Sonic Skyline Prequel Chapter Part 2/2

"Sonic, honey, it's time to go!  Your father is waiting for us onboard!" A female hedgehog shouted over the noise of the crowd.  

"Just a sec, mom!  Amy said she'd be here to say goodbye!"  Sonic shouted back, searching the sea of faces for his friend.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but the ship's about to leave.  We have to go now."

He cast one more reluctant glance around the docks before taking his mother's hand and following her onboard the boat.  

"Oh, excuse me," he heard her apologize as she brushed past another hedgehog.  The way the white-quilled teen looked at him as they passed gave Sonic chills. There was a mixture of sadness and utter hatred reflected in those golden eyes and the boy quickly looked away the moment they made contact.  

"Sonic, are you alright?"  His mother asked, taking notice of his disappointed demeanor as the ship started to move. "Aren't you excited to see your uncle?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I was just so sure that A-"

"Sonic!"  A frantic voice called, faint but audible.

The boy's face lit up as he heard the call. "Amy!"  

He ran to the front rail of the ship and looked out over the crowds growing smaller by the minute, spotting a pink girl waving at him far below.  "Bye, Sonic!"   She shouted.  

"Bye, Amy!"  He called, waving back. "I'll see you soon!"  

His mother arrived by his side, softly laughing at the apparent closeness between the two.  

"Come on," she said as the bay disappeared from sight.  "Let's take a look around."

--------

"Where's Sonic?"  Jules asked his wife as she entered the room.

"Exploring as usual. He can't seem to sit still on this trip!" She laughed, but her voice held a hint of worry and sadness.

"What's the matter, Bernie?"

Bernadette sighed shakily as she sat next to her husband. "I'm just worried, Jules.  He's growing up so fast and I...I..." Her voice began to break and in a moment she couldn't stop the tears from flowing as she buried her face in her hands.  "He has such a gift," she murmured, a shaky hand grasping the frame of a photo showing the two parents holding their newborn child.  "I've known from the moment he was born that he could do so much good but-"

"And he will, Bernie," Jules interrupted her, attempting to comfort his wife.  "You know our son. He never passes by a chance to help someone.  He's going to do great things, I promise."

She sniffed.  "I know. I just want to be there f-"

Both parents gasped as a sound like that of an explosion rang throughout the ship. The boat jolted and they looked at one another in utter panic as sirens began to blare.  It was Bernie who spoke first, her voice a terrified whisper. "Sonic!"

Bernadette shoved the photo into a pocket within her dress and bolted out of the room, desperately racing towards the deck of the ship. People crowded the hallways, a jumbled mess of terror and confusion as they tried to reach the lifeboats.  

"What's going on?"  A woman screeched.

"I heard an explosion!" Someone else shouted.

"Everyone stay calm and please make your way to the lifeboats in an orderly fashion!"  The trembling voice of an employee shouted helplessly, doing nothing to soothe the panic.

Somewhere within the room a person uttered a hushed whisper, "I saw someone go into the engine room. It must be sabotage!"

The rumor spread like a wildfire and the people's panic only grew, especially as the shaking became more frequent and the smell of smoke began to fill the air.

Somehow Bernie and Jules managed to push through the crowd and make it onboard the deck, though that was just as full as people boarded the smaller boats to escape the sinking ship. But Sonic was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?"  Bernadette hissed, terrified.

"Mom!  Dad!  Help!"  A voice screeched, barely able to pierce the noise of the people.  

"Did you hear that?"  Jules asked, looking to his wife.

She nodded, eyes wide. They ran, following the intermittent cries for help until they reached a dark, empty area near the back of the ship. A white hedgehog stood in front of them, his hand outstretched and radiating with a teal light that encompassed the terrified child and held him dangerously over the ship's railing.

"Sonic!"  His parents yelled simultaneously, rain beginning to pour around them as lightning flashed in the air.

"Let my son go!"  Jules shouted.  

