First Encounter

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Sonic and Knuckles meet as kids. (Movie verse)

Word Prompt – Innocence

year-of-the-echidna

(Warnings at the end)

...

If there was ever one constant in the universe, it would have been that Sonic the Hedgehog hated water. Honestly, if it weren't vital to all forms of life as they knew it, he would wish it to be gone from all existence. However, at his current age of four his only true power was to run fast. So, he was forced to endure the wetness falling from the sky, as he raced across the island, trying to get back to Longclaw, before she noticed he was missing. Though, knowing her, she'd probably known since the moment he'd left.

"I'm in so much trouble." He pouted to himself, trying to shield his eyes from the droplets pelting him like tiny thorns. The clouds had rolled in from the opposite side of the island and had done so at such a fast pace that he hadn't even noticed, until the sky had suddenly gone dark, despite it being the middle of the day.

The wind certainly wasn't helping either, it had left so much broken and dislodged tree debris in his path that even he had to slow down, or risk tripping. But in the end, it was none of these things that stopped his mad dash. As he took a shortcut around the shear bend of a cliff and run straight into something small and red running in the opposite direction.

Sonic barely had a second to 'eep' in surprise, before slamming on the brakes, but it didn't do him any good. His momentum kept him going, and his feet refused to find traction on the wet rocks, thus sending him right into the thing that he soon recognized as another inhabitant of the island, given that it let out a pained cry of shock, when they'd hit.

But, despite both of them fighting to get ahold of something, aware of where the running water was now taking them, they didn't achieve their goal and instead tumbled over the edge of the cliff. Left at the mercy of gravity, Sonic could only curl into a ball to protect himself, as he roiled head over heels, until, as fate would have it, he was carried right into the rushing waters of the currently overflowing river.

Immediately he began to panic, trying to escape the water's hold, but the current was too strong, the waves too big. All he could do was fight to keep his head above the surface and even that was basically impossible. Even if he was able to swim, the water simply continued to pound him back down, again and again. For that reason, he didn't even see the waterfall, until he was already falling over the edge.

He managed only a short scream before he was plunged under, once more. Thankfully, it hadn't been a large fall, but it was enough to expel what little air he had from his lungs and, upon trying to get it back, he instead only got water. He was barely able to force it out when he found the surface for a split second, but again he was pulled back under.

It seemed to go on like that for hours, though he was certain it hadn't even been a solid minute, before he heard the sound of the next waterfall, this one considerably bigger than the last. But he couldn't even manage a complaint, before it pulled him over the edge, and he had to fight to right himself. Knowing he had to land on his feet, or the impact of the drop would leave him unconscious.

Of course, the water nearly achieved this anyway, despite his attempts and he was left dazed and confused, only able to see the surface, where his much-needed air awaited him, but the strength he would need to reach it, just slipped through his fingers.

His vision started to go dark, and the fear of death subsided to a strange clarity, as he wondered if Longclaw would be sad. If she would ever know what happened to him. Questions to give his spirit a few fleeting seconds of stubbornness, as he fought once more against the current, to survive. Only to feel something reach out from the darkness to pull him straight to the surface.

The force of his exit left him to be thrown completely clear of the river, where he landed flat on his stomach, causing the water to be completely expelled from his lungs, and he gasped and coughed to restore his oxygen levels. Until all he had the strength to do from there was collapse on the soggy bank.

However, it wasn't long before the last remnants of his adrenaline kicked in once again, and he jumped when something moved next to him. But that only got him halfway to his feet, before he slipped in the mud and landed flat on his back. He dejectedly decided, after that, that sitting was probably the better option and pushed himself up, determined to make sure that the thing wasn't some kind of great water monster, trying to pull him back into the river.

No – it was worse.

He recognized the little red thing as the creature that had interrupted his return home. However, he hadn't realized, until now, that it was an Echidna. The one creature on the island Longclaw had always warned him to stay away from.

