CHAPTER ONE: UPON THE SNOW
The snow fell harder and harder upon the earth as the wind blew harshly around her, shaking the trees with violet fury.
As she ran, with as much speed as she could muster, from her aggressors, the pink hedgehog, who wore a ragged deep earthy green clock, struggled as she couldn't gain traction on the ice below her. A pack of wolves, made of wooden sticks with sharp and jagged edges, effortlessly dug their paws into the ground and pursued her. She clutched onto a axe with both hands, struggling to run with it.
Thankfully for her, while they may have been faster on such unstable terrain, she was a faster thinker. She soon devised of a plan to rid herself of them, even if for a few vital moments.
With fury, she turned around and slammed the axe she held into the ground. As it was lifted into the air, frost and ice enveloped the blade as it pierced the snow. She let out a powerful shout as a wave of harsh wind and ice blasted from the axe and out to her aggressors.
On impact, they were destroyed. Wooden Debris flew through the trees, landing firmly in the mountains of snow around them. She was safe. At least for now.
She took the axe in both hands and gripped it firmly. She whispered a small prayer to herself, perhaps asking for either a saviour or for forgiveness if she could not escape with her life. From the handle of the blade, a blue jewel glowed. A strange pattern appeared on the ground around her, illuminating through the blinding white of the snow.
In a clearing in the trees from where she ran, several more wolves appeared. The leader howled once it locked it's wooden and cold eyes on her. The pack made way towards her.
The glow from the pattern grew more intense as she repeated these words;
"Vindens helt, fartens kriger. Jeg kaller på deg og gir deg denne kraften"
The wolves gained ground, getting closer and closer to their prey. She continued the chant, each repeat getting louder and louder, her voice becoming more intense.
Just as they were away to pounce upon her, finishing their hunt, blue energy shot out of the axe and into the sky. The beam cleared the clouds above and blew everyone back, including the pink hedgehog. She looked up to the beam, its power slowly faded.
Did it work? She wondered.
For a moment everything stopped. The snow stopped. The wind stopped. Time itself seemed to pause, awaiting an answer.
Then, from the skies above, a small blue figure appeared. It however started becoming much louder and clearer as it plummeted to the forest below. Its voice could soon be heard as it screamed.
"NOT AGIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"
Crash. It hit the snow with a thud as its large head was buried. The hooded Hedgehog gazed at who it was. His shoes were unlike anything she had seen before. A striking red, with golden buckles and white silk. His gloves as white as the snow and his fur and quills as blue as the ocean.
It struggled to pull its head out the snow. His grunts were muffled but even she could tell he was agitated. With one final hard pull, its head came loose before he lost balance and fell back onto his back.
He coughed and spluttered, spitting snow out of his mouth. He rose to his feet, rubbing the area where his head made impact with the ground.
"Argh, I hate when that happens"
The pink Hedgehog was taken aback. She wasn't sure how he would sound, but it wasn't like anything she could have imagined. The way he spoke was so foreign, but exuded a kind of charm she couldn't place.
He looked around, confused and still dazed from the fall. He spoke aloud to himself. "Where the heck am I now?" Was all he had to say. He turned around and soon laid his eyes upon her. His look of confusion soon turned to surprise when he saw her.
As their eyes locked, their hearts jumped. She couldn't believe the stranger she saw before her. He couldn't believe the sight of an old friend.
"Amy?" He asked as he moved quickly towards her. He extended a hand out to help her up. She was so enmired by what she saw, it took her a moment to register the question he was asking her.
"I said are you ok?" He asked again, this time with a bit more worry and tiny bit more annoyance in his voice. She took his hand and felt as if her whole body had a wave of warmth sent through it. She rose and stood in front of him.
"I'm sorry" she replied, standing face to face with him. "I think you have me confused for someone else" His face turned from concerned to annoyed as he let go of her hand and turned away from her.
"You've gotta be kidding me." He said to himself as he folded his arms annoyed. "This again? Seriously?!" He put his hand on his face and shook his head. "I really hope this is a dream or something."
"I'm afraid it isn't" she replied. "You appear to be upset, what is the matter?"
"You get sucked into another world while napping for the third time and tell me how you feel." He snapped back at her, turning around again to see her. He then realised his mistake as she stepped away from him.
"Sorry." He grumbled back at her. "That's not fair to you. I'm sure whatever reason you had to bring me out into the middle of these freezing woods was important."
Just then, the wolves growled at them, making their presence known. He turned his head to look at them. His expression became fed up as he mumbled "Wolves? Seriously?"
He turned back for an explanation, but he saw in her face the danger she was in. He sighed before a toothy grin appeared.
