TriPersonism
He was overwhelmed by the NightMares in a barren clearing between a forest and a mountain, in front of a cave with the ancient, musty stink of death, a fitting place to die. The grey-skinned man with eyes of the Heartless just grinned eagerly as he walked over. "I guess curiosity DID kill the cat. Only this time, neither satisfaction nor the moon will bring it back." the man cryptically chortled. The moon? What a random reference. "Farewel l, So ra. Say hello to the last Mobian to die, will you?"
The fear choked him, distorting his heart much more effectively than any Heartless could. "Why?" was the last word the brune could ask, clutching the strange, glowing cobalt gem in his hand to his chest as memories that weren't his flashed in his mind. "Why, you ask? I can't afford the arrival of a new Guardian now, with what I plan for. That hedgehog died from the grief of his worst fear coming to pass. You, I needed to try harder on." the man cloaked in darkness explained, his fangs flashing in the moonlight. It was the last light he saw before being engulfed by the fear.
Pitch took the blue gem left behind and cast it aside in disgust; it landed in a dead bush that still had its leaves.
Scratch and Grounder were at a loss for words. They had finally found the last resting place of their long-dead foe. But seeing the skeleton still there after three millennia struck a chord in hearts not known to exist. "Maybe... maybe we shouldn't have teased him so much about the fox's death." the robotic chicken admitted, face downcast. The rough walls and floor were stained with dry blood, a rusty blade by the bones, blackened with decay and brown tatters of cloth, that were once a gloved hand. "H-he... he got so black after that." the drilling robot responded. "Never thought he'd kill himself over it, though. Didn't seem like he took it that hard with the way he acted."
"Can we build him a memorial, Scratch?" the turquoise drillbot sniffed. "... Sure." the grey roosterbot answered. Grounder went to work carving out the words on the cave wall and Scratch set about trying to find a suitable tribute to their former enemy in the barren clearing. In a skimpy bush, he caught a glow the color of the dead hedgehog's quills before he went foul-mannered— in short, before the death of his brother-figure. Scratch grabbed the gem the glow came from and brought it back to the memorial site. "Scratch, I need help. What means someone who fights?" Grounder complained. "A fighter. Duh!" was the blunt answer. "But it doesn't sound right! Fighter sounds too negative!" came the plaintive cry. "Then try warrior. It fits him, surely."
After all their effort, the wall at Grounder-level read:
Heer Laiz Sunnik thuh Heghog, A Feers Waryur.
Grounder had never been good at spelling (except for when he'd had the Genius Chip) but he got his point across. Scratch placed the blue gem at the skeleton's feet and he backed away. They paid their respects to the hedgehog's remains and left, regretting their last acts towards the hero when he'd been alive.
A decayed ligament that still remained broke, bringing the bones of the foot down to knock the blue gem away hard enough to cause it to roll to the mouth of the shallow cave, exposing it to the light of the rising moon. The blue-tinted light of the moon reflected off the gem, seemingly absorbed then expelled, and the light glimmered over the skeleton of a hero long passed from grief and loneliness.
As impossible as it seemed, the organs, flesh and blood started to fill themselves in where they belonged, the black bones bleaching back to healthiness and the blue fur and quills quickly sprouted and grew back in, fleshy ears forming and slightly tipped back from no conscious thoughts bringing them erect. The tattered, ancient cloth that was on the hands and feet mended themselves, the too-big gloves pristine and white again, the red and white leather of the shoes shone dully, ready to get back to work. Gold buckles that were never there before held them onto too-small feet. The body that had been brought back, seemingly only 13, aged itself so it looked to have been around 15 years; the shoes and gloves certainly fit now. A sudden intake of breath and the eyes flashed open, a lively, bright emerald green in the place of the black that had been there all those centuries ago. The eyes blinked, and the head turned to look at the source of the light currently blinding him after so many years of being in the dark. He spotted the ray of light hitting him, refracted through that blue gem, and the sky as the source. "Wha...?" he muttered, clenching a hand and rubbing a stinging eye. "How'd I...?" he had started to ask, but he stopped. He tried to rack his mind for memories, but there was nothing. Nothing at all to remember. He somehow knew the light was all over the cave, but the majority was focused on him. Curiously, he looked around to find anything that might jump start his memory. On the wall was a carving he somehow knew was misspelled. "'Here Lies Sonic the Hedgehog, a Fierce Warrior.'" he deciphered. Was that him? He had also spotted a rusted knife. He must have been in here for a long time. The carvings looked fresh, however. So, maybe only the knife had been here for a long time. Maybe he'd accidentally stumbled on the grave? Just that?
