FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Outcasts in Need

Part 2

For EdgeofObsidian

By Draconicon

"And here you go!"

Paige smiled, her voice uplifted but quiet as she pulled the book off the shelf. It had taken her almost twenty minutes to locate it in the Knothole Glade library, considering that someone had moved it sometime before. The brown bat turned around, her eyes glittering with the feeling of success, only to find that her patron had already disappeared. Her smile faded slightly, but she spotted him just around the corner of the shelves, his little red tail sticking out from the other end, and she hurried over to him.

"E-excuse me," she said, poking her head around the corner, tapping the red dog on the shoulder. "Um, you wanted this book, and I just found it for you."

Rather than the thanks that she had half-hoped that she'd still get, the dog smirked at her, elbowing his friend, an orange fox, in the ribs.

"Heh, told ya we could keep her looking for that thing. The little nerd doesn't have anything better to do."

"Maybe she'll lose some weight and look like a decent woman if she keeps running around all day. We should hide some of the other books," the fox said.

"Heh, you hear that, chubby? Maybe we should keep you running all day long, looking for stuff that's out of place."

Paige's smile died completely by that point, and she lowered her head, her one wing on her back pulling in tight against her spine.

"Please, don't...it's a very carefully organized system..."

"Yeah, don't care. I don't spend much time reading here, anyway."

"It would improve you a bit if you did."

"Ha! As if someone like me needs improving."

A lot, actually, Paige thought, but she didn't say anything. She'd long-since learned that it was better not to engage once they got to this point. The only reason that she might was -

"Yoink!"

The red dog yanked the book out of her hands, and she stared as he pulled his arm back over his shoulder. She rapidly shook her head, jumping at him, trying to grab it out of his hand, but he was holding it way over her head.

"Hey, go long! We'll keep this piggie exercising for a while!"

"H-hey! You could damage that!"

"And who do you think is gonna pay for it?" the dog asked, smirking. "Go long!"

#

As the boys were finally escorted out of the library by security, Paige picked the book off the ground and dusted it off, shaking her head.

It had definitely been damaged from the way that they were throwing it around so roughly. There were marks along the spine and the cover, and the carefully-laid gold leaf on the front cover had been half-removed. The history book would need a great deal of restoration before it could be considered to be in good condition again, and it left her with a great deal of heartache to see it in such condition.

Why do people do this? she wondered, carefully nudging the loose bits of gold back where they were supposed to be. I mean...why? It's just a book...and I'm just...

She burned with embarrassment at how loud the guys had been. They might have been younger, barely out of being teens, but that didn't mean that they had to be cruel. They'd called her 'piggy,' called her 'chubby' and 'fat' and 'freak' for the entire library to hear, and nobody had said a thing. Everyone just glared at her as if it was her fault that they were disrupting the place.

And they were probably right. She hadn't been able to stop them, not even able to call security while she was trying to deal with them. Someone else had ended up having to call the team down, and even then, they'd looked at her as if she was interrupting their day rather than being willing to do their jobs.

I'm just trying to keep things running the way that they're supposed to. That's all...

And she was just trying to be a good librarian, too, to make sure that everyone got the information that they asked for. Yes, the Knothole Library wasn't the best of them, and was hardly the sort of library that they'd have when they finally got rid of Eggman and could have the big cities back, but that was something in the future. For now...

For now, she'd keep doing what she was doing.

Rubbing her eyes free of the tears of humiliation, she tucked the book under her arm and carried it back towards the damaged-goods section of the library. With every step, she felt the eyes of the other patrons in the library on her, staring at her, watching as the 'freak' made her way through the shelves and the open spaces, knowing that they were judging her just as much as they always did.

Her single wing pulled in even tighter. Despite the fact that it was on the verge of cramping, she made sure that it was tucked in good and tight against her spine, not wanting to risk someone staring at it who hadn't already seen it. It was just one of many things that her bullies made fun of her for, one of many things that wasn't even her fault.

The eyes followed her all the way to the little wooden door that marked the damaged-goods section. She opened it, stepping inside and shutting the door behind her. She leaned against it for a moment, hugging the book against her stomach until she heard the voice of the section head calling for her.

"Yes, yes, Paige, what is it?" the elderly walrus muttered.

"Um, some boys...damaged a book."

"Lovely. Which one?"

"This one. A History of Freedom, by -"

"I know who it's by, girl. Damn it. Let me see."

She nodded, passing the tome over to the walrus behind the counter. He put on a pair of spectacles, turning the book around and muttering more and more as the seconds ticked by.

