Miles tossed and turned in his sleep…His imagination was running wild, but it wasn't providing him with the usual comforting images of diving in a deep blue sea, exploring new planets by his father's side or valiantly fighting dragons for the hand of a fair maiden…But instead he was seeing...Images…Images he didn't understand.
He could see a young female fox running for her life desperately from what appeared to be armed soldiers, with a tiny bundle in her arms, she was young…Really young, she couldn't have been any older than 20 years old…She had chocolate brown fur which had darkened and clung to her skin as incessant, heavy torrents of intense rain beat down on her…she also seemed to have beautiful azure blue eyes like his…It was strange.
What was stranger was what she was wearing, it appeared to be a hospital gown which had been soaked, muddied and torn…With even a few specks of blood dotting the cloth, like she had been running away from a hospital or medical facility of somekind…
But he didn't understand…Who was this woman…The rain fell in hammering sheets as the woman sprinted through a forest all the while both she and Miles heard a loud voice speak out.
"All units find that vixen! Don't let her escape with what we've worked so hard to create!"
The woman didn't stop sprinting and leapt into a bush…Seeing the glowing flashlights of two armed soldiers, they were intimidating figures wearing dark uniforms, each one carried high powered, deadly assault rifles, emblazoned on their shoulder was a symbol…Of a circle of black, white, red and blue with a large G in it's centre…They seemed to work for an organisation of some kind…But who that organisation was he didn't know at all.
One guard spoke into a earpiece in a gruff, militaristic voice.
"Commander, we have no sign of Mrs Prower, and we don't have any sign of the infant either."
An enraged, fuming, livid voice practically bellowed back through the earpiece,
"Well keep searching you fools! We can't let that traitorous bitch and the infant get away! Do you know how much damage this could cause the organisation if this gets out?"
"We'll find her commander, do we have the permission to neutralise her if we encounter her?"
"Yes! I want that whore's head on a spike and her skin made into a rug and if you fail I'll make sure that it's you who gets that treatment got it?!"
"Yes sir." Said the soldier in a more unnerved tone than he had previously held, he turned to his comrade and gave a shrug,
"You heard the man, move out…I don't fancy having my legs broken by the Commander…Let's just find that Vixen and hopefully we'll find the infant too…" he spoke in a low tone, the two soldiers then turned their heels and walked in the opposite direction…Thinking that their prey lay elsewhere.
Miles was confused…Who was this woman? And why would these soldiers be so fussed over finding a baby?
The Vixen emerged from the bush, the small bundle still in her arms…Her ears pricked up, listening out for any immediate sign of danger before she started running once again…Her feet squelching in the mud and splashing in the puddles who's contents splattered at the fur of her legs and the rim of the gown yet she didn't care for that.
The sound of rushing water could be heard and the woman's face lit up as she ran closer to the source of the noise…It was a river, however her expression of hope evaporated as she saw the roughness of it's course, it's contents had been churned to white foam as it beat against numerous craggy rocks that protruded from the surface like mountains from a grassland, there were even large chunks of ice floating in the water.
She took a step forward…BANG!
The force of the bullet sent the woman tumbling into the river with a shriek of agony, yet the bundle was still held in her arms…Miles saw the shadowy forms of two soldiers emerging from the treeline, the barrel of one of their rifles smoking from the aftermath of the shot…
"Damn it Elijah!" one of them yelled.
"What's wrong sir? I put a bullet in the bitch just like the Commander asked. Besides if the bullet didn't kill her then the water surely will." Asked the other soldier, his rifle still levelled at where the woman had been sent tumbling into the river.
"Yes the girl may be dead, but she had the infant on her you fucking idiot! Do you know how bad that is?"
"Ummm…No sir, I don't understand what's so important about some useless bitch's brat."
"Oh you will when you get reprimanded son…Now let's head back, it's freezing out here and I want to see you get flamed by the Commander."
Miles stood in shock at what he had witnessed…He had just witnessed a presumably innocent girl be gunned down ruthlessly for seemingly no apparent reason…It was deeply disturbing and upsetting to see a murder happen before his very eyes…And for what he wondered…For what reason…He was left with more questions than answers now…Questions he was scared would never be answered…
…...
"Hey…I think he's coming round..." an unfamiliar female voice spoke.
Miles wanted to open his eyes, but felt it was best to keep them closed for the time being…His headache hadn't exactly improved and he could still feel his broken wrist throbbing with pain…However he could also feel a cold damp compress gently pressing down on his badly hurt wrist, it relieved the pain a little bit, but not by much.
He wanted to sleep…He wanted to sleep so badly…It felt like he was trapped in an unending nightmare…He wanted to go home…He wanted to go home oh so badly…Every second he spent in these foreign places within his mind or his own physical body made his heart ache for home and his family…
However, he then realised something unusual…If he wasn't at home…Then why were his injuries being tended too…Why was he under a warm blanket…Where was he?
He opened his eyes, momentarily shutting them once again from the light that washed over his vision…The pain in his head momentarily flaring up once more…However after a few more seconds of keeping them closed, he opened his azure blue eyes once more, squinting slightly from the brightness of the light.
He looked around in the room he was in, it was a relatively cosy and comfortable living room…He was laying back on a lovely black leather sofa…It was certainly an improvement over the feeling of the cold metal escape pods…Or collapsing on the cold, soaking jungle floor.
He also had a fluffy red blanket pulled up to his chest that was keeping him nice, toasty and warm…It was also a vast improvement over the previous accommodation when he was last awake.
