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Author's Notes:

Blood and Rings is based on the Sonic the Hedgehog universe and is my attempt to detail Tails' life before he befriends Sonic in the games.

Sonic and all related IP belongs to SEGA/ Sonic Team
No copyright or trademark infringement intended.

Series rated "Web-14" for violence & mild language.

Blood and Rings
Chapter 02

Miles felt warm. The tiny fox kit opened his eyes and saw the full noon sun shining down on him. The clouds and the rain were gone, and the fierce winds had been replaced by a passive breeze. The sand beneath his back still felt damp, but his skin and fur exposed to the breeze and sunshine was dry. Miles groaned and stretched his limbs where he lay. He felt stiff and rubbery. The boy rolled onto his stomach over a dry patch of sand, letting the sun bake the moisture off his back. Still feeling exhausted, Miles dozed off and slept for another hour.

The fox kit woke this time to the sound of his stomach growling. Miles struggled to his feet, supporting himself with his two tails, then brushed himself off, knocking most of the dirt and sand out of his fur. After scraping the sleepies from his eyes, he looked over the beach where he had woken up in the rain. Miles flinched at the memories of getting bashed against the rocks, their sharp edges cutting into his skin. He remembered washing up the sandbank, broken and bleeding out, certain he was going to die; and yet, here he stood, alive and well.

"I'm not... dead?" Miles whispered. The boy inspected himself, seeing a few faint scars, but otherwise looking OK.

"That golden ring... did it... save me?"

Miles had never seen any ring like that before; certainly not any that floated in the air or glowed in the dark. Mom and Dad each wore a golden ring on their fourth fingers, but they didn't do anything special, and the ring that Miles had touched was the size of his head!

His lips started quivering, and his eyes watered.

"Mommy! Daddy! Where are you?" Miles cried. He didn't understand why he was alone. He couldn't comprehend why his parents weren't there. Tears welled up around his eyes and spilled down his face. Nothing made sense to him – he had never been alone before!

"MOMMY!!" he screamed. The soft roar of the ocean and the rustling of palm leaves were his only answer.

Miles fell to his knees, sobbing loudly. He didn't know what to do. Either Mom or Dad had always been with him at all times. Never had they both been gone at the same time.

What was even worse than that – Miles couldn't even remember the last time he was with them. There was a gaping hole in Miles' memory. No matter hard he tried, the fox couldn't recall anything more recent than his third birthday, and by the look of himself, quite some time had passed since then. Miles' memories were corroded and fragmented; so much was missing, he couldn't even tell how old he was. Maybe he was four already? The boy had no way to tell.

Fear began to grip his mind.

Miles stood back up and brought his tails close to him. Were his parents looking for him? What if his parents didn't know where he was? If he was lost, would his mother and father be able to find him? What if they couldn't find him? What if –

What if they weren't looking for him at all?

No, they would never abandon him – they couldn't! He was their son! They must be looking for him!

Despite the warmth of the mid-day sun, Miles suddenly felt very cold. He was panicking, and it was sapping all his energy.

"Mommy... daddy... please don't leave me." Miles whimpered.

The hunger pains in Miles' stomach grew stronger. The orange fox needed food, but he didn't know where to find any. His parents always had food available – he had never questioned where it all came from. Food could always be found in "the fridge".

Still sniffling, Miles sat down in the sand again. He was torn between staying put and waiting for his parents to find him, or leave and try to find them. Never before had he been required to make decisions on his own, and the thought that he could make the wrong choice frightened him.

No. I trust them. They're looking for me. They'll find me. I know they will!

Miles Prower decided to wait. He had no idea where he was, and feared he might get lost forever if he struck out on his own.

The sun began its slow westward descent, and Miles huddled at the base of a palm tree on the shoreline. Dehydration soon overtook hunger as his body's most pressing need, and Miles' saliva became thick and stringy. The boy remembered how salty the ocean water tasted, and knew it would be useless to quench his thirst. There were no other sources of water that he could see. His stomach growled noisily and his whole tummy hurt, but water was what he needed most. The sun turned orange as it neared the horizon, then red as it finally began to slip beneath the waves.

There was a chill in the air as the sky grew dark, but luckily there were no clouds to be seen, and no risk of rain or thunder. Memories of last night echoed inside the boy's mind, and he recoiled at each flash of lightning. Miles sat in a tight, quivering ball at the base of the palm tree. He wanted this nightmare to end. He wanted his parents to find him and take him home. But, no one came. Even after waiting all day, Miles was still so very alone. Fresh tears rolled down his face as Miles began to sob again.