"Guess I'll find out soon enough!" he whispered to himself, standing up and walking out of the cave. That's when he noticed that the light was bluer after it hit the gem, and whiter before. And light was a kind of energy, wasn't it? So, the energy in the gem was tainting the light energy, and did something to him? He didn't know, but he picked up the gem anyways, breaking the connection of energy and shrouding the depths cave in the shadows like it should be. For some reason, he felt some sort of connection to the gem... Emerald? Wait, the glowing shiny rock was talking to him?!
It's official: he was crazy. Or maybe it was normal for him. He wouldn't know. He didn't even know his name.
Sonic...
The wind seemed to whisper to him, chanting its secrets in his ears. Was this truly his name? He looked at the gem, which glowed in a way that seemed to affirm the one question he wanted to ask. "Sonic..." the name rolled off his tongue, smoothly and easily, as if he'd used it for years. It left the strangest of tastes in his mouth as it danced out of his mouth once more, accompanied with its sister words as well.
"Sonic the Hedgehog."
Sweet, yet bitter.
He let loose a toothy smirk, the first smile he'd given since he'd awoken. It felt natural to wear one, as if he'd done it constantly. "Guess I can get used to it!" he chirped. He glanced up at the silent moon and ventured into the lively forest despite the time. He needed to see the world.
North was delicately carving the ice sculpture versions of the toys the yetis helped create. That Christmas, a teen that still believed had asked for a specific present this Christmas, and he couldn't deny someone who still believed at the girl's age. She had been getting the Nice list much more often since she'd discovered that franchise she liked so much now. But enough about her. The big man hummed along to the orchestral Christmas music that was playing in the background as he tinkered chipped away at the small ice carving. It was a design for that personalized gift the teen asked for. Christmas was two months away, sure, but he wanted to get done as soon as possible. More time to use freely, come up with new ideas, and argue with E. Aster Bunnymund over the importance of Easter compared to Christmas.
Also, North wanted to see Jack Frost more. The immortal teen had become like a son to North, who'd never had children himself. The winter spirit often hung around Santoff Claussen when it was transitioning seasons, like right now. He finished the sculpture, and admired his craftsmanship. In full detail, there was an ice version of a two-tailed fox. The way the light went through it seemed to give it color and life. North, proud of his work, set the complete ice prototype toy on his work table and went to go find Phil; the guard yeti specialized in sewing despite his meaty hands. When North opened his door, he found himself face-to-face with white hair, glacial blue eyes, and an impish grin plastered onto a pale face. "What's up, North?" the owner of the features asked. "Just finished specific toy prototype. I need Phil for sewing skill." North responded just as cheerily. The white-haired teen looked shocked. "Wait, Phil can sew?" he inquired the big Russky. North just laughed his big, booming laugh and walked on. "Also need to check globe." North continued to the teen, who nodded in understanding.
They soon reached the globe room to an angering sight. A creature that seemed to be half ant and half horse, almost made of smoke and sand combined, stood in front of the globe. It turned its sickly, pollen-yellow eyes to the white-haired duo slowly. The teen held his staff protectively, ice starting to form on the ground. The creature was warped, body positioned like a spider's. It had a wispy tail made of corrupted Dream Sand, and the four horse's legs were arched at sickening angles. The body was small compared to its basketball-sized head with its bent feelers, three-fingered claws grasping at the air.
When it lunged at them, it got blasted back with ice. "North! What IS that thing?!" the teen panicked. "Do not know, Jack, but it looks like hybrid of Fearling and other dark creature."
It lifted its tiny upper half to show a hole through its whole body where it's heart should be. Jack paled, if that was possible for the sprite. "I'll hold it off! You call the other Guardians!" Jack suggested to the toy maker, and the big man took it. He ran over to the control panel for the Great Globe of Santoff Claussen and activated the Aurora Borealis. The other three Guardians caught sight of the beacon and flocked to the North Pole. When they got there, they found Jack was still fighting the creature that was half-Fearling.
Tooth, the only female of the group, nearly fainted at the sight of the creature, and Bunny looked like he just took a ride in North's sleigh. Sandy, the mute, just glared at the creature and summoned his golden dream whips and joined Jack in the attack. All the Dream Sand managed to do was get rid of the Fearling half of the creature. Without the corrupted Dream Sand, the creature melted into a puddle of darkness, quickly reforming into an ant-like creature with flat feet, stubby limbs, a small body, and the same head and claws of the greater creature it was, including the eyes.
Tooth suddenly remembered something. She pulled a grey gem out of her tail feathers and called, "Jack!" throwing the gem to him. "What good is a rock?!" he squeaked back to Tooth, catching the gem deftly. Upon contact with his cold skin, the gem glowed brightly, effectively destroying the creature.
