Sonic the Hedgehog

Forced AU

Rating: R

Pairings: None (Undecided)

A/N: Follow story development on tumblr blog sonicforcesau

A few days after the assassination, the money exchanged with the sliced finger of Kanyx the Wolf was now kept inside his haversack.

Finnigan had bandage wrapped on the right side of his head, where his blade had sliced through. It still stung quite a bit, but he beared with it as he made his way to the inn where he would stay the night. The injury meant that the usage of his right eye is impossible until the wound recovers.

Although it didn't seem like much, losing the use of an eye actually affected the jackal quite a bit. His perspective was now shifted slightly to one side, and he actually had to adjust to it. Sighing at the thought, Finnigan lit up a cigarette and began to smoke.

While he walked, there was some feeling poking in his gut that told him something was amiss.

The mercenary stopped in his tracks all of a sudden to do a quick check of his surroundings. Paranoia had developed in him the more notorious he became as a mercenary - there could be assassins around the next corner hired to murder him; he cannot afford to guard down.

When he was somewhat sure that nothing was wrong, he continued on his way to the inn which wasn't far away.

He still couldn't get rid of the feeling of being watched. Was he just on edge, or was his body telling him something?

Upon reaching the inn, he scanned his surroundings again: People talking to each other about interesting subjects, children running around laughing, merchants trying to sell their goods and produce, the occasional aged car driving by.

Nothing seemed off.

Feeling a slight wave of relief, he looked at the inn he would be staying in.

It was made of brick, and it was yellow in colour. Windows were scattered around for the different rooms, and it seemed pretty big in size.

Deciding that he had seen enough, he tossed what's left of his cigarette onto the ground, stepping on it to put it out as he went into the open door of the inn.

"A room for the night." Finnigan said simply to the person behind the counter.

"That'll be three hundred rings." said the red furred rabbit male, and the jackal handed over three mobiums.

Keeping the currency in the drawer behind the counter, the bunny presented the jackal with a room key without delay.

"Second floor, all the way to the left."

Finnigan made his way up the staircase next to the counter, and was presented with a simple hallway. Following the innkeeper's instructions, the jackal turned left and passed two doors before reaching his room.

Fitting the key in the lock and turning the key, he unlocked the door and stepped into the room.

It wasn't much. A simple set up: a bed near a window, a desk with a chair with tissue and some storybooks laid on it. An electrical plug was found right next to the desk. A small shower room with the necessary facilities was found right next to the entrance to the room.

However, the mercenary was quite pleased with the room. Locking the door and setting down his haversack, he decided to take a nap before he would have to get up for dinner.

But he couldn't sleep.

Because somehow, a male jackal - obviously younger than himself - had snuck into his room, and Finnigan didn't notice until all this time.

Wow. He really must be out of it, or really affected by inability to use his right eye.

Realising the older jackal's focus on him, the younger jackal panicked, grabbing Finnigan's haversack and practically tore open the door in his haste to escape, which also caused the mercenary to spring into action; chasing down the thief of a jackal.

The younger jackal didn't even manage to reach the staircase before Finnigan had already grabbed a hold of him. The jackal trembled in fear for his life and clutched the haversack tightly, giving the mercenary a pitiful look, as the older jackal stared back with fury evident in his single, exposed eye.

However, realising the other's fear forced him to calm down after moments.

The poor jackal was so afraid, he didn't even try to escape or break free and just sat there, shaking. Hence, the older jackal slackened his hold on the younger one. This allowed him to take in the features of the other jackal: he had a small scar on the top of his muzzle, and he sported a dark green headband bandana around his head.

"Hand me back what you took and I won't harm you." Finnigan said calmly as he squat down slowly, attempting to not further intimidate the younger jackal.

The mercenary didn't understand why he didn't want to cause harm to the kid. Was it because he was a jackal too? Or was it simply because the jackal was… well, a kid?

The jackal continued to shiver. However, it was clear that he was calmer than before. He carefully loosened his hug on the haversack of which he stole, and slowly handed it over to the older jackal.