At least he'll be happy that I got it back before it was completely irreparable, she thought, looking down at the floor as he kept muttering. I did good there. He has to be happy about that.

"What the hell did you let them do?!"

Just as soon as Paige had started to find a positive, it was ripped away from her. She shrunk in on herself a bit, holding her hands behind her back as she hunched her shoulders. The walrus slammed the book down on his counter as he glared over it at her.

"What the hell did you let them do, Paige? This is the fourth book this month. How the hell are they getting you, still?"

"I...I didn't try to let them do anything."

"No, you're just stupid enough to believe them when they say that they want your help instead of one of the others."

"Please -"

"From now on, you just work on shelving. No more helping people."

"But...but..."

"That's my final word on the matter. Now, get back out there. I'm sure that there's some returned books that need to go on the shelves or something."

"...Yes, sir."

She blinked away a tear or two, but she left the room without hesitation. The little bat knew better than to argue with the walrus. When he made a decision, it was final, and there were no ifs, ands, or buts involved in that.

As soon as she entered the main part of the library again, Paige felt herself come under scrutiny. She knew that it was going to continue all day, and she knew that she'd eventually get used to it again, but she also knew that she needed a bit of time to get herself back together. There was only one private place in the library where nobody would bother her for a while, and that was downstairs.

As she locked the employee bathroom door, she felt herself shaking from head to toe. She trembled as she walked over to the sink that hung out from under the mirror, her eyes down on the floor, still, not daring to look at herself just yet.

You're going to have to. And it's not bad...not bad...

That didn't help the bat, though. She knew that she was going to look at all the things that she hated about herself before she could see the good again. This was the way that it happened every single time, and while she knew that she had to go through with it, that didn't mean that she liked doing it.

Bite the bullet and do it. You have to be sad before you can be happy again.

So, Paige leaned against the bathroom sink and looked up at herself.

The first thing she saw was the one wing. She was the only bat in the village, in the entirety of Knothole Glade, in all of the Freedom Fighters, that had just one wing. And it wasn't even from an injury. She had just been born this way, and there was no changing it. She just had to deal with it, never able to fly, never able to do that graceful walk with the wings as her cape, never able to be that elegant bat that turned all the heads.

Her loose shirt - well, it was such a long shirt that it was closer to a hoodie, in terms of how it went halfway down her thighs - did its best, but it couldn't quite hide her pudge. She wasn't obese, not a piggy, by any means, but she did have more weight down there than she probably needed to have. Her stomach had a curve to it, and it supported her breasts, too, rather than being something that her breasts bounced over.

And those were thrust forward more than they should be, too. They were just big enough to look fat rather than being just part of her curves, and it made it hard for her to find bras or shirts that were the right size for her. It made her look like she was trying to thrust them out on display all the time, as if she was some slut that had gotten her position by sleeping with the boss rather than through her own good qualifications.

She shook her head, putting her head down against the sink for a moment. The coolness against her forehead was nice, but it made her look down at her legs, too.

They were not the slender limbs of a woman that was in good with the gyms or with fitness, but the thick legs of a girl that didn't get all the exercise that she needed. She blushed as she looked down her legs to her feet, encased in sandals that only seemed to show off how wide they were rather than the lovely slender look that most of the girls had and showed off in high-heels.

Hell, she even had to use men's sandals to be able to fit her feet properly, considering that they were so much wider than average.

Freak bat...

She had heard those words a hundred times, and every time, she felt hurt by them. Paige did her best to forgive the people that said it, to feel good about them later, but it was very hard to do that when they never actually apologized. She told herself that they were probably feeling too embarrassed to come back and apologize to her, but that only worked so well. She still hurt from it, and she still had to work to forgive them.

The bat took a few deep breaths, then managed to pull her head up. She was crying, and she knew that wasn't going to be a good look when she got back to work. Reaching under the tap, she ran some cold water, splashing it over her face until the tear marks were gone, and she looked a bit better. She felt a little bit better, too, now that she'd gotten the crying out of the way, and now that she could look at herself properly.

I'm not fat...

Chubby, yes. There was no way around that, and because of her one wing, she couldn't do the thing that all the other bats did that would get rid of her weight. She couldn't flap around and fly it off the way that they did, and that meant that she was more or less doomed to the more round body that she currently had. That meant that she had to fight to keep even that much, she had to admit.

But that didn't mean she was ugly. And...and she had a pretty smile.

Paige forced herself to smile for the mirror, looking at it, appreciating it. Hopefully, one day, there'd be some boy that would appreciate her for it.

