Well, I ultimately decided to start the actual story without feedback on the preview.

This is going to be a remastered version of the original story I posted on DeviantArt almost 2 years ago, under the same title. If you've read the original story, feel free to offer me suggestions on how to improve it via PM or my Tumblr page.

Be sure to leave a review for this chapter. I will continue this story if I have an audience for it.

Chapter 1: The Heroes Cross Paths

It was a beautiful day for Sonic the Hedgehog. He was running around Mobius with his best friend Tails flying behind him. Sonic enjoyed this leisure time, but he knew deep inside that his nemesis Dr. Eggman was hatching some sort of scheme, waiting to strike. What he didn't count on, however, was that it would strike today, and in a very unexpected way.

Without warning, there was a sudden flash of light that almost blinded the two.

"Sonic!" Tails shouted. "What is that?!"

But before Sonic could answer, the light engulfed the two of them. Sonic couldn't see anything. He tried to call out to Tails, but he didn't receive a response. Eventually the light vanished, and Sonic found himself in midair. He screamed as he fell from the sky. Then he landed on the ground with a "thud".

Sonic got up and shook his head. He opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. He was in the middle of a grassy field, which he didn't recognize at all. He wondered where he was and how he got there. He got up on his feet. "Tails?" he called out. "Where are you?"

No response. Tails was nowhere to be seen.

Then, something in the distance caught Sonic's attention: a figure dressed in green wielding a sword. He was fighting two pig-faced monsters that were attacking him. A person! Sonic thought. Maybe he can help me.

He watched the swordsman defeat the two monsters with a single slash, spinning himself and his blade in a circle. Sonic was impressed by this feat. He rushed over to him. "Excuse me, sir!" Sonic shouted as he ran towards him. "Could you tell me-"

The swordsman turned his head. Before Sonic could finish his sentence, the stranger swiftly drew his sword at him. Sonic stopped dead in his tracks, with the blade just inches away from his body. Up close, it was now clear that the swordsman wore a green tunic along with a strange-looking long hat. The stranger glared at the little blue hedgehog. "I haven't seen your kind before," he said. "Are you one of Ganondorf's minions?"

Sonic raised and eyebrow. "Ganondorf?" he questioned. 'Ganondorf' seemed like a really odd name. "Who's Ganondorf?"

"Come now!" the swordsman urged. "Everyone knows who Ganondorf is! How can you not?"

Then, a little blue fairy appeared out of the swordsman's hat. "Wait, Link!" the fairy piped. It flew over to Sonic, examining him. "I haven't seen this kind of creature before; but I don't think he's an enemy, Link."

The swordsman looked at the little fairy, then back at Sonic. "You really don't know who Ganondorf is?" he questioned the hedgehog.

"No," Sonic answered, "and I have no idea of what you're talking about!"

"I think he's telling the truth," said the little fairy.

Link lowered his sword. "my sincerest apologies," he said as he sheathed the blade into the scabbard on his back. "I thought you were one of them. I have to say, you're a strange looking creature."

"Hey, it's cool. I understand," Sonic said. He secretly didn't like being called a 'creature'. "My name's Sonic, by the way. Sonic the Hedgehog."

"I am Link, the Hero of Hyrule," Link greeted.

"Hyrule?" puzzled Sonic. "Is that what this place is? I never knew that such a place existed in Mobius."

Link raised an eyebrow. "Mobius?" he asked. "I've never heard of such a place. Is that where you're from?"

At this point Sonic realized that he wasn't anywhere near home. He was in a completely different world-possibly a different universe-that was unknown to him. There had to be a way to get back. But there was something-or rather, someone-else that he had to find first.

"Listen," Sonic said to Link. "I have no idea of where I am or how I even got here, but I need to find my friend and a way back. Do you think you could help me?"

"Maybe," Link's little fairy answered. "What does your friend look like?"

"Well," Sonic answered, "he's an orange, two-tailed fox, and he's just a bit shorter than I am."

