Before Note: I'm really sorry for the late update. And here's my story:
I had time the first week. Three day weekend, nothing to do; so I sat at my computer, I opened a new document, and...
Nothing.
Yes people, Writer's Block knocked on my door and I let 'em in. I LET 'EM IN! D:
And when I kicked Writer's Block out from my home...
I had no time.
My schedule was filled with chores, errands, and boy, LOTS of homework. I don't exactly enjoy research reports.
And then I ate something bad. Sickness. XP Yeah.
But now I had time and I typed this up. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of its characters, they rightfully belong to SEGA and/or Sonic Team
Miles wrapped his twin tails around his tiny body in a poor attempt to shield himself from the projectiles coming his way. The buttery popcorn spilled around him and the ice-cold soda oozed through his fur, leaving a sticky trail down his back, barely missing the wound on his back that was just beginning to heal.
The kit had no clue as to how long he had been trapped in this treacherous carnival (He guessed about a week at the most). Every day was the same. The pain was the same. And the taunts were the same.
No one seemed to care how the fox felt when they yelled names at him, insulted him, threw there snacks at him, or when he was struck or roughly handled when stepping on stage. The kit didn't know why society acted the way they acted towards him, he couldn't explain it. Miles had never done anything to anger or disturb them. He knew he was different, he knew he wasn't like everyone else, in physical terms. However, he acted like them didn't he? If he didn't have a second tail, he would still be the same person with the same personality, wouldn't he?
Ivo Bombini stood at the backside of the stage, satisfied with his happy, cheery customers.
Another carnival snack made its way onto the stage and hit the fox right on his head. The audience laughed and cheered in amusement. That's all they did. They threw items at the kit and laughed, insulted and laughed. Some even tried to approach him but were held back, so violence wouldn't break loose. Which didn't make sense to the kit at all since violence was the only thing he got when they forced him on stage. Miles tightened his hold on himself and let a single tear slip from his sky blue eyes. The young child had never felt so embarrassed, so hurt, and so scared in his entire, short life.
He'd prefer to die than live in this hell.
"Okay folks! That's all for today! We hope you will come again, we will have special, new performances coming soon!" Bombini dismissed the crowd, who applauded in satisfaction and piled out of the carnival tent like water.
Miles loosened his hold on himself and looked up to find the audience stands empty, with the exception of the employees sweeping up trash left behind near the stage.
'That seemed quick.'
The ringmaster came up to the kit and gave him a slight kick to the ribs. The twin tailed fox cringed, but looked up to the man nevertheless.
"You know the drill, freak. Get to it before you miss out on your dinner." Bombini stated. Miles uttered a small, shy "Yes sir" and stood up. Ivo glared and turned around to leave to take care of his business.
The fox was treated like a dog. A weak, stray dog.
The people at the carnival would not feed him (under Bombini's orders), they wouldn't even give him scraps. The only food the kit would ever receive was that of the snacks thrown to him during the show.
Looking around, the twin tailed fox found a bag of pretzels that looked decent enough to munch on. He sat down, legs spread out, and held one of the pretzels with his paw. After studying it for a moment, he took a cautious bite from it. And another. And another. And yet another until the bag was nearly empty. Miles looked down on the food with a blank stare. He had refused to eat much the first few days. The food had looked even more disgusting than what he usually had to find to eat and the hunger had gotten the better of him this time. The kit sighed and crawled around, picking up anything that looked good enough to digest. After a few hot dogs and half-eaten caramel apples, one of the clowns came over to him.
Dinner time was over.
Soon enough, Miles was forced into a cage with rusted metal bars. It was surprisingly more open-spaced than the first cage he was put into. The door creaked close and was secured with a padlock as the kit watched silently. The cage was placed outdoors and when a nightly breeze blew by, the kit shivered and wrapped his tails around himself to keep warm, since he was provided with absolutely nothing to keep warm and comfortable. He lay down on the frozen surface of his sleeping place, shivering and crying silently.
He attempted to drift off into sleep, but he just couldn't. The sounds the wind made as it blew through the trees and the dim shadows made by the lights in the nearby tents made the kit feel scared and insecure. The young fox sat up, hugging his knees against his chest and wrapped his twin tails around himself. He stared at the rusty metal bars that held him captive, afraid that something could just slither in there and bring him more harm. Time went by and nothing happened. The kit's eyes felt heavy and he couldn't stay awake any longer. With a soft thud, Miles fell to the side and fell into a deep sleep.
Miles was having his worst day so far.
And that was saying something.
The twin-tailed kit had been harshly woken up with a bucket of ice-cold water. Worst of all, it was really early in the morning. The sun was barely peeking out from behind the mountains in the distance and the wind came as cold as the water. The child had screamed and immediately held himself in attempt to make the freezing cold that was sinking into his skin go away. His tails lay limp by his side, soaked and flat than their usual puffed form. The kit looked fearfully up to the clown that had previously captured him, his body wouldn't stop trembling. Both from fear and the cold.
"Aww, is the poor freak cold?" The clown said in a ridiculous tone of voice. He set down the bucket and proceeded to unlock the chain keeping the fox caged with a key that hung on a chain from his neck. Once opened, he dropped the key under his shirt and made a grab for the fox, who was too cold to move or fight back as he was pulled by the arm.
