Please enjoy today chapter! I put so much in it so I hope you enjoy!
PAST
Sonic POV
"Sonic!" I hear as I slowly rise my head up from my desk as I get interrupted from my sleep. My eyes meet my best friend, Tails. We had been friends since we were in elementary school. My only true friend besides Knuckles, who walks up to me and smacks me on the back of the head.
"Mr. Sonic the Hedgehog why are you sleeping in my class" he says mocking our teacher who always gets on to me for sleeping. I put my head back down on my desk and I try to dose off again as I don't feel like dealing with Knuckles pestering.
"No! Sonic wake up, class is over and now lunch is starting. We are already missing out on lunch", Tails exclaims while slamming his hand on my desk expecting me to get up, but I don't.
I hear Tails sigh, admitting defeat and I smile to myself knowing I could finally get some sleep. My body suddenly moves from my seat and now I am placed on my feet. I open my eyes and I see that knuckles have picked me up. I scowl at him immediately and he smirks. He starts walking away to the exit of our classroom, before I can say something. A burst of heat appears in front me and I see tails smiling at me wildly.
"FINALLY! COME ON SONIC LETS GO" Tails yells loud in the classroom making heads turn towards us. Tails takes off towards the exit as well. I shake my head at Tails, and I place my hands behind my head and follow my friends.
I walk behind Tails and Knuckles while they have a conversation about something. Tails seems pretty excited about it but when isn't he excited about something.
"Good morning prince Sonic", says a grey fox. I nod my head at her and she blushes, walking away quickly. Another group of girls also bow to me and this time I try to be nicer. I remove my hands behind my head and bow back. On cue, they all giggle and scurry away down the opposite side of the hall. I chuckle a bit and then I turn around to see Tails and Knuckles grinning at me.
I roll my eyes and I walk past them moving forward to the café that was down the hall.
"Oh, good morning prince Sonic! You look so muscular today!" I hear Knuckles say in a high-pitched schoolgirl voice.
"He does look so muscular today! I wish those muscles would-"
"Shut up" I say while laughing and they laugh as well.
"Man, being a prince must be so cool… having plenty of girls lined up" says Knuckles as he walks in front of me, running in line for some pork buns. I shake my head and I stand behind him staring at flaming fire flakes.
"It's cool at a certain extent until they want to be your girlfriend" I say back.
"Wow, that sounds so rough" Tails says sarcastically getting a laugh from Knuckles.
"Well it is rough, how am I supposed to choose a girlfriend when your mom, keeps coming to my room every night"
Knuckles bursts out laughing at my comeback and Tails shakes his head at my diss. We move up through the line and grab our food of our choice and we walk down the hall to head up the stairs to go sit on the roof, where we usually sit.
We make it took the top and the sun greets us with its shining rays as the cool wind blows in our faces.
"Man, it feels so great today!" Knuckles says sitting on the edge of the roof, taking a bite of his pork bun.
I nod in agreement sitting beside Knuckles, throwing some flakes into my mouth.
"That's why being in school is a total blow, I rather be training with my dad or something."
"Bro, when can I train with your dad, I have been asking for years on years" says knuckles finishing his pork bun and going to the next one.
"Well you know my bad is super busy with dealing with the water kingdom again. Some of our people are starting to go over there because apparently the water kingdom is allowing all benders into their kingdom, which is fucking crazy, so a lot people have been getting in and out of the fire kingdom lately I heard even some water bending spies too."
Knuckles spits his food out at my last sentence and looks at me in awe.
"REALLY! WATER BENDERS? BRO WE HAVE TO FIND THEM FIRST",
"Why though" I say reaching in for more fire flakes and noticing that they are all gone.
"If we find a water bender than, we can fight them full on and become idols in your parents eyes and then-"
"No thanks". I say staring off into the kingdom.
"Why no thanks?" Knuckles says confused.
"… Well… I don't know… I just don't see the point… well no I just don't want too…" I look at Knuckles to see him looking at me concerned.
"… Why?", says Knuckles.
I look at Knuckles and then I look away to the sky to think. Truth is my mother has asked me this countless times as well. To hunt down a water tribe… but I can't do it. I am here 17 years old, and I can't even kill someone. My father and mother look at me in shame sometimes, but my father talks to my mother a lot about how I won't be ready and then my mother argues back about me not being capable of bring the king of the fire kingdom someday since I can't harm the enemy. I just can't do it and I am not even sure why myself.
I soon snap out of my deep train of thought by Knuckles nudging me on my arm. I look at him and I speak.
"I don't wan-"
"OKAY GUYS LISTEN", Tails yells loudly yelling at us.
I just noticed Tails has not been sitting with us the whole time causing us both to look back at him.
"GUESS WHAT I DID" Tails yells again while posing with one hand in the air and one on his hip.
I look at Tails annoyed but of course Knuckles, being the older brother out of the group, entertains his excitement and asks him what he did.
"I met a girl", he says now folding his arms.
"YOU WHAT?" Knuckles yells now standing up and walking to him.
"Wait what gir-"
"YEP I MET A GIRL AND I THINK SHE IS THE ONE" Tails says cutting me off for the millionth time.
"WHO IS IT, IS SHE CUTE, IS SHE TOP RANKED IN OUR CLASS" Knuckles says now all in Tails smirking face.
"Well of course she is cute, but she also smart, nice and she is kind of shy but I like that in a girl because it means she has secrets" says Tails.
"What's her-", on cue I get cut off by Knuckles grabbing Tails and jumping up and down.
I watch them jump up and down like goofballs, laughing and cheering.
"I AM GOING TO ASK HER TOMMORROW TO BE MY GIRL FRIEND", tails say with love leaking out of his eyes.
"WOW, THAT'S MY BOY", Knuckles says patting him on the back roughly.
"Well, whats her name" I ask.
"Her name is…. COSMO"
"… Cosmo? I don't think I have ever heard of her." I say. Knuckles nods in agreement.
"Well, she doesn't go to school here. She says she works in a bakery somewhere in the kingdom and doesn't get out that much, but man she is a dream. I have been talking to her from 2 months now and we kissed yesterday."
"Wow, Tails who would have thought you would get a girlfriend before Prince Hottie over here, ha" Knuckles says while high fiving Tails.