Of course, the shock and terror of almost drowning had left his legs numb and unable to carry him to safety. Thus, Sonic could only sit like a statue, watching as the echidna crawled onto the riverbank, violently coughing, in an attempt to clear his lungs of the water.

It took a moment, but he did finally recover and took several large breaths, before looking up to meet eyes with the hedgehog, causing both of them to freeze for a moment. It was Sonic who actually recovered first, however, being speechless for maybe the first time in his life, the only thing he managed to do was force a fake smile.

It was not returned.

"What is the meaning of this?" The echidna barked suddenly, making Sonic jump, as the guy struggled to get on his feet. Thankfully, he too was winded and unable to do so, thus, he had to make do with resting on his knees, while he caught his breath again. "Why did you attack me?"

This quickly snapped Sonic from his stupor, and he immediately tried to defend himself. "No – I didn't – I mean. I didn't mean to – I just –" He paused as the echidna raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, forcing Sonic to wrap it up. "It was an accident. I'm sorry."

His unwilling companion was silent for a minute, clearly deciding whether or not he believed these words. Thus, allowing Sonic a second to actually study him, realizing that the echidna was a kid, just like him, probably not even a year older than himself. A realization that made the hedgehog's friend-deprived heart skip a little, despite his better judgement. Though it probably helped when he looked down at the echidna's hands and realized he'd been the one to pull him from the river.

"You – saved me?" He whispered mostly to himself, but the echidna only scoffed, finally pushing himself to his feet and causing Sonic to immediately panic once more, as he scurried backward. Longclaw's words of warning ringing in his head. However, her sworn enemy did nothing to follow him, instead he just watched the hedgehog with a barely contained sense of annoyance, before turning around to study the area.

Sonic paused at that and tilted his head in confusion. 'He wasn't going to attack. Why?'

'Because he doesn't know who you are, idiot.' His inner monologue proclaimed. 'You've been hidden, remember? He doesn't know you're connected to Longclaw.'

With this realization, Sonic decided it was probably best to start acting 'normal' so he didn't give himself away. However, when he tried to get to his feet, the echidna quickly took notice and they both froze for another second. Which is when it became clear that neither one of them really knew what to do in this situation.

"Uh – hi." Sonic said simply, adding a smile and a wave, which only earned him another scrutinizing look, that made the hedgehog try to cover his move, as if he'd been merely reaching to rub his quills instead. "So – uh – thanks for saving me." He tried again, and the echidna finally seemed to relax a little, as he turned around and made an attempt to ring the water out of his dreads.

"No thanks needed." He said at last. "I am a guardian. It is my job." He explained as if that explained everything. Of course, Sonic just blinked and titled his head, even more confused.

"Oh." He stated, playing nervously with the cuff of his glove, trying to keep himself from asking, but his endless drive to talk could not be so easily quelled. "What does that mean?"

The echidna looked at him, as if the words had grown legs and walked over to slap him. However, when he opened his mouth to complain, nothing came out and he had to take another second to collect his thoughts, only to proudly declare "I don't know."

If he'd had the energy, Sonic might have laughed at that. So, it was probably a good thing that he didn't. "Oh." He said instead however, it seemed that something in his tone gave him away. As the echidna suddenly looked more like a snake, ready to strike.

"Do you mock me?" He demanded, his fists raised, causing Sonic to backpedal when he saw the small spikes imbedded there. They may not have been as large as those of an adult echidna, but that wouldn't stop them from doing some serious damage.

"No, no. I was –" He looked around in desperation. "Laughing at that." He spat out and pointed randomly to his left, and the other kid cautiously turned to follow his finger, only to look completely befuddled.

"A – tree?" He asked and Sonic winced slightly.

"Yeah. Isn't it funny." He doubled down nervously, and the echidna thankfully lowered his hands, clearly far too confused now to focus on a fight.

"No." He answered truthfully, and Sonic's heart nearly beat right through the structure of his chest, before he threw his hands behind his head, trying to look casual.

