Chapter 1: Brother

He was running - again. That was really all he seemed to do, now. His life was really a never-ending cycle of pain and hunger. It hadn't always been like this... He'd been happy, once. He'd had a little house, perfect for a little fox like him, and there was no one else around. Maybe he got lonely sometimes, but that was before he knew what other people were like... How long ago was that, now? He couldn't remember…

He kept running. He didn't dare use his 'special skills', as he thought of them, because that'd be even more reason for the bigger kids to beat him up. So he kept them hidden, even if they'd help a lot.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE DEFORMED FREAK!" One of the bullies chasing him yelled. Mobian Cheetah, male, thirteen years of age. Tawny fur, forest green eyes. Able to run at about 145 kph.

Though the little fox could easily run more than twice as fast as the cheetah, the fact was that he wasn't really in any position to do so. He was just too clumsy on his feet to go all-out in a forest like this. And since he lived here, he couldn't really avoid coming here... It was only a matter of time before he tripped and that crazy cheetah started beating on him again. And then his friends would come and join him.

He didn't even understand why they did this to him! Oh, sure, they said it was because of his "birth defect". But was it really that big of a deal? It was just an extra...

And he was so caught up in his thoughts that he tripped. The horrid preteen was on him in seconds, and wasted no time in clawing at his arms and stomping on each of his two tails in turn. Within the minute, he was joined by his two cronies, and the pain increased threefold.

The fox groaned, picking himself up. Everything hurt... Though it was more of a dull ache by now, so it had to have been a few hours. He looked around, and froze. He wasn't in the same place where those three had knocked him out... He was in an actual house... Sort of... And an actual bed! He hadn't been in one of these since Cocoa Island... A pang of sadness at thinking of his home.

The house wasn't anything special. It was an abandoned airplane, actually. Nice and roomy, but not what you immediately think when you think "home". It was the kind of place he'd LOVE to live, though. Airplanes... Heck, machines in general... There was nothing the four-and-a-half-year-old fox loved more than tinkering, except maybe flying. But that was a secret.

It began to dawn on him - Who had brought him here? What if one of the crazies had? Oh, no, he was probably in deep trouble... What was he gonna do? What if they were gonna make him do stuff! Or maybe some doctor lived here, and he was gonna stick him with a needle and put stuff in him! Or maybe cut off one of his... No. No! He was freaking out so much that he didn't notice the blue hedgehog walk inside and instantly rush over to him, a concerned look on his face.

"Hey, keed! What's the matter? Settle down!"

He continued freaking out, barely hearing the hedgehog, but definitely seeing him. He swatted the hedgehog's arm away, and tried to untangle himself from the sheets of the bed.

"Yowch!" the hedgehog said, rubbing his arm. "Strong little tyke... Calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Yeah right!" the fox said. "Why'd you bring me here, then?"

"I find a kid knocked out in the forest. What was I supposed to do? Calm down, okay? Everything's okay, you're safe here. Look, my name is Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. And you?"

"Why's it matter?" he asked, glaring. "Jus' gonna make fun a me, anyway..."

"... Kid, why would I make fun of ya?" Sonic asked. "Be kind of a mean thing to do after saving ya, don't ya think?"

"'Cuz I'm a deformity... S'what everyone says..."

"Hold up, because you've got two tails?" Sonic asked. "... That's ridiculous! And i'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure both of your tails are perfectly healthy... Apart from your injuries. Anyway, I'm BLUE, and I can run faster than eight hundred miles per hour. And I like to think I'm no hypocrite."

The fox winced at the words 'miles per hour', but considered what the hedgehog said. Blue wasn't exactly a common color for hedgehogs... And running faster than the speed of sound? Even he wasn't that fast, and he'd never met someone who was actually faster than he was.

... Maybe he could trust this guy, after all. "... Sorry," he said. "I was jus' scared."

"How'd you get so beaten up, anyway?" Sonic asked. "And don't tell me you just tripped. I know that's not what happened."

