Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I’ve got you now, Sonic!” Eggman crooned.

Sonic, who’d found himself solidly trapped, hated to admit his archnemesis could be right about that.

His fault for being sloppy. Eggman had been setting up bases left and right and robots had flooded over the continents; often a clear indication the good Doctor was plotting something, and therefore ample reason to pay him a ‘visit’. Thus, Sonic had blasted off and broken into the first base he’d encountered, in a snowy mountain region absolutely stocked with obnoxious searchlights. Eggman either sucked at being subtle or wasn’t trying in the first place, Sonic had smirked to himself amusedly before going right on the attack.

But where tearing through Eggman’s army left and right and descending into the belly of the base had been easy, almost too easy, his final Spindash had made Sonic rush into an odd cylindrical room made solely of metal.

And the exit had fallen shut behind him with an ominous thud.

Sonic was never one to let himself be locked up into rooms of which the exits fell shut with ominous thuds, for that was always a bad sign. He’d whirled around on his heels and tried blasting back the exact same way… but the half-second he’d needed for that had been enough to trap him completely. And to Eggman’s credit, despite Sonic’s various kicks and full-body slams, not even the slightest dents had been made in the walls since.

Also the huge broadcasting screen spanning a significant part of the circumference of the room had been as crisp and clean as one could expect from Eggman technology when it had sprung to life.

It had made it all the easier to see how Eggman’s smirk oozed with danger.

Still, Sonic rolled his eyes by reflex at the cliché words getting flung his way. Nothing he hadn’t heard before. And yet, at the same time… Exits falling shut ominously was one thing, but Eggman appearing on broadcasting screens another. It made the sense of unease that had been gnawing at Sonic’s quills from the moment he got trapped grow only stronger. Why wasn’t the man in this room too? Where was he then, if not here? The scene of the area behind Eggman told Sonic little: endless green screens with dots and colours coated the walls, while beside him Sonic discerned something that looked like a big red lever. Weird.

But like heck Sonic would show any worries or questions, and thus the speedster put a similar dangerous smile on his face and scoldingly wagged a finger. “Not even here to greet me in person, Eggman? How rude of you.”

His archnemesis cackled in turn. “In what world would I put myself in a room with you, ready to be attacked?”

“Hmm. Good point,” Sonic nodded with mock understanding. The fact that Eggman often hung out in his Egg Mobile in the midst of the action was a thought firm in his mind, but also the speedster knew the madman would long have gotten grabbed by the throat should he also have been here in this strange cylindrical chamber. But that just meant Sonic could focus all his attention on getting out, and thus he launched himself into a Spindash once more.

“Trying to escape? Don’t even think of it,” got grinned at him from the screen as Sonic blasted off, this attack aimed right at Eggman’s pixeled face. “With my calculations and genius, even you cannot break through these reinforced walls, dear Sonic!”

Thunking back to the ground with a grunt and the wall remaining rather unmoving and undented did add some oomph to those statements, Sonic had to concede. A leer sent to the spot he’d been trying to hammer through showed it as unharmed as all the others. Sonic himself was slightly less lucky: sturdy as he was when it came to running into robots and objects at high speeds, he had to be careful not to slam headfirst into walls too many times. A slight ache had already begun forming on his scalp.

But Sonic wouldn’t be Sonic if he didn’t face such a situation with a grin on his face and sass galore.

“Aw, rats,” the speedster pouted exaggeratedly, pushing himself to his feet with silly tumbles and mocking spins. “You did get me, Doc. Whatever will I do now? How will I ever escape from your terrifying little empty room? Or are you going to wait until I die of boredom?”

With an exaggerated yawn pushed past Sonic’s lips for accentuation the speedster sent Eggman a mocking smirk, the man’s eyes narrowing behind his glasses. “You will wish you’d have died of boredom here,” got spat out. “Finally you will no longer be a pain in my side! I’ve created the ultimate plan to rid myself of you once and for all!”

“Same thing you always say. And guess what has never worked out?” Sonic winked back. No way he’d show Eggman that slamming head-first into probably dozens-of-inches-thick metallic walls had smarted the slightest bit; the speedster stood tall as ever, one hand casually placed on his side.

Eggman cackled anew.

With another roll of his eyes at the dramatic handswayings and gesturings of his archnemesis that accompanied his laughter Sonic tapped his foot. “I’m waiting for the big reveal, Eggman.”

…Which turned out to be an Emerald, pulled out of the doctor’s pocket with dramatic flair.

Sonic raised an eyebrow. “Wow. Spooky.”

But the speedster could not deny Eggman grinned far too eagerly for a plot that just involved materialising Emeralds and not much else. And the moment Sonic’s eyes laid on the glowing gemstone, those prickles of unease in his quills got a dozenfold worse.

“Let me ask you a question, Sonic,” Eggman began his spiel. “What is your knowledge on dimensions?”

“Length, width, and height,” Sonic hummed, curling himself into a Spindash again. Might as well keep trying to get out while he was getting evilly monologued at.

“Yes, very good. However, are you aware there is a fourth as well?”

Grumbling as he crashed into the wall again and nothing happened again either, Sonic landed back onto the ground. “That’s time,” he humoured Eggman further, rubbing his temples. “Which you are wastin’ now, Eggman. Can we get to the point?”

“When my plan has been enacted, you will find yourself wishing that you’d spent longer listening to me,” the madman smirked at him. “If you find yourself wishing anything at all, that is! A plunge into the timestream as I am planning now has never been done by anyone before. Some would consider themselves lucky to be able to stand at the frontier of such a grand, unexplored-!”

“Hmhm. The timestream?” Sonic interrupted.

A second dirty look got sent his way, Eggman’s arms crossing and one finger tapping the top of the Emerald. “Tsk, tsk. I know this is incomprehensible for a lesser mind like yours, but try to keep up. I shall even shorten it for your impatient self,” the doctor chastised. “No matter what I do, you are always there to stop me. Yet, you have proven impossible to kill. If I were to throw a nuclear bomb on top of my base right now, you would be guaranteed to survive. Somehow.”

While smugly regarding the peeved look forming on his nemesis’ face, Sonic nodded with fake sympathy. “I can tell you why, Eggman. It’s entirely out of spite.”

“Call it spite, call it luck, call it fate; I don’t care,” Eggman growled back. His crossed arms tightened, the Emerald slowly thrown up and down in one hand, and Sonic stopped himself from curling into a ball again. He’d best listen to the big reveal Eggman would no doubt drop now… “All it has shown me is that I need something more. Something bigger. Something inescapable. Something that is not within the realms and possibilities of this world, so I can finally free myself of your presence! Something that is not a different dimension of space, for I know you can travel between those!” the other continued, and with each tumble of the Emerald in his hand, his smirk grew. “Something that has escaped the minds of all… except for me, of course.”

“And that would be the timestream,” Sonic concluded slowly, pursing his lips as he pondered. “Hey, Eggman, that’s great and all, but I’ve time-travelled before.”

“Indeed you have, dear Sonic. But that was with a specific destination in mind, in a place noted for its temporal anomalies. Here, however, I shall be sending you into the timestream, but not to somewhere. Just as how you can get lost between dimensions of space if you are not travelling to a specific other one, you can get lost in time if there is no destination set. And why would I send you somewhere specific?”

Sonic’s mind whirred, his brows furrowing. “…Yeahhhhh. That all sounds pretty unbelievable to me,” he settled on with a scoff. He had no idea if Eggman was right or not, but like heck he’d show any doubt or willingness to listen to what the madman said.

Yet Eggman’s grin only grew larger and larger. “Say goodbye to all you know and love, Sonic!” got crooned out. “Your rotten friends will never be able to find you in the tesseract that is time!”

“I have friends, contrary to some other people here. And they happen to be the smartest people in the world,” Sonic shrugged back callously. “They’ll either find out what to do and rescue me before anything happens, or they won’t but keep fighting all the same. You know none of us will ever give up.”

Eggman merely laughed.

“Farewell forever, Sonic the Hedgehog!” the man cackled, before he threw the Emerald up one more time with a dramatic flair. And then he caught it, and he spun around, and slammed it inside a machine of sorts Sonic couldn’t really make out amidst all those endless green screens, and with another ominous thud things crashed down and jumped up and began moving while lights began flickering and whirs began echoing and…!

