A stone bridge lay underfoot; an arch, taking no more than twenty paces to cross, reaching over a gently flowing stream. From one end of the bridge stretched a forest path, populated by deciduous trees slowly losing their spring bloom, while on the other barren hills lined a dirt road; the route toward the city. Between these roads stood a girl, her hands set on the bridge's small wall as she observed the life that surrounded the stream. Blaze the cat, age fourteen; the ruler of the Sol Dimension and guardian of the Sol Emeralds, was awaiting a friend. The sky above her was grey and the air humid; she could feel a storm was threatening to break. If her friend did not hurry she would soon find herself soaked to the bone; being without an umbrella or jacket.
The feline was trying to ignore the inevitable storm, fixating upon a small troupe of magpies to pass the time. A trio, they fluttered and squawked as they played and bathed in the river. They weren't the most enticing of creatures but coming from a land overrun by seagulls Blaze could at least find some distraction in the differences. From their more cordial camaraderie with one another to the way the tips of their wings gleamed dark blue as they caught the light. With the sky so thickly clouded this glint wasn't shining often, and even when it did the sight was faint, but it was pretty to behold. Their actions were far more innocent than that of the thieving gulls she knew, there was something bizarrely endearing about how they'd dip into the stream only to spook themselves and tumble back out. Birds like this weren't-
A droplet rolled down her outer ear, she turned her attention skyward as the heavens opened; a cacophonous pitter-patter had begun. Fur and clothes beginning to soak Blaze closed her eyes, fists clenching, and from her back heat quickly unfurled; turning the drizzle both on and around her to steam. As her palms opened the heat took a more tangible form; a thin layer of bright yellow flames that coated her shoulders and shaped to hood her head, acting much like the upper section of a raincoat. Over the crackle of flame and the rumble of rain she heard the sound of wings, looking back to the stream she found the magpies had fled; be it from the storm or her ignition. Her distraction gone the princess turned toward the city path, still awaiting her friend; the young rabbit Cream. Minutes passed and soon, with nothing else to do, the cat found herself reflecting on the week's events.
The life of a royal was one intrinsically shackled to duty, with most of her friends living beyond her kingdom seeing them was more up to chance than choice. There had been occasions when she had justified a visit, rare days planned weeks to months in advance, but those dates would often be pushed back or cancelled as events transpired in her own world. Visits like the past week were comparably uncommon, occasions when Eggman's efforts would jeopardise not only this world but also her own. While it was fortunate these great battles were so rare the princess had grown to relish in the aftermath, the day or two she'd get to spend relaxing alongside her true peers.
She was set to go home yesterday, to linger long after a battle was abnormal, but Vanilla had promoted her to stay. Little Cream had grown to miss the feline and so they'd have a final tea party before her departure. It was to be a proper goodbye, for a few weeks least, and had been set up to surprise the young rabbit. Blaze had spent the prior night with Amy, enduring yet enjoying the endless talk of the hedgehog's blue soul mate, and thus Cream likely thought she'd slipped away. She would, of course, return to the Sol dimension tonight… but she was happy to indulge this venture, even if it made her a touch tardy.
Due to the impromptu nature of this plan Vanilla hadn't had a spare key to their small hilltop abode, ergo Blaze couldn't enter. The plan was that the pair of rabbits would go grocery shopping, collecting sweets and good for the aforementioned tea party, only to encounter Blaze during their return trip. Thus the princess had decided to wait on the bridge, thinking it would be a picturesque location to reunite, but in hindsight that'd been a foolish decision. She surely could have waited on the doorstep and still surprised the child, that way she'd have been sheltered too. When it came down to it she'd stopped on this bridge for no better reason than she felt like stopping… but what about it had prompted her to stop? It was a pretty location but not especially significant, maybe it wasn't the bridge itself that had prompted her?
