Wretched Blessing

Chapter 1

        White passed by in a blur. An endless blur. More white billowed from my mouth with each passing breath, falling into a trail behind me and blending in with the snow constantly kicked up by my paws. The scents around me were muffled, as if being distinguished through a mask, but the cold air was sharp when it collided with my lungs. It told me I was still alive, that this was real. That all that had happened wasn't some nightmare I was trying to get away from. I would never get away from it, reality. No matter what happened it would always follow me and make itself present, especially in the hardest of times.

        But I still ran. I was not sure where to, I just knew I had to get away from my friends, from anyone innocent, and hide from Mephiles. The name gave me shivers. He had been with me this whole time, guiding my journey to find the Chaos Emeralds and to find myself, and I hadn't even known it. He had been in my dreams and in my body. He had gained my trust and used that to his advantage to manipulate my decisions in his favor, assuring me that whatever resulted would aid my mission. Of course, it was all a lie, and I was too naïve to see it.

        The future Silver had described was one of darkness and despair. Humans and anthropomorphic animals being captured, mutilated, and tossed to the side like worthless trash. The environment itself being drained of its vibrant color and life and turned into a wasteland surrounded by a dreary purple and black aura that gave the feeling of your soul being sucked right out of your chest. That wasn't the future I strived for. I wanted always to feel the soft, natural elements underneath my paws as I raced through a land filled with birdsong and the buzzing of insects. I wanted life to go on, not for it to end.

        Snow tipped mountains climbed into view, rising over the distant shapes of pine trees. I must have reached Holoska, despite thinking I had been traveling in the opposite direction. What was I thinking? Holoska was its own continent! I was trapped, surrounded by ocean, with no way out. The only way would be by plane or boat, and I didn't have either of those. However, Holoska was a pretty big place—at least from what it looked like on maps. If I hid well enough, maybe nobody would find me. I'd go to the most unexpected place possible, somewhere dangerous and nearly impossible to get to. Somewhere...like those mountains. I could see the clouds streaking down over the steep white slopes, no doubt filled with an endless supply of snow. My tracks would be covered. Hopefully, my aura too, as the obvious blizzard should be a major deterrent from anybody approaching.

        I steered myself in the direction of the mountains, steadying my pace so I would not run out of breath before I was able to reach my destination. As I entered a valley surrounded by towering rocks thousands of feet high, I sought out the tallest. It was deeper inland, almost lost among all the other mountains. But what captured my attention was its peak. Its peak punctured the clouds and continued to rise until it was entirely out of sight from the ground. That was where I'd go. Nobody would find me there.

        To get to the tallest mountain I first had to travel up the others that were around it, gradually climbing higher and higher until finally making contact with its grand surface. The air grew colder the further I went, but with my thick (color) fur I was able to suffer through it without any damaging effects. Who knew how long that would hold up, though? If I didn't find a place to stay warm for the night, I would eventually fall victim to the elements just as any other creature would. My body shivered, already doing what it could to keep me going for as long as possible.

        After punching holes into a windswept snowbank for about an hour while flurries of snow smacked my face, I reached the point of where I could not see the valley from above. I was in the clouds. All around me was cold and dark and grey. My (eye color) eyes opened in wonder as I witnessed the formation of tiny and pure water droplets accumulating into a single snowflake. It drifted down through the clouds, joined by hundreds of thousands more, swept away in the wind to feed the endless snowstorm.