The warbling birds outside the window of a small church usually soothed the black hedgehog priest, but not today. The priest wasn't gloomy or depressed; he was mostly concerned, as he was about to question a blue hedgehog boy named Sonic.

He often played pranks on others. While most of them were harmless, like hidden boots or fake fart sounds, this time he might have gone too far.

The priest's black eyes looked at Sonic sitting in front of him on the other side of a table. His head was low with flat ears. The priest sighed silently.

If it was just a prank or two, good, that would be normal. The day was sunny, coaxing you to go on adventures and be a bit mischievous.

"Sonic," the hedgehog called him, and the boy jerked, his simple quills standing with fear. "I'm not happy with you." He tried to sound calm but firm.

The boy lifted his head, showing his emerald green eyes with small tears at the corners.

"The prank you pulled on Mr. Baker was maybe innocent in your eyes, but it resulted in flat bread. You can't open the oven whenever you want."

The boy's eyes darted from one corner of the table to another.

"Your game with matches could start a real fire. You remember what I have told you about this, right?"

The boy had lit a branch in his hand and waved the smoke into a window in the town's bakery. The baker was shocked to smell his bread burning. He opened the oven, finding nothing was wrong. Sonic's snicker told him who was responsible for the false alarm.

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, Father Shadow. Fire is a good servant but a bad master."

The priest nodded with a slight smile. "Even the tiniest spark can cause a disaster."

The boy remained silent.

"Why did you carve scary faces on Mr. Owrel's best apples?"

Sonic didn't want to answer based on the fidgeting, but there was no way out of this. "Those were smiling faces," the boy argued. "He frowns all the time, so I thought it could put a smile on his face."

This was quite interesting. Shadow had to agree Mr. Owrel was a serious man, and he rarely smiled.

"However, that still isn't a reason to ruin his hard work. His apple trees are well-known for the sweetest fruit, and they have won many awards."

A small shiver ran down Shadow's back. Mr. Owrel's red face was still fresh in his memory, and faint ringing resonated in his ears from his yelling. Once he found his trees destroyed, he immediately visited the priest, knowing he was the closest to the infamous prankster.

The priest shook his head slightly, and his upward pointing quills swayed. The next prank wasn't any better. After the sudden visit, he departed to find Sonic and met a very angry group of women outside of their club.

"Why did you throw frogs into The Daisy Club of local mothers?"

Here Sonic snorted. "They are noisy, constantly pestering you with every small thing. Do this, don't do that, it's annoying." He pouted. "They have their own kids, so why are they nitpicking me so much?"

Shadow had a different opinion on this incident now. Sonic was living in an orphanage since his parents died years ago. Some mothers tried to teach the boy manners, but he often ran away or played pranks on them. The boy couldn't get over the loss of his parents. It was never easy, and this wound might never heal.

The priest's ears dropped a bit. If Mr. Owrel was angry, the members of the club were furious after the prank Sonic pulled on them.

They all shouted at him, and the poor priest had no chance to calm them down. He merely nodded and dashed past them. While this meeting was scary, it showed him he was on the right track, and that he should step on it.

He was lucky to notice Sonic heading to a small park. He sprinted to him and yanked him by the collar. The bugs hidden in Sonic's closed palms were thrown in the air, and his eyes widened with shock. For a moment, his eyes were filled with fear.

Shadow knew he'd caused it, and his face wrinkled with knitted eyebrows. At that moment his face was tense from the frown, and he would swear he barked the boy's name with disdain. It worried him; he rarely let his emotions get the better of him.

"In the end," the priest slowly said, "all the bread ended up flat and catching the frogs took more than an hour." He should know it; he helped. "Animals aren't toys you can throw. They are living beings just like you. Getting ripped from their home left them heartbroken."

Sonic shuddered. When he was visited by officers who told him about his parents' death, he hadn't wanted to believe it. They had to drag him away since the boy refused to leave his home. He kicked and bit them. In the end, they had to sedate him.

The waking up was like entering an endless nightmare. He was alone in the middle of a foreign place, where some woman claimed to be his aunt. He never had an aunt. He wanted to run away. He tried it many times, but adults always found him and dragged him back.

A pat on Sonic's head disrupted his memories. His head shot up, seeing Father Shadow's smile.

"I believe this is enough for today. Reflect on your actions."