Grabbing the haversack with his right hand, Finnigan lightly tossed the bag to one side.

He recognised that look. He had that look years ago, on the day his parents died. The mercenary decided he wanted to get to know the child.

"What's your name?" the older jackal inquired with a gentle voice.

The younger jackal just stared back at Finnigan with wide open eyes, unsure if he should reveal his given name.

"I promise I won't hurt you." the mercenary added, attempting to get the younger's name once more. This seemed to make the younger jackal relax quite a bit.

"My name's…" the jackal began as he averted his eyes from the older jackal, softly. "Cly… Clyde."

"How old are you?" asked Finnigan.

"I'm sixteen…" replied Clyde.

Sixteen. Currently, Finnigan himself was nineteen. The kid wasn't younger than him by too much.

"You're an orphan, aren't you?" the mercenary asked for a confirmation of his suspicion.

"Why aren't you beating me up?" Clyde responded, confused by the other's actions. "Why aren't you… I don't know, angry at me for stealing your stuff?"

"You must be an orphan." Finnigan confirmed his own suspicions, ignoring the other jackal's outburst. "No child with an upbringing would want to become a thief."

The other just stared. The older one sighed.

"I know, because I was once in the same situation as you. Stand up, Clyde." Finnigan ordered as he stood up himself, grabbing his haversack of money. He opened it up, and the younger jackal caught a glimpse of the contents of the bag and he softly gasped.

The mercenary took out ten mobiums from the bag, and presented it to the other jackal.

"Keep it." said the mercenary, and Clyde stared at the mobium offered with his jaw hung slightly open, more confused than he was before.

"I… I can't take it." Clyde replied as he stared down at his worn boots. He was feeling guilty of his attempted theft, and, why was the other jackal being nice to him?

A small smile tugged at Finnigan's face after he saw the other's actions. Clyde felt guilty; for stealing from him, for trying to live a life, despite his harsh childhood without the love, care, or support from any guardians. The kid had a kind soul.

The older jackal made a decision.

"Then, follow me." Finnigan said.

"What?" Clyde mumbled.

"Join me." Finnigan attempted again. "I'll take care of you."

Hearing this had obviously elicited a response from the younger jackal. His eyes turned slightly glossier, and he blinked a few times. This was his opportunity to finally have something close to a family.

"I…" Clyde spoke, clearing his throat from constriction. Feeling his body move on its own accord, he found himself hugging the older jackal. "I will!"

Taken aback by the sudden hug, Finnigan awkwardly moved his right arm around the younger jackal, patting him gently on the back.

Perhaps this was also his chance to have something close to a family, once more.

"Here!"

Finnigan looked at the smiling younger jackal holding out a piece of woolen, pure white cloth - a short scarf - towards him.

He was confused by the gesture.

The two jackals were currently in a small town close to forests and grassy plains, near the urbanised areas of Mobius that could be reached by a half an hour's train ride.

"What's this for?" asked the older jackal.

Finnigan had recovered from the cut on the right side of his face not long ago, and true to his suspicions, it did leave a scar.

Well, it didn't stop him from being handsome, though.

"I got it for you!" Clyde excitedly replied, as he presented the scarf once more. "Wear it around your neck, Finn!"

Smiling at the gesture of the younger jackal, Finnigan gladly took the gift and tied it around his neck with a simple knot. The thief would have surely kept insisting that he keep it until he actually accepted.

"Sure, but I have fur around my neck too, y'know." Finnigan joked after tying the scarf as a neckerchief. "I might die from heat stroke."

"Don't exaggerate!" laughed Clyde.

In actual fact, the fabric was very soft, so Finnigan felt comfortable having it around his neck. The two jackals continued on their way, walking along railroad to a train station so they could eat, and also travel to someplace else.

"After we eat, we're gonna do some training." the experienced mercenary informed the younger one.

"Yeah! I've been waiting to use this!" Clyde replied, as he unsheathed a green flame-bladed sword - a flamberge - and admired it for some time as they walked. He beamed at the older jackal. "Thanks for this, Finn!"