With that done, she pulled herself together, dragging her shirt into the right position, and then turned back to the door. One thing was for sure. There was always sorting to do, and she was the best at that in the library.

After sorting through all the books on the history of the Freedom Fighters, as well as the various books that they'd put together about Eggman's army and forces - books that the Freedom Fighters studied religiously, she knew - she started to work on the fiction books. There weren't as many of them, considering that they didn't have the space and the resources to put together reading for pleasure, but at least they had the books that were classics. Romance novels, epic adventures, historical dramas. They were all there, all ready for those that wanted to keep their hopes up.

She settled into one of the alcoves around the library, pulling one of the adventure books to her chest and burying her face in it. Her large ears rotated every now and then, pulling at the sounds from the library, always on the watch for someone that either needed help or some employee that needed her to take a different shift. She never wanted to be accused of being lazy, or of being useless.

If you can't be pretty, be useful, Paige thought, and hoped that she wasn't being too cruel to herself. She was harder on herself than she was to any of her bullies, and she didn't know how to be anything different. All she knew was that if she did better, maybe, maybe, it would one day be enough to get the bullies to stop.

She leaned against the chair, her nose buried in the book as she read through the adventures of a great and powerful hedgehog champion. It was set way back in the ancient days of Mobius, and she liked to read through those sorts of stories. It gave her something to do besides just being entranced in the various adventures and goings-on that the books had. It let her test herself, looking through it for the various historical accuracies and inaccuracies.

After all, she did come from parents that were both historians and archaeologists. They weren't really around much anymore, but that didn't mean that their passions hadn't been passed on to her. She loved to see just what she could find out in the library, what she could dig out of the old books and find out about the past. She liked to see what there was to be found in the old books, how many people got things wrong, and how many people got it right.

It was the only time when she got particularly judgmental, as well. It felt like, if someone was going to go through the trouble to put together a book for other people to read, they should at least do the right work for it.

That's wrong, she thought as she reached a scene where the hedgehog character was fighting the Echidna tribe. They were never that sort of aggressive, and they didn't use swords and shields. If anything, they used pointed knuckles, and even then, they would have preferred to fight bare-handed.

She blushed a bit as she caught herself critiquing the author, but she knew that she was right. The history of the world was all there for people to read, and here was someone changing it up just for the sake of drama. She huffed softly to herself, turning the page.

Even though she was criticizing the author for how he was putting together the different cultures in the book, she had to admit that there was a part of her that still loved it. Not for the sake of good storytelling, but rather for the sake of there being a hero that people actually liked in the story. Someone that went about doing the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing, rather than because he wanted to have glory.

It made her feel like there was a good reason to be good to others. If there were heroes out there like that, then they would never get the attention that they deserved. It was important for everyone to believe that they were good, that they were worth giving attention to, that they were worth giving time and love and affection to. If she didn't give that first, how were other people supposed to...

No, no, she was reading a book, not getting ready to cry. She snuffled softly, wiping her eyes on her sleeve before getting back to the book proper.

She was halfway through it when she heard a soft beep, beep over the library intercom. The bat lifted her head from the book, listening to the announcement.

Attention, library patrons. We are pleased to announce that the Freedom Fighters have managed to strike a blow against Eggman's forces. Another zone has been taken from our robot overlords, and the robots are in the process of being stripped for parts. If anyone has interest in purchasing them when the fighters come back, please make sure that you're assembled in the main square of the Glade at 1900 hours.

Paige shook her head. She imagined that if she was one of the machinists or hobbyists that populated the Glade, she'd be interested in that sort of thing, but right at that point, she didn't want to leave her book behind. She had gotten fairly far in it, and she didn't want to lose her place and go back to it later. If she could finish it today, that would be for the best.

Flicker flicker.

She blinked, turning to her left. One of the tv screens that the library had gotten installed in the various booths flicked on, and she saw that it was some news program that was being streamed through the illegal channels. It looked like it was one of the resistance news programs, too, rather than one of the propaganda streams that Eggman liked to use. A member of the reporter corp was interviewing one of the Fighters, and she recognized him, too. A chameleon by the name of Espio, one of the nicer members of the higher-ranking fighters.

"Tell me, are we winning this war?" the reporter, a mongoose in a tight suit, asked.

"We're making progress. It's too soon to say whether we're winning."

"I don't suppose you have better words of hope than that."

"I am not here to give you hope. I'm here to give you results."

"And...about the Abyss-Holder..."

Paige shivered as she heard the word 'Abyss', and she imagined that everyone in the library felt the same.