And finally all over his body, he could feel that he was once again covered in plasters and bandages…It was surprising how many of them had been used on him in the past year…To think of their cost.
Looking around the room, he could see a small wooden coffee table in the centre of the room that sat in front of a large roaring fireplace where logs slowly crumbled into embers and ashes…It was a simple abode from what he could see…But he found it comforting, it was nice that there was at least somewhere comfortable where he could rest his eyes…
"Hi there!" an excited voice yelled in the poor fox's ear.
Miles yelped, his small frame jumping up in surprise as the loud voice exclaimed a welcome to him. He turned his head to see the grinning face of a young female rabbit around his age donned in a pink onesie with lemon yellow stars , she had cinnamon brown eyes, a snow white muzzle and light brown fur…Her ears were large and floppy and were perked up with excitement, a wide smile was spread across her face.
"W-who are you?!" Miles exclaimed with shock, surprise and a tiny bit of fear too.
"I'm Cream, Cream the Rabbit! Is there anything I can do to help you, maybe you'd like to play a game or see my pet Chao, maybe you'd like to-"
"Okay…I get it Cream…Where am I though…How did I get here?"
"Why Mr Sonic found you in the jungle! That's what he told me anyway…My Mummy has been looking after you ever since we found you, you've been asleep for an awfully long time."
Miles's face twisted into a look of confusion at the young bunny's statement, surely he couldn't have been asleep for that long…right?
He cleared his throat a little bit before politely asking the girl,
"Well ummm…How long have I been asleep for?"
"3 days."
"What?!" Miles shouted with confusion…3 days?! Surely it can't have been that much right? It was a preposterous number…
"No…No! You're lying, I haven't been unconscious for 3 days!"
"Oh you have alright." A third voice said in a calm tone, both Miles and Cream turned their little heads to the figure standing in the doorway.
It was another rabbit, this one older in her early twenties. She looked a lot like Cream, Miles could assume that this was the rabbit's mother.
"Who are you?" the tiny fox asked curiously, tilting his head.
"You can call me Ms Vanilla, I'm Cream's mother…You appear to be healing well, I presume you don't feel tired at all do you? As for you Cream go upstairs and tidy your bedroom, Cheese has made another mess in there." the adult rabbit said with a warm kind demeanour towards the children.
Cream ran upstairs almost instantly, obeying her mother's request, as for Miles, he stayed sat down on the sofa and answered the woman's question.
"Uhhh…No…I don't think so…If anything I feel more…" His sentence was cut off by a loud growl emitting from the boy's stomach…His own body had answered the question for him.
"Hungry are you darling? Well don't you worry, I had some soup prepared earlier. So would you like to tell me who you are and why you were in the jungle while I go reheat it?"
Miles nodded, knowing how long it had been since he had eaten anything that wasn't unripe and or mouldy fruit…He could definitely do with some proper nourishment.
Vanilla smiled and she slowly walked into the neighbouring kitchen, all the while asking the young fox.
"Right, first question little one. What's your name?"
"Miles."
"Just Miles? Nothing else?"
Miles's ears drooped slightly as he thought of the surname of his father…However it would be best if he didn't use it…He didn't deserve to have that name…Not after what had happened on the Death Egg…He should have saved him…He should have stayed by his side and died on that space station with the only man who had ever shown him warmth, or kindness, or love…
He took a deep breath, trying to fight the negative emotions bubbling inside of his heart like the magma in a volcano…And just by a hairs breadth he was able to keep down the sorrow and anguish he felt inside.
"Yep, just Miles! Nothing more, nothing less." He said, faking a happy smile.
"Funny…Do you have any family at all? Any relatives or friends?"
The second question sent a sharp stabbing pain into his heart…That one hurt…And it would be much harder to come up with an explanation for it…
"No…I…I never knew my parents…I had an…an adoptive parent…" he choked…His breathing becoming unsteady and ragged as he tried to pull himself together desperately.
Vanilla's voice rang out again, this time with curiosity,
"An adoptive parent? Well should I call them now and let them know you're here?"
"No!...No…They're dead…"
"Oh you poor thing…What happened to them."
Miles was fighting back tears as it was…But that question brought back flashbacks of that night…Where he had to witness his own father perish while he could do nothing about it…but he had to lie…He had to come up with something…
"A car crash…My parent died in a car crash…They told me to run and they…They…"Miles couldn't hold in the tears any longer and the fox started to bawl his eyes out…He was aware of how silly he looked…But the thought of his father was making it too much to bear…
Vanilla walked back through, hearing the boy's sobbing, a wave of compassion overcoming her, in a quick motion she scooped up the crying fox and held him in her arms, stroking his back gently.
"Oh you poor thing…Shhhh…Shhhh…It's gonna be okay…I promise…" she whispered to him…But Miles kept sobbing and sobbing…He wanted his father back…
It took around half an hour for the crying to stop and for his breathing to get back to a controllable level but once it happened…He sighed…Wiping the remaining tears from his eyes with the back of his paw.
Vanilla sat him back down on the sofa and handed him the bowl of warm soup…Miles being in a state of both nigh starvation and being an emotional wreck at the current point in time slowly began to eat in silence.
Once he had finished he set the bowl down and gave another depressed sigh, thinking of how stupid he looked…But Vanilla didn't seem to look angry or irritated in the slightest…She just put a hand on the boy's shoulder and said kindly,
"Listen Miles…I think it's best you stay with us for a little while…Just to help you back on your feet."
"What?!"
