Alright! My first fanfiction (that I actually posted and not left in my folder to gather dust for who knows how long)! Now, as stated, this is an AU where some of the Sonic cast (and while I'll be mostly basing off games and the anime Sonic X, I might include characters from other media, including some OCs, mainly to explore the world and not entirely drive the plot) will be mythical creatures, spirits and/or Gods. There'll be a lot of myths and legends (and a bunch of other dimensions and energies and so much more!), and the events will feel a little disjointed, but I assure you that they all have at least a purpose and also, BIG FORESHADOWING will be here. Whether I succeed at being mysterious enough to intrigue you or be so vague that I annoy you will be up to your judgment!
Now, for the disclaimers.
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog, the games, the anime and any of the characters in those media. The only things I own are the plot and the OCs.
ALSO! Thanks to DgShadowChocolate for giving me permission to use an idea from her fanfic on deviantart, The Crow and the Butterfly. If you're curious about it, go check it out! I unfortunately can't say what the idea is here though (because you guys haven't read the fanfic yet!), but it will be VERY obvious.
Now, let the story begin!
Chapter 1
"Wind spirit, what are you doing?"
The barely-visible form didn't acknowledge the question, continuing to playfully run around the human traversing through the snow-cloaked forest. It left behind soft breezes, sometimes being mischievous enough to nip at the human's cold nose and delighting in the way he would scrunch it up.
The speaker huffed impatiently at being ignored, but continued on, "I will never understand your fascination with the mortals. Why the interest? They are ephemeral, never lasting long, and their actions and nature more toxic than helpful."
"They are as ephemeral as you think of them to be, but not all mortals have such toxic souls," the soft whisper replied, like the sound of the wind whistling through the crevices and crags of a mountain. "And I know this particular one. Despite his shortcomings, he is quite amusing and I will admit, I am fond of him. Did you know he once dove into the river to try and save a hedgehog, even though it can swim?"
"I do not share the same interest in mortals as you, wind, so do not waste my time with such tales," the speaker rumbled in irritation.
"Oh you mountains are such stiff spirits! You do not bend from your beliefs! Harsh and rigid!" the wind whistled, carrying an undertone of laughter. "But if you claim disinterest, why ask the reason behind my own interest in the first place?"
There was silence from the mountain spirit. Another laugh escaped the wind spirit before being followed by, "You worry needlessly! Mortals have no capability of harming me! No one can catch the wind after all. I am freedom and a drifter; I never remain in the same place for long. Those who even fancy of pursuing me will have no chance of capturing me, even if Lady Luck were to give them a helping hand!"
"That is not the reason!" the mountain spirit retorted, but the wind merely laughed, playfully brushing past and turning to follow the traveler, and the mountain spirit eventually rumbled in defeat before doing the same.
For the rest of the day, the two spirits trailed after the traveler, who remained oblivious to their presence. The wind spirit was content in rushing around, finding entertainment in rustling the barren branches and teasing the traveler with its laughter (and the small piles of snow it pushed onto him with its breezes), while the mountain spirit did not find the need to fill the air with idle chatter.
But the mountain spirit knew of the wind's impatience. Decades spent being bothered by said spirit had taught the mountain that it would not be long before-
"Mountain spirit, how goes your duty? Still guarding the emeralds?"
-the wind spirit started talking. The mountain inwardly rumbled, pondering on whether he should answer or not. Should he not, the wind would only continue to pester, and deciding that it was not worth the silence, the mountain answered, "The Master Emerald remains safe and hidden. I have no knowledge of where the Chaos Emeralds are, but I have not felt any grave changes in the balance, nor do I sense that all seven have come together under another wielder... And the Chaos Gods..."
The mountain spirit subtly glanced upwards. The bare branches were barely a suitable cover for what any other spirit could see were they to look up into the sky, where they would see flashes of colors traversing by swiftly. And even if they did not use their 'eyes', they could still sense the trails of soft gold Chaos Energy left in their wakes by the small beings known as Chaos Gods.
"They have been showing up more frequently," he finished and went silent, letting the wind know that it was all he would say on the subject matter. The wind accepted the silence and moved onto another question, curiosity and mischief lacing its words.
"What of the snow?"
Despite the vague question, the mountain spirit clearly understood what the wind was referring to, bringing disdain to his form and eliciting laughter from the wind spirit. "She has been quite persistent, I see."
