S: Um... hello there. This is supposed to be Sonic CD, although you won't find much about that in here. This is basically something that takes place before the game (but not too far) so just try and bear with me. For those of you looking for a straightforward adaptation of the game itself, you may be disappointed. This is supposed to be a prequel of my other story, 'Brave New World', and therefore you should be able to read this before that.

But we'll have to see if that holds up in practice, won't we? Please, enjoy.

The fire warmed him at the front, but the layers of skin surrounding his spines still shivered at the bitter cold night. The glow of his fire was the only beacon in a landscape drenched with darkness, and he sat there on the damp dirt, staring into the past. The fire… was unforgiving. He could see metal, glinting in the radiance of his flickering memories, as he ached inside his heart for the vengeance he desired.

He had failed once before, his enemy withdrawing from his vision even as he rained down upon his insolent creations like an unholy demon of dark blue death. The home of his foe had been destroyed, brought to the ground by his rage, and his pain, but it was not enough. His target, his personal, mortal enemy, had escaped from his grasp.

Sonic looked into the flames, seeing his past flash again before his eyes. There had been no screams, neither at the beginning, nor the end. There was only the crackling of the life stealer, and the ash it brought into the world at the sacrifice of other, worthier things. Silence, except for the mourning in the wind, and the panicked breathing of a child, hiding in the deep dark of the forest. Humming machines, floating above the chaos they had inflicted upon the land, searched for survivors.

They found none. But Sonic found them.

The girl hedgehog looked at him from the safety beyond the firelight. Her wretched attire seemed to serve only to heighten the sense of cold she felt in her limbs, and her thin and ragged pink fur was no use at all. The ground was unforgiving against her bare feet, scraping painfully across her soles at every opportunity. Every harsh stone rolled across the crumbling dirt with a slight noise, and the girl would freeze in fear every time, lest he hear her.

Her hunger had grown unbearable, a tight knot of agony in her midsection, and she waited in quiet for her chance.

The other hedgehog, a blue furred one, had been looking into the fire, the very warm and soothing fire, for what seemed like hours. When would he sleep? He had food, she could smell it, but she would have to wait until he rested before risking herself enough to grab something from his pack.

The food smelled so good. She had no idea what it was, but it smelled so sweet, so fresh, and her fingers twitched at the thought of holding some in her small hands. Her mouth opened and closed in anticipation, showing her blunt white teeth. They would sharpen with age.

He stared with such force. What was he thinking? She breathed out in an unconscious sigh, and instantly slapped her hands over her mouth. Her eyes went wide as the hedgehog stirred, and he blinked a few times as he shifted into a more comfortable position.

By her sudden movement, her untamed spines hanging from her head had begun to move back and forth. She could feel them slowly moving, but she didn't dare to reach up and still them, in case he heard her, or even worse, saw her. He didn't look very nice, and she didn't like being hurt. It happened every time she had to fight, and it always felt like a part of her went missing forever, ripped apart and drifting in the wind.

She gulped and stayed perfectly still in her kneeling position, willing her spines to stop moving. The blue hedgehog was staring at the ground now, and she could see his shining eyes narrow at something she couldn't see. He rested his elbows on his knees as he sat, and she could see the dull reflection of the flames in his red and white striped shoes.

With a sudden movement that nearly caused her to yelp, he stood. It was as if he hadn't gone through the process of rising from being seated to then standing, he had just instantly been standing, as if he always had been. With a growl, he flexed his fingers, encased in soft white gloves, and turned his back, showing long and lethal spines. He stalked away from the firelight with long, easy strides before disappearing in the darkness.

Her eyes went down to his pack, nestled in between two large rocks near the edge of the light. Her emerald irises flicked back to where he'd just been, and then back to the abandoned pack. As if on cue, her stomach tightened, sending a fresh jolt of pain through her body. Go on, it said. Quickly, while he's gone.

She carefully took her hands away from her lips, her fur feeling electrified with fear and anticipation. She could feel every hair on her body as she rose to her feet, ignoring the pain from the loose stones, and took a step forward. Her small pointed ears flexed as she listened for movement.

The young girl took another step closer to the circle of light, making as little sound as possible. With another few steps she had reached the circle, and had her last chance to reconsider before becoming visible. She swept her emerald eyes around, looking for anything. The fur on her back rose inexplicably, and she shivered. Her nose was full with the smell of food, and it blocked out everything else in her need. The night was deathly silent.