"Mean kids. Chase me an' stuff. Tripped, an' they hit me a lot."

"What? They did WHAT to you?" Sonic asked, anger in his eyes. The fox winced a bit, and pulled back. Sonic's expression softened. "No, no, it's okay, keed... Why I oughta... They did that, and you're how old?"

"... Four?" he guessed. He really had no idea.

"Four. So you're telling me that some stupid kids beat up a four-year-old for having an extra tail." Sonic's voice was calm, but his body language was incredibly hostile. "... And do your parents do anything?"

"What's 'parents'?" the little fox asked. Were they good? He'd never really heard the word before.

"... Alright, kid. I've made my decision, then. You're staying here, with me, until we find somewhere safe and happy for you. Okay? But I'll need your name. Can't just call you kid, can I?"

"Sure you can... S'better than my name anyway..." the fox said. "Hate my name..."

"Oh... Hey, kid, I'm in the same boat. Tell you what, I'll give ya a nickname. And when ya feel like telling me your real name, I'll give ya mine. Deal?" Sonic asked, holding his hand out to shake.

The fox thought on this. It... Seemed fair, at least to his four-year-old mind. If he really hated his name as much as he did, then... Yeah. That'd be fine. He wasn't sure what the hedgehog was holding his hand out for, though, so he imitated him.

"... You grasp my hand and shake it," Sonic said. Oh. The little fox reached forward, and did so. "Great! All right. So... How about Tails? Sonic 'cuz I'm fast, and Tails 'cuz you got two awesome tails."

Awesome? Well... Yeah, maybe... He could use them to... But that was secret... The hedgehog thought they were cool just because he had two. That was... No one had ever thought that before... So... Yeah. It was perfect.

Tails smiled. "... I like it. Thanks, Sonic."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Sonic asked. "Now, just stay here for a bit, okay? No-one'll find ya, and I've got some things to take care of. Back in a flash! Or half of one!" He zoomed out of the room, leaving nothing but a blue streak and a bewildered yellow fox behind him.

"Friends?" Tails asked himself. "I have a friend?"

Sonic had no idea what to think of his new little fox friend. From what little he'd gotten out of the fox, he was an orphan, and had been beaten up by people. Sonic… Deeply wanted to find those people and make them pay, because he knew what it was like to be treated that way. But he'd never had it as bad as little Tails did… He didn't trust himself to control himself in that situation.

And he absolutely hated himself for thinking that way, but finding a kid with a broken leg, arm, and tail, plus the other tail looking like someone had tried to rip it off… What could even make them think of doing that? He was just a kid! But that wasn't what Sonic was out to deal with. He wanted them to get what was coming to them, sure, but it wasn't his place to decide what that was… And hurting someone just wasn't him.

The real priority was taking care of the little fox. And that meant extra food, and probably not the kind he usually ate since Tails probably hadn't been eating right anyway… Some medical supplies, because of the horrid condition he'd been in… And probably a spike-proof sleeping bag, so he could take the floor while Tails was recovering. Or longer. He had no idea yet, really.

It took him only thirty minutes or so to gather all the supplies he felt he needed. The way home was a fair bit slower, since he was weighed down by about half his weight in groceries, but he still managed faster than just about anyone else could've. The first thing he noticed when he got inside was that Tails wasn't in the bed. He panicked for a moment, before noticing that he was over by the TV… Which had somehow, in the time of thirty minutes, been completely dismantled by a little fox with a screwdriver and wrench he hadn't known the kit had.

Sonic took a deep breath, and set his groceries down before walking over to the fox to see what he was doing. It was an old TV anyway, didn't even show color, and there was nothing he really felt like watching, anyway. Plus he'd been meaning to get a new one that could actually handle having video games hooked up to it without spazzing out.

