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.

“The Rings remember,
therefore the Dreaded One knows.
Our music will not be lost,
but it will be tainted by the Dreaded One.”

···

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

An unending castle wall
Ballrooms and balconies all facing the sea
Great piers and white sand beaches
Instruments joyfully playing themselves
Fairies and cats entranced by clouds of stars
Yoluku blocking the sun beyond the horizon
The stars above joined by fireworks and music

         Watching the waves crash against the beach well beyond the parapets of the balcony she stood on, Rosy puffed up her cheeks.

          ~It’s such a pretty Zone, and even with no people in the Far Lands it’s full of so much life. Sure, it’s mostly cats and fairies, and the Rings misremembering things. And it’s not just instruments dancing about in the air and playing themselves, or fireworks shooting off from everywhere and anywhere either. There are even giant pinball bumpers floating in the air that I’ve bounced off more than once and springs that launch me way up into the air.

          ~Bumpers and springs are pretty common everywhere really, and according to Sonic they’re just more mistakes by the Rings and a lot of trouble for most people who don’t go adventuring like we do. But right now, it’s Sonic who’s being troublesome. Or maybe I’m just being fussy.

          ~Really, it doesn’t matter!~

         “Enough Sonic!” Rosy threw her arms up before placing her hands on her hips and glaring at her blue hedgehog traveling companion.

         “What’s up Amy?” Sonic queried carefully, ready to edge away from her at a moment’s notice. His total shift though brought an end to what was bothering Rosy, and she sighed, her arms flopping down at her sides as she slumped forward. “Are you okay, Amy?”

         “Ooh~! Just forget it Sonic!” Rosy forced herself to smile and spun around, clasping her hands behind her back. “You don’t want to dance, but you stopped tapping your foot out of tune to the music so at least that’s not bothering me anymore.”

         “Wait a minute,” Sonic straightened up from where he had been leaning against the parapets, feeling obviously offended. “Me, out of tune? You’ve got to kidding. I’ll have you know I’m pretty footloose myself.”

         “I’d love to see it,” Rosy looked over her shoulder at Sonic with a smile that Sonic wasn’t quite sure how to read. Seeing Sonic freeze wiped the smile from Rosy’s face, and her cheeks puffed up in frustration. “But you don’t want to dance so I’m going to go find another dance partner.”

         Closing her eyes as she looked away from Sonic, Rosy took a deep breath and then ran off leaving Sonic on the balcony alone. “What’s with her?”

         Scratching at an itch in his ear, Sonic watched the space where Rosy had been for a moment before flicking his nose with his thumb and straightening up.

“She’s been weird ever since we got to this Zone. And what type of smile was that? I was pretty sure I had a good grasp on all her different smiles, and then she brings out one like that.

         “…

         “Whatever. I better just make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble.”

         Trouble was the last thing Rosy was finding however. Though the tides and bumpers gave her trouble, Rosy was starting to get a good feel for the Zone. Even the golems were of little interest to her, even if she took note of column like golems that rose out of the sand, mud flats, and castle brick to fire green beams of light from their cores. Cores which sat directly on top of them and made them easy targets.

         None of that mattered however as Rosy had a different goal in mind. One that took her to a myriad of ballrooms, dancefloors set up on piers and balconies, stages on the beach and even just anywhere in the Zone instruments floated about and played themselves. But like she was not finding any trouble, she was not finding what she was looking for either.

         A dance partner.

          ~It’s so frustrating!

          ~The Red Gear Ring in my eye isn’t visible right now, but every group of fairies I find enjoying the music runs away the moment I get near. Even if I’m dancing already when I start approaching!

~The cats aren’t much better either. They just sit and watch me or walk off. I mean, I know they’re cats and that they probably don’t dance, but I just want to dance with someone! Even a cat!

          ~Hey wait! Don’t run!~

         Giving up was not something Rosy did. It was against her nature. She was possessed of a limitless supply of energy and optimism, but the more her fussiness and frustration built up the more time it took for her to rubber band back to her bubbly self. It was in these moments when she could be introspective, or just thoughtful. Standing at the water’s edge looking out at the stars with a hand held to her heart made her a striking sight to Sonic who stopped short, an air of uncertainty around him as he caught up with her yet again.

         “Now what is she up to,” Sonic asked quietly, watching her just from out of earshot. Or so he thought.

         Drifting on the night sea breeze, Sonic could hear Rosy’s voice gently humming some tuneless song. As she hummed, Rosy bounced back and forth cheerfully in beat to her little tune, her tail beginning to wag. Sonic could not help but smirk though as he noted that her tail was as out of rhythm as she had accused his foot tapping of being.

         “So that’s how you want to play it, huh,” Sonic playfully accused Rosy before seriously scanning his surroundings. Spotting what he was looking for, a toothy grin spread across his face. Knowing what he was going to do, he dropped all pretense of avoiding Rosy’s attention and sped off a moment, the sudden noise pulling Rosy from her peaceful moment.

         “Sonic?" Rosy asked as she turned around to see if he was there. He was not, but he did not fail to hear her or announce himself. However, he did not announce himself with words. Rather, it was the plucking of the strings of a cello that marked his presence. The tapping of a hand against the body of the instrument, a beat that could not be resisted rising up and calling Rosy to dance.

         “I can’t believe you,” Rosy laughed, unable to stop her hips from swaying with the music. “Why can’t we just dance traditionally?”

         “And where’s the fun in that? Sonic asked with a toothy grin as he spun the cello he confiscated on the spot. “Besides, you’re the one who challenged me. Saying I was out of tune. I bet you haven’t even noticed your tail is wagging completely off beat.”

         “Eep~♥” Rosy squealed both embarrassed and delighted that Sonic’s attention was on her. Grabbing at her behind to stop her tail made her dancing fairly awkward, but she did not care and smiled brightly.

          ~Ooh~! That Sonic~♥

          ~He never makes anything easy at all. He can’t even make dancing easy, or even romantic. But who cares! Sonic is playing a song just for me~♥ I couldn’t be happier!

          ~Tee-hee~♥ I hope that giant cat won’t feel jealous. I was thinking of asking them to dance next~♥