Wretched Blessing

Chapter 5

Sonic's Point of View

        The wind howled as I traveled, using the brightest star in the sky—the North Star—as my guide. With the speed I was moving, my hat flew loose into the storm to never be seen again. I grimaced, knowing I was going to be in for a lot of trouble seeing as more of my skin was exposed to the freezing air. There was no way I'd turn back, though, as (Name) was injured and needed help. I would gladly suffer for the friend I had forsaken.

        Glancing at the star for the thousandth time, I adjusted my path to where I was facing slightly to the west. Shadow had said she would be this way, and he had been correct on multiple occasions. I trusted him this time, even with his usually-resentful demeanor. From how he had denied Silver the emerald and given it to me, it was apparent that Shadow, in some way, felt responsible for the tragedy of the lost girl. He knew it wasn't (Name)'s fault that Mephiles had escaped which led us to be trapped in Holoska—at least, it wasn't all her fault.

        When I came across a forest of pine trees, I stopped. Surrounding the forest, nearly made invisible by the heavily falling snow, were mountains. It looked just like the place Shadow had described. With my head tilted down as I looked for any sign of tracks, I quickly gave up on the search as surely the snow would have covered them by now. However, I wasn't about to give up on (Name) just yet. I had the Chaos Emerald for a reason, and this was a good time to put it to use.

        Retrieving the white gem from the pocket of my parka, I squinted at it through the mist of snowflakes that rendered my visibility nearly useless. A faint glow rose from the emerald, a sign that the (animal) girl was alive and just barely within range to be detected. The Chaos Emeralds didn't have the ability to point out which direction an energy source came from, so I would have to find my friend through trial and error.

        Heaving a sigh and coughing as frost particles were inhaled into my lungs, I began my search with the forest route. There was shelter underneath the splayed branches of the pine trees, even if those trees were few and far between in various patches around the area. If (Name) was near, she had to be in a forest, right? It was the most reasonable choice.

        Unfortunately, after only minutes of fast-paced walking through the pine forest, the light of the emerald grew dim. Frowning, I exited the forest the way I had come and saw the glow return. So, she was not in the forest. Where else could she go? I questioned myself. Ragged, unwelcoming mountains were on either side of the valley, being doused in snow that fell thicker than where I was currently. If (Name) had gone up those, she'd be in for a hard time.

        From the looks of the emerald, she had done just that.

        "Why, why, why?" I muttered to myself with a hand on my forehead in despair. "Why couldn't you make this easier, (Nickname)?" Of course, I knew the exact reason why she had gone to the most dangerous place possible. It was so nobody would be able to get to her. She wanted to stay hidden.

        I thought about what would happen if I managed to locate the were(animal). How would she react? There was no doubt she didn't want to be found, but, if it was me who found her, would she come with me to the village or would she continue to resist? Maybe if she saw how desperately I had been seeking her, she'd be convinced to return to our group of friends. I knew she was a good person who wanted to help people, not ruin the world, and I knew she was hiding just so nothing worse would happen after Mephiles had escaped. Nevertheless, that demon was still out there, possibly looking for (Name), and he needed to be taken care of. Whatever Mephiles had done to get her to side with him in the future, based on what Silver had said, I wasn't going to let it happen.