Blaze the cat was about to try something foolish, something she had never dared to try before. None of what she had in mind was dangerous, well, not to her physical self at least. There was a potential for social fallout and repercussions, and her present foolhardy attempt was part of a much long spanning and more chaotic line of thinking, but those truths couldn't be allowed to hold her attention. They hadn't stopped her in the past so she certainly wouldn't let them now.
Getting a break had been difficult enough, let alone not telling Silver that she had secured some time away from her royal duties. An afternoon she intended to spend by the beach no less. She'd had to make certain that he was busy in order to ensure he wouldn't drop by the palace or the site she was presently heading toward. A certain Amy Rose had proven to be a useful tool to that end, dragging the psychic hedgehog off to aid her in securing and carrying goods for the pink hedgehog's rapidly approaching wedding to a certain blue speedster. Ironically, it was them taking that step and making that effort which had pushed Blaze into her present position.
Now twenty-three years into her second lifetime, the princess of the Sol dimension had just made it to the inner edge of the bright yellow beach toward the northern tip of Southern Island. The sea was only just in view, its gentle green hue contrasted against the almost cloudless bright blue sky. The rucksack slung across her back was heavy, not so much due to the true weight of his contents but the potential that lay within.
Getting Marine to craft the object she'd requested without blabbing about it to Silver, or anyone else whose voice might trickle its way into his ear for that matter, was a task she still scarcely believed she'd succeeded in. It'd taken some subterfuge as to the object's true usage, an ardent claim that it was to practice creating trinkets for herself. That claim was then followed by a promise of materials and aid for one of the ships the raccoon had long planned on creating. In hindsight, the lie wasn't superb but then the raccoon was much older now; though maturity and Marine still didn't belong in the same sentence, the two concepts were closer than they'd been many years ago.
For the past two weeks she'd kept her ears to the wind, over which not a word in reference to her plan had spread on it. It was a good sign, especially since Silver couldn't keep much from the feline without her at least suspecting something was afoot, but Blaze knew she'd keep her ears trained for many weeks still. Unfortunately, Silver had picked up on the tenseness this change brought. Though she was usually somewhat high strung, evidently the difference in her temperament had been enough to notice. It was logical of course, she knew that he could read her just as well as she could read him; having been more than platonic for over six years now, that reality was especially expected. The difference was that she could endure and keep her mouth shut, despite his pleading yellow eyes.
Rounding through a desert of yellow dunes, the feline finally reached the water's edge. Though the sea air was strong across all of Southern Island, she now stood at the point where the spray was at its most prevalent. A glance left and right proved what she had scarcely dared hope; despite it being a sunny summer day, this beach was devoid of populous. The eastern beach usually drew the most people, being the closest to the boardwalk and various shops, with the southern beach being a close second. This site however, due to its required hike between a pair of mountains or long walk around the island's edge, saw substantially less use. To her mind it was the prettiest of the island's beaches, but then she was rather biased by the peace and quiet it had offered her and her partner on a multitude of dates.
It was only a hundred paces more, crossing over pieces of discarded driftwood and beached seaweed, that she reached her true destination; a series of rockpools, extended out on a great jutting length of stone that reached toward the sea. Outcroppings like this were common across the island, formed millennia ago by the volcano that stood near the island's heart spilling over for the final time. It wasn't uncommon to see them swarmed by tourists, clad in sunhats with cheap butterfly nets slung over their shoulders, hoping to catch a crab or urchin taking a forced refuge from the waves. Ironically, this beach probably saw more wildlife land into its tidepools due to its less disturbed nature, at least Silver had hypothesised such.
Without a moment's hesitation, she took to the rock. Her hiking boots were fairing with the terrain far better than her usual heels were; admittedly, her whole outfit was rather more practical as beachwear than her usual garb. A set of knee length dark shorts, that had only seen use prior for exercise, and a short sleeved grey tie-dye shirt that had been Silver's for a year before slipping into his collection. Black sunglasses crowned her head, but their purpose had not yet manifested.
