The Calling of... [Sonic the Hedgehog FF]

The forest - Mephilver - (part 1/2)

This story unfolded in my head upon reading @SmilingHedgie 's one-shot Escaping in Heat. I hope you will like it and if so, please visit the original story. The One-shots book has many awesome stories inside.

And @-dark45- you get well soon ;-) Maybe this small story will help you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The night was deep and a forest underneath it was even deeper. The sky was covered by heavy clouds promising a strong rain. An owl call was heard but it was cut short as a louder sound interrupted the stillness of the woods. Thru the bushes and tall grass, a young man was dashing with a fear all over his face.

His breath was short and sharp, gasping for the air, never having enough in his lungs as he exhaled it immediately. His clothes and skin were cut in many places, but he hardly was feeling the pain as a scary thing was chasing him.

'Why was I such a fool?!' cursed himself the young man heavily panting with his over-shoulder handbag hitting him from behind with each stride. 'Why didn't I listen?!' A sound of broken trunk reached his pointy ears making his heart skip a beat. It was getting close. He didn't dare to look behind. With his hands swinging from one side to other, he was pushing the branches away, cutting close to trees or tumbling over stones and turfs.

A moon peeked out, shining his silver light on the ground, making the man looking dazzling as his fur was as silver as the moon itself. His five front quills were thin and pointing upward while the ones on the back of the head were long and thick. His amber eyes would shine with happiness any other moment but now they were full of a horror.

A big shadow leaped from the bushes, landing just a few meters behind the running hedgehog. This time he couldn't fight the urge to look back and it was the second worst mistake he has ever done. The first one was entering this dark woods at the foot of a sacred mountain in a search for a rare and powerful herb.

The stories were told about a dreadful guardian living in the forest, that will kill anyone who will dare to enter its territory. And many tried... some for the laugh... some as a dare... but no one has ever returned... making many refuse to enter the woods even if their life would depend on it. But this young man ignored it.

He laid a small offering to a shrine at the edge of the forest, praying to the forest guardian to let him search and pick the herb as he needed it for his medicine. As long the sun was high, nothing bad had happened, but the young medic soon lost the track of the time and when he noticed, the night has fallen upon him and a pair of lime green eyes with red sclera was watching him.

Just like now. They were deep and scary, more than the wide mouth with only two pairs of sharp fangs ready to sink into his meat. The guardian lifted his body, making a loud roar, letting the animals in the forest know he is hunting, and they all should get out of his way.

Before the young man could take his eyes from it, he glanced at its almost hedgehog-like torso having two pairs of upward curling quills covered by crystals at the tips. The same crystals fragments were on its clawed hands, going down along the sides and continued all the way to the tip of the long serpent lower body. Yes, the guardian of this land was none other than legendary nagahog.

The silver man tried to speed up, but his legs were heavier by each step. The guardian resumed its chase, letting the prey feel the fear to its fullest potential. A thunder was heard and then the sky was suddenly lightened up by many thunderbolts.

"Uagh!!" shouted the young medic blinded by them. He stumbled over a tree root, ending up in somersaults and when he was able to open his eyes, he felt his body descending. His eyes widen in a shock, realizing he had left the solid ground behind. For long empty seconds he stared blankly in front of himself as the gravity slowly pulled him back before he shouted at top of his lungs.