Blaze's Decision, Part One

A light shade of pink began to color the previous night's sky as the sun peeked over the horizon.  The enormous yellow ball brought with it a shade of orange as it spied down on the mostly-sleeping citizens of the Sol Dimension.  Few were awake at this hour, but everyone that was was at the royal castle.  One of them in particular loved watching the sun rise, partly because of its brilliant and fiery colors, partly because it signified a new day, a new beginning.  Blaze the Cat had a soft smile on her face, her golden eyes lighting up with the reflection of the sun as it slowly came out of its hiding place.  She liked the serenity of the early morning; she was alone with her thoughts, at least for a moment.  The moment did not last long, though, as she heard a knock at her door.  Sighing and shaking her head, she strode through her lavish room, certainly fit for the princess she was.  A bed large enough for an entire family, draped in purple sheets, was supported by four wooden posts with intricate carvings going ten feet above the bed itself, with a wooden overhang, on the underside of which had a carving of the seven Sol Emeralds and a large flame in the center, as if to tell a story to be read or a warning to be heeded.  A bright red carpet with mesmerizing curves and swirls done in golden thread.  "One moment, please. . ."  She called out to whoever was knocking.  She straightened the covers on her bed, then strolled over to her closet, which was just as large and breathtaking as everything else in the room.  She gave a slight grin and shook her head.  I don't need this much room just for simple clothes. . . but at least it's nice to look at.  Opening it up, she found an assortment of white, pink, purple, red, and gold garments.  Shoes, pants, skirts, and formal dresses lined the walls, but Blaze chose something simper that morning, a pink jacket with purple leggings, and red shoes.  She took a moment to adjust her appearance in the full-length mirror that lay next to the closet.  With a soft nod of approval, she walked to the door and slowly opened it to see Gardon, her royal guard.  "Oh!  Good morning, Gardon.  I am sorry to have kept you waiting."  

"That's quite all right, princess."  Gardon gave a bow of respect, and the corner of Blaze's mouth twitched.  She was never one for being referred to as royalty, or treated like she was better than anyone else.  "I just came here to remind you of the royal dinner later tonight in the castle.  There will be plenty of suitors there. . ."  At this, Blaze visibly rolled her eyes.  Gardon noticed this and sighed.  "I'm sorry, princess, but you must choose someone to wed so that you may lead this world as king and queen.  I know you don't like the idea, and I understand, but you have until your eighteenth birthday to choose who to marry."  That was six months from now, but Blaze did not see any suitor that she truly loved.  All of them wanted to be with her for the status and riches that came along with it.  She cleared her throat and shook her head so slightly it was barely visible.

"I will see what I can do, Gardon. . . in the meantime, I am going to meditate to prepare for the day."  She strode off quickly down the castle's vast stone halls, giving Gardon a nod as she passed him by.

"Princess. . ."  Gardon turned and took a step towards Blaze after she had passed him.

"Yes, Gardon?"  Blaze glanced back at Gardon.  She was getting irritated, but hid it well.

"I only press that issue with you because I believe that you are the best choice to lead this world. .  ."  Gardon's face showed no emotion, but Blaze still stared at him intently, eventually smiling at him again.  The two of them had known each other for years, and through all the political discussions and formal occasions Blaze had to attend, she had gotten very good at telling when people were lying, and she knew Gardon was being sincere.

"Thank you, Gardon.  I will see you at lunch."  Blaze tried to give a friendly wave good-bye, but it came out looking rigid and forced.  She sighed as she wandered through the castle to her favorite exit.  All the main passageways in the castle looked extravagant, with carpet much the same as the one in Blaze's room showing the way, and torches lit the walls even during the day to show the fiery resistance of the kingdom.  Portraits of kings and queens past were hung on the walls of the dining room and leading to the king and queen's chambers.  Simple carvings were done in stone to honor royalty that passed on, as well as the guardians who had came before Blaze.  Blaze had decided to take some of the side hallways, which were far more simple in their construction and aesthetics, and this particular one took her over the castle grounds.  If the soldiers were out training, she could have seen them, but even most of the soldiers did not rise this early.  The training weapons and dummies were strewn about the grounds haphazardly, but Blaze paid them no mind, instead going to the stone steps that led down to just outside the castle walls.  Not only was it the most direct way to the cave that held the Sol Emeralds, which was her favorite meditation spot, it was rarely used by anyone else, and because she would often be out before the soldiers started to train, hardly anyone ever saw her going to the cave.  She preferred it that way, not only through her desire to be secluded, but also, it would be difficult to attack her or steal the Sol Emeralds if a potential thief did not know where they were.  

