Blah to Rain
(Trade Jack0lat3rn)
The sun here was larger than the one Earth orbited so it was a bit warmer in the day, yet there was a cool, constant wind coming from one direction or another. The sky was a rich vibrant blue that was completely untainted by any airborne, man-made pollutants.
There was a dark smug to the far south that suggested an active volcano or two. Other than that, there were a few wisps of clouds to the west, inland, and a nice fat rain storm coming in from the sea to the east.
Water was a large part of this Zone, wetlands, lakes, streams and rivers wove and poked through the land. Tall trees stood between one and four stories, brightly colored flowers and plump, juicy fruit swayed and dangled from all branches. Vines drooped down from some of the trees, a think, strong green vine that could be used for almost anything.
Older, dried and dead vines that were lying on the ground under those same trees could be used for fires if they weren't soggy. Bushes and shrubs of all kinds littered the ground, some had flowers themselves and others had ripe (as well as not so ripe) green, red and blue colored berries. Despite all that there somehow were still safe, and dry, places to travel. The obvious paths were a clear sign that there were made by intelligent hands and minds.
Yet, all things considering this Zone was as nice as it was horrible. That's what you get for sticking a hydrophobic in a wetland.
Sonic gave a nervous chuckle from his position up in a nice, /dry/ tree branch. Though he wasn't sure how dry he was going to be if that rain came in from over the ocean, and tugged on his jacket off of another branch from above and to his right.
Sighing, the hedgehog ran his bare hands over the brown lather, fingering the edges of the slits in the back. That had been a necessary modification for the clumps of quills in his back, oh the jacket was a little too big so the slits were for fit, but so Sonic could use them in a fight without tarring the jacket to shreds.
He liked this jacket!
It was his adoptive sister's before she gave it to Tails, being partly robotized tended to limit one's clothing options. Tails had given it to him when he and some others had left to find the Master emerald a several months past, since than he had kept it.
Sonic wasn't like normal anthro hedgehogs, mostly in his coloring. He was a rich dark blue in the fur and quills, that had lighter streaks in them, his belly, lower chest and muzzle were brown. He had a pair of white sneakers on, and earlier in the morning he /had/ some gloves but Sonic tended to tare his up rather fast so that it left his half filed down claws exposed.
He had another few tricks, but at this exact moment, he didn't feel like doing anything other than shrugging into his jacket and getting a little higher and into his tree. Once comfortable he reached up to bend and twist several long frowns together, more weaving them together really. Sonic eyed the sky as the off shore squall pounced on land.
"So much for going home." Sonic muttered as the tropical storm hit. He looked around and made a face, the runner never did like rain, at least not the massive downpours like this. But at least he was dry and could fiddle with that jammed pocket bomb for the next Zone on his way back home.
Sonic fished out the small device from the inside of his jacket.
About two second later the hedgehog yelped as his 'roof' gave out and poor water on top of him. A rather unimpressed hedgehog anthro flattened his ears and glanced upwards. He stood and leapt for another, less wetter tree and flopped down on it.
"I hate rain." Sonic grumbled trying to ring out his fur. But as one could imagine it wasn't working overly well since he was a short fur. He gave up and leaned back partly on his side, head propped up in his hand. One long leg starched down the length of the branch, Sonic bent the other to anchor as well as counter balance himself so not to fall off. At least the rainbow after would be worth the this unexpected shower.
Sonic smiled, flicking his ears as he watched the drops fall, a few rolling over a closed flower bud. Slowly his gaze unfocused as he listened to the so many droplets hit leaves around him and for a little bit, a scant moment in time that stretched out... Sonic started to understand, just starting to grasp the idea of how some people could like this. The chaotic yet somehow rhythmic sound of the rain, and the scent of the air that was clearing of pollen and other scents...
...And then another stream of water fell on the hedgehog.