North Pole

Disclaimer: I don't any characters in this story.

Character(s): Sonic

He had always wanted to visit every place in the world, had always wanted to explore the uncharted territories – each crack and crevice – of the unknown. From anything as high as the tallest mountain range to everything as low as the bottom of the sea, or however close to the water he could bear to get. He wanted to see it all, experience all the sights and sounds that this world had to offer. He wanted to mingle with the unique individuals occupying the place, and get to know them and their culture on a deeper level.

He wanted to have the simple gratification of saying that he had done it.

After five years of living his current lifestyle, you might think Sonic has accomplished all this and more, whatnot with all the traveling he did. Yet, despite his own desire to do so, he finds himself unable to confirm this position whenever he's hit with the statement, "I bet you've been everywhere on the entire planet. I mean, there's no way you haven't yet, right?"

In these situations, he'd just bite back the not-so-small part of him that wanted to agree, settling instead for a much less enthusiastic, "No. No, I haven't. Working on it, though." As much as it pained him to be reminded of this incompletion, he always admitted to it; besides, it wasn't exactly a failure, per se. It just meant that he had a goal to work towards.

Still – even after coming to terms with how much more he had to do before he could rightfully claim his trophy for traveling the entire world – it didn't get any easier to admit that – currently – he fell below his own standards, the expectations he held for himself. In his present place, the pedestal on which he currently stood, he had yet risen to meet such benchmarks.

And hearing this exact conviction coming out of someone else's mouth embarrassed him even further. "What are you idiots talking about? There's no way he's been everywhere!" At the little, five-year-old girl's exclamation, Sonic couldn't help but turn his face away from the small group of children, facepalming in humiliation. He was literally just dissed by a little girl three times younger than him. It didn't matter that she was right. Matter of fact, it was worse that she was right; now, he can't defend himself. Well, he can try, but whatever feeble excuse he comes up with to counter that won't really help his position.

Apparently, however, the girl wasn't done. "If that was the case, then he'd have met Santa Claus and all his elves and reindeer!" Sonic wasn't following, evident from his dumbfounded expression as he tilted his head to the side, urging the girl to go on. "What? Are you serious that you've never heard of the North Pole?!" Immediately, Sonic reassured her that he knew what the North Pole was, at which the girl cockily responded with, "Well, it still doesn't matter whether you know what the place is or not; you'll never get there."

"And why is that? If I look hard enough, I'll find it eventually," the blue hedgehog answered, narrowing his eyes questioningly as he wondered what exactly she was getting at here.

Eyes sparkling in childlike naivety, the girl elaborated further. "Santa doesn't let anyone see where it is. He hides it, so no one bad finds it and ruins Christmas." Raising his eyebrows in amusement, Sonic grunted in understanding, unable to stop the smile spreading across his face as all his energy was diverted to fight back the laughter climbing up his throat. Oh, what would he ever do without children for entertainment? "So that means you'll never be able to find it. And if you can't find it, you'll never be able to say you've been everywhere in the world."

Soon after that, Sonic departed, directing a cheerful farewell to the kids as he left. Before he was out of earshot, he turned back around, his eyes focused on that girl, and sincerely promised that he'd find the North Pole and come back to tell them all about it. All about Santa, his elves, and his reindeer. After that statement, they were all but shoving him away, urging him to go find it right away.

Laughing, Sonic made his true departure, a warm feeling swelling in his heart. He knew he'd never make good on that promise, so why'd he make it? He'd never be able to find the North Pole, never be able to find someplace that doesn't exist. All in all, Sonic supposed that the little girl was, in a way, correct; he'll never be able to truly go everywhere in the world.

However, that doesn't mean he can't try. After all, sometimes the journey to your destination is more important than the destination itself.

Smokestep: All right, so a majority of those who responded to the question yesterday had answered that they prefer longer chapters, so if I find that a chapter's a little on the long side, I won't bother trying to shorten it. As such, I'll make each chapter as long as is necessary for that specific chapter. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you have anything to say about it, you know where to click! I'll see you all for the next chapter.

Responses To Reviews:

ABCSonicKirbyWarriors: "Quantity over quality." I think you switched those on accident. Anyhow, thanks for your nice comments, as well as your thoughts on the length of the chapters.

Christian Ape99: By Christmas special, do you mean a completely separate story from this one, or a prompt in this one? If you mean the latter, I'm thinking no, because I already have all the next prompts thought out and with what they are, I wouldn't be able to do those characters justice. Especially since I've never written for Sleet and Dingo before.

Karts of Sugar Rush: It's funny that you mention that prompt; tree is going to be the next chapter. I already had it planned out, but I'll try to see if I can fit Big in there somewhere. Anyhow, thank you so much for your input.

ShinyShiny9: Poor Amy. No one ever focuses on the parts of her personality that don't revolve around Sonic. But I suppose that's why we're here.

Twin-books: Well, to be fair, a majority of the stories I have on my account were written about three years ago, I think. So I would hope that my writing's improved since then. Yeah, we don't really see Sonic surprised all that often, do we? Anyhow, thanks for your input, regardless of whether you think it's sweet or not. Also *they're ("I don't think there that . . ."). Sorry, couldn't resist.