"Please, he's just a child!"  Sonic's mother shrieked.

The hedgehog flinched, his free hand raised to his head as though in pain.  "I'm... Sorry..." He hissed through clenched teeth, the light dissipating into the air.

Sonic screamed as he fell into the waves below.

"No!"  Bernadette shouted, diving after him without a moment's hesitation.

Jules charged the hedgehog, but it suddenly let out a burst of energy and the father was thrown backwards, landing unconscious on the deck.

"Chronos Control!"  The white hedgehog yelled and disappeared within a flash of light.

"Sonic!"  Bernie gasped, coughing up water as the waves crashed over her.

She heard a faint shout and swam towards the sound as fast as she could.  "Ah!"  She gasped as a piece of debris from the ship slammed into her and she fought the urge to allow the blackness to envelop her as pain shot throughout her body.  

In the distance she spotted the silhouette of a child as he clung desperately to a piece of shattered wood.  "Hold on!"  She managed to shout.  He looked towards her, his petrified face visible for a moment as lightning streaked across the sky but another wave crashed over him, pulling him under.

Bernadette took a breath and dove beneath the ocean's surface, swimming frantically towards the sinking figure.  Her lungs were screaming by the time she reached him and grasped onto his small hand, pulling him back to the surface.  

She never quite knew how they made it to shore. But by some miracle she found herself on the beach, safe from the churning waters.

"Sonic!" She gasped, leaning over her son. He coughed and moaned softly and she let out a shaky sigh of relief before wincing as the pain of her injuries came back.  She fell back onto the sand, suddenly finding it hard to breathe as the darkness of sleep slowly washed over her.

Sonic groaned, his body aching, as his eyes blinked open.  His mind was in a fog, memories refusing to surface to his thoughts.  In a panic, he realized he couldn't remembered  anything. Nothing but...

"Mom!" He shouted, his words catching in his throat as he saw her lying beside him. "Mom..."  He got to his knees, terrified tears streaming down his face as she opened her eyes.  Though he was young, he knew in his heart just how hurt she was.

"My boy..." She whispered quietly. "Don't be afraid. It will be alright..."

He let out a choked sob as she lifted a weak hand to wipe his tears away.  "You...you have such a sweet heart and I love you s-so much," she continued through ragged breaths.  "B-agh...Be brave...be kind a-and someday... You can be a hero...Don't l-let this... Change...who you are..."  

"Please, don't go!"  He sobbed. "I need you!"  

"I'll...be with you... Always..." She whispered the words as her eyes closed, the sound of her breath fading into the night.

"Mom?  Mom!  Wake up!" The boy cried, desperately trying to wake his mother from the stillness that had enveloped her.  Something slipped onto the ground beside him and he picked it up, studying the item with bleary eyes. It was a frame, a picture of his family shining through the glass. He pressed his fingers to the surface, pushing too hard in a sudden wave of despair that caused cracks to appeared on the glass, spreading throughout the face.  

And that was when it began. Amidst all the pain and sadness within his innocent heart, he did the only thing he knew he could.

He ran.

-------


"I don't get it, David. They should have been back days ago," the woman said nervously, brushing through her light pink quills.  "I'm sure Bernie would have written if they'd decided to stay longer."

"Relax, Holly, I'm sure they're fine," the man replied, looking up from his work as a knock came at the door. "See?  That's probably them now."

Holly glanced at her reflection in a small mirror before rushing to the door and opening it, prepared to greet the family friends.

Instead, there stood a wolf, his dark fur scattered with flecks of white snow.

"Oh, you must be freezing!" Holly exclaimed.   "Come in, please!"  She said, ushering the man into the living room.

"Are you Mr. and Mrs. Rose?" He asked as he walked into the house.

"Yes, we are.  How can we help you?"  David answered as he stood to greet the visitor, a hint of suspicion in his tone.

The guest studied the ground nervously, clearing his throat. "I understand you were good friends with the Hedgehog family, am I correct?"  

