The first time Blaze saw him, it had been for no more than a moment.
She'd been so small then, but he had surely been the same. Sat alone, atop a four poster bed that was much too big for her, the Sol Emeralds that were her birthright scattered around her form in a roughly heptagonal pattern. It had been late, she had been struggling to commune with the empowered stones in the hopes of gleaning some clue as to her greater purpose as the lone ruler and guardian of her realm. Others before her had communed with the Emeralds, and so she had longed to do the same.
It was late, the kitten had been sat meditating for hours to no avail. Yawns had begun to breach her lips; her eyes were wet with sleep. She'd heaved a stretch and in the process kicked the red gem out of sequence. Frustrated with herself, she had crawled across the covers in the direction of that Emerald and the foot of her bed; in the process glancing up toward the vanity mirror on the far side of her room.
That single gem had almost been as long as her arm. It was as her hand found that Emerald, as if her palm had fallen upon some great red activation button, that the mirror before her gleamed and flashed a sudden vibrant orange. She'd instinctively scarpered backwards, the gem had tumbled to the floor. In that moment, lost in sleepy panic, she'd looked to the mirror only to find a window into a dark city skyline- wreathed in orange and red flame.
Frozen on her back, staring at this infernal gateway made manifest at her desk, she'd been moments from panicking when a figure had obscured her view. A mass of white fur wrapped in cyan, moving so quick she could scarcely make out the quills behind his head; a form in tattered clothes had launched from right to left across her mirror and recoloured her dark room from red to blue. The moment that light had past, her mirror was back to normal and her room returned to darkness. Try as she might, she couldn't conjure up another vision of that spectre or the world it dwelled within. Well, she hadn't managed to on that night.
She'd got her first good look at him almost two years later.
Long after Blaze had convinced herself that her initial vision was a dream, she had been sat at her vanity with the grey Sol Emerald in hand. At Gardon's recommendation, rather than channel all of their power at once, she had decided to focus on one. The gemstones powers were still lost on her, channeling their might had seemed completely impossible. Drawing out their power was like squeezing blood from a stone. So far, she had only conjured uncontrollable streams of destructive flame.
It had been a long day, that much she could recall, though Blaze certainly could not remember how she had toiled. No, all she recalled of that day was pressing the grey stone to the mirror in the hopes that it would do something, anything. Of course, it didn't... not until after she'd scrunched her nose, curled her toes, shut her eyes, and then, inevitably, given up when all that hadn't worked.
No, it'd taken her giving up, pressing down on the emerald as she rose to head to bed, for something to happen. The moment she'd fully turned away warm light flared to outline her shadow against her bed with its drawn curtains. She'd spun around, only to find a very different view of that same city from before.
Her view was at ground level this time, not viewing a stretch of city but a single street. She jumped back up onto her chair, her had eyes darted and head bobbed as she tried to peer out into the landscape. Blaze had quickly found that her mirror was now more like a window, as she leaned in close and tilted her head the view she received of the dark burning street changed and expanded.
The devastation had been even clearer than in her first viewing; she'd found herself looking at a line of of shops with shattered windows, their insides plainly ravaged and charred. Litter covered the cracked concrete street, ranging in scale from broken shards of glass to fallen lampposts and melted metallic objects. A fire had been burning close to where she was staring into the space, and yet no heat nor crackling seemed to reach her. Though those things held the cat's attention however; the hedgehog swiftly stole her focus.
Without his cyan cowling she hadn't noticed him, sat perched to her left atop a strange metal object with faded yellow paint and broken glass windows. He seemed to be eating something, though just what the cat could not tell. He was a hunched over mess of white fur, a rough brown rag wrapped around his shoulders like some sort of scarf or cloak. She had noticed see the glint of gold at his cuffs, which in turn revealed a shine of that same cyan she'd sighted before toward his palms.
Not even considering the fact she hadn't been able to hear the flames on his side, she'd attempted to call out to him. For a second the young cat thought he'd heard her, as his ears thad witched and he'd suddenly jumped to stand atop the metal object. Cyan light flared to spark up his arms and across his body, flipping his quills to stand on end and lifting him into the air.
A sudden movement on the right almost made Blaze fall from her chair. A four legged monster made from molten rock had bounded onto the scene, its glowing jaws filled with serrated rocky teeth. The second she'd identified its glowing green eye and sharp tipped tail, it had been surrounded in cyan, seemingly psychic, energy and tossed over itself. She'd turned to find the hedgehog posed with arms outstretched and his teeth bared. A pack of five more of those beasts had rushed onto the scene, he was under attack!
The moment she'd reached out to try and help him, she'd felt the glass of her mirror and heard her hand pat into it. With that touch however, normalcy returned to her view. Blaze could see her own reflection again, the hedgehog and his world were gone! She'd grabbed the emerald and pushed it directly to the glass, concentrating her unabashed will into it in the hopes of resuming her view.
