The world was cold and silent, devoid of even the whistling of wind and crashing of snowflakes. A figure was pacing his way forward without leaving the faintest of crunches. Behind him, an equally muted sleigh was pulled; its golden bells kept quiet by a stabilizing aura. Cyan light flared from both the individual and his toboggan, they did not mingle with the snow but instead hang just above it. Though that coating hid their festive appearance; hanging bells, a stocking cap and a giant sack could be discerned by all zero of the people watching.
A prickly figure, with a stuffed belly and a long beard, was gently gliding through candle lit streets; bringing his hands gesticulate through the air as he conducted tonight's business. His yellow eyes crossed from one building to the other, with every movement his light would shift, and a fairy-tale would become just a little more tangible. Windows were commanded open with no more than a gesture, hearth fires would snuff themselves with the wave of a hand and it took little more than a thought to unlock doors. Boxes, wrapped in shining green and red paper, emerged from his giant bag to slip beyond glass panes and down chutes, sneaking their way into houses by whatever means possible, before their entryways resealed themselves.
Of course, beyond even those presents, there was evidence of his endeavour. The charitable figure could not relight fires he'd snuffed; icicles and snow tumbled out of place as a result of his movements, no matter how he tried to subdue them. Fortunately, the night was bright; moonlight and starlight lit his path better than streetlamps ever could. Not only that, but they obscured and rationalized the bright glow that emanated from his person rather than contrasting it.
Or, well, the glow that had been emanating from him.
A laboured breath smoked into the cold air as the figure's cyan trappings left his person, they barely clung on the trolley behind him. Silver the hedgehog, age seventeen, had stumbled free from his own telekinetic hold. As his boots crunched against the snow covered ground his ears spiked high and his eyes began to scan; he took in both windows and streets, looking for the slightest of movements or the flicking of light-switches. His paranoia proved to be for naught, no movement came.
A wispy sigh slipped from his mouth.
Despite the cold, sweat drenched the hedgehog's brow. As if this overuse of his power wasn't enough to tire him, the hedgehog was wearing a most bizarre outfit; red-green woollen gloves protected his hands and boots with golden ornaments covered his feet but those were the most regular additions. A Santa hat sat securely sat behind his fanned quills, a false white beard hid his muzzle and a red overcoat with golden trestles, while not too bizarre on its own, hid a pillow he'd stuffed over his core in an attempt to emulate a jollier body type.
These factors combined were exhausting him, but he felt the need to keep them up. Allowing his feet to remain on the ground, he tiptoed forward and waved his great sleigh to follow. Sighting another latched window, he willed it to open and sent another present from his Santa-sack to brighten the morning of whoever lived inside. Naturally, he couldn't entirely see what he was doing. Silver tried to set his gifts atop the nearest table or counter, whatever was in reach but, naturally, some had surely landed on the floor. His presents were meant for children, just as Santa's were. Within the boxes were toys that had no hope of ever being sold. They came from another world, just as his outfit and sleigh did. That planet was not dissimilar to the one he now walked but it'd been brought to ruin by a lack of the very force that had just pulled him towards the ground; gravity.
The current state of his world was a most bizarre one indeed, not particularly festive either. Doctor Eggman had created a device that would weaken the earth's gravitational field and activated it from the sanctity of the space colony ark. This had resulted in global devastation; oceans had escaped into the sky and unsecured objects did the same. This, eventually, resulted in the loss of all life; no one was prepared for the change.
By the time Silver had arrived, almost 200 years after the apocalypse, the world had been reclaimed by plants. Reaching vines coated the ground and traced up buildings, giant tubers had been granted time to take form and the only thing still living to feast upon them were gigantic slugs and snails. Those creatures having undergone accelerated evolution as a result of a lack of predation but, fortunately, hadn't become carnivorous. Being able to fly and sustain himself on the plants, Silver had a relatively easy time uncovering the cause of the apocalypse and figuring out how he would solve it, but that hadn't been his only goal.