Tails was so engrossed with his 'work' that he didn't notice Sonic at all. He kept taking apart the components and putting them back together in new ways. He had a little bin full of paperclips with him, which he was using in his little project liberally. After about five minutes or so, he began putting all of the modified parts back in the TV, and screwed it all back together.

"Ta-da," Tails said quietly.

"Hey, keed," Sonic said. "Whatcha doin?"

"Sonic?" Tails asked. "… How long were you standin' there?"

"Five, ten minutes tops. So, what's up?"

"… Well, I wanted to watch tv, 'cuz people talk about how funny and cool it is an' stuff. But it was all black n' white, so I took it apart an' made it better. Wanna see?"

Sonic chuckled. "Sure, keed, show me what you got."

Tails plugged in the TV, and pressed the 'on' button. The screen flared to life, colorful and bright. Sonic's mouth dropped open. Tails… Had actually done exactly what he'd said he'd done. He'd changed the TV from a clunky greyscale monstrosity that changed its image maybe ten times a second, tops; to having better picture than any TV he'd ever seen, in full, vibrant colors. Even the audio sounded amazing! And it had taken him half an hour.

Sonic stared at Tails, who grinned, and sat down on the floor to watch the cartoon. And that's when it hit Sonic that Tails was completely fine. None of the injuries he'd had when he found him a few hours ago were there.

What the heck? Sonic rubbed his eyes, and looked again, just to make sure. The fox's arms and legs looked fine… He didn't have any cuts… His tails were waving about like they had a mind of their own, showing no signs of being either broken nor nearly being ripped off.

"… Tails?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, Sonic?" Tails asked, still watching his cartoon.

"… Are you hurt, at all?"

"No, m'better now," Tails said. "S'been a few hours, hasn't it?"

"Yeah…" Sonic said, trailing off. "… I'm gonna go put groceries away now." Sonic walked off to do just that, deliberately going slow to give himself time to think. So, Tails… Healed fast? Well, he supposed it was possible, given that he himself was a supersonic hedgehog. But it was still a surprise. If he'd healed from that in just a few hours… How long had he been lying there when Sonic found him? Could it have been even worse? He hoped it hadn't been, but if Tails could recover from something like that on his own…

Sonic wasn't one to kid himself. It probably could've been much worse and the kid still would've been fine, at least physically. He hoped that the beating – Which, all things considered, probably wasn't his first like this – hadn't had some mental impact on him.

Briefly, he entertained the idea of letting Tails fight Robotnik with him, but shot down the idea as soon as he thought of it. Unless Tails had some other, unforeseen ability, just being able to heal quickly wouldn't help much. He'd finished with the groceries, so he went back to sit with Tails, who was still watching his cartoon. It was some kid's show, with a pair of brothers working together to build amazing machines. Tails seemed to be hooked, both on the machines and the relationship between the brothers.

"… Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, little bud?"

"… Could… maybe… c'n-we-be-brothers…"

Sonic didn't answer at first. Tails… Wanted that? He barely knew him!

... But, Sonic realized, I'm probably the first person who's ever been nice to him in a very long time. And… He doesn't want to lose me, does he?

Tails seemed downcast. "… I knew it was stupid…"

"No, no, Tails, it's not," Sonic said. "I just… Needed to think about it. Sure, keed… You can be my little bro. And how's about I whip us up some grub for dinner, huh?"

"… Food?" Tails asked. "But I ate this morning…"

"Bud, you're gonna need more than that. Just keep watching your cartoon, here. I'll be done soon."

Thankfully, Tails wasn't a picky eater, and actually knew how to cook, to an extent (which just made Sonic wonder exactly how long he'd been on his own). He'd eat anything except bird meat and eggs, and it took Sonic several hours to console him once he found out that people would actually eat birds. He wouldn't tell Sonic why it bothered him, though, but Sonic still avoided the subject after that.

