An ever growing forest. Lush with life and greenery. Should you listen closely you could hear crickets chirping and birds humming. If you look closely you could see the tiniest of caterpillars on the vibrant green leaves, the holes the wild rabbits bury in and the great red pulsing portal that disrupts it all.

Footsteps flood the forest as creatures scurry away, the unnatural red portal ensures of this as a purple cat falls from the crimson gateway.

"GAH!" She yells, falling on her feet as all cats do. Her broken leg pulsating with enormous pain.

Downside: Her leg is ruined; upside: her theory worked.

"So" she says, recovering from her fall "it is the fabled eighth sol emerald...now if only it could take me to a doctor."

Positioning herself underneath a great oak tree, she fiddled with her forehead gem. There is an eighth sol emerald. But what does this mean for the other? What does this mean for her? She read books about an amazing hero whom frees the all kingdom from tyranny. They called him the Totem of Sol. He possessed almost world breaking feats, all in the name of his kingdom, and what was the source of his power? The eight Sol Emeralds; long since thought a legend after going millennia with only the seven in hand.

She had no time to think of what the possibilities could be with her eighth emerald, the only thing on our feline friend's mind right now was rest.

Amber eyes slowly hid behind lavender eye lids. The greenery became solid black. Blazes body became limp as her head tilted ever so slightly. Sleep. That's what she needed, and the injured princess was granted it...

CRUNCH

CRUNCH

...or so she thought.

CRUNCH

CRUNCH

Footsteps flooded the serenity, stepping on the meek screeching fallen branches.

CRUNCH

CRUNCH

the princess didn't stir. Even as the footsteps got closer, not an inch did she move.

The footsteps stopped. The sound became nothing. Serenity once aga-

BANG BANG BANG

Like a bullet, her eyes shot open, and looking at her dead in the eyes was her long time friend Marine, escorted by two koalas. Each holding a gun with Blaze's name on it. Marine had taken the first three shots, evident from the smoke dancing upwards from the barrel.

Marine, the once fun loving captain. Marine, one of blazes closest friends. Marine, the annoyance Blaze inwardly referred to as her younger sister. Marine, the girl with eyes that reeked of emotionlessness and murderous intent.

For a single second, Blaze glanced at the tree behind her; three gashes leading down the shaft of the plant. But a single second was something Blaze didn't have as the next shot hit much closer to home. Her chest to be precise.

The princess never expressed much pain, she was taught from birth to remain level headed at all times, but as soon as it hit, she screamed. Blood began oozing out of the bodily cavity, her tears falling suit. She had fought Eggman. Two of them. She had faced demons and robots and everything, but none of them hurt like this. A bullet, straight into her chest.

Without thinking, her hand flew forward releasing a large wall of flames, while her other hand flung towards her head.

"SOL CONTROL" She screamed out of desperation and again she was gone.

Bloodied. Pained. Emotionally and physically drained. Broken. And now lying in a hole within a large pirate ship. The panting was heavy and the blood was still flooding. She didn't have time to stop she needed to do something, otherwise death would consume her.

A haze was all her vision was. With enough effort she could make out a wooden desk hidden out of the sunlight of the crater in the ship. Even if there was nothing she had to get there.

Gloves ripped as five surprisingly sharp claws preduded from all of their thumbs and fingers. With the last bit of energy she had, she pulled herself towards the desk.

One claw

Two claw

Three claw

Four claw

Five claw

She was close. The desk leg grazing her tiny nose. Relief, she thought as she attempted to pull herself up

It hurt. Of course it hurts. But do you know what hurts more? Trying to pick yourself up off the floor with a bullet in your chest AND having the floor collapse on you.

Falling isn't anything new to the cat, but sadly this one wasn't landing on her feet.

She must have fell two floors before the ground hit her, resulting in an instant cough of blood on the floorboard. And then the desk came.

'This is it. This is it, isn't it?' The cat thought to herself as she saw the hulking table fall towards her.

SMASH said the table as hit the ground a metre in front of her. The entire thing splintered and broke, releasing its contents conveniently. It took some effort and a great deal of that as passing out was definitely on the cards for this girl, but she eventually found a pair of tweezers and some bandage tape. Thankfully, the previous floor was a medical bay of sorts.

Blaze positioned herself up and took off both her jacket and shirt, that had until then, blended perfectly with her trousers. She almost gagged as she saw the amount of blood on her fur and chest. Fangs seethed as the tweezers made entry. It was safe to say she was not qualified for this. However the only person who was, was brainwashed somehow into serving for Nega.

Eventually the bullet was found and removed, however now the blood was rushing much more quickly. Her vision was still hazy but before she could pass out of blood loss, her entire chest had been taped over. It seemed to contain the blood nicely enough and Blaze hit her head back.

"Oh dear gods what is going on"