Chapter Text
Sonic was considered a monster. But a monster stops being a monster when you love it. At least, that’s what Longclaw always believed. Ever since she met him.
Toward a great distance across the sea, as the bright sun formed a glistening shine in the waves, laid a great island filled with life. The island was as mysterious as it was beautiful, and tall, immense rock formations that were touching the clouds were grown all around the island. Rich and tropical-like plants flourished in perfect patterns as they covered across the entire island. Completely unclouded, crystal clear waterfalls descended into the snow-white beaches. But the most mystifying details of the islands were the abnormal twists and turns on the ground, forming tall and wild loops that only a certain child could run through without falling. In the eyes of one who is not familiar with such an island, it would truly only be a bewildering, and mesmerizing sight.
The summery sunrise casted a golden morning hue across the sky, and bright fingers of sunlight lit up through the scene as sudden blue movement sprinted across the island. The small, running figure left behind a long trail of striking neon blue without stopping for a breath. As it ran across the entire island in less than two seconds, it finally found itself racing back to a hut, sprinting on the wooden bridges that climbed towards the hut. The movement had turned out to be from a little blue hedgehog with super speed. Peculiar, it was, but nonetheless, adorable. The small hedgehog wore brown, leather-hide shoes tied onto his legs with a thin rope, and surprisingly clean and white gloves on his paws. His furry ears were pointed up and alert, much like a cat, and his round black nose also pointed upwards. Sharp and electric blue quills were hidden underneath his striking sapphire-blue fur, and lastly, emerald-green shone in his round, hyperactive large eyes.
As the little hedgehog rolled into a spiky ball and made his way back inside the hut, it playfully tossed its body onto the stomach of the noble owl warrior, Longclaw. The last of her kind. Outfitted in golden blades and battle armor, she was from a line of warriors who swore to maintain balance among all living creatures. She was capable of so much. But when she and the little hedgehog met, everything had suddenly changed. Longclaw grew less of the powerful and virtuous warrior she used to be, and more into a wise guardian.
Instantly after the child had hit her, Longclaw's meditation was soon cut off abruptly, and she twitched her wings and opened her eyes in a surprised manner. The child rolled back onto the ground and slid back, letting out a light-hearted and brief laugh as he grinned at the owl.
"Sonic!" Longclaw retained her balance and approached Sonic with an exasperated frown. "I believe I have warned you countless times about the dangers of running across the island. Somebody could have seen you!"
"No one saw me-- I'm too fast!" Sonic, the little blue hedgehog, reassured her. "And--" He pulled out a delicate sunflower from his quills. "--I wanted to bring you this."
Longclaw's stern expression suddenly softened as Sonic handed her the flower. Disobedient he may be at times, but, oh, Longclaw couldn't help but smile softly and lovingly like a mother. He was never truly a bad kid. With care, she tenderly took the blossom from him and held it in her bronze wings. Looking over at Sonic with her ocean-blue eyes, she let a soft chuckle escape from her as she continued holding the flower. "Thank you." She dipped her head. But as soon as her mind was clouded with a thought, her face shifted into a frown as she stared at the ground.
She rested her wing behind his shoulder. "Sonic..." Sonic's wide smile slowly faded, and he soon began to look at Longclaw curiously, his head tilting over to the side slightly. Longclaw continued, getting to the point. "We are not alone on this island, and if somebody-- anybody-- sees you, they will want your power. You must listen to me. You don't know what you're risking."
"But I..."
"I mean it." Longclaw cut him off as her face hardened once again at the blue hedgehog. "You are still a child, Sonic. And you must believe me when I say there will come a time where your powers will be needed the most. But that time is not now." She shook her head.
Sonic felt his ears wilt down at her scolding, and because he did not know any better, his patience and temper began growing thinner bit by bit. He opened his mouth to protest as the tension increased. "Then what can I do then? I don't want to just-- I don't want to just not run! I'm really good at it!"
"I understand that running is what you do best. But I am not holding you hostage, I'm doing this to protect you." Her eyes narrowed down, instantly snapping back at Sonic's unexpected remark.
"No!"
"'No' you don't want me to protect you?"
"I get really bored and-- what if-- what if they never catch me? Does that mean I will never run forever? What life is that!"