The princess cast her gaze to each of the pools she passed, debating which best suited her purpose. The shimmer of fish scales against in the sunlight pushed her away from the first, the waving of red sea anemones forced her on from the second, spiralling orange seasnail shells made the third unusual but she took pause at the fourth. This looked to be the shallowest of the rockpools, its sandy basin was plain to see even against her shadow, but, with the ocean so close, refilling it wouldn't be difficult if such was required. A surface level inspection however was not enough for Blaze to settle.
She slipped her bag from her back, crouching down onto her knees before drawing off her gloves and balling them. Amber eyes to the water, she gingerly reached down to assay through the sand at the pool's base. There were a few newly growing tufts of seaweed toward the centre of the pit, that much she was willing to sacrifice, but a sudden rapid movement did catch her eye as her pinkie met what she'd thought was a stone. A crab with a jet-black carapace, no larger than an inch in diameter, had arisen and was attempting to scuttle for the enclosure's rim. Gingerly and deftly, she plucked it up by the waist, keeping her fingers out of the reach of its tiny white speckled claws. With a simple lean she put herself in reach of the ocean and dropped it in with little more than a thought apology for disturbing the crustacean.
A second reach in and dust around revealed no more crustaceans but also that this pit was perfect for her intended usage. Despite the summer heat, the shade offered by the rock formation had kept the water crisp and cool. To be honest, she'd expected finding an ideal well would be more of a hassle.
Blaze pushed her bag further away, laying it flat, and moved her balled gloves to rest next to it. Before setting to work, first and foremost, she had to prepare herself; her upcoming work would require a type of control she was unpractised in performing. She extended her right arm toward the horizon, following the stretching stone beneath her, and brought a flame to burst in the palm of her hand. Immediately, the water that had lingered in her fur evaporated with a steamy hiss. The white cloud only lingered for half a moment before being overtaken by a warbling orange light that housed a pit of blue at its base.
She took a deep breath, lowering her sunglasses as she clawed that hand's fingers. More heat rushed from between her shoulder blades, winding like a serpent along her arm before coming to explode much too violently at her palm. In combat this would not be an issue, but for her given task it was much too chaotic. Still holding her breath, she attempted to focus in on the pit near the centre of her palm where the flame was at its darkest. Over the course of almost a minute she watched as the flame shrank smaller and smaller but maintained its heat.
Blaze allowed herself a fresh breath before turning her focus toward control, bringing the dark flame to almost form a cauldron in her grasp. Then, with the grinding of her teeth, that bowl of flame came to form a tall yet fully sealed cylinder. Another two minutes later, just before her need to breathe could grow unmanageable, the shape was further condensed. What had once been dark blue became light and its shape collapsed to form an ironic shape; that of a small box.
Fire expanded before fading into nothing as she claimed fresh breath, the effort left not so much as a spark or puff of smoke as it vanished. The princess had come far from
It took another moment for her to recentre herself, running through that process in her mind. Shaping her flame was a practice she'd seen some success in before, making small, condensed, flames on her fingertips had proven useful for both cutting and welding metal, but what she had in mind was another matter entirely.
Hands now cool and dry, she unzipped her rucksack. Pushing aside Marine's creation, she instead drew out a wooden box she had long ignored. It was not dissimilar to a small mariner's chest, with a locked latch on its front and an arching yet hollow semicylinder for a top. The frame was red cherrywood, but it had a floral fabric patterning, a green background with branching violet blossoms. Drawing the key from her bag, she undid its simple lock and flipped the top open.
Inside, as she had expected, the box was full to almost overflowing with trinkets. Gold, bronze, brass, opal and silver metallic forms, entirely unorganised, presented themselves to her, most of which were adorned with some manner of gemstone. Before her they rested, a veritable fortune of jewellery. However, each item in this valuable hoard had gone untouched and unused since it had arrived in the cat's collection.
