A fic sketch by K.M. Hollar
Copyright information: All Sonic characters copyrighted by Sega. Zephyer and Talon copyrighted
by the author. This story copyrighted 2007.
Time is an unseen thief
It steals my thoughts and memories from me
I'm left behind with this apathy so tempting
where minutes don't seem so kind
I find that...
Time comes, and I don't matter
Time numbs, and dreams lay shattered
I stand, and time just passes me by
While the clock on the wall is racing
I fight for shreds of feeling
Inside, time keeps stealing mine
-Thief, Echoing Green
"Sir, do you believe in ghosts?" Talon asked.
If anyone else had asked him that question, Knuckles would have laughed in their face. But
because it was Talon, asking softly and seriously, his eyes accented by his black forelock and
white markings, that Knuckles considered the question soberly.
"No, I don't," said the echidna. "I've seen a lot of strange things, including supernatural things, but
I don't think dead people come back around to haunt live ones."
Talon was silent for a moment, gazing off into the distance. "So what's that?"
Knuckles and Talon were in one of the marshiest places in Mushroom Hill, and it was well after
dark. At night, the gigantic mushrooms took on an otherworldly look, and some of them glowed
with a creepy green or blue light. It was easy to believe in ghosts in the Mushroom Hills at night.
Knuckles looked where Talon was pointing, and saw a misty white shape floating along above
one of the ponds nearby. "Probably just swamp gas and phosphor," he started to say, but the
words died on his lips. At the same time, Talon shrank close to Knuckles and grabbed his hand in
terror.
As the thing drifted closer, its misty shape resolved into what was unmistakably a hedgehog. But
it was a white hedgehog with a forelock that stood straight up, like a fan of feathers on his
forehead. He moved without touching the ground, arms drooping at his sides, eyes fixed on some
point in front of him. A halo of greenish light surrounded him and reflected in the water.
Knuckles and Talon stood frozen. Knuckles could not breathe. Talon gripped his arm harder and
harder the closer the ghost drifted. "Should we run? Should we run?" Talon whispered frantically.
Knuckles rediscovered his lungs. "No," he whispered. But why not? he wondered. His instincts
screamed at him that this was a ghost, and to put as much distance between it and himself as
possible. But deep down, under his panic, a small logical voice said, "But if it's really a ghost, why
is it a hedgehog and not an echidna?" There had never been hedgehog tribes on the Floating
Island.
So, as the hedgehog drifted by, about twenty feet away, Knuckles yelled, "HEY!"
The ghost whirled and flung up a hand.
The same greenish-blue light surrounded Knuckles and froze him in place, all of his muscles
paralyzed. Talon fell backwards with a cry, and the blue light grabbed him, too.
The white hedgehog floated toward them, still with his hand raised. "Who are you?" he asked. His
voice sounded remarkably flesh and blood, not ghostly and echoing, the way Knuckles had
expected it to.
Knuckles found that he could still speak, even though the rest of his body was immobile. "I'm
Knuckles, guardian of this island," he snapped. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
Such a question should have been asked with the intruder helpless before Knuckles, not the other
way around. Knuckles hoped that this being would not notice such a small detail.
The hedgehog floated to their muddy lump of land and stepped into it, the glow around him
fading away. He became merely a mortal hedgehog with white spines, and now Knuckles could
see that the hedgehog wore strange bracelets and gloves that were looped and entwined with
some sort of greenish-blue thread. The hand raised toward them was decorated heavily with it,
and it all glowed.
"I'm Silver," said the hedgehog. "I'm here because ..." He frowned. "Because ..." He paused and
looked around the swamp. "I don't remember." He returned his gaze to Knuckles and Talon. "If I
let you go, you won't hurt me, will you?"
"Depends on if you deserve it," said Knuckles. But his fear was draining away. From Silver's
voice and the way he spoke, he guessed that he was not very old. Perhaps only the same age as
Talon.
Silver shrugged. "Worse has been said." He lowered his hand, and the paralyzing glow faded from
Knuckles and Talon. Talon stumbled to his knees, then stood up, keeping almost behind
Knuckles, but not quite. Knuckles motioned to him. "This is my son Talon. We're not used to
seeing strangers here, especially ones with force field gloves."
