Chapter Text
The chilly blow of the wind whistled into the blue hedgehog’s ears, causing him to shudder. He watched a few golden and brown leaves float past him, falling downhill towards a small, peaceful settlement, an enormous windmill as its main landmark. The roads, usually bustling with mobians and humans preparing for incoming winter, now lay empty, and the few people that actually happened to pass by seemed to be on edge, looking behind their backs in a paranoid manner.
“Something’s going on here.” Sonic put his weight on his right leg, placing a hand on his hip as he watched the rather concerning sight.
“I hope we got here in time,” a short fox with golden fur muttered, standing next to the hedgehog, his face riddled with concern. He shifted his two tails uncomfortably, glancing back at his two companions.
“I’m not seeing any monster attacks or destroyed buildings, where’s all the action?” a red echidna sighed out exasperated, stretching his arms with a bored expression.
“And we’re not going to see any if we keep just standing here!” Sonic exclaimed, turning his attention back to his two tailed companion. “Tails, where were we supposed to meet Amy again?”
“She said to meet her in the square,” Tails said, recalling the contents of the letter the three received the other day. A call for help. “She’s been helping the victims of the attacks. From what she said, there were no lethal attacks yet, but that was almost a week ago…”
“Alright, let’s get going then. Last one there is a swamp goblin!” Sonic quickly announced before zipping towards the village, ignoring his companions’ objections to the race.
“...I wish he took this more seriously,” Tails sighed, to which Knuckles just shrugged, beginning to run after the blue blur.
Sonic never seemed to fully grasp the dangers of the alliance’s work. Maybe it was for the better that he found the idea of battling monsters and demons and such pretty fun, he definitely knew how to light up the room with his enthusiasm - but sometimes he’d come out as insensitive to those who the Hunters’ Alliance wasn’t able to protect. Their trio was relatively young, so they were never sent to more dangerous missions, of course, but it still didn’t feel right to think of all of this as a game when people’s livelihoods - and sometimes lives - were endangered.
Knuckles already had some experience in the field - he’s fought dangerous beasts since his younger years. His brute force and tracking skills were really impressive, he was practically raised for the job. After all, the alliance was formed by the echidnas originally, before the majority of them had met their end at the claws of the monsters they swore to defeat. Sonic and Tails? They were pretty new. It was actually Sonic’s idea for him and his little buddy to join the alliance. He was already somewhat protecting his hometown, Green Hills, with the occasional help from the fox. Why not turn it into a job? See the world a little? Use their skills for good? Of course, he was a little bummed when he learned they’ve been paired up with some other echidna to keep an eye on them. As if the alliance was going to let two newbies smear its good name with their freelance work.
It definitely wasn’t fun for Knuckles either. He mentioned a few times how mad he was for being demoted to a “babysitting job” after just ONE hiccup on a mission against a particularly aggressive rock golem. Tails sometimes got an impression that the echidna projected his anger onto the two of them - especially Sonic - but, overall, he wasn’t one of the talking types. He was very much a quiet, goal-centered individual. Tails absolutely didn’t want to step on his toes and risk even more of his hostility, so he usually let him do his thing without too much questioning. He couldn’t say the same about Sonic, though.
Sonic knew exactly where to go as he was quite familiar with Windmill Village. His childhood best friend - and now client - moved here when they were both really young. With Sonic’s speed, though, he never hesitated at the idea of a visit, as it was only a small jog for him. A part of him was happy that he was gonna see Amy Rose again, even under such circumstances. It’s been a while.
And so, as he got to the square, his attention was instantly brought to a small line of humans and mobians alike, seemingly waiting to speak with someone at a desk that was clearly put there last second with some papers held by rocks functioning as paperweights in the windy weather. At the desk stood a pink hedgehog in a fuzzy jacket, a fancier outfit than most of the villagers could probably afford.
“We can’t help you replace the sheep right now,” she was just trying to reason with a tall human farmer, “we’re doing what we can… Keep the remaining sheep inside until–” she quickly caught a piece of paper that slid from under one of the rocks due to the breeze caused by Sonic’s arrival, which made her glance up and notice the warm smile and a wave of the blue hedgehog, dressed in a characteristic, leather jacket overlaying a hoodie… and the pair of similarly-clothed fellows just now catching up to him with heavied breath. “Oh!”
“Ames! Long time no see!” Sonic grinned.
“We’re here about your report,” Knuckles stepped forward, nearly pushing Sonic aside with his arm. “We’re from the Hunters’ Alliance.”
