Loving A Crippled Heart

Reunited Once Again

I stood in the center of the woods lost and very confused. I had followed the blue creature for what seemed like mere minutes, only to loose it when it disappeared behind a large tree. I circled around the tree many times before i finally decided to stop and rest for a minute as i thought this through a bit. i walked over to where i last saw the blue being.

The path was worn obviously used a lot by whatever it was that was here. Anyone who knows how to track could tell that since the branches and stems of some the plants looked to be hacked away with a tool of some sort, what is was i'm not quite sure.

I then walked forward and checked around where the creature could have gone. In the small clearing where i was there is three other paths that seem to lead to different locations. I looked at the first one. It had definitely  been used but not recently due to the small blades of grass starting to form in the strange track marks this creature continues to leave behind.

I then looked behind me and check the path directly across from the one i just previously checked. It was the same as the path i just checked so the creature couldn't have gone that way, so i then decided to check the last and final path that lied in between the two i just previously checked. I crouched down and looked at this one carefully. It was indeed different from the other two paths, the dirt looked agitated and fresh, a few pebbles hear and there were also turned over, and a little bit farther down the path a little blue quill was stuck in the bark of a tree, obviously from the creature trying to escape in a hurry.  

I nodded my head in conclusion that this was definitely the path that i would to head down and started doing so quickly. The path itself was pretty dark and well hidden, one so hidden that even the most experienced of eyes would have an issue or two in navigating, but not if you are a hedgehog that grew up in things like this. I continued walking for what seemed like hours until a bit of the ways down the path a very faint glow of light could be seen. I sped up my walking pace to more of a light jog as i hurried down to see what lied at the end of this undeviating path of gloominess, but what i saw at the end even had me in a lost of words and that's saying something.

At the end of the path lay the most beautiful and tranquil scene i have ever seen in my life. A spring rest in the center of a large clearing, its cool mist rising up gently kissing the drooping branches of the willow tree hovering over it. To its right was a large rocky wall of some sort covered in vines, moss, and many intricate carvings giving the place a very serene and ancient feel.

I continued gawking over this amazing find until i felt an overall burning and aching sensation in the back of my head causing me to instantly loose focus and scream out in pain as i clutched the abused area in my grip and collapsed to me knees, where my eyesight was greeted by green, soft, mossy grass and everything went a very uncomfortable shade of pitch black.

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I awoke several hours later, from what i presume judging by how dark it is now, in a very strange area that i wasn't familiar with. I opened  my eyes and stared up at a green canopy of leaves with several thousand stars decorating the night sky, i then groaned as i sat up and rubbed the abused bump on the back of my head as i looked around and soon realized that i was in some kind of tree house, apparently thrown together by whatever the person living here could find.

I slowly got up and examined the place. Long streams of lights and lanterns were weaved through the branches of the willow tree for lighting, while the rest of the tree was decorated in a large hodgepodge of different items. Wooden egg crates, stolen picnic blankets and several variations of handmade chairs created a table. An old fishing net hoisted up by a pair of sturdy tree vines in the ceiling created a bed, or hammock i should say.  Moss, leaves and other soft things were weaved together to create pillows, and blankets if necessary, while a large pulley system rigged together by vines and a large plank of wood made for easy access to and from the tree.

Overall it had a very nice and homey feel to it. Whom ever has been living here definitely put a lot of work into making this, and actually while i'm on the subject i wonder where the owner is.

As if on cue my ear flicked in the direction of a brown tarp tied to a couple of branches with rope that the person obviously stole. " Oh good i see you're up." the voice, obviously male but also somewhat familiar, said as he walked out from behind the tarp.

"Yes i am and i have a complaint, was knocking me out quite necessary an simple explanation would have sufficed." I groaned as i rubbed the back of my head to prove my point further as i kept my back to the stranger. "Yeah sorry about that i'm...i'm not quite use to strangers being here." he said with a shy and nervous tone of voice as i could hear him messing around with stuff behind him. " I suppose all is forgiven Mr...uhhh" I said as i finally started to turn my head to face him. " Oh pardon my manners my name is Sonic...Sonic the Hedgehog." he said as he continued scurrying around behind me.

While on the other side of things i could have sworn that my heart stopped. I turned my head in a full three- sixty and looked at the hedgehog in front of me and there he was clear as day. Fur blue like the rarest of sapphires, eyes green and glistening like a pair of emerald fireflies in a pitch black cave of endless darkness,  and those braces...the same ones that he left with but also not exactly the same. I can see that he had made a lot of adjustments over the years but they still looked familiar.

I stared at him with wide crimson eyes and before i knew it i was up and wrapping him in a tight embrace. " Oh chaos Sonic i can't believe i found you!"

"Wait... Shadow?!"

"Yes Sonic it's me!"

"Oh no!"

"Huh?"