Night fell on Mobius as a large, gray male wolf walked through the forest near the city, deep in thought about the events that have occurred over the last few months.
"These past few months have been hard for the pack ever since mom died and Raven disappeared after Eggman's attack on the pack. Grandpa had to take over as leader until Blade is old enough to lead or until either dad or Raven return. However, ever since grandpa returned from finding Blade and Rosebud, he said Eggman has a new ally that is a direct descendant of Kieron and that my youngest brother is safe with Sonic. If what he said is true, then could the prophecy that I received five months ago be real?" the male questioned to himself as he continued his stroll.
However before he could ponder about anything else, an unfamiliar yet enthusiastic voice was heard from nearby, "What are we doing tonight Sonic? Stargazing? A race? Training?"
"Sonic? That's the blue hedgehog my grandfather told me and Raven about when we were pups and the one who was keeping my youngest brother safe according to him. I should check it out." the gray male said to himself, intrigued upon hearing the familiar name, deciding to locate the source of the voice.
Meanwhile at the lake, Sonic and a five-month old White Fang were relaxing by the water, although the white wolf was full of energy. White Fang had grown quite a bit over the last two months, and now stood at two and a half feet tall from the shoulder down. From the head down, the young wolf was around the same height as Tails. Despite his growth in size, his energy was boundless just like Sonic.
"You'll see soon enough White Fang." the blue hedgehog answered, confusing White Fang. However, before the white wolf could ask, a black hedgehog that looked a bit like Sonic soon appeared right in front of the two.
"Heh. Took you long enough, Shadow." Sonic smirked as the black hedgehog approached them.
"Shadow? What are you doing here? I thought you were trying to see what Eggman was up to with Rouge and Omega." White Fang questioned, raising a brow in confusion.
"Hmph. I was, however we haven't had any luck so far with how secretive the Doctor is being. Rouge and Omega are continuing the investigation while I'm here. I'll let Sonic explain since he's the one who brought this up to me." Shadow scoffed in annoyance.
Unbeknownst to the trio, the gray male wolf had also arrived at the lake, keeping himself hidden as he did not want to interfere with whatever the trio was doing. As he watched them, he quickly realized something.
'That white wolf, he looks so much like mom! His scent is even familiar to! There's no doubt about it! Grandfather wasn't lying, my youngest brother is alive and well under Sonic's care!' the male thought as he inspected the group, however his thoughts were soon caught off by a familiar female voice from behind.
"Boulder, you must talk to Sonic." a glowing white female wolf said from behind.
"Mom!? What do you mean?" the gray male turned around in shock and asked quietly, making sure nobody heard him.
"Sonic plays a crucial role in the prophecy, and he must learn about it not only for his sake but for the sake of Mobius as well." the female said sternly, making Boulder realize it was serious.
"I'll talk to him. If it's as serious as you say, then I'll find some way to talk with him so he can learn about the prophecy." he said before his mother disappeared.
However, the female wolf's presence did not go unnoticed. White Fang looked in the direction in which he saw the light, raising a brow in confusion as he saw the light disappear. 'What was that? That light looked somewhat familiar? Where have I seen it before?' he wondered, not realizing Sonic was trying to talk to him.
"White Fang, are you listening? This is important." the blue hedgehog questioned, cutting the white wolf off from his thoughts.
"Oops! Sorry, I thought I got a bit lost in my thoughts. Could you explain again?" White Fang replied, giving a sheepish smile.
Giving a small sigh, the blue hedgehog began explaining again, "This will be a test to determine if your training is completed. You will fight both me and Shadow separately. Shadow will fight you first until either he has had enough or he is impressed with your performance. Once he's done, I will come in and fight you myself. However, there will be no warnings, so you need to be prepared and be ready to react."
"Got it. I'm ready whenever you are!" White Fang said as he got into a fighting stance.
'The pup sure has a lot of spirit. Let's see if he can back it up with his skills like Sonic said.' Shadow thought as the blue hedgehog leaped back to allow the two to begin the test.