Silver smiled and held up both hands, flexing his fingers. When he smiled, his youth suddenly
broke through. He could not have been older than fourteen. "Oh, these things don't do anything.
They just have crystal conductors to boost my psychic output. I'm telekinetic. That's how I was
flying along like that--I didn't want to wade through the swamp and stuff."
"So what are you doing here?" Knuckles asked again.
Silver's smile faded. "I knew when I got here. But I can't remember now. I'm looking for
someone."
Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "Looking for someone?"
Silver opened his hands and gazed down at them, as if he expected them to hold some clue. "I'm
from another time," he murmured. "Something happened. But I don't remember what. I need to
find someone."
Knuckles glanced at Talon. The anteater looked wary and nervous, but not nearly as frightened as
a moment ago. Talon said softly, "So, what time are you from?"
Silver looked at Talon blankly. "I don't know. It's like waking up from a dream. The longer I'm
here, the less I remember."
Great. A white hedgehog with amnesia. Knuckles groaned inwardly and wondered what Zephyer
would think if he brought home a white-spined telekinetic hedgehog. The last hedgehog with
white spines had been more trouble than he was worth.
"Are you in any sort of danger?" Knuckles asked. "Like, if I took you home, would you put me in
danger?"
Silver shook his head. "No, not anymore." He paused. "I know that much ... a huge disaster has
been averted. But I don't know anything else."
Knuckles sighed. "Come on, then."
Zephyer was sitting in the swing on the front porch when Knuckles, Talon and a ghostly stranger
trooped in across the lawn. She watched them with a sigh of resignation. Where did Knuckles find
these people? One would think that living on an island two thousand feet in the air would cut
down on surprise visits.
As they climbed the steps and entered the glow of the porch lights, Zephyer was struck by the
white hedgehog's face. He was quite young, but something had aged him recently. There were
dark circles around his eyes and severe lines on either side of his mouth that spoke of terror
mastered only through force of will.
"This is Zephyer, my wife," said Knuckles. "Zephyer, this is Silver."
Silver ducked his head in almost a bow and shook her hand. "A pleasure, Zephyer. You live on a
beautiful island."
"Thank you," said Zephyer, flattered. At least this one was polite. She rose heavily from the
swing. "Come in. Have you eaten dinner?"
Silver looked thoughtful. "...no, I haven't."
"We already ate, but there's plenty of leftovers," she said.
Dinner had been several different types of fruit mixed into a salad. Silver poked it around his plate
for a few minutes before he had the nerve to taste it, but after that he ate as if famished. Knuckles
and Talon had smaller portions to keep him company, mostly picking out their favorite bits from
the bowl. Zephyer sat at the table with them, leaned back in her chair with her hands folded on her
large belly. Silver was too polite to comment, or perhaps too busy eating, so Zephyer said, "I'm
due in a few weeks. Our other friends are in and out of here all the time to check on me. Do you
know Sonic?"
Silver raised his head and stopped chewing, eyes glazing. "Sonic," he murmured. "Yes, I know
Sonic. Blue hedgehog?"
Knuckles nodded. "He's here so much, you'd think he lived here. Hang around long enough and
you'll see him. How do you know him?"
Silver stared at the tabletop. "It's all jumbled. I know we've met, but I'm not sure if it's in this time
or not. I would be ashamed to meet him now." He paused. "Is there a hedgehog named Shadow in
this time?"
"Yeah," said Knuckles. "Black with red stripes?"
"Yes," said Silver. "And ... and another, with gray stripes. Mephiles. Do you know Mephiles?"
"Doesn't ring a bell," said Knuckles, and Talon and Zephyer shook their heads.
Silver resumed eating, and there was a moment of silence. Talon ventured, "Why would you be
ashamed to meet Sonic?"
Silver did not answer for a moment, but his cheeks flushed. He chewed and swallowed
deliberately, then said, "I was ... I was sent to kill him."
Knuckles, Talon and Zephyer straightened.
Silver sat up straighter, correctly reading their cold expressions. "But I didn't! I couldn't. Can't.
Mephiles lied."
