Tot

When My Heart Changed...

Just under a year he's had his new roommate, and said roommate was as obedient as Alastor had hoped he would become. Sonic was now able to toddle his way around the house, didn't seem to mind staying within Alastor's property, and was getting much better with his table manners. The only issue Alastor still had... was Sonic's speed. Sonic could barely walk and yet would find immeasurable joy in running at top speeds, even if he crashed onto a wall on his 'extensive travels around the universe'. Yet... unknown to Alastor, Sonic was scheming today to add to the distance he's explored. "Here, can you set the table, Sonic?" Alastor asked, handing Sonic a handful of dishes. "Yes, Mister Alastor!~" Sonic said, very slowly making his way to the table. Despite it only being the two of them and having no intention of ever letting Sonic leave his property let alone his territory, Alastor thought it was important to teach the child how to set a table. "Thank you, Dear." Sonic did as instructed, and Alastor corrected his placement of the silverware before they sat together for breakfast. "Mister Alastor? Can I play outside today?" Sonic asked. Alastor hummed in thought, considering the weather reports. "Ah, I suppose so. You know my rules, however, so please. What is expected of you?" "Stay close to the house... stay away from the water... and no speeding around with my powers." "Good!~ And should somebody come around while you're out there?" "Tell Mr. Shadow Man, or feed 'em to the gators..." Sonic said, cringing slightly at the thought of the alligators eating demon flesh. Unaware that his current guardian also partook in such meals from time to time. "Very good. Now I expect you to be well behaved and follow the rules. I must go into the Cannibal Town to speak to my dear friend Rosie, which may take a while. You just stay here and if you need anything, tell my shadow. It will come find me." Alastor reminded the child one more time before he left him behind. Sonic waved and played outside, thinking of how exactly he would distract the shadow. Sonic 'accidentally' got too close to the hell-gators and they snapped at him, causing the shadow to scold them... and this was the 30 second distraction Sonic needed to hide in the treeline. With a false sense of security, Sonic quietly followed Alastor from a great distance, tracking his way to the secretly -possibly- dangerous town Alastor claimed he was so fond of. It wasn't helped that Alastor never explained what a cannibal was. Sonic stopped at the sign and observed the town. "Oooooh....!" Sonic cooed in awe. It appeared to be a happy town and a very clean town, which Sonic was not expecting. After Alastor was completely out of sight, Sonic walked in to explore. Several cannibals looked at the boy who was struggling to stay on his feet and considered whether or not he was a meal. But they all decided he was most likely just a random child, not an injured adult, and left him alone. Sonic didn't notice at first... but about a half hour into his travels, he witnessed a handful of ladies chewing flesh off of bone. At first, Sonic didn't even know what it was... as soon as the baby figured it out however... he cried and ran. He was still outside, so his speed was not allowed as he didn't know how to stop... so he tripped over his own feet several times. A few strangers attempted to comfort the child, only to have Sonic run from them. "M-Mister Ala-hic-stor.....?!" Sonic called out, trying to control the audible sobs interrupting his speech. Oh how he hated sobbing. It was such an uncomfortable noise. Sonic called out more as the shadow he left behind ran to it's master to report the child missing. "And I-.... What is it?" Alastor said as the shadow rudely interrupted his conversation with Rosie. The shadow tried it's best to make it clear that the child was gone, but as frantic as it was, Alastor hadn't the slightest idea as to what it was trying to say. The shadow held most of Alastor's emotions, thus why the shadow could appear to frown and cry. As it was currently doing. "Wow! What's got your little minion in a tizzy?" Rosie asked. "I'm... not quite sure." "Probably saw somebody doing something near your place, hm?" "Hmm... probably." Alastor thought for a moment... but completely forgot about the child in his care... despite the shadow only getting more frantic, it's own sobs interrupting it's words. "What is wrong with you? Behave yourself!" Alastor scolded as an older cannibal entered Rosie's shop. "Oh! I'm afraid I'm closed for today." Rosie said, and the cannibal respectfully removed his cap and walked to the overlords. "My apologies, Miss Rosie. I happened to see Alastor come in with you earlier, and figured I should come report somethin' odd." "Odd you say?" Alastor asked. "Indeed! I do say, I have never seen a scene like it! A little boy is running around town calling out your name like a lifeline." The cannibal reported. "A little... boy..." Alastor startled both cannibals as he suddenly straightened in alert and turned to his shadow. "Sonic! Why didn't you tell me he followed me here!?" Alastor shouted, and the shadow only looked at him, unamused and stressed. "Sonic? Who is Sonic?" Rosie asked, trying to recall anyone in town with such a name. "No time to explain, I'm afraid! Thank you my good man. Until next time, Rosie!" Alastor uncharacteristically rushed out with his shadow and searched for Sonic in a slight panic of his own. 