"True…" I say quietly.
"AS SOON AS WE START DATING THOUGH. I WANT YOU GUYS TO MEET HER SO TOMMORROW I MIGHT DITCH SCHOOL TO HANGOUT WITH HER", Tails says nodding his head in pure happiness.
"Nice! We can't wait, man. Happy for you" Knuckles says cheerfully.
"Yeah me too, I am sure she is perfect for you", I say casually, standing up to look him in the eye.
I notice tears start to wind up in his eyes and runs to me and hugs me.
"Tail-"
I get cut off by Knuckles joining the hug and which makes me stumble back. I notice we are close to the edge and I feel my feet leave the roof pavement.
"GUYS WAIT- "I say as we plummet down off the roof. We fall quickly to the ground below us and I open my eyes frantically at Knuckles and Tails who were crying and laughing, while hugging me.
"WAAAHHHH" I yell as we inch closer to the ground. I soon feel a forceful stop as knuckles flies and lands on the ground while carrying Tails and me.
He places us down gently. I look at Knuckles angrily and I open my mouth to say some words, but I am cut off by the school bell. We all look at each other and start running to the class before we were all late. We run, jump, and dash to the hall our class was on. We slide in just in time the bell rings and we take our seat.
We breathily as we just got done running for our life and I unbutton the top button to my white uniform shirt revealing some of my chest. I hear a gasp and I move my eyes to see a white leopard looking at me. She winks at me flirtatiously and I smirk back.
"Eyes front, Prince Sonic", says my teacher causing some people in class in chuckle, especially Knuckles.
I roll my eyes and look forward at another boring lecture I would have to go through. Thirty minutes throughout the lecture, my eyes slowly move to outside. I look at the blue sky and I feel peaceful. The flames running through my veins feels warmer, and safer as I zone out of this boring school, I am sitting in.
CLASS IS ENDING
I walk to the lockers and I place my school shoes in the them. I then put on my shoes and I walk out of the building while carrying my backpack. I look around for my friends until I feel warm heat behind me. I turn around and I see Blaze, purple cat with long lavender hair with a nice frame looking at me with her savvy, gold eyes. Blaze is the highest ranked in our class because of her ability to use lighting. She always picks on me how I am not able to do that yet, but I don't care that much based on my status in the world… well sometimes I care but I choose not to show it.
"Hello, Sonic", she says while looking at my unbuttoned collar.
"Skipping out on getting your butt whooped again?"
I smile at her and shake my head as I look at her clothes noticing she has her fire bending practice gear on. My eyes suddenly stop to her cleavage and then my face gets grabbed and pulled up from her perfect chest.
"Hey, eyes up here pervert" she says softly, now staring at my lips.
I notice her staring and I say.
"My eyes are fine up here too".
She giggles and grabs my hand pulling me away from the crowd of people leaving school. We walk to the side of the school where no one usually goes after school is over and she pushes me on the brick wall. She slowly pushes her body against mine and meets my lips, I kiss her back as well. My hands trail down her back as her soft lips tangle with mine. I soon feel her hands move to my pants, but I grab her hands stopping her. She pulls away from the kiss and looks at me confused.
"I can't do this today, I have to go see my parents right after school", I say releasing her hands.
"Awww but you said that yesterday too Sonic" she says looking me in the eyes.
"Yeah I know, but lately I have been busy, but I promise to give you my attention soon" I say pulling her close to me, making her smile in the process.
"Hmm, okay fine then" she says moving off of me and turning walking away. I watch her behind as she moves her hips as she walks away from me.
I walk the other way towards the exit and I notice that the school entrance is now empty. I start walking to the castle by myself. I sigh in annoyance. I walk in town and I pass my loyal citizens. I get bows from all over and I make sure to bow at them as well. This happens every day and almost makes the walk back home a little easier.
"Prince Sonic, please take this basket of fruit" a older woman says. I take them and bow as I take the fruit.
"Thank you so much, Ms. Clark", I say while bowing my head. She bows back as well.
"Sonic please take some bread as well!" another villager says and I take that as well. I bow once again, and I try to walk until I come across a little girl with black hair.
I place the food given to me on the ground and I bend down to the little girl. She hands me a picture she drew, and I take it.
"Wow, thank you so much Sza! What did you draw me today?", I ask, and she happily speaks.
"I drew you protecting us from the water persons!" she says while pointing at the paper.
I look at her drawing and I see myself drawn blasting fire at the water people. My heart thumps loudly and my smile starts to drop. I stare at the picture and I start to blank out.
"Everyone wants to me to destroy them… ", I think and I start feeling sick to my stomach.
"Sonic? Are you otay?" Sza asks while touching my hand with her small one.
I shake my head and I start smiling again.
"Yeah, sorry I am fine. Just a little tired" I say and then I look up to see villagers surround me now.
"Prince Sonic take these oranges so you can feel energized', someone random says and I shake my head.
"No, I am fine, thank you though", I say now standing up.
"Excuse me everyone, I have to hurry back to my castle, I will have more time tomorrow to talk to you all but now I must be on my way ".
I bow and they bow as well. They move out of the way to let me walk and I grab my things I move forward. I get chants and cheers on the way back to my castle. I walk up the long grey stairs to my castle and my guards open the doors for me. They greet me as well and I just nod. As soon as I step in the castle, maids take my things out of my hands and sit me down on a chair to take my shoes off.
"Thanks" I say awkwardly, and they bow to me.
"It's about time, Prince" a voice says in front of me.
My captain of the royal guard, Cheyenne walks up to me and stares at my undone collar.
I roll my eyes and I try to walk past him as he grabs my arm before I could walk any further.
"Sonic, your collar is unbuttoned. We have been over this millions of times that you need to dress appropriately since you are soon going to be the king of the fire kingdom someday. Do you know how many strong warriors would die for the position you are in and you are just mocking in front of everyone to see?", he says while pulling me back in front of him and buttoning my collar. My mouth twitches slightly and I push him hands away from my neck.
"And I would like to see them try to take my spot", I say back threathingly and I walk past him again only to be grabbed again and pulled back right in front of him.
"See Sonic you continue to act cocky, but it won't get you anywhere!" He says while pointing a finger at me.
