dropping to the ground, they suddenly became a glowing violet blur that rushed down the street at an incredible speed.
Zephyr's eyes were wide and his ears were up and alert. The youngster couldn't believe what he had just seen. He'd never seen or heard someone doing that, blowing up a truck with a flick of their wrist. Once Tom had mentioned someone in one of his legends, but Zephyr couldn't really remember who they were. He didn't know how he felt about them, excited? Scared? Impressed? But he knew that he had to talk to them. "They're like me," was the only thought going through his head as used his own speed to catch up to this mysterious individual.
Down the streets, and out of the city, Zephyr chased them. Once the youngster got close enough, he saw that the figure wasn't actually running. Looking down at their feet, he saw that the discs that previously were stuck on the side of their shoes were now hovering two inches from the outside of the shoes. They weren't discs at all, they were wheels. Their speed didn't come from their legs like Zephyr's, it came from their shoes. Where did this faker get those?
The chase continued in to the country side outside of the city and eventually into a nearby forest. After watching them take out that truck like it was nothing, the young hedgehog wasn't entirely sure if he was to meet them face to face, just yet. But he did continue to follow them closely.
Zephyr now had a better look of the figure, and he noticed another strange detail. On the Figure's left arm just below their shoulder, was a small white Tattoo? Birthmark? He couldn't tell. It looked like a triangle, that was separated into four smaller hollow triangles. The three outer ones facing up, and the one in the center was upside down. Each triangle had something printed in their centers, he couldn't really tell what was in the outer triangles but the center, upside down, one had something that looked like a yin and yang symbol. Why did this symbol feel familiar?
The youngster didn't notice that he was getting closer to the Figure or the root he was about to run into. He suddenly tripped. He flew forward and landed in the path of the Figure, tripping them in the process. Both speedsters, tech given and naturally born, were sent tumbling to the forest ground.
Zephyr coughed as he slowly lifted himself up; taste of dry dirt filled his mouth. He swiveled his head around, eventually finding the figure spread across the ground only beginning to gingerly pick themselves up. The young hedgehog jumped to his feet and leaped towards them, "Are you okay?! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean...to?"
Zephyr's eyes widened with shock, as he watched them pull their hood down. The figure that had blown up an imperial truck, was nothing but a girl. A girl who looked only a few years older than him. She, at first glance, looked like a hedgehog but the more he looked at her something seemed different; her ears and tail weren't as sharp, seeming to be slightly rounded. Her fur was black as night. Her pitch quills were worn in a half held up style and had purple-ish indigo stripes painted on them. She possessed a pair of fierce yet gentle eyes that were a beautiful light brown. Even with the stoic expression etched on her face, she was very beautiful.
"No problem," she spoke in a calm, hollow voice.
"She talked to me! Crap! Quick! Think of something that doesn't sound stupid! Oh, Crap! Oh, Crap! Oh, Crap! Oh, Crap!" Zephyr Panicked inside, he had very little experience with girls around his age.
"It's my fault. I didn't see you," The Dark Girl said.
"Uh...I-It's fine. I-I should have known better than to get that close especially since I saw you... Wait! I-I wasn't watching you! I mean I kind of was, but not like that! not like a stalker!" Zephyr stammered, his hand reaching to scratch the back of his neck.
The Dark Girl's expression remained stoic, as she brushed herself off. Either not caring, or not paying attention to young hedgehog in front of her. While, Zephyr continued to ramble, and apologizing for his rambling.
Suddenly, there was a faint rumble. Zephyr didn't hear it, but The Dark Girl was well aware. She felt the slight trimmers in the ground, ad heard the rumbling. She looked around the sunset lit forest, searching for the rumble that was slowly getting louder. After a few moments she found it. Right behind Zephyr. It was a large boulder, that was hurdling towards them.
Her eyes slightly widened, and she leaped forward pushing herself and Zephyr out the way, "Look out!"
The two of them were sent tumbling down the hill. Zephyr landed on top of her, triggering his panic again. Before he could get off of her and apologize, someone rammed into his side, pushing him off of the Dark Girl. They shouted in a light, jazzy voice "GET OFF OF HER YOU CREEP SHE'S ONLY 13 YEARS OLD!"
Zephyr was suddenly pinned against a nearby tree with his arms pressed against his back. He looked behind him to see another girl, whose appearance was one of the strangest ones he'd ever seen. What was she? She had wings like a bat, and bright red spines, not like a hedgehog's but similar, styled in low hanging pigtails. Her eyes were a plum purple that wasn't like any species' Zephyr had ever seen. But at the moment, he didn't care what she was, he just wanted her to stop trying to break his arms.
