BLOODLINES
A Sonic the Hedgehog story
by Daniel J. Drazen
Chapter 12
[Note: this chapter contains material which some readers may find
offensive. If you download this material, you are free to delete
any objectionable portions, so long as you maintain the narrative
flow]
"OK, try it again."
A silent tension filled the air inside Sally's hut. Sandy
was seated at a table, her right arm the subject of intense work.
Rotor had studied it for some time and was trying to get it
functioning again. After half a dozen adjustment it continued to
lay there, unresponsive to Sandy's attempts at movement. Now
Rotor had tried totally replacing what appeared to be a shorted-
out motivator located on the forearm. Sally and Sonic held their
breath.
For a second, nothing happened. Then, in a single smooth
motion, Sandy's fingers curled up into a fist and just as
effortlessly uncurled.
"Yes!" Sonic yelled.
"Great job, Rotor!"
"Thanks, Sally, but looks like the upper arm motivator is
going to need replacement as well. I think I have one in the
storeroom."
"Not the storeroom!" Sonic wailed.
"Sonic," Sally said, "go help Rotor look for one."
"But Sal, if he opens that door I'll be up to my hips in
chips!"
"Sonic," Sally said deliberately, "go help Rotor!"
"OK, OK," Sonic said as he followed Rotor out the door.
Sally closed it behind them, then turned to face her sister.
"What did you think you were doing?" she demanded.
"You know what I was doing, and you can't stop me from
trying again!"
"Well, I can try!"
"Can you honestly say that you wouldn't do the same thing if
you were in my position?"
"Can you...." Sally stopped. For a second her attention
was no longer on Sandy. It was as if she had seen something
before her eyes, something that had disappeared as soon as it had
come into her field of vision. She turned back to Sandy. Her
voice was subdued.
"I...I just remembered of Mother's last words to you. How
she called you by name and said: 'You are free now to choose your
own path.' Then she held your hand and said goodbye.
"Sandy, it was wrong of me to try to stop you. I'm sorry.
I won't try it again if you're bent on vengeance against
Robotnik. But you have to understand that our fight against him
has never been about revenge. It's been about restoring our
families, our world. It...I'm sorry, Sandy; I hope you
understand." With that, she turned away.
"Sally?"
Sally turned. For the first time, Sally saw tears in
Sandy's eyes; Sandy had not even cried at the death of their
mother.
"I just remembered Mother's last words to you," Sandy said.
"How she called you by name and said: 'You have understanding,
and you have friends.' Then she held your hand and said goodbye.
"Sally, I...I'm sorry I didn't recognize that understanding
sooner. I owe you a debt I can never repay."
"What do you mean?"
"When the possibility arose that you might still be alive, I
didn't want to believe it. I tried to talk Mother out of
travelling to Knothole to see you. Even as we made our way here
I secretly hoped it all would have been a lie. But if we'd never
looked for you, then Mother would have gone to her grave
somewhere in the deserts of Nomad country with a question in her
heart, and the sands would have buried her stone of memory inside
of two days. Instead, she died with her heart at peace,
surrounded by the love and loyalty that a Queen deserves."
Sally smiled at the same time tears rolled down her cheeks.
"You have done more for her than anyone could have hoped
for, Sally. I am your servant."
"No," she said gently, "you're my sister." Sally put her
arms around Sandy, who did the best she could with the one arm
that functioned. A minute later, Sonic and Rotor re-entered the
hut.
"Got it, Sally! It's just take a minute to install."
"Yeah," Sonic griped, "and I'll be picking computer chips
out of my quills for a week!"
"So," Rotor went on, making idle conversation, "you gonna
stay around here, Sandy?"
Sally held her breath.
"No, Rotor. I've been thinking about it and I've made up my
mind. I'll be travelling to the East. I was thinking of hooking
up with Dirk and the Eastern freedom fighters. I think I can
teach them something about fighting SWATbots."
Sally breathed a sigh of relief. "That's wonderful, isn't
it, Sonic?"
"Yeah, but...."
"But what?"
"Why'd she have to tell Robuttnik about his arm? Why should
we do him any favors?"
"Who knows, Sonic? Maybe he'll return the favor some day."
"I don't get it, Sal."
"So what else is new?"
"Hey!"
"Look, Sonic, if Robotnik knows that he's being poisoned by
his own robotic arm, sooner or later he'll reach the same
conclusion that Uncle Chuck did: that the only effective
treatment involves deroboticizing it."
"So?"
"So maybe he'll begin working on a deroboticizer of his own,
and when he's got it perfected...."
"Then we use it against him by undoing all the people he's
roboticized! Hey, I guess that's way past cool after all!"
"What can I say? Being way past cool runs in the family."
"Are you gonna be all right, Sandy?"
Sandy and Bunnie stood at the eastern edge of the Great
Forest. It was sundown, and the sky to the east was darkening to
a smooth indigo while streaks of fire still lit the western sky.
Sandy had taken leave of Knothole, but Bunnie had insisted on
escorting Sandy to the edge of the woods.
"I'll be fine, Bunnie. I learned how to navigate using the
stars from the Nomads."
"That's nice," Bunnie said as she leaned against a tree with
her arms crossed before her, "but that's not what Ah meant."
"I know," Sandy said quietly as she looked at her
roboticized right arm, fully functional once more. "Don't worry
about me, Bunnie; I won't try anything stupid against Robotnik...
or myself."
"Ah'm glad to hear it," Bunnie said as she took Sandy's
hands in her own. After several seconds she hadn't let go.
"Is there any chance of your coming East some time?" Sandy
asked.
"No; mostly Ah'll be right here in Knothole." Several more
seconds passed, and still Bunnie hadn't let go.
"Bunnie...there's something...something I've wanted to...but
I don't...."
"Then Ah will."
Bunnie then embraced Sandy and kissed her. She kissed her
hard, on the mouth. Sandy was caught off-guard, but only for a
second. She then returned both the kiss and the embrace. They
seemed to go on forever. When their lips parted with a quiet,
moist sound, three stars were already visible in the sky
overhead.
"You take care of yourself now, Sandy, y'hear?"
And for the first time, Bunnie saw Sandy smile--a smile that
a second later was hidden behind a Nomad's veil. Sandy took her
bearings from the sky and started out silently toward the
darkening East. Bunnie sighed, turned and began walking through
the Great Forest to the West, back toward Knothole.
THE END
Received on Tue Mar 28 1995 - 08:19:20 PST
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