Sonic’s head snapped upward as waves of pink burst from the ceiling.

They coated the walls of the room, torrents of a crackling energy jumping from ceiling to floor and back again. Sonic’s quills spiked, the sense of unease surging into one of dread, of get out, now!, and one last time the speedster shot into a ball, rushing at the metal wall…

And crying out as he ricocheted right off against the forcefield the pink energy had formed, pain blasting through his body.

Sonic dazedly shook his head, scowling as Eggman's whoops and cheers of victory filled the air. “You’re done for, Sonic! Finally, I have created the end for you!”

“Never,” the speedster growled back. He would just have to be faster than time itself, than whatever Eggman was planning…! With a deep breath drawn Sonic concentrated, legs kicking into movement underneath him yet body remaining in place. With enough speed thrown at it, maybe he could disrupt whatever that pink energy was somehow-!

But before Sonic could blast off, Eggman leaned forward to grab the big red lever beside and pulled it back in one fell swoop.

And the world shifted.

Sonic was still running. Or was he? Because Eggman roared with laughter as the speedster yelped, and the floor underneath him disappeared, and he got pulled upwards, towards the ceiling, towards the pink, legs uselessly flailing underneath him, his body spinning in helpless tumbles as if he got sucked into a black hole-!

But he was Sonic, and nothing ever fazed him.

“I’ll see you again soon, Doc!” Sonic yelled out over the laughter and the crackles and the whirs and the chaos, shooting his trademark smirk down one final time. But then colours flooded his vision and the room disappeared and he tumbled into…!

Endlessness.

And immovability.

Greys and browns behind him, and greys and blacks and reds ahead. Or was it the other way around? Sonic tried to reach out to it, to anything. But everything slugged, and stilled, and even the grimace he tried to push on his face at the lead-heavy weight of his unmovable arm took what felt like forever to form. Or had it not formed at all? Infinite scenes stretched out ahead of him, and behind him, and around him too; the same, or different, and he could not tell.

Think, the speedster urged himself. He wasn’t stuck; he couldn’t be stuck. The timestream had to be traversable even when not on Little Planet.

But he just floated, thoughts coiling into an endless spill of nonsense and fear jolting in Sonic's chest as he caught them threatening to slip away. Around him, the scene of the room in the base shifted: it flickered between light and dark, but then dark overtook it fully. And it remained dark as Sonic floated past, or through. Endlessly, eternally, nothing different ahead, nothing changing, just a contorted view of that room and nothing else-

Except for a sparkle of cyan. And a tint of grey.

Sonic would have gasped, if his mouth could open. Help!, he wanted to cry out to it. Help me!

Desperately the speedster floundered to move, to reach out somehow, before it would be gone, before it would be lost…! I’m here! Get me out! he wished to yell, but his teeth remained clenched together and he would slip past the cyan and grey and it’d be gone, he’d be stuck here forever-!

But then cyan became more.

Became brighter.

Became everything.

And feeling flooded through Sonic, and he could move.

Sonic’s hand shot out, grabbing at the glow that had overtaken his whole vision. His other joined, a force tugging at him, stronger and stronger as the shifting of the world stilled into a single scene-!

“I got you! Hold on!” a voice cried, before Sonic’s whole body got jolted back into… being.

And Sonic, who had been in a Super Peel Out when Eggman sucked him into the timestream and who thus went from complete immovability to something quite a bit faster than Mach 1, flew.

Into a wall.

Headfirst.

With a cry the speedster smashed against the metal. And where he’d been aching already from his fruitless attempts at breaking out of Eggman’s room at normal Spindash speed, this time…!

A blast of pain reverberated through Sonic’s skull. Crackling and white-hot, it struck him right on his forehead before shooting through his brain, all his senses dulling except for the agony. Pain through his whole body followed next as Sonic ricocheted right off the wall and smacked onto the ground next, quills bending painfully as they bore the brunt of the fall. His heartbeat thudded in his ears, rasping breaths for air got sucked into his lungs, but it hurt, he hurt, and for a second he laid frozen… Each gasp drawn made his chest ache and itch, the hedgehog rasping out a cough and wincing at the pain going through him at the movement…!

His ears twitched feebly at the “What,” that got whispered out, a bit wayward. “You- Sonic?!”

The mention of his name made Sonic jolt. And that, alongside his twitching ears and his pained wheezes, meant he could move again…!

“Ouch,” was the first coherent thing the speedster managed to groan out.

And then he stifled a startled yelp at the noise that assaulted his ears.

“Sonic!” got cried anew, Sonic wincing in on himself at the echoes the yell of his name elicited. Blearily he shifted- before grimacing at footsteps thundering closer, the noise cutting out into merciful silence right beside his head. Trying to focus amidst the stars dancing in front of his vision Sonic swallowed, staring at the splotch of grey hovering over him. If he squinted, he could make out wide golden eyes… right above tan skin, and underneath that a sea of white…

All very familiar.

“Sonic,” Silver breathed anew, and Sonic dazedly realised that he’d never seen the other this spooked. “What are you- Are you okay?!”

“…Heya, Silver! Long time no see,” Sonic smiled back feebly. It had been a long time since he last met the psychic hedgehog in question, now that he thought about it. Which was pretty hard, actually; so hard he remembered only seconds later Silver had asked him a question he’d better answer, because he was getting stared at like he was a ghost. “Yeah… Yeah! I’m just great,” the speedster added, and even he knew it didn’t sound all that convincing.

Slowly the grey-furred hedgehog sunk onto one knee. “You don’t look like it. How did you even-” followed, almost surprisingly quietly… until Silver’s voice snapped right up into its usual loud self again. “Hey, don’t move! Let me help you.”

With his grimace only growing Sonic shifted anew, trying to sit upright instead of laying on the ground like a wet blanket. “No, no, that’s not needed,” he tried to wave Silver off in the meantime. He would have accentuated his protest with a callous flick of a hand, were it not he was a bit too busy trying to push himself upwards with those. But he had to get up; they were in an Eggman base and that always spelled out danger, even if the man didn’t seem to be around right now. Sonic’s throat and nose did both itch, but that seemed to be more because it was dustier than a desert in here. Which was also strange, but Sonic couldn’t find it in himself to go ponder about that. Right now, he had to get moving.

“Stop that,” Silver repeated, more forcefully. His hand shot forward and his fingers curled over Sonic’s shoulder as Sonic moved and pushed back. But Silver’s grip halted him… But the speedster drew a breath still and reared up in one fell swoop…

Before stars exploded in his vision as a stab of pain rushed through his head at the movement.

The last thing Sonic could notice was Silver gasping in alarm, and his face crashing into something downy and warm and soft and white, before everything turned black.

Chapter Text

A handful of hours earlier in two centuries later, Silver found himself forced to concede that today, by all accounts, was rather off.

It had all started with the wind this morning. Because where usually it just tussled Silver’s quills as the psychic woke up, a gentle breeze of cool caressing his sleep-warm cheeks, now it had knocked him right out of his hammock instead.

Silver hadn’t appreciated waking up through slamming face-first into the grass and dirt. Such he had made very clear to the heavens above, with a lot of yelling and items flying about. But his further morning activities of washing the muck off his general being in Mountain River Zone and taking a few bites of breakfast had then gone by completely uninterrupted again, all things considered, and the wind’s rude actions had been forgiven but not forgotten.

But they had kept disappearing to the back of Silver’s mind more and more the further the day trudged on. Because every time he’d found himself not completely preoccupied with some task, he’d caught himself standing… frozen. Disturbed. With something gnawing at the edge of his thoughts, that he simply could not place. It had started small, as just a speckle of unease that disappeared the moment the psychic took note of it. And yet the further the sun climbed then sunk into the horizon and the more clouds had begun gathering in the heavens, the stronger it had gotten…

“What’s going on today?” Silver had muttered, after finding himself interrupted by incomprehensible concerns for what felt like the hundredth time. The backs of his hands had simmered with unpleasantness too, Silver’s fingers rubbing away on them like mad to make it dissipate. And then he’d had enough of not knowing. The wind had tugged at him again before racing away, and Silver had set off in the direction it indicated. It had made the eerie sensation only stronger.