"Don't worry." He spoke. But with two words he exuded a level of confidence and bravado she had never seen. "I'll deal with these wood carvings, but after that I wanna know what's going on here!"
She nodded at him, her chances of survival just increased paramount. "Thank you" she replied, filled with hope. The blue hedgehog pointed at himself with his thumb. "I'm Sonic by the way."
He turned his body towards the wolves, who charged at him as they barked and snarled and flared their teeth.
"Sonic the Hedgehog."
The first wolf leaped into the air at Sonic before coming crashing down where he stood. But as they landed and bit down with his jaw, he was gone.
Having effortlessly dodged to the side, Sonic retaliated by flying through the air, curled up in a ball. He smashed into the wolf with so much force it went flying into a nearby tree and broke into pieces.
The second wolf sprinted towards Sonic. Sonic responded to a similar effect and ran towards it. Sonic spun his whole body around in a full motion before landing a punch right in the creature's jaw. It hit the ground limply as the third charged Sonics back.
Sonic spun himself into a ball and went around the creature before landing on it's back, shattering it. The fourth then leaped at him. Sonic ducked under its attack before grabbing one it's hindlegs and slammed into what was left of the third.
He had dealt with them with such speed that the Pink Hedgehog blinked, feeling like she had missed most of the fight. But nevertheless, she was grateful for her saviour.
He dusted off the small twigs on his shoulders and out his quills as he walked over to her. "See? That wasn't so hard." He said as he cracked his knuckles. "So, if you're not Amy, who are you?"
The Pink Hedgehog smiled. She extended an arm out towards Sonic. "I am Freya. It's nice to meet you at last Sonic." Sonic shook her hands and noticed her sleeve had fallen down to reveal golden rings on the cuffs of her gloves. Her gloves were a deep earthy green like her cloak and made her whole arm blend into one colour.
"Freya huh?" Sonic replied, letting go of her hand. "Sure, why not?" He said to himself. The wind then blew an extremely strong and cold gust through the two. Sonic shivered in the cold, having only now realised how bitter it truly was.
"Where are we? If I'd known it'd be this cold, I'd at least brought a scarf or something." Freya smiled and looked around. "This is my home; I apologise for the weather. It's been a very harsh and long winter." Sonic looked Freya up and down. He wasn't satisfied with the answer.
"No but like, WHERE are we?" he said, starting to lose patience with her. "We are Midgard" she replied, trying to give a satisfying answer. "What realm are do you originated from" Sonic shrugged "I don't know, Christmas Island, I guess? Though it's not really a realm."
Freya looked at him confused, then in a moment her memory seemed to remind her of crucial information. "You're not of the nine realms as we understand them, are you?"
"I don't know, guess not?" Sonic replied. He truly had no clue what she was talking about.
From behind them, they heard something. The sound of branches moving quickly through the snow. 4 piles formed together as the wooden wolves slowly started to rebuild themselves. Sonic took hold of Freyas hand.
"C'mon." He said, looking around. "Let's get out of here"
"No!" Freya replied, which stunned Sonic. "These wolves will only continue to follow us through this realm. Once they have their target, they will not rest until they have destroyed them. The only way we can defeat them truly is with magic."
"Well, unless you got anything the only trick I know is the penny one." Sonic replied, still looking for a viable escape. Freya scanned the ground, till her eyes laid on the axe from before. She pointed at it.
"The axe!" Sonic drew his attention to it. "The axe is imbued with magic. Use that and we shall be rid of them." As Freya finished speaking the wolves reassembled themselves. Seeing little options left Sonic nodded and lunged for the axe.
He rolled with perfect precision, grabbing the axe. He held in his hand and studied it. The blade was rusty, old and dull, but he could tell there used to be some kind of design on it in gold. The trim around the blade was also gold, but with age and deterioration it had mostly flaked off. The handle was made of a dark hardwood. The dark red was discoloured and had gone brown from neglect. The end of the handle curled towards the blade but was chipped severely. It was far from its best days.
Before he could study it any further, the four wolves all jumped at him. He looked up at them and readied the axe and swung. The axe lit up as he swung. Snowdrops and ice followed the blade and emitted off of it as he cleaved all four of the wolves at once. They fell to the ground before they all fell apart, breaking into pieces.
Sonic was stunned. He looked at the axe in his hand. While he was no stranger to weapons, something about the axe spoke to him. It came unusually naturally to him to use it, and he found it fit perfectly in his hand. He noticed something new as well. Where the blade and handle met, there was a blue gemstone which glowed faintly for a moment before its glow fizzled out. He looked to Freya, who seemed both happy and deeply terrified at the same time.
