𝙰𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎

      Sonic and Amy walked through the forest and talked to each other. Naginya crawled along, sometimes eating her own and only carrot, but at the same time she communicated with the hedgehog all the way. — So you're saying you're from an orphanage? — Yes. However, I ran away from there because I, like many other children there, were poorly fed and were not loved at all. And they took bad care of us. And one day a sanitary inspector came to us and forced us to lie, that everyone loved us and that we liked living there. Because otherwise, we were intimidated that we would be sent into the forest and fed to angry and hungry nagas or bigfoot. And we skillfully deceived the orderlies that we had a good house, but then everything returned as it was. Things only got worse. Then, in the end, I got tired of enduring all this and ran away from there. True, I didn’t think about the other children who stayed there. — Sonic sighed heavily. — How are they doing?... Without me! I don’t even know how everything has changed there since the director of this house was eaten. I don't even know. But I’m not going to go back there anymore, because I don’t trust people and Mobians anymore. Even my own mother abandoned me when I was still a baby. But I hardly even remember her. Who is she? Who was she? And why did she leave me? — Didn’t it ever occur to you that she simply couldn’t raise you? — Amy suggested, smiling and placing her hand on his shoulder. — Most likely, she simply had no other choice and she did this only for your sake, but she promised to return for you sooner or later. If she needed you then, then she will need you now. Well, either tomorrow, or after tomorrow, or even after-after tomorrow. — I somehow didn’t think about it. Although usually, if I remember well, I was always smart and even understood such concepts as something good or something bad in advance when I was still a baby. — Sonic explained. — Amy, where did you end up here? — In what sense? — Sorry! It's just that I've never seen other nagas here before. Including you. You just appeared here so suddenly. Have you come to us from somewhere far away? Rose pouted her lip, thoughtful, and replied: — Yes. I am lost. All I wanted to do was crawl into the forest to get food for Mom and Dad to feed them. But then I forgot the way home, got lost and almost cried. I wandered here for about three days and three nights, here and there, until I accidentally met you. — What kind of parents are you and where do you live with them? — E. There is one place somewhere behind this forest. There, from the eyes of people and Mobians, the village where nagas live is reliably hidden. We all live there together, work together, toil, help each other and try to build a bright and peaceful future for ourselves and our descendants. My parents were very funny. — Funny? — Sonic didn’t believe what he heard. — Yes. When I was still a little snake, they loved me very much and sometimes loved to play tricks on me. They bathed me in the bath instead of water in mayonnaise, sometimes in sauce, in ketchup and put me to bed with an apple in my mouth. By the way, that was the first time I tried one of those apples myself and they turned out to be delicious. That’s how I fell in love with vegetables and fruits, despite the fact that I am essentially a predator, like all naked people. Of course, for any predator, vegetables and fruits sometimes cause vomiting, since they are carnivores and should logically eat meat. But I got used to it a long time ago and they never make me vomit anymore. — Did your parents love you very much? — Sonic asked, although he already suspected from her story that her parents actually wanted to devour her. — Certainly. I loved them too, because they are my mom and dad. — she explained, and then sighed heavily. — How are they doing?... Without me! — Afterwards she calmed down a little and continued to explain: — When I became a teenager, I began to live not only with them, but also with my cousin and sister. They were hooligans, they liked to play a little joke on the elders, as well as on me, and they also liked to play hide and seek with me. But I was always the only one looking for the hidden ones. They hid me under a pile of rocks, in nettles, in a poison ivy bush, in a trash can, in a swamp, and even in a volcano, next to lava, where it was a little hot. But no matter how hard they tried, I always got out of there on my own and found them every time. One day they took a big bag and told me that they would hide me there along with a huge stone. And then they threw me, along with that same stone inside the bag, into the river. — Rose told the latter with humor and laughed herself, while Sonic widened his eyes and froze from what he heard. What Amy told him was terrible. Her relatives stupidly hated her and wanted to get rid of her in every possible way. They even tried to drown her, like kittens or puppies. And she, stupid, takes it with humor, as if they were just playing with her. It’s good that Sonic was smart, despite his young age, and immediately understood what was going on. Amy had finished laughing by that point and had calmed down a bit before continuing. — But fortunately I survived. After all, I gnawed a hole in the bag with my sharp teeth, got out and swam ashore, surprising my brother and sister, which even made them angry and made funny faces while looking at me. Apparently they are tired of me always winning their games with them. And then they invited me to go with them very far into the forest, in search of food for my parents, since my mom and dad themselves asked them. And they decided to take me with them. But then they lost me, and I lost them and got lost. The funny thing is that I didn’t remember the roads. Only the older cousin remembered the route and talked about it, after which he promised to take us home. But apparently she and her sister were already desperate, deciding that they had lost me and returned home without me. And I was left in the forest completely alone, starving and surviving as best I could, now getting food only for myself. — I'm so sorry, Amy! — Sonic sympathized. He was more sorry not that she was lost and could not return home, although he was sorry for that too, but most of all he was sorry that she was so mature, but naive. Even so, I still haven’t understood that in fact her parents and cousins didn’t love her at all and tried to get rid of her. — Come on! Someday, if I’m lucky, I’ll still return home to them and make them happy that I survived and returned to them myself. The baby widened his eyes at what he heard and grabbed her by the spiked tail. He grabbed her so as not to accidentally prick himself on the thorns. — No, stop! — Why stop? — Amy didn’t understand. — M-m-m?... — the kid didn’t know how to explain to her that she couldn’t come back. And the main thing is to explain everything to her so that she does not feel sad, upset or despair. And the main thing is that she does not return home, since no one is happy for her there anyway. Apparently everyone there hated her because she actually eats vegetables and fruits, since nagas usually eat meat. — Why come back? Maybe you'll stay with us? — With you? — Rose still didn’t understand. — I don’t live alone in the forest. I have another naga with me. — Seriously? — Amy smiled when she heard that he had his own naga with him. — Yes. Would you like me to introduce you to him? — Are you kidding me? — Amy asked jokingly and took the baby by the hand. — Lead me! I am for it! — Well, that's great! Why do you need to return home? Surely they have already forgotten about you, since you got lost and haven’t returned to them for a long time. Better stay with us. I think that you and Shadow... Perhaps you both will shipped. — Shadow? — Amy asked out of interest. — That’s my naga’s name. — Shadow? Hm-m... Rare name. — she thought out loud. — Yes. I thought the same thing when I first heard it. — Sonic explained. Amy laughed a little and replied: — You little stupid, that was a rhetorical question. But thanks for answering anyway. — Do not thank! Thank you again for saving me three times... And this... Forgive me. — For what? — Amy didn’t understand. — For yelling at you when I was scared of you and ran away from you. — Everything is fine! At school they told me about people and Mobians, who are both prey for us and a danger, who can attack and kill us themselves, since they themselves are no less afraid of us than we are of them. When I immediately saw you, at first I wanted to say hello to you, but then I changed my mind. I was afraid that you would immediately scream and run away from me, which was later confirmed when you looked at me. Believe me, I didn’t want to scare you like that with my appearance. — Everything is fine. I didn’t know that you are a vegetarian and don’t eat meat. But just promise me you won’t scare me like that again! - Sonic asked. — Okay, I promise. — the snake-hedgehog answered, took him by the waist and put him on her shoulders, deciding to give the baby a ride on herself. — Can you show me the way to your house? — Certainly! First we go straight. — Sonic points the way with his finger and Amy crawls there very quickly with a smile. Sonic held on tightly to her and had fun from the fact that the snake was riding him on itself.

