ACK! CLIFFHANGERS! Makes you want to read more, doesn't it? *Winks* So I bet you're wondering if Sonic and Q.A. (Queen Aleena) will reach the Oracle's place by nightfall. OH, THE SUSPENSE! Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story. R&R plz

Chapter 6

We Consult the Strangest-looking Guy on the Planet

Just thinking about that night makes my head spin. I'll summarize the situation: Not pleasant.

I was getting carsick, and that never happens. I was guessing that my stupid lycanthropy (or in English, my Werehog condition) was to blame. I had set the van to hover, but while we flew over the tundra that hid the Oracle's cave, my vision was getting blurry, and the snowstorm I was constantly scraping off the windshield with the wipers wasn't helping.

"Sonic?" Mom said from the passenger seat. "Are you okay? You look as green as your brother."

"Never better, Mom." I said, trying to keep my eyes on the sky. White. Everywhere. Nothing but WHITE. It was driving me insane.

"Are you sure? We can stop." Mom said.

"No!" I yelled, then composed myself. "We have to get there before nightfall. And with all this snow, I can't tell when that is, so we need to get there ASAP."

Mom sighed, nodding. I felt that at any minute I would lose my lunch all over the dashboard.

"There it is. Stop here." Mom said. I slammed on the breaks, making us lurch forward and driving my seatbelt into my stomach. You can guess what happened next.

After my lunch was strewn out upon the steering wheel, dashboard, and floor, Mom led me out of the van by the hand. "We'll clean that up later." she said. I was shaking uncontrollably. Suddenly my legs buckled under me and I collapsed. Oh, great. I knew what was coming.

"Sonic?" Mom said, reaching down for me.

"No… keep… keep away…" I panted, finding it harder and harder to speak clearly. My fur was growing longer.

"Sonic…" Mom said slowly. The pain was growing, I couldn't talk back. My bones were grinding up against one another as they changed shape and size. I hadn't put gloves back on after last night, so I didn't have that problem, but my hands still grew sharp claws and turned pale blue. Rings of white fluff grew around my wrists, and midnight blue fur covered my body. The tips of my head spines became white, and my shoes became spiked cleats. My teeth became fangs, and my senses of hearing and smell increased.

I panted, the pain finally subsiding as the transformation was over.

"Sonic?" Mom said again. I turned to her. She smelled like a steak buffet. I growled, shaking my head and trying to get the picture of tearing her to shreds and feeding off her carcass out of my mind. She reached out her hand to me, trying to stroke my head, but I shied away.

"Grrrrruf." Don't get close to me. I don't want to hurt you. I pleaded. She sighed, obviously getting my point.

Suddenly there was a flash of green light behind us. "Ah, your highness." spoke the voice of the Oracle. I turned my head to him. He wore a long purple cloak that covered his legs, and his long green furless tail stuck out from under it. His clock had big sleeves, and all you could see of his arms were his four-fingered hands. His hood covered the top of his head, and his blue eyes were kind. His long green snout kind of made him look like an anteater, but he didn't have any fur and I still don't know exactly what he is. We all just call him "The Oracle".

"The Oracle of Delphius. Delighted to see you again, but we have a bit of a problem on our hands." Mom said.

"Yes, I can see that. You exactly did this happen, Sonic?" he asked me. My eyes widened. How did he know? He saw my expression and smiled. "You forget, young Hedgehog, I know you as well as your mother. I assure you she recognized you in this form as well." he laughed. I rolled my eyes. My animal impulse told me to rip him to shreds for annoying me, but I shrugged it off.

"Please come inside, your majesties." the Oracle said, leading us inside his cave. Mom and I followed, but I was constantly sniffing the ground, trying to get the scent of this place.

"Here we are." the Oracle said after we were in his library. The place had various tables, some with crystal balls, some with test tubes and lab equipment. But on all the walls were shelves, and they were all filled with books. I stood on my hind legs and tried to get a good sniff of the place. After inhaling all that dust, I sneezed, the force knocking over some test tubes, dripping green liquid onto the floor. The Oracle sighed. "I'll clean that up later. As I was saying Sonic, we shall see how badly this condition is affecting you. Has he had any strange behavior issues, my Queen?" he said.

"Grroow." Where do I start? I muttered.

"He's been… snappy, and last night he… slashed at Manic." Mom sighed. She was putting it mildly.

"Oh. How did Manic fare?" the Oracle asked.

"It was just on his ear. Nothing too terrible." Mom reassured him.

"That's good. Now, back to Sonic." They started talking about me like I wasn't even there, so I decided to wander around a bit, maybe see if I could find any food. I was hungry again, partly because everything that had been in my stomach was spread out all over the dashboard, partly because I hadn't had any supper, and partly because in my Werehog form, I was always hungry. I wondered if there was any fresh meat in here. I wandered into the kitchen. Sadly, after snooping around for a little while I concluded this guy was either vegetarian or hadn't had meat in a very long time, for there was absolutely no scent of it. I growled, loping back into the library.

"Ah, there you are Sonic. Now, time to perform the tests." the Oracle said. I gulped. What exactly was he planning to do to me? I soon found out.

Sharp pain pierced my mind. The Oracle was probing my thoughts, picking through them, deciding what he needed, and it hurt. I wanted to jump on him, rip at his flesh and make him feel this kind of pain, but it was as if he had cut the flow of commands to my body. I couldn't move, and that was making me even angrier. I decided I was going to have Oracle for supper as soon as I was able to move.

I felt like roaring, howling, something. Where were these thoughts coming from? I didn't want to hurt the Oracle; he had helped me through so much before, when we were separated from Mom. He had kept my sibling's and my faith strong, and through him we had hope that we could do anything. He was very close to Mom and us. Why did I want to kill him? Suddenly I realized that the Oracle knew everything I was thinking. I felt like running, hiding in shame.

"It's alright, Sonic. You are not fully in control of your thoughts and actions." the Oracle said. I felt his grip on my mind release. I stumbled for a second, and then bolted on all fours out the door.

"Sonic! Come back!" I heard Mom call, but I didn't turn around. I wasn't going to risk hurting them. I was a wild animal, and I was going to face it and live like one.

The snowstorm still raged, but my fur protected me from most of the cold. I just rushed forward blindly, not caring where I was going, just knowing I had to place as much distance as I could between me and the ones I didn't want to hurt.

It might have been my imagination, but just then, faintly, I seemed to see a flash of golden light. Still running, I couldn't see anything amidst the white, but was suddenly hit by some invisible force. I fell backwards, and the white snow faded to black. I seemed to be passing out a lot lately.