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 Children of Gaia fought.
The Children of Chaos fled.
The Children of Gaia stayed behind.
This should be their world, not the Dreaded One’s.”

···

♪ ~ [OhKami ~ Kevin Penkin ~ TV Anime [The Rising of the Shield Hero] Original Soundtrack]

         Laughter rang up and echoed over the whole of the Zone. Such was the quite brought on by the cold.

         “Come on! This is too much!”

A castle built like a wall
Unending was the wall, buried in a land of snow
Night long fallen and the stars watching from above
Mountains of ice and flowers of light in bloom
Roses in blue and white entangling all
Wooden mannequins dressed as jesters
Golems with a sense of fun

         “I don’t get why you’re wasting time trying to play at their games, Amy,” Sonic remarked as he dodged a snowball and leapt over another as a sneeze took him off his feet. “Just smash ‘em and let’s go!”

         “Come on Sonic,” Rosy whined, her white leotard partially camouflaging her in the snow. “How often do you get to have a snowball fight with a castle jester?”

          ~Tee-hee~♥ I know it’s causing Sonic a lot of trouble, but it’s too much fun having a snowball fight. Sure, I should be helping Sonic fight the golems so we can stay safe, but really.

          ~Okay, I’ll be honest. I’m having too much fun in a weird situation.

          ~This Zone is different from the other Zones in the Far Lands, and I don’t just mean that the golems are playing with us. Which they aren’t by the way. They may be made from wood and dressed like jesters, but just like the stone ones everywhere else they really aren’t being friendly. You see, this Zone is weird in that it’s not. But I hadn’t thought about it before.

          ~Typically, if you look up at the sky in the Far Lands you can almost always find Yolk in front of the sun. But here that isn’t the case. And not just that, but Sonic and I have watched the sun set and rise just like it’s supposed to. But in other Zones it doesn’t. It’s so weird.

         ~There is a problem with day and night passing like they should though. In this frozen Zone it’s absolutely too cold at night. It’s why I’m enjoying this little snowball fight. I’m staying nice and toasty by moving around so much. Sonic though isn’t having nearly as much fun with it. It’s rare for him to be too cold. Especially since he says he can use the Rings to protect himself from the cold. Ooh~! Why won’t you teach me that trick Sonic!~

         Watching Sonic as her thoughts lingered on him and he splintered wood golems with his spin attack, Rosy let her guard down.

         “Gyeep?”

         The snowball took her in the side of the head and took her clear off her feet. Unlike in her own commentary on her situation though, the danger of the snowball slinging jesters became immediately apparent as the Rings she had been carrying scattered everywhere. To make matters worse, Rosy tumbled right over the side of a large snowdrift and started picking up speed and snow. Before she could tell what was happening, she had become a snowball herself and rolled without direction.

         “You know, you rascal,” Sonic irritably laughed as his attention was drawn in Rosy’s direction from the sound made by dropped Rings. “If you’re going to have a snowball fight with deadly clown acts, you better play at their level.”

         Though he joked, Sonic had no intention of leaving Rosy on her own and moved to deal with the remaining jesters. Even trapped inside a giant snowball, Rosy somehow still managed to help as she bowled over several jesters unwittingly. Seeing the scene, Sonic could not help but laugh and make a joke. “Strike!”

         Amused as Sonic was, his enjoyment came to an end when Rosy did not emerge from where the snowball came to a stop in a gully between two snow drifts.

         “Alright rascal, it’s too cold for your games,” Sonic commented as he slid down the side of the snow drift to where the giant snowball had stopped. “You can come out of there now and stop wasting time.

         “…Amy?”

         Though worry snuck its way into Sonic’s mind, he did not waste time dwelling on it and performed a spin attack straight through the heart of the snowball. As he burst out the other side he uncurled and revealed he had retrieved Rosy from withing. As he landed and slipped and slid to a stop, he looked down at her shivering violently and far from conscious.

         “Really Amy?’ Sonic asked as he quickly scanned the environment for any heat sources.

         The ballroom like interior of the wall castle where musical instruments danced in the air playing themselves was likely the warmest place in the Zone, but where Sonic and Rosy were the main body of the castle was encased in ice and frost that made entry impossible. That left the gas-powered streetlights that marked the top of the castle as Sonic’s next best bet.

         Hurrying to the top of one such lamp, Sonic found he could not break it open to reveal the lifesaving flame within.

         “Not good,” Sonic gritted his teeth as Rosy’s shivering subsided, a blue color starting to creep into her features. “I know blue is your favorite color and all Amy, but this is definitely not a good shade on you.”