As soon as Sonic was out of sight, White Fang quickly charged at the black hedgehog and leaped up in the air, anticipating a counter attack. However, as the wolf came down with his attack, Shadow merely sidestepped out of the way before grabbing the pup's tail and throwing him towards a nearby tree.
'Sonic isn't kidding when he said Shadow is strong. Looks like I'll have to be creative here.' White Fang though as he used the oncoming tree to rebound himself back into the fray. The black hedgehog soon began charging up some spear-like energy attack, expecting the white wolf to be caught off guard by his counterattack.
"Chaos Spear!" Shadow yelled out as he launched his attack straight towards the pup. White Fang quickly dodged the yellow projectiles, and ran towards the black hedgehog. 'Does this pup realize the same thing won't work on me if it didn't work the first time?' the black hedgehog questioned himself as he prepared for White Fang's next attack. However, the white wolf darted past Shadow, and as the dark-furred hedgehog turned around, White Fang used his tail to kick some dust in his opponent's eyes. The white pup took this opportunity to tackle Shadow right towards a tree while he was caught off guard.
The force of the tackle had caused the black hedgehog to hit the tree with a loud thud before hitting the ground. While Shadow was wiping the dust out of his eyes, White Fang bolted right towards the black hedgehog. By the time the hedgehog was able to see again, he saw the white wolf charging at him as if about to throw out another attack. He threw out a quick punch in hopes of catching the pup off guard, however White Fang swiftly dodged the attack and used his fangs to grab the hedgehog's arm. Before the white pup could do anything else, his opponent threw him up in the air and began charging another Chaos Spear. This time though, Shadow was charging more than one.
As White Fang recovered, he realized he was vulnerable as he barely saw Shadow charging the Chaos Spear attack. 'I've got to think of a way down fast if I don't want to be toasted by Shadow's attack.' the white wolf said to himself, before he soon thought of an idea, 'If I can use the gravity along with my spin attack, maybe I could catch him off guard and force him to move out the way.'
Down below, Boulder was watching the fight unfold, amazed by White Fang's quick speed and his fierce nature. 'I never thought a Mobian would know how to properly train a wolf pup. The moves the pup is pulling are literally some of the same moves young pups are taught when they do their battle training.' he silently said to himself as he continued to watch.
As Shadow finished charging up his attack, he looked up at the white wolf, seeing that he was vulnerable. 'If this pup is going to prove himself, then let's see how he does against multiple Chaos Spears.' he said to himself as he fired the yellow projectiles right at White Fang.
As the yellow projectiles flew towards the white wolf, Sonic watched the battle from a safe distance. 'How is White Fang going to get out of this situation? He won't be able to dodge any of the Chaos Spears while being air-born.' he thought, growing a bit concerned for the pup.
However, White Fang saw the projectiles fly right at him. 'Now!' he said to himself before curling up into a ball and charging down towards the ground, using the speed of the drop to dodge the oncoming attacks.
Down below, Shadow continued to launch a flurry of Chaos Spears before noticing a white shape heading right towards him from above. He swiftly dodged out of the way of the attack, however before he could try to launch a counter-attack, White Fang tackled the black hedgehog down before kicking him into some bushes.
Upon seeing the black hedgehog flying towards him, Sonic quickly moved out of the way to avoid getting slammed. Shadow skidded on the ground for a few feet before managing to recover from the attack that White Fang had landed.
"He's tougher than I expected for someone as young as him." Shadow admitted, looking in the direction where White Fang is.
"It's best if you tag out. If you get too serious, you can seriously harm him especially when strength is not his strong suit." Sonic said, concern for the pup's safety evident in his tone.
As much as the black hedgehog wanted to respond, his rival had a fair point. He was leagues above White Fang in not only strength, but skill to. If he had not held back the way he did, the fight would have gone very differently. Shadow crossed his arms before turning away, "Fine. I'll let you be the judge of his test. I've done my part for it."