I stare at his finger pointing at me. Anger boils in me and I exhale trying to contain myself blowing up.
"Okay, I understand Cheyenne" I say slightly still pissed.
He nods and smiles.
Cheyenne has been the captain of my royal guard ever since I was little. While my mother and father were away making sure then kingdom was being protected and taking down other kingdoms. He watched over me. He taught me how to remain calm and civilized. Reminding me every day to be a better version of myself than I was yesterday and to always hold close to my beliefs. He is basically like my gay god father. People constantly try to take advantage of him because of his sexuality but that's where he is most powerful in. He always tells me to never let people cast you down or make you feel weak just because you want to act differently or think differently. I have always held on to that. Which is probably why he is the strongest person I have ever met, mentally and physically wise. Cheyenne was a very muscular purple hedgehog and he always looked neat in his fire kingdom royal gear.
"Okay! Now your father and mother have been waiting for you so try to mentally prepare for that", he says now hugging me.
"Can never prepare for that" I say softly moving my head down. Cheyenne suddenly picks my head up before it goes down to my feet.
"Hey stop being so negative. You have been through this before so I am sure everything will be fine. Let me hear you say something positive sweetie." He says now releasing my head for me to hold up on my own.
"Yeah you are right, sorry I don't know what I was thinking", I say shaking my hand and slapping both sides of my face.
"It's okay, you are a softy in the inside" he says while patting my head.
I move his hand away and I walk past him and this time he doesn't stop me.
He is right though. I am pretty soft when it comes to moments of when I am supposed to be forcefully. Growing up, I was always the nice little kid who never burned anything. I was known as gentle and kind when I was a child. Other fire benders grew up more forceful and forceful while I just sometimes sat there. Which is probably why my Mother gives me such a hard time. Lately, my mother has been pressuring me to come on these missions with her to take down kingdoms, but I just don't understand why we are doing this. They technically have not done a lot bad to us but what I hear from mother is that they are betrayers, unethical, and careless leaders who don't stick up for their kingdom. I never understood that though, which is probably why I am getting called to go see my mother and father.
I walk more down the hallway and I start to walk up the stairs. I stare down at the deep red carpet, my feet were walking on and I sigh looking up at a picture of my grandparents in royal uniforms. I pass a window and the sky catches my eye, making me feel less stressed. I walk up to big burgundy doors with gold accents on it. Two royal guards are standing near the doors and they open it as they see me walking.
"What's up Jet", I say to one of the guards. He is a green bird with a sharp beak. Probably one of the strongest fire benders I know of besides Cheyenne. He doesn't say anything nor acknowledges me, and I chuckle as I pass him.
I walk in the big throne room. The entire room is filled with golds, browns, and burgundy, with our fire emblems spread across curtains and on the throne. I walk down the to the throne and I stop once I was 6 feet away from them.
"Father… Mother…" I say while bowing and looking towards my feet to avoid their gaze.
"Hello Sonic, it sure did take you a while to get here didn't it?" my mother questions as her deep intimidating voice echoes throughout the room.
"I... was greeting the citizens… its takes a second to get here because of tha-"
"Raise your head up boy", my father says to me.
I move my head up and my eyes meet their gold ones. The orange sunlight shines on my parent's blue hair as they look at me.
"Lord… his eyes will never become gold" my mother says now crossing her leg in annoyance.
"Well Hope, I have been trying to get him to come on adventures to take down some kingdoms, but he just doesn't want too" says my father.
"At this point, dear I don't think he wants to be king… showing that he does not want to protect his kingdom".
"That's' not true" I think to myself as I become more irratatied.
"Sonic, come closer" my mom says while getting up to stand.
"…What-"
"Boy she says come closer, stop acting so small. You are the prince of the fire kingdom for good's sake" says my father.
I clench my fists and I walk up the stairs to the seats of the throne. I stand in front of them and they look at me like I am like some science project. My mother warm hands touch my face and she caresses it. She suddenly pulls me in for a hug.
"Oh, my youngest son! You do know I just want the best for you right?"
I nod robotically knowing that if were to be a smart ass she would hit me in the face.
"Okay, so that's means… I am taking you on a important mission to stop the water benders from taking in other benders", she says cheerfully.
"That way if you come across an enemy and defeat them. Then, you can get closer to getting your dark flame or even your lightning powers! Doesn't that sound great. It would be a nice family trip."
"Oh,Hope that is a terrific idea" my father says now standing.
My mother looks at my dad and smiles and then looks back at me.
"Wouldn't you like that", she says now using a different tone.
"I… why do we have to harm them? Why can't we just focus on- "
My mother hand goes across my face hard causing me to wince as my face stings. I place my hand on the spot she hit me at. She then moves away from and moves to my dad.
"See Reginald… he doesn't listen to you if you just talk to him. You have to teach him more than just verbally."
My father just nods like he always does when she hits me. She turns around and walks up to me again. She places her hands on my arms and they feel hotter than usually. My eyes widen as I notice that her hands are getting hotter.
"Now baby listen, I will say this one more time and if you don't listen. I will have to carve you out into a great king myself and we don't want mommy to do that, again do we?"
I stare into her dark eyes and I reminisce about what happened to me last time I didn't listen to her. My mind starts to drift off to old, dark memories. Things she made me do that I really want to forget. I jump out of my thoughts from the heat from her hands getting more intense.
"Okay, I am listening" I say quickly.
"We are going to go on a mission to ambush the water kingdom in a month or so. Do you understand?"
I stare into her eyes and the word "Yes" doesn't come out. My breath turns shaky as I watch her eyes go darker than they were before. She gently releases my arms and I look at her in confusion. She quickly sends a punch in my ribs causing me to bend over in pain and then she pushes me down the stairs with her foot, causing me to hit my head on the floor once I have hit every other step from my fall too..
I cough in pain as my ribs scream at me in agony. I hold my ribs and wince on the ground.
"Hope wait, maybe he needs more time" I hear my father say.
"More time? This boy is 17 and is close to 18! An adult! I can't have some soft leader who is afraid of killing someone, sitting in this throne someday!" she yells back at him.
