The Love of Ice and Fire

Life and Death

Tale 1

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Neblix The Wolf belongs to me.

All others belong to Sega.

--

(Station Square Woods; 5:00 AM

The trees softly shook with the gentle breeze as the forest animals ran around and played games of tag. Neblix The Wolf was napping on a large tree branch close to a dirt path leading to a road by the city. He didn't like civilization, but he lived here as it served as a nice home, for the time being. A squirrel climbed down from the higher reaches of the tree and accidentally dropped an acorn on the wolf's head.

"Ow!" Neblix sat up and rubbed his head as he woke up. He looked at the squirrel and chuckled to himself. "Watch it, Chichi!" It was a playful name he had given the squirrel a few months ago. He could recognize the squirrel because of the odd, dark-brown mark on the squirrels back.

Chichi had grown to understand Neblix's simple commands, such as "Go!" and "Come here!" and even "Watch it!". It put its head down and gave a low chattering noise, which it had miraculously taught Neblix that it meant "My bad!".

Neblix scratched the squirrel's head and dropped out of the tree, landing with a soft thud. He was an expert with acrobatics, so it was very easy for him to pick up the acorn and swing back up to the branch. "Here ya go, buddy." He handed it to the squirrel and it grabbed the nut with it's puny hands.

"Go!" The squirrel climbed down and fled deeper into the forest. Of course it would return, it had grown fond of Neblix's tree. Or maybe it lived in the tree. Who knows?

He once again leaped off of the tree into another one, and did it again, and again, and again. This was his morning exercise to test if he had enough energy to survive for the day. After the tenth time, he felt a little tired. A sign that a small breakfast would do the trick. He whistled two times and Chichi came out once again, but with an apple. "Thanks, Chichi!" Chichi had also learned that "Thanks!" was an apparent sign of gratitude. It once again fled into the forest without hesitation. Chichi had gotten used to the routine, so he knew when to come and go.

Before Neblix bit into the apple, he looked around him. The sunshine came through the trees in a direction that meant it was early morning. He hates it when Chichi wakes him up this early. He walked to a nearby clearing where a small stream flowed slowly and dipped his hand in. After a few seconds, he gripped a fish. He took out a small knife he bought in the city. While he hated civilization, it was the only thing that provided him the resources to survive. He cut the skin of the fish off, as well as the head and the fins. He cleaned the fish until it was ready to cook. Even though he was a wolf, he hated raw meat. He walked through the tall trees to another small clearing with dirt and rocks instead of grass. He used this space to make fires which were used to cook food or to warm himself. Sitting in the clearing was a spit. He stuck the fish on it and took out a lighter to set fire to the twigs beneath it. He snacked on his apple as he rotated the fish until it was good to eat. Without hesitation, he munched on the fish while walking back to Chichi's tree, as he called it. Suddenly, he felt a strong rush as a blue blur raced by him. His tail straightened, which meant it was a defense alert. Then, he had realized that he had only seen that kind of speed once. Sonic Boom. His old friend, Sonic The Hedgehog, had decided to visit Neblix in his home after 3 long years. In the distance, the blue figure slowed and came back, but slowly this time. It was still pretty quick, so slow wouldn't really be the right word.

"Hey, Neblix! Long time no see, huh?" Sonic said with his trademark smile and the dirt still in the air behind him.

"Yo, Sonic. Haven't seen you in a while." Neblix smiled and stretched his arms out. "What brings you here?"

"Actually..." He gave a fake smile as they both heard a high pitched voice behind them.

"Soooooooooooonic! Where aaaaaaaaaare you?" It was Amy Rose, the girl who was so crazy about Sonic she would literally kill to just stand near him when he was in her sight. And that was the problem.

"You gotta hide me, man!" Sonic curled up and spun in place, which he always did when he felt cornered.

"Sorry, but when there's a pink girl with a hammer involved, it's every man for himself!" Neblix laughed.

"You're no help!" Sonic yelled at him while laughing. He turned and ran at a slower pace than usual, knowing that Amy still wouldn't catch up. Neblix followed him, able to run that fast if he quickened his normal pace, which was maybe 30 miles per hour.

They both enjoyed the run. The soft dirt under them, the gentle breeze, the coolness of the winter air, it was paradise to Sonic. He saw a cliff ahead, and slowed to a halt.

Neblix didn't notice the cliff as he had his eyes closed. He noticed Sonic had stopped running from the absence of the sound of him running, but he didn't realized he was running off of a cliff until it was too late. He opened his eyes, and he was five feet from the edge. Not enough to slow down.

"Neblix, WATCH OUT!" Sonic called out.

"Not again..." Neblix sighed to himself as his feet left the ground and his velocity increased as he dropped like a shooting star to the city below. If only he had his powers, he could easily land with, well, ease. "NO!" He cursed himself for thinking such a thing. Using his powers would be just as deadly. He had no control over them. But he was going to die anyway, so there was no risk. It was life or death. He chose life. He put his hands together as he reached his terminal velocity. The city grew closer. The cliff was very high, 20,000 feet above sea level to be exact. It would take about 45 more seconds for him to reach solid ground, civilization, and his death. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He remembered how he had used his powers three years ago. He remembered the flow of his energy. Ice began to form at his fingertips. It grew and spread into a cone in front of him, an ice drill to protect him. He focused harder and made the ice tougher and stronger. Before he knew it, he heard a crashing sound and the panic of humans. The ice drill stopped in front him and shattered. But instead of the shards flying out in different directions, he absorbed them into his body to make a shock absorber. He passed out from the intense nausea of the fall, but he smiled before, knowing that he would live.