         Gently tossing Rosy up and down in his arms to get a better grip on her, Sonic contemplated his options. Even with his speed though there weren’t many, especially since running with Rosy exposed in the cold air at his velocities would likely make things worse. Looking down at her again in his arms, Sonic’s face became a complicated mess. As he could see the blue color taking over with a fine coat of white frost, Sonic swallowed loudly as he gritted his teeth.

♪ ~ [FFVII REMAKE: (Home Away from Home) ~ Nobuo Uematsu ~ FINALFANTASY VII Original Soundtrack]

          ~It’s warm… Warm and golden…♥~

         Opening her eyes, Rosy was not greeted with much of a view. She was curled up into a tight ball and could not really uncurl. There was a pressure all around her that she could not explain, and a rhythmic warm and moist breeze penetrating a small region of her spines.

         ~What’s…?~

         “I swear Amy, if you stab me with your quills…”

          ~No way! No way! No way!

          ~Is Sonic… is Sonic actually using his body to warm me up!~

         *BLUSH*

         The action which had drawn forth Sonic’s voice and made Rosy’s heart skip a beat was fairly simple for the hedgehog girl. A simple stiffening of her spines to try and feel her surroundings while she could not see. Sonic’s voice was unexpected, and she grew stiff as a board and very red in color. Stiffening as she did though threatened to make her spines stand on end, which would have very likely caused her to stab Sonic with them. Thus, she fought with every ounce of her being to keep her spines relaxed, desperate to confirm her situation. Before she could though…

         “Not one word you rascal,” Sonic offered her another warning, making sure she did not say anything. “You so much as make a peep, and not just now, ever…”

          ~I know Sonic doesn’t mean it. He would never threaten his friends anyway. And even for as much as he fights against the feelings I know he has for me thanks to the Ring Bond, I’m at least still his friend. But maybe, maybe this is finally the start of something more. Ooh~! Why can’t I stop my tail from wagging now!

          ~Eh-he-hee-hee…♥ But I’m so happy~♥

          ~Really though, I need to control myself. I ended up tickling Sonic with my tail and he left me in this burrow he made in the snow to get some firewood. Tee-hee~♥ Those jesters being made of wood has made them pretty useful. And of course, this is Sonic so it’s little surprise it doesn’t feel like any time has passed at all before he gets a fire going.

          ~Tee-hee~♥ How romantic! Sonic and me alone in a burrow by the fire. But I think he’s too embarrassed. He’s lying on the other side of the fire with his back towards me. Tee-hee~♥ I just want to tease him, but it would be mean to now. Still, he’s so much warmer than the fire.~

         Surprised and not surprised by how weak she was after her little incident, Rosy did her best to crawl around the fire to Sonic. If he saw the nigh drunk with happiness look on Rosy’s face he may have bolted. As he had kept his back to the fire where he lay on his side though, Rosy was able to get close and pull herself up behind him so that her spines brushed against his. She could feel Sonic stiffen through the interaction of their spines and struggled to muffle her giggling as she watched the fire. But then Sonic rolled away from her.

         “Aw~ You’re no fun Sonic,” Rosy whined as she struggled to roll over and look at him.

         A look of surprise crossed Rosy’s features as she saw Sonic lying on his back, arms behind his head and his chest completely exposed. It looked so enticing and welcoming. So much so that before she knew it, she was resting her head there. Sonic stiffened up again, but Rosy did not move any further, instead focusing on Sonic’s heartbeat. And more importantly…

          ~He’s so warm…♥~

         “Thank you, Sonic,” Rosy managed to say without drooling from being too happy. “But I really need to get good enough so you can stop having to save me.”

         Sonic did not offer a response. The reason for his silence was lost on Rosy, though her mischievous nature and playfulness likely led her to believe it was due to embarrassment. And she would not have been wrong, maybe. Sonic after all had turned his head away from her, his nose tickled by something delicate and pleasant.

         “We really need to do something about you and the cold,” Sonic finally broke the silence, his own cool demeanor contrasting with the warmth Rosy drank deep of from him.

         “What are you suggesting? “Rosy asked, her eyes closed as she enjoyed and treasured the fullness of the moment. A tapping against the back of her head was the answer she received, and she puffed up her cheeks. She was not pleased to be being teased when she had done her best to hold back from teasing Sonic. That, and rolling over was still not easy. But as she did and made sure to keep her head resting on Sonic’s belly, she found herself looking through a Ring into Sonic’s emerald green eyes.

         *Gasp*

         Rosy did not have the opportunity to say anything as Sonic smirked and the Ring burst into countless motes of golden light that she and Sonic absorbed. It was so quick and so simple of an event, but Rosy recognized it immediately and knew full well that Sonic had made another Ring Bond with her. She was so full of joy and happiness she was sure she would never fall asleep. However, she soon dozed off with Sonic as her pillow, her mind wondering about the nature of this latest bond and how she could have ever forgotten the two-tailed fox who filled her dreams.