"This Mephiles person told you to kill Sonic?" said Knuckles. "Why?"
Silver looked vague. "I wish I could remember."
After that Knuckles watched Silver very closely for signs of being a killer. Having spent lots of
time around Metal Sonic and Shadow, he figured he could recognize it--a particular sort of
hardness. But Silver baffled him. As the conversation turned to other topics (Silver asked what
made the island float), all Knuckles sensed in him was a childlike simplicity. There was something
naive and innocent about Silver. This kid had been sent to kill Sonic? They had asked the wrong
hedgehog. It sounded like Mephiles, whoever he was, was the real trouble.
After Silver was finished eating, Talon said, "Want to come play some games? The chao got some
new ones, and that's why you haven't seen them."
As they rose from the table, Silver asked, "What's a chao?"
As Talon and Silver disappeared into the other end of the house, Knuckles looked at Zephyer.
"What do you think of him?"
She drummed her fingers on the table and gazed thoughtfully at the doorway where Silver had
gone. "He's too nice to kill anybody. But did you notice his face? He's been through something
bad lately. I think he's injured somehow."
"Maybe that's why he has trouble remembering things," said Knuckles. "It's like selective amnesia
... there's something he's forgotten and he knows things outside of that."
"Trauma," said Zephyer. "If he's really from another time, I wonder why he's here, now. Maybe
something to do with the time-warp itself wiped his memory."
"I wonder if the Time Rippers know about this," said Knuckles. "Anybody from other times
showing up in ours is bad, because it affects the time stream. I wonder if Silver knows that?"
"I wonder who he's looking for," murmured Zephyer.
In the rear bedroom, Talon introduced Silver to Chimera and Zinc. Chimera was a dark brown
chao with four spiky horns growing from the top of his head, and looked quite dragonish. Zinc,
on the other hand, was a smooth, glossy silver, with two horns growing from the middle of his
forehead. The pair of them were sitting on a large square mat on the floor which was painted with
runes and lines. Hovering above it at varying heights were small crystals, arranged into phalanxes
and other formations.
"Hi Silver," said Zinc. "You're white, not silver."
"I know," said the hedgehog. "My mother said that I had a heart of sterling silver, so that's what
she named me. What are you doing?"
"WAR!" said Chimera, with relish. "See, the red pieces are my armies, and I've already captured
two of Zinc's settlements. I have better units than he does."
Silver gazed uncomprehendingly at the floating crystals and the game board.
Chimera waved a paw over a set of symbols, and a group of his red crystals moved forward and
fired small bursts of red energy at Zinc's blue crystals. The blue crystals fought back and managed
to knock three of Chimera's pieces out of the air (to the cheers of the onlookers), but in the end,
Chimera's stronger units destroyed Zinc's and moved into the circle they had been hovering over.
"It's an ancient echidna game that Knuckles found somewhere," said Talon. "Want to play?"
Something about the game distressed Silver. He looked in horror at the fallen pieces, and shook
his head, backing away. "No thanks. I can't ... destroy things like that."
"It's not real," said Talon, frowning. "You can't really hurt the crystals."
"I don't want to play," said Silver.
"Let's go to my room, then," said Talon.
Talon's room was down the hall. A model ship hung from the ceiling over the bed, and shelves
along the walls were covered in rocks with engravings, broken crystal fragments, seashells and
other things. Talon picked up a lump of green crystal and held it out for Silver to look at. "This
glows when it's going to rain."
Silver examined it carefully, then stepped up to look at the other objects. "You have a neat room,"
he remarked. "Are you adopted or something?"
"Yeah," said Talon, looking at the carpet.
Silver nodded. "I wondered how two echidnas could have an anteater. I only ever knew my mom.
My dad got killed by Iblis when I was three."
Talon looked up. "Who's Iblis?"
"A monster," said Silver carelessly, opening his hand and moving the crystal back to the shelf with
his mind. "Or, he was. Or is. No, he's ..." He flinched and rubbed his forehead. "I can hardly
remember Iblis anymore, either. What is wrong with me?"
"Are you from the future?" asked Talon.
"I'm from the present," said Silver. "This time is the past."
"So you're from the future," said Talon, nodding. "How far?"
