The princess had foreseen her current situation, but that foresight was no consolation. Blaze the cat, guardian of the Sol emeralds, was wading her way through the thick underbrush of a palm tree forest. Ferns, thick moss and fungi practically surrounded her, and yesterday's rainfall guaranteed that every step dealt a resounding squelch. Despite Autumn rearing its head, the sun was breaching through the canopy and managing to crown her head.
A few metres ahead of her, silently battling her way through the underbrush, was Marine the raccoon. Her expression was hidden from Blaze but, by the angle of her ears and the steeliness with which she was pushing forward, she knew the sailor was very unhappy. Usually, an outing like this would draw no end of excitement from the raccoon, she'd jump for joy and squeal about adventuring, but her chipper attitude had been dashed this morning.
Silver should have returned three days ago, the hedgehog had left to take in the other world's future and determine the cause of its end, yet even how, past noon the following day, he still hadn't manifested. Blaze knew there'd be an explanation, and she fully believed in his strength, but that hadn't kept her from worrying. Before he'd left, she'd insisted upon a deadline of three weeks spent in the future but, simultaneously, had made him promise to reappear at an equal increment from when he'd left. It was an attempt to keep their ages in synch, make sure that one didn't slip away from the other, but waiting for him had proved far harder than she'd thought.
Pushing her selfish regret to the back of her mind, continuing to push through the undergrowth, the guardian refocused her attention on the adventurer ahead of her. Unfortunately, Silver's disappearance was only partially to blame for the raccoon's demeanour. Unwilling to dwell on her loneliness (even before he was late), Blaze had buried herself beneath a mountain of policy and construction planning; approving and disapproving changes to the islands she defended. Without the feline's watchful eye, Marine had been free to do as she please and that meant constructing what could only be described as a Viking longboat from driftwood and wrought iron. Hearing wind of it through Gardon, the pyrokinetic had risen from her desk and descended on the docks. After much debate, Marine agreed to await Silver's return rather than launch the ship immediately. Externally, Blaze has suggested it was a good way to mark and celebrate the hedgehog's return when, in actuality, she didn't expect the ramshackle ship to sail. If Silver was around, he'd be able to catch the boat and save it before it sank; he'd have been able to prevent all of this.
When the day arrived for Silver to return, Marine had been ecstatic; she'd waited at the docks for hours upon hours. Blaze had joined her near the middle of her wait, reigniting the young girl's hope only for it to fizzle out as high noon turned to dusk before dusk turned to night. The feline had tried to keep a brave face but, as the sun began to set, worry built and she'd foolishly explained the situation to Marine; that Silver could be stuck in the future, that he could have had to transport himself further forwards in time so as to keep their ages aligned. When Marine had questioned how much longer he could be away Blaze had told her no more than a few days but that hadn't settled the young girl. Assumedly, alike Blaze herself, she'd realised that they could be waiting for a return that would never come; if Silver had been injured in the future or, though she didn't dare consider it, died, they'd have no way of knowing.
The pair had waited together for a second day but, during the third, Blaze had been pulled away to oversee a landownership dispute on a nearby island. It was simple enough, the usual fair of separating some squabbling koalas and making sure that the law is upheld, but, naturally, she had been drained by worry and a lack of sleep. As they arrived at the island however, attempting to dock, Blaze overheard shouting. All of a sudden, Marine's project was set loose; it slid down the sandbank and breached the water behind them. For a moment it seemed to work, Marine threw goads as the ship drifted towards open ocean but Blaze soon noticed a change in the ship's balance.
As Blaze gave the shout to drop anchor, Marine started to clamber up the sail; gaps in her ironwork was causing the hull to fill. The longboat began to tilt, its front end weighed down while its back managed to remain buoyant. Knowing there wasn't time to send out a lifeboat, Blaze pounced from the deck and latched onto the mast. From there, jumping back to the ship with Marine in tow was difficult but a burst of flame granted her the required propulsion to get up and onto the deck. They made it back just in time to watch Marine's ship vanish into the-
Blaze, both physically and mentally, came to a halt just before she could walk into the young shipwright. A bizarrely thick wall of ferns, larger than any Blaze had seen in the surrounding area, was blocking their path. Hundreds of tiny, pale, fungal disks dotted what seemed to be the plant's underside and the feline could hear waves just ahead. The two had been walking for a solid hour now, forcing their way through thick forest that Blaze hadn't ever seen reason to visit. When they'd returned to the shore the raccoon had grumbled an apology before rushing off in this direction, refusing to stop no matter how Blaze called her and no matter how she'd followed. This was where she was going?
