The Arrow of Fire That Rules My Heart

Long after the arrow of flames was gone from me, I still felt it there. I could feel its warm flame, flaring up the more my heart thudded. In truth, it didn't hurt me, past its horrible entry. It only…weakened me, as the stories went on.

They say a lady who was to be sentenced to death told her husband the stories in the book for one thousand and one nights to delay her fate. She would always leave the story hanging, so the king would want to hear the rest of the story, and so couldn't kill her.

She was a clever woman. I'd like to meet her…if she was still alive, that is. She must've thought as fast as I can run!

Anyway…the fire.

All the time, I still feel its flame. Perhaps I am truly ruled by fire—by the passion and recklessness of the element. While it was with me, that fire was my life force. In the end, I'm not sure if "life force" meant my energy, or something deeper within me, but either way, it was hard to feel it at times. Other times, I could feel it, piercing me—teasing me.

When it was first shot—not at me, but at Shahra—ummm—well, when it was shot, I thought to protect Shahra, of course. When the arrow of flame entered my body, it felt like flames were spreading from its tip to the inside of my body, scorching me from the inside out. I felt that if I coughed, smoke would come out!

I think, since I was already suffering from a cold, my life force had already taken a blow. If I could define life force, I guess I'd say that its what keeps you going when you live. It's that energy, kinda like a car battery. My life force was suffering from having a cold, first off. Having the sniffles is not cool—being put to sleep by cold medicine isn't cool, either. But I guess that's only part of it.

After Erazor (tee hee—quite a funny name, actually) pointed out that only half of the arrow of flame was left, I was dealt quite the dizzying reel. And I suddenly felt as if…as if half my life was gone! As if it had been drained out of me—as if I was fifty! In truth, I felt like I was, well…old! But I also felt very weak. The exact feeling, I suppose, is like having years of your life sucked out of you at lightning speed. My chest was heaving at that point; I was tired. It was like being electrocuted—only a hundred times worse.

At that point, I was enraged—furious at having my life stolen from me, no idea how to or if I would ever get it back—and I wanted with all my heart to attack him. But that part soon passed, and so did feeling weak…for a time.

When I collected the white ring, I felt it was nearing the end of my journey—of my life. It almost felt like using it would kill me. So when that king of bones—Solomon—looked me in the eye and told me there was a grim fate ahead of me, it's as if I saw it coming. Like it was déjà-vu, or something.

When I finally used the White Ring, the door between the worlds, it really did feel like it took a great amount of my energy to do it. I felt like more years had been dragged out of my life, my very breath stolen from me in an instant. Winded, I fell to my knees, holding my chest as a great chunk of my soul left my body. I felt very small and vulnerable, emotions I, Sonic the Hedgehog, never experienced before!

Of course, I got up, never leaving any traces of my weakness. But I could feel myself stagger a bit yet, my vision blurring. I really did feel low—at this point, I felt like dinner would help. I wasn't hungry, really. I just felt that a dosage of calories would provide a boost. As it was, I had to fight without that boost, and I could feel through the ring that Shahra worried for my health.

But, suddenly, I was okay. It seemed that, after all that fuss over the arrow, it disappeared and I got my strength back. It was so instantaneous that I had no chance to feel the change! It's like I went from feeling a bit low to being at the top of my game…in thirty seconds! When I thought on it later, I was mystified.

But that arrow…that flame. I believe it is still embedded in my heart. I'll feel it every now and again, mostly when I'm hit in the chest, which is why I think that hurts the worst for me. A blow to the chest pinches my heart, as if the arrow were embedding itself deeper into me.

That said, the arrow drives me, as it did during that adventure. The fire's passion ignites in me, giving me strength when I have none, and burning my body gold when I become Super Sonic. I don't think I'll ever forget—I don't think I can forget—the arrow of flame that rules my heart.

Something that personal, you can't ever forget.

Sonic the Hedgehog.