"Hello! Have you seen a child running around?"

"He's about this tall, bright blue!"

"He can't really walk well so he'd probably be stumbling about..!"

"H-he has super speed... perhaps just a blue blur?!" 

As Alastor asked residents about seeing Sonic, his tone became much more frantic. His mask was starting to crack as his worry continued to rise. Meanwhile, Sonic was now sadly walking, having given up on the idea that Alastor would hear him. He cried for his mother, unsure of what else to do. And his cries drew the attention of a particular cannibal that everyone tended to avoid. Susan. Sonic stopped to wipe the tears from his eyes and Susan casually plucked an out of place quill from his head. "My my, your hair is a mess! Where are your parents?" Susan asked, making Sonic jump and look up at her fearfully. "....Ehheh....!" Sonic whined and shook in place. "Oh come now, no need to be crying. Want some candy?" Sonic only cried more, so Susan specified. "It's non-cannibal friendly. I don't care for such things in my sweets at the moment. So I make sure Rosie keeps some GOOD candy on hand for me." Sonic settled a little and took a piece of the candy Susan held out to him. "That's a good one, butterscotch!" Susan said. Sonic popped the candy in his mouth and smiled a little. "Ah, much better. Now then where are you coming from? Not safe to be running around by yourself at such a young age." Susan pointed out, and Sonic tried to explain that he came from Alastor's house. But Susan misunderstood the situation. "Why that- grr.... that man always gets into some sort of trouble, I swear! No good hooligan... Come now, child. I'll bring you someplace safe." Sonic took Susan's offered hand and calmly followed her as she shared stories of her past. Meanwhile, Alastor only became more concerned when he found the discarded quill Susan tossed aside. "SONIC?! SONIC, WHERE ARE YOU?!" Alastor screamed. The panic he felt was incomparable. Hell, tears threatened to fall.

"Have you seen a little blue hedgehog?"

"Have you seen- I KNOW I already asked you but that was 5 minutes ago!"

"Please, have you seen my boy? He's about this tall, really fast, bright blue quills. Bright green eyes?"

"WHERE ARE YOU, SONIC?! HAS ANYONE SEEN MY CHILD?!"

Alastor began muttering something of a prayer as he continued his search. Unaware that he continued to just miss Sonic and Susan while Susan took him on a tour. Soon enough however, a little girl came up to the anxious deer. "Mister? I saw a blue kid!" She announced, making Alastor's attention snap to her. "You have?! Where?" "He's walking around with Susan! They just left the ice cream parlour." She said. Alastor thanked her several times, left her a handful of cash for some sort of reward, and ran to the ice cream parlour just around the block. "Sonic?! SONIC!?" Alastor called, and a very distant voice called back. "Mister Alastor?" Alastor ran to the source, practically falling to his knees in relief as Sonic's green eyes came into view of him. He ignored Susan scolding him, and held Sonic tightly. Sonic was confused as Alastor never let him hug him before... so he offered Alastor his ice cream as an apology, because clearly something was very wrong with him. "No... no you keep that... You scared me half to second death! Never EVER sneak away again.... you're safe, my darling fawn. I'm here, you're ok...." Sonic was confused by Alastor's mumbling. "Are... you ok Mister Alastor?" 

~



"...I am now, dearest..."