literature

Ember the Shrunken Hedgehog

Deviation Actions

Published: Jun 21, 2013

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Literature Text

Ember the Shrunken Hedgehog

Ember, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver were playing baseball while Silhouette kept score and was referee. (Since there were only three players on each team, there were only two other bases.) Tails, Knuckles, and Sonic were on one team and Ember, Shadow, and Silver were on the other. Ember was pitching and it was Tails's turn to bat.

"Ember, throw as hard as you can. Don't hold back." Tails said from home base. Ember threw a fast ball. It went so fast that Tails couldn't hit it. The ball hit him in the head extremely hard. Everyone except Tails and Sonic laughed as Tails fell. He looked hurt and now Ember felt miserable. She had laughed as her friend got hurt.

"Guys, it’s not funny. You are all horrible. You laugh at Tails who just got hurt. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. How could you!" Sonic growled.

Ember already felt bad enough about laughing, Sonic's remark made her feel even worse. She walked out while Sonic was still scolding them. She started shrinking and hid in a pipe. She turned her back to the entrance and hugged her knees. She felt like a horrible person now. (The pipe was big enough for Knuckles's hand to reach in.)

"Hey, where'd Ember go? That little brat! Does she really think I'm gonna let her get away with this?!!" Sonic growled. He began looking for her. He found her crying in an old pipe. "Do you seriously think crying is gonna save you from me?!!! You've got another thing comin'!!!" Ember continued crying. "Ember, I don't want to hear your crying!!! Tails is the one who deserves to cry!!! You hit him in the face!!!" Sonic continued angrily. Ember started crawling further inside the pipe. He could now hear her sniffling and coughing through tears. "Ember, what's wrong?" he asked. He thought she would've finished by now.

"It was just a really bad pitch, that's all. I'm fine. Just have Silhouette play so you can all finish your game. It's not me who's worth worrying about." Ember whimpered.

"I know that's not all there is to it. Tell me the truth." Sonic demanded peaceably.

"That's all there is. I have nothing more to say other than please let Tails know I said I'm sorry." Ember said, hugging her knees even tighter.

"I said tell me the truth /not/ continue leaving blank spaces in your side of the story. Come on, I promise I won't tell anyone." Sonic murmured gently.

"……After I saw that he was hurt, I felt awful. I had hit him too hard and then laughed after I hurt him… and when you started scolding everyone who laughed at Tails, I felt even worse. …………Sonic, do you think I'm a bad person for laughing at Tails?" Ember asked, sounding like a little girl.

"Ember… you're not a bad person. I just misunderstood your side of the story. Come on. Go back to your normal size and let's get back to having fun again." Sonic suggested.

"I'm afraid I can't." Ember whispered.

"Ember, it's not that bad. I'm sure Tails'll forgive you." Sonic reassured her.

"That's not what I meant. I kinda messed up. I shrank without switching form. That means I can't switch form and I can't go back to normal size." Ember clarified.

"Ember, just come with me. I promise I'll take care of you." Sonic murmured.

"But what if Tails is mad at me." Embed whimpered.

"I know Tails and he never holds grudges." Sonic said, trying to coax her out.

"Okay. I guess I'll just have to trust you on this…" Ember mumbled, sounding unsure and doubtful as she crawled towards the exit.

"What's that supposed to mean?!?!" Sonic barked. He didn't like the feeling that she didn't trust him.

"Please don't take it the wrong way!! I didn't mean for it to come out like that!!!" Ember cringed

Sonic was startled by how timid she was now. He had never seen her so shy. He reached out a hand and she, very carefully, climbed onto it, as if she were expecting it to be a trap. He picked her up and she trembled for a little while.

Sonic felt worried about her. She trembled at almost everything. He tried talking to her and she trembled. He tried to comfort her and she trembled. If he even looked her in the eyes, she still trembled. She looked at him every now and then but she was still scared. After hardly any time at all, Sonic stopped walking. "Ember, don't be so scared. You can count on me. I'll take good care of you." Sonic whispered.

"I-I know, but everything's so big. It's kinda scary." Ember whimpered back.

"Just relax. You're starting to make me worry." Sonic laughed. He started stroking her gently. She felt relaxed, and, after a few minutes, she fell asleep. Sonic woke her up before rejoining the group. "I want you to tell Tails you're sorry for what happened. It's not the same to have someone else say it."