Longclaw's feathers began to bristle irritability, and with a frustrated tone in her voice, her now cold eyes broadened fiercely. She gripped onto Sonic's hand tightly, bending her back as she continued to scold him. "Did you not listen to me? I said--"
"Mmnh!-- Let me go! --" Sonic cried, his electric quills charging a neon blue as they began to glow overwhelmingly.
"I cannot lose you like how I lost my family!"
The whole room suddenly plummeted to silence immediately, and Longclaw realized what she had done. She released him from her grip and slowly backed away as utmost shame cascaded into the bottom of her heart. It oppressed her like thunder. But she knew she deserved it. Just what kind of a guardian forces their trauma upon the very precious thing they are trying to protect? She had gotten so overwhelmed, she thought she had forgotten how to think. The old owl wrapped herself in her umber wings as if she was hiding herself, and all while she was holding back tears. "I..." She trailed off. Sonic simply just looked up at her, ears flattened as his lightning glow faded away.
"...Longclaw?" Sonic drew nearer beside Longclaw with broad, considerate green eyes. Longclaw could not glance at him for a few regretful moments before finally turning towards him. Her feathery chest raised up and down as she breathed heavily.
At last, she blinked back her tears remorsefully. "I'm... I'm very, truly sorry, dear. I did not..." She looked up. "...I did not mean to shout."
A quiet, deafening silence followed between the two. Longclaw had already shifted away from Sonic, almost quite embarrassed and ashamed. Instances like this were significantly rare, for the old and wise owl never allowed herself to be vulnerable. The inside of the hut had already darkened, and they were left with nothing but a shade casted over. As soon as the tension diminished, the little hedgehog looked back at Longclaw and shook her madly by the wings. Longclaw glanced at him.
"I'm sorry too." He cooed. Longclaw continued to look at him. He went on, "I didn't mean to-- yell at you. I'm stupid." His eyes began to water.
Longclaw quickly held him closer with her wings, "Oh, no, no, no, Sonic, you're not stupid. Don't say that." She wiped his tears away with her feathers.
"...I can be your family, Longclaw."
Longclaw's eyes broadened. She felt her heart shake and eyes quiver. Then, she smiled warmly, her heart blossoming. Pulling him closer into a loving embrace, she chuckled,
"You already are."
But all of a sudden, apprehension bristled in her feathers. She spotted movement in the corner of her eye, and upon a tree outside the hut's door, hid a red figure who was already aiming a deadly arrow towards them. A brief, yet unexpected sense of intense alarm forced her to abruptly wrap her wings around Sonic protectively and quickly kick the door shut with her talons. "Get down!" She shouted. And as she did so all at once, Longclaw felt the little hedgehog flinch violently at each arrow hitting from outside the hut. Her eyes snapped open at the sudden sound of shattering glass before realizing that one of the arrows had got in and shot through, not Longclaw or Sonic, but the golden sunflower that he had given her. And there it laid on the ground, appearing as if it was dying already. Longclaw narrowed down her eyes sharply at the arrow. Echidnas.
Soon enough, the rapid pounding of running echidnas only grew louder and louder as they surrounded the hut. At that very instant, Longclaw braced herself and blasted through the roof with Sonic grasped in her talons. She whipped her wings up and down as she flew into the forest, dodging trees and their branches before finally approaching the sky. Her heart thrashed inside of her, and she panted heavily at each wing beat, the adrenaline rushing through her veins like the crashing of thunder. Sonic only hung loosely in her grip, watching while Longclaw took him up above the forest. He trembled and did his absolute best to reassure himself, but his heart suddenly sank to the lowest for the first time in his life. His quivering stopped, and despite being the fastest thing alive, everything was immediately in slow motion. The only thing he could hear was the pounding of his heart and his breathing. The little hedgehog could feel his eyes broaden immensely in utmost realization. Longclaw had warned him. She warned him that if he went too far out on the island, then his own life would be greatly threatened. That was exactly what he did. And he led the echidnas right to them.
Then, from his perspective, the slow motion went back to normal speed, only this time Sonic's heartbeat and everything around him seemed to accelerate at a faster rate than before. The echidnas went from swarming everywhere around the hut, to chasing down Longclaw at an alarmingly full speed. Armies that consisted of armor with edged animal skulls, hoods, feathers, and traditional combat weapons charged around them like a rushing stampede. There was no escaping them, and Sonic knew it. However, Longclaw was still thrusting her wings violently, confident that they would get away and Sonic would be safe and sound in her wings until it was all over. But despite her optimism, her rapid flight suddenly ceased by an arrow striking her. It pierced through her skin sharply, and Longclaw let out a brief yet painful cry. Both Longclaw and Sonic crashed onto the forest floor, and she shielded Sonic in her wing as the coarse ground scraped against her sliding flank.