On cue, my father goes silent and I hear my mother's footsteps on the throne's stairs. I try to lean up from the floor and when I do, I see my mother's foot swing into my ribs once again. I yell out in pain as I am sure my mother has broken my ribs once again. I lay on the ground with my head on the floor and I get yanked up by my mother as she grabs my shirt. I plop onto the ground and I clench my ribs as I look at her in fear.
She holds out two fingers to me and a bright light appears. My eyes widen as I start to hear a electric noises appear at her fingers. I start scooting back with my feet as she threatens me with her lighting. She takes steps closer as I move back. My adreline runs in my veins as the sound of the lightning grows fast.
I scoot back more until I notice my head hits the door, I came in. I look at my mother's dark eyes as she leans down close to me, inching her fingers to my neck as I look at her pleading for her not to hurt me.
"HOPE, THAT'S ENOUGH" I hear my dad yells as he starts making his way towards me.
"YOU ARE TOO SOFT ON HIM REGNOLD… now it's my turn" she says.
"Now Sonic… you have one more chance. Yes or no. Are you going to do it or not?"
"Y-y-yes mam", I say as a tear leaks into my eye.
The lightning vanishes quickly. She steps away from and then opens the door besides me.
"Jet, take him out of here please and tell Cheyenne to come clean him up".
She looks at me one more time and goes back to sit at her throne passing my father he stopped halfway on his walk over here. I look at my dad and he looks at me. He looks hurt that he couldn't stop what happened to me, but he never does help. He watches me get beat up until I almost get killed every time.
Jet grabs me roughly causing my ribs to hurt insanely. He takes me out of the room and closes the door. He simply drops me on the floor and goes back to guarding it.
I hold my ribs in pain and I hear Jet chuckle at my current state.
"Every time huh? Man, when are you going to grow some balls?"
I breathe in to talk back but my ribs send a sharp pain causing me to hit the ground.
I hear a gasp down the hall and feet moving towards me fast. I get picked up bridal style by strong muscular arms and I look and see that it is Cheyenne. His gold eyes look around my body in shock and he sees that I am clenching my ribs roughly. His eyes then meet my face and I look away from his in shame.
Cheyenne starts to walk quickly away from the throne room doors and over to my room. Many maids and other workers gasps as they see me being carried.
My heart cracks in pain as I feel so weak to everyone. I hear a door open and I realize that's it's my room. I get brought in and place gently on my bed. I continue to hold my ribs and a warm hand touches mine and moves it away. I try not to look at Cheyenne as he checks my ribs out.
I bite my lip hard, feeling overwhelmed by too many emotions.
"Okay well, they just looked bruised Sonic. Just some healing and wrapping it up will do the trick-"he stops talking as he looks at my face.
"Oh no, Sonic don't cry" he says touching my face.
I look at him confused and I touch my face to feel that it is wet.
I didn't even notice I was crying because of how hot my face was. Cheyenne moves quickly and goes to my bathroom for a first aid kit. I lay on the bed, trying not to move so my ribs don't hurt. He comes back and starts to unbutton my shirt, as he takes my shirt off, I look at his face and he looks so worried making me feel helpless.
I feel vulnerable.
I feel exposed.
I feel weak.
I think as he wraps my ribs. I try to bite my lip to stop the tears from coming but they just start to fall faster. I sniff as I cry and pain shoots in my ribs once again causing me to flinch and it scares Cheyenne. He looks at me with care in his eyes and tries to go faster with wrapping me up. He finishes wrapping me up and takes my shirt and throws it in the dirty bin. He grabs an old t shirt of mine and walks to me. He helps me put that one on as well, trying to ease some of the pain from my ribs.
Cheyenne then sits on bed looking at me, patiently waiting for me to talk. I notice him looking at me and I wipe my tears away only for more to take the places of the ones removed.
"Come here Sonic", he says moving closer, trying to wrap his arms around me.
He touches me and I push his hands away. Cheyenne looks at me in sadness and tries to hug me again this time actually pulling me into his chest. I push him away.
"Sonic, its okay to-"
"To what? Basically, be hated by my own parents? It's okay for them to treat me like I'm something less. It's okay for them to try to put their own views in my eyes? NOTHING IS OKAY, CHEYENNE NOTHING" I say basically yelling at him as my ribs yell at me.
"Sonic, no listen-"I cut him off again.
"WHAT? ARE YOU JUST GOING TO SAY IM STRONG OR TO STOP THINKING NEGATIV- "?
"Sonic please, just calm down" he says in a calm tone.
I try to calm down, but I can't. I just want to break everything. I want to blow this entire room up. I am so tired being treated like trash. I breathe in and out heavily as I was taught to do when I would get super angry but this time it wasn't working.
"Cheyenne, I don't want to harm anyone… why do I have to kill someone? I don't want to do that." I say breaking down again.
This time I let Cheyenne hug me and I rested my head on his shoulder. He starts to rub my back gently, trying not to cause any pain to my ribs. I cried on his shoulder for another minute and then I lean up. I feel calmer now so, I wipe my tears from my face.
"Listen Sonic… everything that happened to you in that room you didn't deserve. A lot of people might not agree about the way you think but you can't let that tear you down every time. Even, my parents felt the same way when I told them I was homosexual. Shit, my parents and my siblings beat me to a pulp and you want to know what I did after that"? he says while getting up to get me a tissue for my nose.
"What did you do", I say lowly.
"I continued to be me. I got stronger and I was the top of my class. Which led me to having a spot in protecting you, being the captain of the royal guard. Yes, I think differently but it's how you take what you do differently and spread it to the world, Sonic. Love your differences because no one else will look like you, think like you, laugh like you, or even love like you" He says while smiling at me.
"I try… but when I even take one step of being different I get so much backlash… If I told my friends that I didn't want to harm the water kingdom they would flip out and leave me… and I already feel so alone".
Cheyenne warm hands cuffs mine and I look up at him. His eyes look so adventurous and loving.
"Sonic, you will never be alone, if your friends leave then they were never your true friends. I think you should tell them, open more minds to your idea, and don't give up on being yourself. That's a king I would want to follow."
Cheyenne words always feel like warm soup on a cold day. Homey…meaningful… inspirational. Sometimes I never realize how much Cheyenne is probably why I have kept my sanity here.
