Silver's First Flight
Silver stood at the edge of the roof of the building he had climbed and looked down at the street, several feet below. He listened to the warm wind blowing between his quills, making them waving in the air like a silvery flag, and sighed as he stared a bit at the gloomy sky in front of him, which in his time never seemed to leave for some reason. Down at the ground Tank the Rhino, Silver's best friend/tutor, looked up at the building, his huge arms folded against his chest, and sighed, since it had been quite some time since they tried that... For, despite having psychokinesis and having shown to be able to levitate before, Silver had some trouble taking flight. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't do much more than just hover a few inches of the ground. Sure, it was still something, but also not enough. He needed to learn how to fly. It was vital for the mission he had given himself: travel back in time to make sure that the hellish era they lived in would never happen. He had to do it... For her...
Suddenly, he had returned 11, back when his family were himself, Tank and her. Maya the Hedgehog. They had a rather off start, since when they met five years before, she would only nag the young psychic when all he wanted was being alone, since he had just lost everything: his parents, his older brother and younger sister, his home... Everything gone forever because of Nega and his insatiable thirst for power. However, he had befriended the young Future Police officer and, later on, he had also befriended that little troublemaker named Maya, after discovering that her happy personality was merely a facade to hide how much she mourned her own family's death, amplified by her empathic powers which hurted her when she was near sad or angered people, hence why she always tried to cheer everyone up.
The two had become inseparable, almost brotherly attached, and did everything together, from training to pranks. As they stood on the top of the building, which was part of their flying training, they each looked different: Maya was excited about learning how to fly, Silver was rather nervous due to his fear of heights.
“C’mon, Silvy! It’s easy! Just let your heart guide you!” said Maya, near the edge of the high building.
“I am! It’s telling me to stay the heck away from that edge!” he whimpered.
“A’ight, Maya! When yer ready!” yelled Tank from the ground, his powerful voice was strong enough to reach her up to the top of the twenty floor high building. She closed her eyes, turned her back towards the void and widneed her arms, slowly leaning backwards until gravity did its work and dragged her down.
“Maya!” yelled Silver, almost going towards the edge but stopping soon after, the mere idea of him gazing down was enough to send shivers down his spine, so he simply curled in a ball, sighing and cursing his stupid brain for telling him that heights were scary.
A sudden pinch and pull on his left ear made him look up, seeing Maya floating slightly above him while surrounded in a sky blue aura, her usual mocking grin plastered on her face.
“Goddammit! Don’t ever do that again!” he growled getting up.
“Gasp! Silvy, you sweared! I’m gonna tell!” she said, pretending to be shocked.
“W-Wait! No please!” he whimpered, he hated to swear because then Tank would punish him for it, but then she started laughing and rolled in the air while flying.
“YOU-YOU SHOULD’VE SEEN THE LOOK IN YOUR FACE! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” she laughed, pointing at him while crying from laughing too hard.
“That wasn’t funny…” he whined, lowering his ears.
“Yes it is, Silvy! When will you learn that?” she asked, landing and grinning, but then she kneeled down and helped him up. “Listen, do you know why you’re scared of heights?” she asked him.
“Because… Because they’re scary… I get too high and I start feeling sick and panic…” he said, lowering his tail.
“You’re scared because your brain tells you ‘High is bad’. When it happens, you have to convince it and yourself that it’s not true.” she said.
“But it is true! If I fall down from here and my powers don’t activate, I die. Period.” he whimpered.
“That’s exactly why the First Flight is taken from a high place. It’s an act of trust in your power and in who you are. A literal leap of faith. If you don’t trust your powers, then PLAF! Hedgehog marmalade! But if you do, then BAZWOW! Flying superhero! It’s as simple as that.” she said, widening her arms and smiling at him. He looked at the edge but couldn’t find the courage to take the leap. Maya sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Look, no one says that you have to do it now. But running away from your fear is only a temporary solution. Don’t let it catch on. Don’t let it cement in your brain or you’ll never grow out of it…” she said, hugging him to calm him down.
“...Why are both you and Tank smarter than me?” he asked while hugging her back.
“Because you’re a furry dum-dum. But we still love and care for you.” she said smiling, then took flight and flew down “Too bad you can’t fly! Now you have to take the stairs!” she yelled as she went down, making Silver groan and go for the stairs, not before looking at the edge and clenching his fist.