Rather than kick her way through the barrier, as she had so many plants on this trip, Marine turned side on and gently pushed her way around one of the large leaf's edges. Curious at this change, just as she was at the faint sound of breaking waves, Blaze edged her way through the barrier. The scent of damp and perishing wood was quickly overwhelmed by the freshness of the ocean and she quickly discerned that the tide was roaring beneath her rather than before her.
She quickly came to recognise her surroundings, even though she'd never visited them; she'd sailed past this spot hundreds of times. They were standing at the edge of a bluff, a long rock formation that jutted out from the far side of the island, a stretch of flat brown rock no more than fifteen metres long and six wide at best. The sun was just a little ahead of them, hours from setting but destined to dip down in front of her; blue-green ocean and the horizon took up the entirety of the view. Without hesitating, Marine had turned slightly from the outcropping and wandered to the right. There, stacked around twenty high, was a pyramid made of rocks, missing its top. Three stones were drawn from the pile, roughly the shape and size of baseballs and ranging from white to black in colouration, before the young girl turned again. She was walking along the bluff; she still hadn't spoken a word.
Unable to hold back, confused and more than a little scared about what Marine was about to do, Blaze chased after the shipwright and caught her shoulder, "Marine! What are you-
"That stupid ship! Why couldn't it just stay upright!?" The shipwright tried to keep striding along the outthrust, her ears fully flattened as she continued to yell at seemingly nothing, "I worked so hard on it!
Quite unsure what to do, feeling her own ears clamp against her head, Blaze tried again, "It's alright Marine, you can make another-
"It's just so stupid! Useless, that was good wood and metal too! Totally wasted!" The raccoon threw one of the rocks, it bounced off the edge of the bluff and tumbled into the ocean.
"Marine, listen to me!" Blaze couldn't help but growl, hoping to get through to the youngster.
"Mate," Suddenly, like a switch had been flipped, Marine went from angry to whining. She rolled her head, pouting back at the feline, "Let go, let me deal with this. I've got to let it all out."
The feline was taken aback, her grip slacked, "Deal with what, let what out?"
Shrugging Blaze's hand from her shoulder, Marine managed to take a few more paces along the rock-face, "I'm just letting out my feelings mate, trying not to mope around for too long."
Completely baffled, Blaze could only watch, "Wh-What?"
She kept walking, shouting as she went, "It was meant to be big and tough! I was going to show it off to everyone, but you took it from me! It's all your fault you… you… stupid sea!" Another rock was thrown. Worry quickly set in again; Marine had almost reached the edge. Batting aside her acrophobia, Blaze followed her along the outcropping, "Why'd you have to do that? You've eaten so many of my inventions! Trying to make me think it's my fault for buildin' it wrong, tryin' to make me think it's Silver's fault for not bein' here; no! It's your fault for swallowin' all my stuff! Stupid sea!"
Rock number three was thrown. Despite the effort behind the raccoon's endeavour, it spiralled towards the horizon before vanishing into the water without so much as an audible splash. Marine went from standing to sitting; her legs crossed not a foot from the island's edge. Her fists were balled at her sides and her ears were still flattened, just as Blaze went to put a hand on her shoulder the raccoon resumed her shouting.
"It's not his fault he's stuck, it's not my fault that wood was brittle and it's not my fault…" She took in a deep breath, "It's not my fault that you decided to be so mean today! Stupid sea! Are you even sorry?!"
The sea offered no response, only the continued crashing and roaring of waves against the island's rockface.
With her speech concluded, a small hitched sigh escaped Marine's throat. Blaze took the last steps and stood next to her, trying to get a better read on the situation. Small tears had formed in the corners of her eyes, but her cries were nothing like the crocodile sobs Blaze was used to. She was almost panting, bordering on wheezing, having screamed her lungs out and released what could only be described as an explosion of emotions.
"Marine," Not daring to look at the sea, Blaze leaned down and tried to more gently speak to her, "Are you okay?"
