Storytime: A week ago someone left a comment on this story saying that they had found it through fanart/post
now, this is not the first time people had said stuff like that to me
And since I cannot comment back (because I am a full time student on top of other things and have no weekends anyways), I usually have to rely on what little information they have to try and hunt it down in my spare minutes
Now, unlike the other comments, this person left a website to find this said fan art
so I proceeded to spend spare time absolutely scouring Tumblr until - FOR ONCE - I actually found it
that's right
you can't hide from me /meemoomoos
I saw those doodles you did and I love them
I am an artist myself, as writing is a secondary hobby, and I must say you have some really well crafted drawings there
THANK YOU ALL FANARTISTS AND IF I HAVENT CAUGHT YOU THANK YOU ANYWAYS
it always catches me super off guard when people say someone made art and art speaks a thousand words to me - thank each and every one of you who even interact with thisit is already way more than I ever expected from anyone
The treeline had only just broken, when Silver could truly identify the majesty of the Gravity fields. A landscape as far as the eye could see stretched out before him as his jaw dropped in awe. Silver hadn't known what to expect from a name such as the "Gravity Fields" but it sure was far outside his imagination.
The cracked stone landscape felt very reminiscent of a time long gone with large spires jutting out of the landscape. Golden eyes peered through the landscape with wonder as the adult began to make his way through the flat plain, occasionally passing by the rare structures with barely even a glance. The sparse geometric outlines were already enough to awe the young hoglet, but the shattered towers were not the feature that stood out to the young child. It was the floating stones. Against the dark blue green clouds, the silhouettes of hundreds - maybe even thousands of suspended rocks floated through the air.
Unlatching his hands, Silver slid off the adult, feeling his small body float slowly down under the strange pull of the ground. Silver felt unusually light as he watched the ranger's cloak blow upwards as gravity ceased to pull it down. Curiously, the hoglet looked up, seeing a massive stone floating above him. Slowing to a stop, the hoglet stared - quills waving up and down in the minimized gravity as he gazed at the house sized boulder above him.
"Hurry up." Shadow barked, grabbing the hoglet by the wrist and dragging him out from under the floating geographical feature. "It's almost sundown."
Silver felt himself pulled off the ground as Shadow dragged him on. Up and down he bobbed, feet barely brushing the ground only to be yanked upwards again by a jolt to the arm. A small squeak escaped his tiny throat as his shoes smacked against the ground, gravity unexpectedly returning to normal underneath his body.
It was only after the hoglet had tripped over his own feet in the wake of the sudden change that Shadow let go of the small hedgehog's wrist. With a huff, the hoglet pulled himself back onto his feet, noticing the adult walk further and further away. It did not take long to catch up to him.
As the two walked through the barren wasteland, Silver couldn't help but notice the tiny stones sailing through the air. A harsh gust of wind blasted temporarily at the duo, floating rocks carried in its wake as the adult grabbed the end of his cloak and swished it in front of him as a guard.
"How far away are we?" Silver asked, holding his arm in front of his face.
"Another hour." Shadow responded. "I made my base deep in the field where no person would dare look.
A shiver ran down the young hedgehog's spine. Shadow was dead serious about being secluded from the world. Silver had seen the adult's antisocial nature, but had no idea that the ranger had taken it to such extremes. What was so dangerous about this landscape that drove people away?
Leather clad hands unexpectedly snatched the child off the ground. Startled, Silver let out a disgruntled squeak. Yet again, the hoglet found himself firmly attached to the adults back without a say in the matter.
"Stay." Shadow commanded, casting a cold glance over his shoulder. "I don't want you getting caught in the pulls."
"The pulls?" Silver asked, tilting his head.
As if to answer his question, a deep rumbling filled the air as large boulders crashed from the sky. Calmly, the ranger crouched close to the ground, letting the rumbles pass through his body cleanly while the earthquake settled to a close. Silver, quite shaken up, looked around anxiously - trying to see where the boulder had fallen.
