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 distrubition for profit.

Part 3

     Time went on, and the small band of refugees did the best they 
could to keep living.

* * *

     The 23 survivors began to pool their knowledge together, and 
slowly, a village was born.  The crude burrows they had slept in the 
first night became a complex system of underground rooms and hallways.  
They learned what plants could be used for food and medicine, and some 
of the people even had hunting skills.  The hovercar had had the 
incredible luck of crashing near a small brook, so water was available 
as well.  It was not the city life they had known, but it was one they 
could live.
     The hovercar's radio provided their only way of knowing what was 
going on.  The hovercar's batteries were soon dead, but luck continued 
to help them, as one of the group fashioned a hand-cranked generator out 
of parts from the hovercar.  By monitoring the Palace Guard and other 
radio frequencies that Jean had had access to, they learned what was 
happening to Mobotropolis, and it chilled them to the bone.  Shirley 
realized that she would never see Jean again, and her heart broke even 
more.

     As the years went on, the refugees' life became routine.  They 
tried to live as normally as they could, but it was in perpetual fear of 
being found.  The slightest noise from above would send everyone 
scurrying underground, and nobody ever dared to venture far from the 
village.  Nobody, that is, except for an energetic, young fox.

     Tolouse was the only child in the group, and he grew up quickly in 
the underground village.  His mother had been hesitant to tell him 
exactly what had happened, but finally, she did.  One night, when 
Tolouse was seven, she sat down with him and explained why they were 
living in the forest, why they were always hiding, and what she was sure 
had happened to Jean.  Tolouse had listened, asking no questions.  When 
she had left his room, he had crawled into bed, but sleep did not come 
until late in the night.  He thought about what his mother had told him, 
and then he thought about his life here and the fear that seemed to 
dictate what to do.  Finally, just before sleep came, he became 
determined to do something about it.  He didn't know how, but he would 
find a way to help them.

* * *

     Nearly nine years after their escape, Shirley and the others 
noticed that the transmissions they were picking up on the radio had 
taken on a new tone.  There was talk of a band of "freedom fighters" 
somewhere in the Great Forest who were apparently putting up a good 
fight for Robotnik.  Shirley could not see how such a thing was even 
feasible, but other villagers cheered the possibility of Robotnik being 
brought down, however remote that possibility was.  Some time after 
these new developments occurred, the transmissions ceased all together.  
It was reasoned that they were probably being scrambled now, to keep 
these "freedom fighters" from picking them up as well.
     Tolouse, who was now 13, had heard about the transmissions, too.  
Almost immediately, he knew that this was his chance to help his mother 
and the villagers, the way he had wanted to do for six years now.  He 
wanted to find this place, this "Knothole" that was mentioned in the 
transmissions.  He wanted to see Robotnik pay for taking his father and 
making his mother fear for her life almost daily.  He wanted to be a 
freedom fighter.

     "You want to *what*?" Shirley asked.
     "Mother, everyday I look around here and I see us living like 
prisoners because of that...jerk, Robotnik.  I want to do something 
about it.  I want to find this Knothole place and help them fight him!"
     "Tolouse, think!  Robotnik has taken over the entire civilization, 
on both continents!  Do you really believe that a small group of people 
can put up a war against somebody like that?  With all his robots and 
technology to back him up??"
     Tolouse looked away in frustration.  "But we're not even trying!  
You won't even let me walk out into the forest on my own.  I'm sick of 
just sitting here when something could be done about it.  Anything!"  
Tolouse turned towards her.  "Mother, I don't want to live like this!"
     Shirley looked at her son.  He was no longer the frightened baby 
she had fled Mobotropolis with, all those years ago.  A tear came to her 
eye.  "How would you even know where to go?"
     Tolouse sighed.  "I don't.  But the more I think about it, the more 
I want to at least try.  Please, Mother."  Tolouse looked into his 
mother's eyes.  "I've got to try."
     Shirley knew that her son's mind was made up.  The tears came 
freely, now.  "Okay, Tolouse.  Okay."  She hugged him as tightly as she 
could.

     The next day, before the Mobian sun had risen, he was gone.  He had 
packed some food and had said one last goodbye to his mother.  Then, 
looking out into the Great Forest, he began walking.

     Shirley spent most of the day in her room, crying.  She had lost 
her husband to the cruelty of Ivo Robotnik.  Now, she feared that she 
had lost her son as well.

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 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".