Abyss had been a horrible, horrifying, terrifying man, and one that had brutalized a significant part of the world before Sonic and Shadow had brought him down. She remembered the way that he had broken his people, how his lightning storms had ravaged the lands, and how he had broken...

She remembered the storm that had descended on her old home. Paige hadn't been anywhere near it, and neither had her parents, but she remembered seeing the lightning cutting the ground like great blades of heaven. Every wing of the old home had been destroyed, cut down in a matter of seconds, until there was nothing left.

And then, then he had just...disappeared.

Paige knew that the Abyss-Holder was part of the Freedom Fighters, and she knew that he, unlike Abyss, was not a bad person. Not that she'd meet him, but she knew that everyone wasn't a bad person at heart. There were plenty of people that were not good in their actions, but at the heart, they were good. Even...

Okay, maybe not Abyss. She wasn't stupid. She knew that that man was someone that she could never trust, even without having met him, but the Abyss-Holder -

The camera panned slightly to the side, and she saw him. A black-furred hedgehog with a blue scarf that covered his face, he was a lean figure that was barely in view. However, as soon as the camera man realized that he'd gotten the Abyss-Holder on screen, he pointed it out, and the mongoose turned.

"He's here?" the reporter asked.

"He is part of the resistance, the same as us."

"But..."

"You think that he's not welcome?"

"He's just a prison. He shouldn't be out in the field! What if he turns on you?"

"He. Is. A. Freedom. Fighter. That means that he fights. End of discussion. This interview is over."

The mongoose tried to get his super-scoop back again, but the chameleon seemed to have been rather offended by the stupid question, as well he should be. Paige watched as the chameleon and the hedgehog blinked away, shimmering out of sight as if they had just teleported to somewhere else.

Then again, considering what she had heard about the pair of them, she wouldn't be surprised if they had just done that very thing.

Paige looked at the screen for a few more seconds, then slowly closed her book. The mood to look for a hero had been kind of spoiled after seeing that. The way that people turned on those that were just trying to help...

"He's just begging for trouble, isn't he?"

The bat blinked, looking over her shoulder. A green hedgehog woman was looking at the screen, shaking her head in disdain as she adjusted a pair of fancy spectacles. Paige shook her head a few times.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Abyss-Holder. They should have killed him when he came back."

"...What?"

"He's lying, you know. There's no way that anyone with that sort of power just locks it up. He could let it loose at any time. For all we know, he actually is Abyss, still, and he's just trying to get away with all the horrible things he's done."

"But he's not hurting anyone."

"Who says he isn't? We're still losing people, aren't we? What if he's selling them out, or worse, killing them in the field?"

"He wouldn't do that."

"Ha! Abyss would do that, and more, you stupid girl."

Paige bit her lip, shaking her head again, but the green hedgehog kept up.

"Now, now, don't argue with me, girl. A lazy body is the sign of a lazy mind, and you are eminently lazy, with all those rolls of fat on you. Do you even work here?"

"I...I do..."

"Then find me something."

"What do you need?" Paige asked, her teeth clenched against the anger and hurt that were slowly building in her heart.

"Oh, I don't know. Something. Something interesting."

"...No," Paige muttered.

"What was that, stupid girl?"

"I said, no! You're just trying to get me in trouble, and I'm not going to play a game so that you can complain later."

"...What did you say?"

"I said -"

"Please don't fire me!"

Paige had been brought into the boss's office no more than five minutes after turning the green hedgehog down. Apparently, not only was she completely snooty, but she was connected to some of the richer members of the resistance, and she'd threatened to pull her support for the library if something wasn't done about the 'stupid fat girl' that had 'been so rude.'

Her boss, a white-furred fox, sighed as he rubbed his head.

"Paige...I have to do something. You did go off on a patron in a way that's frankly quite unacceptable."

Of course he did. He had to protect the library, had to protect himself, had to protect the books and the appearance of the place of knowledge. She knew that it wasn't personal - or at least, she believed that it wasn't - but it was hard to feel that way when his eyes had the same judgment as everyone else.

Fat. Lazy. Stupid.

She looked down at her feet, and then looked away, not needing the reminder of her own inadequacies at that point.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult her, but...but she was calling me stupid, and...and she was..."

"It doesn't matter what she said. You're not allowed to talk back in those sorts of situations."

"..."

"Paige, I'm putting you on probation."

She winced. It wasn't as bad as being fired, but it meant that it would take very little to push her over the edge and have her properly fired. Knowing how the people in the Glade liked to bully her - even if they felt bad afterwards, she hurried to think, or even lie, to herself - that wouldn't take long.

This isn't...this isn't...