His world had no people, it had no children to play with toys. Shopping malls and charity shops had been left long abandoned; their goods left to gather dust in a world where no dust could gather. Naturally, Silver wasn't going to grave rob to fulfil his plan, but those items had been left without owners; were it not for him, they'd see no use. He'd managed to find a Santa suit in his size, pulled an oversized sleigh from a display and sewn together a ridiculously large bag to house his stash. In truth, the most time consuming of his endeavours had been wrapping all of the goods. After some debate, he'd settle on gifting one shoebox filled with toys to each household across the Sol dimension's scattered islands. Naturally, even with his powers to aid him, this resulted in a ludicrous amount of packaging; despite how much smaller the Sol dimension's population was than that of his own world's prime, it still meant over a hundred thousand gifts.
He'd completed his journey around all but one of the islands; he was now, steadily, working his way through the capital city of Southern Island. There couldn't be more than a couple hundred presents to go, the end was within sight! Gritting his teeth and waving with his hands, Silver strode forward with what vigour his body would afford him. A list of doorbells informed him of a series of flats, with a swish of his hand the door was unlocked, and he dove inside; waving five boxes to chase up the stairwell and land outside each occupant's door. As the door relocked behind, the psychic sighted a row of homes; their latch windows all shared the same design. Rushing as fast as he could, dragging his haul behind him, he pried each one open with ease and forced a present through every window.
As he began to pant, struggling to endure the heat, the hedgehog finally snatched the pillow from beneath his shirt and stashed it into a garden hedge. Quickly sending parcels in ludicrous directions, he managed to trudge his way into the city centre. The space was marked by a grand Christmas tree, three stories tall and lit by a rainbow of red, gold and silver fairy lights. A marvellous thought managed to slink its way into Silver's head, a method of quickly dispersing what few packages remained. The sleigh was made to park in front of the tree, its red and brown oaken form was freed of garish cyan, before that very colour reclaimed Silver's body. He threw himself into the air, tracing along the trunk until he arrived at the tree's ginormous, crowning, star. Grasping it with his left hand, holding on with what might he had, psychic energy pulled in his right palm.
Squinting to look into the dark, he identified the windows and chimineas of houses he had yet to visit. One house at a time, Silver made openings he could take advantage of. He knew the districts he hadn't visited; he'd charted them before gathering his gifts, but it still took time to make his various manoeuvres. These shifts couldn't have been silent, not in every single case, but soon all of the destined paths had been made available. This was going to be exhausting, but not as exhausting as doing it all on foot.
He gestured down to his sleigh before, in one swift motion, pointing his finger to the sky. Almost instantly, a halo of gifts came to top the festive tree; only one step was left. Heaving a great breath, Silver resumed his conducting. Present after present raced beyond arm's reach, no postal service in any reality was capable of the feat he was performing. Gifts landed on windowsills, on workbenches, on tables and in unlit hearths; joy began to scatter itself across a half mile, ducking and dodging and diving its way into various homes. He gritted his teeth, brought his toes to curl and gripped tighter on the star; giving this task his total mental focus.
His false beard, unfortunately, was swept up in the maelstrom of presents and sent flying into the cyan breeze; luckily, it rushed skyward rather than into one of the houses. Silver continued his gestures, throwing out all manner of points and prods in an attempt to control the very chaos he was whipping up. Eventually though, gradually, the surrounding sky darkened again; his efforts were nearly completed! A bead of sweat slid down his nose and he felt his grip weaken but, using all his waving might, Silver managed to deliver those last presents.
Well, not the last presents but the last of those he'd felt obliged to give.
Heaving a deep breath, shutting his eyes tight, Silver stretched his aura to grasp windowpanes across the entire city. With a thrust of his hand and a smothered roar, he saved all those homes from the creeping of the night's cold; hundreds of entrances were forced to close. Satisfied but thoroughly drained, he draped himself in cyan aura and allowed himself to drop from the peak; it wasn't flying, instead he fell like a feather discarded by a bird. Reacquainting himself with the ground, he stumbled his way over to the sleigh. Between colossal yawns, he could make out the rough shape of the last two boxes within his sack.
Silver found himself unable to move the sleigh but, honestly, its final resting place suited it fine. Abandoned at the centre of the capital city, a great empty sack left flopping over its edge; it could mysteriously vanish tomorrow night. He figured that'd add to the wonder. Fighting his way into the sack, the hedgehog retrieved the two final presents and bundled them beneath his arms. Abandoning his vehicle, taking off on foot, Silver headed towards the home of the final resting child; a youth he knew all too well.
