Fate's Wretched Odyssey

Prologue

Faint light streaked down from between the clouds, moonlight blanketing the forest just enough to illuminate the path for a creature of non-nocturnal nature. Heavy paws pounded against the forest floor in pursuit of a tiny white rabbit, the prey's legs kicking out behind it and propelling it as far forward as they could with every hop. Growls of irritation were heard as the rabbit took a sharp turn, the sudden direction change almost managing to shake the predator from its little, fluffy tail.

But the beast was persistent. It kept hard on the rodent's trail and showed little sign of stopping anytime soon. It was so close, the large male could practically taste it through his powerful nose. With winter having taken its vicious claim on the earth, prey was now scarce, and the animal had found himself hungry for several days now. He was growing desperate for some kind of salvation. This rabbit was so perfectly plump — prey like this was considered treasure within the world of winter!

As he drew closer and closer, he calculated just how powerful of a jump he would need to put into his haunches in order to land perfectly on his prey. He could not miss this. If he did, he would surely remain hungry for another long time.

Deciding not to wait on it any longer, the predator planted his paws down and launched himself forwards without missing a single beat in his stride, his body quickly approaching the fleeing rabbit before he clasped his massive paws down over top of it. His lips pulled back in a smiley snarl — victorious that he would be eating like a king tonight as he pulled his paws back to get a glimpse of the white rabbit he had caught.

Only to find his paws empty.

Beneath them was a cruelly placed rabbit hole, not even large enough to allow him to stick his muzzle in. He found himself snarling and kicking up snow into the hole at the way he had been deceived by Mother Nature herself. Did she truly wish for his population to die out? He — and his younger adoptive brother — were the last of their kind, the rest slaughtered by the wicked hands of man and mobian. He had watched his mother get caught and skinned for her luscious pelt right before his very eyes. She had been their only hope of repopulating the species with her mate, but he, too, had been captured and martyred.

Now all that was left was him and a twin-tailed cub, hardly older than forty. Both males with no means of reproducing. Which he was fine with, they had a fairly long life expectancy. He had not long reached full maturity at the age of eighty three — a late bloomer, but he was living on his own with his brother much before that. As of current, the golden foxling was curled up in their den, waiting for his guardian to return with something to feed them.

A snort left the predator's black nose, creating a cloud of fog in front of it as he slowly lifted back to his paws and continued marching forwards. Until something bright caught his sensitive eyes. Well... Several somethings bright. Curious, the young male peered over some brambles to get a better look at what had snatched his attention like a fish on a line, only for his eyes to be met with the vast sight of what he could only describe as concrete trees stretching out for miles, colorful lights of blues, yellows, and purples all dancing welcomingly from the small homes animals had made inside them.

He had never seen anything like it, and he had been living in these woods for as long as he could remember. His wet nose twitched. The muffled noises of rhythmic beating made his ears tingle and his chest warm. Just what was this? His eyes darted around feverishly, searching for some kid of closure to his question. It wasn't long until they landed on a flashing sign atop the tallest building.

Studiopolis.

It was incredible! He had to get a closer look... But if he went in like this, he would most certainly become extinct. So slowly lifting to his hind legs while peeking around from behind a tree, the beast allowed his form to change into something smaller — something meek. A young, blue hedgehog-esque mobian with piercing green eyes. His shaggy coat remained, but to less extreme extents, and the bottom of his paws now found themselves chilling in the snow.

His eyes remained locked on the sign, the lights reflecting within his dilated pupils, creating dreams this creature had never even thought possible within his mind. What was it that drew him to this place? Was it the colorful suns, dancing in their cages of stone trees? Or was it the welcoming rhythm of the pounding drums? No... Neither of those seemed to please this creature like something else... There was something more... Something... Powerful...

He had to see for himself.

Without another second to waste, the nude beast-now-turned-mobian went running down the snowy hill towards the entrance of the bustling jungle, ears twitching and alert. The first obstacle he found in his way between him and his newfound curiosity was a path made of some kind of dark rock. It was icy when he stepped on it, and he almost slipped and fell on his rear, but he quickly regained his balance and took a step back to scratch his head. His thoughts were jostled when a hurtling beast of metal went roaring past his petite figure while a loud horn blared at him.

He covered his ears and whimpered softly before shaking his body and quickly trotting across the path, flexing his claws into the ice to avoid slipping and breaking his teeth. The structures only grew larger the more he walked, mobians all chatting in the wintery land while snow slowly drifted from the sky. Though something was off. And it did not take the male long to realize what was wrong. All of these mobians were wearing clothes; warm clothes. He was the odd one out. Some of them eyed him curiously, while others began to whisper.

Was it not normal to be simply in his fur? It covered everything that was his... So why did they all look at him that way? It was not like he was exposed.

Stifling another whimper, he folded his ears back and put some more power into his steps, marching a little faster as he suddenly felt a foreign feeling of self consciousness take over his wild mind. He padded deeper and deeper into Studiopolis. The pull he felt became stronger, almost magnetic as his paws tapped against shoveled sidewalks. He noticed some female mobians stood outside of a building in fluffy coats and with some kind of smoking sticks between their fingers. Their faces were doused in something unnatural to make them more appealing, and their legs were exposed.

The blue hedgehog shook his head and closed his eyes. He didn't understand mobians. They were odd, but they clearly had something that his body wanted, so he would put up with their nauseating looks of discrimination and loud chatter for the time being. When his legs finally halted, he found himself looking up at a tall building. Colorful lights flashed from this one as well, and the sign above it read: Doom's Eye Casino...

Before the male could stop himself, he found himself walking inside to find out just what exactly was making his curiosity bubble so damn much...

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A/n: Hope you few readers enjoyed this prologue, I'll be updating again soon!