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.*
*SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS retains full rights over the Sonic the Hedgehog™ intellectual property and can terminate or take control of this work at any time.

~EPISODE OF AMNESIA ISLAND 04~

         ★Under clear blue skies adventure calls to those whose hearts yearn for it. Whether it be the excitement of not knowing what comes next, meeting new people and seeing sights beyond one’s home, the thrill of seeing what others have never seen or the sense of connection from pilgrimage, adventurers are called from all walks of life. As they look to the blue sky and yearn for what lies beneath it, their hearts race and they feel themselves come alive. All it takes is the first step, to run, to break free, to pursue a dream that cannot be achieved standing still. This is the call of an adventurer. A call that rings eternal.

Cottage of mud and shelved brick
Buried in grassy hill, trees, and shrubs
A quaint dirt path
Lush garden carefully maintained
Tomatoes glistening in mid-morning light
Palms rising above forest canopy
Distant ocean framed by trees and clouds
Above, a sky so blue

         “Oh yes, before you go,” Nana stopped Tempest as he stood on the front stoop of her abode looking out at the distant horizon. “It’d be awful to have you running around bare foot, and I just happen to have some sandals lying around that should fit you.

         “Really, the clothes hidden all over this island are a godsend,” Nana chuckled as she handed Tempest the sandals and a glove for his left hand. “Nearly everything Rosy and I have needed has simply been hidden somewhere if we just looked for it. Well, bar the leotard she wears. We made that together after she ripped up one too many dresses on her little adventures. Able to make it with Rings even so she can always repair it just by picking up one of those silly golden loops. Or at least that’s what I’ve heard they look like. I can’t actually see them myself, which is why Rosy gathers them every day.

         “And here I am prattling on again,” Nana laughed at herself and shooed Tempest from the stoop. “You go have a good time, though I recommend looking for Rosy down by the beach. There’s a fishing machine down there that catches our dinner for us. She’ll probably have gone that way first if she didn’t get distracted. And do please carry a Ring if you can see them. According to Rosy, they keep her out of most of the trouble she gets into.”

         “I will,” Tempest smiled and adjusted the glove with a tug on the wrist strap that allowed the crystals growing from his wrist through.

         Soon he was off and running at a light pace with an amazed smile on his face. The paths of the forest were full of bird life and small rodents scampering about, the golden loops Nana spoke of hanging in the air spinning on their axes presenting paths of their own to follow.

         “Rings, huh?” Tempest contemplated as he stopped before one and reached to grab it. At his touch it disappeared with a twinkling of golden motes of light not dissimilar to those of Darkness left by the drops of liquid Darkness from his right arm. “I wonder if they’re similar.”

         Looking at his arm, Tempest called the Ring he collected from wherever it resided within his body with a flick of his wrist and compared it. How he did so never even crossed his mind as he was guided by an instinct he did not even observe. He did not observe anything of further interest in comparison either and reabsorbed the Ring as he dashed off simply collecting them as he ran.

         “If this Rosy is collecting them for Nana, then I should too since I can see them,” Tempest mused aloud, chasing after the loops and leaping about allowing the stretchiness of his arm to let him swing from the trees freely even.

         “Ha-ha-ha! This is so much fun! Just running and testing myself. I wonder how much harder I can push myself?”

         With a toothy grin Tempest slid to a stop and knelt down into a runners pose, scanning the trees for a path he could chase after the Rings on. Seeing one he liked he bolted off leaving a shockwave in his wake that shook the whole forest. A Sonic boom that scared the birds from the trees and sent the forest critters running. But he was going too fast to even hear them no less his own foot falls or the melody of the Rings, at least until his unplanned burst of speed led him strait into a natural spike formation that he would have impaled himself on if not for the Rings. At that point he heard their jingle as a force he could not comprehend threw him back from the obstacle and sent the Rings he had gathered up flying.

         Landing on his rump, Tempest stared ahead blankly for a moment, the light of his crystals turning purple with his confusion. Then they turned back blue as he burst out laughing and fell onto his back.

         “I guess that’s what Nana by the Rings keeping me safe. Ha-ha-ha! Wow, what type of trouble does Rosy get into to need them regularly? But what about me? I was running so fast I couldn’t even hear anything anymore. Wow!”

         Sitting up, Tempest marveled as he looked at his legs which did not appear particularly special save where the crystals that grew from his ankles were. “He-he, I can actually run faster than sound. Really, who was I?”

         Confused as he was, Tempest kept laughing as he got to his feet and looked out through the forest at the distant ocean. “I bet at a pace like that though I can find Rosy in no time.”

         Laughing and smiling Tempest took off again, a mixture of caution and self-challenging himself leading him to fly through the forest. “Wahoo~!”

         Arriving on the beach, Tempest’s eyes were drawn to a massive windmill with wood arms up the coastline. It was a strange windmill since it was also built into a white walled lighthouse and two cables led from a slot in its side into the ocean. They appeared to be moving in opposite directions as though they were on a pulley system, and daylight twinkling revealed the hooks hanging from them.

         “I guess that’s the fishing machine…”

         With his speed it took Tempest only a matter of seconds to reach the lighthouse windmill. But there was no sign of anyone outside and he soon set foot into the dusty interior.

         “Hello?” Tempest asked as he stepped into the lighthouse.

         He could hear the humming of a generator and the turning of the wooden arms of the windmill, but he could not see much save motes of dust illuminated by light that filtered in through shuttered windows. That and golden light that zipped through the air accompanied by a voice of a young woman. “Rosy!

         “No wait, Rosy doesn’t have a boy’s voice,” a strange and tiny teardrop shaped creature with large eyes commented as it stared at Tempest.

         It was held aloft in the air by dragonfly like wings that were not even connected to it and had a tiny Ring that lay on its side floating above it. Like the Ring it was golden in color and motes of light like those left behind by collected Rings trailed its flight.

         “Wait, you’re the boy she found last week!”

         “Last week?!” Tempest asked in shock as the light from his crystals turned purple. “I’ve been asleep for a week?!”

         “Maybe longer,” the creature mused and looked away. “It’s not like you were conscious when she found you.

         “…

         “Wait!” the creature suddenly shouted and looked at Tempest in wide eyed surprise. “You can hear me! I mean obviously since we’re talking, but does that mean you can see me too?”

         Flitting about, the creature’s eyes grew wider and wider as Tempest followed it with his eyes, only having to turn as it circled him.

         “Is that unusual?” Tempest asked, his voice uncertain and growing wary.

         “Not entirely,” the creature admitted. “As a Ring Fairy it’s not all that uncommon for even people who can see the Rings to not be able to see me. Even from those who can though it’s even rarer those who can hear me!”

         “So, it is unusual then,” Tempest remarked.

         “Not as unusual as your arm,” the fairy countered. “That’s the most unusual thing I can think of in the whole world.”

         “Really?” Tempest asked warily as he held up his right hand and looked at the Darkness that it was.

         “Yes!” the fairy answered amazed, but there was suddenly a noticeable shift in the air around it. “Perhaps though something so unusual can help me fulfill my mission to save the world!”

         “Save… the world…?”

         “Yes! I am the Ring Fairy, Mote the Fairy! I am tasked with saving the world and the missing pink hedgehog girl Rosy is my vassal! And I believe that you too deserve the right to serve me on my mission!”

         “…What…?” Tempest asked confused and scratched behind his ear with his right hand.