Her brow creased, beneath the humidity of the storm and the crackling flames throughout her fur she could feel something; like a weight or pressure easing her to stay. It almost felt like armour, like a further layer of disassociation was shieling her from the rain. To accompany it a bizarre blankness kept creeping into her mind and with every second it seemed to grow more potent. She could only compare it to the feeling of suddenly forgetting, walking into a room only to forget why you entered or repeating a phrase to yourself only for it to slip from your mind. It was strange and, alike the pressure, she couldn't recall feeling it prior. It wasn't regret for stationing herself here nor was it the tug of responsibility having left her world for an extra day. What was this feeling, both physical and mental? There was a twang of… loneliness to it? But this wasn't loneliness in foresight, nor was it loneliness over her current position. Reaching into her overcoat she drew forth one of the seven sol emeralds, she looked to it for any reaction to this phenomena. But there was nothing, rain struck the stone and fizzled instantaneously. It offered no answers, wholly unreactive and stable it appeared to be unaffected. What was hap-
"Miss Blaze! I thought you'd already left!" A small, soaking, orange-accented rabbit had torpedoed herself into Blaze's gut; catching the usually perceptive warrior completely off-guard. As a pair of small hands reached to lock behind her Blaze smothered her flames, getting soaked but saving the child from being burnt.
Having returned to her senses Blaze pet Cream's back with her free hand, stowing the sol emerald as she did so; "I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye, it's good to see you again Cream."
Looking up from the child's dampened ears Blaze could see Vanilla quickly approaching… she looked thoroughly bedraggled, soaked to the bone, and across her arms hung no fewer than six hefty shopping bags. "Young Blaze I'm so sorry, this yesterday's forecast promised clear skies! I would have endeavoured to hide a key for you at the very least, we started running the moment the drizzle started." The elder rabbit looked down to the rim of her dress, finding it muddied, she was panting. "It appears the weather has caught us all off guard, we must have run twenty minutes journey in five. We should keep hurrying ba…"
Blaze found herself zoning out completely, Vanilla's voice was lost to the white noise of the rain; both were being muffled by a bizarre ringing noise. Her mind kept drifting to this strange feeling, its lonesome underpinning blocked by a guise phantom forgetfulness. What on-
A tugging at her wrist returned Blaze to the present; looking down to Cream she found concern had overtaken the rabbit's face. "Miss Blaze, are you okay?"
Shaking her head the princess attempted to uproot the feeling; "Yes Cream I'm fine, don't worry." Looking up to Vanilla she extended her free arm; "I'll carry as much as I can, we should hurry home before you two get too wet."
Vanilla looked puzzled for a moment but appeared to politely shake it off, the bags now split evenly between them they set off toward the forest path but as Blaze neared the bridge's edge she stumbled and very almost fell. Glancing back it appeared she'd fallen over nothing, the bridge lay empty behind her save for a single magpie; no longer in the river, it had perched itself upon the parapet and looking toward her. Pulling herself from its vision Blaze managed to leave the bridge and as she did the sensation she felt, both the phantom grasp and forgetfulness, completely vanished. She didn't have time to consider this though, the rabbit pair was already pulling ahead, bags in hand Blaze rushed forward and quickly caught up to the pair.
They were less than five minutes far from the house and, while the treeline provided some cover, Blaze didn't want to risk melting the rabbit family's groceries, thus she was subject to the rain just as they were. When the three of them burst into the small abode it was a matter of setting down the groceries before drying themselves, making for the house's cramped bathroom. Blaze cast a layer of heat over her body and utilised an offered a towel to quicken the process (once again refusing to create flames lest she damage their property).
Curiously, no matter how she dried she kept finding damp spots on her face. Again she felt a tugging at her wrist, looking down she saw young Cream staring up at her but there was a look in the young girl's eyes quite new to Blaze. "Miss Blaze are you sure you're alright?"
"Y-Yes Cream, w-why-
Blaze froze. Was she stuttering? Why did her breath keep hitching? What was this wetness on her cheeks? What was happening?