"Also, Sonic, you are not alone. Knuckles and Tails would never leave you just for you having an idea."
"Well how do you know?" I say looking at him for answers.
"I just know. I truly do.".
I nod softly and Cheyenne gets up from my bed. I feel his warmth leave me and I start to feel kind of sad again because it's nice to have someone after talks with mother and father. I watch him as he heads for the door and he stops before completely walking out.
"Also, Sonic… another thing I did was I got a lot stronger. A lot stronger. I was angry myself when I was growing up and I was tired of my father picking on me. So I grew and grew. Until, I scared my family because I was so strong, I could basically blow their heads off", he says while laughing.
"The dark flame… came to me fast when I was growing up because I started to close my heart to everyone. The dark flame is what makes the fire kingdom so powerful. Especially when fighting. Now, it comes and goes when I am fighting a enemy but you always have to remember to stay in control… or you might end up scaring the people you care about".
I watch him awe as he talks about his past.
"Thank you, Cheyenne… again" I say smiling a bit.
He watches me smile and his eyes go bright. He bows and walks out of my room closing the door. I gently lean back, trying not to cause any more harm to my ribs.
I lay my head back on my soft pillow and I stare at the ceiling, Crying makes my eyes feel so heavy and soon I am fast asleep.
NEXT MORNING
The discourteous sun hits my eyelid, making me turn over and I soon feel a soreness from so suddenly. My eyes open in pain as I touch my ribs.
"…ugh, fuck" I say as my ribs scream in soreness. I slowly get out of the bed and I head to the bathroom. I look in the mirror and I notice that my eyes are swollen from crying yesterday and the bruise on my cheek is still visible a little.
I look away from the mirror and I walk to the toilet to pee. I flush the toilet and I wash my hands. I reach for my tooth paste and I brush my teeth quickly because I am not sure how long it has been, and I have to be at school.
Not that I care if I am late for school at this point.
I finish brushing my teeth and I shut my light off, leaving my bathroom. I then head to my closet and I grab my uniform. I take off my shirt and pants slowly as my ribs hollers at me. I attempt to put my shirt on in pain but it doesn't work. I take a break and then I try to push through why putting my shirt again on and I hear a knock at the door.
My heart drops in fear as I hope it isn't my parents. I can't take another lecture. I slowly walk to the door and I see Cheyenne. He looks at me happily and pushes the door open wide revealing myself to the hallway. A maid walks by and see me in my boxers and blushes madly. I blush back and I pull Cheyenne in and I slam the door.
"Cheyenne! What the-"
I get cut off by Cheyenne snatching my shirt from me and helping me put it on. I roll my eyes as he ignores my junk getting flashed to the maid. He grabs my pants and I step into my pants one by one and he pulls them up for me. He then swings around me and grabs a chair. He places it in front of me and then moves to go get my shoes from the closet. I gently try to sit down in the chair. He comes back with my shoes and places them on my feet.
"Thank you…" I say quietly and then he wraps his arms around me and gently brings me to my feet from the chair.
"Do you want to wear your backpack today"? he asks eyeing my ribs.
"Yeah. I will be fine" I say reaching for it, but he grabs it before me. He holds the straps for me to get in. I sigh and then I get in the straps.
"Okay now!" he says while running to the door and swinging the door wide open again
"Off to school you go!" he says while yelling loudly.
I sigh and shake my head. I laugh a bit though. I walk past him and I head down the hall. I start walking down the stairs and the smell of food catches my nose causing me to turn left instead of right. I feel someone bump into my chest causing me to wince, but I try to ignore the feeling, so no one finds out that I am hurt. I look down to see the maid from earlier. She looks and blushes madly. She bows apologetically.
"Oh, its fine ha-ha, I just smelled the food and turned suddenly. My apologies. "I say quickly trying to avoid the awkward tension in the air. I turn the opposite way where I was supposed to head in the first place, but I stop as she calls out my name.
I turn around I see her holding out a small lunch for me.
"I… um saw your bandages and I thought that this would make you feel better…", she says to me shyly.
I walk back to her and I take the lunch.
"Wow… thank you so much. Truly", I say while smiling.
"I also made you some toast! I thought you would be hungry this morning", she says more cheerful.
I take and I bow my head. I place the toast in my mouth, and I start walking near the exit of my castle. A clock hits the corner of my eye and I notice that school is almost about to begin.
My eyes widen and I start running towards my school. The soreness in my ribs continues to hurt but I just ignore it. I have to keep looking forward. I pass citizens and I get hellos. I nod back quickly.
I finally reach the entrance of my school and I run up, unlocking my locker with a quickness to change my shoes. The bell rings and I notice I am late for school. I dash up two flights of stairs and I run down the hallway to my classroom. I see my door about to close but I slide my foot in the doorway just in time. My teachers look up at me and notices that it is me. A scowl appears on her face and she opens the door to let me in. I bow in apologies and I turn around to hearing whispering laughs.
I ignore them and I walk past classmates. I look at knuckles and I notice that he is looking at me trying not to laugh. I flip him off and I take my seat but then I notice Tails isn't here.
"Oh right… he is hanging out with his girl today", I think and I sit down. I drop my bag and I place my hand under my chin already annoyed about being in class. I look at Knuckles ahead of me and I notice that he is taking notes.
"Knuckles is such a try hard" I think as I kick at his desk causing him to stop taking notes. Knuckles sends a blast of heat causing everyone to look over at us and then he stops.
"Does someone have something to say." Says my teacher looking my way.
I look at her in confusion as she thinks it was me that creating the heat.
"Sonic you must be so excited about talking about fractions! How about I assign you extra homework tonight, hm? Since you are so excited" she says
"It wasn't me- "
"Extra homework it is!" she says to me and then turns back to the board.
Laughs go throughout the room and I sink into my seat.
"Perfect"
LUNCHTIME
The bell rings for lunch time and I stand up slowly. Pain shoots at my ribs and I sit back down quickly.
"Uhm, you okay?" Knuckles says eyeing me.
"Yeah, I almost caught a cramp"
I lie, now standing up and I clench my fist to as the pain in my rib increases.