"I know… I'm just kinda nervous." Ember mumbled.

"Don't be. Tails is a good kid. He'll forgive ya' without needing much of an explanation." Sonic reassured her.

"Sonic, where's Ember?" Tails asked.

"Tails, I'm so sorry for hurting you!!!" Ember cried.

"Ember… …I-" Tails began.

"I didn't mean for you to get hurt!!!" Ember cried again.

"Ember. I-" Tails restarted.

"It really was an accident!!!!" Ember cried again much more urgently as she attempted to earn his forgiveness.

"Ember, I-" Tails tried again.

"Please believe me!!!!!!!" Ember pleaded.

"Ember!! I know!!" Tails snapped. He was getting irritated because she would even let him finish his sentence. Ember trembled with fright and she shielded her head with her arms. Tails looked angry. She felt scared. She was afraid this would happen.

Ember was trembling more than she had been so far. Sonic noticed her trembling. "Tails, take it easy. I think ya' scared her." Sonic murmured as he looked at Ember.

"Oops. Heheheh…heh… Ember, I'm sorry if I scared you. You just wouldn't stop trying to apologize. I know it was an accident. I forgive you." Tails murmured as Ember continued to tremble. She was scared now more than ever because everyone had joined the three of them. They were all looking at her. She was scared by all the different people looming over her.

"Why is Ember so small?" Silver asked.

"What's wrong with her?" Knuckles joined in.

"What a little coward! Look at her tremble!! Hahaha!!!!!!" Shadow laughed.

"Shut up, Shadow. You're just being mean." Silhouette snarled at Shadow. She smacked him upside the head.

"She shrank before switching form and apparently that disables her ability to switch form. She can't grow back to her usual size and she's scared because everything's so much bigger to her now." Sonic answered. Ember trembled even more. Everything was so loud, so big, so scary. She didn't dare to look up. She was terrified.

Shadow decided to bully her while he had the chance. He flicked her and she hit a wall. He chased after her and she ran into the pipe Sonic had found her in. She went as far inside the pipe as she could. Shadow stepped on the pipe and the pipe bent in. She had no way out now. She was cut off from everything and everyone. She was trapped, all alone, in the dark. Shadow took a step forward on the pipe and the bend was getting closer and closer to her. She couldn't back up any further and Shadow took another step forward. The bend reached her leg and blood gushed out, her leg had been crushed. She screamed like bloody-murder.

Shadow jumped off. He thought she'd back up again. He didn't know that the pipe led to a dead-end. The others heard her scream and Sonic took off at light-speed. He saw the mixed emotion on Shadow's face, a mixture of satisfaction and regret. He saw the blood coming from the pipe and knew something had happened to Ember. "Shadow, what did you just do to her?!?!?!?!?!" Sonic cried.

"I swear I was just playing! …I didn't know this was gonna happen." Shadow mumbled. He felt awful. He didn't know if Ember was still alive or not.

"*gasp* What happened?!!" the others asked. They noticed the pool of blood coming from the pipe.

"S-s-someone. Get me out. My leg… it hurts. I don't know what happened. Please, someone save me." Ember's voice whimpered from within the pipe.

"I got ya', Ember. Shadow, use your chaos control to fix the pipe." Sonic growled with a venomous look in his eyes.

Shadow did as Sonic asked and Silver used his psychic abilities to pull Ember out of the pipe. They could all see what had happened to her leg. It was gushing blood like a fire hose. Shadow felt miserable. It wasn't a fun, or even an amusing, game anymore. He had almost killed Ember. If she had pulled her leg close to her body, he probably would've taken another step and she would've been crushed.

Sonic's body turned a dark color, he seemed to either be laughing or trembling. He vanished and came up behind Shadow. He started attacking Shadow; he didn't even miss him once. Shadow couldn't even see Sonic. Sonic just kept striking him.

"Are you ready? Now it's your turn to feel pain," Sonic laughed with a twisted smirk on his face. Shadow tried to defend himself but Sonic moved too fast. Sonic started striking Shadow from every direction. "Time to end this." he laughed. He almost killed Shadow and would have done it too… if Ember hadn't pleaded for a cease fire.