She stepped into the firelight.

Instantly she knew it had been a mistake. The atmosphere had changed as if with the flick of a switch, and she hunched her shoulders and half curled against the horrible shrinking feeling. Frantically flinging her gaze back and forth, her spines slapping against her neck, she searched for the source of her instinctual discomfort.

Someone coughed, very deliberately, right behind her.

She screamed and jumped round, her hands rising to protect herself. Something made sharp contact with her throat, and a white gloved hand tightened to choking strength as her feet left the floor.

"And just who are you, kid?" the voice snarled in pure hostility. His hand squeezed her throat more with every syllable, and her feeble attempts to loosen his grip did nothing. She felt light headed already, and her vision was fading…

"I asked you a question." His voice wasn't deep; he was still quite young, but the menacing tone could not be mistaken.

The most she could manage was a gurgle as her feet twitched, and with a grunt, the stronger male released her to land hard on the ground. She instantly squirmed and tried to scramble away, but his foot slammed down on her chest, winding her.

The blue hedgehog stared down at her, his eyes alit with anger and suspicion. The fire was reflected in those emerald depths, exactly the shade of her own eyes, to make him look demonic as the darkness framed his back. His rough soled shoe, red and white, pushed strongly against her frail body, bringing a whimper from her throat, before he released her again.

His voice sliced through the air. "If you move I will kill you."

She froze, immediately. The tone he used was deadly serious, and she had heard it many times before, from other people. The girl quivered in her prone position, tasting the bitter iron tang of blood in her mouth, awaiting her fate.

I don't want to die…

For a long second, the two hedgehogs stared at each other. Male looked at female; sharp anger meeting fearful pleading.

"What were you doing, trying to sneak up on me?" The voice was without emotion, his eyes boring into her skull with all the subtle undertones of a gun in the face. He shifted his feet, moving closer to her, the small sound a threat in itself.

She was still winded and in shock from his earlier assault, but she didn't dare to remain silent. "I-I-I… w-was… I mean… You h-had…"

He knelt beside her, still maintaining the rigid eye contact. "Yes?"

"I-I was c-cold… and-and you have…"

Before she could finish, his mouth twisted into a sneering grin, showing his pointed teeth. "You were cold? How sad. Perhaps you should ask your parents to give you some better clothes, kid. Those look like rags." The girl was indeed wearing rags, ripped and dulled from their original form and colour into a muted grey, barely covering her, and obviously providing no protection from the elements.

The kid's demeanour had changed now. She stared back at the blue hedgehog with a blank look, all fear evaporating as she subconsciously curled up her arms and knees. She opened her mouth, and said, very clearly, "I can't."

Sonic recognised that dead tone instantly. He knew exactly what she was talking about. "You… can't ask your parents…"

The girl was silent. They simply stared at each other again, the two remarkably similar pairs of eyes clashing in the firelight.

Sonic's lips had suddenly become dry. Her words kept playing back and forth in his ears.

I can't…

I can't…

I can't…

The doors of memory opened.

"Go home to your parents!"

"…I can't…"

"What's your name, kid?" he forced out.

"Rose… Amy," she whispered with a sudden blink.

"Rosemary?"

"No… Amy. A-Amy Rose."

There was another moment of silence as Amy spoke her name, drowning out even the crackling sound of the burning wood as the quiet stretched on and on. Amy's body went cold with fear as the male tightened his fists, his knuckles showing through the white gloves like the material threatened to burst. Apart from this, he was completely still, staring through her like she wasn't there.

Then he moved, rising to his feet and walking back towards the fire without a glance at the girl.

Amy turned onto her stomach and braced her hands against the warm stones, watching him with wide eyes as he stalked around the fire. From her position the other hedgehog's spines were accentuated with the flickering shadows, and the rising heat gave him an unreal quality, like he was otherworldly.

The hedgehog reached down and grabbed his pack, the brown material rubbing against the stone with a loud, crisp scrape, shattering the tender night. He walked over to the fire again, his shoes patting firmly against the ground, and he sat back down in the same position he was in before. He still hadn't looked at her.

He opened the pack, and the overwhelming smell of food wafted towards the pink hedgehog, sending jabs of pain into her stomach again as it reminded her it was hungry. Her stomach growled, impatient with the agonising slowness of the blue hedgehog. She blanched in horror at the sound, and her eyes darted to the other's face, looking for any signs of his offence. Her back arched as she rose to her hands and knees, fighting the simultaneous urge to flee and run over to him.