(One day… One day, I’ll do it…) he thought as he left.
Silver blinked as the memory finished, the wind had cooled down a bit since the sun went down and it was getting late.
“Yo Silv! You good?!” asked Tank through the earpiece.
“Yes, Tank… I was just… Lost in thought…” he said.
“Look, ya don’t have to do it now, man! We can always try tomorrow if ya ain’t feelin it…” he said, concerned about his buddy.
“No… I’ve procrastinated too long… I… I don’t want to be afraid anymore… I can’t… Not when the stakes are so high!” he said, cutting the communication.
“Dude… DUDE!” Tank yelled in the earpiece, groaning “He’s stubborn as a mule… Wonder where he took that…” he muttered. Silver gulped and shivered a bit as he dared to look down the twenty store building, barely able to see the road downwards. Sweat of discomfort started to trickle down his face, his legs shivered so hard that he felt like jello, his heart felt like a drum with how hard it beated and his brain was screaming to him “DON’T DO IT, STUPID! YOU’LL FAIL AND TURN INTO AN UGLY SILVERY STAIN ON THE CURB!” which made Silver step back from the edge and making him sit on the floor, grabbing his hair and shivering.
“WHY?! WHY AM I SUCH A FUCKING COWARD?!!” he yelled, bursting into tears of anger and frustration at himself for not being able to overcome his fear to take the leap and unlock the full potential of his power, like Maya did.
“...I’m gonna tell…” said a voice to him, making him look up.
“H-Huh?” he asked, looking around “W-Who’s there?!” he asked, getting up and seeing no one there but himself.
(Oh great… I’m hearing voices… Fear has driven me crazy…) he thought, groaning.
“Did it?” the voice asked again, making him yelp and look behind him. What he saw left him speechless: Maya was there, behind him, looking just like the day she died to protect him, but she also seemed more… ethereal, enveloped in a warm light and looking semi-transparent.
“A… A ghost?” he asked, shivering.
“Something like that, I guess… How have you been, dum-dum?” she asked, snickering, to which Silver ran towards her to hug her, but passed right through her, falling on his face and making her giggle.
“Mrgh… That wasn’t funny…” he grunted, getting up.
“Oh, Silvy… You still haven’t learned, do you?” she asked, smirking mischievously.
“Yup, it’s you, already… My subconscious couldn’t have possibly crafted such a perfect illusion…” he commented, then he turned fully to her. “But how?! How can you be here?!” he asked, confused and freaked out by the situation.
“I’m just as confused as you are, Silver. I thought I was done for, but I woke up back in the battlefield and was like this… I tried to reach out to you back at the funeral, but you were too busy being a depressed emo child to care. But… I listened to your song… I listened to your plan… And I couldn’t possibly be more proud of you than I am today…” she said, smiling.
“Proud… Of me?” he asked, that was something he was not used to hearing “But… I’m still the hopeless chicken I was back then! I’m not even able to look down the stupid edge without my body going into physical and mental shutdown! How can I save the world when I’m not even able to take flight? You should be disappointed in me, not proud…” he said, looking away. She sighed and “cupped” his cheeks, going right through him.
“Sigh… I’m trying to make you look in my eyes, can you please turn your head?” she asked, groaning, to which he sobbed but obeyed, looking in her ethereal purple eyes.
“I failed you… I screwed up big time and you paid the price… It’s not fair…” he whined.
“Ugh, grow a pair, would you?! Life is not fair and it’s pointless to recriminate that! Stop looking at your past and letting it define you! You have to look past it, look at what you can be if you let go of it all!” she scolded him.
“But… If I do… I’m going to forget you… And I don’t want that…” he said sighing “I’m doing this for you, after all…” he said.
“You’re not ONLY doing this for me, you know? You’re doing this for Tank. For all the kids who, like us, were left orphaned because of that stinky fatass. And for all of them who still have a family but live in misery. You have an entire world depending on you now, so act like a man, for Pete’s sake!” she said, rolling her ethereal eyes.
“But…” he said, then she placed an immaterial finger on his lips.
“I’m not going anywhere, Silvy. Literally: I think the antimatter cannon has turned me in pure psychic energy… But I’m getting sidetracked! The point is: as long as you remember your mission and why you’re doing it, I’ll always be with you… Here…” she said, pointing at his brain “...and here…” she said, pointing at his heart, then she pulled him into an ethereal hug.