"You're welcome." he replied. Clyde truly felt like a younger brother to him.

After a few more minutes of walking, they reached the train station they were headed for. The station was on a platform, and it was quite large. In and around the station, there were some gift shops displaying goods, family restaurants and eateries, and obviously, a few ticket booths serving commuters that would board trains headed for different destinations.

Finnigan walked into the nearest restaurant; and it seemed okay for his tastes. As he walked in, the smell of food assaulted his nose, and he saw the restaurant was a simple setup. A bar setting on the counters, and some tables and chairs arranged around.

The restaurant was kind of packed, but Clyde walked ahead of him and managed to find them their seat.

"Good afternoon, sirs!" a female badger wearing simple clothes greeted, as she presented the jackals with menus. "Here is the menu, I'll be back for your orders, okay?"

In response, Finnigan nodded, while Clyde replied with a happy "Okay!"

Scanning his menu quickly, Finnigan decided on what he wanted to eat quite easily. However, as for Clyde…

"Hmm, what should I eat?" he wondered as he looked towards the older jackal. "What are you having?"

"Linguine carbonara." Finnigan replied. "It's pretty good."

"Hmm… Pasta?" Clyde mumbled as he read about the other's choice on the menu. "Well, whatever! I don't know what to eat; I'll have what you're having."

And with good timing, the waitress came back with a small notepad and a pencil.

"So, may I get your orders?"

"Two linguine carbonara." Finnigan replied on behalf of both of them.

"Mhm…" the badger mumbled as she scribbled things down. "And drinks…?"

"I'll have cola!" Clyde responded.

"I'll have coffee." Finnigan ordered, and the waitress scribbled down more notes on her notebook.

"Alright, thank you. We'll get your orders out as soon as we can!" the badger happily replied and walked back towards the counter.

And they waited for their orders. Clyde asked Finnigan about the various missions he took on as mercenary, and his work history, and the older jackal shared his stories.

Suddenly, the familiar glint of light reflecting off steel caught Finnigan's attention.

Alerted, he turned his head to his left and was presented with a female jackal dressed in camo. He saw the dagger wrapped around her right thigh being subtly unsheathed.

An assassin.

Finnigan jumped from his seat, knocking her out of his way with his left hand as he grabbed Clyde by the arm, making a break from the restaurant. Screams were heard as plates got knocked into the ground by the running jackals.

"Woah!" Clyde exclaimed as he was rushed out of the restaurant by the older jackal. "What's the big idea?"

"Just run!" Finnigan shouted in response as he glanced behind. The assassin was following close behind. It wasn't like him to run away; but there were civilians around, and Clyde's safety mattered more to him currently.

However, after minutes of running non-stop and reaching the outskirts of the town, he could see that Clyde was getting out of breath. The mercenary decided to fight.

"Run, Clyde. And don't look back." he instructed. "I'll meet you at the station later."

"But-"

"RUN!" he ordered sternly, pushing the younger male away as he turned to face the assassin approaching.

The young thief heard the sharp noise of steel clashing against each other, and he gave one last glimpse behind him before running - as Finnigan instructed.

However, Clyde didn't feel right. He had to help the older jackal somehow; like he helped him when he took up the role as his guardian. He became a brother to him.

He was the closest thing he had to a family. He can't just run away without helping.

Stopping in his tracks, Clyde turned back around, looking at the two jackals battling one another some distance away, their blades swishing around dangerously as they moved between the many trees spread across the land.

He had to assist Finnigan.

Well. He didn't plan on it, but it looked like he had to put his thievery skills back in action.

Finnigan swung his blade held in his right hand, but it was blocked by the female's own blade. If his life wasn't in danger, he would have declared it impressive; the other blocking his attacks with a mere dagger.

However, the male mercenary didn't reveal that he was only playing around at this stage of the fight; subtly testing the enemy's limits, to know where and when to strike without killing the other. Even if his line of work required him to take lives more often than not, he still had his own set of morals to follow.