"Oh, well – I guess you had to be there." He proclaimed, looking off into the distance, like he was reminiscing, but kept the corner of his vision on his companion. Watching as the young warrior tired and failed to understand the conversation, before finally just shaking his head and turned to walk away.

"You are very strange." He said flatly and Sonic nearly burst into laughter, as relief took over.

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me." The hedgehog immediately clamped his mouth such, trying to take back the words. But they had already prompted the echidna to stop and turn back to him. Though he didn't say anything. "So –" Sonic went on, at top speed. "Seems like we got off on the wrong foot. How about we start from the beginning. My name's Sonic." He proclaimed with a grin and a pose. Of course, it quickly became clear that he wasn't going to get a response. "And you?" He asked excitedly. Feeling an unusual warmth in his chest, as he came dangerously close to making his first real friend. Only for the other kid to continue with the silent act. He couldn't have that. "What's your name?" He finally just asked outright.

"I am not of age." The echidna answered simply and Sonic blinked.

"You – don't have a name? Is that even allowed?" He earned himself a disapproving glower for that comment.

"I didn't say that." He countered truthfully, before sighing loudly and took up a stance like someone explaining the laws of physics to a rock. "When I am of age, I will go on a spiritual quest to meet my ancestors. Once there, the Ancient Walkers will give me the name they pulled from the Chaos Stream."

"Oh." Sonic proclaimed, as if that made any sense at all. "So – what do they call you in the meantime?" He insisted and received another glare and a sigh, before the guy just walked away. However, that was probably the worst thing he could have done, as it immediately lit a fire under Sonic's competitive bone, and he quickly rushed after the echidna, determined to rise to this new challenge.

"Alright. How about – Red?" He stated, hurrying alone to keep pace with the little warrior, who was just flat out ignoring him now. "You're right. That would be way too easy." Sonic proclaimed and went back to his thoughts. "Red Devil?" He tried again. "Red Trouble? Red Dread?"

"You talk far too much." The echidna finally responded, and the hedgehog grinned like he'd just swallowed a small sun.

"I get that a lot." He announced, before continuing with his challenge. "How about Dread? Dreads?" He didn't even get a reaction this time, so he looked down for more inspiration. "Spikey? Spiker? Spikes? Spike?" He was really getting into it, when the echidna finally turned on him.

"Enough!" He screamed in pure frustration, causing the hedgehog to cover his head, as his fists were raised again. But the echidna soon took a breath and calmed himself. "I am a child of the Knuckles Clan." He explained, holding up his fist to indicate his spurs. "Until I am a warrior, that is what I am. Their Knuckles."

"Oh – cool." Sonic announced, however, before he could comment further on this unique title, Knuckles stiffened, looking at something directly behind him. Prompting Sonic to turn around, but the only thing there was a strange mark carved into a tree.

"Oh no." Knuckles whispered and the sudden fear in his tone made Sonic tense as well. Looking between the tree and his companion several times.

"What? What's wrong?"

"That is the mark of the Dingo Clan. My tribe's sworn enemy." Sonic blinked at that, having not been aware that the Echidnas had more than one enemy. "We are in their territory." This realization brought the young warrior back to reality, as he raised his fists once again and studied the surrounding area for danger. "We have to leave. Now!"

Before Sonic could even really register this, his companion had darted into the forest. Still tensed and lowered into a fighter's stance, but moving fast and silent. If the hedgehog hadn't had supper speed on his side, he would have been left behind completely.

"Hey, wait up." He yelled as he rushed back to his side, only to receive a stern 'Shhhh' in return, and he quickly lowered his volume. "Sorry, sorry." He whispered before Knuckles suddenly grabbed him by the face and pushed him directly into the dirt.

"And stay down. Have you never heard of stealth?"

"My bad." Sonic muttered into the earth, as he spat out a few leaves, before getting up to follow the echidna, who didn't appear all that good at the whole 'sneaky sneak' either but was still far better at it than he was. "So, uh – which way do we go?" He asked, already feeling his muscles tensing to run. He wasn't built with enough patience for this kind of stuff, but he couldn't just leave Knuckles behind, when it was basically his fault the poor guy was in this situation.