But fortunately he took no notice, and as she watched, he slowly removed his hand from the bag. Clenched in his gloved fist was an apple. A simple, green apple. Amy recalled them from earlier in the day; she had passed an apple tree. Unfortunately she had been too small to reach them, and the trunk proved to be unclimbable, so she had been forced to trudge onwards.

But now there was one right there. There was food right in front of her. Her hand shakily reached out, eyes fixed on it as the blue arm held steady. Her fur brushed along the skin of the fruit, and a warm shiver travelled up her arm and into her body as if her fingers knew what was there. She stopped, and glanced up into the hardened green eyes of the male, before slowly folding her fingers over the apple. Her bare, pink fur touched the white fabric of his fingers, but he didn't move. He was pleasantly warm, even warmer than the fire that was now chasing away the cold in her bones.

As soon as he sensed she had the fruit, Sonic let go of it. She darted back like a frightened animal at the movement, and held the apple to her chest. She stared at him in a vaguely accusing manner before shifting her gaze to the food she held. Her eyes then found him again, glowing in the red and black surroundings.

"It's not poisonous, you know!"

She very nearly flinched at his impatient snap, and hurriedly took a bite. The soft crunch echoed around the small space, lodging itself in his ears, and he found himself looking at the fruit in amazement. Almost half of it had disappeared in a single bite, and as he watched, the entire apple quickly disappeared down her mouth as she tore at the sweet flesh without restraint. The crunches took on an echoing quality as she gulped down the fruit, and when Sonic slowly offered another, she grabbed it without hesitation and chomped down hard on that one as well.

She must have been starving.

Her pink fur almost shone with the light from the fire, giving the impression of being fuelled by her appetite. Her grey scraps of clothing hung from her shoulders forlornly, lending a gaunt and clashing tone to her now healthier looking face. The young hedgehog turned her hopeful face to him again, mouth stained by juices, clearly asking for a third apple.

Sonic shook his head, his spines waving behind him. "No more."

She seemed to struggle with how to reply. In one sense, she could appear greedy and ungrateful if she continued to ask for more, but simultaneously her stomach urged her that greed was the best option. The girl fidgeted in indecision, and trailed her fingers in the soil. Sonic looked at her hands, and saw that they were very rough and scratched. Turning his eyes to her feet, his eyebrows rose in surprise.

They were bleeding freely, half healed scabs and wounds closing, matted with dust from the road. How far must she have walked barefoot? There was a faint stench of decay as her feet deteriorated, as if they were being destroyed by his gaze, and he quickly averted his eyes.

A whisper found his ears, and he lifted his face to hers. Her face was bright red all of a sudden, and her fingers attacked the dirt with even more ferocity as she lowered her gaze from his. She curled up her knees and held them with one hand, staring at the floor.

"Did you say something?" She flinched at his words, and Sonic felt a sudden wave of a familiar emotion envelop him.

She feared him.

The small girl opened her mouth slowly, and jerkily raised her head to his level. For the merest second they had eye contact, and she whispered a single word.

This word brought Sonic out in a cold sweat, spreading between every hair on his body, but he passed it off uneasily as a sign the fire was dying. He continued to stare at her as she grew more and more uncomfortable, and Sonic could see her body angle away from him as she fought not to run.

He broke off the stare with some difficulty, and picked up a stick from the stony ground. He jabbed it into the heart of the flames, attempting to eke a little more heat out of them to fool himself that it was the cold, and not her speech, that had disturbed him so.

After catching her out of the corner of his eye, he dropped the stick. She had been watching it, following its every movement through the flames with disquieting intensity. After a moment, and not quite knowing why, he spoke.

"Get some sleep, kid."

After a fraction of hesitation, she obeyed, curling up on the ground. Sonic's expression remained studiously blank as he watched her tighten into a ball, giving herself false security from the outside world. His eyes pricked with heat, and he looked away from her.

An hour later, when he was certain that she was asleep, he replied to the word she had spoken earlier.

"You're welcome," he whispered in the dark, "Amy."

S: Well then, there you have it. I'm undecided about this thing, I can't tell whether I like it or not. I've put this out here to test the waters, as I believe the expression goes, and any thoughts on this would be most appreciated. Good? Not good? Needs something more? Wrong genre and misleading summary?

Thanks for reading, anyway.