"Mari, are you ok?" said a small voice that came from behind The Red Girl. Zephyr strained his neck to look behind him. the voice came from a little fox, maybe around 8 or 9, that had two tails! His fur was mostly tangerine orange, with the rest of him being a light lemony yellow. Over his left eye was a dark birthmark that looked like a grease stain, and his tails had dark rings right before their lemony yellow tips.
"I'm fine, Sparky," said The Dark Girl.
Zephyr continued to squirm, trying to find a position where the Red Girl wasn't going to break his arms. He looked back seeing that the Little Fox had walked over to something and picked it up off the ground. It was the small cylinder capsule that Zephyr wore around his neck! The string must have broken when The Red Girl pushed him off of The Dark girl.
"What's this?" the Little Fox, murmured looking over the capsule.
Zephyr eyes widened in horror, as The Little Fox open the letter. "That's mine! Put it down!"
The Little Fox opened the capsule and took out the letter. His expression turned into one of pure shock and recognition, "Mari, you need see this," he said.
Zephyr squirmed even harder, not just to ease his pain, but to get the letter back. Even if it wasn't as useful as he originally thought, it was still the only connection they young hedgehog had to his birth mother. The Dark Girl took the letter, he squirmed even more, but The Red Girl's grip held strong. He squirmed and squirmed until his started to vibrate, although he didn't notice. The Red Girl screeched and released him. In a flash, Zephyr snatched the letter out of The Dark Girl's hand and dashed off.
Zephyr only vaguely heard someone saying "Catch him" as he dashed off. For a moment, the youngster smirked cockily thinking he had gotten away. Suddenly there was a bright blue flash and he was pinned to the ground, this time by The Dark Girl. Right, he wasn't the only one with powers.
"How did you do that?" he shouted out of confusion.
"Ever hear of teleportation, speedster?" The Dark Girl said as she pulled the letter out of Zephyr's hand, much to his anger and worry; what if she ripped it? She looked at the letter for a few moments, her face didn't change but anyone could tell she was surprised if they looked close enough.
"Where did you get this?" Her voice icy and cold.
Before Zephyr could answer The Red Girl and The Little Fox came running up to The Dark Girl
"Mari! Nice job! You caught him!" shouted The Red Girl.
"Never mind that, Angie! Am I nuts?" said The Little Fox.
"Usually, but not on this," The Dark Girl said, she turned back to Zephyr, "Now where did you get this?"
"Why should I tell you?" Said Zephyr.
"Because, I won't let you up until I get an answer," The Dark Girl pressed Zephyr's arms deeper into his back, to prove her point.
"Okay, okay!" Zephyr cried out, "My mother gave it to me!"
The others looked at each other with shock. besides The Dark Girl, whose face still held its stoic expression. Did they know something.
Zephyr panted with pain, "It was the last thing she gave me before; I was abandoned. You got your answer! Now, can you let me up? I promise not to run away."
The Dark Girl thought about the this for a moment before releasing the heavy grip on Zephyr's arms. Even if he tried to run away, he wouldn't get far.
Zephyr slowly got up from the ground, rubbing his arms and shoulders. The pain from the constant presser began to fade, as he stretched. "Can I have my letter back?" He asked, his arms finally not screaming at him.
"Not until we can confirm your story," The Dark Girl said coldly.
"What? I promise you I'm telling the truth!"
"Your words mean nothing."
"Oh, my gosh, Mari, stop reacting and think! You saw his speed; how could he be anyone else?! Besides if he was lying, you'd know," said The Red Girl.
"That doesn't mean we can trust him," said The Dark Girl.
"Excuse me, but who do you think I am?" Zephyr interjected.
"You don't know?" said The Red Girl.
"Know wh..."
"Shush," The Dark Girl cut Zephyr off.
There was a sudden clicking sound coming from the forest around them. It sounded hollow, metallic, unliving. It was a sound that The Dark Girl, The Little Fox and The Red Girl knew all too well.
She sat on a rocker, watching the sunset over the sea, and her young nephew played peacefully on the porch next to her. A sudden shiver went up her spine, and her breath hitched with a small gasp. She grabbed the gemstone handle of her cane and limped over to the railing of the porch. Her long golden quills flowing behind her, as her pale blue eyes gazed worryingly over the horizon.
"Something's not right," she whispered.
"Bottom Feeders," The Little Fox whispered fearfully.
"Sparky, Angie, time to go," The Dark Girl whispered.