"STOP!!!!!!!!!!!" Ember screamed. "Please… no more… no more!" she whimpered as she buried her face in the cuff of Tails's glove and trembled. The fighting was scaring her. She couldn't take it anymore. She was terrified. She didn't know what had happened to Sonic and it scared her. The dark, twisted look on his face alone was enough to scar her mind.

Sonic looked at her for a second and realized how scary it must be for her to be watching this. He felt ashamed. His body color returned to normal and his head drooped in shame. "I should've been calm." Sonic thought silently as he looked away. Seeing the terrified look on her face made him regret what he had just done. She was clinging to Tails's glove and quivering senselessly.

Knuckles slugged Sonic's shoulder. "Dude, what was that all about?! That was just plain creepy!" Knuckles flustered.

"I was just so angry. I felt like I had to do something to put Shadow in his place." Sonic murmured.

"Ember, why did you ask him to stop? I would've expected you to enjoy watching me get killed." Shadow asked quietly. He didn’t understand the strange plea for mercy she made.

"I knew you regretted it. It was in your every move. I kinda enjoyed it for a little bit, but it scared me. It was just so scary. It made me feel like I had fallen into one of my nightmares," Ember murmured, shivering a little. She was cold and traumatized and the blood gushing out of her leg didn't help.

Shadow ripped his glove apart and bandaged Ember's leg with it. "That better or would you like me to adjust it?" he asked, not looking at her directly.

"It feels just fine. Thank you." Ember murmured as she wrapped her arms around his arm and fell asleep. Shadow blushed a little and stroked her head. She was so small and warm. She seemed so innocent.

Silver patted Shadow's back and laughed. "I never thought you'd do well as a mom." Silver teased Shadow. Shadow growled, pulled out a loaded gun, and pointed it straight at Silver's chest. "Uh… I guess I'll walk away now." Silver murmured nervously as he side-stepped across the room.

The rest of the group looked at Shadow and Ember with wide eyes. He was acting like a loving parent. Ember seemed to feel so safe with him. Sonic stood up and looked at Shadow. "Shadow, I'm sorry for attacking you. I was just mad at you for hurting Ember. I hope there aren't any hard feelings between us."

"There aren't. You don't have to worry about that, Sonic." Shadow murmured as a pleasant smile crept onto his face. Sonic sat on the other side of Ember and began to rub her back. Ember was still asleep but now had a smile on her face. She was happy. She was warm, comfortable, and she felt… loved, as if she were being loved by the parents she never really knew. Her star-white quills sparkled and danced. Silhouette turned out the lights and they all stayed there. Her white quills twinkled in the dark.

Two days later, her leg had recovered completely and she wanted to try using it. Everyone was walking around and Silhouette knew that, by now, Ember was probably parched. She used one of the toy bottles she had and put water in it. She handed it to Ember and Ember gulped the water down in no time at all. Silhouette was shocked when Ember clambered all the way up to the sink and pushed as hard as she could to turn the water on. She started guzzling the water. She licked her lips in satisfaction. She carefully tied a towel to the faucet of the sink and slid down it.

She continued walking around and Sonic and Tails found her adventuring amusing. That's when she was attacked by a large bird. It carried her off toward the desert and dropped her. She was now all alone in the middle of some strange desert. The others looked for her but couldn't find her. They started feeling worried. What could've happened to her?

She was lost. She searched for a way back but this place was too unfamiliar. She was helpless. She spotted a large pile of rocks. She started climbing up it and saw a giant, red shoe. She took a few steps back and fell off the stone 'pillar'. She got hurt but clambered back up anyway. She walked around a little while, and now finally saw who it was. She had found Sonic.

He didn't see her. She tried to get his attention but he still didn't see her. It was getting late. Suddenly, something hit her and it sent her flying. Sonic saw her sparkling quills as she flew past. She crash landed and rolled a far distance before finally coming to a stop. Sonic came towards her, his every step shaking the ground from her point of view. She saw him and tried to get his attention again. She started hearing a hissing noise. She had rolled into snake territory. The hissing started getting louder and louder.

She continued trying to get Sonic's attention. This time, he saw her. He walked towards her and now she wasn't sure what sound scared her more, the hissing or the crashing/thudding noise. She trembled and the snakes tried to attack her. Sonic saw them and ran towards Ember. He snatched her up off the ground and looked at her.