"Psh, you need to start stretching more after practicing" he says and starts to head toward the exit. I walk around some desks and I follow him. We walk in silence and things feel weird because Tails isn't here. He is usually the one to start random conversations or to talk about the new inventions he created, but today it's a lot quieter. We stand in our usually place in line. Knuckles grabs the pork buns and this time I grab an apple.
We head up to the roof and we sit on the edge again. I ease myself carefully on the edge. My ribs are still killing me. I feel a pair of eyes on me and I look at Knuckles staring at me. I see his eyes move to the side of my face.
"Damn, who socked you in the face", he said looking away and devouring a pork bun.
"Um, Cheyenne. I wanted him to practice with me and I ended up getting lazy and he hit me in the face".
I bit into my apple and I stared off into the village.
"Man, you always get the perfect people to practice with.", he says sighing.
"Yeah, I am pretty lucky for him", I say thinking about what happened yesterday and what he said.
"Maybe I should tell him"… I think and I turn to Knuckles and then he looks at me confused.
"Uh… Where did tails say he wanted to meet later on today"? I say, secretly cursing myself out of chickening out.
"Oh… he said our usually hide out spot. That area close to the wall of the kingdom behind the school".
I nod and I stop eating my apple by throwing it off the roof and into some grass. I watch it fall and then I look to my feet.
"I want to tell Knuckles so bad… but I am afraid of what he will say. What if he tries to fight me for saying that? Ahh, fuck". I think and then I turn to him and he is already looking at me.
"…Knuckles",
"…Ha-ha yeah?" he says now turning fully towards me.
"Can I tell you something and can you swear not to tell anyone else, not even Tails."
"Woah, man you are scaring me. What is it?"
I sigh and I look at the sky.
"I think, once I am king. I am going to try to do what the water kingdom is doing… creating equality for everyone" I say and then I slowly look to Knuckles and his eyes are wide open.
"…HUH?" he yells and it causes me to shush him.
"YOU WANT TO WHAT"?
"Knuckles shut the fuck up! Before someone-"
"Me shut the fuck up? How can I shut up after hearing THAT?" he yells now standing.
I stand up as well and then I put my hands in the air.
"Can you listen to me?" I say trying to stay calm. Knuckles then nods but continues to look at me in concern.
"Look, I just think this war thing is useless. If the water benders want to build a kingdom of benders than let them but why aren't we doing the same thing? What is the point in taking over land we don't need? I know we are basically ensuring safety for the fire kingdom, but we can do that as well by not killing people?" I say and Knuckles looks at me in awe.
He then places his hand on his chin and sits down to think about what I just said. I watch him think for a minute and then he says.
"Okay you know what… I understand what you are saying but how in the hell… how in the hell… are you going to convince your mother and father to let you do that?", he says while staring at me.
I feel my ribs ache and I look off.
"I… I don't know but I don't want to give up on my beliefs, ya know?"
"Well Sonic… whatever you want to do, I will proudly stand by your side. No matter what… as long as you aren't trying to get yourself killed" he says, and it causes me to look back at him.
He has his fist out for me to dap and I dap his fist. He smiles and then the bell rings. We both sigh in irritation and we start running for our class again.
AFTER SCHOOL
My teacher slams my extra homework on my desk and I my head drops in disagreement. My teacher walks away, and Knuckles turns around and starts laughing at me. I mock his laugh and he look at me annoyed. We pack our stuff and we start walking out of the classroom. We start to walk down the stairs to leave the school building. I go to my locker and I switch shoes. I walk near the entrance and Knuckles meets back up with me. I soon see a Blaze talking to one of her friends and then her eyes lock on mine.
I wave at her and she starts to skip my way.
"Yikes, you still messing with her… you do know she sees nothing in you right, besides your title". Says Knuckles placing his hands in his pockets.
"Damn, let me have some fun with my title then", I say making Knuckles scoff.
Blaze places her hands behind her back holding onto her backpack behind her. She walks up closer to me and notices that a bruise is on my face. She frowns and places her hand on my face.
"I just get hit during practice", I say moving her hand away from my face.
"Aww, tell your instructors not to mess up my perfect prince's face" she says to me.
"Or maybe you can come to my place again and tell them for me", I say with my eyes trailing down to her nice legs.
Blaze face goes red and Knuckles yawns loudly getting both of us to look at him. Blaze frowns at him and Knuckles shrugs and starts walking away from us.
"Well, I have to go again. Tails wants us to meet him somewhere, so I guess I am going to do that".
"Aww, Sonic what! I thought we were hanging out soon." She says now pouting.
"You really aren't my girlfriend" I think but instead I say
"Yeah, I know. I promise to make it up though" I say lowly causing her ears to perk up.
"Hmm, make it up to me how" she asks now stepping closer to me.
"You will find out "I say trying to end the conversation quickly.
"BRO COME ON. THE SUN IS GOING DOWN" I hear knuckles yell.
Blaze looks at him and sticks her tongue out at him. I start walking away from Blaze and I wave at her. She waves back and then turns to go back to her friends who immediately start giggling.
I turn to Knuckles and I see him looking at me with annoyance and then his face turns into a smile and he starts laughing. We start walking and we head to around the school, so we can go find Tails. The sidewalk is now orange as the sun is setting fast.
"Sorry for the wait… you know how it is" I say jokingly and Knuckles shakes his head, laughing while looking forward.
"Dude, I saw the annoyed in your face while talking to her. I really saved you".
I chuckle as we walk farther pass the school and trees start to appear from the right of us. Since the sun was setting, the forest was very dark as the huge wall blocks it from hitting the forest before it leaves and returns tomorrow. Knuckles creates a small fire in his hand as we travel deeper into the forest.
"I wonder how Tails is going to act" Knuckles says.
"Probably very excited. It's nice knowing that he has someone." I say.
I step over a rock and I look to the sky noticing that it was turning dark blue. We continue to walk further into the forest to our secret spot as kids. We would always hang out here for protection of me since I am the prince. This was the only place where I could truly play, and no one would find us. We had countless of pretend battles here and great memories.
I smile to myself as I imagine Tails face now. We move past two trees and we walk into our secret area. There are some stone stools near a old fire and a treehouse in one tree. We haven't been here in a while so we both take in the scenery for memories. I look around and I notice that Tails isn't around.