"Wait, what about him?" The Red Girl asked, gesturing towards Zephyr.
"What about him?" the Dark Girl said.
"If he's who we think he is, can just leave him," the Red Girl glared to the other female.
The clicks grew louder and more metallic. The sound, picked at their ears, and made shivers run up their spines.
"We're surrounded," The Little Fox whispered.
"Angie, give me the emerald," The Dark Girl whispered.
"What makes you think I have one?" said The Red Girl.
The Dark Girl raise one of her brows.
"Ok, fine," The Red Girl pulled a purple diamond cut gemstone out of her skirt.
"Where did you get that?" said The Little Fox with wide eyes.
"Um... the vault," said The Red Girl, her face going scarlet, clearly embarrassed.
"Did she give you permission?" the Little Fox said.
"Not exactly," said the Red Girl, whose face now had gone completely red.
"We're going to be in so much trouble," The Little Fox put his hand on his head.
The clicking suddenly intensified into a roar. Out of the brush, leaped a giant metal snake. A dark aura was surrounding its sharp metal crests. It froze Zephyr in his place. The snake lunged at him, but The Red Girl leaped forward and punch the metal snake in the face, sending it flying back into the brush.
"MARI GET US OUT OF HERE!" The Red Girl shouted, as she threw the purple gemstone at The Dark Girl.
The Dark Girl caught the gem stone, and raised it in the air, "chaos control," she whispered. Suddenly the gemstone sparkled, and a bright white light quickly envelope the four of them.
Zephyr felt something seizes his body. It felt like he was being squeezed and pulled apart at the same time, but the feeling vanished as soon as it came. He felt slightly dizzy, and for a moment his arms and legs had pins and needles. He opened his eyes; the white flash was gone and so was the forest. Surrounding him was a field, with the distance sound of moving water filling his ears. The Red Girl, The Little Fox, and The Dark Girl were around him, all lifting themselves off the ground.
"MARI!" shouted a young excited male voice.
Zephyr looked up to see a little boy running toward The Dark Girl. Although he appeared as a hedgehog at first glance, like The Dark Girl, he had the same blunt ears and tail. His fur and quills were crimson, with a little tuft of black chest fur. His quills flipped up, and were painted with black stripes. On his arm in the same spot as The Dark Girl's was the strange Triangle symbol, all though his gold, not white. The little one looked towards Zephyr. His eyes were different colors! One was a deep blood red, while the other was a bright oasis blue.
The Dark Girl noticed The Little Boy was staring at Zephyr. She shot him a mistrusting glare, "Come on baby, let's go inside," she lifted the Little Boy up into her arms and began to walk toward…a large wooden mansion.
Zephyr's eyes widened at the sight of the building. He'd had never seen a structure as large as the one that stood in front of him; not even the sky scrapers in Refuge City compared to this mansion. Though, it was probably larger than it looked, as half of it was being eaten by the cliffside it was built into. The mansion's wood was clearly old, with the dark wood being faded, and a number of flowering vines clinging to it. A large tower that appeared as a tree, was sticking out the roof, with half of it swallowed into the cliff. A large, roofed deck was wrapping around the parts that were visible. It looked, so grand, like a palace, yet Zephyr felt as if he'd been here before. Like a memory from a dream.
"MARISOL SHADE!" someone suddenly shouted, making Zephyr jump.
The young hedgehog, looked up trying to find the own of the voice. It didn't take long, to see whom it came from. An older hedgehog, that was limping towards the group. She had long golden quills that shone in the dying sun's light, and was wearing a dress of an older style; maybe from the 40s or 50s. Zephyr somehow knew her face, but where had he'd seen her?
"I told you we were going to get in trouble," The Little Fox whispered, snapping Zephyr back to the present.
"Chaos control?! What have I told you about using chaos control?! Why did you even have an emerald in first place?!" said The Golden Hedgehog.
"Aunt Maria, I'm sorry but I had no choice," said The Dark Girl calmly, when they met each other in the field in between the mansion and the others.
"Oh, I've heard that one before. I swear child sometimes I don't think I keep the promise I made to your mother."
"Aunt Maria, I know your upset but you need to see this," said The Red Girl as she took the letter from The Dark Girl and handed it The Golden Hedgehog.
"If this is another one of your pranks I don't..." she glanced at the letter and her eyes widen, "Where did you get this?" her voice grew serious.
"That would be mine," Zephyr decided to speak up even though he was completely confused as to what was going on.