"Gravity fluctuates." Shadow explained, calmly standing and resuming his walk. "It can pass or form over your location. If you aren't familiar with the patterns, its very easy to get caught in the pulls and get either crushed or swept into the sky."
"Is it dangerous here?" Silver asked, gripping tighter onto the adult's cloak.
"Extremely." Shadow sighed, looking around. "You either die to the environment or use it to your advantage."
With a shudder, Silver looked around, head bouncing up and down as the ranger continued on his path. The longer they walked the more eerie the landscape became. As the light began to dim, the environment began to show its hidden colors as auroral colors began to shine through the sky. Subtle gravitational waves caught up in the atmosphere, creating dim lights that grew steadily brighter as the night progressed. Golden eyes stared up in awe at the blue green colors, jaw dropping as the beauty was unlike anything he'd ever seen.
The floating stones contrasted heavily against the glowing sky as the last of the sun rays disappeared behind the horizon, leaving the dark world awash in the spectacularly stunning hues. The blazing cold fires that lit the night danced across the sky in patterns. As Shadow trudged underneath a billowing set of lights, Silver felt his body grow light.
"What are those?" Silver asked, eyes alight with curiosity and amazement.
"Naturally occurring ones are called Aurora Borealis." Shadow responded, not even looking up. "As we are too far south for those, I simply call them Aurora Gravitanis."
"Aurora Gravitanis?" Silver asked, still staring at the lights.
"Yes." Shadow answered, stopping to stare at the sky. "They are an artificial phenomena created by the Gravity Fields."
The aurora blazed overtop, licking through the air like slow moving fire as the ranger's cloak slowly flapped in the lowered gravity. Red eyes reflected the beautiful sight in full as the hedgehog began to shiver in delight.
"They never get old." Shadow breathed, loss for words taking his sentence away.
Silver felt tears come to his eyes. He never wanted to look away from such a pretty sight. Before any more words could be exchanged, Shadow made a sudden bolt.
As soon as the ranger had moved, Silver felt two things at once. First, the blast of wind that came from extreme fast travel; and second, the spectacularly loud crash that thundered behind them. As Shadow slid to a halt, he twisted around, now facing what was previously behind him in an unbearably quick turn. Silver felt himself thrown slightly, nearly flying off the adult's back in the mere physics of the situation. If Shadow hadn't had his arm extended behind him like a barrier, the young hoglet would have been sent tumbling to the ground.
The last of the tremors disappeared as the ranger let out a quick dissatisfied hiss, teeth bearing as one hand hit the ground for balance. Silver gripped tighter onto the adult's cloak, eyes bulging from the rush of adrenaline.
"Always be on your guard." Shadow huffed, standing back up to his full height. "Or you end up dead."
Slowly turning from the fallen boulder, the ranger continued on his path. Shakily, Silver looked behind him, staring at the huge rock that could have crushed the both of them. Did gravity really make them rise and fall so much? There were big and small stones floating all over the place. Looking up at the aurora revealed stones of various heights contrasted against the sky. Far in the distance stood those randomly placed spires. Slowly, as Shadow walked on, the young hoglet began to notice a pattern. Wherever the auroras were shining above, the stones would float beneath. Were the stones and the lights connected.
Another rock shook the ground, knocking Shadow's stride off kilter. With a quick shake of the head, the adult pressed on.
"What's gravity?" Silver asked, staring at a rock as it floated past.
"Gravity is what keeps us from floating into the sky." Shadow responded. "If you're wondering about the floating rocks, it's because of a machine that exploded 200 years ago."
Intrigued, Silver leaned his head in, curious to what the adult meant.
"Long ago, Sonic and I were fighting Dr. Robotnik in that final fight." Shadow began. "We destroyed everything he threw at us - including the Demon."
Silver clenched his hands tighter around the fabric. The Demon was a scary being.
"When all was said and done, we had laid so much waste to the facility that the engine core went critical..." Shadow trailed off.
