PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING!

(Edited because the txt didn't atatch XD)

If you have nothing nice to say, don't say it this time around. And no Crit unless its on how to make my comic pages better.

Okay, so here's a snippet of history between Snively and Sally based on my Dark Obsessions comic. Comparing this page to my old pages, I gotta say, my charecter drawings look a lot more polished and much less akward, less rushed.

The story accompanying is by myself and

(EDIT...again)

Seems DA's spazzing on me and won't let me load the story. so I'm putting it here in the AC... Here ya go

Summer nights like this one always were what knothole village looked forward to the whole year round. It meant late nights of being up around a campfire telling stories, of cooking outdoors on the open flame, and sitting together and enjoying the company of ones friends. Sally looked forward to this every year as well with deep seated enthusiasm, yet tonight, the very first warm night of summer, she felt distracted from the oncoming joy of what would undoubtedly be her fondest memories. She had wandered out to the borders of Knothole to enjoy the night by herself before the night’s activities began. The firewood was still being gathered anyway and there was time to kill.

She looked up at the sky at the luminous full moon. There certainly was something about the full moon. It was romantic on the right occasion and could set the mood lighting for many precious moments. But it had a side to it that left Sally looking back to years gone by. That lonely glow that made itself the focal point of the sky... Funny how it could trigger memories long forgotten...and make you remember what you had always tried to forget.

Her mind rewound, and she was a child once. It was a year or so before the fateful day of Robotnik’s take over. Julian was with her father, discussing things that they likely thought she would not understand or wouldn't care to hear, but she remembered it well despite her tender age of four years. Dismantling the war malitia. It was a funny thought to her considering all the fighting that had gone on previously during the Great War, but it was news that made her happy as she passed by. It meant peaceful times ahead! If only she had known...

So past the throne room she went, and down past the kitchens were dinner was already being prepared... The young squirrel smiled to herself. She had but one destination, one that her friends found odd and Rosie found disturbing. Rounding one last corner, she stood in the doorway of a decent sized room, staring over at Colin Kintobor with bright eyes and a smile to match. Yes, he was short and geeky, and his nose was larger than a toucans, but only he could teach her what she craved!

He had the hard drive of a computer dismantled and was mumbling to himself in agitation, looking over the pieces as though they were taunting them. Sally wondered to herself what was going through his mind, and what fantastic and brilliant work he might be cooking up. No, her friends wouldn't understand her fascination with him, of course not. They didn't love computers as much as she did, and they didn't want to learn all they possibly could about them from people who were gifted and brilliant! She walked in, hands behind her back with a smile. “Hello Mr. Snively!”

Snively's head snapped up at the unexpected call, the back of his head striking the light he had moved low over his worktable to better peer into the inner workings of this blasted hard drive. He yelped at both the pain and the heat, flicking off the light and shoving it away briskly. He turned to the direction of the voice, words of scolding on his lips as he expected it to be another one of the palace brats come here just to annoy him, as they always did, especially that thick-skulled pint sized blue hedgehog. However, the harsh words died away when he saw just who it was.

Princess Sally Alicia Acorn. The one child in the palace he could stand to be around and he didn't mind when she was around him. Where other children asked him questions for the sake of laughing at his voice when he answered, the young princess had a genuine thirst for learning that matched his own at her age. It was such a rare find in this day and age that he found himself taking special care to nurture it and help it grow.

“Ahh, my favorite princess!” he said in a softer voice he reserved especially for her, glancing away from his project long enough to make eye contact. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

She rolled her eyes, an impossibly large smile taking up most of her face. “I'm the only princess silly! I'm just wondering what you're doin’!” She trotted forward a few steps to get a closer look. “Why’s the computer taken apart? Did it stop working?

Snively nodded, turning back to the dismantled hard drive on the table in front of him. “For some reason, this computer stopped booting from its hard drive.” He explained, knowing that she would understand what he meant; she may be young but her mind was keen. “My initial diagnostic said it was a physical problem with the hard drive so I thought the needle that it spins on may have broken. But it's not that and I can't find anything wrong with it.”

“And its not the soft ware that starts it that needs replacing?” she asked, , twiddling her fingers behind her back as she moved to stand beside him, peering into the black hole of the open computer and the green pieces of hardware scattered about the table.

“No, that was the first thing I tried.” he said, smiling at how her mind worked. “I even re-installed the BIOS programming and reset all the pointers and setting manually. It didn't even recognize the hard drive was installed.”

She blinked, her brow furrowing and her little nose wrinkling a little in an impossibly cute way. “Weird... So what are you gonna do now?” The young princess asked. “Can I help?”

Snively smiled at her, touched by the sincerity of her offer. “Well, it might be a problem with the computer itself.” He said, scratching the side of his nose thoughtfully. “Maybe a piece of hardware is malfunctioning. Either way, I'm going to have to take the computer apart piece by piece and examine it all. I would love the help, but I don't think your father would be so appreciative.”

She glanced behind her, blushing a little. “Well, he kinda thinks I'm off with Rosie on my way to play with Bunnie and Sonic.” She grinned with a giggle. “I was being a little sneaky!”