"Ember, you okay? What happened to you?" Sonic asked in a concerned tone. He could see scrapes, bruises, cuts, and other injures all over her body. She hugged his glove and started squeezing. She was scared and had been ever since the bird flew off with her.

"It was scary. I didn't know if I would survive out here or not. The bird dropped me in mid-air. I searched everywhere for a way back but I've never been here before. I got hurt a lot. I slipped off some rocks and I got cuts and bruises everywhere. I wanna go home!" Ember started crying into his glove.

He could see how much she had been afraid, he could see how much it hurt, and he could see all the loneliness wrapped around her. He could tell that she needed his help. "It's okay, Ember. I'll find the others and we can all go back home. Everything's gonna be okay. Don't worry," Sonic murmured as he began running a finger down her back. She squeezed his glove a little more and whimpered.

He started looking for the others. After he got them all together, they all headed home. Ember wouldn't let go of his glove. He let her have a little water and she drank it all. Watching her drink the water amused him. She was so small but she needed so much. Tails made her a bed and she slept like a baby. She slept in late, too. Sonic kept an eye on her as she slept.

When she woke up, she started walking around some more and found tiny, blue, star-shaped flowers. She tried as hard as she could but she couldn't pick the flowers. She still thought it was beautiful. Shadow spotted her staring at something and walked over to her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"*gasp* Shadow! Can you pick this flower for me?!" she asked excitedly.

"You might wanna ask Sonic to do that. He picks flowers a lot." Shadow suggested, pointing to Sonic. Sonic was currently talking to Knuckles.

Ember walked over to him and was about to ask him for help when Knuckles pushed Sonic. "Whoa!!" Sonic yelped. He started falling towards her. Shadow spotted the scene and made a mad dash in their direction. He caught Sonic before he hit the ground. Sonic smiled at Shadow and Shadow adjusted Sonic's position before letting Sonic hit the ground. "Hey!!! What was that for?!?!?!?!" Sonic barked as Shadow walked away.

He rolled over and spotted something quivering. Now Sonic saw why Shadow had come over there to catch him. Ember had been right behind him. Shadow didn't come to help Sonic, he came to save Ember. Ember was hunched over and cowering in fear.

She stopped cowering and looked around before seeing Sonic. He was behind her and looking down at her. "S-S-Sonic! I want to ask you for help with something. There are these amazing flowers and I'm too small to pick them. Shadow said I should ask you. He says you pick flowers a lot."

"Where?" he asked as he looked around.

"Just follow me," she said as she skipped in the direction of her flowers. She stopped in front of one and tried to pick it again.

Sonic saw this and giggled a little. He bent down, pinched the flower, and was able to pick it up with ease. He stopped and snapped his fingers. "I just got an idea! Why don't we pick some flowers together?"

Ember did a little happy dance and leapt high into the air. She fell when she landed because her leg wasn't ready for jumping around like that. Sonic helped her up and they walked side by side.

They were walking past Knuckles and Silhouette when Knuckles tried to hit on Silhouette. Silhouette shoved Knuckles. He let out a short yelp and landed on his rear. His rear landed on Ember. Sonic continued walking for a second before truly noticing that Ember wasn't there. He saw the tip of one of her quills under Knuckles's butt. He ran up to Knuckles.

"Knuckles, stand up!" Sonic demanded.

Knuckles twitched and situated his butt. "Who's going to make me?" Knuckles countered with a smug look on his face.

Sonic twitched with fury and Knuckles's spine quivered. "I said stand up," Sonic growled. He had the same look he had a few days ago. Knuckles was scared. He jumped to his feet and turned around to see Ember teetering with one hand against her head. He now realized why Sonic was so angry when he made his ‘snappy’ come-back. "Ember, you okay?" Sonic asked worriedly.

"Better, not as bad as yesterday or the day before that or the day before that or the day before that… but I've also been better," she commented.

Sonic picked her up. "No more walking for you. You're staying with me from now on."

"I'd rather do that than be sat on," Ember murmured.