"Hm… maybe they are late" says knuckles sitting down a stone stool too short to the ground for his long legs.
I nod and I sit on a stone stool near him. We wait for Tails to appear and ten minutes pass. My leg starts to shake as we sit here in boredom.
"Maybe, he forgot", Knuckles says.
"Well, I am about to go home and go eat I'm starving", I say standing up.
"Dude, it's only been like 5 minutes"
"No it hasn't I have been waiting for HOURS" I say feeling restless.
"Sonic how about you sit yo-"
A scream echoes deep in the woods causing Knuckles and me to look in that direction.
"What was that" Knuckles says looking into the darkness of the woods.
"I am not sure… maybe we should go check it out, come on" I say standing up and creating a flame in my hand as I lead the way towards the scream.
Knuckles and I walk carefully throughout the forest. We soon hear voices. We nod at each other and I put my flame out. We crawl through a bush and we look up.
"Royal guards" I think and I feel my heart drop.
I look at them and then I move my eyes and I see a girl with green hair. They throw her on the ground and she hits the ground hard.
"What is going on…" Knuckles whispers as he watches in confusion.
"I don't-"
"LEAVE HER ALONE", yells from the other side of the trees.
The voice that just talked sounded so familiar. I close my eyes and I move bushes. I pray that it isn't who I think it is.
I open my eyes and I see my yellow fox friend. He has a black eye and held up by fire kingdom guards. I start breathing faster as I hear Knuckles gasps. I slowly look at Knuckles and then he looks at me. Knuckles looks speechless and… worried.
"Leave her alone, huh? I ought of kill you where you stand for betraying the fire kingdom for saying that", says another voice I know too much of. I stare at Knuckles and his eyes widen as he realizes who it is too.
My mother.
My heart beats loudly as I look back at what is happening.
"Please Queen, I beg you… just let her free. She has caused no harm" Tails says sounding so defeated and terrified.
"Sweet lord… all water benders do is manipulate other benders into their way of thinking", my mother says while walking towards the girl on the ground badly beaten.
She places her heel of her foot on her back and applies pressure causing the girl to cry out in pain.
"You want me… to let this little water bender go"?
"Please… I will do anything." Tails says trying to move towards the girl but gets pulled back by the guards.
My mom's lip twitches and she kicks the girl over, having her on her back.
She bends down and places her hand on her face. The girl tries to move my mom's hand from her face but she can't. The girl is very weak, so her arms fall to the side of her.
"Wow, you really are a beautiful girl. Eyes such a pretty blue. My eyes were once this color too until I killed my first water bender when I was sixteen. Oh, what a rush it was to finally take away a life that was causing my kingdom so much trouble" she says while wiping the tears of the girl.
The side of my mother mouth twitches, and she then looks back up to Tails.
Suddenly heat from her hand intensifies causing me to feel the heat from here and she starts to burn the face of the girl with green hair. The screaming of the girl echoes throughout the darkness of the forest. I watch as Tails starts thrashing.
I swallow hard and then I get shoved by knuckles. I slowly look at him and he is motioning me to stop this.
I look back to the terrible scene and my legs start to shake.
I am scared but I have to do something.
I slowly stand up and then my rib reminds me not to intervene and I quickly sink back down the bushes.
"… Dude you have to stop this, please do something" Knuckles whispers to me.
I look down at the ground as my mother powerful heat still hits my face. My mother heat quickly vanishes causing us to look up back at the scene. I look at Tails and he looks angry, sad, and scared of what is to happen next. The girl screams turn into whimpers as she winces at her burned face. Her face now has third degree burns. My mom then snaps her fingers and the guards grab the girl by the hands and holds her up.
"STOP PLEASE" Tails yells now looking down to his feet.
"Oh I will stop, once she isn't breathing" she says as she points her fingers to her head.
"No" I say out loud.
Light appears to her fingertips and the electric noise appears. Everyone steps back as the lightening intensifies. My mom looks at the girl from the back of the head emotionlessly.
"COSMO NO" Tails yells trying to get out of the grip of the guards.
"That's his girlfriend" I think
I stare at Tails pained face and I stand up. I shakily walk out of the bushes and his eyes move to mine.
"S-s-s-Sonic" he says as tears leaves his eyes in hope.
My mother eyes look behind her and meets mine. I look at Cosmo and she weakly turns towards me looking helpless. I gulp and I try to speak but nothing comes out.
"Oh, were you in on this secret water bender entering our kingdom as well"? She says eyeing me up and down.
"No- I… I didn't… can we ju-"
"Lord Almighty, you still can't form a sentence! I should have taught you a more valuable yesterday because apparently hitting you a few times did not do the trick" she says rolling her eyes at me.
Tails slowly looks at me, not understanding what she means but I am sure he is figuring it out soon about what she did to me. My mom's eyes brighten, and her lightning disappears.
"I have an idea!" she says while clasping her hands together. She motions her guards to bring Tails over and they move him closer to Cosmo. My mom then moves to beside and grabs my shoulders, moving me to the middle of Tails and Cosmo. Tails whispers something to Cosmo, and she says something back too.
"Now Sonic! Here is a new lesson you can learn!" she grabs my hand and makes me point it in the middle of them. They both look at me in confusion and fear.
I am probably looking at them in the same way.
"Now you can either… kill this spying, water bending gremlin, or you can kill your betraying best friend".
My eyes widen as I look back at my mom. I shake my head no and she smacks me in the back head hard. I wince and I lower my hand and I start to back away from this terrible decision.
"Mom, I can't do tha-"
"Sonic yes you can! They are both enemies of the fire kingdom right now and you are telling me you won't protect the kingdom?" she says placing her hand on my shoulders.
"This is his girlfriend though! Why can't we just let her go and forget about this happening. I promise to watch over Tails more, keeping him out of trouble-"
"I am so tired of these excuses Sonic. Maybe I should just kill them both myself! Maybe Tails is the one making you not want to kill any water benders, hm? Are you betraying the kingdom" she says now backing up and pointing her fingers at me.
"Mom, I would never do that. But please I promise to go on the trips to take down more kingdoms. I will do anything else but this please… Can we just let them go and forget about it.".