"Oh, y-yeah," She dragged a fist beneath her nose, "I'm fine mate, just… dealing with stuff. Can you get me another rock? I don't think I'm done yet."
Blaze was a little taken aback by the request but, understanding the girl's intent a little better, she didn't see a reason to refuse. No longer so worried, Blaze did as was asked of her. They weren't far from the island and, perhaps due to the thick forest behind them, the day's wind was actually rather light. As she strode the walkway's length, she noticed that only feature stretching far enough to see was the edge of the island's stretched peer. Collecting a stone, a little more pear shaped than spherical, the princess debated what to do next.
The feline was certain that the youth was trying to look tough, not wanting to cry in front of the coconut crew or even really in from of the princess, but she'd found this place so easily. Assumedly, the raccoon herself had collected this pile of stones and thus she had to have done this a handful of times at least. There were two ways she could approach this; she could ask about the ship sinking or she could ask about this place. When it came to the ship breaking, Blaze was fairly certain that she already knew everything. She'd been unable to contain her excitement, longing to sail her new ship for over a week and her woodwork hadn't been up to snuff. With the princess and the time traveller away there'd been nothing to distract the shipwright. The kid just wanted to have fun.
Well, that only left one option. Keeping her eyes affixed on the young girl, still refusing to look straight down, Blaze quickly retraced her steps. Slowly, having made sure there was enough space, she lowered herself to sit next to the Marine. Fortunately, she'd chosen to halt before the bluff tapered thinner; even sitting with her legs in a basket there was a fair stretch of stone to Blaze's left. Without much worry, Blaze handed off the stone.
"Thanks, mate," She quietly replied, gently palming and rubbing the mass, "I guess this all looks a little weird, eh?"
"Only a little," Blaze lied, "But let's start at the beginning, how did you find this place?"
"Oh, that was easy. I was sailing around and just kind of saw the bluff, thought it seemed pretty neat so I made an adventure of it; tried to track the path to it," She recalled, "It was really difficult the first time, took me days to find the path we just took, but I found it and thought the view was real pretty. I debated moving my house out here but then I figured that kind of ruin the scenery, that and I couldn't have a workshop up here. It's way too high up."
"I've noticed," Blaze tried not to grumble. If Silver was here then here fear would have been dispelled, there was no risk of falling when he was around. Come to think of it, he'd probably love this place; both the walk and the view were wonderfully serene, "And when did this turn from a nice place to visit into somewhere you'd… let it all out?" She asked, using the raccoon's own words.
"Oh, it took me a while to figure that out," She began to line up her throw, squinting at the horizon, "A couple of months ago I had a really bad day. My hammock broke, one of my ships went down and everyone was real' busy. I just wanted to get away from it all," The stone was overhand thrown spiralling unevenly throw the air before vanishing over the horizon. Again, the splash wasn't audible, "So I came out here and kind of just… played for a while? I brought some trinkets to tinker with, but I ended up collecting stones and trying to make a splash loud enough that I could hear. I didn't like how loud the waves were being, so I decided to shout at them. After that it just kind of became a thing, I guess."
"Just became a thing?" Blaze repeated, prying for further elaboration.
"Yeah, I didn't really mean to do it but the next time I felt bad I decided to do it again," Marine nonchalantly put. It was only now, with her last stone thrown, that tears started to well in Marine's eyes, "I spent some time to myself, shouted at the sea, threw some stones and went back home when I was ready."
"Okay so…" Blaze struggled to word her next query; the sight of the crying raccoon was just a little too much to bear. Slowly, gently, her hand found the girl's far shoulder, "Do you shout at the ocean often? I assume by the pile…"
"Not too often but I do it for a bunch of reasons, mate," The raccoon responded, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, "If I've got a cool secret I can't tell anyone that I need to let out, if I drop my ice cream, if I sleep in too late, if I upset you or Gardon," She counted off on her fingers, "Or, yeah, if one of my ships sink. Basically whenever I feel overwhelmed I'll come out here and let off some steam; throw some rocks and tell the ocean my problems."
"And it helps?" That question sprung from Blaze's lips far faster than she'd intended it.