***

      At this time, Shadow managed to clean up his house and put all his things back in the chests, as well as food in the refrigerators. However, Sonic, whom he allegedly ate, as he mistakenly thought, could not spit it back out. And the fact that it doesn’t even beat in his stomach and doesn’t even scream means that it’s most likely already digested in his stomach. Thinking about this, he sat at the table and almost cried, shaking his lips. No, well, he roared, just like a girl. I didn't even have the appetite to eat anything. Suddenly he heard someone's voices. One of them was female, and the other clearly belonged to Sonic. — Here you go! I can still hear this little guy’s tiny voice. — he said to himself through tears, but after listening more closely and hearing the second voice, he wondered who was communicating with that voice. He immediately realized that these voices were communicating with each other and were coming not from his stomach, but from the street. The striped naga crawled out the door and saw that a pink snake with a hedgehog's body and head was crawling towards him, and Sonic himself was sitting and riding on her shoulders. He noticed Shadow and waved to him: — Daddy! — Daddy? — Amy couldn’t believe her ears. — SONIC!!! — Shadow smiled, quickly crawled up and hugged the little hedgehog, pressing him to his chest. — I’m so glad to see you again, safe and sound. I thought I accidentally ate you while I was sleeping. — he added through tears, then brought it to his gaze and spoke sternly: — Never again run away from me and from my house without my permission! Understood? — Sorry, dad. I won't do this again. — Sonic repented with shame. Then Shadow smiled again and hugged him again. — I'm so glad you're okay. — and then he drew attention to that same hedgehog-nagina, who looked at him with emotion and thought how cute this little hedgehog’s daddy was, even though he was of a different race. — Who is this? — A! Sorry, dad. I forgot to introduce you. — Sonic answered, jumped from Shadow's arms and stood between both nagas. — Amy Rose, meet me! This is my adoptive daddy, Shadow. Dad, this is Amy Rose. — Eh. Very nice! — Shadow extended his hand a little shyly. — Me too, Mister Shadow. — Amy shook his hand with a grin. — Sonic told me a lot about you while we were walking here.