For a second he stood there, staring into the distance. His cloak blew around him as the hood hid his face from view. Silver could feel the adult swallow.
"To make things brief, the whole thing exploded and now gravity is broken here." Shadow quickly stated, shaking his head and briskly picking up his pace. "The long version can be explained another time."
The adult walked on, not stopping to look at the young child as he carried himself through the landscape. Instead of walking at a leisurely pace, Shadow had instead elected a half jog half walk. Silver could only assume it was for speed, however Shadow's tense body sent mixed messages. Was the ranger upset? Sad? Angry? Silver didn't know. Not seeing the hooded face made things even more confusing, not that it mattered. Shadow rarely made any significant facial expressions.
"We're almost there." Shadow spoke, startling the hoglet out of his thoughts.
Silver's slight jump made little difference in whatever Shadow was thinking, as the adult simply picked up his pace. As the two traversed the landscape, the hoglet began to notice the aurora's pattern. Each flame and wave of burning color seemed to spiral and burst out of a central location somewhere out of view. Intrigued, Silver set his eyes ahead.
"You should get some rest when we arrive." Shadow breathed, speeding up slightly. "I have some things to do."
"Also you should hold on tighter."
Just as the young hedgehog had grasped his fists around the leather cloak, Shadow kicked his speed into a different gear. Wind blazed around them yet again as a different part of the fields came into view.
There were hundreds of floating stones, various sizes all condensed as the center of the spiral came into view. A dim beam of light echoed up from the ground, rocks hanging suspended in midair over a fallen structure. The closer Shadow grew to it, the more silver could see it used to be a corner of a giant building. Silver noticed the ranger clip the end of his cloak to the top of one of his knee high boots.
"Hold on tight." Shadow commanded, picking up his speed.
Before Silver could ask why, the adult had jumped. Reduced gravity carried the duo far as the ranger extended his arms for balance. As soon as the adult's boots had hit the edge of a massive boulder, Shadow began to run - speed carrying him along the side of the land mass and closer to the structure in the center.
The aurora was extremely dense overhead, with the waves of ribbons echoing out from above the structure. Stones hung suspended in the soft beam of light that whispered up from the ground below. Silver watched in awe as it grew closer and closer. There was no doubt that this was the center of the gravity field.
Shadow made another leap, twisting through the air to avoid two stones in a spin. With a thud, his boots slammed against another boulder, running along it before jumping again. Silver squeaked as the adult bounced between the distanced stones, running and leaping like it was a well known playground.
"Hold on." Shadow warned. "I'm going to make some complicated moves."
Silver didn't get the chance to respond before the adult had twisted through the air. The small structure was within full sight now, and Shadow was headed straight for it. Without even hesitating the adult began to hop between the stones - flipping and twisting to avoid scraps of metal. Frightened, the hoglet squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to get dizzy from all the movements.
With another jump, the ranger sailed through the air. Traveling a further than normal distance between the spaced stones. Silver dared to open his golden eyes, watching the ground pass underneath as the adult used his cloak like a glider through the low gravity environment.
"This ground isn't very good for running." Shadow explained, letting go of the tips of his cloak to run along another rock. "The gravity is too uneven to safely run on the ground."
With a final leap, Shadow cleared the last rock and gracefully landed on the ground, normal gravity carrying his heavy cloak flapping downwards.
"At the epicenter there is normal gravity for a mile radius" Shadow continued, detaching the hoglet from his back. "Since it is such a dangerous task to even get this far into the fields, this location is the safest place to go off grid."
Silver turned his head towards the structure in the middle. With the flat terrain it definitely didn't look like a mile away. However when the two began to walk, and the slow pace made the ruin look like it was hardly moving at all, Silver realized that Shadow's fast pace had made it seem closer than it was.
"This is also, coincidentally, the best place to train someone." Shadow resumed. "By extension we will be living here until you are ready to go out on your own. Until then, consider this place your home."