Sonic The Hedgehog

Chapter 1

Longclaw was gone, and the past had been left behind. For twelve long years, in the bright Kingdom of Soleanna, Sonic had made a home in its unruly forests. It was the day of the Sun Festival, and everyone was preparing for the special event. Walking down the streets, a tall anthropomorphic she-leopard with dazzling grey fur patrolled the streets. She wore a white hood over her shoulders, soft brown shorts, and bandages on her hands and feet.

Meet Shenzi Wisteria, the adopted daughter of Princess Elise III. She was found many years ago in a forest, severely wounded and nearly dying. Luckily for her, the leopard cub was taken in by the princess and her kindly father and from that day forward, her life had been a whole lot more sweeter. Shenzi was looking around the town square when several young children ran up to her with excited smiles. Shenzi couldn't help but smile sweetly as she gingerly picked up and held one of the smaller children in her arms akin to a mother cradling her newborn baby.

"Miss Shenzi, are you gonna be at the festival?" One of the children asked.

"You bet. There's going to be a lot of fun games and good food. Who knows, maybe there'll be some naughty bad guys to catch!" Shenzi replied with a playful smile before rubbing her nose on the child's forehead she was holding and earning a bout of laughter from him. Even if she didn't admit it, Shenzi had a soft spot for the vulnerable and the weak, which included children. She had to be very gentle whenever handling the children, as she didn't want to break their bones. As her tail was being tugged and the fur on her legs petted, Shenzi barely noticed a thug breaking into the store some small sidewalk spaces away. Her ears were being played with, and it tickled her some. Making her round, fuzzy, and spotty listeners twitch and wiggle. Shenzi soon set down the boy, watching with a almost motherly smile as the children ran off to find their parents. All of a sudden, the sound of an alarm caught the leopard's attention. Shenzi's face fell, whipping her head around to look at the source of the disruption with her ears reared back. Her black, grey, and white fur fluffed up to make herself appear more significant, as her eyes bared into a glare of slits, teeth pulling back to reveal sharp canines.

"Oh, for Soleanna's sake!" She shouted to no one in particular, already on the move to handle the issue.

***

Sonic, who was now seventeen years of age, was busy spending his morning roaming the east side of Soleanna. The speedy blue hedgehog ran about at speeds that shouldn't be reached, racing around the peninsula in less than three seconds. Sonic ran up a large mountain, standing on the peak as he checked a small Fitbit on his wrist he found some time ago.

"Hey, would you look at that? I took nine million steps today." Sonic said. He sat down on the peak, looking at the kingdom of Soleanna from afar. He had sometimes visited the kingdom, though in secret of course. To Sonic, it was the most amazing place he had ever seen.

"I wonder what the people of Soleanna are up to." Sonic said. The blue hedgehog stood up and stretched out his legs before racing down the mountain and heading for the city. Ten seconds later, Sonic arrived to the town. He discreetly jumped on one of the buildings, hiding behind a pillar as he watched the whole thing go down.

***

Shenzi's steps were light and fast, feet barely making any sort of noise against the concrete. Even if she had her staff, her white hood was firmly hooked around her shoulders and waving in the wind. She also wore a belt, carrying special items that Elise had told her to take care of with utmost care. A lucky charm and mysterious gem. Hmm... Still, even if this was the case, it didn't undermine the fact of the dangers Soleanna would face. The celebration wasn't going to be cancelled for something as simple as a robbery. Shenzi was pretty grumpy that someone had so blatantly decided to screw up people's day by robbing in the middle of the daylight and taking the money. As she ran, her hood flowed in the wind, grey hair too, as she unsheathed her Katakana from her back, giving it a testing spin on her dominant white-taped hand as the end of the staff which had a blade perched on top glinted in the sunlight. Her ears reared back, eyes flashing a golden hue, as she got low and approached the scene, where a man so "sneakily" tried to make his escape. She watched him jog for a second with some money scattering from his overwhelmingly full pockets before she dashed. Blink, and you might've missed her, gone from her spot as she was a blur of white and grey and slammed the end of her staff into the ground in front of the robber with enough force that it cracked the concrete and split it. He went stiff, freezing in place as he knew he was screwed. Anyone who came to Soleanna and so much as tried to sneak about above the law recognized that if they were to meet Shenzi, they were royally screwed. The leopard's tail twitched on the ground, laying there, before curling up and hovering above the ground as she then approached the now trembling civilian.