"Persistent AND annoying. She keeps trying to steal the Master Emerald, sneaking through the crags and crevices of my mountain! And the most irritating factor of this is that she is not even trying to be subtle; I would see trails of her presence left behind, filling my caverns and caves! Not only is she intruding in my territory, she is also making a mess! I am quite torn on whether to feel wrathful at her continued attempts to steal the Master Emerald, or that she is doing quite a poor job at it! As if I need a handicap to do my duty!"
If the wind spirit chose to take a mortal form, there would be an amused expression on its face as it listened to the mountain's temper. "You are acting more like a volcano than a mountain right now! Does she aggravate you that much?"
The mountain's entire form radiated derision. "More than anyone else..."
The wind merely laughed, unbothered by the hostility. "I will be sure to inform her of that when I cross paths with her! She sometimes visits this forest, you know... Perhaps it has something to do with a certain mountain spirit that keeps visiting me?"
The mountain spirit blanched as much as he could. Without a mortal form, it was a fruitless effort, but his elemental form still emitted the same emotion. "I came here to ESCAPE from her, not to be bothered!" he growled before glancing around with extreme caution, as if the snow spirit was about to jump at him.
"Well, if you still need a vacation spot, I can tell you of some warm summery lands that never see snow!" the wind whistled as it parted the snow-covered branches, revealing a hidden path to the traveler. "But I do warn you; when you return, you might find a certain Master Emerald missing..."
"I will not take your offer. I only require a short moment to myself ('and to check up on you,' the mountain privately thought). I will not abandon my duty, as it is my responsibility to keep the Master Emerald safe from any threats, including the annoying ones..." the mountain replied, delivering the last words with resigned exasperation.
The wind would have chortled at the mountain's tone were it not for the threat it spotted
"Hey! Stop! Do not go through that route!"
The wind spirit's words did not reach the human, only coming off as a sharper whistle of the breeze. The mountain's warning rumble yielded the same result. And hiding among the trees, the large hungry wolf stalked closer. Usually, wolves and other non-mobian animals didn't attack humans or mobians, preferring to stick to the prey they knew, but in winter, with the scarcity of food, anything was about fair game at that point.
But before the mountain could use his powers to scare away the wolf, there was a faint shift in their surroundings. To the human, there was no change, but to the spirits and the wolf, it felt as if a new presence had intruded, all too tangible and real. But the spirits knew better, able to sense that despite the tangibility, there was also something extremely fragile about it, as if it could break if they just applied the slightest pressure...
A subtle illusion.
The wind whistled in relief as the wolf fell for the tangibility of the illusion, choosing instead to pounce on the more familiar and slightly closer prey. The wild hare immediately dashed away, leading the wolf on a long enough merry chase before revealing the evidence of it being an illusion when it passed right through a tree. The chase ended as the wolf halted with a surprised growl. Now further away from the traveler and occupied by the strangeness of the disappearing prey, the human passed by, oblivious to the threat.
"Brother!"
"Kit!" the wind laughed, noticing the large fox ears twitching from behind a bush. "So the illusion was your doing! Very nicely done!"
A small vulpine face peeked out from the brush with ears twitching in happiness and slight embarrassment at the praise."Yes...but I still have not mastered the art of making solid illusions... There are still things I need to work on, more I have to learn..."
"That does not mean you did an inadequate job," the wind replied, its breeze gently ruffling the small creature's fur. "If it were not for you, the wolf would have jumped on the traveler and cause injuries. Yes, you still have more to learn, but as I said, you did a good job."
Those vulpine ears twitched in pleasure at the praise, and from behind him, two tails wagged furiously. Big blue eyes sparkled and the wind laughed at the expression on the kit's face.
The mountain waited for a few more seconds before choosing to interrupt. "And who might this be?"
The kit blinked, turning towards the mountain spirit, while the wind's form seemed to puff up in pride. "This is my charge! I have found him during the late spring of this year. Such a small little thing, but he already had his two-hundredth tail. Quite a powerful and smart little one. He plays just as many mischievous pranks as I do on the bandits and thieves that travel through!"
The kit smiled at the last part, the gesture half-shy and half-proud. "It is a pleasure to meet you," he greeted the mountain spirit with a small bow, before turning to the ever-moving wind. "Hey, Brother, can I come with you? You might need more help!" he asked.
The mountain's form shifted in intrigue. "He calls you Brother? I thought you have not chosen a gender yet. Nor did I think you would have taken in a charge..."
"I have not chosen a gender, but it makes the kit comfortable to refer to me by one, and I do not entirely mind..." the wind hummed. "And I do wish to take in a charge..." 'since making one of my own is impossible with my weak power.'
The mountain seemed to sense the sadness underlying in the wind's elemental form, and tactfully changed the subject."Either way, I must be going now. And remember you two, the Chaos Festival will be held within three months' time, on the cusp of the spring equinox when the full moon is at its zenith."