"Two hundred years," said Silver, sitting on the bed and running his hand across the quilt. "Iblis
wrecked everything. This time is so beautiful. It's why I came back. And so I could find ...
someone." A frown creased his forehead. "Maybe I came back too far. Do you know if Solenna
has had their festival yet?"
"I don't even know where that is," said Talon. "We could ask Knuckles, though."
A moment later, Talon and Silver were in the living room, and Knuckles was looking thoughtful.
"Solenna? That'd be in East Mobius. I don't know anything about a festival, though."
Silver sighed, and even the feathery fur on his forehead drooped. "Ah well. I'll have to find out
tomorrow." He yawned.
Knuckles motioned to the shredded couch. "Want to sleep there? I can get you some blankets."
"Sure," said Silver. "Thanks. It was a long flight up here, and my mind's tired."
"Why'd you come here, anyway?" asked Knuckles.
Silver was silent a moment, gazing out a dark window nearby. "I thought I'd find them here."
Knuckles glanced at Talon, shrugged, and went to dig some blankets out of the hall closet.
Talon looked at Silver and said softly, "I came here because it's safe. Maybe whoever you're
looking for is here, hidden."
Silver nodded, dejected. "I just wish I could remember."
Flame.
Silver stood on the edge of the abyss, looking into the heart of the fire. The heat beat against his
body in waves, and he had to shield his eyes to keep them from being flash-dried. Down there, in
the lava and fire, was Iblis, the Flames of Disaster. "I've come to stop you," Silver whispered.
Beside him stood a violet cat, her robe blown away from her slender body by the wind the fire
created. "Silver," she said, "can you do this?"
"I have to do it!" Silver exclaimed. Gripping a glowing gem in either hand, he stepped to the edge
of the abyss and yelled, "Iblis! Come forth!"
The lava bulged upwards and slowly, lazily, rose into the head and arms of a demon--a demon
made of molten rock. It fixed its white-hot eyes on the puny white hedgehog who had called it,
and its jaws opened in a belligerent grin.
Silver closed his eyes and siphoned his mental power through the chaos emeralds. They flashed to
life at once. "Iblis, it's time to seal you away!" he yelled.
The demon raised a hand and slashed at Silver. As the hand touched the hedgehog, however, it
turned ghostly and transparent, passing harmlessly through the hedgehog's chest. But Silver
flinched. His eyes opened. "Come on!" he yelled.
Again Iblis swiped at Silver, and again Silver flinched as if the blow had landed. It felt as if his
insides were being burned to ash. He coughed and smoke came out. "Why isn't it working?" he
exclaimed, losing his focus. The chaos emeralds began to fade, as well as the power that kept Iblis
from actually landing a blow.
The violet cat pushed Silver aside and grabbed the emeralds out of his hands. "Here, let me," she
said. "I'm already on fire inside." She turned to face Iblis, the Chaos Emeralds igniting in her
hands. Iblis reached for her ...
Zephyer had to get up several times a night to answer nature's call, due to being pregnant. On her
way back from one of these trips, in the small hours of the morning, she thought she heard a
sound in the living room. Cautiously she tiptoed down the hall and peered in.
Silver was asleep on the couch. He had kicked off his blanket, and as she watched, he rolled one
way, then the other, face screwed up as if he was experiencing terrific pain. Then he threw his
arms up in front of his face and whimpered, "Don't take her, no, take me, take me ..."
It was so pathetic that Zephyer felt a lump in her throat. She moved forward to wake him up, but
Silver gave a huge twitch and fell off the couch. "Ouch," he said in a loud, everyday voice. When
he did not immediately get up, Zephyer circled the couch. "Are you all right?"
Silver lay on the floor on his side, tears streaming silently down his face. When he saw Zephyer,
he hurriedly wiped them away and sat up. "I'm fine," he said. "Just a nightmare."
Zephyer sat on the couch and looked down at him. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Silver gazed up at her, and his eyes were the color of amber. Then, in a very childlike way, he
leaned against her knee and sighed tearfully. "I rescue her every night," he whispered. "It should
have taken me, not her. I hope she can forgive me, wherever she is ..."