TRAtT: Red Riding Rose, Ch. 1

Amy opened her eyes to find herself riding on a wagon that took her towards a distant village up ahead of her. She realized she was wearing something, and glanced down to notice that she was wearing a pretty red cloak with a hood over her head, and she was wearing a white puffy shirt with a red billowing skirt. She wore long white socks that reached up to her thighs, and red mary-jane shoes on her feet. She still sported her red headband, gloves, and golden bangles, but everything else that she previously wore before waking up had suddenly...disappeared.

Where was she?

It only took her a moment to piece together what was going on.

That's right...Amy was going to see her grandmother and live with her from now on. Her mother had gotten very ill and was bedridden, and Amy was told to go live with her grandmother until her mother was well enough again to take care of her. Amy yawned a little as she rubbed her eyes. She must've fallen asleep at some point during her wagon ride and took a small nap without realizing it and had one strange dream. Well, she was awake now, and she couldn't wait to see her grandmother again. The last time she saw her was years ago, when she was little, and that was when she was given her favorite red hood as a special gift. Amy had treasured that hood of hers dearly, and she made sure to take very good care of it and wore whenever she ventured outside. Surprisingly it still fit her, but since Amy loved it so much she hardly noticed that it did.

~

"Ugh, what happened?" the blue hedgehog groaned as he pushed himself into a sitting position and rubbed a tender spot on the side of his head where a bruise was forming, "I can't remember anything."

With a grunt of effort, he pushed himself to his feet to observe his surroundings. He was near a small pond in a forest somewhere, so he walked to the water's edge and crouched down, resting his elbows on his knees. He saw a pair of off-white gloves that clad his hands. They were nice and white once, but had become stained with dirt and grim that stayed no matter how much he washed them. The same when for the socks he wore, which were torn in several places from over-use. His red shoes were scuffed at best, their sheen dulled though they were durable enough to have lasted him years so far.

His eyes were exactly the opposite. They held a vibrant glow, and a spark in them one could almost call wild. He smirked back at his own reflection briefly, glad he'd gotten nothing more than a bump on the head, however tender it was. That's right, he'd been doing a little bit more exploring, mainly to find the fastest way away from the village without having to take either of its main roads.

"I musta run into a tree again," he concluded before getting back up to his feet.

Sonic's eyes turned to the sky, narrowing slightly at the sun's position. It was starting to get low, he was going to have to leave the village by tonight. The townsfolk were starting to get suspicious of a wolf-like creature prowling around the woods outside the village, and were accusing it of killing their livestock. Granted, it was him around the forest, but he didn't go into town at night if he could help it. No, he kept his hunting mainly to the wild game that resided in the woods.

'Well, I better get back to town and pay for the hotel room I never use before leavin',' he thought bitterly.

Sonic hated this life, always being on the run because of a curse that was out of his control. Well, he could control himself, but not the nightly transformations. The only time they didn't happen were on nights of the new moon, but that luxary only came once a month. The village considered him a loner anyway, so it would be easier to leave since he wouldn't have to say goodbye to anyone. He had no family to speak of, and never really made any friends where he went, so other than being on the run all the time and staying hidden at night, his life was fairly simple despite the fact he couldn't really stand it.

So Sonic turned and started heading back toward the village at a fairly fast pace, or at least toward the road that led toward it. He wasn't completely familiar with every inch of the woods, so he ended up lost once or twice, though always found his way back in the end. Anyway, the blue hedgehog finally made it to the roadside, but his sensitive ears caught the sounds of conversation from the back of an approaching wagon. Out of habit he hid himself until it passed. It was only by chance a stray spring breeze blew by as the open back of the wagon finally passed him by. It carried on it the scent of roses and cherries.

To be continued...