Panic and desperation gripped Miles' mind. He chewed on the tips of his claws, unable to calm himself. He felt so weak. His tongue felt like it was glued to the roof of his mouth. His breathing was labored, and even his blood felt thick like syrup. Miles now had a splitting headache he was certain was going to prevent him from sleeping another night.

Out of the corner of his eye, the fox caught a faint glimmer of light. The boy uncurled a bit, trying to see what the source of that light may have been. In the clear night sky, the stars shone brightly, illuminating the ground below with a dim bluish glow. The flicker of light he saw was gold-colored, much like the mysterious ring he found the previous night. Miles peered into the forest, his eyes scanning for any sign of the golden light. Up a sandy path, about a hundred meters away, Miles saw a faint halo of golden light over the other side of a hill. The young kit's curiosity got the better of him, trumping both his fear and his weakness. He uncurled from his palm tree and cautiously crawled up the sandy incline, wanting to know what the source of the light could be.

Miles' body strained to climb the slope, even though it wasn't very steep at all. A chorus of strange sounds startled him, but Miles pressed on even as weariness tried to overcome him. As he neared the top, the ground became less sandy and felt more like loam, and the faint golden light looked a tiny bit brighter. The boy couldn't figure out why he was so fascinated by the light in front of him, only that it reminded him of the thing he had touched yesterday. At last, Miles reached the top of the hill.

Six golden rings floated passively over a rocky depression in the top of the hill. Miles stared in wonder for several minutes, utterly fascinated by the circular objects that glowed on their own accord. Once he was able to take his focus off them he saw what was behind them: a pool of fresh water, trapped from yesterday's rain!

The little fox approached the pool of water, desperate for a drink. And yet, the very rings that had guided him here now blocked his way. There was no way he could squeeze past them without hitting one. Miles remembered what touching one felt like. It was exhilarating, but touching the one the previous night still had fried him. Miles wanted the water so badly, he couldn't let a few moments of pain stop him. The six mysterious rings spun lazily in the air, waiting for him to make up his mind. Miles crawled toward the closest one, inching fearfully toward the floating object. He halted and reached out his hand; and, knowing what was coming next, he squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth.

Miles shrieked as electricity surged throughout his flesh, but the pain he felt wasn't nearly as severe as before. The ring he grasped burned brightly, dissolving into a thousand tiny motes of light and absorbed into the fox's body. The surge ended, leaving Miles panting in the dirt, his whole body tingling. The fox recovered, and immediately dunked his head into the water, gulping it down as fast as he could. The water had mud in it, but the boy didn't care; he drank his fill, and his tummy became round and tight as a drum.

The boy's belly sloshed about as he rolled over on his back, sucking in the nighttime breeze. He was alert now, after absorbing that ring, and he didn't feel quite as miserable as before. Miles stared into the sky, still bathing in the golden light of the five remaining rings. He didn't feel quite as sizzled as last time, and his three-plus-something year old brain tried to analyze all the sensations he felt. It was like some unknown power had entered his body and tried to rearrange his insides. It was such a strange feeling.

Miles got up again and stared at the five remaining rings. Their golden glow briefly made him forget his predicament. Some part of him felt compelled to collect them, even though he had no idea what they were or what they were doing to him.

'What are these things?' Miles thought to himself.

Before Miles even knew what he was doing, he approached the nearest ring, crouching down on all fours. The fox kit braced himself and stretched out his hand. On contact, Miles yelped as the ring flashed and dissolved, its power absorbed into the young fox. Once again, the shock of contact diminished, as if Miles' body was becoming accustomed to these surges. He absorbed the third, fourth, and fifth golden ring, each one filling him with an energy he had never before experienced. It was euphoric.

But, the sixth ring seemed different. It floated, spun, and glowed no differently than the previous five, but when Miles reached out and touched it, it didn't immediately dissolve. Miles was able to clutch it in his hand, hold it, turn it over, and inspect it from all sides. Miles marveled at how pretty it was, and how warm it felt in his grip. An odd thought suddenly occurred to him.

'I wonder what it tastes like?' he thought, remembering how hungry he was.

Without contemplating the possible risks of this experiment, Miles promptly chomped down on the ring, only to squeal as the ring's energy fully discharged inside his mouth. It was roughly equivalent to sticking a fork into an electrical socket, then biting the fork, only not quite as lethal. Miles fell on his back, his face numb, his fur standing on end, and feeling rather singed. With all the mental clarity a three year old could muster, Miles empirically concluded that was an incredibly stupid idea.

'Tastes like owwie.'