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Sonic didn’t fear death.
Those that knew him would proclaim Sonic wasn’t afraid of much at all. ‘He’s too strong to lose himself’, they’d say. ‘That one’s a fighter’. And it was true; the very phobias that did linger were kept tightly under lock and key, withheld from the world in the deepest crevices of his mind. Because he didn’t have time to be afraid. Sonic didn’t fear death.
At least, not conventionally.
Because in terms of passing, it wasn’t his own that struck nervousness into his core. His very first brush with death had been so young. An experience that paved way for the rest of his life, routine found that it would happen again and again. A constant threat, a new enemy and a series of close encounters. It was something Sonic had practically grown friendly with, and it allowed him to steel himself to the concept.
But death wasn’t his alone to dance with. That was the more subtle reminder; the one that had crept up on him personally, more intimately. Something that kept him awake at night, the thing that always pushed him to fight harder. That the people in his life he so dearly wished to protect could meet demise themselves, and he’d be powerless against it.
As much as he dedicated himself to preventing such a fate, it was never his choice to make. He’d felt it in Station Square. On the ARK, and the Death Egg. Lost Hex and Little Planet.
And now, it reflected from the back of his eyes in a burst of light.
It had happened so fast that he couldn’t possibly recall it. There’s stories of what death feels like. Some people describe it as fleeting and numb, while others say it’s the most intense pain they’ve ever felt. Few have their memories flash back in chopped sequence, and others see flickering, bright lights.
Sonic didn’t see any of that. All he’d seen was a streak of yellow and black reach out to him, then disappear into crisp white. The scene etched itself into his very self, before he felt that same light lick at the back of his heels.
It was odd, he thought. It felt warm, and almost familiar.
Perhaps Sonic did fear death, just a bit.