“I’m sorry I can’t do more, but I know you’ll be okay out there… I trust you… And I love you…” she said, then Silver teared up and pulled her in a kiss, which would’ve looked awkward to anyone watching and seeing a young hedgehog kissing the air. Maya sighed, but then she felt something: a slight change of temperature and density on her immaterial lips. She saw his hands glowing and gasped: was he able to affect her grasp on this world like that? She smiled and kissed back, and Silver too could feel her lips press against his as they shared that otherwise impossible moment together. She pulled away, placing her hands on his.
“You’re amazing, Silver the Hedgehog… Don’t let anyone say otherwise… Now go get them, tiger! I know you’ll do good. I feel it in my spiritual heart.” she said smiling and going to sit on the edge, patting next to her.
He smiled and nodded, starting to run towards the edge with a confidence and belief in himself he never thought he had. The words she told him that day resounded in his brain louder than the warnings it told him, so loud that he actually started to shout them.
“You’re scared because your brain tells you ‘High is bad’. When it happens, you have to convince it and yourself that it’s not true! Running away from your fear is only a temporary solution. Don’t let it catch on. Don’t let it cement in your brain or you’ll never grow out of it!” he said with growing volume then, when he jumped, he screamed “IT’S A LEAP OF FAITH!” before he fell down head first.
“...Man, is he dumb… Adorably dumb and unbeliavably determined… He’s got this…” she said smiling and leaving for the time being, but knowing that she’d always be by his side no matter what. Meanwhile, Silver was feeling the strong wind striking his face as he fell downwards, but for the first time since ever, he was completely at peace with himself. He knew that his beloved trusted in him and that chat with her gave him the confidence boost he needed to take the leap.
(Ok, brain, you don’t like me and I don’t like you, but how about we team up for this, huh? That way, we’ll become unstoppable and also… you know… we won’t die…) he thought, squeezing his eyes shut as he gained speed and the ground became awfully closer. Tank gasped and covered his eyes as Silver wasn’t slowing down, heading towards his inexorable crash. Suddenly, Silver opened his eyes and a cyan aura enveloped him, making him jet upwards at blinding speed, causing a shockwave that sent Tank on the ground.
“What the?” he asked, then he looked up “Mama’s doughnuts!” he exclaimed in shock: Silver was flying!
He had his eyes shut and his teeth gritting, then he opened an eye and saw that he was now heading upwards at high speed.
(It worked! Now, let’s not head into space… Yet…) he said,ecstatic that it worked, and stopped midair, his aura rippling out of his body. He clenched his fist, then projected himself horizontally, flying at high speed between the buildings.
“THIS! IS! AWESOOOOOOME!!!” he yelled, doing the slalom across the buildings while, on the ground, Tank tried to run after him.
“Yo, dude! Yer doin it! It’s like ya were born to do this!” he yelled, smiling and trying to be heard but failing. Silver grinned and placed both hands in front of him, performing some acrobacies he’d wanted to do for the longest time, like running on a building’s side and flipping off the emergency stairs, since now he wouldn’t need those anymore.
“HAHAHAHAHAHA! SO LONG, STUPID STAIRS!!” he yelled, then he remembered that the prolonged use of psychic energy drained him so he planned to stop, but before that he wanted to do one more thing. He looked up and skyrocketed towards the clouds, flying upwards at high speed. He closed his eyes, any trace of fear was gone now and there was only happiness and calmness in his mind.
“WOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” he yelled, lowering his arms and gaining speed, actually causing a sonic boom as he pierced the thick mantle of clouds, now being in front at the clearest, starriest sky he had ever seen.
His eyes shimmered as he saw the stars, they were so many and so bright as they lit up the sky, then he saw the moon. Full and huge in the sky, shining down with its soothing light on him.
(It’s… It’s beautiful… Mom was right… Happiness does lie trapped in misery…) he thought, tearing up in happiness.
(Maya… I… No, we did it! Now… I hope I can still make you proud…) he thought, giving one last look at the moon and the starry sky before he started descending, the clouds engulfing his body once more.
“I always will…” said Maya, floating in front of the moon, smiling as a cheerful, proud tear ran down her ethereal cheek as she watched him vanish in the clouds.
The End