There was an awkward silence where everyone stared at Jack. "... Guess THAT'S what it's good for." Jack quipped. North laughed wholeheartedly, and the tension of the room broke like weak ice under pressure. The moon sidled into view into the skylight, and only Sandy paid attention to it, as usual. Unlike the previous time, Jack caught onto what Sandy was saying.
"Guys, looks like ol' MiM came to visit!" Jack managed to tell the others over the conversation that had started. All their attention went to the moon. A beam shone down and the silhouette of the recently defeated creature appeared. The image changed to a black-cloaked man and Pitch Black smirking at each other. Different emotions circulated through the group. "What do we need to do?" Jack asked the moon, and relished in the fact that it answered him. The moonbeam intensified and once again brought out the crystal that signified the choosing of a new Guardian. "ANOTHER new one! That's two crises in a row!" Bunny complained, but Jack retorted with, "Shut up, Easter Kangaroo."
The wisps of light danced around the crystal, and eventually began to take form. "It's a... spiky... thingy!" Tooth tried to cheer. "That ain't no thing, sheila. That's a hedgehog. A Mobian one at that. Thought they went extinct three thousand years ago!" Bunny replied. The emerald eyes of the hedgehog danced in amusement and curiosity in the watery, reflected light of the moon, a cheesy smirk gracing his face, giving the image a youthful effect. "Will he REALLY be that blue in real life?" Jack asked Bunny, who seemed to be the leading expert on the extinct species. "Dunno. Might be. There were stories of a blue hedgehog that could run really fast and saved people from robot menaces. Beat my ancestor, Hodge Podge, in quite a few races. Always had a weird, two-tailed fox tailing him." the pooka answered.
"Soooo... The guy was brought back WHY?" Jack asked. "Dunno. Possibly lived two lives. Though why he didn't really assume the form of his most recent life, I have no clue." came another answer. Jack turned to Sandy. "Think you could explain this all in a dream?" he asked. Sandy gave Jack a thumbs-up. Smirk. "Thanks."
The crystal had sunk back into the floor by now. The older Guardians planned how to get the hedgehog to Santoff Claussen, (North promised not to use the sack) but Jack pondered over what the new Guardian's center might be. Jack had definitely seen amusement in the image's eyes, but he'd also caught something else: curiosity, a sense of adventure. An often overlooked aspect of childhood, the need to explore and learn more about the world. Could that be the hedgehog's center?
Sonic absentmindedly watched the two bumbling robots get even more lost in the forest with mild curiosity, hidden in a tree. He would smirk at some of their arguments and complaints (Scratch: BWAHAAA! Get your schnoz outta my tail, Grounder! Grounder(nasally): Well, I WOULD if you stopped moving your tail away from me!) but the smirk would soon disappear. Something kept telling him to destroy the two. Why would he want to do that? They weren't doing anything— they didn't even know he was there, watching them. Another part of him kept telling him to run, to run and never look back on his troubles, to simply be free. He MIGHT be inclined to listen to THAT reasoning if he were in open space. He began to get curious about something; what would happen if he DID start running and not look back? Would he suddenly do something spectacular, like break the sound barrier? He blinked, not knowing where the questions were coming from. He realized that the forest was no longer full of the sound of bickering robots. Instead, there was an eerie silence.
"Hey, you!" the arrogant, squawking voice of the chicken robot demanded. Sonic nearly fell out of the tree when he found out they had caught him. He peeked out enough of his head so they could only see his eyes. No easy feat when you were upside-down and hanging by your knees. "Yeeeesss?" he asked the robot pair innocently, letting the humor glint in his eyes. "Come out where we can see you!" ordered the rotund driller. "What's the magic WOO~rrd!" he laughed in a singsong voice, effectively annoying the two. "Please." the chicken growled through clenched teeth. "Okay." the hedgehog agreed. He lithely grabbed the branch, swung around, and landed on the ground in front of the two goofbots, whose jaws had dropped and the one he'd identified as Scratch before was blabbering incoherently.
"What?" Sonic honestly asked, giving himself a once-over. "Y-you look almost EXACTLY like someone we knew!" blurted out Scratch. "Knew?" the hedgehog inquired, his curiosity getting the better of him. "He died about three thousand years ago. Killed himself when we taunted him too much because the person he'd thought of as a little brother had died. Was never the same." the taller robot explained. "Yeah, he was so hurt by it, his fur turned black and his eyes turned red!" Grounder imputed. It was Sonic's turn to have a hanging jaw. "That's horrible! The kid musta meant a lot to him, then. What was the grieving guy's name?" Sonic asked in response. "He was Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." the two responded in unison after a moment's hesitation. Sonic's blood ran cold. He now shared a name with a guy— maybe even a kid— who'd committed suicide after he lost his best friend. "H-how old was he when he died?" the tense hedgehog asked. "Thirteen." again in unison.