"Where is it this time?"
"...Emerald Bay."
The wind spirit hummed to itself while the kit's ears twitched. The mountain spirit inwardly sighed at their reactions. They were probably too young to remember the incident that brought about the name of the bay. Mortals named it after the emerald-green color of the waters, but all spirits of the olden times and those they chose to pass down knowledge to knew of that day.
The day when all seven Chaos Emeralds came together at a Chaos Festival...and the day of The Invasion. Ever since then, all the old spirits feared the area, thinking it to be cursed. And despite how long it had been...they still feared it.
'And now that the Chaos Festival is to be held there once more...I only hope the shaman knows what she is doing.'
It was with that prayer in mind that the mountain spirit eventually left, headed back to his home where he would resume his duty of guarding the Master Emerald.
DR. GERALD'S JOURNAL OF THE SUPERNATURAL - A STUDY
ENTRY 1: SPIRITS, PART 1
DATE OF ENTRY: 24th June, XXXX
INTRODUCTION
'Spirit' is the term used to refer to these creatures based off elements found in nature. Said elements can be anything, from water and wind, from a single individual plant or a rock, to entire forests, oceans and mountains. Not every element in nature has a spirit though, as their creation depends on the amount of energy an element has (see CREATION & EVOLUTION).
CREATION & EVOLUTION (DATE OF ENTRY: 2nd July, XXXX)
The cause of the creation of a spirit is due to the planet's Chaos Fields and the Chaos Energy that every living being generates and every non-living being has contact with (an example being Mount Crescent, a place that is directly within the influence of a rather powerful Chaos Field). This Chaos Energy, in combination with Life Energy (should the object in question be living) or with Gaia Energy (should the object be non-living), accumulated together and somehow mutated over the millions and millions of years our planet has existed.
Elements or objects of nature that have a required amount of these energies will allow a spirit to be born. This seems to be the only standard set as I have not yet discovered what other factors (if there are any) may be included, for I have seen several objects with contradicting factors having spirits.
Spirits, like humans, went through evolution (or mutation). From a mass of energy with no personality, let alone a conscious, they evolved, developing a conscious and a personality, into sentient beings capable of feats related to the object they were based off (Note: a catalogue is needed to determine just how many varieties of spirits exist)
FORMS (DATE OF ENTRY: 29th July, XXXX)
In addition to having abilities related to their elements, spirits also have two forms: elemental, where they are the same mass of energy they once were (while retaining their conscious and personality), and a form they refer to as 'mortal', as it is based off either humans or mobians. However, from my study, I have observed that most spirits prefer mobian forms as they are closer to nature than us humans.
ELEMENTAL FORMS
Elemental forms are, as said above, masses of energy that have no solid form. In this state, they must use an amount of energy to be able to physically interact with the environment, which I find similar to how ghosts are portrayed as. Spirits often find this tiring, which is why they have developed a 'mortal' form. However, even in elemental forms, they are still in touch with their abilities and can use them instead (such as a plant spirit, in their elemental form, growing plants that can move at their will and physically interact).
MORTAL FORMS
Mortal forms are, quote on quote, 'a mortal shell that merely gives them a visible form and mass so that more energy is not required to physically 'interact' with the surroundings'. A 'shell' is indeed an apt description. The mortal form is visible and tangible while containing the elemental form of the spirit, akin to someone wearing a suit. Of course, this also means that only the outside is similar to mortals (humans and mobians). Inside is said to be empty (though an operation will be needed to confirm this).
GENDER & RELATIONS (DATE OF ENTRY: 1st August, XXXX)
When it comes to gender, I discovered that spirits are in fact genderless, as one of their forms have no reproductive organs and the other is a shell with no internal organs. However, due to their developed personalities, they find preference for a gender of their choice and have been known to develop romantic relationships (also other types of relations from friendship and family to rivalry and enemies).
CHARGES (DATE OF ENTRY: 1st August, XXXX)
The term 'charge' is used for helpers of sorts. Spirits that are old or powerful enough are able to create them. (See later ENTRY for more information).
LIFE EXPECTANCY (DATE OF ENTRY: 1st August, XXXX)
Spirits (and their objects) have been known to live much longer than a human or a mobian, but they can be killed should their object be destroyed (which also means that spirits of elements such as wind or objects such as an ocean cannot be killed). Spirits also have a different way of perceiving time (apparently, one century is almost akin to a year in terms of aging), so my source, a spirit of only a decade, is quite young.
END OF ENTRY