“Do you think you could still be so sneaky with grease all over your pretty outfit?” He asked with his own grin. “You remember the last time your father saw you like that, right?”

“Well... yeah...” Quickly her mind was turning over the situation, trying desperately to think of a way to convince him that she could stay. “Well, what.. if I just hand you the things you need? Then I wouldn't get dirty and I could still be here with you!”

“Well, I would enjoy the company.” he replied, drawing his words out to make her think that he needed to think about it. The truth was that he had already decided to let her stay, but he was going to milk this just a little bit. “But you would have to be really quiet. This is a very delicate piece of machinery and if I detach the wrong thing at the wrong time, I could get in a lot of trouble.”

“Oh I won't be any trouble, I'll be on my best behavior!” She assured, stepping out of the way so she wouldn't be within his work space. She pulled a chair over and climbed onto it, making sure his tools were nearby or that she was within an arms reach and a good lean in case he needed her to hold something. Her big blue eyes roved the computer, then his face as she wondered aloud. “How'd you get to be so smart Mr. Snively?”

“By asking a lot of questions,” He said with a soft smile. “and by listening to the answers. Something I see you've already learned. You're a smart little girl Sally.” He said, dropping the formality for a moment. “Make sure you never lose that.”

Sally’s cheeks took on a rosy hue, and for a moment she just stared shyly at her lap. “Julayla said that questions are the minds way of opening doors to understanding, and listening is stepping through them. You can't do one without the other and get anywhere.” She leaned in to see what he was doing a little better. “Know what?” She said secretively.

“What?” He asked a bit distractedly, tugging at a stubborn bolt. “And could you please hand me that wrench next to you?”

She hopped off her chair and picked it up swiftly, mindful of where she stepped and how she moved so she wouldn't trip and cause an accident or get dirty. Once retrieved, she held it up with a dazzling smile. “I want to be like you.”

He slowly turned to look at her, surprised at her proclamation. Yet underneath that surprise he was quite secretly pleased at her words, and he favored her with a true smile. Not the ones he had practiced for the day-to-day of court life, but a true one that came from his heart.

“Sally.” He said, kneeling down in front of her. “That is quite possibly the greatest compliment I have ever received. Thank you.”

Sally basked under his praise, pure elation on her face. She closed her eyes and giggled a bit. “I'm just telling the truth! My friends think I'm crazy for coming down here all the time but I think its because they don't get computers!”

He tapped her nose lightly, nodding and giggling with her. “You won't hear me complaining. After all, who else can say he gets to spend time with his favorite princess.” he added with a wink as he stood.

Sally wriggled her nose as he tapped it, and bottled up the great way his praise made her feel so that she would never forget it. His favorite princess! Her tail wiggled behind her as she hopped back up onto her chair to watch him work. She would be like him one day. She'd build amazing things, know her way around a computer with her eyes closed, and she'd be brilliant! Just like he was!....

She was so lost in the memory that she hadn't heard Sonics approach, nor did he hear her talking to her until he was practically shouting it. She spun her head around to see him, startled out of the moment and back in the present once more.

“Oh, Sonic!” She brushed her hair out of her face, feeling a bit embarrassed at having been snuck up on. “I'm sorry, I was kinda lost in thought for a moment.”

“Thinking about me I hope!” Sonic said with his usual swagger as he plopped himself down beside where she stood.

She clasped her hands behind her back for a moment, batting her lashes as she sat down at his side as well. “Would you be jealous if I said it was indeed a guy, but not you?”

Sonic's eyes flashed for a moment as jealousy did indeed creep past his facade of carelessness.
“What other guy could you be thinking about?” he asked with more confidence than he felt. “There ain't a guy around who can match up to the ol' hedgehog.”

“While that may be true…” Sally began with a jest, only to look back up at the moon and have her voice grow soft again. “I was thinking about something I had almost forgotten... About when we were kids and I used to hang around Snively’s workshop...when he used to teach me.”

“Wow, long time ago.” Sonic said, slipping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her to lean against his side. “I remember him always chasing me away with that wrench of his. Not my fault I couldn't sit still, and I didn't mean to set off the sprinklers near his window…” He laughed at the memory. “How’d I know his window was open?”

She smiled at that. “I doubt he ever really forgave you for that....” Growing quiet, she stared at the sky again, then whispered. “Do you think he remembers it at all? Or if he cares?”

“Hard to say.” He offered after a brief moment's thought. “I mean, anything's possible, but who knows what goes on inside that dome of his? He's not the same guy you used to know.”

Sally had her doubts. Someone didn’t change like he apparently did, not overnight anyway, and the coup DID happen that suddenly. There had to be a shred of good still in him, and a piece of humanity in his soul worth saving. In reply to him, she stood up, resigned, a distant sadness in her gaze. “I guess not...I wonder if I ever really did know him at all?”

Sonic rose a brow at her. What was making her think about this all of a sudden? “Whatever Sal!” he said brushing off the subject, bored of it as he sprung to his feet! “The campfires all ready and I’m dying to tell everyone about the last mission when …”

His words were lost to her, but she followed close behind him, her mind still wandering. Yeah, something about the moon always makes one remember.