Boots left snow prints until snow gave way to sand, soon he was by the sea; the smell of salt and sound of waves polluted his senses, the lowlight was made darker still by his own lack of power. He could see a hut in the distance, crafted of old driftwood and wrought iron; an orange glow still lit the window. It was both a beacon and a worrying oddity, the girl within should have been long asleep. Another yawn threatened to tear through his throat, but Silver fought it off, changing his approach to avoid entering the house through its front door.
The garage entrance proved easy enough to break into anyway; by peering through its frosted window, Silver managed to grasp the pulley that the sliding panel door utilised and fold back its entirety. As ever, the garage floor was littered with raw materials, rusted tools and half-finished projects but he'd long learned to weave and avoid stepping on anything. But, when he arrived at the home's entrance, the hedgehog took pause. He pressed his ear against the great driftwood slab, listening for anything stirring within. Yellow light spilled from beneath the door, but he couldn't hear anything, no footsteps or speech or even tinkering. Well, the home's occupant wasn't known for sitting in silence.
As gently as he could, Silver turned the doorknob and pushed inside; the home's warmth immediately assaulted his cold fur. A festive interior lay before him; tinsel wrapped around every rafter, bobbles hung from nails crudely hammered into walls and splashes of red and green paint coated the walls. Well, she'd certainly given it her best effort. Slowly scanning the small hut, finding its hammock empty, Silver quickly discovered the occupant; sat in a chair of her own making, directly facing the door.
Marine the Raccoon, age ten, had fallen asleep waiting for Santa. She wasn't bundled in a blanket and she hadn't even changed out of her pyjamas, instead she sat in her usual bright green dress, gloves and boots included. Her arms were folded, and her head slumped, a clear sign that she'd lost a battle with sleep.
Looking past her, Silver was very glad that he hadn't entered through the front door. While she hadn't laid a dangerous trap, Marine had clearly wanted to know when Santa had arrived. She'd attached a bell to the door, set to ring as the door swung open; guaranteeing that she'd notice the arrival of any jolly intruder. If she'd rigged the back door too, Silver had no idea what he'd have done.
Gently creeping past her, Silver took the present from beneath his right arm and set it upright against the door. Ever so carefully, the psychic made sure to flip the present's tag such that it was visible; "To Marine, Merry Christmas, From Santa." Naturally, the other gifts had gone unnamed. Well, save for one other. When the raccoon did awaken, this would be the first thing she saw.
Turning back, he got one good look at the sleeping shipwright. By the occasional twitch of her foot and the odd flickering of her ear, Silver could tell she was dreaming about something. Given that and her uncomfortable position, it was unlikely she'd make it through the night without waking. Smothering another yawn, the faux Santa creeped his way back behind the raccoon and towards her hammock bed. He pulled down her blanket before quickly returning to her side, gently wrapping it across her shoulders in an attempt to provide some additional comfort. He figured she'd probably see it as some extra care on the part of Santa, maybe it'd even make up for missing the old fella.
Well, that and he had got her something she wanted, unlike the random gifts the other children had received. Marine's tools had been in disrepair for a while now, saltwater tended to corrode metal quickly and the raccoon had put her equipment through more than thorough use. Thus, he had packaged her a new toolset and drill; not typical gifts Christmas gifts per say, but what he knew she really wanted. Besides, Silver had got her some more typical presents; Santa was supposed to know better.
As he pulled away, Silver fought to smother another yawn, by this point his head was almost spinning; he'd spent so much energy, but he still had one gift left to go. Unfortunately, this last box was to be delivered on the other side of city. This gift was supposed to arrive at the palace and sunrise couldn't have been far away. He managed to make it halfway across the room before catching sight of something he'd both missed and forgotten, a small collection left on the countertop. A tall glass of milk and a small platter of cookies.
Cookies he'd helped make.
Around a week ago, Silver had made a mistake that he was now atoning for. Marine had asked for his help in preparing some chocolate chip cookies, insisting that they had to be the best they were capable of making. The hedgehog had helped her without really questioning, he'd figured they were just meant to be part of a gift, but towards the end Marine's excitement had spilled over. She'd talked about how Santa was going to love them and that he'd surely bring her a good gift this year. This had made Silver curious, having researched the fairy tale figure before, he'd asked various questions… some of which the shipwright hadn't been able to answer.