"Woah!" He said as he walked towards her. "I thought this thing would be a hunk of junk but it ain't bad at all! Get this rusty thing polished and it will be good as new." He went to hand her the axe, but she recoiled as he did. He looked up and down, between her and the axe puzzled.
"What?" he asked
"Nothing. Nothing" she said, avoiding his eyes. "You should keep that as your own." She clasped her hands together and turned away from him. "You may need it more than I do."
"Ok…" Sonic wasn't sure what to make of her in that moment. The wind blew again, Sonic was chilled down to his bones. "You got somewhere warmer we can go?" Sonic asked as he chittered his teeth. "Yes" she replied as she turned to face him, a warm smile appeared on her face. "My home is not too far from here, it's about twenty minutes that way." She pointed towards the direction behind. Sonic tried to squint his eyes to see if he could see a house through the fog, but he could barely see 30 feet ahead of him. "Ok, lead the way" Sonic said as he gestured for her to show him where to go.
They walked through the woods as the snow continued to fall on them. Freya led Sonic through a thick part of the woods as they pushed branches aside to make their way through. Sonic took noticed of her boots which were a deep brown with a green strip through the middle. He still couldn't shake how similar she looked to Amy and when talking to her, almost called her that.
"So…" Sonic said, cutting through the wind and silence. "Do you live by yourself out here?"
"Not quite. I live among the animals. They are pleasant and plentiful company for me. I take care of them, and I like to think, in their own way, they help to take care of me." Freya stepped over a cold stream. Sonic blindly stepped into it, too distracted to notice until his foot broke the ice and was submerged in the cold water.
"Oh great," He grumbled. "Wet socks. Just what I needed" Freya giggled at Sonic. "Don't worry, we haven't much further to go. Just through here." She walked forward about ten paces, moving a particularly hefty bunch of branches to reveal an opening with a single large and thick tree in the middle.
The opening was small, but the other end led out into a river, which had a small dock with a rowboat on it. The river had been completely frozen over. Next to the tree was a small garden with no plants because nothing could grow in this cold. On the other side was a small animal pen with an even smaller shelter made out of wood. The door was shut but Sonic could see a trough for pigs or cows to feed out of.
Freya walked up to the tree; Sonic looked thoroughly unimpressed. "This is your home?" He asked, really hoping she didn't just sleep under the tree or with the animals in this weather.
"Allow me one moment." Freya signalled for Sonic to take a step back. He did so, assuming that she had something to show him. She brushed her hand against the tree, like she was petting it.
'Oh great,' Sonic thought to himself, 'a tree hugger.'
Then the earth beneath them began to shake. Dirt and snow started to rise before Sonics feet. Before he could say anything, a giant turtle, the size of building emerged from the ground. Its emerald skin had gone grey with age as it's strong and power legs emerged from the ground. His shell was brown with a black pattern across it but the ice had yet to thaw so it gave it a white tinge. From it's shell a large head appeared as a long and thick neck shot out. It let out a yawn as it's long necked stretched itself out. Sonic looked up, amazed at the creature. It took notice of him and craned it neck down till it's face was right in front of his.
"Woah, hey there big guy!" Sonic said as the turtle breathed hot air all over him. Sonic reached a hand to pet him, which it seemed receptive to as he stroked his nose. "Does he have a name?" He shouted up to Freya.
"Chaurli" She responded. The turtle then craned its neck around to her, who was now on top of his shell. She gave his face a hug as it cradled into her. "He is my most trusted companion in these woods." She let go of his head and jumped down off the shell.
"Come, let us go inside. Chaurli could use some warmth and so could we." She then walked underneath the Turtle as Sonic realized that her home was attached to the underside of the turtle. There were two round and small windows and in the middle was a deep brown door with a sliver handle. The wood surrounding all of this was a cold birch and had clearly been taken care of as Sonic noticed little damage to the exterior at all.
Sonic went to follow Freya inside before his ears perked up. He turned around and heard thunder faintly in the distance as dark storm clouds started to roll in from the mountains beyond the woods. Then, a green crow, which looked like it was made of pure emerald perched on a nearby tree. Its glossy eyes darted about and then peered down at Sonic.
'Strange' He thought. 'But no stranger then Wood Wolves and a Giant Turtle house…I guess' He thought as he went to follow Freya inside.
As Sonic entered and closed the door behind him, he felt glad to be out of the cold finally. He looked around the small house. The small windows at the front and two bigger ones on the opposite side had faint light shining through them. It was hard to make everything out, but he tried.