Severely injured at this rate, she knew she still had the powerful warrior in her and managed to get up and put Sonic down. With large and frightened eyes, Sonic was dropped onto the ground, and could only wince at the arrow that had penetrated deep in her feathers. He felt as if his whole life flashed before his eyes. There was scarcely any time left before the echidnas could catch up to them, so Longclaw did the only thing she could do. She didn't have much time left either.
"Sonic, I need you to listen carefully. Your life depends on it."
She desperately coughed, looking into his eyes. She limped beside him, and time stopped one last time. "You have a power unlike anything I've ever seen. And that means someone will always want it. The only way to stay safe is to stay hidden." She hesitated before adding one more thing, but she forced herself to say it in an instant. "And I'm afraid you'll have to do it alone. Without me." She could have sworn she felt her heart shatter into who knows how many pieces once she saw Sonic's expression change.
Sonic briskly clung onto her like any small and terrified child would. Only this time, it was much more difficult to watch.
“NO!"
Tears were now streaming from his eyes, and the overwhelming sting from it all would be something he could never forget. "I don't want to leave you, Longclaw, I don't want to leave you! I don't want to...!" He echoed; his eyes quivered desperately against Longclaw's gaze.
She needed to be strong for him. She refused to let herself cry. To be vulnerable. "You must."
She whispered, feeling her voice tremble. Words could never describe how much she wanted to stay with him. But she had no other choice. She was breathing her final breaths, and she knew it. At least she knew she would be protecting Sonic until her death. Longclaw then unwrapped a leather bag from her waist and gave it up to Sonic. Inside the bag consisted of golden, glimmering rings that served a purpose.
But with both of them unaware, one had unintentionally fallen onto the ground. And there it lay hidden among the leaves.
She took one out of the bag and threw it in the air, and the ring suddenly grew and revealed another planet similar to theirs. It was a portal, and Sonic remembered when she would teach him how they worked. You imagine a place, throw the ring, and the ring would let you travel to that place. All that Sonic had left to do is to just step into it. But it was the hardest decision he had ever made.
"This world is on the farthest side of the universe. You should be safe there. And those rings..." She and Sonic glanced down at the bag. "...Will be your most important possession." She meant what she said.
"I want you to stay with me.... you can come with me...! W-We can be together! A-And when you get old... I'll protect you like you protected me!" Sonic insisted, completely unaware that Longclaw cannot.
Longclaw hesitated. Her body quivered, now doing whatever she could to conquer her grief. She couldn't. And how she wished she was wrong. There was absolutely nothing else she wanted to do than to stay with him. But despite all of her opposing thoughts, she laid down a wing upon Sonic's little shoulder and looked at him in the eye.
"I'll be with you, Sonic. Family sticks together."
Then she hurled him into the portal, and soon enough, the portal began to shrink slowly. Sonic let out the loudest, and most heart-wrenching shriek he had ever done and was only pushed onto the ground. The other side was dark, and alone. Fear took over him as he saw Longclaw facing her back against him, spreading out her wings as she shielded Sonic one last time. The echidnas had already caught up to them. It was too late. She looked back at him, "Goodbye, Sonic."
"LONGCLAW!" Sonic sobbed, immediately dropping the rings she had given him and raced back to her.
But before he could watch her get killed, the portal faded away like golden dust and he only fell onto the floor again with an impact. The light had also faded, and there was nothing but silence and darkness surrounding him.
All alone, Sonic darted his eyes around, his body thrown into a state of fear. Then he frantically remembered the bag of rings and ran to look for him. Fortunately, they were left right where he had dropped them, and he picked them up. He held them tightly. His heart pounded inside of him, and everything it did, it was another reminder that he was all alone. No more Longclaw. Everything around him was completely foreign to him. A new scent, and possibly a new life. He felt lost. Longclaw had died. And it was all on him.
Sonic the Hedgehog silently walked off, and the only thing that could be heard was his choked-up cries. Blindly obeying Longclaw was either the smartest choice or the biggest regret of his life.