The darkness was different.

I'd known the dark for a long time, it was even in my name- or at least, my former name. But that was another lifetime ago... Now, I'm not sure what to call myself.

The darkness I'd known for some time now was an empty one; silent, dead, a lack of anything living. It was my fate, left to me in the aftermath of my destruction.

They'd gone back, the blue hedgehog and the princess; they'd gone back to what they presumed to be my beginning... When the being called Solaris was but a simple flame. They blew it out, but when the light was gone, when Iblis had been extinguished... What was left was me, the darkness.

I had barely existed in that darkness for what left like forever, but how long was time when time did not exist in this realm?

But now... Now the darkness was shifting, moving, some of it darker than others. Which could only mean one thing; those darker sections were where light was being obstructed... which meant there was light.

My surroundings were brightening, but also chilling. I felt cold, shivering as it seemed to blow over me. I tried to curl up, but there was something prickly poking at me on all sides.

I was so tired, so weak, but the light pressed in until it seemed that all I had to do... was open my eyes.

The instinct to do that came only a moment later, when out of the silence, voices burst through like loudspeakers. My eyelids opened, and I attempted to lift my head to look above me, where the voices were coming from.

There were three humans looming over me, and significantly bigger than I remembered. The same species that locked me away in the first place...

I glanced at each of the humans; two of them were in uniform, which greatly concerned me. Both of them had holsters, one on each side, and each one bearing some sort of weapon.

The third was older, his beard scraggly and face weathered by the sun. Even if he wasn't in uniform or in his prime, he was still armed with a large pitchfork.

I felt my eyes begin to burn, water forming in the crevices as I looked up at my three adversaries. They were here to capture me, I was sure of it.

All of that work, everything I'd done just to be free and complete in my old life, out of that box and that lab where they tortured me night and day. After breaking loose, being trapped in another cell, getting loose again and then biding my time to get revenge, only for it to blow up in my face and leave me trapped in a dark void for who knows how long...

...All of that, and I found myself right back where I started, at the mercy of humans and their twisted minds and ambitions.

I was going to be locked up in another box, trapped in another lab where their men of science could "study me" and prod me with sticks. I was never going to see the light of day or hear the roar of the ocean again... and there was nothing I could do about it.

I wanted to run away, but I didn't have the strength- or balance, if I was honest with myself. My arms and legs barely responded to my intentions. I was helpless, and so, for the first time that I could remember... I started to cry.

The humans started to speak, probably trying to decide how best to transport me to my new prison. I didn't understand them, they were speaking a language I was not familiar with, but then again, it was hard to understand anything when you were suddenly sobbing and unable to stop yourself.

I had to wonder... Was this how she'd felt? Was this sorrow the same thing I'd put the princess through? But most importantly... Why did I suddenly care?

Then a cloth was draped over me, and I felt myself being lifted up, the cloth tucked up and around me. I clawed at it with my fingers, but my arms were mostly pinned to my chest, the same with my legs.

The human who had me was making soft sounds, and then he pulled me and the cloth closer to him. My head rested against his chest and... I felt the fear beginning to diminish.

Why? They had me, I was trapped and at their mercy; so why did being held like this, his hand resting on the back of my head and stroking my quills, why did it feel so... good?

The soft sounds coming from the human continued as we moved on, leaving the scratchy material I'd been lying in and the retched smell that accompanied it behind. I was carried out of the building and into the dull grayness of outside. It was even colder out here, and I dug my nose deep into the fabric to keep it from stinging.

The other officer asked a question, and then when it was answered, gave a shrug and then climbed into the driver's seat of a vehicle. My captor took a seat on the opposite side, still holding me close. I tried to get myself free, but there seemed to be no end to this fabric; everywhere my feet and hands felt was this material, enveloping me. Oh well, at least it was warm.

Once the vehicle was on the move, the man holding me pulled out a communication device. He pressed a few buttons on it and then held it up to his ear for a moment. After a moment he then spoke, relaying something to the human on the other end. I wished I understood them, and felt as though I should be able to, but I was finding myself quite exhausted by this point, and slowly, the rumbling vibrations of the car lulled me into sleep.

_____________________________

The last thing Tom Wachowski had expected to hear on the emergency line was "I think I found another one of them."