There was no apparent path to travel to the Sol Emeralds' resting place.  No beaten path, no significant landmarks.  The proper way to get to the cave, as well as the way to find the Sol Emeralds once there, was passed down from guardian to guardian.  After a quick trek through the barren part of the castle grounds, Blaze came upon a less dense part of a nearby forest.  An unlikely place for hiding the most powerful objects in the entire dimension, but Blaze knew she was on the right track.  She deftly wove through the trees, her eyes alert for any potential predators or thieves, but none came.  This part of the forest looked as though it had seen a harsh summer, with browning leaves, if there were any on the tree to begin with, and the plants on the ground wilting and dying.  Blaze always had a frown on her face when she walked through this place, preferring a more vibrant surrounding, but she knew why this was done:  to hide the emeralds in an inconspicuous place.  She noticed a sparrow flying through the trees and smiled as the sparrow chirped its song.  It was more peaceful out here than in the castle, a reprieve that she appreciated, and came to depend on since her time to be forced to choose a suitor to rule alongside her as king was drawing closer.  Since she slowed down slightly to notice the sparrow, the cold morning air finally caught up with her, and she shivered.  Come on, Blaze, focus. . . you must get to the emeralds and meditate. . . She huffed, her breath visible in the air, and picked up the pace.  She broke into a brisk jog, deciding to warm herself up while she went to the emeralds.  Since she knew the area was safe, she decided to have a bit of fun as well, jumping off of the trunks, moving from tree to tree and branch to branch, her eyes still on watch and her tail swishing behind her.  She spotted an area up ahead where there were fewer trees, but just barely.  The area would still be inconspicuous, but Blaze knew better.  She leapt from her resting place on a branch and landed quietly on the brown grass.  After a quick glance behind to check for pursuers, she calmly wandered towards her target, a rock formation that would look to anyone else like a small, well-formed pile of rubble.  However, this rubble could not be moved, and hid a great secret.  With one final spin around finding no one, Blaze knelt down in front of the rubble and whispered to it.  "I am Blaze the Cat, heir to the throne, and guardian of the Sol Emeralds."

Nothing happened, but Blaze did not move a muscle.  Ten seconds passed, and she felt the earth start to move under her feet.  She jumped backwards as a fissure appeared in the ground and expanded outwards quickly.  She stuck a precision landing, and held still as the fissure came towards her, only to have it stop inches from her feet.  I'll never get used to that. . . She exhaled and looked down into the darkness, lighting a flame in her hand to show the way.  The cave was made entirely of natural earth and stone, with no light to speak of, but Blaze's flame had that covered.  As she confidently walked down the steps into the actual cave, she began to take deep breaths, calming herself in preparation to meditate.  She closed her eyes for a moment to help calm herself further, and opened them to see seven paths around her.  Most would think one emerald would be at the end of each path, but this arrangement was very different.  Six paths had natural traps that would lead to certain death for anyone who walked in, typically through means of cave-ins or giant boulders.  The center path out of all seven was correct, but a good guess was not all that was needed to enter.  When a guardian of the Sol Emeralds was around them enough, they had an undetectable aura of chaos energy around them, marked with the signature of the Sol Emeralds.  This had only one function:  to prove to the Sol Emeralds themselves that they were the rightful guardian.  Without it, the emeralds would either not function, or, if a thief tried to take them by force, the emeralds would expel them away and hit them with a blast of energy strong enough to kill most Mobians.  The prior guardian would enter with the new guardian and train them around the Sol Emeralds to give them this aura, or, when they died, they could transfer the aura to a candidate they found worthy.  The latter was what had happened with Blaze.  She had heard legends of the prior guardian, but had never met them in person.  Every morning, as she walked through the cave, she remembered when the disembodied voice of the former guardian had bestowed guardianship upon her.  

Blaze used to scoff at her new abilities and powers as a guardian being called blessings, but after meeting Sonic and his friends in another dimension, that all changed.  She reminisced about the times they shared as she wandered through the cave.  Her flame in her hand still lit the way, revealing the smooth, brown stone of the cave.  Her light footsteps echoed off the walls until a change in volume told her the area ahead was widening.  She saw the different colors of light coming from the Sol Emeralds being reflected off the walls, mentally counted to seven, then smiled as she saw all the emeralds were present.  The dead-end was round, and a perfect hemisphere, with the top about fifteen feet off the ground.  The Sol Emeralds lay equidistant from the center, six feet away, and Blaze gently stepped in between the cyan and green emeralds.  She sat down, cross-legged, bowed her head, and closed her eyes.  With a deep breath, the emeralds started to rise around her.  They hovered around her head, and the energy emanating from them created a barrier around Blaze.  The colors of the emeralds formed a visual shield, with the colors dancing around each other.   Blaze did not open her eyes until she heard the emeralds spinning around her.  She knew something was very wrong if the emeralds were reacting so strongly, but she also knew she was not followed, so it could not have been an intruder.  What's going on?  Blaze glanced around, then banged against the barrier with her fists, but the barrier was too strong for her to break through.  The emeralds spun faster and faster, and Blaze's eyes went wide with panic.  Her tail began to swish back and forth quickly, and her mouth hung open with fear as she tried to figure out what this all meant.  Her answer came soon enough when she stopped seeing the cave and started seeing what looked like the inside of a neon purple and white tunnel.  The small amount of solace she had when she remembered she was still protected by the Sol Emeralds disappeared when the barrier did.  The tunnel itself turned and she gasped as she felt herself falling.  Before she knew it, she was thrust into a place she could not recognize because she was moving too fast, with green and brown blurs whizzing past her as she went towards the ground.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  Blaze hit the ground with a sickening thud and was knocked unconscious on the spot.