Knights of the Wind - A Sonic Clan

She stepped out to the small boat’s edge, looking at the sky. She practically squealed upon seeing lighting streaking through nearby storm clouds. “Hey, you guys, come look” she yelled and all four in the room ventured out to see it. Lucca then looked to her right to see a pterodactyl flapping steadily this way. “What’s that?” she murmured as it drew overhead still dropping these strange balls of what looked like yellow cotton. Then one plopped onto the boat, and she realized with a start that it was pollen. “This way!” the captain shouted, a woman no more than thirty. She led the frightened children through the porthole that led outside the slowly sinking ship. “You’ll be safer on the cruise ship! Is that everyone?” she asked the girl, who coughed lightly. The captain had a sinking feeling of her own that the girl had breathed in some of the pollen. She’d surely die within a few days, long before they ever reached shore. The girl finally spoke saying, “I’ll go look.” She then started down the passageway before halting by the growth that wrecked the ship. She peered in, frowning, and then raced back towards her. “No one else is on. Chances are they were swallowed or jumped.” The two women nodded and leaped through to the relative safety of the other ship. “I’ll buzz saw through these things.” He told them, readying himself. “You pull him out Brian!” The boy nodded and he leaped into the air, curling into a ball as he spun fast enough to turn his newfound quills into weapons. He cut through the vine-weed mixture easily, going through a wide patch and then turning. Brian pulled out the struggling kid as he leaped and uncurled instinctively to land on his feet. “It looks like he changed just like you, Scott.” Brian said softly, holding the newest mobian gently. Scott nodded as they all studied the kid briefly, and identified him as an orange fox, but with a mutation: two tails instead of one. “You’ll need new names, you two,” A voice rasped behind them, and they turned to find Lucca leaning against the wall looking rather tired. Scott grinned softly. “They never did find a cure for this anyway, right? Hey, you awake?” he called to the fox, which nodded and asked, “Is that you, Scott?” Brian spoke up, “You never liked your name anyway, right Miles?” The fox’s ears flattened as he said, “You got that right.” “I think Miles Prower is a good name.” Lucca muttered. “Just go by a nickname or something.” Miles turned to Scott and said, “Will you give me a nickname, Scott?” He wrinkled his nose then, “Even if you don’t look like Scott anymore.” The hedgehog grinned. “Sure! How about it, Tails?” The two gave one another a high five. Brian commented, “You know Scott, you had to go really fast to do a buzz saw effect. How does Sonic sound for your new name, after supersonic speed?” The newly-named Sonic gave him the biggest grin of all. “That sounds great!” He struck a pose and declared proudly, “I’m Sonic the Hedgehog!” The ship rocked, sending everyone off their feet. “Damn it!” Luke swore, trying to steady himself. “We’re so close to shore!” Brian shouted, “We have to get to the control room and steer manually!” Sonic yelled, “Wait up, Brian! We’ll come too!” The two newfound mobians raced along the passageway with Brian, pushing past a slightly geeky-looking kid who yelped, “Hey! Watch it!” Sonic called back, “Sorry Randy, no time! Help if you want!” The young man grumbled and followed reluctantly. The four soon arrived to find the stairway blocked with the vines. “Damn it!” Tails muttered. “How will we get through?” Sonic warned, “Stand back everyone, I’m cutting us through!” He leaped and performed the buzz saw maneuver again, this time crisscrossing the passageway to litter the ground with dead weed. All four raced through to find Lucca leaning against the door to the room, breathing heavily. However, the other three seemed to not see her, going straight past to the room within and frantically push and pull the various gears and levers to move the ship. Sonic simply stopped and stared at her in astonishment. “We all thought-” “Sonic,” she whispered, cutting him off. “Did you feel pain when you changed?” He nodded and told her, “It felt like a million deaths rolled into one. Then I was pulled out by Luke and I was this.” She nodded and whispered, “I think it’s happening to me. Perhaps this is why they never survive and are never seen again-they’re turned into mobians with new names and appearances.” Sonic’s ears drooped and he told her, “You believe you’ll truly die first, and then be revived?” The girl smiled and replied, “I always knew you were fairly smart, Scott.” He managed a grin, seeing past her as Tails spun his tails helicopter-style, lifting himself up to pull at a fairly large lever. “Do you think you’ll still remember us?” he asked softly, needing to know. She gave him a sad smile and carefully shook her head. She suddenly started up a cough that racked her whole body and managed, “I’ll be fine. Go help them land the ship. I’ll do my best to remember you.” Sonic nodded and ran into the room to help them. Sally approached the two mysteriously downcast mobians cautiously. “Sonic? Tails?” They both looked over at her silently, and she hazarded, “Do you want me to leave?” The hedgehog and fox looked at each other, a myriad of expressions crossing their faces before Tails spoke softly saying, “She’ll find out, big bro.” Sonic sighed and ran a hand through his quills while he said in a louder tone, “Sally, let’s go to my hut. I-no, we- will explain there.” A while later Sally frowned thoughtfully as the two awaited her judgment. It was rather well-known that the last time humans joined the Freedom Fighters they were actually spies for