Unfortunately, his companion didn't appear to have an answer to this question either. As he soon stopped and started looking around for something he recognized. "I – don't know. I'm not allowed to come here." He whispered and Sonic cringed, realizing he had probably gotten him into some pretty serious trouble with his own clan as well.

"I'll scout ahead then." Sonic offered and rushed out of their bush hiding spot, before the echidna could grab him.

"No!" He hissed, and the hedgehog had all of a second to think that maybe he should listen to the warrior in training, who clearly had more knowledge of the situation than he did. However, he didn't get the chance to rethink, before there was a snap directly under his foot and he let out a yelp of shock, as his feet were carried out from under him, leaving him hanging upside down, several feet from the ground.

"No, don't struggle." Knuckles growled at him, as he rushed over to address the situation. But Sonic had already given it a try, only to hear the distinct sound of a dozen bells ringing in the tree above. Clearly put there to alert whoever had set the trap.

"Oops." He cringed and looked back down when he heard his companion's hand make contact with his face. "Sorry." He offered, as the echidna seemed to struggle with some inner desire to hit something. And for one terror-stricken moment, Sonic feared he would leave him there. So, he was a little surprised when Knuckles rushed over to the tree that the rope was connected to and hooked one of his knuckle spikes under it, to begin sawing.

Unfortunately, his spurs weren't sharpened like those of an adult of his tribe, so it took him quite a bit of time. However, the guy was nothing if not determined. Leaving Sonic to watch his back, his ears swiveling at every little sound the forest made.

However, in the end, it wasn't a noise that finally caught his attention, instead it was the shadows of several solid forms rushing toward them. "I don't mean to rush you, but – they're coming." He hissed at his companion, just before the line snapped and he was left to fall flat on his face. "Ow."

Before he could add any more complaints to the list, Knuckles grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and Sonic yelped as he was pulled straight off the ground. Only to freeze, when something hit the earth where he'd just been laying, and he looked back to find that it was an arrow.

"Eh heh." He laughed nervously, as Knuckles set him back on his feet and turned toward the new threat. "I think I'm starting to see what you meant be that guardian-thing."

"Stop talking?" The echidna snapped back, once again in his fighter's stance, as a rush of movement brought several adult dingoes into the clearing. All of which were decked out in armor and weapons, which they clearly had no problem aiming at the two children invading their territory. Thankfully, they didn't outright attack, as their leader quickly called for them to stop and the man lowered his spear, as he walked forward on his own.

"What are you two doing here?" He demanded, his voice echoing slightly from behind his mask.

Sonic stayed quiet, willing to give Knuckles a moment to answer, if he wanted to. But no words came from the echidna, who just remained positioned between him and the dingoes, ready to fight his way out, at a moment's notice. So, he decided to try diplomacy and carefully walked up beside his companion to address the warriors.

"Um – sorry. We know we're not allowed in your territory. It was an accident." He offered with a smile, but didn't receive any such kindness in return. So, he just swallowed his fear and continued. "The rain." He pointed at the still pouring sky. "And the river." He motioned toward where it was then shrugged nervously when the dingoes just glared at him.

But eventually, the rest lowered their weapons as well. Clearly, they would rather not kill two children, if they could help it. And their story was plenty plausible, after all, everyone on the island knew of the danger that storms brought with them.

"Fine." The leader spat and locked eyes with the echidna for a moment. Clearly there was some tension there, but the adult wasn't willing to take out his frustrations on someone that likely didn't even know the reasons behind their war with each other. "Leave this place." He ordered turning back to Sonic, who was quick to agree.

"Right, we're going." He proclaimed, quickly grabbing Knuckles by the arm and attempted to pull him away. It took a moment for the echidna to decide to actually follow, which was nice, as Sonic was having no luck moving him otherwise. However, he refused to take his eyes off the dingoes, thus Sonic had to lead him back toward the safety of the trees himself.