The Golden Hedgehog looked up finally noticing him. Her pale blue eyes, showed an emotion like bewilderment. Zephyr felt a little bit like he was on display with how hard she was staring at him. His quills, his build, even his yes felt like they were being thoroughly inspected by her gaze. It was as if she was looking for something.
"Dear Chaos..." The Golden Hedgehog whispered. The shock on her face quickly melted away, turning her expression serious, "Marisol take the others inside and get started on dinner."
"Aunt Maria?" Said The Red Girl.
"Inside now," The Golden Hedgehog ordered.
The Dark Girl, The Little Fox, The Red Girl and The Little Boy, although hesitant, obeyed and started to walk toward the wooden mansion. But the golden hedgehog stopped The Red Girl when she walked past her.
"Angie?" she said, raising a brow. The Red Girl sighed and reluctantly gave the purple gemstone to her. "Thought so."
The Golden Hedgehog turned her attention back to Zephyr. Her pale blue eyes staring into him once again, as she approached. She may have been limping, but she still gave off an intimidating aura. Though, for some reason Zephyr didn't feel any need to run away from her. Maybe it was because, she still had his letter, or maybe it was because he wanted to know what was going on, but he couldn't move. It was like his feet were suddenly made of cement.
"What is your name, child?" she asked, her voice calm collected, and slightly warm.
"Zephyr," he replied quietly, unable to look directly at her eyes.
She nodded, "Zephyr, where did you get this letter?"
"My mother left it with me when she abandoned me. Now if I can have it back, I'll leave and never tell anyone about whatever that was."
She looked down at the letter in her hand and hummed, "Zephyr has anything 'unusual' happened to you, recently?"
"If something did happen, why would that matter and why would I tell you?" Zephyr crossed his arms.
"Because it could mean your safety is compromised."
"My safety? What are you talking about?"
"I need you to answer the question Zephyr."
"Okay, maybe something did happen. Look I won't tell anyone about you, but I need the letter back. It's my last clue to find my birth mother," Zpehyr held out his hand, hoping that the elder hedgehog would give him back the letter.
The Golden Hedgehog made not move to hand over the letter. She instead raised a brow, and pricked up her ears. Clearly showing she was not satisfied with the answer she got.
Zephyr felt his own ears droop, he swallowed, "Please, I need to find her."
She looked back down at the letter one more time, "Well, I don't think further searching is necessary, since you've found what you're looking for."
Zephyr's heart seemed to stop, and his ears flicked up; alert. He suddenly felt very anxious, unsure of what to say next. Did he really find…?
He swallowed, before asking, "Are you, my mother?"
The golden hedgehog's eyes widened as she seemed to contemplate what Zephyr had asked, before she started to chuckling, "Oh, heavens no child."
Zephyr's ears dropped again. This wasn't his mother. He had just bothered his woman and all of her crazy children, for no reason. Shame and embarrassment, made his cheeks grow flush and hot. He looked down at the ground.
"But I did know her," the Golden Hedgehog continued.
Zephyr ears shot up, and quietly gasped. She knew his mother? "You did?" he mumbled still uncertain if this was happening.
The Golden Hedgehog nodded, "I did."
Zephyr's breaths grew shaky, "A-are you sure? H-how?"
"She was a close friend of mine for a very long time. I could never forget her. Especially her eyes. Eyes that look exactly like yours," a warm loving smile spread across her face.
A large smile broke on to Zephyr's face. He may not have had found his mother, yet, but a close friend was a good start. She could help him find answers, and if not, hopefully, she could just answer the most important one. He swallowed, "Do you know where she is?"
The Golden Hedgehog's smile vanished, and her eyes grew tired, and filled with a silent pain. She sighed, "Follow me."
Zephyr was a little confused but followed the golden hedgehog, none the less. She could have answers, and if she was truly leading him to his mother, then it wouldn't matter how strange the first meeting was, right? Then why did he have a sinking feeling in his stomach. She led to a flight of stairs carved out of the white stone cliff that was eating part of the wooden mansion.
"Zephyr, are you aware of the League of Chaos?" she asked as they hobbled up the stone steps.
"Uhm," Zephyr thought for a moment, slowly remembering that one of his Pa's favorite legends was called that, "Yeah, I think so. They were a team of superpowered people who protected mobius, right?"
"Correct. What do you know of them?"
"Um, well, they were a team of heroes with incredible powers, and…" The Golden Hedgehog stopped and turned around to look at Zephyr, "And that's all I know," Zephyr finished sheepishly.
"Alright, do you know any of the members?" She returned to walking.