He should have known both would lead him to an Eggman base.

Warily Silver floated inside through the previously-still-closed door that now hung creaking in what was left of its hinges, eyes flicking about. The corpses of broken-down robots littered the hallways, crackling sparks jumping from torn wires making the psychic’s ears twitch. “Abandoned,” Silver concluded slowly. But still, he grasped some of the robots laying about with his powers to tug them along. He would not be caught off-guard here by any enemy that could be lying in wait.

And the feeling of unease grew only bigger and larger the deeper he descended.

But nothing Silver investigated made it go away. He pushed at robots, opened up paths full of junk, looked over every room and corner and crevice; his hands kept aching and his thoughts kept gnawing. Every failed attempt to calm his worries down led the psychic deeper into the base, his frown only intensifying at all the rubble and broken screens and busted lights flickering about. The further he went, the more broken and ruined everything became. Eventually only the cyan of his powers gave off enough of a glow for Silver to see what destruction had been wrought here.

Endless wreckages, one after the other. And in the furthest reaches of the darkness, a flickering red dot.

Silver froze.

A robot body hurled at it elicited a lot of creaking and slamming, Silver's ammo crumbling apart in full… and the red dot standing strong despite the violence. “…Oh. Just a lightbulb,” the psychic realised, padding a tad closer. A lightbulb specifically at the side of a console with tons of buttons and stuff… and beside it a giant door, that made Silver blink in awe as he studied it. He had to have gone through most of the base already, the hedgehog mused as he laid a hand on the metal, except for this part. And the unease tore up his insides still...

It was as if there was something beyond this door, that called out to him, almost…!

A little grin formed on Silver's face. ‘When in doubt, use psychokinesis’ was a motto that had never, ever failed him before.

“Hah!” the psychic cried out, hand casting out towards the console. A wave of cyan rushed from the mark on his palm and struck it head-on, with Silver’s smirk growing only broader as the flickering red dot went absolutely haywire before turning green. Electronics never liked psychokinesis much, the psychic had long figured out. Considering who Silver’s archnemesis was, that was a huge blessing; considering who that archnemesis’ ancestor who still poisoned the world long after the time he should have died was, even more. And as expected, the door whirred and heaved and creaked open…

The tiniest bit.

“Darn it,” Silver found himself forced to grumble next. Of course: this base had to be almost out of electricity, with only backup generators and stuff keeping it running. But the slit did give Silver room to peer inside, a psychic touch feeling about and finding nothing behind it, and some more prodding and cursing pushing the door open wide enough so a wiry hedgehog could slip through…

Into some strange, cylindrical area. That also had nothing else inside it.

Silver’s ears pressed themselves against his head indignantly.

“Is this your masterpiece, Eggman? Some dumb empty room?!” he yelled out to the ceiling, hands balling into fists and a whip of psychokinesis lashing at nothingness in the air. There was nothing inside: looking around agitatedly only revealed more metal walls and metal flooring and metal ceiling. Was this what his bad feeling wanted him to see? It was still there, gnawing at him! And there was something else too-

Something else.

With widening eyes Silver froze, his powers chiming up in alarm as they rushed through the room. The backs of his hands prickled; his ears swerved around for any sign of life, or just any object or thing or...!

 But the room remained empty as could be. And still, despite that, Silver swallowed as a realisation began to sink in.

There was something- no, someone here.

A conversation mixed with a teasing goodbye mixed with a cry for help, simultaneously.

And it reached out to him.

Silver perked up his ears as far as they could. But nothing got spoken; silence echoed around him still. But what he could hear was something beyond that, somehow…! A plea? A yell? It had to be a voice, or maybe a thought of one, but that meant there was a person…?

“I’ll save you,” Silver whispered.

…But how? Helplessly the hedgehog blinked, before furrowing his brow and raising a hand. Psychokinesis: it was the answer to everything, after all. Silver’s eyes scrunched shut, and with a breath and a gentle push his powers coated the whole room as they searched for where the cry came from. His eyes flicked about, his senses reached out. If he could just grab it, materialise it somehow…!

Not the middle of the room, but a bit off-set towards the wall. Had the someone been moving? It mattered not: the moment Silver’s powers brushed past it, the hedgehog jolted with a gasp. It was there, right there…

His powers focused themselves…!

The sensation of a hand grabbling at his psychokinesis made Silver wince, legs buckling at the force. But with a tightening fist the psychic wrapped his powers deeper, further, more tautly, more strongly. “I got you! Hold on!” he gasped out, before giving a tug-!

The fabric of the world rippled.

Tore.

And out came a blast of sound and speed that sent Silver flying immediately.

With a gasp the psychic got slammed back by the shockwave, body crashing into the wall before he could stop himself with his powers and a cry of pain ripped from his lips. But his noise was entirely unmatched by another’s cry in turn, far louder as a terrifying smack of metal being hit reverberated through the room-!

And across from Silver, a form ricocheted off the wall and crashed right onto the ground.

Silver threw a hand in front of his mouth as dust and dirt got flung up around him. Scrunching his eyes to protect them from the assault he stared at where the something laid… It moved, and drew in a wheezing breath, and then followed a far more pained cough…

It looked and sounded almost like…!

“What,” Silver whispered. “You- Sonic?!”

The more the dust settled down again, the more he could make out blue on the person sprawled beside the wall.

And a groaned-out clamour of pain, very much in Sonic’s voice, was all the proof Silver needed.

“Sonic!” he cried out in turn. The heap of hedgehog winced, but Silver paid it no mind as he scrambled to his feet and rushed closer. He slid to a halt beside the speedster, eyes darting madly over his body. Sonic looked hurt…! And green eyes stared back at him, bleary and unfocused. “Sonic,” Silver breathed anew as their gazes met. “What are you- Are you okay?!”

For a second too long, silence followed… but then a most feeble smile got sent his way. “Heya, Silver! Long time no see,” Sonic responded, voice strained. Another silence fell, in which Silver’s concerns increased a thousandfold, though eventually Sonic jolted. “Yeah… Yeah! I’m just great,” got added, in a creaking waver of pitifulness that didn’t sound very great at all.

Most promptly Silver frowned. Did Sonic not hear himself? Why was he smiling, when he was clearly in pain?! “You don’t look like it,” Silver urged him to consider, sinking down on one knee. Sonic needed help, it was obvious, but where had he come from? And what had been that blast? “How did you even-” the psychic began to inquire next, leaning closer… before his brow furrowed as Sonic shifted, torso moving upwards. “Hey, don’t move!” Silver scolded, hands shooting over to stop him. “Let me help you.”

“No, no, that’s not needed,” Sonic protested, undeterred in his attempts to get up. Silver grimaced as the speedster flinched and swayed, arms trembling from where he pushed himself up with his hands…!

“Stop that,” the psychic commanded. The way Sonic swayed and shook, he looked like he was about to collapse…! But as Silver tried to grasp his shoulder to push him down, stop his moving, Sonic bucked only more, and-!

Silver winced at the deep, agonised groan of pain that slipped out of Sonic’s mouth, whatever pale colour that had formed on his cheeks draining away in a second.

And then his eyes rolled backwards and he went limp.

“Watch out!” Silver gasped. Without thinking his powers rushed from his hands, which jolted forward alongside with the cyan to grasp Sonic and break his fall-!

Though, the hedgehog grunted as Sonic’s body crashed against him, and the speedster’s whole dead weight hit Silver right in the chest. “Sonic!” slipped past Silver’s lips anew as he had to refocus all his attention to keeping himself upright. “Hey, don’t faint on me!”

…No response came.

Instead Sonic laid limply against Silver, eyes shut and breaths raspy. “Sonic?” Silver repeated, giving the other a shake. But also that elicited nothing: no laugh, no winks, no teases about how Silver was very dumb to fall for this. Nor any opening of green eyes, even, or any indication Sonic was alright…!

The whole sight of the speedster, so lifeless and so quiet, made a fright Silver could not place coil deep inside his very being.  

“What in the world?” the psychic permitted himself to mumble, grunting as he tried to realign Sonic so Silver could see his face better. A hand pressing against Sonic’s chest made grey-furred shoulders sink in relief at its rising and falling, a heartbeat hammering away underneath…

Alive.

But very much unconscious.