"Oh, it totally helps mate, yeah! You should try it some time," The Raccoon absentmindedly mumbled before a thought seemed to strike her, "N-Not that you're over angry, especially not recently but… well…you know…" Just as Blaze started to realise what the raccoon was implying, she managed to finish her thought, "It just helps sometimes to let it all out, whatever you're feeling. Sadness, overexcitement, loneliness, whatever. It's nice to let it all out."
Shoving her embarrassment aside and turning to the sea, trying not to dwell on such a thing, Blaze gave up and pulled the girl just a little closer, giving a half-hearted response, "I-I doubt it would do me much good."
Despite the height, the sea view was undeniably beautiful. There were no other islands in view, simply simple the endless expanse of the deep blue. Some ships were passing in the far distance, pursued by a small flock of gulls. It was nice to be away from everything, free from the bustle of town and the cabin fever of the palace library. No confining walls but, equally, no shouts nor whispers thrown at or around her. Once Blaze managed to make peace with the height, she couldn't help agreeing that the site was rather liberating. Marine's actions were made all the more understandable, she could scream her heart's desires and who would hear? Only the sea would follow her words, the winds would tear apart her voice and the forest behind her would obscure all. There'd be no reason to conceal. Marine's emotions were explosive, they'd caused problems in the past, so this was the solution she'd sought out. No matter how she tried, the feline couldn't help but draw a parallel to herself.
"I can see why you come here, Marine," The princess managed to respond, tearing her gaze away from the view and towards the raccoon, "I won't tell anyone what you do here, don't worry."
"Thanks, mate," The shipwright's shoulder was suddenly buried against the feline's side, "I-It's a little embarrassing, ya know? I'm meant to be all adventurous, swashbuckling and having fun, not… doin' stuff like this," Blaze felt Marine's head tilt and, suddenly, those bright blue eyes were staring up at her. Despite their closeness, the raccoon resumed her shouting, "You can come here whenever you want though! I give you full permission!"
"Th-Thank you, Marine," The pyrokinetic managed to respond, her stare returning to the sea. This was all a little more parental than she was used to, "I suppose I might return to take in the view from time to time."
The girl was finally smiling again, rubbing the tears from her eyes with the back of her knuckle, "Aww, mate, you should see this place at night for sure, it's even prettier! I know the island's good for stars, but out here they're great! The walk's great too; usually I'm not even sad by the time I arrive…"
Two nights had passed since Blaze last took this walk, two further days without Silver's return. The sleep that followed her walk with Marine had been fitful, she'd tossed and turned well beyond midnight, but the princess hadn't even managed an hour last night. No matter how long she'd read or paced or lay, sleep had refused to claim her. Tonight had been the same.
She was tired but, equally, plagued by both fear and doubt. She could only imagine what hell he'd have found himself in, her wild speculation ranged from burning worlds like the one they'd known to a time and place so cold, so devoid of life, that his footsteps were the only sound. No matter how she imagined it, regardless of how hard she tried, he was always alone in these futures, there was never another by his side while he battled monsters and struggled to search for answers. She wasn't by his side, there was no one to look after him or, equally, for him to look after. Silver could have flung his return a few further days down the calendar or, though she fought not to think it, the destroyed world could have claimed his life. He could have been attacked, he could have gotten sick, he could have run out of food or experienced any number of tragedies as he tried to understand and unmake their friends' deaths.
Having caught herself dwelling on their situation again, Blaze snarled and pushed deeper into the woods. The walk was very different in the dark, just as Marine had said. For one thing, Blaze couldn't see, and, for another, she felt a whole lot more foolish. Yes, she was heading towards the bluff during the dead of night to do… something. She still wasn't entirely sure what that something was but, assumedly, when the time came she would. No matter how foolish she was being, she was traveling with a-
Blaze froze in place at a certain sight ahead. It'd been obscured by the thickness of the forest's trees but now, just a little closer, she could plainly see light glimmering from beyond a tree. This light wasn't yellow though, it wasn't the torchlight of some alternate walker, it was a painfully familiar shade of aquamarine. No matter how she tried to second guess, Blaze couldn't stop herself.
Stumbling forward and into the clearing, words began to spill from her tongue, "S-Silver? What are you doing out-
Reality stopped the princess before she could finish. That faint hue wasn't ebbing from a psychic hedgehog's hands, nor was it surrounding an object he had captured. Nature had pulled a cruel trick on her.