Though Blaze's relationship to her status, as princess and guardian of the Sol dimension, had changed for the better in recent years, there were certain aspects that she hadn't settled with. She didn't enjoy the stares, she could do without the enforced cordiality but, most of all, it was the gifts that irked her. For as long as she could remember, her attention and favour were viewed as something that could be bought.
What was a five-year-old supposed to do with a hundred different rings? How should a teenager to respond to fifty ornate ball gowns? Even now, having refused to act upon or even use any of the material goods sent by courtiers and businesses over all that time, she would still receive the most bizarre gifts almost monthly.
While Silver had enjoyed the endless stream of flowers she received at first, he'd greatly overthought how to compare his kindness to such gifts. It'd been foolish of him of course, but that hadn't stopped Blaze from growing even more perturbed by the so-called gifts she had received. The difference was blatant, his gifts were personal and lacked the blatant ulterior motives of the others she received.
These rings were the plainest example of the gaudy showing people who thought themselves important and companies vying for favour sent her way. The only jewellery she ever wore was a heirloom, the golden necklace around her neck, and yet others had taken that as a sign that jewellery was the path to her heart. Never once had she worn a ring, earrings or even so little as a bangle, yet their minds were all so set on the idea that they knew what she wanted. Well, today they'd finally get their wish; she'd finally make use of the gifts they'd given. For years she'd dared not throw these baubles away, offering them to friends in the other dimension as a method to shift them without their absence being publicised, but today's method was quite different.
Blaze drew a simple golden ring with a single emerald green centre stone from the box, taking it as an ideal starting position. Then, finally, she pulled out Marine's device, a simple black metal box, a little larger than her hand, with a latch. She flipped it open, revealing its simple internals. It wasn't unlike a metal square that had simply been cut in two, save for a small divot at its very centre which created a perfect circle with a filled interior. It was a cast that, if filled with a liquid, would shape it into a perfect ring. Marine had used a similar device to smelt scrap metal into machine parts prior, but often joked about its use as Blaze now intended. Based on exemplars the raccoon herself had made, Blaze knew that her intended creation would fit him, even after the modifications she'd requested.
She set the mould in front of her, just a few centimetres away from the water's edge, and the open jewellery box to her right. The emerald decorated ring was set in the centre of her left palm, leaving her right free. Another deep breath was taken as she clawed her right hand, purple fur bristled before fire surged in her palm. It folded once then twice, forming the dark blue box with the ring at its centre. It took a moment for a reaction to occur in the heart of that dark flame, the bubbling and shifting of metal led the gemstone to slip as the metal clutching it melted away.
Gold, copper and silver, those were the metals Blaze was seeking. The melting of metal wasn't uniform, different compositions would react to different levels of heat. Those three, despite their value, were relatively reactive to temperature. That meant, with enough effort and will, she could sap them from these otherwise worthless favours.
Feeling her lungs begin to burn and sighting flames beginning to twist away from the ring, Blaze closed her fist and took a deep breath. She turned her hand to hang so that her pinkie finger was over the hole. It was as if she'd squeezed the juice from a golden tangerine as the molten metal glazed its way down her palm before dripping out from the bottom of her hand. She hadn't liquified the entire ring, she could still feel its crusty mass in her hand, but everything of value had been taken. However, the mould wasn't even close to filled; it was time for another.
The second ring was gold too, but she paid very little attention to it and its sapphire inlays as she set it in her left palm, on top of the remains of its predecessor. Blaze didn't hesitate as she again grew then shrank her fire, the dark blue form in her hand now felt even hotter than before. With the two masses now stacked on top of each other though, and that increase in temperature, differentiating flame from jewellery had become impossible. The shift of molten metal pooling in her palm was undeniable this time, its weight was so different from that of water. It was heavier yes but what stuck with her more was how sluggish it was in its movements, almost comparable to treacle or honey.
