The small hoglet wanders through the many tunnels, gaining higher ground; he came to a large open area that has a spiral staircase around the walls, leading into another tunnel half way up. At the base of these stairs was boxlike dugouts in the walls and running around the room, which filled the shoes.
Sonic made his way over to where his boots were kept. They was black leathery hiking boots, he had begged his father to buy them for him; it took three months but at long last he had gotten them. Sonic loved the things, they had great grip while walking and very comforable to wear, unless his old shoes that caused his flesh to blister and bleed.
His feet had become tougher, soon he could walk bare feet without much trouble from much of anything.
Changing into his outside gloves from his inside ones he stood, blinking he notices his father and mother standing there, waiting for him to finish.
"Sonic..." His father says coming nearer, "Your mother and I have been talking, we think its think you stop... hiking and take the bus like every other child in this village."
"Yes!"His mother spoke up, "Sonic, believe or not that bus goes mighty fast! Much faster than you can walk!"
"But its not just about speed..." Sonic replies almost sadly, "I want to travel on my own power, with my own two pair of legs."
"Sonic, you're a hedgehog," His father says firmly, "You don't need anything to prove but to other hedgehog... also this obsession with how fast rabbits can run has got to stop."
"But-" Sonic began but was cut off by his mother.
"Sonic please," She stressed out, "I know you don't understand just now, but you have to listen, because hedgehogs don't get much faster than we already do. Please, do not try to become anything that you already are."
"...Mama, Papa...I have a question," Sonic says lifting his head up and staring them in the eyes, "Do you love me?"
"Of course we do!" His mother cries out, turning to her mate she jabbed him in the ribs.
"Yes, we wouldn't be saying all this if we didn't." His father replies with a nod, "Just because it how harsh to you now Sonic, be sure that this was be for the best in the future."
"If you loved me, then why do you don't like this part of me?" Sonic asks completely taking no note of what they just said, "I want to be me," he points to himself, "I want to be able to do the things I love. And I love hiking, I love walking, I love speed."
"Sonic-" His mother tries, but it was Sonic turn to cut her off, but his tearful expression.
"Why don't you ever stick up for me?" Sonic asks allowing a tear to fell, "I'm proud of the name you given me, why can't you be too?"
The pair glanced at each other, not sure not to do. Sonic slowly looks down, knowing that they would never see him for being him, it was not the hedgehog, their world followed an unwritten law that was within them and this was never going to change.
Sonic spin on his heels and rushes up a few of the stairs, pausing for a moment, he turned back to see his father wrapping his arm around his mother's shoulder, both wearing a look of worry as they watched him go.
"I love you!" Sonic shouts back, balling his hands into little fists, "Just watch me! One day I'll make you proud that you give me this name! A name like no other in the hedgehog kind!"
Turning to the stairs once more he hurries up them before they could say any more, he said what he wanted to say; in his eyes it was them who did not understand, but one day he was sure that they would come to love this side of him.
The hike up the long stairwell took a while to get up, once at the top there was two double doors with a thick monstrous beam running as post and across the top. The doors were never easy open for a hoglet, someone always had them slightly open for Sonic to slip through in the mornings.
'Wonder who does it?' Sonic thinks sliding through the gap just big enough for him. On the outside there was another set of stairs, these leading up to the main road. The tunnel network for the dens was some distances from each others dens, but all went to the main road; the village was in two sections, lower and upper. The lower was dens and burrows, while the upper was above grounds wooden homes.
It was called a village but it only had 7.108 billion hedgehogs, squirrels, foxes, shrunk, deer, owls, woodpeckers, raccoons, wolves, rabbits, frogs, snakes, lizards, hawks, moles and a few others that did not live in large groups; of course that number was much smaller compared to some villages in the area and that was why they did not have their own school and drive to a near by town, in fact four other villages did the same.
Sonic glances up, the path was dry and creaking from the heat wave they had been having; he was told that it would rain that evening sometime.
Blinking he notices that he was already out of the villages, it only took an hour; on the outskirts were the two hundred buses that carried the village children to the next town and their school.
"Morning Sonic!" A old raccoon greets loudly, "Walking to school again I see."
"Yep!" Sonic grins boldly as he waves the drivers, "Think you can beat me?"
"We do everyday!" The old raccoon replies with a laugh, waving the little hoglet, "If you ever get tried just wave me down!"
"Never!" Sonic informs walking away from him; 'One day I'll get to the town before they do!' he thinks hurries along the road. There was a large slope running down, it was a lot harder getting down then up because on the way home, he could use his hands and knees.
Getting his arms out he went down the road, careful not to fell or else he would roll all the way down.
'….I've got to try that one day...' Sonic think with a snicker; the hedgehog kind seemed to hate adventure, their thoughts only of family and clan. That was another reason why Sonic was down on in his family, he dreamt of travelling to the ends of the Zone.