And they were in an Eggman base, which always spelled out danger.

Silver made up his mind in an instant.

“I’ll help you,” the psychic murmured into drooping blue ears. “I’ll take you to my place, it’s safe there. And we can wait until you’re awake again and then get you back to your own era.”

A spark of hope flickered to life inside him as one of Sonic’s ears twitched. With psychokinesis Silver lifted himself to his feet easily, Sonic rising up as well before getting dropped into Silver’s arms and clutched close. It made a sound rise from the speedster, a noise that Silver hoped was inquiring confusion as he rearranged Sonic’s head so it leaned into his shoulder.

“It’s okay. You’ll be okay!” the psychic did his best to smile in turn. If he squinted, he thought he could make out lines of green and white between the slits of Sonic’s eyelids… A good sign, he hoped. And with that he wasted no more time: Silver wrung himself through the entrance anew, Sonic held protectively in his grasp, and the moment they reached the world outside, he blasted right off.

Dark storm clouds had gathered in the heavens during the hours Silver had scoured through Eggman’s base. Had it already been windy the whole day, now branches of trees got pulled to and fro ominously as the sky rumbled. Caringly the psychic pulled Sonic against him more, head rearing up to shield Sonic’s from the first fine droplets of rain as he wrapped them both in a protective bubble of psychokinesis. Though, a curse slipped past Silver’s lips as first fine droplets turned to a world-drowning downpour in seconds, thundering away at his powers. The rumbles above combined into a bang that made the world shake, lightning flashed on the horizon, and the wind danced around him madly as Silver raced towards Mountain River Zone and darted past its loops and corkscrews until finally he’d made his way home.

All the while Sonic laid in his arms, mercifully occasionally stirring or one eye opening before it fell shut again and he huddled closer into Silver’s hold. “We’re here,” Silver told him, though no reaction followed still as the psychic crouched underneath the bramble hedges that enshrined one side of his hideout. Sharply he listened for any signs of a trap: he wouldn’t put it past any enemies to use the weather to try and get the jump on him. But as usual, he picked up nothing, and his hideout was quiet like every other day as he darted inside. “Let’s get him to bed,” the psychic piped up to the wind… before a worrying thought struck. It had been raining here too: thick droplets of water got swept off the trees’ leaves and struck Silver’s shield in a relentless torrent. Sleeping in a hammock was fine when it was dry out, but now…

But that was nothing Silver was not used to. Easily he lifted Sonic into the air with his psychokinesis, making sure the speedster was kept enshrouded fully in cyan so he wouldn’t get wet. Around him Silver raced through his hideout to gather supplies: with some help from the wind and his powers the psychic tied the black tarp he’d salvaged from the garbage dump over the two trees the hammock hung between to block the rain out. Though Silver’s hideout was plenty sheltered underneath and amidst its flora, he’d woken up soaked one too many times himself to risk Sonic ending up all soggy too. A similar tarp got put over the hammock itself; the fabric had been fully sodden already. And with a towel that Silver retrieved from his watertight bags of supplies put down over the crinkling material, Sonic could sleep comfortably, the psychic hoped.

The whole time he was busy, the speedster’s quiet persisted still. “Here we go,” Silver told him as he placed the other on his fortified hammock. Though, Sonic remained unmoving, even as Silver swallowed and hesitated before reaching out and curling his fingers around a peach wrist slowly…

But a strong heartbeat thrummed through; definitely stronger than it had been in the base. “Thank goodness,” Silver hummed to himself, frowning as the wind nudged him. “You think he’ll be okay?

His companion made the branches above twirl, which Silver took as a yes. “It’s getting cold,” he added next, rubbing over his shoulders at the chill the wind’s gales carried. “And I only have one blanket… Oh well.”

From another of his watertight bags Silver dug out the crumpled lap of fabric. The moment it got laid over him Sonic’s face softened… He looked cute like that, Silver figured with a fond snort. Snugly he tucked the other in from shoes to shoulders, which earned him a happy little hum and an inquiring sniffle of the black nose peeking out just above the rim of the cocoon. Also that was endearing, and a noise of relief slipped past Silver’s own lips. “I’ll stay up and keep watch,” he murmured into a blue-furred ear. It gave another twitch, which Silver gladly used to bolster his courage more. Sonic would be okay. Sonic was hardy and strong, everyone always said so. He was really just sleeping.

Turning around and floating towards the trunk of one of the trees, Silver grunted as he flopped onto the ground. He could see Sonic on one side and the brambles that covered his hideout on the other like this, and with a stifled yawn the psychic used his powers to grab a bottle of water and a snack from his supplies next. It’d be a long night, but he could manage! He could even stay dry here, at the very edge of the tarp. “Wake me up if I doze off,” he commanded the wind… that did not jostle his quills like usual this time, and instead hung in the distance as if it heavily disagreed with these choices. He didn’t need sleep, Silver huffed at it. He’d just stay awake by himself then, if the wind refused to help.

Sonic’s little snores filled the air around him as the psychic rested and stared into nothing, though his noiseless sitting went unmatched by the immediate racing of his thoughts. Sonic of all people was not someone he’d ever expect to see, here in the present instead of the past… and yet it had to be him, surely. But how? And why? What had he been doing in that Eggman base?

Silver found no answers to any of his questions. And the more he wracked his mind, the more his head flopped to a shoulder before it jolted up by reflex, and the more he had to stubbornly keep forcing his eyes open despite the soothing pitter-patter of the rain on the tarp. But he would not, could not fall asleep. He could sleep after all his questions had gotten answered in the morning. He’d almost made it, the sky was lightening up more and more…!

The wind only came back to stroke his quills when disjointed thoughts and blackness had long overtaken Silver’s mind, and despite all his fighting, its gentle caress proved enough for Silver to slip into sleep as well.

Chapter Text

Sonic awoke to the sight of something long and black blocking out whatever was above.

Strange, his sleep-addled brain mused as he groaned and stirred. That was absolutely not what he’d fallen asleep to… but what he had fallen asleep to, the speedster could not recall so clearly either. Blurs of colour and a sensation of endless stretching and weightlessness, chaos coiling all about… Sonic’s quills prickled with unease the more the memories took shape. Eggman had really gotten him this time.

But amidst all that there’d most certainly been… gold. Soothing gold, its warmth a stark contrast to the incomprehensibility of the greys and blacks and reds. And downy white: the warmest and snuggest and downiest of white, though Sonic drew a blank on how he knew that so certainly. And besides the gold and white, there had been a far softer and gentler grey than the harsh colours of everything else. And cyan, somewhere in the distance yet everywhere at the same time.

But that white Sonic could recall with the most clarity. He had tried to sit up and everything had turned to black, but in the split second before that he’d been caught by…!

Hmm.

The more Sonic blinked open his eyes, the more a dull thumping ache in his head made its presence known, and the speedster grimaced as his hand shot up to clasp it. “Urgh,” slipped past his lips, fingers rubbing circles into his skull until his vision had sharpened. He laid on a… hammock, it seemed, swinging to and fro in a gentle breeze while tucked under a blanket pulled up all the way to his nose. And above him, the blackness was a sheet of tarp, that laid drawn over some branches of two trees.

“Huh,” the speedster allowed himself to muse. All the while, the memories of gold and white sharpened in his mind, and with them came fragments from a voice that wasn’t exactly familiar. At least, not as familiar as the grey and gold and cyan and white.

Sonic had never heard Silver talk so softly, after all.

Silver. Someone Sonic didn’t know all that well, all things considered. Pensively the speedster let the wind swing him about on the hammock, memories of Silver drifting along with the motion. The two of them had met twice before: once on that island that had appeared out of nowhere in the ocean and had disappeared again together with that enigmatic hedgehog, and once on another where a bunch of Chao had been going missing. And Sonic wouldn’t describe those times as particularly nice to have been talking to Silver…

Because he yelled a lot, and listened quite an opposite amount, and Sonic would be lying if he said it hadn’t annoyed him eventually.

But none of that matched the shock on Silver’s face when Sonic had laid his eyes on him, back in Eggman’s base. Or the way he’d come running when the speedster had laid crumbled onto the ground. Or him reaching out to stop Sonic from falling as his consciousness left him; the last thing the speedster’s mind could recall with any clarity. The more Sonic thought about it, the more the memories came seeping back: Silver’s wide eyes, how he’d crouched beside Sonic, how he’d urged Sonic to take it easy, how he’d offered his help, how he’d gasped and shot over when Sonic had collapsed.

