Moving Pains

Sonic roamed the crowded riverside streets of Giganima, a grimy, poor, yet tight-knit historic town in the eastern country of the Iron Dominion. It was about 11 at night on a winter day, but every shop was still open. As Sonic walked past the windows, the foggy frigid midnight seemed to disappear for but a fleeting second. Sonic eventually stopped at one of these windows to warm up. He bathed himself in the tangerine-colored light and covered himself with his cloak. He unintentionally whiffed the salty smells of raw and cooked seafood alike. Sonic put his arms through the rings of the many heavy bags he held, breathing into his hands to remain warm. He was surrounded by many other citizens of Giganima stopping to do the same. He then continued on through the bronze-speckled streets without a word to any of them.

As Sonic crossed the red-plank bridge connecting two blocks of artificial land above the unbelievably deep and green rivers that ran across the entirety of the Iron Dominion, he waved at a man braver than himself, a man who could float atop the Kazukoro River in a tiny wasen and meet the water's cold, unending depth with only the blankest of stares. A local fisherman cat who Sonic never really knew the name of. Though the cat didn't notice Sonic, Sonic heard a ribbit from under the big purple cat's rice hat. A little green frog peeked out from it, big yellow eyes looking up at Sonic as he stared back. But soon, it tucked itself away under the cat's hat as the two continued their fishing adventure in the misty town's dark rivers.

Sonic then ran, the wind whistling in his ears louder and higher-pitched than before. He ran down the barren streets of the Giganima outskirts with nobody to block his way home out in the desolate suburbs. He only went to this town to get food and supplies when necessary to survive. Perhaps he could buy a worn-down book in a language he could hardly read or old VHS he couldn't understand if he was really lucky. Because he did not live there. He could not even afford to live in one of the poorest cities in all of the Iron Dominion. He was not a part of this warm, family-like community.

Sonic didn't speak their language, he couldn't enjoy their traditional foods, he did not know of their customs. He was reluctantly terrified of the lot of them, because his whole life, he had known nothing of these people except for the demonized caricatures shown in his homeland's media. He had done nothing but hurt these people in the past, on the battlefield and unwittingly in the comfort of his old home. He could hardly face them for these reasons, and he felt he was undeserving of them, because they had only ever treated him with kindness. So Sonic merely turned away from it all, because it hurt so much to be cared for even just a little bit.

It had been a good few months since Sonic had left the Robotnik Empire for good. Never to turn back on that life that had left him battered and scarred. However, for all that he hated that life and the restrictions that came with it, he had to admit that he had it good. He had a palace, he had video games and servants and the most cutting edge technologies at arm's length. He was wealthy back then. But he had screwed all that up. And there was no going back now.

No longer did he have any of those things. He lived a humble little life in a small run-down minka. It had taken him a while to learn these foreign words by heart, but minka was a kind of house. The ones with sliding doors and the such. Wasen was a type of traditional boat. And finally, he remembered that he did in fact know the cat's name. It was… hmmm… Big. Big the Cat. How could he have forgotten that?

"Tails," Sonic said, pounding at the door in the harsh nuclear winter-born tundra just outside the spot where the city lights grew distant on nights like these. A realm on the edge of society where houses gave way to trees and people gave way to… well, nothing. At least the stars were completely visible with little to no light pollution. "Tails, let me in!" Sonic cried desperately, feeling his feet go numb in the calf-height fallout snow. A thought crossed his mind to invest in pants. But he quickly shook the thought. The cold must have really been getting to him.

Tails often locked the doors at night, even while Sonic was still outside. Tails was always anxious that somehow, Swatbots would come pounding at their door. Even though he knew there was little to no chance of his old life catching up to him. He still worried. And he worried until he drove himself into physical illness. Or maybe it was just the toxins in the air, or the unbelievably cold weather as of late.

"Tails, I have your medicine," Sonic said, nearly at his emotional stability's end. Tails must have been asleep. Sonic pounded on the door again. Louder this time. And then heard Tails walk to the entrance all wobbly. Sonic heard him unlock and then open the door. Neither of them spoke, because they were both exhausted. Sonic just offered the medicine up to Tails, who took it and swallowed the disgusting liquid formula. Tails' face scrunched up bitterly, but that soon subsided. He wobbled back over to his cot. Sonic walked inside and placed the bags on the ground. The two sat in silence for what felt like hours.

"Thanks for looking out for me, Sonic," Tails yawned. "I know it's only temporary, but each day I feel like I'm gonna die." Tails coughed and hacked. Sonic patted him on the back. Tails wiped the saliva from his lip with his glove.

"It's okay, Tails," Sonic replied. He readjusted his showy golden mask. "Hey, I managed to get my hands on this old movie. Wanna give it a watch?" Tails had already fallen asleep while Sonic wasn't looking. Sonic sighed, and looked at the floor. This was supposed to be good, this was supposed to be a happy ending. Why wasn't it a happy ending?