Sonic stopped somewhere after a few minutes. He put her down and told her to let him know if she found any flowers she liked. A few minutes passed and he heard her scream. He looked for her and saw a large number of Eggman's robots coming towards them. She hadn't noticed them though. She was being harassed by a bee. She was clinging to a tree limb and dangling over a rose bush. The bee was ready to sting her. Sonic grabbed Ember and smiled at the bee. The bee raised its stinger and tried to sting Sonic. Sonic ran around it and took off again.

"Man, today is just not my day." Ember whined.

"Hey, it's not your fault that bee was barely a few centimeters smaller than you… well, it is your fault… it's just not /entirely/ your fault." Sonic laughed. Ember just hung her head over the side of Sonic's hand. Sonic grinned and went even faster.

He found a new place to pick flowers. He gave her the same set of rules only this time he told her to let him know if she needed him. A few minutes later, she sprinted back to him. "Sonic, there's a giant bumble bee over near these flowers that I really liked!" Ember explained.

"Whadaya mean 'giant bumble bee'?" Sonic asked. He didn’t know what she meant by that.

"I mean, a bumble bee that's over twice my height." Ember explained, this time using her hands.

"Wha?!" Sonic yelped in shock.

"I'm dead serious." Ember said, giving him a thorough ‘dead serious’ glare.

"Show me." Sonic said as he carefully stood up. She led him to a patch of tulips where a 'giant bumble bee' was smelling the flowers.

The bumble bee looked at Sonic. "Hey, Sonic! How are you?!" it called out.

"Is that who you meant?" Sonic asked Ember.

"No, IT'S /what/ I meant." Ember still didn't know if it was a person or not.

"Hey, Charmy!! I'm doin' great!! Come here, I want ya' to meet someone!!" Sonic replied. The bumble bee flew over and looked at Sonic. "This is a new friend of mine. Her name is Ember. She thought you were a giant bumble bee."

"Why would she think that?" Charmy asked.

"The last place we went, I found her hanging from a tree branch about to be stung." he explained.

"Hahahahaha!!!! I guess, compared to a regular bee, I am pretty big!!" Charmy laughed.

"I didn't know you're friends with a bumble bee." Ember murmured, cowering a little in her sanctuary in Sonic's hands.

"Did you know that he's also friends with a chameleon and a crocodile?" Charmy asked.

"No." Ember replied timidly.

"Vector!! Espio!!! I need you!!!" Charmy shouted.

Suddenly, a ninja star sliced through the air and barely missed Ember. Petals flew up into the air and a magenta chameleon looked at Sonic and Charmy. A crocodile with headphones saw them, too. "Hello, Sonic. Why are you here?" the chameleon asked.

"I hope you're not causing my pal Charmy here any trouble." the crocodile added.

"AAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" Ember screamed as the chameleon threw another ninja star. Sonic blocked it with his arm and yelped in pain. Ember timidly crawled out of her safe spot and yanked the ninja weapon out of Sonic's arm. She used all her strength and, when it came out, she flew off the side of his arm. She landed on the harsh, cold, hard ground. Sonic bent down and picked her back up.

"Where did that scream come from?" the chameleon asked as he joined Charmy and Sonic.

"What scream? Who was it, Espio?!" the crocodile asked.

"Sonic, what is that?" Espio asked, pointing directly at Ember.

"I think you mean /WHO/." Ember said, emphasizing that she was a who.

"I meant WHAT," Espio growled back.

Ember snarled and turned around. Her star-white quills turned a pitch black and seemed to release a dark aura. She was ready to fire at any second. "Ember, calm down. Just ignore him," Sonic coaxed her.

Ember's black quills rattled a few seconds before settling down. She locked eyes with the chameleon for a few minutes. "Sonic, you're holding a demon-possessed, tiny hedgehog in your hand." Espio pointed out.

"Yeah, we already went through this problem once. That side of her is known as Killer. If ya' take away the evil power, Killer isn't all that bad. With the evil power, everything not near a chaos emerald or the master emerald is most likely either gonna die, is dying, or is already dead," Sonic pointed out calmly.

"Then why are you holding it?" the crocodile asked.

"Because it doesn't have its evil power. Espio just made them mad. Ember is very kind if you don't pester her, anger her, or mistreat her in any way," Sonic said as he smiled down at the female hedgehog.

"But you still think holding a demon is a good idea?!" the crocodile asked.

"I hate these two. They're just a pair of worthless, low-life, unintelligent, annoying, rude scum," Ember remarked, turning her head enough so they could both see her eyes.