Firefox fungus; it was a genus of mushroom that shone in the dark with a blue-green bioluminescence. She'd read about it before but never encountered it. This was the sight that would steal Marine's anguish, the beauty of glowing mushrooms lighting the way towards her private place. Blaze could see why it would but, unfortunately, their glow only served to remind her of what was missing. She'd always thought the colour was pretty, homely even. Despite not even remembering him, her bedclothes had ended up his signature cyan and the walls of her room had very almost been painted to match. Perhaps that had contributed to her poor sleep. Still, this radiant plant was an even greater reminder of him.
For a moment, a slave to her tired mind, Blaze found herself leaning down to pluck one of the stems but she quickly caught herself. As she pushed on however, she found that those mushrooms grew evermore common; soon the way was fully lit. To think there were locations like this, both within her kingdom and right under her nose, which she hadn't visited. The duties of a royal were truly bizarre; she was forced to walk some paths thousands of times yet so rarely found had the freedom to visit new places. She was to maintain the peace in others' lives yet live a life devoid of such normalcy; for her, it was always one extreme or the other. Silver's charge was the same yet very much the opposite, fated to roam new worlds until some semblance of calm could be excavated from unending cataclysm. Hers was a life of consistent stagnation while his was one of ever shifting bizarrenesses.
Blaze almost chuckled at that thought; sleep deprivation was doing her mood no favours, she'd already felt sour but now she was self-pitying. He was in danger; the entirety of her worry should have been focused on him… but she'd come out here in an attempt to offload that very worry. This really was foolish; this was the method child had concocted in order to look brave in front of her friend. Throwing a handful of rocks off of a cliff's edge wasn't going to bring Silver back just like it hadn't brought Marine's ship back. Only time would tell whether he'd return to her, in one piece or otherwise.
Would tending his wounds be their new hello? Could she stand to see him like that time and time again, like she had all those days in crisis city? If it meant he'd return alive each time then yes, of course she would, no matter how that pain mounted. Watching this duty tear him apart would surely tear her apart, even after he returned things weren't going to be easy. Still, that didn't change her want. She arrived at the thick ferns, the fungus that grew on them was shining with his colour. Unable to stand the sight for long, Blaze pushed beyond them and stepped into the dark.
Starlight filled the young princess' eyes, the instant one light vanished another had taken its place. A million diamonds, glinting brighter than she'd ever recalled them, set the sky alight. It was the same sky she'd looked upon her whole life but, from the bluff, it was almost brand new. This was the kind of sky Silver talked about so often, clear and perfect for gazing. There were no clouds and no wind; conditions were perfect. If only he was here, she could practically see his smiling face in her mind's eye.
Blaze stopped herself before she could take a rock. She told herself it was because the endeavour was foolish, a waste of time and energy, but, in reality, she'd realised that Marine would notice if some went missing. She had to maintain a strong visage for the raccoon, that came first no matter what. Bowling those stones had seemed cathartic though, it seemed to be a key part of the process. She looked down at her fist and, with little more than a thought, embers pooled in her palm. Perhaps throwing fire was a viable alternative.
Acrophobia bitten back, her right hand set alight for guidance, Blaze slowly crept along the rocky outcropping. Once she reached halfway, Blaze could see the warm light of the docks glittering in the distance; it was so much more visible in the dark. Lights that would draw ships into port looked like mere glowing grains of sand, there was no sign of activity on water or land. She was alone out here; she could feel and do whatever she wanted. No one could stop her, not even herself.
It's said that absence makes the heart grow fonder but, while she knew that to be true, she'd already lost him once and learned the pain of absence. The pressure of their opposing duties made things so difficult; this was the third time he'd left to survey the future, yet it stung far worse than the first. It wasn't just because he was late; no matter how she insisted to herself, Blaze knew that wasn't the case. It wasn't as simple as missing a friend, the hurt wasn't the same. They weren't more than friends, but she needed him here more than she needed a friend; she needed to know he was safe and she needed to hold him in her arms again. Blaze wanted the excuse of his return to tease and dote on him, to make sure he knew how much she cared.
A sigh escaped her throat; she turned back. This was juvenile, embarrassing and tactless. If anyone were at sea, some dark ship in the night or figure on the dock, what would they think? They'd know it was her, these flames were casting a beacon into the night and turning the bluff into a faux lighthouse. What would they think she was doing? Most likely, they'd assume she was defending against a threat and call Gardon to rouse the guard.