Zephyr thought for a moment, "Uhm, Yeah, actually. The Runner, The Engineer, The Guardian, The Heart, The Thief, The Half Breed, The Knight, The Goddess, The Traveler, The Flame, The Pirate, The Soldier, The Puppet, The Mercenary, The Detective, The Spark, The Ninja, The Alien, The Giant and The Light, but they're all just legend, right?" Zephyr said, surprising himself; he didn't notice her flinch at the names he'd said.
They reached to top of the stairs and walked onto a round stone platform. The platform was a perfect circle, carved out of pale grey stone; that looked similar to marble. It didn't seem to be new, with few scratches and cracks, covering the polished stone. Short pillars, lined the outer edge; each inscribed with a different name. In the center was a much thinner pillar that had a small hole on top of it.
"The league? Oh, the league was very real Zephyr. You wouldn't be here if the league didn't exist," The Golden Hedgehog said as she limped over to the center pillar. Pulling the blue diamond cut gemstone from the top of her cane, she placed it in the small hole on top of the pillar.
The pillar started to glow as bright green energy lines shot out of its sides and struck the other pillars. Some of the other pillars began to produce holograms of all sorts of creatures. Though, not all of them did. The holograms were greatly detailed, from far off you would have mistaken them for real people. Only close up could you see a strange haze coating them, that made them different from real life.
Zephyr was amazed at the incredible sight before him; his eyes were practically popping out of his head. If his Pa could have seen this he would've flipped. The Golden Hedgehog suddenly took him by the shoulder. She led him to a pillar off to the right, with the hologram of a pink hedgehog, with deep green almost turquoise eyes. Just like his.
"This is your mother," The Golden Hedgehog said. "Her name was Amy Rose, well Amy Rose Hedgehog after she married your father; she was The Heart."
Zephyr, stared at the hologram. His mother, was this truly his mother? He couldn't believe what he was looking at, she was beautiful. The more he stared at it her, the more similarities he saw. Her quills may have been fully pink, but she had that stubborn patch that fell over her face, and those eyes. He might as well have been looking into a mirror when he stared into those eyes.
The golden Hedgehog then took him by the shoulder again and led him to a pillar in the center of all the others, it had a hologram of a blue hedgehog with bright green eyes. He stood tall and strong, with a look of determination on his face.
"This is your father; his name was Sonic the Hedgehog," she said.
Sonic? That was the name in the paper, Zephyr had read. No wonder they looked so alike; they were blood. His powers, came from the blue hedgehog in front of him. His father was a hero. He'd had saved lives, just like he'd saved Lilly. Pride swelled up in him. But, if his father was a hero, then why was he covered up?
"My parents were heroes?" he murmured.
The Golden Hedgehog smiled, "Yes, they were. Founding members of the league actually. Though, even before that they were saving lives. Mine included."
Zephyr turned to the elder, "They saved you?"
"Well, this was while the league was being formed but yes, they did. Multiple times actually. It was one of the more defining parts of our relationship. We'd always be jumping in front of fire to protect each other."
"I know where I get that now," Zephyr said looking back at the hologram.
"Zephyr I'm going to ask you again," Zephyr looked back at the Golden Hedgehog, "And it's very important that you answer me. Has anything unusual happened to you, recently?"
"You mean like running at the speed of sound?"
"That could count."
"I have super speed."
"Well, then looks like you are your father's son," she sighed, "Now, I defiantly owe my husband twenty bucks."
"What?" Zephyr raised his brow.
"When you mother was pregnant, me and the others had bet on whether or not you'd have inherited, your father's powers or hers. I lost apparently."
"My mother had powers too?"
She nodded.
"What…?"
"Were they?" she clicked her tongue trying to find the best way to answer, "Well, they weren't as obvious as your father's. At first glance you could easily just think she was normal hedgehog, but she was far from normal. She was strong. Not the strongest, but she was strong. She was also, a bit…psychic, as you could say. She on of number of times had predicted a future. Even made herself invisible once, but I never saw that."
Zephyr chuckled, "Could I do any of that?"
"Possibly, you can never tell. My niece inherited her father's abilities, yet she's still connected to her mother's magic. Are you alright?"
Zephyr took a deep breath, "Yeah, yeah. I'm okay. It's just…a lot."
"I know the feeling and I know you have questions."
"That's an understatement."
Her eyes narrowed, "Watch your tone around me young man," her face warmed once again, "But when you're ready, you can always come to me for answers."
Zephyr nodded, "Can I start now?"
"As long as you let me answer them one at time."
