Chapter Text
For as long as he could remember, this planet had been salvation. It was predictable but constantly changing. It held immense beauty, one he could appreciate, its islands and ever growing population serving as his indirect entertainment. In his time, he had witnessed the fall of great leaders and the rise of armies, the imbalance that was past becoming future, and as such he now knew well of the butterfly effect.
One small action could spiral the most guided souls into the unknown, whether they wanted it or not. He’d seen it over and over and over again.
He could go everywhere, he could go nowhere, he was to guide and lead, to be the one to help usher in each era as it came. He guided the sails to new lands, he kept the skies clear of danger, and he kept safe what he could never touch.
This was his given task, but his fate was his own, and despite everything, it never mattered. He was tired — as tired as a being without form could be.
They never listened. Mortals were beyond fragile, but the world they lived in was just as much, and as it seemed they loved to tear it apart and control it, ignoring all else in favor of maintaining their own pocket of peace. It was vile, these beings that so desperately sought freedom for their own kind only wished to control what was never theirs to begin with.
He was to usher in the new era, but they wouldn’t listen. Time and time AGAIN they wouldn’t listen. The wind could recall so long ago when there had been only peace, the gods each individually dictating what they had, but he had everything. This was the time he’d felt truly free.
When that began to change he couldn’t recall, but it left a sour taste in his metaphorical mouth. Even now watching gods rise and fall hadn’t swayed his opinion. Maybe they’d deserved it. Maybe their own ideals were corrupt. Maybe they were wrong. Whatever the case it bothered him so, because he knew he wasn’t. His visions hadn’t been exactly understood or seen by those that used his power, his indirect guidance didn’t aid them really at all.
This festering contaminant that was the present wasn’t at all what he was destined to create. This wasn’t the future he’d been sworn to live in. Gone were the days of peace, now he had to sit, and watch these parasites grow hungry and tear themselves apart over the most trivial things. And, in his state, he could do nothing to stop it.
All this power, and he couldn’t fix it. He had no form, he had no image, he only had what the mortals had given him. He only had what they saw of him, what their temples and writings had said he was. But that had been so long ago, and so few still existed.
He needed to try something new.
He needed help. He needed someone to listen, someone with his spirit, someone who would accept his gift with open arms.
Trailing across the great valleys and mountains, expanses of new age tech and chemically fueled cities, his search seemed nearly endless. Each new venture drew up dead ends, each candidate proved to be either stupid, irrelevant, or misguided. This new world was tainted, keeping him from finding the aid he deserved.
Whizzing into a small village not far from his current location, the wind settled itself into a small nook, not concealed by its surroundings sure but that didn’t matter. Nobody could see him, and nobody would believe he was there. His stories had been lost to time, and all that proved his presence now was the light breeze suddenly flowing through the settlement. One that drew up no questions, and no concerns.
Not that the breeze was something they should be worrying about currently.
The wind watched intently, its gaze unwavering as metal droids of some kind lay waste to the village he was now observing. Most of them were ground based, many others nearly identical to it. Of them only a few were airborne, wreaking havoc for their master.
It wasn’t hard to pick him out, the man practically seething with joy as the village was invaded, hooting and hollering as if this were a joyride. Mobians scattered about, ushering their children and loved ones to safety. It was chaos, the wind staring in disgust as not even one of them tried to fight back.
All this running at the hands of some lunatic in an oversized dinner bowl was doing them no good, and the few mobians who lay unmoving were testament to that. There was no potential here, his venture this far was proving useless, and he’d come pretty far already.
Drifting over the damage as it continued, the flames that licked at the dwellings and non-essentials of scattered mobians didn’t phase him. This was their own doing in a sense, their eagerness to run away did them no good, and he found himself scoffing at their lack of bravery and desire to protect what they so clearly cared about.
There was nothing here worthy of his time, and in his preparedness to continue his own way, a gust of wind unprompted by his hand caught his attention.
Having lived so long, not many things were capable of turning his head, but this did. Shifting his gaze with a curious motion, swimming towards the earth, he saw him. He didn’t really speak, but he didn’t seem afraid, and without using any words he was still clearly getting on the egg shaped lunatics nerves.
How unexpected.
Settling back down and observing the battle as it continued, he began to pick apart the combatants features, analyzing him with interest. The attacker seemed young, but quick on his feet. A blue hedgehog, with green eyes that held a certain fearlessness within them. He had no hesitation, moving with speed and agility that he had never quite seen before from a mortal.
Having dealt with many leaders and those who wished to change the world, none had held this level of determination. Maybe their motivation and desire to succeed was great, but what he was currently witnessing was greater.
The blue hedgehog slid underneath an airborne bot, grinning mischievously as he moved into a full body spin, rapidly firing himself forward and tearing through the metal as if this were all child’s play. Pieces of the bot shattered and sprawled to the ground, the short hedgehog only dusting off his hands and nodding at his handy work. He made it all look so easy, and walked it off with barely even a scratch. The disgruntled leader of the now very few bots that remained had raised his fists angrily, shouting out a string of insults and likely empty threats.
His forces were quickly pulling back, the man’s retreat imminent as the small hedgehog watched him flee. His smile never faded, his confident stance never diminishing even as the mobians who’d remained stared in awe of this unknown hero.
This was it. This is what he’d been searching for.
All this time he’d been scouring the world for just the right person to aid him, to help him achieve what he knew would set everything back on track, and after all this time he’d found his champion. Even if he’d need to wait awhile longer, even if it took a few years, even if his vision wasn’t seen now… this was his chance to set the board and assure all the pieces were in place. Unlike the minds that came before, this one he could guide. This one he could lead, and he ensured he was to be steered in the right direction.
He needed someone like him.