Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sonic games or any original characters. Not that I honestly need to say that but still. However, Pearly the Penguin and Artyx the Fox do belong to me. But I digress. On with the Fanfic

From her hotel balcony a small, dark purple penguin surveyed the damage that had just unfolded before her eyes. Barely 10 minutes before the ski slope had been alive and buzzing with activity. It had seemed to her a breathtaking parade of vibrantly colored ski jackets and hats. Now, it looked like a war zone. The mass of snow that had rocketed down the track had left a mass of destruction in its wake. The chairlift that was supposed to stand up to any weather now resembled something from a pretzel maker. Pearly pulled off her enormous glasses and wiped them on her curtains. She would wipe them on her shirt, but she didn't have one. What do you expect? She's a penguin after all. All she had in the way of clothing were a pair of beach sandals on her feet and a purple diamond studded helmet. She replaced them on her face, letting them slide down almost to the tip of her small beak. She blinked twice with her large green eyes, now amplified due to her glasses. Nope, still there. It was still chaos out there. Thank god she had decided to stay in and curl up with a good book that morning. Yes, she was the type who disliked physical excursion, preferring her mind to her muscles. However, to her credit, she was a lot stronger than she looked.

She gasped slightly as she realized just who had been on the slope. A middle school from London had rented the slopes for the day. Her eyes watered, and a small tear ran down her beak and fell to the floor. Those poor school kids. Just minutes ago they were probably having the time of their lives but now…

Before she realized what she was doing her little webbed feet had lead her to her out the door. She was already off in her own little world as she maid her way to the stairs. Her over active imagination was already picturing her digging valiantly into the snow, fearlessly leading a rescue team, not stopping until every last student was saved. Oh how the crowds cheered for her, as she posed heroically on a snow bank, the setting sun adding almost the perfect backdrop. Of course that was totally illogical for the sun to be setting at 11:15 am, but it was her imagination after all. She was too enthralled in her daydream of heroism to realize that she had reached the stairs, and that she had placed her right foot, and all her weight, on thin air. She waved her arms frantically in circles, but obviously this wasn't going to do her any good.

She squealed once before she went tumbling down the stairs like a slinky. 6 minutes and 7 floors later she found herself on the first floor flat on her back. She picked herself up, shook herself, and walked out into the lobby feeling like an absolute fool. It was times like these that made her wish she wasn't flightless. Ah well, at least she had had her helmet on. The lobby was filled with people shouting, all confused as to why the avalanched had occurred. Pearly stopped at the doors to the stairs. Oh how she hated crowds. Just being in a classroom made her feel shy, but this…

She took a deep breath, now was a time to be brave, now was her chance to be a hero. She put her right foot out the door, paused then withdrew it. She tried again, once again her fear of crowds got the better of her. After 2 more false starts she finally took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began waddling through the crowd towards the door.

At what had until recently been the ski slope

Pearly looked up and down the slope. She had thought it had looked bad from her hotel balcony, but up close it was something different al together. Rescue teams were already combing the slopes from top to bottom. Looks like she wasn't needed after all. She let out a little sigh. Just as she was turning around she noticed a light blue glow coming from the distance. It was very faint, so it was no wonder that it had gone unnoticed. Hmmmmm. Avalanche, and now a strange glow coming from the forest. Every cell in her brain was telling her to just go back to her cozy hotel room. But she was already off in her little word again, fantasizing about what could be causing the glow. There was no doubt in her mind that whatever was causing the glow had caused the avalanche, but what could it be?

Was it some top-secret weapon that controlled the weather? No, why test it on a ski slope of all places? Ooh! Maybe it was a meteorite… No, Everyone would have seen it fall.

She came into a clearing. In front of her, barely 10 feet away, was a mound of snow. And whatever was emitting the glow was buried somewhere in that mound. A broken in half snow board stuck out of the top of the mound like a head stone. Pearly gulped, and pressed back all her fears. Every rational thought was screaming at her, telling her not to start digging, that she should just back away and forget about the whole thing. But she ignored them. She wasn't day dreaming now, far from it. Maybe she was still being dramatic, but she felt in her heart that she had been meant to find out what was buried in the snow. Her young life seemed to be reaching its climax as she knelt down and began digging. Slowly at first, then frantically, like the whole world would come crashing down if she stopped for even a second to catch her breath.

After 7 minutes of work she stared down at the crater that was once a pile of snow. She had finally found what was causing the glow. It wasn't some weather control device, or an asteroid, or aliens, or anything else she had thought. It was a fox that looked about the same age as her. His ski jacket, gloves, and boots were all dark blue with purple ski socks. But it was his fur she was gawking at. It was his fur. Everywhere his fur was an icy light blue, escape for the snow whit fur around his face. There were 2 rings of dark blue fur, one around each eye. Upon further inspection she discovered he was still breathing. Good, now how to get him back?

Before she had the time to fully think out the solution, a metallic sound filled the air. Followed by a low hum that sounded like a helicopter. She looked into the sky hopefully, thank god she wouldn't have to carry the stranger all by herself.

Tata tata tata tata!

She continued to stare at the helicopter for a few seconds. Then she let her eyes slowly shift down to the snow at her feet. The snow was now full of tiny craters, each with what looked like a small round black marble at the center. It took her a few moments to realize that they weren't marbles at all, but bullets! She stared back into the air, a look of mingled horror and disbelief spread across her face. She couldn't recognize the helicopter, but it obviously wasn't a rescue copter. The rescue copters in this area weren't read. Plus, rescue copters don't have guns mounted on them. She looked from the unconscious form in the snow to the helicopter, and cursed herself for leaving her trusty dictionary, her only means of protection back at the hotel room. She hoisted the still unconscious fox onto her back and did what came most naturally to a member of her species. She got a running start, slipped onto her stomach, and slid into the forest at high speed.

Yay, Finally my Artyx and Pearly fanfic! Anyway, please R&R