That was it, Sonic realised with a jolt. That white that currently formed the centrepiece of his thoughts had been the white of Silver’s mane.

…And he’d just crashed face-first into said mane while fainting after Eggman sent him on an impromptu trip into the timestream to kill him that Silver had somehow managed to tug him out of.

Sonic snorted at the unexpected silliness of the situation.

But that had to mean Silver was around somewhere, the speedster figured amidst his amusement. With his fingers rubbing away at his aching head Sonic tugged the blanket off and pushed himself into a sitting position. Wat was it that Espio had said about Silver again? He and Sonic had been on the same boat back to the mainland after that whole thing with the Ifrit, and Sonic had gladly grabbed the opportunity to grill Espio about his sudden ring theft. Not that that had resulted in much: some “It was most necessary and I apologise,” was approximately what Sonic had gotten out of him. But in that way, the conversation had shifted to Silver next. Who was that hedgehog, Sonic had asked, and Espio had smiled. “He’s tremendously brave, and kind once you get to know him. He’s got a heart of gold.”

Kind, Sonic pondered. Heart of gold… Well, Silver had somehow found his way into the belly of an Eggman base and gotten Sonic out of a predicament he’d have struggled to escape from otherwise. And clearly he also had given Sonic his own bed and taken the ground to sleep in turn, because as the speedster peeked into the place he’d been taken to, the sight of a bundle of grey laying slumped between the roots of one of the trees caught his attention immediately.

“Heh. Hey, Silver?” Sonic called out in a whisper. Logic dictated this was the psychic’s place of residence… though Sonic had to admit he had no idea where that was located. He’d never come across it before in any of his world-traversing adventures.

But Silver did not stir even as Sonic dangled his legs over the rim of the hammock and dropped himself to the ground, with only one ear shooting right up as Sonic tiptoed closer. A deep frown marred his face, that Sonic had to stifle a snort at. Just how serious were Silver’s dreams if he looked like this while sleeping? “It’s just me,” the speedster soothed, until the ear had relaxed again and merely flicked in the wind. The cool gale picked up the longer Sonic stood studying the other hedgehog, tussling both their furs and quills, and the speedster gave it a curious look. It felt familiar, somehow… but Sonic couldn’t place it otherwise, and thus he returned his attention to the sleeping psychic.

Poor Silver, Sonic mused. Dew and droplets clung to the grass underfoot, that the bright but feeble morning sunlight had not yet made evaporate. Also Silver was looking a bit damp. Nor could it be comfortable to lay crumpled between the roots of the trees like that, with his back all crooked in their embrace and his head awkwardly leaning against his chest and shoulder. As if it had just collapsed down as sleep claimed him. Had Silver been sitting here for long?

Whatever the case, Sonic pondered, waking the psychic up right now would absolutely be a crime. If Silver was still asleep, he needed the rest. Thus Sonic silently padded away to study Silver’s living space more closely, fingers trailing over the massive stones of the walls that marked most of the borders of the hideout. His pal had amassed quite a nice spot, the speedster conceded easily. Flowers and plants coated one side of it, a couple of big bags sat haphazardly stacked in another corner, the remnants of a campfire could be seen in the grass as well… And between the large crumbling brick barriers and overgrown hedgerows that encased this spot, surely nobody would find Silver here unless they knew were to look. Though, a city could not be far away either, considering Sonic’s sharp hearing could pick out distant noises of traffic and people carried over in the wind. Curiously he snuck over to a slight crack in one of the walls, peering through…

Sonic was no stranger to beautiful scenes, but this one made his eyes widen.

White, and green, and grandiose, the city laid stretched out through what Sonic figured was a valley, considering he looked down on it from Silver’s hideout… yet the buildings stretched up to the blue heavens so high their tops blurred into the sky completely. If possible, the city spread even wider still on the ground, with roads and endless skyscrapers sprawling from one side to the other and whisps of mist glittering in the sunbeams. Sonic’s nose could sniff out a whiff of salt on the breeze too, and the speedster hummed curiously as he got struck by the realisation that those weren’t clouds that curled around the city’s edges… It was the ocean, its waves lapping at the city’s outer borders.

“Whoa,” Sonic concluded succinctly. In the light of the sun, everything glowed and shone, and the speedster could only marvel.

…Even if he’d never seen this entire city before.

No, he really had not, Sonic realised with a jolt. But maybe he just didn’t know all the cities the world had to offer… unlikely as that thought was.

So then where had he ended up?

Pensively Sonic turned around to study Silver’s hideout some more. The idea he’d never come across this place made more sense, at least: it looked pretty sheltered on all sides, what with the stone walls and massive bushes. Nor would it be easy to spot from the air, considering the two trees whose blossom-filled branches made the sky into a gorgeous mosaic of blue patches of heaven intermixed with pink-and-white flowers. Cherry blossoms, Sonic figured from the ample gorgeous rosy blooms swaying in the wind. Drawing a deep breath of the spring air and smiling the speedster trailed his eyes around Silver’s little spot once again; it smelled nice!

…Even if his nose itched immediately after, Sonic’s eyes widening as a tickle went right through it.

“Ah... Achoo!” followed. “Ugh.”

With a grumble Sonic rubbed at his face. The culprit – a cluster of daisies – got found easily enough as Sonic’s eyetrailing turned to glaring, the little white flowers speckled throughout the grass-

All the way up to the roots of the tree, where Silver sat catapulted upright with wide eyes.

“…Oops. Mornin’!” Sonic was the first to pipe up. “Sorry for waking you.”

For a second or two, Silver just stared… before wide eyes scrunched themselves shut again and the psychic yawned, sharp fangs gleaming in the sun. Some huffed groaning noise followed as the other flopped himself over on one side next. “‘s Okay,” Sonic could approximately pick out from whatever it was Silver mumbled, the speedster needing to swallow down a laugh.

“Not a morning person?”

That did not get answered, the bundle of grey fur and quills rhythmically rising and falling anew like Silver had too when Sonic had woken up. He’d be best off with not bothering his pal anymore, Sonic figured. He did not know the psychic well, but Silver’s easily-triggered temper was not unfamiliar to anyone who’d talked to him on either island where he’d adventured before.

Thus, Sonic noiselessly turned back to the crack in the wall, settling against it to study the city some more as he basked in the beams of light that the trees scattered about. Gorgeous… With the wind trailing through his fur and the clouds lazily rolling by, Sonic had ample time to look the scene over and mull about where it could be located. Though, his ears perked up at some shuffles and fusses that resounded behind him, after a few minutes. “What are you doing?” a grumpily quiet voice that sounded quite adorable in its sleepiness rose up, Sonic chuckling.

“You’ve got quite the view here! Is that city built on the water?”

“In part,” he could discern amidst a second huge yawn. “It used to be jus’ an island, but they ran outta space. So they built on ‘n underneath the water next.”

“Underneath?” Sonic echoed, face pressed right into the crack to see more. “As in, on the ocean floor?”

“Hmhm. You can walk aroun’ there. Lots of glass tubes ‘n stuff.”

Some rustles followed, and Sonic had to suppress a full huff of laughter at the incredibly-scruffy-looking Silver that stumbled over to stand by Sonic’s side. Another huge yawn followed, as did a bleary shake of Silver’s head. “It’s pretty cool. The sun makes the water shine all prettily,” the psychic explained, rubbing at his eyes. Still half asleep, Sonic easily concluded, but a cyan-coated hand gestured vaguely towards the sight all the same. “‘n You see that building with the rounded roof over there? It’s a library tha’s also a botanical garden.”

Sonic squinted until he found something that fitted that description. “It looks gorgeous. Do you go there often?”

“Yeah. It’s very peaceful,” the speedster believed Silver said amidst a fourth yawn, that seemed to come from the tips of Silver’s toes, extensive as it was. With a chuckle Sonic gave Silver a little nudge with his elbow. He’d never seen this entire city before, but there were more pressing matters to discuss. He could locate himself and find out how to go home later.