He had given his all to get there, but in the end, this place was no different from the Robotnik Empire. No matter how fast and how far Sonic ran, he couldn't outrun the crushing reality of strict laws, corrupt governments, and moreover, the pains of his past.

He inserted the VHS into the player, and watched as the black and white movie began to crackle to life. Words sizzled into existence up on the tiny little vintage TV. Sonic groaned. There was no sticker or any kind of label on the VHS, so he had no idea this could have been some kind of sing-a-long tape for little kids. What a waste of money.

Sonic listened to the drowned-out, fuzzy lyrics. As mentioned before, he couldn't understand the Iron Dominion's language, but sometimes they would switch to English. Even then, the lyrics were nonsensical. They said something like "Go-go Little Planet, o'er our Never Lake, February once a year, go-go for journey sake!" Everything except for that was in Japanese. Sonic didn't know what a little planet was. Or a never lake. Maybe it was just an old myth.

But something about it intrigued Sonic. He instantly jumped off of his cot, and scrambled over to his map of the Iron Dominion. From what Sonic could gather, this tape told of another planet that appeared over a lake. Judging by the wording, the lake was in the Iron Dominion. He may have been going crazy, taking the words of ancient nursery rhymes as possible truth. But if his last adventure involved him getting tangled up in an ancient prophecy, going to space, and using seven gems of infinite power to become a super version of himself… anything was possible.

If there was indeed another planet, maybe he and Tails could leave Erius altogether and live there! There was no good to be found here, no place that was safe from totalitarian dictators further ruining life for those less fortunate than them. It wasn't even a decision Sonic had to think twice about. It was like a dream come true. Maybe it was just a dream, in the sense of being an unachievable goal. But Sonic didn't ever base his beliefs in reality or odds. Only his own gut feeling.

The Iron Dominion was a small country. So as Sonic made his third hasty scan of the entire map, he pinpointed it. Never Lake, just on the edge of the valley known as Palace Garden. Sonic smirked. Now he knew that even if there was no such thing as Little Planet, he had to at least take a shot. It was February, just when the planet was said to appear over Never Lake. But it wouldn't be there for long, because the next day would be one of the last for Sonic to be able to catch Little Planet before it disappeared until next year. March was approaching.

There was only one thing wrong with his plan, and he realized this quickly. Palace Garden was the fortress of the Iron Queen, the ruler of the Iron Dominion. Sonic and the Iron Queen weren't exactly best friends. So if he got caught, he knew it wouldn't end well.

Sonic knew it was way too late for him to function anymore, much less in such an escapade as breaking into the castle grounds. So he would have to do this in the morning. Until then, he would rest easy. Knowing it could very well be his last night on Erius.

The sun rose over the horizon. Bathing the frigid wastelands surrounding Palace Garden in a bright morning light. Then, a blue blur came blasting through the war-torn castle grounds from over the surrounding cascades. He burst through the storm of cherry blossoms, clearing a tunnel of sorts throughout the haze so Tails could follow.

Sonic scampered through the snowy glen, so fast that his footprints could hardly be seen in the snow. He spun around the sacred royal castle, with no regard for the cold mud he tracked onto the squeaky clean walls. "Sonic! Be careful!" Tails cried throughout coughs and sneezes. "If someone spots us, we're as good as dead!"

Sonic paid no mind to this. Because he knew throughout all the trouble they were causing, he and Tails would be just fine. Sonic reached the peak of the castle, and looked forward. He could see it clear as day. All of his theories were confirmed right then. Little Planet existed, and it resided just over the Never Lake. But something was wrong. Attached to Little Planet was a large chain that shackled it to a nearby mountain.

"What is that thing?!" Tails asked, shocked by the sight of not only Little Planet, but the chain attaching it to Erius. He thought Little Planet was something Sonic made up. The only reason Tails had followed him was to make sure Sonic would be okay. He had been acting completely erratic as soon as he woke up. Rambling on about something he heard in a nursery rhyme, and a ticket off of Erius forever. It was as if Sonic had a wild dream, and then haphazardly explained it all to Tails in a frenzy. He then packed his bags, told Tails to follow him, and ran out the door. It had been twenty minutes since then, and they had run roughly 1,200 miles at a relatively steady pace.

Sonic looked at the planet intently, then grinned. He jumped off the castle, rolled down, and shot off into the distance with a sonic boom that shook the surrounding area. Tails covered his ears from the unbelievably loud sound. Sonic flew off into the sky, and landed on the chain. Only to run right up, and towards Little Planet. Tails sighed. He already heard guards shouting at him to get down, probably so that they could kill him. So he jumped, and flew off into the sky after Sonic.