My mom's eyes go dark and her lightning appears again but this time in both hands. We all flinch from the sudden bright light from her hands. I hear Cosmo whimper and Tails starts to plead for her to let Cosmo go.
"Banish me instead of killing her please. I will leave with her and I won't come back. It will be like it never happened I promise Queen" Tails says.
"This isn't even about betrayal anymore. It's about my weak minded son." She says eyeing me up and down.
"This is my last offer, Sonic and you know when my offer is final anything else you do will result in the thing you don't want to happen. You can either kill one of them OR I KILL THEM BOTH MYSELF AND THEN I MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO STAND NOR WALK AFTER YOU SAY "NO" TO ME FOR THE 100TH TIME. NOW CHOOSE" she yells at me as her golden eyes flash brightly.
I breathe shakily and as I am afraid to even move the wrong way. Tears begin to fall as I slowly turn away from my mother. Tails and Cosmos eyes widen as they see me turn around.
"Sonic… what are you doing… you can't do this Sonic", Tails says while trying to read my face.
I slowly raise my hand up in the middle of them and my mind starts to go to blank.
"Sonic listen… just take me out… she doesn't deserve this. Please Sonic" Tails says.
Cosmo just shakes her head and then she looks at me with her burned face. My eyes widen as one of her eyes are burned so badly I am sure she is blind.
"Prince Sonic… don't harm Tails. This is all my doing and I knew what the outcome might be if I interact with the fire kingdom citizens. I just didn't think it would turn out to this. So please… give me my punishment and free Tails" she says softly.
"Cosmo no… I can't live without you here. You have to go back to your village. It's okay" Tails says shaking his head.
"It's okay Tails. You made my last days so beautiful than I have every had. If these are my last moments, then I am glad they were shared with you. Sonic is going to be a king someday… just like you told me. He is going to need someone strong by his side. Isn't that right, Sonic" she says while looking back to me.
I stare at her face and my hand twitches as I slowly move my hand to her. I stop halfway as Tails yells at me to stop.
"SONIC. PLEASE DON'T DO THIS. YOU CAN'T YOU JUST CAN'T. TAKE ME OUT. NOT HER. PLEASE SONIC". I jump again and then my hand shakily moves away from Cosmo and moves slowly to Tails.
I look at Tails eyes and our childhood flashes through my mind.
Tails always made me feel normal as a child. Because I had such a title, no one wanted to play with me because of how serious the other students treated me. He made me feel normal. I love tails like a little brother. I would always beat up so many bullies for causing me to get in trouble later but it worth it. Because Tails gave me the chance to feel normal again.
Tails eyes deepens in fear and I look back to his in fear.
"Tails… I can't kill you" I say as my voice breaks. My hand moves back to Cosmo and Tails starts to thrash again.
"SONIC WAIT" YOU CAN. PLEASE DON'T DO THIS. I LOVE HER" he yells at me.
Cosmo doesn't say anything, but she starts saying a small prayer. I feel something ignite in me as I start to black out, staring at Cosmo's head. Tail's voice starts to disappear as well and so does my mother's lightning behind me.
All I can see is the moonlight and Cosmo's head.
I start building a flame in the palm of my hand and it grows slowly but forcefully.
Tears stop falling from my face and my breathing steadies.
"I don't want to do this to you tails, but I also can't lose you. I know you care about this girl so much, but I have been put in a position that is unavoidable. I have to kill her. The water benders were fools for putting her in our kingdom. They know the dangers and the cost of getting caught by us. Instant death. "
The fire blast forming my hands causes wind to pick up and it pushes the last tears from eyes away from my face.
I hear vibrations and I am pretty sure it is Tails screaming at me.
"I don't care if he hates me forever. There is nothing else I can do. All I want to do is protect the ones closest to me. Maybe, this is what Cheyenne was talking about. Not letting the darkness take over you and making sure no one is afraid of you. But now people are defiantly going to be afraid of me now. Not that I give a shit anymore. I have no choice but to kill my best friend love to save… his life.
I come back to my senses and I stare at the girl blankly. I readjust my postion stronger and the fire in my palm increases widly creating a huge fire ball.
"SONIC, I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DO THIS SHIT, I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU! SONIC! SONIC! DO YOU HEAR ME!" screams Tails on the top of his lungs,
I speak emotionlessly back and I look at Tails.
"… What else am I susposed to do Tails. She entered our kingdom and now you are close to being killed because of her".
Tails widens his eyes at my statement and stares at me speechless.
"Tails, I am sorry. But I can't lose you. Even if you do hate me forever after this… I just can't kill you. I can't Tails. Even you knew that once I turned around, huh?" I say looking at him.
"Sonic… no please" Tails while dropping his head down.
"Yeah… I wish I didn't have to" I say.
I slowly look back to Cosmo to see her smiling at Tails. I grab my hand as the fire ball starts getting more powerful.
"Tails, I love you" she says softly as tears fall from her face.
"I love you too-"
BOOM
My ears ring as my fire flies through her head. I slowly drop my hand my world goes dark. I watch as her body falls to the ground lifelessly and I hear vibrations from Tails. He is crying loudly, and he starts shooting fire from his mouth. One of the guards knocks him out and pulls him away from the scene.
I hear murmurs from around me, but my eyes move back to Cosmo. I feel a warm hand place on my shoulder, and I look behind me to see my mother. She brings me in for a hug and I just stare ahead. My eyes meet with Knuckles who is still hiding in the bush. He soon disappears from the bushes.
My mom looks at me in the face and smiles brightly. I stare at her emotionlessly and she hugs me again
"Did you feel it Sonic?" she asks softly as she rubs my back.
"Feel what?" I say and she moves me back and stares into my eyes.
"The Darkness"
This is one of my favorite chapters for this story because it shows that boys and men can experince things such as woman do. I want to make it aware that everyone can go through child abuse, anxiety, happiness, depression, and even crying. This chapter also holds a little be of me in it as well and I want everyone to know, even if you didn't go through what Sonic went through that everything gets better! Never give up and always know that on the other side of the hill is greatness once you climb it so never give up!
Dont forget to review, favorite and follow :)
Let me know how you felt about this chapter or something you can relate too!
See you guys Saturday
~Peaches