On the battlefield, White Fang kept watch for his opponent's next move, standing in a defensive position. 'Surely this fight isn't over already? I know Shadow is tough considering how he and Sonic go even with each other in combat, but there's no way he can be taken down that easily.' the white wolf wondered, noticing it was taking a while for Shadow to come back to the fray. Suddenly, he picked up an all-too familiar scent quickly heading his way. 'Shadow must've tagged out. Sonic's heading right towards me.' the pup said to himself as he prepared for his mentor's move.
Right on queue, Sonic charged right at the white wolf at full speed. White Fang quickly jumped out of the way, however, the hedgehog quickly curled up and launched himself at the wolf with a Spin Dash. Unfortunately for the pup, he had no way to dodge the attack, flying a few feet upon impact before skidding across the ground to recover.
"Can't keep up?" Sonic taunted as he started running in circles around around White Fang.
Caught off guard, the white wolf began looking around before realizing what exactly the blue hedgehog was up to. 'He's trying to use his speed to trick me into dropping my guard.' he said to himself, getting into a defensive pose and began using his nose to follow Sonic's scent.
The tactic was successful for the white wolf as Sonic charged towards him, being able to react and stop the Homing Attack in time. The two tumbled in a deadlock before White Fang kicked the hedgehog off of him. Unlike Shadow, Sonic was prepared for the kick and swiftly recovered, landing safely on his feet.
The hedgehog smirked as he saw the young wolf preparing to use his spin attack. 'Going in for a final blow already? That could be dangerous for him with how exhausted he gets when he uses his spin attack.' Sonic questioned to himself, knowing that the wolf does not have much experience using the attack.
He soon began charging his own Spin Dash for a finishing blow as White Fang ran towards the hedgehog. Once the white wolf leaped in the air, Sonic blasted towards him. However, the Spin Dash came out a bit too late as White Fang had curled up and gained the momentum he needed to clank with the hedgehog. The two were locked in a clash for a good while before White Fang managed to get the upper hand, pushing Sonic back.
'This is not good. I need to step it up!' Sonic thought as he started putting more pressure into his attack, realizing that he had underestimated the young wolf.
'Just a little more!' White Fang thought as he kept the pressure up in his attack, continuing to push the hedgehog back.
In the end, the two were launched from the force of both of their attacks combined, resulting in White Fang skidding across the ground for several feet before managing to barely recover and Sonic being launched right into a tree. The hedgehog collapsed to the ground, dazed and exhausted from the impact from the attack. Upon getting up, he noticed the young wolf was also exhausted from the fight.
"That's enough White Fang." he said after regaining his breath.
The white wolf perked his head up in confusion upon hearing what Sonic said, "It's over?"
Sonic nodded, giving a warm smile to the pup, "After seeing you go pretty even with Shadow and being able to overpower me in a clash like that, you pass!"
"Wait..? Really!?" White Fang questioned, surprised by what Sonic said. After receiving a nod, the white wolf leaped up in excitement before knocking the hedgehog down.
"Whoa! Hey! I'm still a bit sore from the impact." the blue hedgehog chuckled as he was getting smothered by the white wolf.
From the bushes, Shadow gave a small smirk as he saw White Fang smothering Sonic before disappearing using Chaos Control. Boulder stood in shock and amazement as he saw how the battle went. 'Grandfather was not kidding. This pup, he was able to go toe-to-toe with the Hero of Mobius. I have to talk with Sonic about the prophecy considering how strong and quick this pup is.' he quietly said to himself, realizing it was time to reveal himself.
As White Fang got off of Sonic, allowing the hedgehog to get up, his ears perked up to an unfamiliar voice, "Pardon me? One of you wouldn't happen to be Sonic, correct?"
With a quick nod, Sonic turned to face the source of the voice, a large, gray male wolf with blue eyes much like White Fang. "That would be me. Who are you?" the blue hedgehog questioned, raising a brow in suspicion.
Upon speculation, White Fang felt an odd sense of familiarity, recognizing the older male's appearance, 'Have I seen this wolf before? He seems really familiar, but I can't place it.'
"My name is Boulder. I am the healer of a pack that lives not too far from here." Boulder introduced himself before explaining, "I was sent here by my leader to talk with you, Sonic."