The enemy - even though she was after his life - was still a mercenary trying to earn a living - probably forced into this line of work.

Like him.

For the other party in the fight, the female jackal started to develop a bad feeling in her gut. Her client had wanted the head of Finnigan the Jackal. The Ultimate Mercenary. Ultimate! What he was putting up right now cannot be even half his full potential.

CLANG! - another harsh contact of steel against steel.

The peril of the situation has just caught up to her. She had gotten too ahead of herself; thinking that she could take on one of the most skilled mercenaries in the market. She had made a grave mistake.

Without warning, she felt herself being pulled back by her neck and her dagger was immediately knocked out of her grip by her foe with his red scimitar; a black furred left arm was firmly wrapped around her neck, keeping her in a headlock.

"When did you get there?" Finnigan spoke up after disarming her, surprise quite evident on his face.

"Ah, don't worry about it!" A higher pitched, male voice was heard from behind her.

Finnigan sheathed his sword. He had a small smile on his face as he shook his head and puffed a small laugh through his nose.

"You sneaky jackal." he commented earning a snicker from Clyde, and then turned his head towards the hitman. "Who are you?"

The female refused to speak as she stared straight ahead of herself. She felt her hands being tied with rope by the mobian behind her. Then, she was forced to kneel; having her knee bent from behind.

"You're probably annoyed. But if you go back without my head, you wouldn't get anything anyway." he stated honestly, as he walked over to where the female's dagger was and picked it up.

She huffed. He was right, and she felt indignant that she did not accomplish her task.

"Who hired you?" another question.

"Just kill me already." the female jackal spat.

This made Finnigan shut up and stare at her. Then, he walked behind the assassin, stepping right next to Clyde who looked at him with curious eyes. He unsheathed his red scimitar.

The thief felt his mouth slowly hang open, while his eyes widened. Was he going to witness an execution? Shock overcame his mind - He didn't want to see it! He knew what was going to happen - Finnigan is a mercenary; killing was second nature to him...

He shut his eyes tightly; wincing as soon as he saw the blade swing down.

"... What?"

The confused question made him open his eyes again. Finnigan had cut the rope that tied her wrists together - He had freed her. Upon the realisation, Clyde let out a breath he didn't realise he had been holding.

"I took your dagger. You can't stab me now." Finnigan smirked at her, holding up the dagger. "Go home."

Huffing, the miffed female jackal stood up, dusting her pants. She didn't leave yet, however, and she stood upright and gave the Ultimate Mercenary a side glance. Their eyes met.

"The name's Cassidy." she revealed, and turned her head straight forward - avoiding eye contact once more. "I won't be the same the next time we meet, Finnigan."

Finnigan chuckled. "Until then." He replied, and the two male jackals watched the female stride away.

"Well, we better get moving too." suggested the older jackal, smirking at the other. "I think they should have finished preparing our linguine by now."

Usually, that would have gotten a laugh, or some kind of witty response. The younger jackal was strangely silent.

"What's wrong?" asked Finnigan, concerned by the lack of reaction from the thief.

"Y'know…" Clyde began. "I honestly thought you were going to kill her…"

Upon hearing what the other thought, Finnigan stayed silent for a while. The younger jackal didn't know his codes of honour, as he haven't shared it to him. All he knew was that he's a mercenary, and his job was violent.

"I never take a life unless I absolutely have to." he said to the younger jackal.

Clyde seemed to be deep in thought for a moment. And suddenly, he brightened up, smiling at Finnigan before walking in the direction of the train station.

"Hey Finn, I'm starving!" the younger jackal announced, causing the older jackal to chuckle slightly with amusement as he followed suit. "Do you still want that pasta? I'm thinking of something else, now; actually."

"What do you fancy?"

"Fish 'N' Chips! With Wi-Fi!"

"You can't eat Wi-Fi."

Laughter ensued as they made their way back.

Follow story development on sonicforcesau on tumblr.