This effort quickly proved to be unwise; as she pressed harder against the gem, the glass beneath cracked. Before she could pull away flames burst from the stone to lash in all directions as singing tentacles. Immediately the mirror shattered, black scorch lines had tore across her vanity as she ducked for cover.
Thankfully, none of the shards of wood and glass had flown back in her direction, but in the wake of the explosion she could only stare at the char marks and glinting embers that marked the wall where the mirror had once been. She had no idea what had become of the hedgehog and zero understanding of how to see him again, let alone help him. She'd spent the days that followed panicking over a person she didn't even know, breaking so many more mirrors as she tried to see him again.
It would take half a decade to gain that view again; on that occasion, their eyes finally met.
Since her last vision in the mirror, the cat had continued to experiment with the Sol Emeralds and unlocked many of their secrets. With the gem's aid, she had learned to transport herself great distances in the blink of an eye, amplify her flame generation, and conjure insights into oncoming threats to her kingdom. However, no matter how she tried, even though she'd managed it twice on accident, the guardians still could not summon visions of that other world or it's glowing denizen on command.
She had been patrolling town on a late winter night, having heard word of a dangerous robot stalking the streets. Deep within her long coat pockets had sat two Sol Emeralds, just in case the matter required some additional might. The snow was falling lightly, but had been doing so since midday. Every step brought with it a crunch underfoot, but Blaze had been too focus on her mission to take in the picturesque streets with their fresh white coating.
Her breath was fogging the air, the dark of night lit only by streetlamps due to the thick cloud above. She'd rounded through the city a few times by that point and found nothing out of place. That was until she'd sighted a bakery a jagged crack down its window and a bizarre darker gloom within.
Blaze was certain the shatter mark across the glass pane hadn't been present on her last passing. She'd leaned close only to find herself not viewing pastries but the interior of a wrecked living room; the remains of what looked to be a table turned into a smouldering fire near the room's centre. The walls looked to have been raked to the stone by massive claws, the floor was riddled with holes, and a shattered window was scarcely visible within view.
The unnamed hedgehog was sat with his back to the far wall, slumped with his head low. She'd thought he might be dead for a moment; his frame was so still, but the pulsing glow of his palms had given her some form of confidence that he was still with her. Since their last encounter, the cat had theorised that calling out wouldn't be enough to alert him, and touching the pane had dispelled her vision last time. Fortunately, she had another option.
Blaze had cupped her palms, creating a small flame in the heart of her grasp before warming it brighter and brighter. Once it had fully manifested as a white hot beacon, she opened her grasp; casting light both into her surroundings and through the glass pane. His pale furred form had reflected the firelight, making him practically shine. Almost immediately, he began to stir.
Was this the first time he had seen her? Of that much she wasn't certain, even now. She'd always remembered the surprise in his eyes the moment their gaze had locked, surely mirrored in her own expression. He'd risen to step closer without hesitation, plainly confused as to what he was seeing.
Blaze watched his mouth move, unable to read his lips as he stumbled over himself. The cat tried to mime that she couldn't hear him, putting a finger to her lips and shaking her head. His head had tilted, those massive quills of his flopped to one side, as he continued to speak through plain bewilderedness. For the first time in all of these visions, she managed to see his eyes; bright yellow bulbs that caught the now softer orange firelight dancing between her fingertips.
She'd called out to him, trying to speak with as obvious lip movements as possible, "I don't think you can hear me, I certainly can't hear you."
At that he did stop speaking, appearing to understand. The silver hedgehog was so close now that the princess could see the dire state he was in. Bandage scraps littered his frame, the fingertips of his gloves were torn, and his heavy looking boots were so thoroughly weathered... and yet, despite there being such a ruggedness to his exterior, there was an innocent confusion and curiosity in his eyes. Rather than panic at the sight of her, he simply seemed fascinated.
As he drew closer that truth only seen more certain; his eyes always came back to her but he seemed to scan the dark of her surroundings. Given what she had seen of his reality, one that she was almost certain was separate to her own, the cat doubted he'd ever even seen snow. She'd snuffed her flames and scraped up handfuls of snow, quickly cupping them together to form a simple snowball and hold it close to the glass.
The otherworldly hedgehog had drawn even closer, first fixated on the snowball and then the town behind her as his view had surely widened into the streets beyond. Then, just as he was turning back to her, still speaking though she couldn't hear and an arm outstretched, he'd vanished along with this entire world. Even the crack in the window was gone- revealing within a simple bakery, dark and closed.