Robotnik, and they had to move quickly from their hiding place. About half of them were captured before they could find a relatively safe place. “You said you were at sea, correct? It was with a pterodactyl spreading big clumps of pollen-like stuff?” The fox nodded and told her, “Another friend of ours, a girl named Tandy, got covered with the stuff. We had to rush her to the showers to get it off; we couldn’t use the sea since the things floated.” The princess nodded to herself, deep in thought as the other two watched nervously. She finally turned and noticed their pensive faces; she merely laughed. Sally smiled warmly as she quietly told them, “Oh, don’t look so worried, you two. I’m not going to kick you out of Knothole.” She sobered their relieved looks as she added, “It’s a good thing you came and told me first. The rest of the village might not be as forgiving, if you know what I mean.” Sonic sighed lightly. “Yeah, they’d think it’s a new way of spying from the humans.” He grinned slightly. “It’s a little ironic, considering there’s no cure for this at all.” Sally blinked. “There isn’t a cure?” Tails shook his head. “Nope!” he affirmed. “It’s been going on for two years now. We were among the few to be transformed.” “By the way, Sonic, I’ve been meaning to ask you this but… how old are you and Tails?” Sonic’s ears leaned back as he replied, “Mobian or other?” Her eyes widened. “You mean the ages are different?” Tails nodded, and Sonic told her, “Before we were transformed, I was twenty-two, and Tails here was eight. When we were examined by a mobian doctor afterwards, he told us that I was roughly eleven, and Tails was about four. That stuff halved our actual age.” Sonic’s ears flattened as he said, “I’ve been meaning to ask you something too, Sal.” The princess was about to ask when a pounding at the door came. “Hey sugar-hog, Sally-girl, it’s almost time to kick Robotnik’s butt!” a voice coming through the door called. Sonic said, “Never mind. I’ll ask after this. Let’s go, Sal!” The mission was a success, Sonic reflected as he, Sally, and Tails gathered secretly to talk about their heritage, but then why was he so apprehensive of what she was going to say? Then again, he thought dryly, the nervousness he could see in her really wasn’t making him feel any better. Sally took a breath and said finally, “Sonic… I’ve thought about what you said and these past two months… and it makes sense. It completely and utterly fits with all my doubts and suspicions.” She sighed and sank onto the bed as Tails and Sonic looked at one another in alarm. “Sally?” Tails asked fearfully, and she removed her hands to look at the two mobians in fondness and sadness. “Sonic… Tails… During the attack on Knothole four months ago, Tails was separated from us. Sonic helped all of us reach safety, and then went back to see if he could find any other survivors in between our raids. The third time he left was exactly two months ago.” Sonic interrupted with, “Sally? Did he seem strangely distracted by something during that time?” Surprise flickered on her face as she replied, “Now that I think of it, yes he was. But… he didn’t come back that time.” Sonic’s face showed his thoughts had taken a darker turn. The two waited until he finally said, “I think he did find some survivors that time, but it wasn’t the ones he was looking for.” Sally tilted her head in confusion. Tails asked, “Scott, do you think…?” The hedgehog nodded. “Yeah, I think Sonic’s the one who told us about the Freedom Fighters and Robotnik. Then we were attacked by the Swatbots… and…” he let himself trail off, and judging by the look on Sally’s face he didn’t need to elaborate. The princess stared at the floor, appalled by the implications of what this all meant… and of what this life held in store for the two sitting across from her. “Sonic,” she started quietly, “the true Sonic died that day, didn’t he.” The hedgehog nodded solemnly. “You… both of you are…” “Replacements,” Sonic said with soul-chilling indifference. “We know that already, Sal.” Her head shot up and she watched the two with tears in her eyes. Tails murmured, “Sonic?” The hedgehog turned to look at him. “What is it?” “I was thinking… Maybe we should write everything down.” Tails seemed to struggle with the words as he continued, “We should write about our human selves, like a journal or something. And we could write down what’s happening now in a different book. That way we can focus on helping everyone and not worry about forgetting anything.” The two stared at the fox kit, and then they grinned at him. “Tails, that’s brilliant!” Sonic declared. “It’s perfect!” “But you’re doing this tomorrow, you two.” Sally told them sternly. “It’s time to sleep. I’ll scrounge around in the morning.” Sonic and Tails gasped upon seeing Eggman for the first time. Granted, it had been four years since then, and the man had changed drastically, but Sonic would never forget that shade of orange. “Randy?” he shouted up to Eggman. “Randy Piercings?” The human jerked and shouted, “Who called me that? Who dares call me by that name?” Sonic leapt up into view and tapped on the window of his beloved Egg-o-Matic. “Miss me, Randy?” he grinned even as Tails hovered into view. Randy’s eyes narrowed as he hissed, “The hedgehog and fox from before… Who were you?” Sonic answered evenly, “We were Scott and Miles. Now we’re Sonic and Tails.” Eggman nodded slightly and then snarled, “You have three seconds to get off before I start firing.” The two leapt off and Tails locked wrists with Sonic to carry him to a safe place. Sure enough, Randy, now Dr. Eggman, started to fire. All the while the two could hear him muttering as they landed hits, “Why couldn’t Lucca change? Why did they live and she die?”