Sonic and co are all respective property of SEGA, unfortunately...
Authors note:
Throughout the first half of this story I shall be referring to the main character as 'the shadow' or 'a shadow' of similar. There is a simple reason for this so I thought I'd quickly explain to avoid confusion. I refer to him as such because of the way his is inside. Bitter and broken by grief and self blame. He is no longer the person he was and is now simply a shadow of his former self, a shadow of a living being. This is why I narrate like this. Enjoy the story!
Chaos Control Works in Mysterious Ways.
Deep in the forest at the dead of night a shadow was perched atop a branch, high, in an old oak tree, one that looked like it would be perfect for a tree house. It was obvious that the tree he sat in was old, quite possibly the first tree of the forest, which was likely why this shadow liked it. He had been alone for a long time, surrounded by meaningless nobodies since her passing. The passing of the only one who mattered. Yet that was not the most painful thing of all. He had never told her how he felt. Never once did he mention, nor hint towards, what he truly felt inside. He wondered for decades on end that ultimately, if he would have just mentioned it, would he have saved her by being around more? But then she died, a simple enough accident, a truck driver on his mobile phone running a red light. Sentenced to some measly time in prison for the murder of the one he loved, of course, the driver paid far worse when he went to visit, killing the love of one so powerful had dire consequences. That lost him most of those who called themselves his 'friends' though he never really viewed them as such anyway. Only the white Bat decided to stick around, even that only lasted a few years or so. When she married that hot headed Echidna she simply forgot about him, or maybe it was that she didn't have the time to look. Either way he was alone, and so he had been for more than two hundred years as he turned more and more numb, forgetting all of this. Even his very name...
He heard shuffling below him.
Jumping down from the branch, he landed on his feet, he immediately crouched down and looking around cautiously. He didn't speak, it had been so long since he had used words he was unsure if he could anymore.
"See, I told you that he'd be here." The voice of a boy who was going through puberty called out. The shadow was unable to see the boy, but was fairly certain which direction he was in just in case it was a trap. The boy came through the bushes, it was a young silver Hedgehog teen. The shadow relaxed slightly, but still not fully as he didn't know who the second person was. Then a purple Cat, older than the Hedgehog teen came through the same bushes right behind him.
"Wow, you were right. He is here." The Cat announced in wonder. The shadow of the hedgehog relaxed a bit more, but still not fully. He hadn't fully relaxed for a long time now. The Cat approached him with a smile on her face and her hand outstretched. "I'm Blaze and this is Silver. It's nice to meet you." Blaze told him as she stood there with her hand outstretched. The Hedgehog stared at the hand for a few seconds and then looked up into the Cat's eyes, he had finally found his voice.
"I'm not the best person for children to be around." He growled at them, voice simply growling because of lack of use and not because he was angry, the power of his words still however causing a slight breeze. The younger one, the Hedgehog Silver, shied away, and the Cat lost her smile, Blaze didn't drop her hand however. The dark Hedgehog looked at it again and took it, her hand was oddly warm to the point where if you held on for more than a few seconds it would start burning you. The shadow however did not let go and held her there. "Why are you two here?" He asked without the growl, he didn't take long to heal. Blaze looked at him in surprise, most people recoiled from her the second they touched her.
"If you're still holding on, then you probably have your answer." Blaze answered him in an unsure voice. He let go and observed her for a few seconds. Before sighing in slight annoyance.
"I can't do much to help you with your pyrokenesis. You were born with it from what I can tell."The shadow informed her before he jumped back up the tree and laid back down on his branch.
"But we need your help!" Shouted Silver. Blaze pulled on his arm, careful not to touch him for more than a second.
"Come on Silver, we'll come back tomorrow." The Cat told him, the shadow watched them from above as they left. He looked at his left hand and sighed, he too knew what it was like to be an outsider. Blaze looked up into the tree behind her and their eyes crossed for a split second before she turned around again. The dark Hedgehog knew in that instant she would indeed be back tomorrow.
The sound of a breaking branch woke him. He slowly opened his eyes while sitting up, they had come earlier this time, from the looks of things it was early evening. He closed his eyes again and sat against the trunk's bark silently, willing for them to go away, he sat there until the sun had all but gone down before he finally opened his eyes again. The light of dusk still shone through as the shadow watched the two of them stand up and leave. He sighed as he looked up towards the sky, it was going to be a long night.
The two came again every day, for the next week and the week after that, they just sat at the bottom of the tree, even when it was raining, and they simply waited for him to come down. Not once did he so much as move when they were there, he barely even breathed, hoping to trick them into thinking he was asleep. Then one day they didn't come. The shadow waited for an hour to see if they were simply late before he finally jumped down and looked at the patches of grass that had been pushed down and made more comfy around the tree trunk. He felt a twinge of loneliness for the first time in forever. He touched the tree in an unsure way before sitting down in the larger patch that was more accustom to his size. The patch was oddly warm, as if the sun had been shining on it even though it had not yet reached a high enough point to shine onto the grass below the tree. The shadow could feel slight residual Chaos energy which he suspected must have been from the Cat. He sighed and on the warm area he fully relaxed for the first time in a long time.
Another hour of silence past before scuffling in the distance made him once again aware of his surroundings. He opened his eyes and quickly jumped back up into the tree and to his usual branch. The two of them had just arrived by the grey and purple glimpses he caught between the green. He pondered why they were late for a few seconds before he quickly settled into his usual way of things, pretending to sleep while being fully aware of everything around him. Hours went by and they didn't move away, dusk came and went yet until it hit twilight the shadow stayed still. The darkness seemed strangely quiet tonight, and he hadn't heard them leave yet. He thought that maybe he had missed them leave, as unlikely as that sounded to him, it was possible. He quickly jumped down to a lower branch to take a look at the patches they were normally at. They were still there, sitting at the bottom of the tree trunk. He quickly gazed down at them properly to be sure to take a proper analysis, the two weren't moving all that much, neither were they talking. Jumping down as quietly as possible he looked at the two of them, they had both fallen to sleep. The shadow sighed in exasperation. He couldn't just leave them there, they'd catch a cold. He cursed his need to do the right thing due to morality and quickly ran off. After a few seconds he returned with two brand new looking blankets. The store wouldn't miss them, it was big enough. He jumped back up into the tree. It was starting to worry him that the teens had managed to successfully make it to the tree twice without him noticing until they got really close. If they could do it anyone or anything could do it, including people who might be after him. He didn't particularly want to get caught by GUN again. He quickly climbed a little higher than usual in the tree to get a better view before he sat on a branch that wasn't as comfy as the ones further down. He didn't think there'd be anything coming tonight, but tonight he had more to be concerned about than just himself.
The sun had just got high enough to shine into the glade below the tree yet the two hadn't awoke yet. The shadow didn't dare go down to take the blankets back off them in case that woke them up. He would have rather been high in his tree when that happened. He looked up towards the sky and then back down to the teens. They were awfully meddlesome, putting a picture of a blue Hedgehog in his mind who he faintly remembered was likewise.
