Chaos Bond

The Beginning Of Chaos

The New Year starts with a trip back in time.... :(

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Catching his little foot on a tree root, Sonic let out a squeak as he turned head over heels, rolling over the grass and spearing moss on his short quills until he slid to a stop in a miserable, bruised blue ball. It was getting darker and it had been hours since Sonic last saw his family and the scary people that had appeared in his nursery and had chased him and his two littermates.

Sonia and Manic could have been anywhere. Their father had shouted that they run and they obeyed without question, darting off into the forest despite wanting to turn their heads and make sure that their mother and father were following.

Sonic was ashamed of himself. He had always been faster than his brother and sister (he didn't know why) and instead of waiting for them, he'd given in to his fear and bolted. By the time he'd realised his mistake, Sonia and Manic were nowhere to be seen and though he had called their names, there was no answer and Sonic was alone.

He would remain alone until, in a few years to come, he'd meet and befriend a young Fox that, at this exact moment in time, had yet to be born. Somewhere out there would be a pink three year old hoglet, unaware of her future. Also out there was a six year old Echidna puggle, playing all by himself on the steps of the Master Emerald alter, high above the clouds where no-one knew he existed.

But 5 year old Sonic didn't know about them. All he knew was that he was all by himself. He didn't know who those people had been or why his father had been so scared or why his mother had been so angry. Or why they had chased three hoglets away from their home.

As the sun was sinking, an owl was preparing for his first hunt of the night and had been considering the squeaking little hoglet as an appetiser but, considering the blasted thing was a ball of spikes, decided to go in search of something softer.

A cold wind sharply cut through the trees, shaking the branches and making Sonic shiver. He heard something snap somewhere behind him and he cautiously peeked up through his spines but saw nothing. Sniffing and rubbing at his face, Sonic slowly got to his feet and shivered again. He opened his mouth and called out for Sonia and Manic one last time in the hopes that it might have been one of them that he had heard. But he couldn't smell them. He'd lost all trace of their scent way back.

He leapt a foot in the air and squeaked in alarm when he heard a gentle but husky voice speak to him.

"There you are."

There was a small desperate part of Sonic that wondered if it was someone who knew him - like a friend of his parents. Maybe they'd come to take him home.

With his tail curled under and his ears drooped, Sonic looked round and found an older looking human in a peculiar jacket stooped a little distance away from him, staring at him with awe and delight.

"Hello, little one," he greeted with a smile.

But Sonic felt fear creep up in his chest. This man had a small resemblance to the one that had appeared in his house and had made his father angry. He bristled his quills and hurriedly stepped back.

"No, no, don't run away!" the man said in a soft voice, holding out a hand to him. "I won't hurt you."

Little Sonic wasn't to know that this was Gerald Robotnik, a professor from the past who had come to his future with a very specific goal in mind. 

No, he knew nothing of that when he slowly dropped onto all fours and hesitantly crawled forward to sniff at the offered hand. There was small piece of strawberry in his palm and Sonic, after a moment to think about it, took it gently in his teeth and chewed it up.