The boy wiped his tears and nodded. Shadow offered him his hand, and the boy accepted it. Sonic's hand was trembling.

It was no wonder. Every adult yelled at him once Shadow brought him back. He had to calm them down first. Mr. Owrel threatened to spank Sonic every day for months to get that rotten character out.

Shadow had to bite his tongue. Sonic wasn't rotten; that much he knew. The punishment was reasonable even if Shadow disliked any type of physical punishment. However, the reason behind it wasn't the right one. He managed to convince Mr. Owrel to donate the apples to The Daisy Club that was holding an apple pie competition.

The women were delighted to know they could use his apples, as they were considered to have the best balance of sweetness and tartness in the town.

Mr. Owrel still had enough apple trees that weren't damaged, so he still could compete in the annual Apple Fest. With a few more words, the problems were settled, and everybody could return to their daily lives.

The duo stepped outside, the early evening breeze caressed their quills. A silent sigh escaped Shadow's lips. This was one hectic day. His eyes trailed toward Sonic's flat ears. He didn't doubt the boy would tone his pranks down. He might stop for a short while too.

He hoped this would make the boy think. The priest decided to have a discussion about Sonic's future since he was almost twelve. It might be a bit soon as most children start thinking about their future job a few years later. However, he was sure that finding the right place for Sonic would take longer.

'Maybe I could accept him as my assistant,' the priest thought. 'I'm sure The Order wouldn't mind, and I could keep an eye on him and guide him toward a brighter future.' He nodded. This sounded like a good plan.

The ebony hedgehog rubbed the lad's blue quills when they reached the small, front gate. "I'm no longer angry at you, but sometimes you make me worried."

"I'm sorry, Father Shadow," Sonic murmured in a quiet voice and hung his head low, staring at his red sneakers and bruised knee below his brown shorts.

The priest stood in front of the boy, knelt down, and adjusted his dirty, white T-shirt. "Just promise me you won't do it again."

The child nodded. "I promise, I won't let them see me next time," he giggled, amused by the adult's surprise. He quickly slipped away and dashed through the front gate.

Shadow slightly smiled. And here he was worried about him, but it seemed the boy was already okay if he pulled a prank on the priest.

"Bye, bye, Father Shadow!" He waved at the standing priest with his quills wildly swaying with each stride.

The priest smiled and waved back. "Be careful on your way home and don't go carving apples again, okay?" he reminded him as the child got further.

"Fine," Sonic sighed. He once more waved goodbye and ran, heading home.

The priest looked at the sky as it was slowly darkening and scratched an itchy spot on his back, where he was missing the back quills all hedgehogs had.

The autumn night was about to come, but the breeze was still a bit warm, taking leaves on an unseen journey. Shadow's fur bristled, it wasn't just leaves dancing in the air. He returned inside, checked all the windows and back door, and then he left the building.

It was part of his daily routine. To anyone, it might seem like an evening walk, but the priest had another reason for it. The air was full of anxiety; even if others seemed to not be affected, he knew the truth. As he walked down the road, a gentle breeze brought him the smell of trouble.

His nose wrinkled. 'Again.' He frowned.

He followed the odor he couldn't describe with words. No smell could compare to it. When he noticed it for the first time, he questioned his mind. However, soon it proved to be true. He could tell when citizens were under pressure, angry, or happy. Strangely, the negative emotions were the ones he could detect the best.

His ears picked up voices as he turned another corner. He recognized this street and the house the smell was coming from. He squinted a bit.

'Purple?'

He wasn't sure, but he might have glanced a strange haze around the house.

He approached the building, avoiding the light coming from the window. He dared to peek inside to see the people in the living room. The voices gained on strength.

"Who the hell you think you call lazy butt?" yelled a woman at her husband, tightening her paws. "I do all the chores here while you sit and watch, doing nothing!" Her long ears stood and twitched as she snarled, curling her lips to show her long buck teeth.

A quick snort escaped from the husband's nose. "Who do you think brings the money, witch?" replied her husband, banging his hand on the table.

Shadow peaked inside. It seemed the man might jump at his wife any second.

Big Thanks to KCSSHD for Beta-reading this chapter :-)

Big Thanks LigerCat for editing this chapter :-)

Big Thanks to Megnets for reviewing this story <3

  Dedicated to iloojin for taking her time to BadAss Critique my book <3