The room was circular in shape, with three rings of different heights. The first one was the widest, to his left was a fireplace and table. Above the fireplace hung different leaves and herbs. On the table lay similar things, but there were also several wooden mortar and pestles. Some were turned over; others were filled with crushed up pastes of different colours. On the right was a bed and in front was a small footlocker. Behind it was a makeshift coat rack.
The middle ring didn't have much on it, aside from a few tattered old books scattered around. Then in the final ring, which was not wide at all, was a small round table with 4 seats around it.
Freya went to the fire and ignited it. Sonic walked over and immediately started warming his hands against it. He breathed a sigh of relief to finally be able to feel his fingers and toes again.
Freya walked towards her bed and took off her cloak and placed it on the coat hanger. Underneath her cloak, she was wearing a dark brown dress with a golden circle at the front of her waist that was held together by a white ribbon which went around her waist. The dress fell beyond her knees and had a light brown rim around it. It was sleeveless and around her neck was beaded neckless.
'She even dresses like Amy.' Sonic thought. 'Oh man, she's never going to believe me about this.'
Freya came beside Sonic and sat down by the fire. Sonic did the same, placing his axe on the floor by his side. They both stared into the flames for a while. Sonic kept sneaking glances at her, waiting for her to same something. She looked gloomily into the flames as they flickered and danced around. Something was wrong.
"I assume you have a lot of questions for me." Freya asked as she continued to look forward. "Yeah…" Sonic said, as he quickly looked away from her. "What's going on here exactly? Did you really bring me here to fight a bunch of wolves?"
"No." Freya said. She struggled for a moment, trying to find the words for what to say. "I summoned you for something much bigger than that." She rose from the fire and made towards the table. She took a seat. Sonic came over and sat across from her as she placed her hands on it.
"I believe you may be the answer I have been looking for." Sonic, once again, looked confused at Freya. "You know, I'd really appreciate it if you stopped speaking all mysterious and told me what was really going on." Sonic said, his patience was wearing thin.
"Yes." Freya sighed. "You are entitled to know the truth. You see, Midgard wasn't always this desolate and bitter. For a long time, it was in my opinion one of the finest realms to exist. The summers was nice and the winter no where near as harsh." She looked away from Sonic and down at her hands remorsefully. "Until. on a cool summer's day, a terrible winters storm blew in. That was when Fimbulvetr started. It has been a long and harsh winter, which has lasted for nearly three years now." Freya looked back up at Sonic, who was in a dazed state trying to process everything.
"I've been searching for a way to end Fimbulvetr since. I knew the answers had to be in this realm somewhere and that was when I discovered a long-forgotten prophecy."
Freya rose from the table and went back over to the fire. She picked up the axe Sonic had left near it. She walked back over to the table.
"On the eve of the third year of Fimbulvetr, an outsider, not of these realms, shall appear." She placed the axe on the table, pointing the handle towards Sonic.
"One who is connected to the Leviathan Axe. And when he does, he will bring about the end of Fimbulvetr and the beginning of Ragnarök."
She sat back down as Sonic picked up the Leviathan Axe. He looked at it, then back to Freya. "Me?" He asked as he stared at the blade, the light of the fire shining off of it.
Freya nodded. He placed the axe down and looked back to her. "What's Ragnarök?" Freya stared intently into his eyes. "It is said to be the prophesied end of the nine realms, as told by the fates."
Sonic pushed his chair out, shocked. "Wait hang on," he said as he rose and held his hands up. "You're saying what? I'm gonna bring about the end on the world?" Freya rose as well, meeting his eye level. "That is what the fates say." She said as she placed her hands on the table. "But I believe we may have a chance to change their readings. A chance to save this realm, all the realms. A chance the gods aren't willing to take."
"Gods?" Sonic replied, lowering his hands. "What gods?"
"The Gods of the Asier" she said, taking her hands off the table and clasping them together. "They believed if they hid the Leviathan Axe away and guarded it with magic beyond what most who dwell her are capable of, then the prophecy would never come true and Ragnarök could be avoided."
Sonic put his head in his hands, overwhelmed with what he was told. "That's a lot to drop on a guy at once y'know?"
Freya moved around the table towards Sonic and placed a hand on his shoulder, he looked up to her, feeling the warmth for her touch. "I understand this is a great deal to process and I am sorry that I brought you into this, but the gods have all but abandoned most of the realms. They rarely venture outside of Asgard while the other realms suffer a great deal of tragedy and pain."
"Look, Freya. I get what you're saying I really do." Sonic said as he took her hand gently off his shoulder. "But I don't know exactly what you want from me here?"
"I know Ragnarök can be avoided" she said, now taking both his arms in her hands and pleading with him. "With your arrival the gods will have no choice but to act. With their help, we can stop Ragnarök and restore the realms to what they used to be. We can end this suffering and bring about a new age of prosperity."
