The following is a work of fan fiction by Joshua D. Tarwater and is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Sega Sammy Holdings Inc.

“Dreaded is Yoluku!
Even the Sun he would make a Ring!
Then let the dreaded be cursed!
Let the dreaded never see the sun again!”

···

♪ ~ [One Last Kiss ~ Hikaru Utada ~ One Last Kiss]

          ~Sonic and I ran and ran, the Far Lands seeming without end. Under clouds and over mountains. Across rivers and through caves deep. The landscape always seemed to roll out to meet our speeding feet, Yolk hanging in the sky above us casting the world in the light of a permanent eclipse.

          ~It’s impossible for me to say how long we ran for or how many Zones we passed through. Not everything caught our attention, so I didn’t record it in my Diary Ring. Then there’s also how the flow of time never makes sense. The concept of later or earlier is easier to understand than yesterday or tomorrow in the Far Lands. The thought of weeks, months, and even years feels like a storybook tale rather than something real. And I’m sure that creep Yolk is just as affected as Sonic and me.

          ~As much of a creep and a villain as Yolk is though, I wonder if this was really the best way to deal with him. Trapping him up on that planet that’s always blocking the sun and leaving him an empty world to watch. It just seems too cruel, especially how time is so weird feeling here.

          ~Can he tell how long he’s been trapped?

          ~Does he ever see the stars?

          ~Don’t get me wrong, he’s a creep, but this seems like it’ll only make him a bigger jerk too. He sees everyone as his playthings and the world as his toy. Keeping him away from it for so long and his ability to control the world through Rings… I don’t even want to think of the damage he could cause if he got free and played to his heart’s content. But Sonic and I at least won’t let that happen.

          ~Though… he-he… I need a lot of practice still.~

♪ ~ [Light your heart up:[nZk]ver. <INST> ~ Hiroyuki Sawano ~ KILL LA KILL Complete Soundtrack]

Stars
The Milky Way above painting the violet sky
Glitter reflected in the waves
White sand and beachside cliffs
An unending castle wall of antiquated design
Clouds of sparkling stars drifting over beach and castle both
Balconies and stages all around
Ballrooms and great elaborate windows
Instruments playing themselves and dancing in the air
The beach littered in an unattended party
Fairies of all colors enjoying the party scenes
Cats watching them and the fireworks above
Great piers stretching off the wall castle
A Zone in celebration with no revelers

          ~Ooh~! What a time for practice!

          ~I can barely see Yolk over the horizon, and the night sky is so romantic! With all of these instruments just floating around playing themselves, and such pretty music too it’s so perfect for a romantic dance!

          ~Hmph!

          ~Sonic isn’t impressed at all though. He says the instruments floating around and playing themselves is a mistake in the Rings’ memory. Something about how they remember the instruments and that the instruments make music, but not that they need to be played by people. He says it’s similar in concept to how Rings nearly waking influence the environment to make floating and invisible platforms, or even loop-de-loops everywhere.

          ~He’s really spoiling the mood!

          ~Worse yet, worse yet! He found a tidal mudflat below a natural arch in the beachside cliffs. The tide is coming in too, so the water is already up to my ankles if I stand on the mud. Not that I can stand on the mud. It’s so soft that I sink right in the moment I try!~

         “I’d rather go dance in one of the ballrooms in the castle,” Rosy whined as she stood on a rock on one side of the mud flat and poked at the mud below the surface of the rising water.

         “In that getup? Sonic laughed and earned a pout from Rosy.

“Leotards are the epitome of dancewear,” the pink hedgehog countered and performed a pirouette for Sonic. “And mine is so much better since I can go running and swimming and everything else in it. So, I can dance up in any of those ballrooms just fine!

         “Though,” Rosy switched to a playful tone and donned a mischievous smile, “if you have a ballgown for me to dance with you in I’ll gladly get changed~♥”

         “Pretty as I’m sure you see yourself, you wouldn’t want to get mud all over a nice dress,” Sonic shook his finger at Rosy.

         “Well, no, but you don’t actually want me to jump in the mud do you!”

         “I thought a rascal like you loved playing in the mud.”

         “I do, but I feel like we’re wasting a romantic opportunity!”

         “Yeah, let’s just focus on why we’re here.”

         “You mean you refusing to learn how to swim,” Rosy harumphed loudly as she put her hands on her hips and looked up at where Sonic was sitting on the cliffside. “I’m glad you worry about me when I choose to swim–”

         “I thought you wanted to run alongside me?” Sonic cut Rosy off and smirked as he watched her cheeks swell and her face grow redder and redder. “If you do, you’re going to have to learn to run on the surface of the water.”