Feeling a hand on her shoulder Blaze turned only to find Vanilla looking down to her, a surprising degree of motherly sternness to her face. "Dear, you've got more than enough on your shoulders, if something's wrong I'm more than willing to listen. I doubt I'll be much use if it's a royal matter but I'll do everything I can to help."
Touching her head Blaze found that her ears had folded back, her grasp was quaking; sudden shivers were wracking her body despite coldness having faded. Those strange feelings had vanished; she couldn't even describe them now, so why was she shaking? Why was she crying? Why was her body sad while her mind was plain, what was happening? Was this some kind of attack? Terror was setting in but, tracing her hand over her mouth, she found her lips locked in a state of dejection; opening her mouth she could force it away for a moment but it quickly returned. "I-I… I don't know wh-what's wrong." Her voice, despite the panic she was feeling, was still slurred and punctuated by sadness; what was this disconnect?! "I-I-I don't know… wh-what's happening. I-I don't… I don't feel s-s-sad? Why am I-
Her senses and body so inversely overwhelmed a crack of thunder sent her uncharacteristically reeling, stumbling back into the arms of the elder rabbit. Almost immediately she felt the mother's grift shift, now gently hugging the feline, "It's alright dear, it's alright; it's just a little thunder. Let it all out, I've never seen you like this before."
Before she could respond the younger rabbit was hugging her front, head buried in the princes' gut. "Whatever it is I'll do my best to help!"
While their concern was touching it only made Blaze all the more afraid, she had no answer; no matter how much she wanted to tell them what was wrong she couldn't. How could they believe that? They wouldn't, there was no way they could. A sob broke past her lips, she wrapped her arms around the young rabbit; lost, afraid and so very confused. What was this feeling, what could have caused it?
A swirling blue aether; devoid of all sounds and sights, lacking up and down, with no ground to stand on and no sky above. For Silver, these journeys, drifting through time, were becoming all too common. He was thoroughly devoted to his cause, apocalyptic forces consistently ravaged his time but he'd keep beating them back no matter what, however the frequency of his visits was worrying. It'd take weeks if not a month to figure out a calamity only a couple weeks after the last he'd fixed, there were two hundred years between these events and his own time. He didn't expect to live two hundred years, at some point the gaps between crises had to expand or his effort would be worthless.
Well, they didn't have to. Regardless of whether, they did he'd keep fighting but it'd just be nice to have a maybe one peaceful day. Even just an evening, stargazing or wandering beneath the moon, it really would be nice to spend one day free from his worries. While he enjoyed spending time with Sonic and his friends, it wasn't like he knew them all too well. He came, did his job, and left again; wanting to check if his past mission had fixed things. Perhaps this time he'd take even just a little break…
Still slipping through time, Silver thoughts were interrupted by… something? Not something physical, search as he might in this endless abyss his own body was the only object, but almost an increase in temperature? The warmth wasn't uncomfortable but it certainly perplexed him, despite how often he'd time travelled he'd never felt anything like this. It didn't feel like it came from any one place either, it was just everywhere. This oddity was fine though, he wasn't in pain and it didn't feel like it was getting hotter, more frightening was the strange feeling he was getting. He was alone here... that thought seemed stood out to him in such a strange way, like he hadn't been on a prior journey. It was like something was slipping out of his brain, his mind felt muddled in a way he hadn-
Silver tumbled free of the blue void, the return of gravity (coupled with his forgetful stupor) causing him to stumble upon landing; his right palm met with soaked stonework. Standing up straight and turning to watch the portal fade, he found himself on a stone bridge. To his left was a forest and to his right civilisation; the site of future destruction. Tomorrow morning, before anyone who could react would react, the world would be reduced to rubble. Well, it would've ended, it wasn't going to anymo-
Once again Silver had his train of thought interrupted, stumbling back against a parapet. Lightning had cut across the sky, accompanied by the rumbling of thunder. While he understood it the phenomena undeniably freaked him out, when such noises happened in the future more often than not it meant an enemy was upon him. Catching his breath he pulled himself up onto the bridge wall, taking a damp seat. His quills were slowly drooping into his vision, the sheets of rain soaking him to the core, it was a shame that nice heat had vanished but at least that weird forgetfulness had stopped. Pushing back his quills, the grey hedgehog took in his surroundings.