“You’re looking like you got put through the wringer there, pal. Did you sleep badly?”

“Not looking as bad as you,” the contrarian response got huffed back…

Before Silver froze, eyes widening, and Sonic got regarded as if it was the first time he was actually seen by the psychic.

Considering the huge bags under Silver’s eyes, that probably was the case.

“Wait a second,” Silver added a whole lot more suspiciously.

“Heya,” Sonic grinned, raising a thumb. He’d probably not made much sense last evening himself, after all. “Long time no see, Silver!”

Golden eyes blinked at that greeting, and blinked again…

Before they narrowed, burning a hole right through Sonic in an instant. “What are you doing?!” the psychic heatedly spat out, cyan whirling to life all around him. “You shouldn’t be up! You’re injured!”

Sonic couldn’t hide a jolt at the heated tone of voice getting sent his way so suddenly. “Hey- I’m fine!” he protested as Silver scowled at him. “My head’s already hurting a lot less than when I-”

“Your head’s hurting?! Then you need to take it easy even more!” the psychic interrupted, turning around and marching over to those bags stacked in a corner of the hideout. They got rummaged through with what Sonic could best describe as frenzied worrying intermixed with disdained anger, before Silver turned around with a rag and a bottle. Some water from the latter got haphazardly flung on the former, and Sonic squinted his eyes as the rag plapped him right in the face next.

“Silver, really. I’m fine,” he sighed out, tugging it up so it laid better on the aching spot on his skull.

A harrumph followed as Silver leaned closer as well, and a cool touch of psychokinesis straightened the fabric out some more… altogether gently, actually. “You got flung two centuries forward in time before smashing face-first into a wall,” the psychic continued in his peeved protest. “If there’s anyone who really needs to take it easy and who is really not fine, it’s you.”

Sonic blinked, slowly.

“Uh. Come again?” he inquired.

“The wall,” Silver repeated impatiently. “You just said your head’s hurting.”

“No, before that.”

Because surely Sonic had misheard that. Or just misunderstood what Silver meant, because that wasn’t impossible either with the psychic’s yell-filled forms of communicating.

But Silver raised an eyebrow. “The two centuries forward in time?”

“Yeah… Yeah.” Cogs turned in Sonic’s head as the sentence registered… but the longer he stood thinking, the more the realisation took shape. Eggman had been talking about trapping Sonic in the dimension of time… And a whole city that looked so massive but that Sonic had never seen before…!

“I’m in the future?” the speedster breathed.

Silver’s head tipped to the side. “Yeah? Obviously, since I didn’t travel to the past.”

Sonic’s eyes shot right back to the other. “You’re from the future?!”

He almost had to laugh at the look of confusion that formed on Silver’s face. It definitely made for a far cuter appearance than his endless glowering. “Obviously,” the psychic repeated. “I thought you knew that?”

Sonic blinked again, slowly. Then once more but quickly, because a snort slipped past his lips before he could help it, followed by a full laugh. “Silver, I can’t know any of that if you don’t tell me!” he explained to the incredulously-frowning psychic. “I had no idea!”

Had Silver’s eyes narrowed into an infinitely more peeved leer the moment Sonic started laughing, they did clear up with the explanation that followed. “…Hm. I guess I haven’t ever told you, have I?” Silver hummed back, rubbing his chin. “I just… figured you knew. Since Onyx Island came from the future too and all.”

“Is that why it disappeared again? It’s back in this era?”

“Yep. Safe and sound.”

Deciding against telling Silver he’d also not known Onyx Island had come from the future Sonic shook his head fondly, clutching the rag so it didn’t fall off. “What a way to find out,” he settled on, shooting Silver a grin as he suavely leant against the wall. It got met with… a blank stare, before Silver shrugged and turned back to his collection of bags. A metal mug got tugged out of one also, floating in the air for a second… altogether shakily, and Sonic frowned in concern as Silver sighed and grabbed it. Perhaps the psychic should be worried about himself more, the speedster figured, but he also figured he had best not say that.

“How did you even get here? You seemed to be in a lotta trouble in that base,” the psychic inquired in the meantime, the metal mug filled with water from the bottle before it got handed over to Sonic. His mouth did feel ickily dry, the speedster realised, and thus he gladly grabbed it with a word of thanks. Time travel made you thirsty, apparently-

Time travel.

The mug jolted to a halt halfway to Sonic’s mouth. “Drat.”

Silver froze. “Something wrong? You look worried.”

“I am. Because Eggman’s plan worked, and that’s always a bad sign.”

“Eggman did this?” Silver repeated, fur spiking right up. “What happened?”

Inbetween sips of water Sonic told him: how he’d been infiltrating a base because of Eggman’s increased activities, how suspiciously smoothly it had gone, how he’d been trapped in that metal room. How Eggman had gloated, how Sonic had burst into a Super Peel Out, how he had stilled where the world had moved endlessly… “You know, if it hadn’t been for you, I’m not so sure how I’d have gotten out,” he concluded his story, a smile forming onto his face. Even if Silver was his usual grumpy self still, he had bailed Sonic out of a boatload of trouble, and clearly was trying his hardest to be a good caretaker on top. The least Sonic could do was express his gratitude. “So thanks, Silver. Really.”

Golden eyes stared. “That- You don’t need to thank me,” the protest came, after a few seconds of stunned silence. “Anyone would have helped you, surely!”

“But you’re the one who did. And I’m grateful for that,” Sonic remarked back.

Some mumble was the response he got, Silver turning around. Sonic couldn’t tear his eyes away from the other hedgehog; he never thought the loud-mouthed psychic would be shy about getting praised for something. Pressing a hand onto the rag so it wouldn’t fall off Sonic pushed himself away from the wall and followed. Silver settled against another in the beams of the morning sun, and Sonic gladly sunk down beside him. Its stones had gotten heated up already, their warmth seeping into Sonic’s back and making him sigh in relaxation. Although… “You look a bit damp,” he brought up, scrutinising Silver.

The psychic shrugged back. “It rained last night. But I put the tarp up, so you shouldn’t have gotten wet yourself.”

“Nope! Dry as a desert. Thanks for that too,” Sonic agreed, with something akin to a ‘You’re welcome,’ getting mumbled back. Leaning his head against the stones the speedster drew a breath of the fresh air, letting it all sink in. The future…

And Silver, who sat in the sunbeams with that familiar look of deathly seriousness on his face. If he wasn’t so liable to flinging people into the stratosphere should they displease him, Sonic would have snorted at the discrepancy.

A silence unfolded between them, filled with the chirps of birds and the rustles of the trees’ branches in the wind. “We need to get you back,” Silver was the first to break it, studying Sonic from the corner of his eyes. “The past is gonna be in disarray if you’re not there. Especially if Eggman’s up to something.”

“I don’t think it’ll be that bad,” Sonic soothed him. “I’ve disappeared before to places, sometimes for weeks on end. I’m not even sure if Tails knew I was going to Eggman’s base in the first place. And there’s many more people who fight Eggman than just me. It’ll be fine, Silver.”

“It’s not fine. What if Eggman is planning something right now, with you out of the way? Your friends aren’t you. Everything could be in danger there, and then the future is in danger as well!”

“Take it easy,” the speedster responded at the spine-spiking that accompanied every word spoken, until Silver looked as big as a dandelion full of seeds. In a way cute, in a way likely to make Sonic end up with either getting yelled at or just flung against a wall, and neither would do when Sonic’s head had just been put through all that. “I see what you mean,” the speedster thus moved the conversation to instead, “but how do you suggest I get home?”

Silver’s ears shot up, his face becoming even more serious.

“Don’t worry,” followed, the other leaning closer as Sonic listened sharply as well. “I know exactly how to get you back.”

Chapter Text

Besides the grandiose city and Silver’s cosy hideout, the rest of the area he lived in was pretty neat as well.

Sonic whistled as he padded over a dirt path underneath sparsed-out trees, breathing the fresh air of the mountains that formed the – apparently aptly-named – Mountain River Zone. Luckily Silver had been open to the idea to go walk for a bit, Sonic not wanting to stay trapped in his little hideaway and subject himself to endless fussing. Plus, a place like the future simply had to be explored! Sonic’s legs were itching to blast off and see what it had to offer. With the sounds of water running in the distance, birds chirping their morning greetings, and the sun dappling through the tree branches with their spring blooms, there were worse times to have ended up temporarily stranded in the future, Sonic smiled as he pondered over what Silver had been telling him throughout their exploring.  