They were nearly there, when the hedgehog took a brief moment to check on their enemies, only to find that another of the dingoes had walked up beside his leader, to whisper something in his ear. Causing the warrior to take a better look at them.

"Uh oh." Sonic stated, realizing that he was about to be recognized. "We gotta go." He commanded, trying to pick up the speed, only for Knuckles to suddenly toss him aside as the sound of a whip cracked the air, and by the time he'd recovered, he found that his companion had been hit with a length of rope that had been thrown with such force, that it wrapped around his body several times, before it was pulled taught, throwing Knuckles to the ground.

"Hey. What are you doing?" Sonic complained immediately, trying to run back in to help, but the dingoes had already gotten in his way. Though none of them were paying him any attention anymore, as their leader knelt and harshly grabbed Knuckles by the muzzle, forcing the kid to look at him.

It only took a strained second of study, before the dingo smiled and finally spoke. "Well, well. If it isn't the young guardian." Knuckles only tensed, before attempting to pull away, but the warrior didn't allow him. "Perhaps this day was not a complete waste after all."

"Wait. You said we could leave." Sonic tried again and the dingo finally looked at him again.

"That I did, so leave." These words took the hedgehog completely off guard. As all of Longclaw's warnings were suddenly hit with an oddly timed counterstrike. He was supposed to stay hidden, to never let anyone know about his strange power, as there would always be someone who would want it for themselves. And, just when he'd feared that time had come,

it turned out that it wasn't him, they were after.

Staggered by this strange upset, all he could do was to turn to look at Knuckles, whom he was almost ready to call his first real friend and realized that they had lot more in common than either of them realized.

"Get his hands." The dingo leader spoke up again as the rest of his group made a circle around the echidna. Noticeably keeping their distance and their weapons ready, as they made an attempt to secure him without getting close enough for Knuckles to hit them.

Of course, he wasn't about to just take this treatment lying down and managed to get to his feet and, in one swift movement, he darted toward one dingo that had let his confidence bring him too close. A second later the guy received a powerful kick, right to the face, that sent him flying back into a tree, where he lost consciousness, before even hitting the ground.

Unfortunately, before Knuckles could take out anymore, another rope whipped out to get him by the neck. Now caught between two lines being pulled in opposite directions, he was severely limited to how much ground he could cover.

But he didn't need to.

The dingoes that held the end of the two ropes really only got to see a blur of blue, before the lines were cut and their own strength was turned against them. Landing them both flat on their backs, while Knuckles was finally able to get a little bit of freedom.

"What –" Their leader managed to get out, before that same blur hit him straight in the center of the chest. However, the force behind it wasn't enough to knock the well-trained warrior off his feet. Thus, he was able to prepare for another attack, as Sonic stood before him, with a sudden bravery he hadn't realized he'd had. "I gave you a chance, child." The dingo proclaimed angrily, but the hedgehog only smiled.

"So did we." He responded, causing the warrior to start. But he didn't have much time to react beyond that, as a small red force of nature proceeded to plow directly into his face, causing the dingo to all but vanish into the tree line, as he was spent flying from the attack, a second later the darkness of the forest let out a crack, as a tree stopped his momentum. And that was the last any of them saw of the leader of the Dingoes.

"Whoa." Sonic proclaimed, just blinking at the place where the man had disappeared from, while Knuckles calmly walked up beside him. Removing the last of the ropes from his body, before pounding his fists together in victory. "Heh – remind me never to get on your bad side." He told the echidna nervously, who turned to look at him, then did something crazy.

He smiled.

Sonic found himself with no words to counter this. So, instead he just lifted his fist into the air, in a manner he'd spotted other echidna's doing and Knuckles causally knocked his own against it, before the two new friends fell back into their fighting stances, preparing to take out the rest of their enemies – together.

…

The End

(Warnings: Child abuse, attempted kidnapping, drowning, traps, fear, trauma)