“Oh, of course!” A sparkle of hope replaced the confusion in Amy’s eyes at those words as she quickly started gathering up papers. “I’m sorry, everyone! We’ll have to talk about things later, I must take care of this! Everyone's issues will be solved soon!” She exclaimed, nervousness lacing her voice.
Sonic made a note of people’s reactions to Amy’s announcement. While most seemed at least a little bit relieved, some gave the group unpleasant looks. It wasn’t the first time that happened, some people simply didn’t trust the alliance, but Sonic couldn’t understand why in the world people were upset that someone volunteered to get rid of monsters terrorizing their towns. …well, ‘volunteered’ may have been a strong word since towns had to pay a fee for that, but still. The ‘leather jackets’, as the alliance has grown to be known as, existed to help, after all.
Amy led the three with a quickened pace into one of the bigger houses in the village, fit for a mayor or something of the kind. As far as Sonic was aware, she was helping out in administration in the area, which would explain why she was answering the villagers’ pleas for help. Though Sonic wondered what the actual mayor was doing in the meantime.
“This way, we won’t be disturbed here.” Amy opened the door into a cozy living room with a lit fireplace, the flames coating the room in comfortable warmth like the softest blanket. Sonic sighed a little in relief, he was beginning to feel the chill outside freeze his toes.
“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Rose!” Tails said, taking a seat on the couch next to his companions as Amy sat in an armchair not far from them. “My name is Miles Prower, this is Sonic and that’s Knuckles.”
“Oh come on, Tails, I remember the two of you!” Amy chuckled. “No need for formalities here.” She held her sight on Knuckles for a second. “Although I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Amy Rose.”
Knuckles crossed his arms. “We’ve got your letter, we know,” he simply answered. “What’s the threat, then? We didn’t see any problem at first sight.”
“The problem appears at night,” Amy explained. “Before we get to it, though, do you want any tea? Cake? You’re guests here!”
“We’re here for the job,” Knuckles answered dryly.
“ I’d like some tea…” Sonic said cheekily, earning a side eye from his red companion.
“It’ll be just a moment!” Amy smiled, standing up. “Tails?”
“I’d gladly have some coffee, if you have any,” the little fox said, rubbing his hands together to warm them up quicker. Knuckles rolled his eyes.
“We can drink tea while figuring out a plan of attack,” he protested, straightening up. “Amy Rose, speak.”
The pink hedgehog furrowed her brows at the echidna, but sat down nonetheless.
“Our livestock is what’s been going missing lately,” she began. “Some shepherds had found carcasses of their sheep completely gutted out. There’s been a rise in strange sightings at night, destroyed trees and other greenery and such. One person has gone missing since then, too. People are scared to leave their houses after dusk, they don’t want to enter the woods either.”
“How can you be sure it’s not a pack of wild wolves or foxes?” Tails raised a question.
“The livestock bodies we’ve found rule that out,” Amy winced. “You can take a look if you want, I think they haven’t disposed of the last one yet. Awful sight… it’s as if it was poisoned with rot, massive chunks were missing, and those claw marks…”
“O-on second thought, I think I’m good,” Tails quickly stammered, his ears pinned back and he got a bit whiter in the face as he grabbed Sonic’s arm.
“I’ll take a look later,” Knuckles grimaced. “Could still just be a very big dog or something.”
“It broke into the sheds, too,” Amy shook her head. “When the farmers started locking their animals up for the night. But it was strange… it looked more like a break-in rather than a monster attack!”
“So the beast is intelligent?” Sonic pondered.
“Beasts aren’t intelligent,” Knuckles protested. “Maybe it was a coincidence. Someone tried to break in that night, opening the shed for the monster.”
“There was nothing missing at the scene,” Amy pointed out.
“The thief could’ve had a run in with the monster.”
“Wouldn’t there be any sightings of it then?” Tails asked.
“Right,” Sonic interrupted. “Amy, you mentioned sightings. What did it look like?”
“I don’t have any specifics,” she leaned back into her armchair, glancing away. “Only that it’s big, furry, and scary. And fast.”
“Fast, you say?” The blue hedgehog smirked. “Will it be fast enough for me? ”
“I can’t tell you, I haven’t seen it,” Amy said, but smiled a little. “Though I doubt it.”
“So, a fast, big, furry creature that steals livestock,” Knuckles summarized. “Could be anything!”
“If it only appears at night, we could set a trap,” Tails offered. “Or at least a stakeout, to learn more about it.”
“So we wait for it, catch it, and get rid of it!” Sonic cracked his knuckles with a stretch. “Seems easy enough. So what about that tea?”
“We’ve got a job to do, Sonic,” Knuckles groaned, getting up. “We need to see that carcass for more information on our enemy.”
“If you want to watch dead animals, be my guest,” Sonic grimaced. “I really don’t feel like it.”
Knuckles sighed. “Fine, be it your way! Amy, where do I find the shepherd?”
“She lives in the outskirts in the east of the village,” Amy said.
“Great! Looks like I have to do something all by myself again!” the echidna said before storming out.
An awkward silence befell the room for a moment as Knuckles’s footsteps grew quieter.
“...He seems–”
“Arrogant? Annoying? Aggressive for no reason?” Sonic interrupted the hostess.
“I was going to say something nicer, actually,” Amy sighed.
She was itching to ask more questions, but she did promise the two brothers beverages, so she decided to take care of that before progressing with the conversation. She wasn't gone for more than just a few minutes, though, and when she returned, she realized Sonic was looking around the room curiously, touching every expensive piece of fragile art that was in sight.
She placed the two cups on the small coffee table in front of the couch - one with tea and one with coffee - and sat back in her place.
“So?” She began. “How's the Hunters’ Alliance been treating you?”
Sonic picked up his cup and blew on it, somewhat enjoying the warmth of the porcelain against his gloves. The chill was slowly leaving his digits, but he was glad to speed up the process any way he could. He leaned back on the couch comfortably, seeing his little brother fidget with his cup a bit awkwardly in the corner of his eye.
“A bit more boring than I expected,” he admitted. “Most of the contracts we get are actually just wild animals or thieves and stuff. Nothing that exciting.”
“We're still in the trial period,” Tails added. “They’re giving us the least serious jobs, I believe.”
Amy scoffed. “Is that what they think of my report??”
“Hey, you're lucky you got us!” Sonic grinned. “We'll make sure this monster guy doesn't bother your town, no matter if it's an actual beast or a pack of dogs.”
Amy kicked Sonic under the table, causing him to jump and nearly spill his cup of tea. He gasped as he balanced it, then chuckled. It made Amy frown.
“This is a serious matter, Sonic! Something's out there!”
“I know! I'm just saying I'm taking every possibility into account!” He raised his free hand defensively.
“At least we have experience with packs of wild dogs,” Tails pointed out.
Amy sighed. “No matter what it is, it needs to leave. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep promising townsfolk to deal with their issues and losses…”
Sonic stood up. “It'll be gone before you know it!” He said confidently. “The alliance may not have faith in us, but you've landed with the pros! And Knuckles.”
Amy chuckled a little. “Thanks, Sonic. We should probably catch up with him now, huh?”
Sonic nodded in agreement, finishing his tea.
“It's nice to see you again, Amy,” he said as he placed the cup back onto the table.
“It's nice to see both of you too,” she smiled back at him. “I wish the circumstances weren't so dire, though.”
___
The closer it got to dusk, the less people were in the streets. Seems like people really were afraid of whatever was haunting the woods.
Knuckles was just about done checking out the carcass by the time the other three got to the farmhouse. It was enough to confirm to him that the creature was most definitely some kind of a beast, but he still couldn’t quite tell what kind of a beast it was. Well, either way, the team had to get to work.
The shepherd agreed to let the sheep out to the pasture that evening, even if it took a lot of arguments to get them to do that. Now the three of them had to also make sure nothing happened to the poor sheep during their stakeout, but at least it was a good lure for the creature. After all, what kind of beast would say no to such a buffet?
The plan was simple - Tails were to observe from a nearby tree, warn the team when the creature approached, and cast a net when it got to the right spot, Knuckles would be the muscle that would make it move in the right spot, and if anything goes wrong, Sonic as backup were to chase it down to herd it back. After finalizing the preparations, the team sent Amy home and told her to let everyone know to not leave their house tonight.
Sonic wasn’t thrilled about the plan. If everything goes perfectly… he wouldn’t even get a chance to do anything. Even during the action he would have to just watch Knuckles and Tails do all the work for him. How was he supposed to prove himself to the alliance if he did nothing?? He flopped down onto the grass behind the bush he was hiding with a sigh. They were there for just a few minutes and yet he was already losing his mind. It’d be so much faster if he just ran across the woods and found the creature himself.