"Oh, okay…Uhm…How were my parents part of the league? In all of the stories, I was told about them, I never heard about their real names, only their titles."
"That would be the doing of Scourge," The Golden Hedgehog's face grew dark and serious, "When he came to power, he separated the identities of the leaguers from their real names. In order to keep them as legends rather than real people."
Zephyr nodded, a little weirded out by that answer. Why would his majesty do that? "Okay, so, uhm where are we?"
"Equinox Manor, it was one of our main bases during the Equinox war, and now one of the last remaining."
"I've never heard it."
"I doubt you would have. The owner liked her privacy."
"Am I dreaming?"
"I'm asking myself that."
"This is crazy."
"I'm afraid it is."
"Are they here?"
Her face twisted with confusion, "Is who here, Zephyr?"
"My parents. Are they here?"
With that question the golden hedgehog's warm smile quickly faded away and was replaced with a solemn face. Her eyes became empty and tired.
Zephyr knew the expression that was spread across the elder's face. It was one that adults always used when there was something bad going on, "What's wrong?"
She took a deep breath, "When a leaguer dies, the hologram on their pillar is activated." She said quietly.
Zephyr's heart dropped and his ears fell, "What are your saying?"
The Golden Hedgehog took a deep breath, "11 years ago, when the Master Emerald was... destroyed, it sent out an energy wave made of pure chaos. Your father was too close to the explosion. H-he was... incinerated."
His father was dead? Incinerated? Zephyr's heart dropped into his stomach, making it churn. No. No. This couldn't be true. Just a few weeks ago he was reading about how strong, and powerful his father was. It didn't seem possible for someone like that to just be gone.
"What about my mother?" Zephyr, asked with pleading eyes.
She sighed sadly, before hesitantly speaking, "A week after you were born your mother left us and took you with her. We searched for her for months until we got word that she was captured."
Zephyr's breath began to pick up, "Captured? By who?"
"Scourge," The word was drenched in venom.
"What? W-why would King Scourge capture her?"
"Don't call that horrid hedgehog a king. He has no honor. Zephyr why do you think that all the heroes are gone? Why aren't they here to protect people anymore?"
"Because Kin... Scourge disbanded them, when he came of age and took his throne, because the world was safe."
"Is that the lie you were told? Oh, Zephyr, he didn't disband them, he killed them. Scourge wasn't some long-lost heir to a dead kingdom. He was a criminal that rose to power by force. The league tried to stop him, but…"
"What happened?"
"We underestimated him. At first, we thought he was nothing more than just a petty thief, but…Oh we were wrong. We were so wrong. It started when it was determined that he was a person with abilities, powerful abilities. At first, we though he was a basic chaos wieldier, but we were wrong about that as well. We sent three of our members to apprehend him one night, only one came back alive. From there, it just went downhill. He continued to get more and more people on his side and continued to thin our numbers. While we continued to add to our graves."
"Why?"
"Because, we were a threat, Zephyr. A threat to his rise to power and threats need to be eliminated."
"Wait, wait, you said my mother was captured. Why is her hologram up?"
"Zephyr."
"S-she could still be out there!"
"ZEPHYR! Scourge doesn't keep prisoners, not for long at least," The golden hedgehog glanced back at another hologram to the left, "I'm sorry child, but your parents are gone."
Zephyr began to breath shakily, and tears started to come to his eyes, "I-I never thought that she'd be gone. I should have thought that…I should have realized…"
The Golden Hedgehog stepped forward and pulled Zephyr into a warm and comforting embrace, "Shh, dry your tears. I know it hurts, but this pain will pass, although slowly, it will pass. If it helps; we never stopped looking for you, even after your mother was captured. We never thought you perished."
Knowing that they never stopped looking, never stopped believing in him, was comforting, but the sorrow in his heart was too strong, "Why did she leave me?"
"I can't answer that. If it had been my choice you'd have stayed with the others, but I can't answer for your mother. She was always very intuitive; she knew she was going to marry your father long before it happened. Maybe she saw something that made her think you'd be safer away from all this."
"What am I going to do?" he whispered.
"As far I can tell you have two choices. You can either go home, forget all about your powers and this place, or you can stay here, learn about your abilities and your family." She pulled away from Zephyr to remove the blue gemstone from the center pillar. "You don't have decide right now, and you are welcome to stay with us until you do."
Zephyr, watched as the holograms faded away when the gemstone was removed; watched as his parents faded away. His heart ached with the loss of people he didn't even know, but whether or not he knew them. They were his parents they gave him life; they gave him powers; they gave him their lives.
"Zephyr are you coming?" The Golden Hedgehog asked as she started to walked down the steps. He slowly followed her, his shattered world still trying to put itself back together.
"Don't worry about other children," She said as they walked up onto the wooden porch of the mansion, "They have all known loss as well."
Zephyr looked down at the ground, his ears drooping, "They're the kids of the other leaguers, aren't they?"
"They are," she nodded solemnly.
"Thank you for letting me stay... umm... What should I call you?" Zephyr, asked timidly.
"You may call me what the others call me, Aunt Maria."
"Well…uhm…thank you for helping me…Aunt Maria."
Aunt Maria flashed him a warm smile before opening one of the tall carved wooden French doors, letting Zephyr and herself inside. Inside of the mansion was one of the strangest and most beautiful places the youngster had ever seen. The place seemed to be mostly green, gold and pale indigo, all framed in dark chocolate brown polished wood. Long halls, tall ceilings and large rooms, all of them beautifully decorated in a foreign style.
Aunt Maria led him into a dining room, that was much simpler than what Zephyr had expected to be in a place as extravagant as this. Only a long rectangular table, and seats, no paintings or chandelier. Inside the dining room, was The Dark Girl, The Little Fox, and The Little Boy. The Little Fox was laying out plates and utensils. The Dark Girl was carrying food from a door on the right that probably led the kitchen, to the table. While The Little Boy was struggling to climb into one of the tall chairs at the table.
The Dark Girl, stopped bringing food to the table. She sighed and walked over to the Little Boy gently picked him up and placed him to his chair, "There you go Lele bo."
Suddenly The Red Girl walked through the door carrying a large bowl of soup, and set it down on the table, "Soups on everybody!" she said cheerfully.
"Ahem," Aunt Maria cleared her throat, "Children, this is Zephyr he'll be staying with us for a while. Please help him feel welcome."
The Red Girl immediately walked up to Zephyr and shook his hand, roughly, "It's a pleasure Zephyr, my name is Angelina Emerald, but can call me Angie, I just wanted to let you know that so, if you accidentally call me that then you know that I won't be mad." Her large sugar plum purple eyes, were so bright and cheerful. Angie pulled him to a seat on the left side of the table, and sat him down. Her energy nearly rivaled his own.
"Hello, my name's Sparky, Sparky Prowler." Said The Little Fox as he sat in the chair next to Zephyr and shook his hand. He sounded gentle and a little shy.
The Little Boy had been staring timidly at Zephyr from across the table; his heterochromia eyes filled with quiet wonder, it was only a matter of time till the newcomer noticed his small audience, "Hello, what's your name?" Zephyr asked in a sweet brotherly tone.
The Little Boy glanced at Aunt Maria, who had just sat down at the head of the table, she nodded at him. The little boy began to smile with excitement and pride.
"Damian! my name is Damian," he squeaked in the cutest voice Zephyr had ever heard, "And that's my sister Mari," Damian said while pointing at The Dark Girl.
The dark girl, Mari, sat on Damian's right. Unlike her brother that seemed to have a large caring heart, she seemed to be a person without one entirely. Her brother's face was expressive while hers was like a manikin's, completely emotionless.
"It's nice to meet you, Mari," said Zephyr trying to get on her good side.
Mari ignored him, until Aunt Maria glared at her. She then replied with "Same."
Angie walked over and set a plate of roasted veggies, garlic bread and a bowl of soup, in front of the young hedgehog, "Did I do something wrong?" he asked her.
"Oh, no, you didn't do anything wrong. Mari just doesn't like strangers, but don't worry. She'll warm up to you... eventually," Angie reassured him. She finished handing out the plates, and sat down next to Mari.
"So, where are you from, Zephyr?" Angie asked, setting off the small talk.
"Uh, a forest to the west…I think…Uhm…I don't really know where we are right now," Zephyr said.
"Oh, I guess we should tell you where we are. We're right on the border of Equinox Forest and the Lunar Sea." Angie explained. "Southern border of course."
"Oh," Zephyr said not fully understanding what Angie had said.
"So, what gift do you have Zephyr?" Damian, asked.
"Uh, what?" Said Zephyr, even more confused.
"Your gift," Damian's multicolored eyes grew wide. "Do you not have a gift?" he asked quietly.
"um…."
"Here let me explain," Sparky spoke up to the great relief of Zephyr, "Dami means what are your powers? Do you have your mom strength? Or your father's speed?"
"Oh, I'm fast! 1000% speed. Wait, how did you know who my parents were?"