"How?" Sonic asked. Freyas eyes dropped again. His eyes widened, realising her mistake. "You don't know." Her lip started to quiver. Sonic pulled away from her and staggered back, almost falling over into the second ring. "You have no idea how we can stop Ragnarök. Did you think I would know? I've been here like 5 minutes! I don't even know what you're talking about!"
"We can seek the council of the fates." She said walking towards him as he stepped up to the second ring, her breathing intensifying and her voice becoming more desperate. "If they don't believe it can be stopped surely their message may lead us to answer. But we have to act quickly before he appears."
Sonic took a second to pause. He looked her up and down, sensing the terror in voice in her last words.
"Before who appears?"
A blinding crash of lighting filled the room before its powerful blast was felt through the room. Everything shook as the lighting continued to pound onto the ground.
"What the heck was that?" Sonic said turning his attention towards the windows, shielding his eyes from the blast.
Freyas eyes widen in shock. She covered her mouth with one hand. "No…" she gasped. "No, not so soon."
Sonic turned back towards her; he knew she knew what was outside. Sensing danger, he grabbed the Leviathan Axe off the table and headed for the door.
"Sonic wait!" Freya stretched her arm out as she pleaded for him not to go, but he did. He was done listening to her.
He threw open the door and covered his eyes from the lighting which continued to pound the ground. Chaurli reared his head back into his shell to protect his head from the lighting. In between the flashes, Sonic saw a figure.
It was a tall, dark and muscular figure. He was wearing a black clock that had fur on the inlining. His brown gloves looked familiar to Sonic; they were like boxing gloves. His brown shoes, furry and with studs and bottom were firmly placed into the ground. In his hand, he held a massive steel hammer, it's head thick and large with lighting crackling around it. The lighting didn't just crackle around the hammer but enveloped the whole figure as he titled his head up to look at Sonic.
"Outsider!" His deep voice, gruff and threating, echoed right through Sonics whole body. "Odin needs an audience with you!"
The figure removed his hood and as its shadows dissipated Sonic recognised who was beneath it. It was Knuckles, or at least, someone that looked exactly like him. Blue lighting crackled in his eyes and down his dreads. The lighting stopped but continued to appear around him.
"Right…" Sonic replied as he held his hand not gripping the axe back, signalling Freya to stay inside. The Knuckles look a like took notice of the axe.
"So, the ravens were correct." The figure said, admiring the axe. "You wield the axe. It is a far cry from when we last saw it." Sonic looked at the axe and bobbed his head slightly from side to side, agreeing with him. "I guess..." he replied dryly.
"Do not follow him!" Freya cried out. The Figure titled his head to look past Sonic at her. His face turned to distain upon seeing her. "Thor," she said, pushing past Sonic who tried to stop her from leaving the house.
"Despite what has passed between us please, do not bring him to your father! You know what will become of him if y- "
"Silence!" His voiced boomed like thunder. "The All Father will deal with you later." He turned his attention back to Sonic, pointing his hammer towards him. "We just need him for now."
Sonic's expression changed. He confidently started to approach Thor. "Look, Thor, is it? I don't really care what you want but you're scaring the lady. So, either you back off or things are gonna get ugly here."
Sonic stood firmly in front of Thor. He grinned at Sonic and lowered his hammer. They stared intensely at each other.
"The All Father is going to have fun with you."
In a flash of light, a technicolour of light appeared around the two, Freya tried to rush to grab Sonic but was blown away by the beam of light as the two rose through the air and disappeared into the sky, blowing away the snow that laid on the ground.
Once the light disappeared, Freya was left alone as Sonic and Thor disappeared. On their way to Asgard.
AUTHORS SOAPBOX:
So, this is very new for me. I've been yearning for a new story like the Sonic Storybook Games for years now, so I figured; "Hey! Why not write my own?"
I want to get the obvious out the way first, which will be apparent to a lot of people reading this, yes, this is heavily inspired by God of War (2018) and God of War: Ragnarök.
The idea came to me during a particularly hard boss fight in the second game while listening to the Sonic Frontiers soundtrack I thought "Man, I'd love to see a Sonic Storybook Game like this" so this in a lot of ways is me fulfilling that fantasy. I am really excited to bring this story to life finally and hopefully you (yes, you reading this) will enjoy the ride as well.
That's all for today, I'll hopefully have more to share relatively soon. Currently, the plan is to release chapters when they are ready so the wait in between might only be a couple of days or a few weeks depending how busy I am with other things but only time will tell.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it and what's to come later.