"Thankyou!" A cry came up from the bottom of the tree several minutes later. He looked down and could see the purple Cat looking for him, then she spotted his head poking round. "We didn't really mean to fall to sleep. Do you have a few of these up there?" She shouted holding up the blanket. The dark Hedgehog suddenly realised that with her ability she didn't even need a blanket, and the heat she put off would have kept the other one warm as well, he cursed himself as he sighed, continuing to sit in the tree in silence. "We're going back to eat. Do you want to come?" She shouted up again in a last ditch move to try and get him to speak. His stomach growled. How long had it been since he had eaten something substantial? How long had it been since he fed on more than raw Chaos energy? He looked down at the two of them, actually at a loss as to whether following them would be worth it or not. With no home of his own, and no money to eat out... it had been too long. He looked down to see the Cat walking away with the Hedgehog in toe, both of them disappointed. There was a shuffling noise as he dropped down, the Hedgehog turned around and grabbed Blaze to turn her. He obviously wasn't thinking properly because he forgot to let go and recoiled. "Oh Silver you silly fool! You're always doing that, I'm sorry. I wish I could control it..." She noticed the dark Hedgehog standing nearby at the bottom of the tree, he instantly revaluated as to whether it was a good idea or not and got ready to jump back into the tree before the growling of his years long empty stomach sounded. He quickly looked over to Blaze and the Hedgehog to see if they had heard. Blaze was acting normally as if she hadn't, but Sliver was staring until he got a light elbow in the chest from Blaze.
"I think I could probably do with a meal." He admitted flatly. Blaze nodded, and started walking without a word. Sliver followed immediately behind. The dark Hedgehog looked back up to the tree branch, unable to decide whether he should actually do this or not. He felt some push by an invisible force that beckoned him to follow that reminded him of someone important. He followed behind the two at a distance, still unsure about the whole thing. It was a long walk in silence and they eventually reached the city, luckily her house was on the outskirts nearby the forest or the shadow may have retreated.
"Are you coming in then?" Blaze asked the shadowy figure. Quietly while glancing at all the other houses on the street for suspicious activity he walked into the semi-detached home. Blaze closed the door behind him. For an instant he froze. He was so used to the outdoors that being inside a house with a closed door for longer than a second made him feel trapped. "You okay?" Blaze asked, placing her hand on his shoulder without thinking. The young looking Hedgehog with old eyes unstiffened himself and nodded.
"Yeah I'm fine." He told her, sounding like nothing had ever happened. Blaze quickly pulled her hand off his shoulder.
"Oops, sorry!" She quickly announced, worried. The Hedgehog turned to look at her properly.
"What for?" He asked, she just stood there and looked at him silently for a few seconds.
"Nothing." Blaze whispered finally. He turned back around and headed through the first door on his right to find Silver while Blaze just stood there frozen, hand still hanging in the air. "I can really touch him." She whispered to herself before shaking her head to get a hold of herself and following the shadow into her living room. The living room didn't have any more than expected in it, a TV, a sofa and an arm chair, the grey Hedgehog was sitting in the arm chair, likely because he didn't want the shadow of a Hedgehog to sit next to him. "What do you want to eat?" She asked the dark Hedgehog as he sat down on the sofa. He looked up at her expressionlessly.
"I don't mind." He commented casually, Blaze thought for a second and was about to say something when his stomach made that noise again. The Hedgehog teen sniggered this time, the shadow ignored him.
"I was going to suggest a sandwich, but from the sounds of things you need something a bit more substantial than that. I guess I could make dinner now rather than later. That's if you don't mind Silver." Blaze asked. Silver shook his head. "Forgive him, he's shy." Blaze quickly told the dark Hedgehog as she left the room through a door in the back that he assumed was to the kitchen.
"Do you wish for assistance?" He called out, her head quickly popped back through the door and looked at him surprised.
"You know how to cook?" She asked him seriously. He paused and looked at her for a few seconds as if in deep thought.
"I can't remember." The shadow admitted. Blaze smirked slightly and pulled her head back into the kitchen.
"I'll be fine for today then thanks." She called back. The shadow sighed and turned to Catch the silver hedgehog staring at him. He stared back, an unwavering, unblinking stare until the other Hedgehog looked away awkwardly.
Blaze walked through after what felt like minutes to the shadow, but was realistically half a hour, with spaghetti bolognaise, the plate was on a tray with a knife, fork and purply-red drink. The shadow stared at it while Blaze gave the grey Hedgehog his. He immediately started eating at a normal pace. The shadow picked up the drink and sniffed it. It's aroma was slightly familiar. He took a slight sip and a distant memory flared of a berry he had once tasted in the forest. A blackcurrant if he remember correctly, though the taste was far less wild in this drink. Blaze came back through and sat down next to him in the middle of the sofa. The shadow looked at her awkwardly for a few seconds, being in such close proximity to something sentient was a new thing after so long. He observed how she ate and looked at the fork. Picking it up he copied, taking a forkful and putting it in his mouth. The taste made his mouth explode with flavours in a way that no one could know unless they had not eaten for almost a century, maybe longer. He kept his composure however and ate almost as slowly as the other two, finishing almost immediately after the silver Hedgehog but before Blaze. He then drained the remainder of his drink. This did not seem so new to him, as he regularly went to streams and brooks to drink from. Yet the fact it was flavoured was completely new, it brought about wonder in his head as to what else he'd been missing in the time that he had been alone.
"Thank you for the food. It was... good." The shadow told Blaze as soon as she had finished herself. She smiled to him.
"Not a problem!" Blaze replied taking his and her tray back through to the kitchen before coming back for the other one. The shadow and the Hedgehog teen sat there in silence for several minutes while Blaze presumably washed the dishes. The teen decided to turn on the television seconds before Blaze walked through. "Could you turn that down please?" She requested of him. He did it without argument.
"Why did you invite me here?" The shadow asked, looking at the both of them for an answer. The grey Hedgehog sat in complete silence watching the television. Blaze looked at him as if thinking of a good answer.
"You know of Chaos well right?" Blaze asked. The shadow looked at her and sighed.
"I do yes, but I've already told you I can't help you." He replied. The Hedgehog muted the TV and spoke up.
"Surely you can help her somehow. She's had some of the best doctors on Mobius, nothing has worked, they couldn't do anything." He almost shouted at the dark Hedgehog. The dark Hedgehog gave him a deadly look that made the other Hedgehog squeak and shrink back into the arm chair, he let up his glare and looked out the window. No one spoke for a minute or so, then the TV's sound was back on.
"I just want to know why I'm such a freak." Blaze told him quietly. The shadow turned to her sharply and looked at her, she had curled herself up into a tight ball and was looking at him with her head resting on her knees. For a fleeting second he saw his old self in her eyes, the very fear of not knowing what you are and what you're meant to be seemed so familiar to him.
"Never call yourself that." The shadow told her in a voice that had a slight bit of anger and frustration in it. Blaze looked at him with surprise, that was the first time she had heard emotion in his tone.
"Okay." She replied in an uncertain voice. The shadow turned away from her and laid back into the comfort of the sofa.
"After the food, I owe you a debt. I'll try to help. No guarantees however." The shadow told her. She nodded and he looked at the two of them. "So how old are you two kids?"