"We'd built him a memorial recently in the cave he died in." Scratch continued. "Was it back there a little ways? In a shallow cave, misspelled carving on the wall?" Sonic described and the other two exchanged glances. "How do you know that?" asked Grounder reverently. "Woke up there a little while ago, in the corner. Found this at the mouth of the entrance." he explained, pulling the weird, glowing Emerald out of his quills. The robots made a mad dash for the cave, now knowing where it was again. He followed them, if only to satisfy his curiosity. He kept pace with them effortlessly, and his heart begged for him to go faster; he denied his heart because he didn't want to accidentally overwhelm or even injure the two robots. They'd answered his questions, and he would answer theirs.
They all got to the cave, and Sonic used the Emerald to reflect the moonlight back into the cave. "Where's his skeleton?" Grounder asked after several minutes of speculation. "Skeleton?" Sonic asked obliviously. "Yeah, his skeleton. It was right in that left corner." Scratch explained. "That's where I'd woken up, with the knife right next to my hand." Sonic protested. Something didn't make sense here... Scratch and Grounder were scrutinizing Sonic, to his great discomfort. "In case you're wondering, I never even KNEW that there was a skeleton in here. I just woke up to that moonlight being reflected off the Emerald and shining in my face. Because every awakening should result in you getting blind." Sonic retaliated to the thoughts in their mechanized heads, adding the last part on sarcastically.
"You have a lot of explaining to do, mister...?" Scratch squawked again, implying that the hedgehog should give his name. "Sonic the Hedgehog." the blue teen squeaked out, wincing. "Look, I saw it, I said it, it stuck. That's all there was to my reasoning." he explained to the glares.
Scratch sighed. "Sorry we're so worked up over him. We were built to capture him, so we have animosity towards each other." the robot apologized. "It's okay. I didn't know. Then again, I barely know anything about the world, so it's no biggie." Sonic responded cheerfully.
Things had started to look up.
They had settled on a plan. Sandy and Jack would go together to find the new Guardian-to-be. Sandy would put him to sleep once they'd found him, and Jack would play the role of Honor Guard while he carried the unconscious Mobian. It wasn't flawless, but there were no yetis or throwing-in-sacks involved. That, at least calmed Jack's nerves.
"Ready, Sandy?"Jack asked the older Guardian, and the gold man gave the winter spirit a thumbs up. They set off to find the blue hedgehog.
Sonic had helped Scratch and Grounder find the exit, but he went back to the clearing when the two robots left. Something just told him to return there. Sure enough, there were two strange people in the clearing. One was a floating, white-haired teen and a sandy, gold-colored man about his hight, maybe a little shorter. "Why d'ya thing MiM chose that hedgehog to be a new Guardian?" the teen asked, and a series of pictures made of golden sand appeared over the gold man's head. The teen possibly did not understand the images, but nonetheless said, "Maybe."
So, did the young grandpa speak Sandese Sign Language? Probably. Sonic crept into the clearing as silently as possible, but dashed back into the foliage when the teen turned quickly. He let his heartbeat go back down and he crept out again, closer to the dead-yet-leafy bushes. The loud rustlings alerted the two strange people. The alert blue eyes of the teen kept darting around suspiciously. Wisps of golden sand danced in his direction, but he deftly avoided them. It wasn't until the flying boy shot a bolt of ice from the tip of his crook, freezing his feet solid, causing him to yelp quite loudly, did he get caught. Lucky shot, he was sure. He gave the two a sheepish grin when they parted the bushes, and it all went black when the ball of sand hit him in the face.
As soon as Jack entered the clearing, he knew something was wrong. Some black sand was scattered over the ground, a few weeks old. After a minute or two, Jack began to get the feeling of being watched. He whirled, but nothing was there but the wind. Slowly, a soft crunching on the dead grass and the rustling of dry leaves alerted him that someone was indeed there. Sandy sent out his sand to find their stalker, but either they were short, good at dodging, or both.
When the crunching and rustling continued, Jack sent out a bolt of ice, hoping to get a lucky shot. Sure enough, they were met with a loud, youthfully masculine yelp. Bingo. He parted the bushes where he'd aimed, and was met with sparkling emerald eyes and a surprisingly adorable, sheepish grin. Sandy, as planned, used the dream sand to knock out the hedgehog. Funnily enough, the sand images formed over the hedgehog's head were chilidogs. "So, let's go." Jack suggested after a few moments of watching the hedgehog sleep. Sandy nodded, and they headed back to Santoff Claussen. Jack had only one complaint about the trip: the hedgehog snored loudly.