The Sheriff of Green Hills, Montana wasn't sure why he was surprised, really. After all, it had only been a few months since Tails and Knuckles had entered their lives and settled in.

The two of them went right to work fixing the damage Knuckles had made to the house during his initial meeting with Sonic. Tails handled rewiring, Knuckles hauled the lumber, and Sonic was put in charge of the screwdriver and hammer. Within only a few short weeks, it looked almost like nothing had happened.

All of the hard work had been celebrated with ice cream, and a firm scolding from Maddie for the three of them to never destroy the house again.

Sonic had admitted that they couldn't exactly promise that, but Knuckles swore that if there was any damage caused by his actions, he would take on the full responsibility of repair; it was only honorable.

Tom and Wade had been out helping a woman with her groceries when one of the local farmers called, and said he'd found another creature like them and to come right away. Tom had a feeling that this newcomer was going to be a challenge to fit; they already had three teenagers in the house, what was he going to do with a fourth?

The farmer was standing outside his barn when they pulled up, a pitchfork in hand. "Tom! Boy, am I glad you came so quickly."

"No problem, Sir." Wade announced, "That's what we're here for."

Tom pointed to the barn, "Are they inside?"

The farmer nodded, leading the way in. "I was clearin' out the straw in Bessie's stall when I saw it lyin' over in the corner. I was worried it was a miscarried calf, with how little it is."

Now Tom was confused. Little? Were they younger than he'd thought?

He paused as the farmer opened the door to the stall, and then pointed over in the corner. Tom looked, and his eyes popped wide.

Little wasn't the best word for them, tiny was the best word.

A tiny, black mass of clumped fur and the occasional quill sticking out in a random direction, it was most definitely a hedgehog, but so young Tom was almost certain it had been born yesterday at the earliest.

Little arms and legs shuffled in the straw, their head too heavy for them to lift it off the ground. This was no teenager like he'd thought; this was a newborn.

There was no way he or Maddie were going to let them be on their own; they couldn't, this little one couldn't even lift their own head up, they would die!

"Dude... That's the smallest thing I've ever seen." Wade muttered.

The little hedgehog looked up, eyes glistening green much like Sonic's, and then Tom saw its lip begin to quiver.

"Oh no!" Wade apologized as the tiny thing burst into tears, "I-I didn't mean it! You're not that small!"

"It's probably cold and hungry, Wade." Tom muttered, grabbing an old flannel hanging off one of the stalls. "Do you mind-"

"Not at all."

"Thanks... Come here... It's okay..."

He bent down and scooped the infant up, quickly wrapping it up in the fabric to keep it warm. The hedgehog squirmed and squeaked in protest, but quickly began to quiet down the longer it rested against his chest.

"That's it... It's okay..." he whispered.

"You want me to drive you back to your house?" Wade asked.

"Would you? I wanna get them to Maddie."

"Not a problem, Sheriff..."

Tom climbed into the passenger seat, putting a hand on the back of the infant's head. "Just hang in there..." he whispered, and then pulled out his phone. "...Hey, Maddie. Look, I've got a really small patient on their way to you..."

________________________________

The thud of the vehicle's door closing startled me into wakefulness again. My eyes popped open wide, searching for the danger but only finding the harsh, bright sun.

The human holding me made his own startled sound and within seconds his free hand was covering me, blocking the sun from my view.

I heard another door open, and more footsteps. A woman's voice accompanied them, and then out from under the man's hand, I saw her talking to him and then looked down to me. I tried to get free of the fabric again, but now I had even less energy than before, and all I got was a pitiful kick out of it before I was too tired.

The woman scooped me into her arms just as gently, holding me close just as the man had. She looked down on me, but not in a menacing way, and she said something to me, but once again, I was struggling to understand.

Was it... Was it possible that I had somehow been taken in by humans that didn't wish to hurt me? Was I... safe?

I didn't want to believe it, it was too good of a wish for it to be true. Humans didn't care about beings like us, they only cared about "scientific progress."

She carried me into the house we'd arrived at, the cool air blowing on me and sending shivers through my body.

There came several rapid footsteps from somewhere else in the building, getting louder as they approached.

The voice was young and impatient, probably one of their children.

The woman bent down slowly, and then hands pulled the fabric back. I turned my head in the direction of the excited giggles...

...and was met with the familiar, green eyes of a speedy, blue hedgehog.