"I am not a kid." The silver one snapped angrily. The shadow's ominous presence suddenly seemed to fill the room.
"Compared to me you are nothing but an infant. If you wish me to treat you any way otherwise I would suggest watching your tone before you have no voice to make a tone with." The shadow thundered. His voice being devoid of emotion made it seem even worse than if it had been filled with anger. Blaze gave the young Hedgehog a look before turning to the shadow.
"I'm sorry, he's at that age. He's thirteen, I'm sixteen." Blaze told him. The dark hedgehog nodded.
"A Mobian adult then." He commented casually. She nodded, but looked a little confused at the same time.
"Where isn't it classified as an adult?" She asked curiously. This time the shadow looked at her a bit confused.
"The humans?" The shadow told her questionably. This just earned him a further look of confusion.
"What are those?" She asked him, now completely in wonder. The shadow looked at her curiously, he had heard rumours and whispers from the trees of some kind of a war half a century ago. He never would have expected the humans to have been wiped out though. They weren't the best of species, but they had their uses.
"Never heard of them in history books?" He asked. She shook her head. "Must have been purged from history then. That must have been one hell of a war..." There was a loud noise from outside that sounding like a crash. The shadow was at the window in a heartbeat, yet he couldn't see anything.
"That's probably from next door, they're having an extension put on." Blaze told the jumpy dark Hedgehog. He looked at her slowly.
"I should leave, I'm a danger to everyone around me." He told them as he started walking towards to door.
"No wait!" Blaze called out, grabbing his arm and stopping him. He looked at when her hand was holding him, she caught a glimpse of his eyes and gasped, letting go. She watched him as he went out the house quickly. She shook her head and caught herself, running after him and following him back into the forest leaving the slow silver Hedgehog behind. She lost sight of him, but carried on running straight in the general direction of where she last saw him. After running for a while she started to breath heavily, she was the fastest person she knew, but this Hedgehog was something else. Finally she came to a clearing with a lake and she stopped running, panting she looked around at the clearing. It was the most beautiful place she'd ever seen. She stared in wonder for a few seconds until she noticed a familiar dark Hedgehog sitting next to the lake on the far side. She walked quickly over there, careful not to overdo it and make herself out of breath again. She approached him slowly but, noticing he was skimming stones, she didn't get closer than a couple of meters. She stood there for several minutes while he skimmed stones absentmindedly.
"Why did you follow me?" He asked simply without looking at her, she moved forward and put her hand on his shoulder, gently turning him to look at her, he looked into her eyes with his usual cold emotionless eyes, waiting for her response.
"I saw your eyes, and I could see." Blaze stated rather confusingly. The shadow wasn't perturbed however and just gave her a look that told her to continue. "You weren't angry, or afraid. You were sad, the sadness of loneliness just came from your eyes for just a second. I know that look well... I saw it in the mirror, every day, for the first thirteen years of my life." Blaze explained. The shadow turned back to the lake, indirectly pulling her hand off his shoulder. Blaze looked disappointed for a few seconds until he patted the ground next to him. She quickly moved to sit next to him. The shadow breathed in deeply.
"So tell me, how did you meet this Hedgehog?" He asked, Blaze smiled and looked to the lake as well.
"It was one day, just over three years ago..." Blaze started.
I was walking home one day, like usual it had been a fairly uneventful day at school. Yet this day, I walked past a group of particularly mean bullies.
"Look, it's flame girl." I heard one of them whisper. Instinctively, I knew that there was no way it could be a good thing that they noticed me, and on cue, I could hear them following me. Instinctively I speed up my footsteps, probably not the best of ideas as they started running. I ran too, I didn't want them near me, even though there was no way they could have touched me they still scared me. I took my usual route through the park, just as I was about to get to the exit I found my way blocked by two of them that wasn't with the rest. I quickly turned to go backwards, but the others were there. I tried to run again, but ended up backed into a corner with a fence leading to someone's garden behind me. They started throwing stones and I closed my eyes and rolled into a ball as stone after stone hit me, I could feel it starting to well up inside me, the flames that would just burst out whenever I got too angry or upset. Suddenly they stopped, I dared open one of my eyes slowly to see them hanging in mid air in front of me. The bullies looked terrified as they looked behind me, I turned to see a silver Hedgehog holding his hands out towards the stones behind the fence. Suddenly I heard yelling from the bullies. I quickly turned to see the stones flying back at them, and them running away squealing. The silver Hedgehog turned to leave.
"Wait!" I cried to him. He slowed down and looked around. "Thanks!" I thanked him, I saw a hint of a smile flicker on his face as he tried to leave again. "No wait!" I called again. He stopped, but this time he didn't turn around. "Can we be friends?" I asked. He turned, lifting up all the items in the garden around him.
"You want to be friends with this?" He asked. His eyes looked the same as mine did, I knew I had found a kindred spirit.
"Yes, well I'm not really one to talk." I replied. He looked at me curiously as he put the objects back down.
"What do you mean?" He asked calmly. I looked around for a second.
"I can't really show you, I can't control it." I told him in a worried voice. He looked at me for a second, then he turned around.
" I don't trust anyone." He told me as he walked away. I felt anguish. The first time I had ever met someone with gifts and he didn't believe me. My entire body burst into flame because of the intense emotion, and I ran home. I could see him looking at me as I ran, just as shocked as I was when I saw him. I made it home before my flames wore off, my school clothes once again burnt to a cinder and I received a scolding from mother for not controlling myself.
A few months later my mother told me that she was going on a business trip with her partner and that the two of them had finally decided that we should meet. Putting business before personal life was growing old, she told me, they had spent many years as happy partners now and they didn't think that the bond would be broken. I was apprehensive of meeting someone new, everyone just mocked me as soon as they found out about my flames. He came around, a silver-grey Hedgehog. I stared at him in shock, and he looked at me in equal shock. I had avoided the park since the incident that happened there, and hadn't seen him since as I was too embarrassed.
"It's you!" He stated in awe. I replied before I even thought about what I was saying.
"No it isn't." I replied in automatic defence. Normally when someone said that they were about to attack me in some shape or form. He laughed. I was so shocked I couldn't speak. It was this first time someone had laughed around me. Mother was far too grievant after my father's death that she never did.
"It's been a while, you still want to be friends?" He asked, I nodded. "Awesome. I'm Silver, what's your name?"
"I'm Blaze." I told him. "What do you want to do?"
"What do you have in the garden?" He asked as he whizzed outside. I looked back to see our mothers talking.
"Look, they're getting along like a house on fire." Silver's mother commented. My mother nodded.
"We should have done this a while ago." She agreed as she turned to leave. "I'll see you in two days Blaze." She told me as she left the house, I was fourteen at this point, and I knew that they were expecting me to look after Silver. I ran outside after him.
"Anyway, my mother ended up buying me a house to live in because I start uni in two weeks and Silver managed to convince his mum to let us house share while he goes to college." Blaze informed him.
"Interesting meeting." The shadow commented as he skimmed another stone on the lake, it got fifteen skips. Blaze watched in awe as he did another that got twenty.
"How on earth do you do that so well?" She asked in a passing comment. The shadow shrugged and threw another which got seventeen.
"Practice I guess. My personal best is sixty nine. The stones on this side aren't really the best for skimming, I've used them all." He replied. "It's a good way to pass time."
"Yeah, looks it... How long have you been in this forest? There's strange legends concerning you." Blaze asked him, his head turned to look at her for a moment with a slight look of interest before he turned and threw another stone.
"And what is it these legends say?" He asked, it seemed he was stopping with his stone throwing as he crossed his arms.
"Most of them are about the 'demon' of the forest. Concerning people who get mentally scared from entering the forest. But I don't think that you seem like a person who would just attack anyone for no reason." Blaze told him.
"A lot of people have come to try and chop down trees. I've stopped them all. Some of those legends probably aren't me though. There are many lost things in this forest, as they are bigger than they look." The shadow told her mysteriously. The young Cat looked at him with questioning eyes. "This forest is actually connected to another world through a rift in space. You would never notice going to the other planet, unless you played attention to the sky, particularly at night. There are a couple of forests on Mobius that are connected by that world. This one and the Great Forest in the Acorn kingdom." Blaze looked at him in wonder before smirking.
"You had me going for a second there." Blaze laughed. The dark Hedgehog also grinned, but after a few seconds his face turned serious.
"I'm being serious." He whispered to her before standing up and holding his hand out. "I think you need to get back to your friend. He'll be missing you."
"But we've barely been gone ten minutes." Blaze retorted as he helped her up.
"Have we now? Meet me at the outskirts of the forest when the little one goes to sleep." The shadow told her before he disappeared in a streak of black. She then realised that he wasn't even running away from her that fast for her to keep up. He was baffling her. The Cat ran back to the house, she found out she had been gone two hours.
The shadow was standing in the dark of the forest, as such passing eyes wouldn't see him, only those who were expecting him to be there. He breathed in deeply and sighed, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. People were prone to getting hurt around him. He knew such had been true for longer than he could remember. But something about this girl reminded him of someone he knew long ago. He knew he was that persons friend, and that he loved them, but he couldn't remember them past that. The more time he spent with this Cat though. The more of his old memory that was coming to him. The company was clearing his head. He could remember things that he hadn't in years. Yet one incident seemed to be blocking most of his memory.
"Is that you?" The females voice came across in a whisper. The shadow snapped out of his thoughts.
"Yes." He said simply, Blaze quickly scurried to him.
"Where are we going?" She asked, the shadow kept his silence as he looked around for a few seconds.
"It's hard to explain, and easier to show. This might be a bit weird for you at first, but bear with it." The shadow replied and then told her. She looked at him mystified once again.
"Bear wha-?" She was cut off by the shadow picking her up bridal style and rushing through the trees at a speed that her eyes couldn't even register. She closed her eyes and gripped onto the shadow tightly, not thinking about her body heat. After what seemed like ages they slowed down, she opened her eyes and could see things zooming by her. She could still tell that they were moving faster than a car, but now it wasn't quite so bad. A few seconds later he stopped. Blaze suddenly noticed a massive change she had missed because she had her eyes closed. It was sunny. "How far have we gone?" She asked in wonder.
"We've travelled almost a quarter of the way across this planet. So it's now dawn. Look into the sky, and you'll see what I mean by the obvious in the sky." The shadow commented. The cat looked up, at first she didn't see anything, then she noticed a few things, or should it be said, she saw a few moons.
"Whoa. How many are there?" Blaze asked in wonder. The shadow looked up.
"There's three in view, but I'm fairly certain there's a total of nine. This planet is bigger than Mobius. Twice the radius in fact." The shadow told her. "Mobius has one big moon, and this planet has nine small ones. It's quite the sight to behold."
"That's amazing!" Blaze stated excitedly, spinning around while looking up to see the moons properly. The dark Hedgehog sighed, frowned, and put his hand to his brow. Blaze paused in her search of the sky and looked at him. "You okay?" She asked. The shadow removed his hand and nodded.
"Just thinking about something." He told her. "Now let me show you something else." He instructed as he grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her in a different direction at her pace, Blaze smiled as he pulled her along. He was showing her some things that he'd probably never had a chance to show anyone else. They came out to a clearing that they hadn't past. Except it wasn't just any clearing, it was a small cliff and an end to the forest. It went down onto the brightest blue sea that you could imagine.
"Oh my..." Blaze trailed off in a whisper to herself from awe. Staring at the serene scene with calm in her soul. "It's beautiful." She told him and herself until she noticed that he wasn't standing next to her anymore, she quickly looked around in panic to see him slightly further up, beckoning her to follow him. She quickly started running and realised that she was heading down a slope, the shadow went inside some trees and she almost panicked. Then reminded herself he wouldn't leave her, or at least she didn't think he would. She pushed her way through a small cluster of small trees and found herself on the other side, the slope smoothing out and leading to a beach. Yet this was no ordinary beach, a beach of fine dark red sand, it was as comfortable as it was rare and beautiful. She spotted the shadow sitting down on the beach nearby the still serene sea. Blaze quickly walked over and sat next to him.
"Like it?" The shadow asked her. She nodded mutely, too busy taking in the wonders. The sea had her mesmerised. After tens of minutes of the two of them sitting in silence, watching the tiny waves the dark Hedgehog spoke. "If you look carefully enough, you can see to the other side of the sea. It's a sort of dark haze. Those are the trees because they're so tall." He informed her. She looked carefully and like he said she could see a faint shadow.
"Wow! That's incredible! How tall are the trees?" Blaze asked before turning and looking behind her. The paused for a second as her mouth opened and closed with no words coming out. "Oh wow..." She muttered, looking at the trees that must have been at least a hundred meters tall, and they just got taller and taller as they went further in.
"They get to about three times Mobius' highest trees at their tallest. They've had thousands of years to grow because there's nothing sentient here, not that I've found anyway. There's a lot of wild beasts though. Never wander too far from me, there are beasts here that even I would call dangerous. Oh and never eat anything here either. A lot of things are poisonous to your stomach." The dark Hedgehog commented before laying back and yawning. Blaze laid back with him and looked up towards the sky once more. The sun was only rising when she first looked but now it was in view, and it's colour astounded her.
"Purple? A purple sun?" She asked him.
"Mmhmm." He replied lazily with his eyes closed. Blaze looked around cautiously.
"Didn't you say there were beasts here?" She questioned. The shadow opened his eyes lazily.
"This area seems to only hold herbivores, so we should be fine. If you see something approaching cautiously, it's probably friendly. If you see something coming aggressively, well yeah. Kick me or something. Anyway, I haven't been eaten here napping yet." He commented before he closed his eyes again, soon enough she could hear heavy breathing coming from the Hedgehog. She sat awake, feeling both afraid and safe at the same time. She was certain the shadow could stop anything here, but at the same time... She heard rustling near the tree line, making her look up. There was a small animal there that strangely resembled a dinosaur that she had seen in a book once, the dinosaur like creature was walking on its hind legs and was looking right at her with complete distrust. She just sat there and watched as it slowly decided she wasn't a threat and started grazing on some of the shrubs that Blaze didn't notice on the outskirts of the trees. Blaze watched the creature for a long time until it slowly started to approach the two of them, the creature made a wide birth of Blaze and went around her to the hedgehog. Blaze was too transfixed to move until the dinosaur used its nose to nudge the shadow who immediately woke and opened his eyes to the dinosaurs face above him. "Oh it's you." The shadow mumbled kindly before he started petting the creature. The dinosaur looked over to Blaze who flinched slightly from the look because she had been so transfixed. The shadow looked back at her for a second. "Don't worry, she's a friend." He told it as he continued petting it. "Why don't you come over here Blaze? This little one and the family have been my friends for many years." Blaze scuttled over slowly as the dinosaur watched her.
"Hi..." She said awkwardly. The shadow looked at her and rolled his eyes.
"She can understand you, she's a smart girl." He told her. She looked at him a bit reproachfully, but nothing he had said to her had been a lie yet.
"I'm Blaze, it's nice to meet you?" She stated a bit more boldly. The dinosaur stopped looking at her and turned back to the shadow.
"She's an Orodromeus. A type of dinosaur that just so happened to wander into this world before the meteor hit Mobius. There's a fair few of them here, along with other extinct animals I won't bother naming... Why don't you pet her?" He suggested. Blaze looked please for a second and then looked down in disappointment.
"I can't..." She mumbled, the dark Hedgehog looked at her for a second slightly confused and then nodded as he turned back to the dinosaur.
"Oh yeah." He muttered before holding his right hand out while still fussing the creature with his left. "Take my hand, and then try." He suggested, Blaze looked at him quite shocked, she blushed slightly at the thought of holding hands with him, even if it was merely to help her. She slowly took his hand with her left and started petting the dinosaurs head with her right. She almost jumped in shock when the creature seemed to actually move into her hand rather than shy away from her heat. "You should be just a slight bit warmer than the average Mobian right now, so you're probably quite nice for something coldblooded." He explained to her unasked questioned. The reptilian creature made a sound akin to what purring would be for a Cat. Suddenly a cry from some kind of dinosaur came from out the trees, getting the small ones attention. It quickly ran off back into the forest leaving the shadow with a smile in his eyes, even if there wasn't one on his muzzle. Blaze sat there looking slightly disappointed.
"Where'd she go?" Blaze asked with the disappointment in her tone.
"Back to her herd. They're probably going to the river to drink." The shadow replied, not as dull as he had sounded recently. The two sat there for several minutes looking into the trees as various shapes past in the cover of the trees. "May I have my hand back?" He requested, Blaze looked at him a little sad but immediately let go.
"Sorry." She told him apologetically. The shadow raised one of his eyebrows.
"What for?" He asked her, she shrugged as she turned back to the sea. The sun had reached the other side of the sky now. He looked up towards the sky. "It's probably time that we left." Blaze then truly grasped how long they must have been there.
"It'll be around about time for Silver to wake up." Blaze announced in a panic.
"Calm down, we've been here about two hours outside." The shadow told her calmly. Blaze looked confused.
"But the sun?" She mentioned, the dark Hedgehog smirked.
"I've said that time is in flux near the opening, but didn't mention that it is everywhere else as well. This entire planet is a thousand times more rich in Chaos energy than Mobius. It creates an atmosphere that is so powerful it protects this planet from the suns radiation which is so lethal that no living thing can approach it's solar system from space. Because of this energy, various anomalies happen from time speeding up, to time visually appearing sped up but actually being slower, it a strange world." The shadow explained before sighing. "But this energy is also why were can't stay too long." The shadow told her. She looked at him with eyes that didn't understand. "If me or you, with powers that stem from Chaos itself were to stay here for too long our powers would go out of control." He told her as simply as he could.
"Ah, I was wondering why you didn't just stay here permanently." Blaze informed the shadow. The shadow observed her for a second before speaking again.
"You ready?" The shadow asked, before she could reply she already found herself picked up and zooming through the jungle, as that's what she realised it was, at who knew what speeds. She kept her eyes open this time, and although she could see nothing because of the speed at which they were travelling, she found that it looked beautiful in its own right. The colours all melding together in some kind of way that an impressionist artist might see the world. This was the world of the supersonic, speeds that were literally blinding. Yet the shadow approached it calmly, not letting either of them get touched by so much as a bug. It was obvious to her that even at these speeds he wasn't going his max, else he would probably struggle to navigate such a hard path. She noticed it getting darker and lighter at various intervals this time as they ran and after a shorter period than getting there they slowed down. He broke into a jog as they approached what she was fairly certain was the rift and after only a minute more he came to a complete stop. He let her down onto her feet gently.
"We back already?" She asked him quietly, the shadow nodded. She could see the houses now that her eyes weren't attempting to get used to extreme movement.
"Yes, I'll see you some other time." He told her as he turned to start walking back into the depths of the forest. She quickly grabbed his wrist.
"Wait!" She shouted, the shadow stopped on the spot and turned his head to look at her. His eyes were back to those of a lonely man. "Stay with me... And Silver. You can stay on the sofa, or have my bed."
"I can't." He said simply, he tried to walk again, but Blaze tightened her grip.
"I know you're punishing yourself for something. I can tell. But doesn't everyone deserve a second chance? Give it to yourself." She told him. He frowned, those words pulled on stings in his mind and heart for some reason, yet he couldn't quite remember why. The shadow turned and looked at her. Giving her a piercing stare that seemed to see the soul, but Blaze did not waver. The shadow frowned.
"I'll stay on the sofa, but a hint of trouble and I'm going back to the forest. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me." He finally agreed, Blaze looked at him really happily before almost dragging him to the house.
Four weeks had passed since they last went to the other world and they had all been without incident. Silver turned 14 on August 29th, and had started college on September 2nd. Blaze had started her university course as well and was looking forward to and wouldn't shut up about one thing.
"It's my birthday soon." She told the shadow as she went past him into the kitchen. The shadow rolled his eyes. It seemed to be all she talked about this week. It had been a long time since the shadow had to deal with birthday presents so he wasn't completely sure what he should do.
"I find it odd that you're almost three years older than him, yet you're only two years apart in school." The shadow commented. To her as she came back through and sat on the sofa next to him. There was a blanket on the back of the sofa that the shadow had refused several times as he was content with how warm the house was compared to outside anyway. The shadow noted she had a bowl of cereal, he was unsure what brand though.
"It happens sometimes." Blaze commented as she shrugged. "It's useful anyway, because some people automatically assume me and Silver are together romantically. This way they think he's two rather than three years younger than me, so we get less hostility from idiots." The shadow shifted on the sofa slightly.
"So you two aren't together?" He asked casually. Blaze chocked on her cereal and then looked at him indignantly as she stood up.
"No! He's like my brother!" She almost shouted at him, then she noticed him smirking. "You're getting a bit more cheerful I see." She commented calmly as she sat back down.
"What do you mean?" The shadow asked seriously, Blaze looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
"That was your first attempt at humour. I say 'attempt' because it was not funny." Blaze told him. The shadow shrugged.
"So do you have a guy that you like?" The shadow asked curiously. Blaze blushed as soon as he asked and continued eating as if she wasn't.
"No?" She replied, not sounding all that convincing.
"You sure?" The dark hedgehog questioned almost teasingly. Yet even before his personality wasn't suited to that so it didn't come across at all.
"No..." She muttered quietly. The shadow nodded.
"So who do you like?" He asked her, she looked down to her bowl and stood up.
"I'm not telling you." Blaze announced as she walked into the kitchen, cheeks on fire -literally-, and slammed the door behind her. The shadow looked at the closed door confused.
"What did I say?" He mumbled. Silver walked into the living room from the other door leading to the main door. "Silver." He motioned to sit down next to him. The young Hedgehog looked at the seat awkwardly for a few seconds before sitting. "Is something wrong with her?" The shadow muttered.
"It's girl stuff." Silver told him before going to stand, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Her birthday is tomorrow right?" The shadow asked. Silver nodded.
"Make sure you do something or make something for her. She seems to think a lot of you. I don't know why." Silver told him before brushing his hand off and going into the kitchen. The shadow sighed, he'd think of something.
It was Saturday morning, 8 am, and the shadow was already up. He was standing in the kitchen whizzing around grabbing things and putting them into a basket. He heard someone coming down the stairs and her quickly hid the basket and its contents in a cupboard. Sliver came through the door.
"What are you doing?" He questioned. The dark hedgehog looked around.
"Nothing? Am I not allowed to come in here to get a glass of water?" He replied, Silver gave him a suspicious look before walking back out of the room and up the stairs. The shadow made sure that he heard him go back into his room before he pulled the basket out and continued. After a few minutes he was done, and he hide the basket in one of the usually unused cupboards before going back to the bed and laying down, waiting for the others to wake.
"Happy birthday Blaze." The shadow commented when she finally arrived downstairs at half twelve in her pyjamas and a dressing gown. Nothing was in sight and the kitty looked slightly disappointed as he ears flattened.
"You seen Silver?" Blaze asked in a small voice. The shadow nodded.
"He went out at about ten." The shadow told her. Blaze looked disappointed now. "I'm sure he's just off to go and set something really good up for you. He told me not to forget after all." The dark one reassured her, making her smile.
"So what did you get me?" She asked cheekily as she walked towards him and lent over so her face was fairly close to his. The shadow quickly looked at the kitchen door, distracting her for a second.
"Meet me at the edge of the forest when you're dressed." He told her as he disappeared in a gust of wind, several doors around the house flapping from the turbulence. She stood there slightly gobsmacked for a second before perking up and jogging upstairs.
Several minutes later she was standing where they had met last time. The shadow couldn't be seen however which confused her, that was until he suddenly appeared in a flash of black.
"Ready?" He asked. This time she was as he scooped her up and ran with her at insane speeds. It only took them about ten minutes to reach their destination this time. He put her down and indicated to walk in front of him. The two were walking for less than a second until they came out to a lake that was far grander than the one she had found the shadow next to last time. She stood in awe as she looked at the river that flowed in one end of the lake and out the other. A natural reservoir. She looked over to a spot at the side of the lake that was fairly flat and close to the tree line to see a blanket and what looked like her picnic basket. She turned and looked at him slightly baffled. "Yeah, I made it. Seems I can cook after all." She quickly ran to the picnic blanket as the shadow walked to it. She sat down happily as the shadow pulled out various things that you would find in a picnic basket. She ate everything the shadow passed her quickly, as she had not had someone else make food for her for quite a while.
"That was lovely." Blaze told him, giving him a genuine smile. He gave her a look.
"Well that's not all." The shadow told her as he pulled out a chocolate cake. Blaze sat there and stared at it for a few seconds.
"That's for me?" She asked, gobsmacked.
"Well I don't see any other birthday Cats around." He replied, holding it out with a knife.
"When did you get the time to make that?" She asked in a voice of amazement. "Yesterday?"
"No, I made it last night at 2am while you were both sleeping... I don't really sleep that much." The shadow told her. "Would you like to cut it?" He asked her politely. She nodded before taking the knife, allowing the shadow to hold the cake plate with both his hands. She cut herself a good helping before putting it on the paper plate and handing it to the shadow, much to his surprise. He quickly placed it next to him before holding the cake plate with two hands again. She actually cut herself another generous helping this time before she put the knife on the cake plate and started eating her slice. The shadow placed the remainder of the cake, of which only half was left, back into the picnic basket before eating his own slice of cake.
"Thanks a lot!" Blaze exclaimed as soon as she had finished. The shadow had finished a few seconds before. The shadow smirked as he looked at Blaze, chocolate icing all around her mouth. She put her hand to her mouth and blushed before the shadow pulled out some napkins and handed her one, putting the remainder back in the box. She quickly cleaned her face and passed it back to the shadow, yet a sudden gust of wind blew it out her hand and towards the lake. The shadow tried to use his quick reactions to catch it but missed. "I'm sorry." She apologised as she went to stand but the shadow had already stood and was walking to it to pick it back up.
"Don't worry about it, I'll get it, it'll be bad to litter here." The shadow told her as he walked to it and picked it up. As he turned back around time seemed to slow down. Behind Blaze was a Chaos bear, the most dangerous and deadly bear known to Mobius for both its terrifying speed and strength. A breed all but extinct in every forest but the Great Forest, and of course this planet. Suddenly his mind flickered and instead of a purple Cat in front of a brown bear he saw a pink Hedgehog in front of a large truck. He moved faster than even himself thought possible, throwing himself in front of the bear and between it and Blaze, it's claw tore flesh at the beast swiped mightily. Shadow coughed up some blood as he threw a Chaos Spear at the bears eye causing it to flee in pain. Blaze slowly turned around as Shadow fell, she managed to catch him at the last second, seeing the fleeing animal just go into the tree line.
"Oh God. Don't die!" She exclaimed as she looked at his usually white chest fur stained with red from the wound on his right breast.
"Ouch." Shadow mumbled, she quickly laid him down fully and grabbed the blanket, ripping it into something to compress the wound with. He used his left hand to stop her from pressing down. "Please don't do that, some of my ribs are broken and are poking my lung. You might puncture it."
"But you're losing so much blood." She exclaimed as she started crying. Shadow nodded to her.
"But at least it isn't drowning me internally." Shadow commented. "I remember everything now. I was nearby when it happened, which is why I blamed myself." Shadow told her, she still didn't know what it was that did happen, but Shadow couldn't really explain that without a good ten minutes of time, time being something he couldn't afford to waste. He handed her something and placed it into her hands. "That's a Chaos Emerald, it'll show you the way back to Mobius." He told her as she looked at it through her tears, the red gem gleaming, as it seemed to pull her in two directions, but on more powerful than the other. He pulled another Emerald, a green one this time. "I'm sorry, but in this condition I can barely take myself, let alone another." He concentrated on the hospital, but all that kept popping up in his mind was a picture of Amy's face. He couldn't afford to delay however. "Chaos..." He started. Blaze took a deep breath and shouted at him at the same time as he spoke the second word. "Control."
"You're the one I like you idiot!" He heard as everything merged together and he found himself at a familiar doorstep that he knew from two hundred years ago yet he knew that Amy had no descendants, and he didn't have the energy for another Chaos Control, but maybe the people living here now would help him out. He knocked on the door, holding his chest. He collapsed as the door opened and all he saw was a flash of pink.
He slowly came to in an unfamiliar room on an unfamiliar bed, he went to move but winced in pain and changed his mind on that idea. He looked at his chest to find that the surface wound had all but healed and all the was left was some rather colourful bruising. He touched his ribs gingerly, causing himself to flinch, he found that all of them were no longer broken but most of them were still badly bruised. The door handle clicked as it started to turn and Shadow quickly sat up in reaction, releasing a hiss of pain as he fell back down again.
"Shadow?" A familiar voice rang through the air, a voice that made his stomach flip and heart beat so hard it made his ribs hurt. "Are you awake?" She asked, her voice exactly as he remembered it.
"Have I died?" Shadow said aloud. Meaning to just say it within his head. Surely this was heaven for Rose would never have been put in hell.
"No silly, I looked after you when you came to my door." She called out around the door. "Can I come in?" She requested.
"Yes." Shadow whispered in a voice that she was barely able to hear. Then she came around the corner, her beauty and radiance making his memories look like children's drawings. "Rose? Is that really you?" He couldn't help but ask, she put her hand on her hip and gave him a funny look.
"Of course it is, who else were you expecting when you came to my house? I've already told you, I'm wayyy over Sonic, he was really starting to annoy me and we're getting on much better as friends." Amy reminded him. Shadow couldn't help but lay there silently, basking in her presence. "You're normally more talkative then this when you get hurt, telling me what happened and all. But I guess I can wait. I need to get to work anyway. You were out for a week and I had to call in sick!"Amy told him as she smiled at him with one of those smiles that always made his day, though he never told her that. "I guess I'll see you later!" She told him as she went back out the room and closed the door behind her.
"Rose wait!" He called, but it was too late. He sighed, what on Mobius was going on? He laid there for several minutes until the pain wore off before he slowly stood up and stretched as best he could before slipping on his air shoes and walking down the stairs. As he walked down the stairs he heard something come through the letter box. Looking down towards the door he noticed that it was the daily paper, Rose must have it delivered. Shadow thought as he picked it up, looking at the front page. Something about the Doctors latest fight with Sonic. Shadow's eyes wandered to the date. 12th of May 2012. His heart stopped. Today was the day that a truck would run a red light. Today was the day his Rose died walking on the way to work.
In a whirl of air so intense that it tore the front door of the house the black Hedgehog was gone, running at the fastest speed he could, the pain numbed by the deep pit of panic and adrenaline that he had right now. He ran and ran, not allowing his injury to hinder him as the extreme speeds caused two of the weak ribs to crack. In the distance he could see Amy half way across the road, and just meters behind her a human male in a truck on his phone. He was certain that at the speed he was travelling, there was no way he could stop it and he would just be put back in a never ending loop.
But there was no way he was letting Rose die again.
The rings that stabilised his power flew off in two different directions as he forced Chaos energy into his subconscious, unlocking all of the muscle limiters his brain had put on his muscles to prevent them tearing or breaking his own bones with their raw strength. His movement speed increased, yet if he moved Rose out of the way at this speed, it could very well cause her great harm anyway. So he had to take the only option that he could see as available and stood in between Amy and the truck with his hands raised and a look of determination so strong it was like there was murderous gleam not to fail in his eyes. The truck smashed right into the dark Hedgehog's outstretched hands, he didn't move a single inch as the ground cracked below him and the truck crumpled. As soon as the momentum had gone he collapsed, totally spent. There would be a price to pay for completely unlocking all of his barriers, but right now he didn't care, as Rose was alive, and had just seen him save her life. She crouched down and stroked his cheek.
"I thought I told you to stay in bed?" She muttered to him. Shadow tried to laugh, but just coughed instead.
"I think I should get a thanks for that." He replied in a quiet voice, he had just burnt up a lot of energy and it was taking its toll.
"You're right. Thanks. Now I'm going to call an ambulance. I think the driver of that car will probably need one as well." She told gently him as she went to stand, but he had caught her hand before she stood.
"I love you Amy Rose." Shadow told her as he looked deep into her eyes. She smiled at him again.
"I know Shadow, I've known for ages, it's took you long enough to tell me. We'll talk more later okay?" She told him and smiled to him. then she walked off, dialling on her mobile. Shadow smiled one of his rare smiles, satisfied that he had saved his love, before the last of his energy faded and he passed away with a sigh. Amy turned around with the phone to her ear. "Shadow?" She dropped the phone to the ground and ran back to him, falling to her knees and putting her head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat, which was absent. "Dammit Shadow!" She shouted as she started trying to perform CPR, avoiding his right side as much as she could. "Come on Shadow!" She shouted again as she continued, but there was no response from the dark Hedgehog. She started to cry as she hit the ground. "It's not fair!" She shouted to anyone who would listen. Then she stood up and sobbed before she suddenly knelt down again and kissed him on his lips. "I love you too you fool of a Hedgehog." She whispered through her tears, suddenly he coughed and groaned before opening his eyes.
"Why are you crying? I just saved your life." Shadow mumbled. She laughed as her tears turned to happy tears and she pulled the bruised Hedgehog into a hug. He winced but returned the hug happily. "Am I missing something?" He asked as they hugged.
"Not at all." Amy told him as she kissed his cheek, happy he was there.
"Well because it's hard, and I mean really hard to find black clothing which doesn't look grey compared to Shadow's fur we actually decided to reverse it, so Shadow's wearing a white tux and Amy will wearing a black dress." Rouge explained to the confused Echidna as he stared at Shadow's tux. The music started playing and the whole crowd stood up as Amy in a beautiful black wedding dress walked down the aisle.
*Later, at the reception.*
Sally squirrel walked up to Rouge, well dodge all the dancing Mobians to Rouge.
"So Rouge, I saw you catch those flowers, planning on tying the knot with Knuckles soon?" Sally asked, the two of them looked over to see Shadow and Knuckles in the middle of an arm wrestling match. It was obvious who was going to win, but Shadow seemed to be giving Knuckles a run for his money.
"I certainly hope so. I'm sure that I'll convince him in some way or another." Rouge replied with a hint of suductivity in her tone. Sally smirked before they heard a loud bang come from in the direction of the two arm wrestlers. The two turned around to see a gobsmacked Knuckles and a smug Shadow. Sonic then held his hand out.
"Hell yeah! That'll be fifty rings then Knuckles." They could hear the drunk Hedgehog shout across the room despite the music and noise from the party, the two turned back to each other as Knuckles stood up and started walking towards Rouge with Sonic following him.
"This should be interesting." Sally commented as the Echidna made it to them with Sonic right behind.
"A bet's a bet man." Sonic told him. Knuckles looked at Rouge frustratedly.
"Can I have fifty rings please?" Knuckles asked her in an irritated voice he had given her his rings for safe keeping while they were here, it's hard to steal from a thief. Rouge smirked and handed it over to him as Shadow made it to the three, smirking.
"So how'd you manage to lose Knuxiie?" Rouge asked him. He just blushed.
"I asked him when he was tying the knot with you and his arm just went completely limp." Shadow informed her. Rouge looked back to the Echidna, but he had already disappeared.
"Okay, now to find me some hot chicks to buy drinks for. Shadow, you're my wingman." Sonic announced before pulling off a rather confused looking Shadow who seemed to have no idea what one of those was.
"Now I've got something serious to ask you." Sally muttered to Rouge, making sure that only she could hear. Rouge nodded. "Have you noticed that Amy hasn't touched a single bit of alcohol?" Sally asked, Rouge looked like she almost burst at this comment.
"Can you keep a secret?" She asked, the squirrel nodded. "They were planning on keeping engaged for much longer than this... It was actually a shotgun wedding!"
"OhMyGodNoWay?" Sally squealed. Rouge put her fingers to her lips.
"Don't tell anyone." She told her. Sally put her fingers to her own lips.
"I swear I won't tell a soul." She promised.
He held the squirming bundle of joy in his arms, a permanent smile on his face for the second time in his life, the time before being his wedding day.
"She's beautiful." Shadow commented as he passed her to Amy.
"Yes she is." Amy whispered, out of breath but still going strong. You could already see that the baby would have black fur like her father, though it looked like she was set to have pink strips from her mother. "What should we call her?" Amy asked, she had left the naming up to Shadow.
"Luna Rose." Shadow told her happily. Amy nodded.
"Yeah, I like that name. Your mummy's going to look after you Luna, and your daddy's going to look after you forever." Amy told the small Hedgehog in her arms as she giggled.
"Well done on graduating, we're so proud of you!" Amy exclaimed to the excited twenty year old Hedgehog.
"Ah, I remember when you were this small and wouldn't stop squirming." Shadow commented as he held his hands apart a small distance. Luna gave him a reproachful look.
"Shadow Rose?" A name called out, Shadow looked up to see one of Luna's lecturers heading towards them.
"Yes, what is it?" Shadow questioned the old Leopard.
"I've got to say, your daughter has been one of the best students I've ever had the pleasure of teaching, and I've been at this job for twenty five years." He told him as he shook his hand. Shadow glance over to Luna who looked a little awkward.
"Yeah, she's a good girl." He replied making Luna smile at him.
"It'll not be quite the same without her, will it?" Luna asked him. Shadow just sighed as they both stood in front of the grave of Amy Rose.
Here lays Amy Rose.
A wonderful Wife, Mother and Friend.
She shall be missed for the rest of time.
Born 1996
Died 2104
"She had a long, happy life at least. That was probably being around us too much." Shadow commented. Luna gave him a hug.
"We'll be fine... Won't we dad?" Luna asked him, unsure.
"Yeah, we still have each other." Shadow replied with as much cheer as he could manage on this funeral day as he returned his daughters hug.
"I really don't understand why you stay here dad." Luna commented as the two of them sat up a tree on a branch so thick that three people could lay on it and not have to worry about falling off.
"I've already explained, there's a rift here and unless someone keeps an eye on it, unusual wildlife will keep coming through it. Some of them could cause terror. I'll take you in sometime. We can both handle ourselves." Shadow reminded her. The Hedgehog nodded in reluctant agreement, he had a point, even if she didn't want to admit it. "So how're things with you?"
"Well it's been five years, so plenty. Got a promotion in GUN, almost at the top now. I still wonder if we weren't around fifty years ago whether the humans would have been wiped out in that war you know." Luna commented, seeming a little reluctant to talk about herself until they had finished talking about Shadow.
"Yeah, they would have been." Shadow replied casually. Luna looked at him slightly surprised.
"How do you know?" She asked curiously. Shadow just shrugged.
"Trust me." The dark Hedgehog replied before looking up through the branches to the sky.
"Either way dad, you need to get out of here. Mum wouldn't want you cooped up in a forest for the whole of eternity. She'd want you to be happy, to find love again." Luna told him in a concerned voice. "I'm worried about you." She announced. Shadow sighed.
"Women like your mother, and you. They're one in a trillion. And I mean long math, not short. I shall never stop loving your mother..." Shadow told her as she looked at him sadly.
"Just don't waste away in here, I know you haven't been eating. Come to mine some time. I'll introduce you to some of my friends and then maybe you can make some of your own." Luna replied to him. "A life of eternity, isn't meant for mourning."
Deep in the forest in the dead of night Shadow was perched atop a branch, high in the old oak tree. It was a quiet night where it seemed like nothing eventful would happen.
There was a shuffling below him.
Jumping down from the branch he landed on his feet, immediately crouching down and looking around cautiously.
"See, I told you that he'd be here." The voice of a boy who was going through puberty called out. Shadow was unable to see the boy, but a distant memory as if from another time line was calling to him that he was no foe. A young Silver Hedgehog stepped out the bushes, Shadow looked up to see who the second person was as a purple Cat, older than the silver Hedgehog stepped out.
"Wow, you were right. He is here." The Cat announced in wonder. Shadow relaxed now, his memory still not giving away anything other than they were friends. The Cat approached him with a smile and outstretched her hand. "I'm Blaze and this is Silver. It's nice to meet you." Blaze informed him as she stood there with her hand outstretch. Despite his odd memory he didn't shake the hand, they were still kids, and this forest wasn't safe for them.
"I'm not the best person for children to be around." He growled at them in an attempt to see if they could withstand his Chaos pressure and therefore the minor dangers of the forest. The younger one, the boy Silver, shied away from the pressure. Blaze however simply lost her smile, not letting her hand drop. Shadow looked at her again, she was made of stern stuff to not flinch from that pressure. He took her hand and instantly felt the slight tingling of Chaos Energy, he could tell that to a normal person her hand would burn after a few second contact, and it was likely true with the rest of her body as it was a subconscious release. What power at a young age! Reminded him of him, Sonic and his daughter. He continued to hold the girls hand to prevent her from moving, he was curious now. "Why are you two here?" He asked calmly, Blaze looked at him in surprise because most people recoiled as soon as they touched her.
"If you're still holding on, then you probably have your answer." Blaze replied to him, he let go and looked at her for a few seconds with a piercing look before sighing in slight disappointment.
"I can't do much to help you with your pyrokenesis. You were born with it from what I can tell." Shadow told her before he leaped back up into the tree and laid back down on his usual branch.
"But we need your help!" Silver Shouted. Blaze pulled on his arm for a single second, cautionate not to touch him for too long.
"Come on Silver, we'll come back tomorrow." Blaze told him, Shadow observed them from his branch as they went. He looked at his left hand and sighed, he too knew too well what it was like to be an outsider. Blaze turned and looked up into the tree behind her. Her and Shadow's eyes crossed for a split second before she turned around again. Shadow knew in that instant she would indeed be back tomorrow...
Okay guys, I know I haven't posted recently and I'm sorry! Hopefully this story will make up for it. Doomsdays next chapter in is in the making. And should be out soon! Thanks for reading guys! I hope you enjoyed this no so little one shot! Took me four days to write, which has me impressed at my writing speed. Thirteen and a half thousand in four days! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! R&R guys ^.^