~*Solarion Lullaby*~
Silver was hanging on to consciousness with the last of his strength. Darn that Iblis, almost knocking him out again…
"Silver?"
Hey, was that a butterfly? A pretty monarch one, too…rare around all this volcanic…
"Silver?"
Who was talking? Did he care? He was just so tired…
"Silver, Iblis threw you pretty far... Let me help you get home."
The voice was anxious. Concerned. Lifting his head, the hedgehog blinked golden eyes and looked through a fog of white, waiting for it to clear. When it finally did, he saw a series of yellow light, red too, though duller. Lava, giving off waves of heat that encircled everything and made it ripple. Black and gray buildings sticking from the magma at grotesque angles, like broken body parts. ..
Oh-and his chest hurt. Really bad.
"Silver, I know you're disoriented, but try to sit up and think clearly."
He got to his feet, but fell back almost immediately onto his rear. He shook his head, groaning, rubbing at his chest and feeling something warm and wet that stuck to his gloves.
"That wound isn't too bad, it's only superficial," said the voice.
Silver turned his head, looking down briefly at the patchy grass and hardened dirt they were sitting on, an island in the field of heat and fire. "Blaze? Ah-it really hurts…" He moaned, pressing at his wound.
The purple cat sighed, shaking her head. "Silver, I said we should leave Iblis alone for the moment."
"But I have to protect everyone, I have to…" Silver grabbed his head and groaned again, feeling like the energy, his telekinesis, was backed up. It was giving him an awful headache.
Blaze took his hands and stood up, and he leaned against her. "I-I'm fine, you said so yourself, only a shallow cut…right?"
He felt the faint growl before he heard it, a vibration from her chest. "We're going home to patch it up regardless, Silver. No arguments."
Blaze led the way, with Silver doggedly limping beside her, still a little dazed. His thoughts would keep wandering before he shook himself back to the present.
It took a little tricky maneuvering, but Blaze managed to get them safely from the ruined fields to the more stable areas of their town. The ruined, burnt dirt islands were replaced with patchy grass that soon became greener and more vibrant the farther they went on.
She took him into his home-their home that they shared. She had the top portion of the small, two story structure, and he had the bottom. Inside everything was neat though a little shabby, with some ancient but still working computers and other devices resting on shelves or tables or wherever there was space. A ladder led up to Blaze's section but she ignored it, placing him instead on the couch. He leaned back, biting his tongue to stop himself from making any sound as she removed some strange ointment from a first aid kit and started rubbing it against his wound. After cleaning it first, of course.
"Please, be more careful Silver. Don't try to fight him without me." Blaze chided softly, her gaze worried and unhappy. He felt terrible for making his dear friend feel that way.
"Sorry, Blaze. It's just…I don't want this area to be destroyed too. There are people living here, Blaze! Men and women and children…only because Iblis hasn't set fire to it is the only reason why they're surviving. He has to be kept busy, occupied, or-"He had worked himself up into a frenzy, and he sat back, snarling in pain as he pulled a particularly injured muscle.
"Hold still," she sighed. "And Silver, you're only one person. You can't do everything. Neither can I." She said reasonably.
Silver knew she was right, Blaze almost always was, and he nodded. She wrapped some snowy white bandages around his chest before sitting back. "You might have an infection," she said.
Silver grimaced.
"So I'll watch you for the night. See if anything pops up."
"You need to rest too," argued her companion.
Blaze went upstairs and came back with a tattered book, sitting down on a chair near his couch. "I'm watching you, Silver." She said in that calm, adamant way that she had that brooked no argument.
With a growl Silver leaned back and closed his eyes, exhausted.
~***~
He woke up some time later, when the sky outside was dark and nowhere near dawn. For a moment his entire mind was blank, and then he sat up on his elbows and looked around, recognizing his home.
"Something the matter?" Blaze inquired, lifting her eyes from her book. If the darkness bothered her, she didn't show it. Her gaze was bright with the glowing effects of a cat's night vision.
He wondered how long she had been awake. "No, I just…" The nightmare that had awoken him abruptly had left his mind entirely. You'd think something like that would stay at the forefront of your mind, but in Silver's case it just wasn't there anymore.
"Get some rest, Silver."
"What about you?" said the hedgehog.
Blaze wouldn't answer, just went back to her book.
Silver tried to go back to sleep, tossing and turning, but his wound was starting to hurt again now that he was awake. He didn't think it felt infected, no worse than before, but if it was, he wasn't going to bother Blaze over that.
He closed his eyes and tried to find that dark warmth that sleep brought, but all he felt was that burning in his chest.
He twitched his ear in surprise when he felt Blaze's fingers brush the quills on his head, and she started humming softly.
Occasionally she would deviate from the humming, the tireless drone, to add a word or so. The word was always sun.
He realized then, that the continuous humming along with the word was forming a sort of song, a beautiful lullaby.
He was asleep before he could think of much else.
~***~
Silver was making faces, Blaze noticed.
She flicked her tail and smiled to herself, watching him change his expression and then sort of mutter something under his breath.
"What are you doing?" She asked. They were having breakfast at their small round table, and she daintily chewed a piece of bread, watching him unblinkingly.
"You were singing something, weren't you?" said Silver. "Last night."
"Hmm." She answered indifferently.
"What was it?"
She repeated the lullaby, briefly, complete with the endless, even drone before injecting the word "sun" in occasionally.
"Yeah!" Silver's gold eyes flashed excitedly. "What was that? How come I can't do it?"
She thought it was a little cute, to see him so frustrated but bright eyed and ready to try again with his childlike energy.
"It's a Solarion lullaby, Silver. Only cats can do it."
His ears flattened in disappointment. "Aw, really? Why?"
"The humming, it's really a purr." She purred again for him before stopping. She didn't need to take a breath.
Silver lowered his head. "Aw, alright. I guess I won't be able to do it. Is there like a secret language or something in the purr?"
She laughed and Silver bristled, and Blaze shook her head. Dear, silly Silver. "No, it's just a nonsense song."
"…Okay. Thanks though, it helped me get to sleep."
Blaze smiled. "Think nothing of it, Silver."
She didn't tell him it was a song mothers sang to their children. She would always watch over him, if no one else would.
~***~
A very random story on Blaze and Silver because I don't do enough.
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