         “It’d be romantic being able to swim together too,” Rosy whined before clasping her hands together and swooning. "Ooh~! I can just imagine the two of us dancing in the water together in this atmosphere! It’s so romantic~♥”

         “But not as cool as this.”

         With a smirk Sonic jumped from his perch and landed on a strip of land that allowed him to build up the speed he needed to race clear across the water, a perfect wave kicked up by his sprint.

         *Sigh~♥*

          ~So cool~♥

          ~Sonic really is so amazing, and he can probably just learn to swim by making another Ring Bond with me. He’s also so cool and confident I just know he’d easily make my skill at swimming his own. But I haven’t been as good at making Sonic’s speed my own on land. Watching him race across the water like that though, it’s so dreamy~♥

          ~I want to do it too!~

         Skipping across the stones she had been perched on, Rosy found a dry enough stretch of land and kneeled down into a runner’s stance. Kicking off, she braced herself against her hands and her feet were soon a spinning ribbon of red in the air above her. In the next instant she was trying to race across the surface of the water.

         “W~O~W~!” Rosy marveled as she looked back at the wave that arched up in her wake.

         That however was a drastic mistake.

         “Woah! Wait, NO~!”

         Misplacing her feet, Rosy slipped on the surface of the water and tried to take a desperate step to support herself. The surface of the water did not offer her the support she wanted, and she stepped right into the mud all the way up to her hip. Bracing her hands against the mud she managed the keep herself from going any deeper, but with one leg sticking up behind her she was quite the sight. Sonic could not help himself and laughed at her predicament.

         “You jerk!” Rosy yelled at him, lowering her free leg to the mud to try and give herself some leverage to pull free. Her submerged leg was held too fast though and all she managed to do was submerge her once free leg and sit on it. “I’m really stuck, Sonic!”

         “At least your hands are free,” Sonic noted with a smirk as he watched Rosy flail them at him helplessly. “Just hold them up and I’ll pull you free.”

         With little other choice as she continued to sink, Rosy watched Sonic run in place, his feet becoming a red ribbon as he performed his Super Peel Out. In the next instant he bolted across the water right for Rosy. A sudden sneeze though made him skip to the side and past her, landing feet first in the mud himself as a beam of green light just missed him.

         “Golems? Now?” Rosy asked with obvious frustration as several anchor-man golems drifted down from the cliffside like ghosts. Though they clenched their fists, it was the energy they drew into their cores that was of more immediate danger.

         “Just sit tight Amy,” Sonic advised his sinking companion as he rubbed the underside of his nose. “I’ll deal with these party crashers in a blink.”

         “SO~NI~C!” Rosy suddenly screamed as Sonic charged a Spin Dash and coated Rosy in a wave of mud. She doubted he could hear though over the whirring of his charging Spin Dash or the sudden rumbling from under the mud. “Now what?

         “KYAA~~!!!”

         Rosy’s scream was drowned out as a jet of water suddenly erupted from under her and launched her dozens of feet into the air. The sound of rings scattering could still be heard below her, and she knew instantly it was Sonic as several fireworks raced past her into the sky. It was an obvious pattern meant to flank the water jet, so the missing one surely hit Sonic back down in the mud.

         ~It’s really just like the instruments. The Rings misremember how fireworks and fountains work and they set them off everywhere and anywhere. They’re pretty enough, and I could probably appreciate them more if it wasn’t for the fact that as soon as this water jet stops, I’ll be falling right back into the mud.

         ~Hm? Is that a cat on the wall? It couldn’t be? Its face is at least twice as tall as I am. And so flat too.~

         Blinking, whatever cat Rosy thought she saw was gone. So too was the water jet that had launched her so high into the air. It was the perfect spot to watch the fireworks alight the stary sky above her, but there was nowhere for her to go but back down.

         “I told you we should have gone dancing or swimming instead~!” Rosy cried as gravity took hold of her and she fell back down to the tidal mud flat where Sonic was having no luck with the golems who floated easily over the water’s surface. He was still having more luck than Rosy though, who instinctively shielded her head with her arms and dived into the mud headfirst. The mud was soft enough for her to go right in, but thick enough that she only went in up to her waist. Upside-down, her legs kicked about uselessly, occasionally spinning into a ribbon of red with no ground to run on before her and Sonic both were forcefully pulled back to a Star Ring Post.