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Humble Beginnings - A New Friend Chp1

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Sonic swiped the paintbrush up and down in a constant rhythm, stroking the blue paint over the plain wooden door for the hut.

His hut. He smiled, cheerful. Sonic had arrived in Knothole only five days prior, and had begun settling in immediately.

It seemed Sonic had an amazing aptitude for making friends, having befriended nearly every citizen of the small base within two days. Sally had introduced him to Rotor, the walrus who had built the waterwheel that Sonic had installed out of gratitude for when Sally had found him unconscious in the forest. The two had hit it off, busting their guts over a few well-timed jokes on Sonic's part about Robotnik's apparent love for donuts. Even Doc Amos, the gray Fruit Bat who had treated Sonic's injuries, gave a smile at the hedgehog's wont for cracking jokes.

Sally had set about building his hut when she found out no accommodations were available. Sonic had agreed to lend a hand hauling the wooden planks to construct the frame and walls, and when that was finished (approximately 53 seconds later), he had helped build the thatched roof. This proved more of a challenge, as Sonic's speed would be of no assistance while suspended ten feet off the ground, but more Knothole residents had arrived to help at that point. He had the enjoyment of watching their expressions as he showed off his characteristic sprinting.

With the main construction of the hut completed, Sally informed Sonic that he could furnish it however he pleased. Sonic didn't have any real possessions besides his gloves, shoes and socks, and Sally encouraged him to scavenge some from nearby town ruins (created during Robotnik's takeover) when Sonic brought this up.

Right now, though, he was painting the door of his new hut. He wanted something to distinguish his hut from the rest of its identical twins, and he had to admit, the exercise was relaxing, therapeutic.

It was also slow.

Sally walked up, fiddling with her handheld computer unit, NICOLE. "Hello, Sonic."

"Hiya, Sal," Sonic said, looking over his shoulder to give her a quick smile before returning to his work. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Just recalibrating NICOLE's radar screen – the cardinal point for North is off by five point seven degrees. How are you doing?"

Sonic stepped back and stretched. "Good, so far." He put his hands on his hips and tapped one foot, frowning. "It's just slow work. There's gotta be a way to make it go faster."

Sally grinned. "Everything is too slow for you, Sonic."

"You betcha," Sonic wiped his brow, and held his chin in his hands, foot still tapping, deep in thought. He snapped his fingers. "I got it!"

Sonic got down on his knees and started unscrewing the door hinges. As soon as the door was disconnected from the hut, he hauled it into the open clearing outside the hut, in the main pathway. Propping it against a nearby rock, careful not to touch the wet paint, he walked back to the entryway of his hut. Stooping, he set down the brush and grabbed the paint bucket.

Sally watched as he worked with interest. Ever since his arrival five days ago, Sonic had shown a tendency to be unpredictable, but she had a pretty good guess of what he was planning.

Testing the weight of the paint bucket in one arm, Sonic swung it around and threw its contents with all his might. A tide of royal blue paint waved through the air like a flying snake, and struck the flat wood with an explosive splash. Sally leaned away from the splatter of paint instinctively.

Sonic stood back, admiring his work. The door was covered from top to bottom, dripping tears of paint. The rock and ground underneath the door were now stained a deep blue, similar to the color of Sonic's quills.

Sonic set down the paint bucket and dusted off his hands. "There. Done."

Sally raised an eyebrow. "And now we need a new bucket of blue paint."

Sonic waved it off. "Eh, worry about that later. Now that the door is finished, I'm gonna go see if I can find some furniture for my new hut."

"Let me know if you find anything useful. You never know what you might stumble across amid the ruins. And be careful – Robotnik may have his base in Robotropolis, but that doesn't mean his SWATbots or badniks won't be sweeping the area."

"Gotcha," Sonic said, giving her a thumbs-up. "See ya, Sal!"

Sally turned back to her work on NICOLE as he heard the whoosh signaling Sonic's departure. She frowned – NICOLE seemed a little slow on data collection today. Perhaps she needed to recharge. Sally's palm pilot was a sturdy little machine, but she couldn't last forever without being plugged into a power source once in a while.

Ah, there we go. Satellite uplink was lagging. Sally set about activating the radar screen once the network made contact with the nearest satellite connection that didn't belong to Robotnik. The radar screen, a three-dimensional grid of the surrounding area's geography, popped into view from NICOLE's holoprojector. The radar pinged all lifeforms and ID signatures within the radius of twenty miles – not large by standards of modern technology, but sufficient for the needs of the Freedom Fighters. She altered the settings to modify the cardinal North point, and set it on a test run.

The first ID recognized was Sally herself, who was closest to the radar signal. It spiraled out to two miles, including all the residents of the tiny village of Knothole, and soon picked up Rotor in his workshop – tinkering with some gadget, she presumed – and Antoine in his hut, probably training in fencing or taking a nap. Bunnie was identified in the kitchen/cafeteria hut, where she was most likely working to make everyone a nice hot lunch.

The radar expanded to ten miles, and Sally picked up Sonic's ID. It wasn't difficult to find – the radar picked up on the strength of people's Chaos auras as well, and Sonic's was unusually strong. 'Could it have something to do with his super speed?' she wondered.

Odd, he had not traveled far. His signature was moving at a slow (well, slow for him) pace, and Sally assumed that he was taking his time, searching for anything worthwhile to bring back to Knothole.

She watched idly as his signal wandered aimlessly, searching for this and that, walking near trees and then continuing down forest trails at a leisurely pace.

Around twelve-point-seven miles out, the blip that was Sonic's ID tag halted. The blip walked forward into a clearing that was wide enough to accommodate a small tank, inching forward as though treading over a snake pit. He stopped in the center, and the blip made small movements to the right and left for a few seconds.

Without warning, the ID tag began to race back on a course to Knothole at an astonishing pace, so swift the radar was having trouble keeping up.

"SAAAALLLLLYY!!" came the yell from the forest, and Sonic dashed back into Knothole. He ran around in a loop as he slowed down, trying not to slip or bowl anybody over. Hitting the brakes, Sonic left skid marks in the dirt as he ran up to Sally.

"What? What is it?!" she asked, breathless with fear, assuming the worst.

Sonic's face, however, told a different story. His eyes were wide and excited, his feet drumming the earth as he fought the urge to run again. "Sally, you gotta check this out! It's way past cool!"

He grabbed her arm, and said "C'mon!" With a yelp, Sally was yanked out of Knothole at close to three hundred miles an hour before she could begin to protest. She clutched NICOLE to her chest, praying she wouldn't lose her grip and drop her.

"What is it?" she repeated, yelling over the roar of the wind. At first she was worried that the force of the wind had ripped the words from her lips, but Sonic seemed to hear her just fine in the air bubble that formed whenever he ran.

"You gotta see it! We'll be there in just a second!"

Sonic began to slow his excitement-fueled sprint, and returned to a walking pace once they neared the clearing. Setting Sally (who was shakily combing her fingers through her windswept hair) on the trail, he walked forward and pulled back a fringe of ferns.
Story #2 of the Humble Beginnings saga - A New Friend.

Hope ya'll like it! :D

Chapter 2: Coming Soon!
HB-FS Final Chapter: [link]
© 2012 - 2024 MysticFeather
Comments2
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cinnamontblanc's avatar
What to do if you hate painting doors slowly?
Throw the whole bucket over it! :dummy: