Tolouse's Story, the conclusion.

From: <gt6005a_at_prism.gatech.edu>
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 1995 02:49:15 -0500 (EST)

Tolouse's Story
A Sonic the Hedgehog story
by Kris Kelley

This story is protected by copyright laws. Feel free to distribute this
story, but the author does not allow any unauthorized alteration of the
story or distribution for profit.

Part 4.

     Tolouse lay with his head resting on a fallen tree trunk, looking
at the night sky and the stars that managed to poke through the dense
growth of the Great Forest. It had been three weeks since he had
started his quest to find Knothole and the freedom fighters, and his
luck had been minimal. He had grown tired and weak, especially since
food had not been foremost on his mind lately. Now, as he stared off
into space, a sense of futility was beginning to come over him, and he
felt helpless. Soon, his mind began to wander, and memories crept up...

     ..."Honey, wake up!" He felt himself being carried up and out of
bed. "Mommy, what's wrong?"
     "No time, baby..."

     ..."Shirley! Look ahead!" The whole world went sideways right
after that. He had never felt so scared in his life...he started to
cry...

     ...and then his mind wandered back even more...

     ..."Daddy!" Tolouse ran to his father's open arms.
     "Careful, Tolouse!" Jean said, laughing. "You'll wrinkle the
uniform..."

     Tears began to well in his eyes. He had not thought of his father
much during his time in the underground village, but now, the few
memories that he had were coming to him vividly...

     ..."Okay, just one more button...there. Tolouse, you look
splendid!"
     Jean presented his son to a mirror. Tolouse was dressed in a
smaller version of the Palace Guard uniform.
     Tolouse beamed with pride, and his father smiled.
     "You'd make a fine Palace Guard, son..."

     ...and then, one final memory...

     ..."Mommy, where's Daddy?"
     "He had to work late tonight, baby. The King is throwing a big
party, and your father has to be there."
     "Aww. Wish I could go to the party."
     Shirley laughed and picked her son up. "Oh, I just bet you do..."

     Tolouse wiped his eyes, but the tears continued to flow. Then, his
eyes found a star up in the night sky, a star that twinkled a little
more brightly than its neighbors, a star that shined a little more
stubbornly through the thick network of tree branches. He focused on
that star, and slowly, his determination returned.
     "I *will* find Knothole," he told the star. "You'll see."
     Tolouse then got up, ate some dinner, and found a place where he
could sleep, safely hidden from anything overhead. Before sleep came to
him, his vow had been repeated.
     "I *will* find Knothole."

     The next morning, Tolouse woke up to find the Mobian sun shining
brightly through the trees. He got up and was about to try and scrape
together for breakfast when something moved out of the corner of his
eye. He turned to see. Somebody was walking through the forest, about
50 feet away from him! Tolouse got up and moved quietly from tree to
tree, trying to get a closer look. He saw a middle aged raccoon,
walking with a limp. Tolouse considered calling to him, but the fear of
the underground village had stayed with him, and he lost nerve. He
decided instead to follow the raccoon, hoping against hope that maybe
the raccoon could help him find Knothole.

* * *

     Bookshire had been walking through the forest for about an hour
when he realized he was being watched. Too many leaves had stirred
without wind, and too many branches had moved to attribute to the usual
forest animals. He decided to do some backtracking and throw his
follower off before returning to Knothole.

* * *

     Tolouse sat on a small boulder, growling with frustration. He had
followed the raccoon for what seemed like an eternity, and then the
animal had just disappeared. How was he ever going to find Knothole at
this rate?

* * *

     Bookshire went over to Sonic's hut and tapped on the door. The
blue hedgehog and Knothole's resident folk hero answered the door and
said, "Bookshire! How was the walk, bud?"
     "Listen Sonic, somebody was following me in the forest."
     "What? Who?"
     "I don't know but I think I managed to elude whoever it was."
     "I'll check it out. Be back in a Sonic-second!" Sonic began
accelerating in place.
     "Wait a minute, Sonic, don't you think you should---" but Sonic was
already off.
     Bookshire sighed, completing his statement: "---talk to Sally,
first?" He shook his head and chuckled at Sonic's traditional
impatience, and then made his way to Sally's hut.

* * *

     Sonic made several quick searches of the areas surrounding
Knothole, and something caught his eye. "Hmm, we appear to have us
another fox!" He homed in on this new fox's location.

* * *

     Tolouse was walking slowly through the forest, thinking about the
raccoon he saw that morning, when a strange noise sounded behind him.
He spun around and found himself face to face with a blue hedgehog. He
jumped, scared and dumbfounded by the hedgehog's sudden appearance.
     Tolouse tried to speak but couldn't find his voice, so Sonic spoke
first. "So, bud, what brings you to this neck of the woods?"
     Tolouse tried to speak again, and managed to stammer, "Who, who are
you?"
     "Hey, I'll ask the questions, bud!" But after studying the
frightened fox, Sonic decided that his name wouldn't hurt anything.
"The name's Sonic, bud. You got one?"
     Tolouse's mind raced. Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog! That was the
name they kept hearing in the radio transmissions! He'd found them.
He'd found the freedom fighters! Tolouse very nearly collapsed in
relief, and his heart beat with excitement.
     Sonic stood, tapping his foot impatiently. "Well?"
     Tolouse finally found his voice, and with it his determination.

     "My name is Tolouse. And I want to be a Freedom Fighter."

---The End

Tolouse's adventures will continue, in "Run with the Fox."

--
*******Robin Hood (Kris Kelley) gt6005a_at_prism.gatech.edu*****************
* fnord-42-froinlaven-cowabunga-the truth is out there-get out-spin dash *
* are you pondering what I'm pondering?-welcome to the next level-yars!! *
* finish him!-i hope i've shown you how to treat a lady-i'm a character! *
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* "Don't care what people say / Just follow your own way." - Enigma *
* "I'm not sure that the world would be ready for 2 of me!" - P. O'Toole *
* "Life: Am I taking this too personally?" - me *
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Received on Tue Mar 28 1995 - 02:39:40 PST