"Oh, yes!"  Holly exclaimed. "Please tell me they're alright!"

At those words a look of sympathy crossed his face. "There was an...accident," he began, tail lashing. "I'm afraid the ship never made it to shore."

The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the room, piercing the veil of silence following those words. All eyes turned toward the source of the noise, looking on the little girl who had just entered.  A porcelain doll lay before her, its fragile frame broken on the ground.   "M-mom?  What does he mean?  Why isn't Sonic back yet?"

"Amy!" Holly gasped, shooting a panicked look at her husband before hurrying to kneel beside her daughter. "He... He just means that Sonic's going to be gone a little while longer, that's all," she reassured the girl, barely able to control her own emotions.

"How long?"

"I-I don't know yet," she whispered.

But her face betrayed her.

"He's not ever coming back, is he?" Amy asked in a small voice.

"Oh, sweetie..." Her voice trailed off. She was at a loss for words.  There was no easy way to explain had what happened, though the child already seemed to know.  

The girl had begun to back away, shaking her head in obvious denial.  "No... He can't be..."

Her mother tried to reach for her hand but Amy drew back, as if that gesture suddenly confirmed everything she had feared. "No!" She shouted, turning her back on the adults as she ran from the room.

She wasn't sure what she hoped to find as she bolted into the winter night.  The wind was howling, tearing at the tops of the trees and tossing up clouds of ice and snow that stung her face as she ran. She hadn't even been sure where her feet were leading her until she spotted the grove of trees where she had seen him barely a month before. Of course!  He would be there waiting for her, she was sure of it.  He had to be.

The ice had finally encroached upon the waters and they were now completely frozen, the waterfall suspended in an icy stillness that canopied the entrance to the cavern. Amy ran across the solid pool with unbelievable grace, her small feet gliding across the surface as though she'd done it a thousand times before.

She called out his name as she entered the cave, convinced she would hear his voice in return but it never came. The girl was desperate now, her eyes welling with hopeless tears as she ran throughout the vastness of the cavern. It was not until she reached the final room that the truth finally penetrated her heart, for the flower which had only yesterday stood so beautifully before her now bent under the weight of its own wilting form.  

She fell to her knees, sadness washing over her as she cradled the dying blossom in her palm.

His request rang in her mind, his green eyes sparkling with kindness as he made her promise to keep it blooming until he returned.

It seemed now that time would never come.

The girl's young mind could never have fully comprehended the wish she made in her heart that night.  But as she sat there, so alone and afraid, something sparked within her. She pleaded, with every ounce of her strength, for the ability to mend the hearts of those who had been hurt.  To give love to those who felt none so that they would never have to feel so broken inside.

A tear fell onto a wilted petal, trembling, before it faded into the depths of the plant.

The blossom shuddered and all at once it was as if a breeze had swept through the room.  The plant began to glow, regaining the color it had lost as the wind swirled throughout the cavern, pulling at its leaves.  As if in response the stalk grew upwards and became thicker as it rose, it's color fading to a snowy white.  Thin sprouts appeared and spread into branches whose icy blue leaves gently grazed the top of the cave far above the sandy floor. In a swift moment the flower whose life was all but gone had become a tree that radiated with beauty and color.

Amy, who had stumbled backwards in shock and confusion when the plant began to transform, now stood breathless beneath the boughs, bathed in sapphire luminescence.  Unsure, she crept closer, a quivering hand outstretched.  The moment her fingers brushed over the bark the canopy burst into bloom, flowers like the one from which it had come unfolding their petals amidst the leaves.

Her eyes glistened in realization, for it was as if the sight had given her the one thing she needed more than anything.

Hope.

He wasn't gone. He was out there somewhere-she knew it.  And someday, somehow she would find him, whatever it might take.

The child smiled, a new sense of strength and determination reigniting the vow she had fought so hard to keep.

"I promise..."