"It was pretty obvious, the blue fur, the crooked smile, and we saw your speed. No doubt you are related to him," Mari said, not looking up from her food.
"Besides that, there are bunch picture of him around the Mansion, you look a lot like him," Angie said.
"So, you can run fast?" Damian innocently asked.
"Yeah," Zephyr smiled
"How fast?" Damian asked with his bright blue eye shinning even brighter.
Zephyr didn't know how to answer he didn't know his top speed, "Faster than an old banged up truck." He finally answered, "What's your gift Damian?"
The sparkle in Damian's bright blue eye dimmed a little. "I don't have a gift yet," he said quietly.
"There still time Dami," Aunt Maria said warmly and with a loving smile.
The rest of dinner continued like this, questions asked and answered, with Mari as the exception, she stayed quiet. After dinner, Aunt Maria led Zephyr through the tall beautifully decorated halls of the mansion, until they came to another set of large beautifully carved pair of French doors. The doors led to a room that had a tall spiral staircase, that led to a number of floors.
"This is the dormitory. This is where every member league rested when they stayed here. Large enough that each team had a different floor," Aunt Maria said as she began to limp up the stairs.
"Team?" Zephyr asked.
"The league wasn't completely a single force, Zephyr. We were broken up into different groups we called teams. They were usually consisting of three members, but there were some exceptions. Each team was somewhat specialized in certain fields."
"Which one were you on?"
"Team Sahara, we lived on the 6th floor and usually worked in the desert."
"Which ones were my parents apart of?"
"Team Sonic and Team Rose, they lived on the 3rd and 4th floors."
"Which floor will I be staying on?"
"When your parents got married your mother moved down to the 3rd floor, that's where you'll be staying."
They got to the 3rd floor and Aunt Maria led Zephyr to a small blue door. She stepped to the side of it and gestured for him to open it. He slowly grabbed the old bronze door knob, turned it, and pushed the door open with a low creak.
Inside was a round bedroom. Its walls were painted with the image of a green valley on a sunny day, like the one from his dream had the day he saved Lily. To the left was blue race car bed, and too the right was a blue and white desk and another door that led to a bathroom. Hanging from the center of the ceiling was model of the solar system. Zephyr, walked around the room for a moment, his eyes wide with wonder.
"This is mine?" he asked.
"Yes, it was always yours. When your mother was pregnant, we fixed up this room to be your nursery, but you never really got the chance to use it. My sister-in-law used to change it up every few years, in case you ever came back. I guess it's a good thing that she lived in the moment and looked to the future," Explained Aunt Maria.
"Yeah, I guess it was," he said, still star-struck.
"If you need anything go ahead and knock-on Sparky's door. He lives just across the floor behind the pale-yellow door."
"Sparky lives on this floor?"
"Yes, your fathers were on the same team. I suggest you get your rest; days here start early." She said as she left the room, closing the door behind her.
Zephyr walked around the room. Was it really made for him? He picked up one of the pictures that stood on the blue and white desk. It was his parents; His mother was sat on a blanket and his father was hanging upside down from a nearby tree; their smiles were so bright. He picked up another one, it was his mom. She was pregnant and standing next to a shiny blue crib. Her smile seemed fake in this one and why wasn't his father there?
He put the picture back and flopped onto the race car bed. How? How could he be related to some of the greatest heroes of all time? Heroes that were gone. How, could this be real? It couldn't be real, but it felt so real. His body sank in to the soft bed and he slowly drifted off to sleep.
Aunt Maria slowly and quietly opened the door to Sparky's room. The little fox was sleeping soundly in his hammock, a book fallen on to his face. She smiled, as she walked over and placed the book back on to the young fox desk, before making a quick exit. It was nice knowing, that for once nearly everyone in the mansion was sleeping peacefully.
She then limped over to the small blue door and slowly opened the door. She saw that Zephyr was lying on top of the bedsheets with the lights on. She shook her head and chuckled quietly. She took off his shoes, that clearly needed to be replaced with a sturdier pair, and tucked him underneath the soft blankets, before turning off the lights.
She glanced one more time at the young hedgehog as she was leaving, and began to remember the night when she first saw him. She remembered the blood curdling scream his mother gave, her sister-in-law calling for help, and the blood; there was so much blood. That was all behind her now though.
She smiled, "After all these years, he was finally home."
Author's note:
Here's the Rewrite!
I don't own Maria the hedgehog, idk who created her. Scourge belongs to the comics. All of the other characters are mine. This is my first! So, read and review!