Silver had also admitted a couple of things that hindsight and research told him he shouldn't have. He'd told her that Santa had never visited the future, that he'd read stories about him, but they all seemed to derive from children's books and that he wasn't certain that the miraculous figure even existed. These points combined to cause the young raccoon a great deal of confusion and what amounted to disappointment. Questioning her own belief; she'd gotten angry and insisted that she'd stay up to meet Santa, proving to Silver that he existed.
Later that day, Blaze had explained to him why Marine had gotten so angry and consoled him that he'd had no way of knowing any better, but that didn't stop him from feeling bad. He'd left for the other world, promising them both that he was leaving to gather presents in secret and would return on Christmas, only to make this ludicrous plan a reality. He'd made Santa real, even if only in this smaller world.
Swearing that he heard something shift behind him, shaking away his daydream, Silver quickly scoffed the entire platter. Cleaning his muzzle with the back of his wrist, feeling both consciousness and energy return to him as blood rushed towards his stomach, the hedgehog slid his way to the door and quickly out through the garage. As he physically pulled the sheet door down, he noticed that some of the brightness had already returned to his psychic symbols. He had enough juice for this last flight, there was one more person he desperately wanted Santa to visit.
Wrapping himself in cyan light, the hedgehog took to the skies and rocketed himself above the clouds. The sky was still dark, the sun wasn't rising yet, but, given that it was Winter, people would surely awaken soon. He lingered among the cloud layer, obscuring his vision but guaranteeing that he wouldn't be seen, if even a single figure saw him this morning then this illusion was at risk of cracking. Fortunately, even with minimal view of the ground, this was a path Silver knew well enough to perform practically blind.
He broke free from the white cover just a hundred metres from the palace, its recently restored stonework made clear. Dodging between the castle turrets and around its backside, he came to hover above the royal garden before coming to land at a certain balcony. Its glass double doors were shut, the curtains pulled closed, but as he went to psychically create an entrance, the hedgehog found the doors unlocked. He poked his head through the drapes, attempting to quietly make sure the coast was clear, only for a set of amber eyes to rise from a book and ensnare him.
Almost reflexively, he stumbled back and clattered to the ground; quickly pulling the feline's present to his chest in an attempt to avoid crushing it. It was only as he lay there, back throbbing, that he noticed the decorations she'd clearly put up for his arrival. Red ribbons with golden trim lined the entryway and a pair of golden bells hung above its centre. Looking behind himself, he found that holly had been brought to rap around the balcony's guardrail. She'd waited for his return; she'd set all this up.
Before he could get to his feet, Blaze had stepped beyond the curtains and into the cold. Naturally, being pyrokinetic, the change temperature didn't shake her, but great plumes of steam were erupting with each of her breaths. The situation had surprised him, his heart was still pounding, but the combination of the ornaments and a smile on her face managed to subdue him.
"And what time would you call this?" She'd brought her arms to fold across her chest, looking down at him. Unlike Marine, she'd made it into her pyjamas; a button up purple night shirt and a set of baggy, grey, pyjama bottoms.
He couldn't bring himself to rise, a sigh escaped his throat and he broke from her eyes, "I-I don't know if it's early or late by this point…"
"You're coming to bed, so I suppose we should call it late," She mused, reaching down to him, "Where have you been? You look exhausted."
He looked down at himself and realised that, without the stuffed gut and beard, he merely looked festive rather than Santa like. Already though, her eyes had drifted to the box in his hands. As he glanced to check the tag, he found it exposed. By the time he looked back to her Blaze had already followed his gaze. She threw him a curious look, shifting from leading him inside to facing him directly again.
"W-Well, um," She wanted some kind of explanation and if she didn't get it now, she'd figure it out tomorrow when the world was abuzz with talk of mysterious gifts, "After what I said to Marine, an idea came to me. I know Santa doesn't really exis,t but if getting a gift from him would make her happy I thought it was only right to get her one," For some reason, either embarrassment or tiredness or some combination of the two, he was struggling to admit his actions, "The future had lots of abandoned toys, all in good condition, so I boxed them all up and… uhm… delivered them to all of the houses."
