Written by Joshua David Tarwater
Special Thanks - @Cutegirlmayra
Illustration - SmilesFPS (SmilesFPS www.twitter.com)
Logo Design - Xenoko (XenokoYT www.twitter.com)

♪ ~ [Landlords ~ Masayoshi Soken ~ Heavensward: FINAL FANTASY XIV Original Soundtrack]

The small planet Yoluku bringing perpetual eclipse.
A Red Gear Ring behind it.
Below, a mountain range of clouds.
Snow whipped about by harsh wind.
Airships of steam and sail wrecked upon the cloudbanks.
Cities of wreckedge hiding ancient ships long forgotten.
Lines of white, blue, and occasional red light.
Geometric patterns giving rise to halfpipe highways.
The snow gathering within.

          ~Storm Ghost Zone.

          ~It’s such an ethereal Zone. It’s so weird too. Sonic and I have been running around jumping from ship to ship, and when we can’t we turn our Rings over to ancient ones that are built like Ring Gate Beacons. Sonic has been calling them Ring Ships as a result. But anyway, when we do give them our Rings, they’ve been making roads up here through the clouds. At first Sonic wasn’t fond of the idea of using them, and he was right about the red ones. They don’t last very long no matter how many Rings we give them. And I guess he’s right about the other ones too.

          ~Sonic and I didn’t come to this Zone by choice you see. That creep Yolk somehow caused a Ring Shift and we ended up here. Since then, we’ve been running from the Machine Knights and the Orthodoxy who have been using the same roads as us. Though, only some lesser knights have really been chasing us. But I know Rapier the White of the Sword Knights is still out there too. Right now, though…~

         A bolt of lightning flashed and illuminated the interior of the lifeless Ring Ship that was intertwined by the wreckage of old Engineer airships. The lightning did a fair job highlighting the autogolems of the Orthodoxy, the great helms of medieval knights with any manner of automation and attack machinery built into and around them. Sonic and Rosy could make quick enough work of them, sending the fairy’s that piloted them fleeing for safety.

         “I still can’t believe those are fairies,” Rosy remarked as she uncurled from a successful spin attack and landed. Holding a finger to her lips, she looked behind her at the green teardrop shaped entity that flew away on dragonfly like wings with terror in its large eyes. “Maybe I just imagined them to be something different.”

         “Heh!” Sonic laughed as he stepped backwards into the daylight provided by where the side of the vessel opened to allow the highway of geometric lines they arrived on to enter it. As he did, the horned sheet ghost that emerged from the long shadows to attack him faded away in the eclipsed sunlight. “At least they’re a lot nicer than the locals.”

         “They really are horrible hosts,” Rosy agreed about the ghosts and jumped backwards to take a seat on a machine knight with spider legs coming out of the bottom of its great helm core. With a sigh she rested her elbows on her knees and her chin in her palms. “Ooh~! I’d really like some proper hospitality! Actual food would be nice too. It’s nice that we can just use Rings in place of food, but it’s not the same. And I think about what Rapier said when I met her, about Yolk being able to possess me due to using Rings.”

         “I wouldn’t worry about what that tin can had to say,” Sonic blew off Rosy’s concerns as he casually leaned over with an elbow resting atop another spider-legged machine knight. “Remember, I made a Ring Bond with you and shared my ability to resist the influence of jerks like him.”

         “But it feels a lot like me having your speed too Sonic. I feel like I need to master it, or at least get better at it.”

         “Well, I can’t help you with the resisting stuff, but…”

         Rolling over backwards and taking the machine knight’s back, Sonic rolled it over him as he talked and kicked it into the lightless interior of the Ring Ship. As it crashed and blew to pieces, the light of the escaping fairy illuminated a lone slab like structure in the distance.

         “I can definitely help you work on the running practice. Ready to see where the next road goes?”

         “You bet!”

          ~Giving the slab our Rings, the next highway came to life and Sonic and I ran along it through the clouds. It’s so romantic, but I feel like I can’t enjoy the moment with that jerk Yolk up there watching me from the planet he shares a name with. What a shame too as there are so many sights up here in the clouds to enjoy.

          ~Asides from just the wreckage of all the airships, the clouds themselves and how the sunlight hits them is absolutely enchanting. The lightning that won’t let up and the snow makes it feel almost otherworldly. It’s so strange and beautiful. But the machine knights refuse to let up too. Ooh~! I just want to enjoy the view with Sonic for a bit. If only– Oh!~

         “Sonic!” Rosy shouted and pointed out along the clouds. “Is that a–”

         “Tornado,” Sonic finished the thought for Rosy and looked at the swirling column of cloud descending from more clouds even further above them. “You’re not actually thinking–”

         “Come on, Sonic! It’ll be fun!”