She closed her fist and tipped her hand again. A steadier stream of gold flooded from her grasp, but it was still far from enough. The rings she'd been holding had crumbled, she could feel the gemstones and scraps of metal alike threatening to slip from her hold. The moment the flow stopped her palm was righted, her right hand had re-entered the box. This time the ring was copper, but its decoration was a ruby, that meant a slightly higher melting point but not one so significant that she couldn't handle it. The addition of copper would tint the gold lighter, pushing it toward rose gold. That wasn't her end goal, but it was a step toward it.
Before the fire could arise in her palm however, the princess' eyes snapped upward just in time for wisps of steam to leave her peripheral vision. A glance just beyond her set up made Blaze blink, the rockpool had been low but certainly not that low. Grabbing her things, she shuffled a few steps backward from the edge before igniting. Three rings, albeit in different states, were now boiling in her palm, she tried not to think what would become of her hand's fur as she felt the ruby slip to mingle among the other rocks. This was getting quicker, or perhaps simply easier. She dared to stop holding her breath and found that her focus only slightly waned, the black-blue box barely broke from its shaped form.
A smile crossed her lips as she closed her fist this time, letting the mixture of metals drip until there were no more drops left. The wiry grin faded as she reached for the next ring though, something else had caught her eye again. While molten metal was pouring into the cast, it was cooling to the point of not fully solidifying but being inconsistently heated before the next ring could melt to the point of being added. A sigh slipped past her lips, if the metals weren't properly mixed then the ring would come out looking awful.
She glanced right, a silver ring with a small diamond was set for burning next. That meant less effort than gold and an opportunity to shift her methods. The pyrokinetic straightened her back and moved the ring to her left hand. She'd gained greater control, but this would be perhaps a step too far.
Blaze placed her right hand over the ring-shaped hole in the mould. She felt the heat amass on her palm. Though it was flattened and undoubtedly hadn't taken the true shape, it was the exact same feeling she had been conjuring in her left hand. Breath held once again, she split her focus to alight her right hand. It was difficult, the flame on her left buckled and writhed as if trying to resist her demand. She had to breathe when a blue cauldron formed and the shape warbled, but on her second attempt she managed to make the form. By the third, Blaze was maintaining both super concentrated flames.
Metal melted in her palm and her bent smile returned, now accompanied by sweat on her brow. Gingerly, she brought her left hand over to her right, snuffing the latter as she reached for a fresh ring and allowing the former to ball and pour the rich liquid into the cast. From now until her job was done, she wouldn't permit that black-blue box in her left to bust.
The next ring introduced to the flame's grasp was copper, this time with a trio of amethyst gems centrally placed, two small dots flanking a single large chunk. She renewed the fire on her right hand, pressing it down and forcing the mixed metals to remain molten. Perhaps due to the higher melting point and her split attention, this time the ring took longer to shed its precious metal. Regardless, the moment she felt its worth was enough removed her hand was tipped.
A quick glance down proved her plan was working, the ring looked to be a consistent molten orange. Without blinking, she plucked a silver ring with a yellow topaz rectangle on its front and set it for melting. Truth be told, almost six rings set to be disposed of, she couldn't recall when she'd received even a single one of them. The feline assumed they were relatively new by their position near the front of the box, but from who or where they'd originated was beyond her. Most had come in the mail or been quickly passed to her in passing before, after or between meetings. Not one of them had a single ounce of earnest or heartfelt intent behind their gifting. They were all simple showpieces.
It was as she poured the metal from that ring that Blaze the contrast between their expensive efforts and Silver's own flooded back to her. Though the rings surely held greater material value, the first gift Blaze could recall the hedgehog ever bestowing upon her was magnitudes more costly. Those who had given her the jewellery had money to simply throw away, they wouldn't pass her these rings so casually otherwise. In Crisis City, monetary value had entirely fallen by the wayside, only a few things truly mattered, and he had shared the most valuable with her. Not long after they'd first encountered each other, he had offered her food just because she'd looked hungry. That memory had stuck with her longer than any garnet casually passed in hope of a favour, regardless of how accessible such scraps were now.