The brown bat nodded slowly, getting to her feet.

"I'm not done, Paige."

"...Yes?"

"You...defended the Abyss-Holder. Is that right?"

She slowly nodded.

"You will never, ever do that again."

"Why not?"

"Because he is dangerous, and everyone is right to be afraid of him. You would do well to learn a little common sense and know when it's better to stop being kind to people."

"..."

"Do I make myself clear?"

"...Perfectly."

"Then you're allowed to leave."

She nodded, making her way out the door and back into the library proper. The boss's office was on the top floor of the tree that the library was part of, the fourth level, as a matter of fact. She walked over to the railing that looked down on the other levels, slowly shaking her head as she looked down the great spiral staircase that led between the different levels. It rose through the middle of the tree, connecting all of them, but leaving just enough gaps to see down to the ground level.

He's wrong.

She knew it, and this time, she wasn't going to let someone else tell her what was what. Paige clenched her hands into little fists, leaning down and resting her head in her hands.

He's wrong. The Abyss-Holder...ugh. No. He has a name. He's more than just that title.

The little bat knew that she needed to remember that. It was part of dehumanizing someone, she'd read. The more that you referred to someone as what they were, the more you forgot who they were. The more of a what they became, the more of an it they were rather than a person.

And he wasn't an it. Nobody was. Not her bullies, not that nasty woman, not him.

She took a deep breath, feeling the shakes come. They might have been real anger for a change; she felt like that this time, rather than just feeling hurt or sad. It was different, something powerful, something strong that rushed through her and made it hard for her to think, hard for her to focus on anything.

But she had to.

Paige gradually made her way to the staircase, walking down towards the third floor. If she was on probation, she might as well take a few things home to get rid of some of the worst of this. She'd been curious about a few things for a while, and she might as well take a night to research them.

#

Paige arrived back at her treehouse with four books in hand. Two touched on self-improvement regarding assertiveness and general confidence, while the other two...

They were a trifle more erotic. Technical, yes, but erotic all the same. The first was a novel about a hero and his lady, something that might have been termed a bodice-ripper if it was a bit more on the classy side. She imagined that it was going to be a rather steamy thing, and she didn't want to read that one in public.

The other one, however, was a bit more direct. She took it with her to her bedroom, cracking it open and leaning back, shuffling about on her pillows until she felt comfortable.

The Art of Kindly Domination, by the Sisterhood of the Sole.

Imagining that that was a typo, she started flipping through the book, checking the different chapters, curious what she'd find. And what she found was something of an eye-opener.

Oh...my...

She blushed heavily. The title was...definitely not a typo. And with illustrations, as well...

The bat rolled onto her side, going back to the beginning to read the preface again. Sure enough, it wasn't a typo, and this time, there was something of an explanation for her. She was glad enough for that; it felt needed.

_Welcome, daughter, to the secrets of the Sisterhood of the Sole. After long, hard hours of contemplation, we have decided to publish this volume for the titillation of men and the consideration of women, but particularly for the latter.

While it seems perhaps a trifle vulgar to imagine that men are all potential converts to the Sole, it is not entirely inaccurate. There exists in all males a need to be with another, but to guide that, to give that need a direction, takes more than merely a good heart. It takes a gentle touch, kindness, and above all, a sense of firmness.

Whatever you may believe yourself lacking, we, the Sisterhood of the Sole, hope that this book gives you what you need to take what you desire.

Read well, future sister, and enjoy yourself._

Paige could hardly believe what it was saying, though she imagined that it was something of a silly, joke-like introduction the way that some of the fake spellbooks in the library sometimes talked about ancient orders that had possessed the books before. She shook her head, focusing on the words and the pictures rather than the letter from the author.

It didn't take long for the bat to start falling deeper and deeper into the temptations that the book offered, however. She found herself staring at the images of young men under the soles of pretty women, and she couldn't help but imagine that it was her from time to time. The idea of slipping off her sandals, of pinning her bullies down...

It was wrong, she knew that much. She would never be able to pull that sort of thing off. At the same time, it was fun to imagine herself as this confident queen of the world, guiding her friends around by leashes that ran from her toes to their necks.

Or better, having a hero that would be her savior, and yet, would be happy to rest beneath her feet.

Not that that would ever happen...

The End

Summary: Paige, a lonely little bat in the library, endures a great deal of bullying on a day to day basis. However, she does have a good heart...and maybe a few more things to her than meets the eye.

Tags: no sex, f/solo, fantasies, sonic the hedgehog, foot focus, sandals, silly, series, bullying, hurt, sadness, weight, chubby, bat, various species,