“The Emeralds,” he repeated, rubbing his chin. “Heh… Of course.”

“With two of them and two people, you can activate Chaos Control and time-travel to wherever you want,” Silver nodded. “And in my experience, it’s nothing like what happened to you. But don’t ask me how that works.”

“Eggman said something about not having a destination set, or whatever.” More dourly Sonic pursed his lips: the fact Eggman managed to even achieve this in the first place made a blow to his pride. But on the other hand, it had led Sonic to a friend, and he always embraced that too. Pausing by a large blueberry bush Sonic plucked one off the branches, popping it into his mouth with a hum and beaming at the friend in question. “Hmm, tasty!”

“Sonic, focus,” said friend in question immediately scolded, a second blueberry that Sonic held out to Silver getting scorched in a look of unamusement. “The good news is, it works. I’ve Chaos Controlled to the past with no negative effects, and back again.” And then Silver’s face fell into a deep frown, as Sonic had entirely expected. It could never just be easy, though Sonic would have despised it if it was. “The bad news is, I don’t know where the Emeralds are,” got added, while Sonic bit into the rejected piece of fruit. “When I went to the past with the whole Ifrit debacle, they’d already been gathered, and they’ve been sent on their way again afterwards. And since there hasn’t been anything going wrong here that warrants me going to the past again, I haven’t been looking for any.”

“That makes sense. I don’t really collect the Emeralds either if there’s no need for them,” Sonic soothed. Silver’s face had contorted in a way it made him look like he felt guilty for not having any Emeralds… though no apology slipped past his lips. Still, Sonic shot him an encouraging wink. “And of course it’s not gonna be simple, but that’s part of the fun! And we can hang out more! It’s gonna be a great time together, I’m sure.”

As Sonic spoke, Silver…

Froze.

And then something darkened on his face.

Stiffly the hedgehog turned away from the blueberry bush, Sonic staring at his retreating form. Had he said something wrong? “Everything okay?” he inquired, rushing after his pal. The psychic halted at the edge of the forest, ears perked and eyes flicking about, before his shoulders slouched and he stepped into a sunlight-filled meadow.

Some mutters Sonic could not make out followed, though Silver rubbed at his eyes most insistently too. “No… It’s fine. Whatever.”

Sonic knew better than to prod, and thus he just nodded. Perhaps Silver was simply tired, considering how rumpled he looked. Hopefully some fresh air would help with that. “It’s shaping up to be a beautiful day,” Sonic settled on commenting, gesturing to the sky above. “Look how bright it is up there!”

“It’s a lovely blue,” Silver agreed, pacing further into the meadow. Hundreds of flowers and grasses spread out through the field, all the way up to a large river that curled through a valley far in the distance. Sonic whistled anew, head raised up high as he stepped after Silver into the field.

Amidst dodging flowers and grasses lurking with the evil presence of hay fever-activating pollen Sonic found himself a mite preoccupied; a long silence stretched out between the two hedgehogs. It gave Sonic ample time to muse and ponder. Maybe Silver had hoped it would be simple so Sonic could return home quickly, but… why? With how concerned the psychic had been for Sonic’s health, Sonic wouldn’t say Silver wanted him gone.

But Sonic really didn’t know Silver well enough either to be able to tell, that he had to concede readily after.

“Hey,” he piped up, skedaddling ahead to catch up with his pal. “Thanks for looking after me. I appreciate it.”

Golden eyes regarded him strangely. “I told you, you don’t need to thank me.”

“I want to, though. And you’re showing me around all these gorgeous places. That city you live close to is absolutely stunning as well,” Sonic rambled out before Silver could protest more. At least that last bit made the psychic nod, though with that same deathly seriousness still.

“It is. I always found it pretty special that it’s partially built on the ocean floor. The past has nothing like that?”

“Perhaps in some places, but none that I know. And I’ve seen many cities.” And Sonic could compare how they’d all grown and changed over two centuries, now! “Hey, you should come visit the past too, after we’re done sightseeing in the future!” the speedster added, shooting Silver a smile. “Then you can see how everything used to be.”

…That strange look crossed Silver’s face anew.

“I don’t follow,” got hummed back slowly.

“Well, you’ve only been in the past twice, right? If you visit again, you can see what everything grew from. And here in the future, I can see what everything has become! Isn’t that amazing?”

But Silver frowned only more. “I guess, but… Don’t you need to go back to the past? Right now?”

Huh, Sonic mused. Right now… Sure, he’d been thinking soon, or at least sometime, but ‘right now’ was quite quick indeed. “I’d actually been planning on, you know, exploring around and seeing just how beautiful everything is,” he responded honestly. “Right now isn’t going to work anyway, since we don’t have any Emeralds. I figured we would go and travel all over the place and snatch any Emeralds we come across, and then when we’ve seen enough, I go back home.”

“…And when will you have had enough?”

“No idea! That’s the beauty and the fun of exploring,” Sonic responded with a chuckle.

Said chuckle echoed into nothingness as Silver remained staring at him altogether frostily. 

“So you don’t want to go home…?” eventually followed, half hesitantly and half disbelievingly. “Won’t your friends be worried about you?”

“Ah.” Maybe that was the problem, Sonic figured. Silver knew how close he was with Tails, at least, and probably a lot of other people as well. “Don’t get me wrong, I do want to go home! And I will, as soon as I can. But my friends will be fine, Silver. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve disappeared on them ‘cause I got sucked into an adventure,” he did his best to assure, with fond memories of other worlds taking shape in his mind and a deep breath of the wind dancing around just barely revealing the scents of old books and ink and stardust and oceans. “But how many people will ever get the chance to see what the future is going to look like? I’d love to take it.”

More quietly Silver rubbed his chin. “Not many, I guess… That is true.”

“And everything here looks so gorgeous, and I’ve only seen one city and one Zone so far. I’d love to see more of it!”

“Oh. I suppose things are very pretty here,” Silver nodded. Eagerly Sonic grinned back, the psychic’s lips pursing together. Blue-furred ears waited for more confirmation, for an offer to go together, for Silver to show him around to visit all the best places and the people of the future.

None of that came.

Instead Silver shrugged, and the other turned around. “Well, you gotta do what makes you happy,” got huffed out over a grey-furred shoulder. “If that’s exploring, and having fun, I won’t stop you.”

An awkward silence followed. Sonic found himself a bit at a loss for words, and Silver’s gaze was fixed on the distance. “Would you… like to come along?” the speedster broke it first. With a warm smile blossoming on his face he held out his hand, golden eyes peeking over at it. It didn’t seem like Silver’s hideout got occupied by many people other than the psychic himself, considering how tiny it was… Maybe he’d like having a companion around? And then Sonic could get to know him better too. “You can show me all the places you like, and we can meet the people you know!” Sonic added, bouncing lightly on his feet. “It will be fun!”

That indescribable look on Silver’s face rushed right back.

“No thanks,” the curt response came.

“…No?” Sonic repeated, which got answered by a firm shake of Silver’s head.

“I’m good.”

Something in the tone of his voice gave Sonic pause. Silver’s shoulders hunched in on themselves entirely, glumness on his face and body stiff…

Really not the pose of someone eager to join. Or even that of someone who wanted to, but didn’t know how to ask.

Instead Silver looked as annoyed as could be.

And Sonic had no idea why exactly.

“Well… Alright then. Your choice, of course. But let me know if you change your mind,” Sonic told his pal, scrutinising him closely as he pondered.

There was more going on here than Silver not just wanting to go on an adventure.

But the grey hedgehog merely nodded, hissing as the winds picked up and jostled his quills, and Sonic knew better than to prod. Prodding Silver for details so far had always had explosive results, and he wasn’t about to get teleported right into the river or something. Ending up in a carnival on Onyx Island had been disorienting enough already. As it stood Sonic’s final look of inquiry got met with a shrug and a scowl, and that was that.

The rest of their trek around got spent in complete silence.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

“See you around,” Sonic had said, and: “I’ll come back here when I’ve found the first Emerald. I hope that’ll be before night falls.”