Just one more, that's all she needed. Reaching blindly again, she procured a silver ring with a blue opal inlay. The flames flickered out of formation, a clear sign that she was running out of energy. The weight of seven dishevelled rings in hand was a reminder of how far she'd progressed, how successful it's all been. Holding her breath one last time, shutting her eyes, she felt heat again twist along her arms. It was seconds or minutes later, she couldn't tell which, when the flame on her right hand sputtered alight. The left was quickly brought across, molten metal dripped from her palm just one more time and the cast was filled up to the brim.
Quickly, she flipped the top of the cast down and redid the latch. The moment she was certain it was sealed; she pushed the box off and into the rockpool to speed up the cooling and quench the metal. Steam immediately burst from the hole, accompanied by an even stronger scent of salt.
Using her wrist, she pushed up her sunglasses before haphazardly setting the remaining contents of her left hand by the rockpool. Feeling light-headedness immediately set in, not to mention the sweat on her forehead, Blaze drew her water bottle from her rucksack. Fortunately, the bottle was metal, she could still see the heat lines rising from her hands by the time she was quenched, and the water was half gone.
She waited five minutes longer before retrieving the mould, finding the water had again significantly evaporated. She flipped it open only to find that the colour was about as she'd expected, not the bright yellow of typical gold but a softer, bordering on silver, tone. With the modifications she'd had Marine make to the cast, it was set to come out like one of Silver's bracers. There was a way the mould could be pulled in two to remove the ring but, given that buffer work would undoubtedly be needed, not to mention it's difficult composition, she opted just to reseal the case and return it to her bag.
The ring she'd created would be soft, by virtue of its composition. This was entirely intentional. This ring wasn't for today, though she dared not think it, the hedgehog may not receive the ring for many years to come. Their old world's future was still in crisis, albeit that crisis was perpetually changing. Until it settled, neither he nor she could do the same. The ring was made to be soft, made not to withstand the battles that were so present in his life. Whenever things finally calmed, and he could wear it with safety, she would do it; she would be the one to propose.
As embarrassment flushed into her cheeks, Blaze managed to stuff the sealed cast and the jewellery box back into her rucksack. She was thinking miles ahead still, planning as she so often did. Today the feline had transmuted a source of annoyance into one of love, using the very power he so encouraged her regarding. With her managing this, securing his future was a certainty that couldn't come soon enough.
She threw a glance to her surroundings as she pulled her rucksack back over her shoulders. It didn't look like anyone had arrived while she was working, the beach was still empty, not a sound carried on the wind and not a figure caught her gaze, though it was possible that someone had slipped between the tall dunes. Either way, she supposed it was unlikely that anyone watching from afar would understand what she had been doing… perhaps with the exception of Marine or Silver himself.
Deciding she was overthinking, Blaze cast her eyes to her surroundings, looking for any evidence she might have left behind. Her eyes fell upon the rings she'd destroyed and had nowhere else to go, they were the only sign she'd ever even been here. The metal of the rings had paled in some places while blackening in others, losing most of their mass in the process and crumpling. In the gems however, a more unique difference was clear. Their colours had been darkened, coating from the burning metal had plainly affixed to stones. She supposed something could have probably been done with them, but seeing their tarnished state was rather cathartic.
She hadn't noticed until now, but each stone matched to one of the seven Sol and Chaos emeralds. Those stones had been the source of endless strife across both of their lifetimes. Without the chaos emeralds there was no Solaris, Iblis and Mephiles fusion could never have occurred. Without the Sol emeralds her duties wouldn't tie her here, her departure wouldn't risk the balance between universes and aiding Silver would be so much easier. Seeing them in this way and feeling that catharsis, what did it mean?
Well, regardless of any hind sighted metaphor, the state of the precious rocks hadn't ever mattered to the feline. Even if the gems were in prime condition and perfectly buffed, Blaze knew for certain that the imminent shine in Silver's eyes would put their colours to shame. With a single kick she knocked them into the water, removing the last sign of her presence before she turned to make for home, hopefully in time for his return.