Life went on. Sonic continued taking care of Tails, and learned more and more about the little kit. He'd lived in that forest for two years on his own, really liked machines, especially flying ones, and especially helicopters because they could fly, just like… He'd changed the subject, so Sonic didn't actually know what helicopters reminded him of, but he didn't press the matter. He grew more and more comfortable with Sonic, and even joined him out on the beach sometimes.

It was a week or so later when the thunderstorm hit. Now, Sonic didn't really care – He actually loved the sound rain made, it helped him sleep. But Tails seemed a bit on edge about it, and Sonic wasn't sure why. It was only in the middle of the night, when a thunderclap sounded, that Sonic figured it out. The thunderclap didn't wake him up – He was used to them. But the shrill scream of a fox could wake up anybody.

Sonic jumped out of bed at the sudden noise, and looked around for Tails. Eventually, he heard whimpering above him, and looked up to see Tails clutching a pipe on the ceiling some fifteen feet above him.

"Keed?" Sonic asked. "How'd you get up there? What's wrong?"

"L…l…lightning!" Tails said, shaking in fear. "'M… fraid of lightning!"

"Oh… Oh!" Sonic said, surprised by this. Afraid of lightning? Huh… He'd never have expected that, he was such a cheerful little fellow despite all his hardships… And lightning was what scared him. "Tails, come on down here. How's about we stay up tonight, just until the storm passes? Nothin' ta be scared of if I'm up with ya, right?"

"… I… Guess," Tails said, jumping down from the ceiling into Sonic's arms.

"Alright then. C'mon, little bud. Let's watch some movies, get your mind off things."

And so they did, or one, anyway. Tails wasn't able to stay awake through the movie, which Sonic hadn't really expected him to. He continued watching, though, because it was a nice story. Eventually, he too fell asleep, right with Tails so the little fox wouldn't be scared.

That night, Sonic had a very strange dream. It started out alright, he saw a nice little island… An adult brown fox going about his daily life, living at his home on the beach, going into the forest for food. A cry for help, and he was rushing off to the beach. There he found a (rather pretty, Sonic had to admit) fox lady, red in color and clearly hurt.

The man nursed the woman back to health, and they became fast friends. The man had been on the island all his life, just like every member of his family before him had. He hadn't even really known, beyond what the things in the hidden library somewhere deep in the Poloy Forest said, that there was even more to the world.

The lady had said there was so much more, but this was still the nicest place she'd ever been. Anywhere else, and you might get stuck in the eternal conflict between the Nocturnus and Knuckles clans over control of the Master Emerald. Or worse, end up dealing with one of the many, many factions that were trying to use the age-old conflict to take the world for themselves, and possibly claim the Master Emerald for themselves. Or, even better, the Chaos Emeralds, but those had been lost for thousands of years with the island of their guardians. It was said that the Emeralds themselves even chose who could and couldn't find the island.

The term Chaos Emeralds had sounded familiar to the man, but he could never place it. Once the woman was healthy again, she decided to ask if she could stay with the man on this island, instead of returning, as she had no family and this place was so much safer.

He'd agreed, and the two had started a life together, on that little beach in the little house.

Before Sonic could see more, he woke up, and it was morning. He immediately got to getting breakfast ready, the strange dream at the back of his mind.

This is an idea I've had on my mind for awhile. This is, honestly, one of the longest chapters I've ever written. It was written over the course of a few days, largely because I wanted to make sure I had things as I wanted it.

This story doesn't really follow any particular continuity. While it is mostly based in the games, it doesn't entirely follow their storyline, and uses several elements and details from other continuities (For example: Sonic's house is from the movie). The next few chapters - Which will probably release somewhat slower than my usual four chapters a week "schedule" on a story I'm REALLY into (like "Festival of the Sun and Stars") - Will be based on the plot of Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic & Knuckles, with some differences. They're mostly set up, really, to be honest... I want to try getting used to writing these guys on their own, and, of couse, drop in some foreshadowing here and there for the bigger plot. Like Sonic's dream, I think that's pretty obviously important.

This is also my first fic I'm rating T, just in case.

Brother