Silver had nodded and told Sonic what regions were safe and where he had to be careful, and he’d almost say he’d been listened to. But with Sonic, you never knew, the psychic grumbled to himself.

Fun.

Silver’s mood tanked whenever that word crossed his mind again.

Sonic had long blasted off into the direction Silver had pointed out, and the psychic had turned around to make his way back to his hideout, pushing his way through the small hole in the massive bramble thicket that enshrined one side of his hideaway. Returning home had been nice, grey-furred ears not detecting any danger as he’d halted underneath the thorns and listened sharply. Even if he’d never been attacked in his hideout, it never hurt to check either, but it had been quiet as always as Silver had trudged over to his hammock with the thought he could get some more shuteye.

Of course, tiredness had neglected to come to him completely.

Pensively Silver swung on the coarse fabric, eyes on the sky that dappled through the leaves on the trees. The sun had been making her journey from east to west unbothered as always, and the clouds stretched themselves out in feather-like whisps, as if they’d been stapled to the blue canvas.

Blue.

Quite like Sonic.

“Do you think he’s gonna be okay?” Silver asked it, and the trees and the wind and nobody in particular all the same. “I don’t think things are so different here than his own era, but still… Sonic’s a troublemaker.”

Above him, the branches rustled. “So who knows what he’s getting himself into now? Other than having fun, of course,” the psychic mulled further, and with every second spent thinking he scowled only more.

How dared Sonic?

How dared he refuse to take things seriously like that? How dared he not honour his responsibility to keep the world safe? How dared the idea of having fun while racing like an idiot through Zones in the future weigh so much more heavily for him than trying to go back to the past? “He got flung into the timestream, hurt himself, is not looking after anyone in his era like he should because he’s stuck here, and all he can think of is having fun,” Silver succinctly summarised the conversation he and Sonic had had to the wind. “He wants to go explore and see all around and he says it’s gonna be fun. Instead of, you know, making sure he can get home. He needs those Emeralds, and you don’t get Emeralds through being silly.”

But had Silver wanted to lace his words with scorn, he couldn’t stop a deep frown from forming on his face also. Sonic had seemed plenty confident about his abilities to manage himself, and he’d promised Silver to come for another visit when having gathered the first Emerald, and yet…

Eggman Nega’s robots did plague the lands. Not to mention the unwanted relics Eggman’s various exploits had left behind: death traps galore littered the world still, no matter how many Silver had been cleaning up over the months. Evil geniuses aside, general technology used by citizens was a lot more advanced too than all the primitive little gadgets the past contained. And even if Sonic was plenty brave, surely it would be unsettling to be thrown into a whole new world and not even have the person responsible for it there to chase down? Onyx Island at least had been familiar enough terrain, and the second time Silver had found Espio to help him out. But Sonic was entirely on his own in this era.

The more he mulled, the more Silver’s ears flattened against his head. Sonic had made his way through both islands as well, the second time with that fox cub but the first time alone… though Silver had no idea how Sonic had even managed that. If he’d been just as goofy there as he had acted today, Silver honestly would have expected him to still be in Forest Falls Zone, frolicking in a waterfall or something. In that regard, the stories of his heroism didn’t really fit all that the psychic had seen of Sonic so far.

It could only make him wonder more…

“And what if something were to happen to him? I don’t want that,” the thought crossed Silver’s mind before he could stop it, and thus getting extensively pondered over next as Silver’s unease grew and grew. “He could get hurt again. He could die!”

The wind fluttered around him as if it were shaking with laughter.

With a grumble Silver stabilised his hammock. “Don’t you dare knock me off again,” he growled back, swatting at his fleet-footed assailant as he pushed himself into sitting on the hammock’s edge with a sinking heart. Because even if he was worried, what was the use of pondering this all over? “But obviously Sonic’s not gonna want me to come along,” the psychic added, eyes narrowing and fur raising as the memories of multiple conversations, or rather arguments, he and Sonic had had stirred themselves again. The speedster had been most clear all the times they had met before…

The wind rustled as Silver growled lowly. “I mean, he doesn’t even like me. We’re not friends.”

Annoyance sparked up in Silver all over again as his mind ambled past the multiple memories that proved those words to be true. He got on Sonic’s nerves, the speedster had said so point-blank. Not that the feeling hadn’t been mutual, but still. And Sonic had said he never changed, too… “Sorry for trying to make sure the world doesn’t end while you’re just goofing around,” Silver grumbled, arms crossing and an irked kick of his feet into the air underneath his hammock making it jolt.

…But a more wary frown formed on Silver’s face, too.

Because Sonic not liking him… didn’t at all fit the hand held out to him so kindly, or the offer for a joint adventure.

Silver’s ears hadn’t deceived him. Sonic had offered that, no way around it. And he had smiled with such warmth, too. Like he’d really wanted Silver to come along, for whatever reason. The more Silver thought it over, the less sense it made. Weren’t he and Sonic on poor terms with each other? Or at least their acquaintanceship wasn’t friendly to the point they’d just go hang out together like that? Maybe? But then why would Sonic offer Silver to come join him?

None of it checked out.

“I don’t get it,” Silver concluded to the wind, who nuzzled over his quills soothingly. “And it doesn’t matter anyway. I’ve got things to do myself. I need to keep this place safe. I gotta keep making sure that Eggman Nega’s not come back. Or that his robots are not causing mayhem still, or Eggman’s. There’s so many bases and junk left of him that I need to dispose of so nobody gets hurt. And I need to be in the city too, to help with the mail and stuff. And right here at home to care for my plants. And go to the Chao to hang out with them. And just… keep protecting everyone and everything. None of that is the fun Sonic wants to have, surely.”

The wind made a jump as if it shrugged, and Silver copied the movement as his grumbles grew only more. “Fun. He’s stranded here in his future and all he can think about is having fun? Running around like mad and platforming and what-have-you? Adventures aren’t supposed to be fun.”

The branches of the trees drooped as the wind tugged at them, Silver rolling his eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic. Save that for when Sonic has died because he was too busy having fun to pay attention to what he’s doing.”

But as he said that… cold dread washed over him. And even as he spiked up his quills to catch more of the sunlight, it refused to dissipate. “And still… I don’t want anything to happen to him. He’s already been hurt- he looked so small,” the psychic sighed, lips pressing together at the memory of how limp and lifeless Sonic had been when Silver had bailed them out of that Eggman base. At least he seemed as full of life as usual again, but Silver hadn’t forgotten how Sonic had said he probably wouldn’t have escaped otherwise.

If the speedster got into such a situation again…!

“I don’t want him to get hurt even more. He’s in my era, so it’s my responsibility to take care of him too. Isn’t it?” Silver inquired quietly-

Before an indignant yelp slipped past his lips as the wind struck him right in his back.

“What?!” Silver yelled at it, barely able to activate his powers in time to stop himself from eating grass again in just over twenty-four hours. “What, should I just go after him and tell him that I don’t want him to die?!”

The trees rustled in a tender breeze and the sun shone with her glowing beams and Silver’s hammock swayed in the shade as lithe pink petals fluttered down, just like every other day.

His home, that he’d sworn to protect no matter what sacrifices he had to make.

And Sonic wasn’t home, and surely he’d be really homesick.

…Maybe he was just trying to have fun to not focus on that homesickness?

The mere thought of that possibility made sadness sink into Silver’s stomach like a rock. Being stranded in another era could be maddening if one wasn’t there for a good reason, but because an archnemesis won against them. At least, Silver figured that made sense. Sonic hadn’t seemed sad, but maybe he’d just been trying to hide it to not make Silver sad?

The more Silver thought it over, the more his resolve grew. “I’ll help him,” he decreed, hands gripping the edge of his hammock. “And I’ll keep him company, so he doesn’t have to be sad. And I’ll get him back to the past so he’ll be okay. It’s my duty to keep everyone safe, and that includes Sonic!”

In one fell swoop Silver jumped to the ground, tiredness forgotten in full as he scrambled past the brambles and rushed off into Mountain River Zone with the wind guiding his way. He’d help as best he could, and he would get Sonic safely back to his own era, no matter what it took.

But he wouldn’t let it be fun.

Adventures simply weren’t fun, and that was that.