Immediately his eyes were drawn to an oddity, he'd thought himself alone on the bridge but that wasn't quite the case. Opposite him stood a bird, preening its feathers preening its feathers and clearly enjoying the shower. Thinking about it, when was the last time he'd been in the rain? If it weren't for the thunder he'd probably have loved it, well that and the oncoming apocalypse. As it was though it was nice, he supposed he could take a short breather before rushing off to prepare. Wiping more water from of his eyes, pushing his quills up further only for them to tumble down again, he spoke to the bird; "Bet you get this every other week huh? I'm not used to it yet, still seems pretty great even if it's a little cold."
The bird gave him one look before turning around, spreading its wings and flying off; not so much as waving good-bye. He figured they probably just had somewhere to be. Still taking in the heavy rainfall, finding his eyes drawn toward the forest path, no matter how he tried Silver couldn't seem to keep his eyes clear. Even holding his hand straight to his brow, forcing his quills to flop backwards, they'd refill in a matter of moments… and his eyelids felt so weirdly warm, almost raw? He'd rub his eyes clean but they would begin to refill the moment he stopped. He blinked as a realisation hit him, lowering his hand to his mouth he licked his glove. Salty, he was crying?
Immediately the hand blocking the rain dropped, he ran his forearm across his eyes in an attempt to halt his tears only to find himself shaking. "Wh-Why a-a-am I…" He caught himself sniffling and heard his voice waver. With a flourish of his left hand a barrier was cast around him, blocking out the rain. "I don't cry, I d-don't cry, I'm tougher than this! Why am I even…I-I don't feel sad, wh-why am I…" It was true, he'd been happy until he'd noticed he was crying; he'd heard of crying out of happiness but never done it before. Could this be that? No way; wasn't that happy, he was still a little freaked out by the lightning.
He lowered his arm, the teal-tinged world continued to blur. "What's wrong with me? I can't be like this, people are counting on me." He'd dropped from the parapet and resumed drying his eyes when a sudden movement caught his attention; something had dropped from the trees beneath the far side of the bridge. Walking across, rather he found himself stumbling, Silver looked out over the edge and saw there was a river flowing beneath, a similar bird (or perhaps the same bird from before) was drinking from the stream.
As he leaned over the edge of the bridge he was finding it strangely difficult to pull back, his breaths were hitching more and more. Touching his face he found his lips frowning and his brows knit tightly. His nose was running too, what was this; he'd never cried like this, not when he'd starved and not when he'd been injured. Those tears were loud and brief, impossible to hide, but these ones seemed endless yet gentle… maybe that was because he didn't know why his body was doing this. It was a different kind of crying, nothing was wrong; nothing he could think of at least. Wait, had he forgotten something? It felt like he did earlier but now… nothing, he thought he'd forgotten something but the feeling of forgetfulness was nowhere to be found. He wasn't sure what he was feeling, just confusion?
The grey hedgehog managed to pry himself from the wall, he found himself dragging his forearm across his eyes yet again; rubbing drenched fur on them did little good but, even with no one to witness, hiding his eyes brought him some comfort. He couldn't just hang around in the rain, he had a job to do; he had to prepare. He didn't get far, the ground beneath turning from stone to dirt, something snapped beneath his foot. Lowering his arm to his side he found himself on the forest path, not the track toward civilisation. He rubbed his forehead, trying to shake off this confusion, and turned around. As he stumbled toward society, no matter how wished they'd stop, the tears kept falling.
His wish wouldn't be granted until late that evening; when a girl he didn't even know left this world for her own. The happenstance of rain was all it took to keep the star-crossed lovers from reuniting.