They returned to Santoff Claussen just after dawn, and the hedgehog was waking up. He would mutter random words and shift in Jack's grasp. The yetis milled around in their business, preparing for Christmas. The ice had long since melted off the hedgehog's feet, leaving the shoes sopping wet. Jack was sure that the Mobian wouldn't be too happy about that. Jack checked one last time on the hedgehog to see a pair of curious emerald eyes glancing around in wonder. When the hedgehog saw Jack watching his curiosity, he chuckled and asked good-humoredly, "Mind putting me on the ground?"
Jack complied, and the hedgehog stretched out. "Got a little stiff," he commented to Jack, who only gave a blank stare. After the stretching, the hedgehog put out a hand for Jack to shake. "Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." the hedgehog introduced himself. After a slightly blank stare, Jack took Sonic's hand and shook it. "Jack Frost." he answered, and Sonic flashed a toothy grin. "Pleasure ta meet ya!" the hedgehog chirped.
When Sonic woke up, there was a loud din boxing his ears. Then, he registered feeling; his stomach was curved over something cold, but it felt like a shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at where he was. So many amazing things to see! Still, it left a slight pain in his chest, as if it reminded him of someone who had died. Then he turned his head to meet a bright blue eye. Wait, was there a snowflake pattern in his iris?! He chuckled nervously, which took a bit of effort with a compressed diaphragm. "Mind putting me on the ground?" he asked as cheerfully as possible, not wanting to aggravate the strange teen. To his surprise, the icy-cold human let him down. The cold skin had made Sonic get stiff from the awkward position he was in, so he stretched out. "Got a little stiff," he responded to the odd expression from the human. All he got back was a blank stare. After his small stretching routine, he offered a hand to the cold one. "Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." he introduced himself, the words gliding effortlessly past his lips. After a few awkward moments, the teen took his hand. "Jack Frost." the human answered in a voice that was definitely deeper than Sonic's. Still, Sonic grinned as wide as he could an cheered, "Pleasure ta meet ya!"
"What's in there?" Sonic asked for the umpteenth time in the past five minutes. "Those are the kitchens, where the elves make the cookies." Jack answered. "Why cookies? Why not chilidogs?" asked the blue hedgehog. "Because North likes cookies and not everybody likes chilidogs." Jack deadpanned; Sonic looked scandalized at the thought of people not liking chilidogs. "Eh, Frostbite!" Bunny called out, hopping his way over to the duo. Sonic's expression turned to one of awe.
"You're tall." was the hedgehog's only comment to the Australian rabbit. "Are you a long-eared wallaby?" the blue one asked innocently. Jack burst out laughing, and Bunny spluttered in rage. "I ain't no wallaby! I'm a rabbit!" the grey Aussie whined, glaring at the two. "Oh. Sorry." Sonic apologized, meeting the pooka's eyes. "S'alright," the rabbit awkwardly responded to the hedgehog, not quite sure how to respond. "I'm Sonic, by the way. Sonic the Hedgehog." the blue one continued. "I'm E. Aster Bunnymund, the Guardian of Hope." the pooka stated proudly. Sonic nodded slowly and ran off to explore some more, satisfied with the answer. He decided he'd ask Jack about the whole Guardian thing later. Bunny sighed exasperatedly. "Dunno how you can deal with that little bugger, Frostbite. He's worse than you!"
"He's just curious." was all Jack said in the hedgehog's defense. "Uh-huh. And next thing you know, that little rat's gonna be plottin' against ya." Bunny skepticized. Suddenly, a huge sonic boom echoed through Santoff Claussen, and Sonic was there, screeching to a stop, rage emanating from his eyes and otherwise looking downright murderous. "WHO just called me a RAT?!" the enraged specieal insectivore growled. Jack pointed at Bunny, and a death glare was shot in the pooka's direction. "How was I supposed ta know his hearing was that good?!" Bunny protested in defense of his life. He somehow knew that pushing the Mobian's buttons would not be good for his health. Sonic closed his eyes and calmed himself down. "Sorry about that. I honestly have no clue as to why that happened. Sometimes I hate when my body acts without my consent." the blue one apologized, adding the last part on jokingly.
"Soooo, what's a Guardian?" came the query from the hedgehog. "A Guardian? That's someone who protects a certain aspect of childhood, and the children themselves. I'm the Guardian of Fun." the winter spirit responded. "Cool." commented the hedgehog, impressed.