Her eyes had gone wide, he felt her grasp tighten, "Silver, what do you mean by all of the houses?"
"At first, I thought just Marine would be enough, then I realised I could do more so I…" The concern on her face was palpable, whether it was at the foolishness of his actions, or the toll they might have taken on his body, Silver was no sure. Regardless, he struggled to give further justification, "I also figured that, since Santa missed you during our years together, he ought to make up for it. It's not the only thing I've got you, I stashed another somewhere in the palace but…" He held the present out to her, "We didn't get to experience the wonder and mystery that's tied to this season, so I made certain that Santa got you something special this year. It's not like all the gifts were hand-picked, outside yours and Marine's they were random, but… it only felt right to…"
She took a step closer, pushing past the red wrapped box and into his soggy form. It was only with her warm touch that he realised quite how cold he was. Wandering through slush and soaring through the clouds had soaked him rather thoroughly. Her warmth almost immediately ate away at that cold, he brought his arm to wrap around her back.
"You're so naïve," The coffee on her breath was blatant, she'd stayed up waiting for him, "People are going to be so confused. I doubt they'll panic, but I'll send out a memo; make it clear that that Santa has actually visited, not some other large man in red."
Silver grimaced, "I'm sorry, I thought-
"Silver," She pulled back a little, still holding him but looking him squarely in the eyes. Her gaze was softer than he'd expected, "You did something good for my world, something ludicrous but ultimately good. Don't you dare apologise," Her hand slipped from his back to the top of her head, prying off his soggy Santa hat before dragging through his quills, "Just, next time, let's do it together. That way it won't come as such a surprise and you won't be run ragged. Honestly, look at you."
"Next time?" As he questioned, she finally tugged him inside.
"This isn't the kind of trick you can pull just once, Silver. People are going to expect it now," The princess flatly explained, "You've put yourself in Santa's shoes."
As Blaze left him, walking to her bedside and drawing up her phone, thoughts overwhelmed him. He hadn't really considered that. Silver had always thought of this as bringing the miracle of Santa Clause to life, not actually becoming him, but Blaze was right. If the miracle happened once, people would expect it again; he hadn't made Santa real, but he'd become a Santa. He'd travelled across this island nation in a single night (albeit, utilising time travel to make the long-distance movements far easier) and delivered presents into each of the houses.
Blaze's voice pulled him from his stupor, "Well, Gardon's already awake and he dared to open his. The news has already started to spread, we can relax," She was smiling at him again, he quickly turned and closed the balcony doors, "I'm sure Marine will run in and wake us up in a handful of hours, we should try to get some sleep at least," She suggested before gesturing across the room and behind him, "If you want, you can put that under the tree with yours, we'll open them when morning properly arrives."
Turning, Silver came face-to-face with a small, very decorated, Christmas tree; a sizeable bundle of parcels piled beneath it. Some of them were addressed to Blaze herself, likely gifts from political figures or castle staff, but the bulk of them were addressed to both him and Marine. One parcel in particular, near the front of the pile, caught his eye. It wasn't addressed to or from Blaze, not like the others. It was to him, from Santa. She'd had the same idea as him, she'd wanted to make up for lost time. This was his first Christmas in the Sol dimension, let alone civilised society; his first opportunity for this kind of thing. While he'd been away, she'd surely been planning for tomorrow.
Not tomorrow, today. He had to be his best for later, both so that Marine wouldn't suspect a thing and so that he could embrace Blaze's efforts to the fullest.
His present set down, a plan in mind to quickly nip out and gather the others that were stashed in the castle, he'd headed towards the door and prepared to wave goodnight only for her hand to catch his again. His brow raised and his head tilted but she just rolled her eyes, unleashing a yawn that was soon echoed by him. He hadn't noticed that the heat rippling off of her had brought him to fully dry, his quills and fluff had frizzed to their maximum. Boots were fought off, he escaped his jacket, and soon the two of them were lying together. Her head found his chest, his chin found her ear and sleep found them both before they could realise it. They were in for an early awakening and a busy day, but they'd managed to spend the first hours of this charitable holiday together, giving the other their whole to make them merry.