         “Heh, if you say so. Though I doubt our friends here will enjoy it much.”

         “Well, duh!” Rosy laughed.

         ~Tee-hee~♥ Sonic can be so playful when he wants to. Getting to the tornado wasn’t easy though. I think the machine knights figured out what we were planning, and they are starting to do everything they can to stop us. I’m actually having a lot of fun though. Running with Sonic along these highways of glowing lines and outpacing the machine knights. It’s tricky though as we have to jump between ships and the road falls apart as we get closer and closer to the tornado. I wonder if there are any more Ring Ships here we can use to activate another road. The Engineers have wrecked ships all over the place up here to so maybe.~

         “Eek~!” Rosy suddenly squeaked with surprise and glee as Sonic scooped her up in his arms.

         “Sorry Amy, but we’re out of running room now,” Sonic half-heartedly apologized as he looked ahead with determined eyes.

         “It’s okay,” Rosy giggled as she looked out towards the swirling cloud wall of the tornado, derelict engineer airships collapsing into it and violently disappearing. “I’ll enjoy your embrace while you carry me up above the clouds. Tee-hee~♥”

         “You really are a rascal,” a smile and possible laugh slipped through Sonic’s determined expression, but it was only for a moment.

         Leaping out from the last ship he and Rosy could reach with their legs, he curled the two of them into a tight conjoined hedgehog ball and smashed into the first flying machine knight to greet them. As they ricocheted off the destroyed machine Sonic forced him and Rosy to uncurl, throwing the ill prepared and flustered hedgehog girl into the air ahead of him.

         “AWAWAWAWAWA~!” Rosy babbled while flailing her arms, her face red with embarrassment and her situation lost on her. “W-W-W-What was that Soni~c!”

         “Just a Rolling Combo!” Sonic laughed at Rosy’s expense as he performed a series of homing attacks on the approaching flying machine knights and caught up to Rosy. “I thought you’d like.”

         “You have to warn me about things like that!” Rosy whined embarrassed as she fell into Sonic’s arms and hid her face behind her balled up hands. “I know I said I was going to enjoy your embrace, but that wasn’t romantic at all!”

         “Whatever you say Amy,” Sonic laughed again as he finally did better adjust his hold on Rosy.

         As the two hedgehogs were falling through the air defenseless, it was perhaps an odd time for their playful banter, but Sonic had already planned ahead. Hanging in the air in front of and below him, a trail of Rings led straight into the wall of the tornado they had been chasing. And it was more massive than Sonic had realized, easily hiding any of the clouds beyond it.

         “Heh heh…” Sonic laughed nervously and tightened his grip instinctually to protect Rosy. “This might get a little rough.

          ~Sonic is such a liar sometimes. As soon as we were in reach, he reached out to the Rings however it is he does and pulled us right along the string of them and into the tornado. But as dangerous as tornadoes are, Sonic and I run at speeds far greater than the winds they blow so we aren’t really in danger from the wind. And carrying Rings even all of the stuff in it isn’t really a danger. In fact, Sonic is just using all that junk to climb the tornado and– !!~

         “W~o~w~! Sonic! It’s… it’s beautiful!”

         “Not bad,” Sonic agreed as he and Rosy hung in the air well above the clouds that reached their limit and spread out flat like a white plane below them. One that lightning arched across playfully and was marred by a giant swirling vortex that led back into the tornado below.

         “Looks like we’ll have to go back in there if we’re going to get anywhere though,” Sonic remarked. Rosy’s lack of an answer drew Sonic’s curiosity and he asked her another question. “Lost in the view? I guess it is a nice sight and it doesn’t hurt to do a little sightseeing while in a new Zone.

         “You haven’t been listening at all though, have you?” Sonic pressed Rosy with another question as he looked down and realized she was looking up and behind him at Yoluku in the sky above.

         “Hee-hee,” Rosy laughed as she let go of her eyelid and wrapped her arm around Sonic as she looked him in the eye with a smile she stuck her tongue out through. “Just hearing your voice while up here like this… It’s so romantic, and I’m going to enjoy it to the fullest!”

         “Whatever,” Sonic conceded and leaned his head back while Rosy snuggled up tight in his arms. Happy as she obviously was, Sonic felt like Yoluku was glaring at him and he offered the planet a defiant glare of his own.

         “You should just give up. I’m going to keep her safe, stop your awakening, and get her home. Nothing you try will stop me either. It’s the least I owe her after failing to stop you once and costing her her memories.”

         Lost in Sonic’s embrace and her daydreams, Rosy stayed oblivious to his warnings to Yoluku. Soon after they lost their view and reentered the zone through the peculiar tornado.