"To talk?" the hedgehog questioned, unsure of whether to trust the gray male.
Boulder nodded before explaining to Sonic, "It's important, so I would rather talk to you alone."
After thinking for a bit, Sonic turned towards White Fang with a serious look, "It's best if you return home. If I'm not back after a while, get a hold of Tails."
With a nod, the white wolf took a quick glance at Boulder before heading back home. Once White Fang was out of sight, Sonic turned back towards Boulder with a serious look.
"What is it that you want to talk about?" Sonic questioned, keeping his guard up in case of an ambush.
"Follow me." the gray male ordered before explaining, "I was watching you face off against that young pup. It's very rare for any wolf raised by a Mobian to grow up to be an efficient fighter, let alone by five months old."
"With the threat of Eggman looming, I want White Fang to be able to defend himself so he doesn't suffer the same fate as his mother." Sonic said in a solemn tone. He still felt guilty for not being able to save the white wolf's mother in time.
"I can understand that. The fact that Eggman is resorting to killing innocent lives has had the pack on edge for a few months at this point." Boulder said as he stopped in front of a large lake before turning towards the hedgehog, "Which brings me to what I want to talk to you about. About five months ago, there was a message I received that seems to involve White Fang."
"White Fang? What about him?" the blue hedgehog asked, raising a brow in confusion.
"I can't really explain it that well, but are you familiar with the story of Aeneas and Kieron?" Boulder asked.
With a nod, the gray male continued to explain, "Kneel by the edge of this lake, allow yourself to touch the surface of the water as you close your eyes and relax."
Although reluctant about following Boulder's directions, Sonic slowly approached the lake, and went down to one knee, allowing his fingertips to gently touch the surface of the water as he closed his eyes. Boulder sat down next to the blue hedgehog, keeping guard as he saw him begin to relax.
Upon awakening, all Sonic could see was darkness. Taking a look around his surroundings, the experience somewhat felt familiar to the blue hedgehog. Before he could move however, a deep, unfamiliar voice rang in his ears.
"Welcome Sonic. I have been waiting for you." the voice greeted, revealing itself as a white, male wolf that looked surprisingly similar to White Fang, if not, nearly identical.
"What the-? White Fang!?" the hedgehog muttered in disbelief, his eyes widening upon the sight of the male wolf.
However, the male shook his head as he approached, "Do not fear. Your friend is alive and well. I am Aeneas."
"The very wolf who saved Mobius all of those centuries ago.." Sonic said as he began to calm down before asking, "What's going on here and how do you know my name?"
"I have been watching you ever since you were young. However, I have an important prophecy for you." the ancient wolf said before disappearing.
"Wait! What do you mean?" Sonic questioned, but the wolf was no where to be seen.
Suddenly there was a lightning bolt that crashed right in front of the blue hedgehog. Two different auras then appeared in front of him, one being a blue aura and the other being a red aura. The two auras resembled wolves upon glancing at them, but then a third aura appeared. However, something was off about the third aura.
"That third aura… Is that.. Me?" Sonic questioned as he took a closer look at the third aura, which was rapidly changing from a golden yellow to a dark purple.
Just then, the red and blue auras charged at each other while the third aura bolted right in between them as a loud yelp could be heard, causing Sonic to awaken with a jolt.
As the hedgehog was regaining his breath, Aeneas' words rang into his head, "The ancient past of Mobius will be revisited as chaos draws near. Two Legends will clash again, but only the Hero can decide the planet's fate."
"Wh-what does that mean?" Sonic questioned to himself, still shocked by the 'dream' he just had.
However, before he could do any more thinking, Boulder approached him, "You should get going. You don't want to worry your friends."
Sonic nodded as the gray wolf turned to leave. Looking up at the sky, he realize it was nearly dawn. 'Boulder's right. I don't want my friends to think that something bad has happened, but still… That prophecy, if it's related to what Eggman has planned then it must be serious. But, what does it have to do with White Fang, let alone me?' Sonic wondered as he rushed back home, knowing that answers will have to wait for another time.