It'd been obvious to her what had happened; whatever glass or mirrored pane he had been able to see her in, touching it had ended their moment just as she had their prior one. Despite the briefness of their encounter however, and the suddenness of its end, Blaze could recall her excitement in the wake of their meeting, for now she was certain that the psychic was no fanciful illusion. That giddiness had only been curtailed by the sound of a detonation a few streets away; reminding the guardian of her true duty.
After that, their brief collisions became more frequent for a time.
Once she had been patrolling by the shoreline, eying the distance after hearing rumours of a gathering robotic pirate force due south of Southern Island. She'd wandered out and along a rocky outcropping, hoping to gain a better view, only to find a large rock pool had filled a cubby near halfway along the stretch. At first she'd only thrown a wayward glance down at the water, catching sight of something moving and presuming it was fish trapped in the waters.
On the way back however, after assessing that no foe was near, something more had caught her eye. When she'd looked down this time, a complete spectrum of coloured fish were swimming within the pool; from blue to yellow to pink, orange and green. The cat had hesitated at the water's edge, noticing anemones flailing and chunks of coral near the surface. It was practically a natural aquarium, an almost impossibly beautiful collection of fish in perfect blue water.
There was something else in the deep though, a white form she could only half observe in the imperfect reflection conjured by the lightly waving water. She'd first noticed a series of illusory cracks scattered across the surface before finally recognising the hedgehog's face wavering like a shadow just beyond that point. He wasn't looking at the fish, he was looking straight up at her. At first she'd felt flustered for not noticing him and wondered if he'd been there all along. Ultimately however, she couldn't bring herself to just walk away.
She had sat by the water's edge with him for what must have been hours, her view of him only interrupted by the passing of fish through and around his face. No words exchanged, they didn't even try to mouth back and forth for the view was surely too poor. No, it was at this point, simply sitting with the psychic, that she'd come to consider how lonely he must be. In all she'd seen his world had plainly been in ruins, he was clearly alone out there. wherever he was. It was only then that Blaze had pondered if she was the only other person he ever saw. There was something about the way he'd smiled at her; initially it'd left her feeling even more flustered for missing him, but eventually the cat had caught herself almost mirroring him.
That encounter had come to an end not by either of their volition, Marine had bounded up to the feline and, naturally, jumped straight into the pool without hesitation. By the time the waters had settled again, the cracks and the hedgehog alike were gone. Attempting to explain to young racoon what she had seen had been met with nothing but teasing laughs about crushing her so-called mermaid boyfriend.
The last time she'd managed to glance him through a reflective pane had clawed away at her attention more often than she'd willingly admit.
His psychic glow had shone from the new mirror in her bedroom, awakening her in the dead of night. Blaze had roused to find him stood with his back to her, a gem in hand that looked not unlike a green Sol Emerald. She risen in her pyjamas and wandered closer to get a better view, conjuring a fiery flash in her right hand to draw his attention. He'd turned to look at her from over his shoulder, the smile on his face had grown even wider. With no more than a wave she'd watched as he raised the gem above his head. The whole reflection seemed to waver as light expanded from the stone. Then, in a bright flash of white, he and his world were gone.
Blaze hadn't seen him in almost four years. That wasn't for a lack of trying; the feline had on occasion held a Sol Emerald up to a mirror in the hopes of catching a glimpse of him and rather frequently caught herself doubling back to check all manner of reflective surfaces. Every time she had felt foolish for the attempt, but the hedgehog had never fully left her memories. Her imagination had at times conjured the very sight the guardian of the Sol Emeralds saw before her now.
The hour was early, she'd just drawn open her curtains to look out upon the royal garden. A bright blue sky hung above, dotted with only the occasional cloud. The view through the glass doors of her balcony window was however obscured by something unfamiliar.
Before her hovered a white hedgehog, cowled in cyan light. His quills were wild and tall, shoulders broad, and nose long. Blaze's recognition had been immediate, but there was still one thing to test.
The emeralds weren't in sight, let alone arm's reach. She set a hand on the balcony window and his visage did not fade. This was no mere reflection. He had managed to reach her.
She opened the door as the hedgehog came in to land. He was taller than she'd expected, though her view of him had surely always been from the perspective of a window or some other mirroring surface. In the flesh, he looked even rougher than the feline had anticipated; his thick fur was burned short in places, bandages still wrapped his body, and wounds were plain across his frame. Despite that painful reality, Blaze couldn't have imagined him to look more wonderful. His eyes were even brighter than she remembered, sparkling with excitement.
"Hello," He'd immediately leaned in much too close, gesturing as he spoke, "I don't think we've ever managed to really talk properly? I'm Silver."
"I'm Blaze," She managed to catch his hand mid-gesticulation, surely failing to smother her excitement behind a flat facade, "It's nice to finally meet you, Silver."