Well, regardless of what they thought of her appearance, Blaze's words would be lost to the sea. Even if she was visible, she was free to speak. Facing the ocean again, her gaze dropped to the bluff's edge before her eyes shut tight. Emotions flaring, Blaze threw her arm forward and a bolt of fire jumped free. The shot leapt into the night before spiralling to the sea and fizzling into nothingness. A growl slipped her lips, another fireball was sent to oblivion.
"S-Silver," Embers continued to pour from her fingertips, raining towards the ocean below.
This wasn't unlike when they'd been thrown backwards through time, when she'd found herself on the beach and began to question Mephilies' motives. The immediate dread she'd felt not seeing him by her side, feeling alone and insecure herself while claiming that of him. Despite the size of the world, despite how many people lived in it, they'd reunited so quickly. Surely, he could find his way back to her just the same. Surely, he'd be by her side again soon…
"Silver!" Now flames erupted from her palms, the fire spilled into the air just as they did the depths, "You'd… better come back to me in one piece!" It wasn't a plead, she was demanding it, "You'd better be okay! I'm sure I'm being foolish, worrying over nothing, but it's so hard to believe that! I've already lost you once and I…" The flames sputtered but, as she took another step forward, burst free again, "I can't lose you again!"
Orange light overwhelmed her vision, she could so easily fall but greater fears conquered her acrophobia.
"I don't know how long I can wait; I need you here!" She blindly cried, "I miss having you by my side, I miss sitting together in the library and I need to hold you again. I know you're strong, but I need to know that you're safe! I thought this would be easy, I know we don't have a choice, but it's so much harder than I thought… I-I… I-I…" All of a sudden, her fire ran dry. Just as quickly as she'd been engulfed, Blaze was in the dark again, "I thought this would be easier. I knew it was the right thing to do, so I thought it'd be easy…"
But the right thing wasn't always easy. In fact, for them, it'd always been difficult. This place, this precipice, it wasn't dissimilar to where she'd left him. Was this how he'd felt when she'd left? It had to be close, but it wasn't quite the same. He'd known she wasn't coming back, but she now stood at an everlasting crossroads. No matter how long she waited, no matter how many years, there was always the chance that he'd return. She could be on her deathbed, lost and confused by her surroundings, but she'd still think that there was a chance of his return.
Given a month at most she'd be trying to find some loophole or excuse to slip away and reclaim him. Blaze would inevitably argue with herself that, with the use of the Sol emeralds, she could return to her dimension mere seconds after she'd left but the truth wasn't so simple. If she did get trapped there then two worlds would be in peril, it wasn't a choice she could make no matter how she longed to. Perhaps when others crossed she could beg them to change things but even that was uncertain.
"You're insecure when you're alone," She hadn't said those words in this lifetime. In the moment it was cathartic but those words left her distraught, "So hurry back to me!" A final flaming explosion unleashed as she made that demand, "I don't want to repeat how things were, I just… I just want to hold you again. I miss you."
Blaze had finally admitted it aloud, the true base of her feelings. It was plain and simple; she missed her partner. Tears and sobs finally made their escape as her fists balled against her sides.
Now, having fully unleashed her feelings, the universe seemed to answer her. As she moved to wipe her vision clear a speckle of cyan entered the corner of her eye. Blaze blinked at her glove, certain she'd simply brushed a mushroom, but found the light wasn't ebbing from her. Following the glow towards its source, Blaze found herself looking to the docks. A pillar of cyan energy was flaring towards the sky, it was formed a crackling energy that she knew all too well. It could be replicated by mushrooms but never with such ferocity. As quickly as that glow appeared, it seemed to shrink down and linger at the pier's edge. The docks were too far away for her to pinpoint him but she knew he was here. Silver was safe.
Had she seen her flames? Was his shine in response to that? Brushing away tears with her right hand, Blaze pointed to the sky with her left. A plume of fire, tall and wide, was briefly unleashed from her fingertip. His response was immediate, that familiar light spread across on the docks again but, soon, it was racing across the beach and growing ever larger. Silver was on his way back to her, only natural distance separated them. He was finally home, the world felt like home again.