"Ember, I thought dragons and crocodiles are both in the reptile family," Sonic mentioned, earning the curiosity of the other three.

"They are. Why?" Espio asked.

"See, Ember. You just met a new family member," Sonic said playfully.

"What do you mean 'a new family member'?!" the crocodile and Ember asked in unison.

"Well, right now she may not look like it, but she's part dragon," Sonic pointed out.

That pushed Ember over the edge. Her body turned a midnight blue, her quills turned a thorough black, and her eyes turned a blood red. She glared at each of them. Killer's power recharged her flame and she went back to normal and was breathing heavily. She was trying to calm down.

"Whoa!! Ember, are you okay?!" Sonic asked, concerned for Ember and worried that there still might be some dark energy in her.

"That hurt." she mumbled as she trembled all over. When her trembling didn't calm down, she leapt out of Sonic's hand, bent her knees, and took off on all fours. She stopped to rest in a patch of flowers. She liked their scent and memorized its smell, appearance, and how it felt. Sonic saw her resting on a flower and charged at her.

"Where did you think you would go?!" he asked angrily. Ember glared at him. She bared her teeth and they quickly turned into fangs. Her tail lengthened and ended in an orb. He thought he was seeing things and returned to the group.

He held her tight and it was beginning to hurt her rib cage. He rejoined them and she REALLY didn't want to see the crocodile and the chameleon again. She lowered her tail and jabbed his stomach with the orb on her tail.

He didn't know what was happening. Suddenly, the orb generated electricity and he felt excruciating pain. "OWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sonic cried out in agony. The chameleon and the crocodile tried to grab her but she electrocuted both of them. Charmy waved good-bye and Ember hugged him. The other three were confused. Ember switched form completely, returned to her regular size, and hugged Charmy again. She took off on all fours after she waved good-bye to Charmy.

She passed the flowers she had memorized earlier. She picked one and switched the tip of her tail to a container-like tip to put the flower in. She decided to pick one of any flower she liked. She had picked more than fifty flowers before Sonic started chasing after her. She found a blue rose and picked it but didn't put it in the container. She sat down and carefully removed all the thorns. She turned to leave but couldn't walk away without more roses. She picked every single rose off the bush and started gently removing the thorns from each one.

Sonic jumped her from behind and was jabbed by multiple thorns. He yelped in pain. She grabbed him and picked all the thorns out. He turned to give her an angered glare but was met by a blue rose that had no thorns.

"This one's for you. Here, take it," she said with a happy smile. He took the rose and she continued removing thorns. He smelled it and thought it smelled great. He looked at her tail and was shocked by all the flowers she had picked. He looked up at the sky and noticed it was getting late.

"We should probably start headin' home now, ya' know, before the others get worried." Sonic suggested.

Ember grew and told him to get on her back. He did and she took off. She flew toward a field of a rainbow of colors. She landed and looked around. They were surrounded by a million different colors and hundreds of different kinds of flowers.

"I said home." Sonic huffed.

"I know but I wanna get a special flower for everyone." Ember replied.

She walked toward an array of red flowers and picked one she thought Knuckles would like. She moved with swagger over to a section of yellows and oranges and picked one she thought Tails would like. She skipped toward another group of flowers. These were a range from white to black. She picked flowers for Shadow, Silhouette, and Silver. Sonic watched how she carefully looked each flower over before closing her eyes and deciding which one to pick. After she had picked one for everyone else; she saw a rose that looked like it had been wrapped in a rainbow; she removed the thorns and put it behind her ear.

The two of them then flew back home where the others were waiting for them. They looked at Ember with wide eyes. Ember walked to each one and handed them a specific flower. She handed Silver a pure white rose with turquoise on the edges. She reached Shadow a completely black rose. She gave Silhouette a gray tulip. She gifted Tails a branch covered in neon yellow, bell-shaped flowers. She showed Knuckles a strange, bright red flower and made him come get it. (Yes, that was her revenge for him sitting on her.) She told them all to take a whiff of their flower and tell her if they didn't like it. No one complained because they all enjoyed their flowers. Even Shadow liked his flower. Ember dumped the other flowers and switched back into a hedgehog. She ran up to each of her friends and hugged them one by one.