Miles was dragged into a green colored tent that served as common room for the employees of the carnival. Many clowns, already dressed up, were sitting at a worn-out table, lazily eating cereal or toast. The kit was chained by his middle to a wooden pole that kept the tent up. The metal links were thick and cool to the touch, nearly crushing the child's bones. A plate of an unidentified substance was placed in front of him. The fox scrunched up his face in disgust and looked up to the clown, who gave him a glare that meant, 'You better eat it or else'.
Miles looked down to the goo and gulped. He lifted the plate, sniffed it, and brought it to his lips since he was provided with no eating utensil. The taste was repulsive, and the kit was about to spit it out but decided against it when he noticed the clown looking at him from the corner of his eye. Miles gave up and gulped down the substance, trying ever so hard to keep it down. It took a while for the kit to get used to the taste without it giving him a nauseous feeling. But he managed.
Soon enough, the fox was unchained and taken to the main tent, which was as quiet as a ghost town. He looked around, even though he had been in there more than once, too many times for him. The clown dropped him into the rusty cage from before, and he would be left there until the show. He didn't even get to eat lunch since the show would always start by the time the sun went down.
As the clown's footstep faded, and the main tent went dead quiet once again, Miles seemed to relax and he let his tense body go loose. Maybe it was because he was alone, or maybe it was because he wasn't being hurt, whatever it was, the kit felt safe. It was a bizarre idea, considering he was locked in a cage waiting to be tormented in a short time, but it was something.
The sounds of a working backstage came into the tent and Miles relaxation flew out the window. The show would be starting soon. The kit watched nervously at the crew that walked back and forth carrying props and lights. Nobody paid any mind to him as if he weren't there and the fox wondered if they would notice if he escaped.
And here comes the hope again. Useless hope.
The sound of people entering and chatting was heard in the background, which meant that the show would be starting soon.
Suddenly, it all went quiet and Miles figured that the show must have already started.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Kids of all ages! Welcome to the grand Carnivale di Gloria! Please enjoy our performances tonight!"
Miles sure wouldn't.
Ivo kept on announcing, but the kit didn't pay any mind. It was all the same anyway. Soon enough, many of the acrobats and clowns were rushing by, ready to go on stage.
Miles sure wasn't.
Carnival music played, and the crowd could be heard applauding and cheering. After every act that followed, the fox kept getting more scared. And then it came.
"Come on freak, you're up!" One of the acrobats yelled.
The cage was opened and a pair of hands came into view and grabbed the child, who pressed himself against the metal bars in attempt to get away. It was futile, and Miles was soon being forced into the direction of the stage. The others glared in his direction as the kit was being pushed and kicked to move forward. Miles gave up, his backside ached and it would be smarter to just go on with it. Right?
It always took a while for his vision to adjust to the brightness, and when his vision did clear up, it always seemed like it would be the first time he was put on stage. The audience first went quiet, and then there would always be this one person that yelled 'Freak!' and throw something, anything, at him. Then, mob psychology kicked in and everyone joined in with the insults.
"Freak!" Someone yelled. A corn dog flew toward the stage, barely missing the kit who stumbled back and fell down in order to dodge.
Laughter spread out and the projectiles came in a barrage. Miles would occasionally dodge a food item, but when something did hit him, he would flinch back as if in electrical shock and let a tear slip from his eye. He kept his gaze down, the tears kept flowing and he started to breathe heavily.
Nobody cared.
The child wiped his nose with his arm. And that's when he saw it.
When he saw him.
He stood there, by the tent entrance, leaning back onto a metal pole. His arms were crossed, he wore a dark coat that covered his whole body. A round hat hid his face.
And he just stood there.
Who is that?
Miles was now staring over his shoulder, mouth slightly parted and eyes wide in curiosity.
The mysterious figure looked up and locked eyes with the kit.
With a blush of embarrassment, the twin-tailed fox snapped his head away. Miles couldn't help but look back and noticed what seemed like a grin spread across the hedgehog's, he noticed, face.
He was to far away, he couldn't tell.
What he could tell, however, was that the figure wore a pair of incredibly crimson red eyes. He had never seen someone with red eyes before.
But that didn't mean he disliked them.
They stared at each other, studying each other. There seemed to be some sort of connection between them and Miles actually felt some sort of hope that someone might actually care.
And with a simple action, hope was lost. Remember what he said about hoping?
A full cup of soda actually made its way to the stage and hit right to its target. Miles yelped in surprise and was soaked once again. He stared at the audience and when he regained his senses, he looked into the direction of the dark hedgehog.
Only to see him scrunch up his face his disgust and walk out of the tent in the darkness.
The kit frowned.
Was he really that disgusting to look at?
A longing look came over the kit as he stared at the tent entrance, as if the dark figure could just reappear. He ignored the audience's taunts and food items and just thought over and over again.
Who was that mysterious figure?
After Note: Okaaayy. There you have it. I think this was a bit longer than the other chapters...Yay.
I don't know how this came out, so please let me know if I did something wrong. I've been a little nervous about this chapter.
Thank you to my reviewers (please be patient with me) and everyone who reads.
Comments and feedback is always welcome. :D