Link pondered about that description. He never heard of anything like it, but it certainly seemed like it would be a strange creature. "Can't say I've seen such a thing," he said. "Tell you what: How about you come with me? I'm on my way to the Forest Temple. Maybe we can find your friend on the way."

Sonic beamed. "Thank you so much, sir!" He ran up next to Link and looked around. "Which way are we going?"

Link pointed to his right. "That way," he answered. "To the Lost Woods."

"Great!" Sonic said excitedly. "Race you there!" Then he rushed off in the direction Link pointed at great speed.

Link was at a loss for words. Never in his life had he ever seen such incredible speed from a small creature. "Hey, wait!" Link called out as he tried to chase after him. The little fairy zipped back into his hat. "You don't even know where it is!"

When Link finally reached the entrance to the Lost Woods, Sonic was already there, waiting for him. "You kept me waiting!" Sonic complained. "I already found the woods and I don't even know this place!"

"You think you could slow down a little?" Link said while catching his breath.

"I think YOU need to learn to speed up!" sassed Sonic.

"Never mind," Link said. "We're at the Lost Woods, and that's all that matters right now. So let's go."

Sonic followed Link into the Lost Woods. I don't like this guy's attitude, Link thought to himself. Maybe I shouldn't have invited him along.

The two travelers came to a place where the path split. There were two different pathways to take. Link suggested that they take the left path, but Sonic wanted to go down the right path.

"Look," Link said, "I know these woods and you don't. We're going left!"

"But right is always right!" Sonic argued. "I say we go right!"

"Left!"

"Right!"

"LEFT!"

"RIGHT!"

"Fine!" Link agreed sarcastically. "We'll go right!"

"Right's always right, right?" Sonic chuckled.

They went down the path to the right. Much to Sonic's dismay, they were right back at the entrance! It seemed impossible, yet it happened. Link peered down at Sonic with a smirk on his face. "You were saying...?"

"Fine," Sonic groaned. "I guess I'll just follow your lead."

"Much better," Link said. They went back into the woods and started again, with Sonic grumbling behind Link.

As they navigated the woods, Sonic noticed that the terrain seemed to change as they went deeper into the woods. Pine trees became palm trees. The grass turned greener and more checker-patterned. Small hills were forming. Somehow, for Sonic, this seemed very familiar. When they exited the woods, it suddenly came back to him: it was the Green Hill Zone! Sonic was in awe, but Link was confused.

"This is strange," he pondered. "I don't remember this being here."

Sonic didn't even bother with questions. He grabbed Link's hand. "C'mon!" he urged. "Let's go through this place!"

All the jumping and running through loop-de-loops made Link dizzy, but Sonic breezed through it all with ease. He had memorized the whole place from top to bottom. But what he didn't expect was for the terrain to change again. When they got to the end of the zone, they were back in the Lost Woods terrain. In front of them stood an old mansion. It was the entrance to the Forest Temple.

Strange, Sonic thought. How did that happen? First I end up in Hyrule, then I find a landmark from my world, and now I'm back in Hyrule terrain. What happened?

"C'mon, Sonic," Link said. "The Forest Temple awaits us."

Sonic followed Link into the old mansion. Oh well, he thought to himself. Maybe I'll find out later.

A/N: In case you are wondering, here's what's changed between this version and the original:

1. An extra scene was added to the beginning. Sonic and Tails are together in their own world until a flash of light appears, transporting them to Hyrule.

2. Navi the fairy is introduced here (though not by name), while she was originally introduced in Chapter 2.

3. Sonic has another reason for joining with Link here, which is to find his friend Tails.

4. Several lines of dialogue were altered, along with some new ones to emphasize the fact that they have no idea about each other's world.

5. There was originally a prologue chapter that came before this one, but I thought that it gave too much of the story away. But don't worry; the story for how this all started will be revealed later on in this version.

This will be the only time I will point out what has changed between this and the old version. I may point out everything that has changed in a bonus chapter at the end of this story.