Not to mention how cold it got after the sun had gone down for the night. The leather jacket offered some warmth, but it certainly didn’t beat running.
…
It felt like ages before Sonic heard something. Tails was giving a signal.
The hedgehog peaked out from behind the bush to look for the creature. Sure enough, something huge was approaching the pasture from the edge of the woods, and that was no mere wolf. Its fur was black, aside of a few red markings here and there, so it was hard to actually tell what Sonic was even looking at… he could swear he saw a tentacle for a second. A shiver went down his spine.
Finally, an actual monster! Maybe Knuckles would need some help with it after all. Knuckles was strong, sure, but Sonic wasn’t sure if he would be able to go against that all by himself.
The creature slowly crept up closer and closer to one of the sheep, somehow blending in nicely in the grass with its dark fur. Unfortunately, it was at the same time getting farther and farther from the trap. Sonic noticed Knuckles on the move, circling the beast to get the best angle.
Yet when he finally pounced at it, it was as if the creature had already spotted him, easily dodging the attack in a completely opposite direction.
Just as Amy said, it was fast . Once it started moving, even with its bright, red highlights, it was hard to spot where exactly it went in the dark. Knuckles kept attacking, but couldn’t land a single punch, and before Sonic got to react, the echidna was pinned to the ground.
That was it. Knuckles was about to be eaten alive and Sonic wasn’t going to just stand still anymore. He heard Tails cry out - the plan already failed before it was properly sprung into action. So he took off towards it with a fast kick.
It landed. The creature backed away, seemingly more out of shock than the force of Sonic’s kick. It didn’t see him coming. Good.
The beast quickly regained its guard and roared at the two of them, with Sonic now able to see its red, burning eyes stare straight into his soul. All three of them. Another shiver went down Sonic’s spine and this time something else sat in his stomach. He’s never seen something like this.
But he wasn’t gonna let a little bit of fear paralyze him now. After these few seconds that seemed to last ages, he took off with another attack. This time the beast dodged, and just as Sonic was about to jump again, it charged at him with the force of a freight train. He fell to the ground and all the air got punched out of his lungs, only then did he notice the prickling, burning sensation where the attack landed. By the time he regained his sense of sight and gasped some air into his lungs, feeling warm blood seep into his hoodie, he saw the backside of the monster disappearing into the woods.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” He called as he got back up onto his feet, ignoring the pain.
“Sonic, wait–!” he heard Tails’s voice behind him, but didn’t bother to listen. That thing was too dangerous to just leave alone in the woods. It may have been fast, but he could easily catch up with it.
Or so he thought.
Turns out, the woods were thick and had little space for gaining a lot of momentum. Not to mention that the beast seemed to know exactly where it was going. Sonic just barely managed to keep it in sight, losing it for just a split second and–
It was gone.
He stopped suddenly and looked around. It couldn’t have just disappeared! Blood was rushing in his ears, his heart was racing, he couldn’t calm down his breath and he sure as hell couldn’t simply listen for where it’s gone with all those sounds coating him. Yet, he had a feeling of being observed, and that put him on edge. Then, he made a realization. It didn’t disappear. He just simply couldn’t see it.
“Okay, you beast,” he said in half-whisper. “One-on-one. Just me and you.”
His strained breaths created small clouds of air and filled the small clearing, as if the forest around him was dead. But he didn’t have to wait for long. He heard some movement behind him and just barely managed to dodge, feeling the creature’s claws brush against his quills. It wasn’t going to slow down now. Before Sonic fully regained his balance, the beast jumped him again. Okay, it definitely had a tentacle or two, since it whipped right at him. Sonic jumped over the limb, but he knew that even he wasn’t fast enough to get out of the way of the charge so he tried to simply brace for impact, kicking the creature away as soon as it got too close for comfort and spin-dashing between its paws to safety. Was he crazy or did it have four arms?? He bounced off of a tree to gain some height and fell onto the creature with another attack, seemingly landing, only to realize it did no damage at all as the creature grabbed his leg with its teeth and swung it away against another tree.
Everything went dark for a moment. And by the time Sonic shook the daze out, the creature was gone. Again.
He attempted to get up only for his leg to give out from under it, causing him to cry out in sudden pain. Great, did it break his leg too?? He could feel warm blood now flow down his leg. He became painfully aware of the wound it left in his side. He’d definitely feel a lot more bruises in the morning.
“Sonic!” He heard Tails’s voice once again. He sighed, leaning against the tree he was under.
Well, this mission was an utter failure.