Chapter 1: Service
What a strange place to wake up to. All gray with out a single ounce of other color to be seen. Then again, that tend to happen when you wake up in front of a wall. A small purple hedgehog groaned as he rose and turned away from the wall to find that he was surrounded by these monotonous colors and strange machinery on the walls. His golden eyes were moving all over the place, trying to find someone important. When ever he moved his head, the five quills on his head swayed slightly, and so did the two long ones that were on the back of his head. Seeing that who he was looking for was not in this area, he began to move through the ruins of his place of awakening.
"Shine? Are you here?", the hedgehog whispered, getting a feeling of danger with every step he took.
A small groan was heard to his right, making his ear twitch in curiosity. He followed and broke into a quick sprint, coming to a faint glow in the corner. Before his eyes was a white furred cat in a blue dress that went down to her knees, and similar golden eyes. In her hands was a little jewel that she didn't seem to dare to let go of.
"Fuego? That you?", The cat asked to the hedgehog.
The hedgehog named Fuego nodded and extended his hand to the feline who's glow was brightening a little more, meaning she was alright and happy to see him, "Yeah. You alright, Shine?"
"I think so. That was some fall though.", Shine said, as she got up with the hedgehog's help.
Fuego nodded and looked around, "Any idea as to where we are? Cuz this place is kind of... dull..."
Shine took a moment to analyze where they were and saw only the same thing that Fuego did. Gray walls everywhere that lead into hall ways, sparking wires here and there, and dusty old machinery. She would be surprised if anything here still worked, "I see what you mean, brother... let's see if we can find a way out of here..."
"Shine...", Fuego said, looking down. If anyone could see it, Fuego was the shorter of the two and clearly the youngest, despite his cool manner.
Shine looked down at her little brother and asked, "What is it, Fuego?"
"Do you remember how we got here?", Fuego asked, looking slightly confused.
Shine blinked and was ready to say something until she realized that she wasn't quite so sure herself. In fact, she didn't remember much of anything. She remembered being in her home with a hedgehog that looked a lot like Fuego but had silver fur like herself and a cat with purple fur. She also remembered a party and a golden furred echidna. Passed that, nothing came to mind.
"Honestly, I really don't know. Maybe it will come to us?", Shine said.
Fuego nodded, but seemed to still be thinking about how they ended up in such a strange environment and so alone as well. He was curious of where their parents were. Soon, the two of them began walking through the hall ways of the strange ruins, hoping to find some way out and into some light. The only reason they could see was because of the light that was coming from Shine's body and the sparks that came from the wires on the ceiling. Once in a while, they would pass a symbol that looked rather noble. It was of an eagle and a shield on the body. The letters G U N were on it as well. This caught their attention and the feline and hedgehog both began to get curious. After hanging a left, they came to a dead end. Fuego began to feel a little nervous. Not because of the dead silence, but because of the creaking that their foot steps made when they took a step.
"Shine, maybe we should go another way.", Fuego said, looking at the ground a little curiously.
Shine rolled her eyes, but then felt the ground beneath her feet give way, and a literal sinking feeling took her. Fuego saw her go down and with in seconds, he enveloped Shine in a red aura that was coming from his body, "You alright, Shine?"
Though she was caught, she sank enough to see another room beneath her, "I'm fine... um... you may want to have a look at this."
Fuego tilted his head before moving forward and slowly levitating down, moving Shine down with him. Inside was a strange looking wall filled with blinking lights and buttons. Red, green, and blue just flashing every which way and that. This was peculiar, but not as peculiar as the pod that was sitting just on the other side of the room. It was almost shaped like an egg and emitting an ominous green glow. Fuego was the one to investigate the pod first, curious as to what was causing the glow in the first place. Shine decided that she would look at the computer. There was a dusty screen that she had to clean up before looking at what was on it. All that there was were just lines that were moving in zig zag patterns. Another showed numbers for a battery of sort which read half charged.
Another button caught her eye that read "Release" and she was tempted to look away from it for a while, but then she found herself hearing something.
You will need help if you are to save this world...
Shine blinked and looked to Fuego, "Did you say something?"
"No. Why?", Fuego asked, pressing his face against a glass viewing window that allowed him to see inside the glowing green egg. He could see an outline of someone, but who it reminded him of was hard to say.
Shine gulped and looked around, hoping that it was just her tired mind playing tricks on her. Unfortunately, the voice came back. It seemed gentle though, soothing, and very familiar.
Release the being that will assist you... change the fate of this world...
Shine looked at the button that said 'release' and sighed to herself before putting her finger to the button and began to debate on whether it was a good idea to push it or not. She was ready to pull her finger away when Fuego came behind her and said, "What are you doing?"
Shine was surprised, and accidentally pushed the button. What happened next shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone who is reading this. The egg shaped pod started hissing as steam was being released, and the screen on the machine began to change and show a flashing red light. If the speakers could work, a siren would have been heard as well. The pod opened and the steam started to slowly disappear. Inside was a strange figure that took a few staggering steps forward to reveal an ivory hedgehog with sky blue highlights. He had six quills on the back of his head that had the highlights. Two on each side of his head pointed up while remaining two that were in the center back of his head pointed down. He had shoes that appeared to have rockets under them. A pair of gloves, and black rings that were around his wrists and ankles. The eyes were what really caught Shine and Fuego's attention. They were a gentler shade of blue than what was on his body. Probably gentle from a groggy awakening, but still gentle none the less. The hedgehog looked at the two of them in curiosity before straightening himself up.
Shine couldn't help but feel that the hedgehog looked eerily familiar to her. The body shape looks similar to someone she knew, but the color was off. She gulped before asking, "Shadow?"
The hedgehog looked to Shine with a quick jerk of his head and appeared to glare at her. A fierceness replaced the gentle look in the eyes and he took a few steps forward towards the duo. Fuego quickly got in front of his sister and raised his hands in front of him, ready to fend off the new hedgehog if things got hostile, "Hey, we let you out. No need to get all cranky!", Fuego said.
The hedgehog stopped his advance as he was but a couple of feet away from Fuego. Then, he went on to one knee and said, "I am grateful for you two releasing me from my slumber. For that, I offer you my service until my debt of gratitude is repaid."
"Who are you? Are you Shadow?", Shine asked.
The hedgehog raised his head to look up at the feline and said, "Yes and no."
Fuego didn't drop his guard for a second, feeling that the hedgehog could be a potential threat, "Explain yourself."
"I will when you do. I'd like to know who it is that I owe my freedom to.", the hedgehog said.
Shine seemed to think it was fair enough, so she pointed to herself and said, "My name is Shine the Cat. This is my brother, Fuego the Hedgehog."
The hedgehog rose to his feet and then said, "I'm Aero. Aero the Hedgehog."
Shine asked, " What did you mean by yes and no? You know, when I asked about you being Shadow."
Aero looked from Shine to Fuego then shook his head, "I'll reveal on my own time. Now, how may I serve you?"
Fuego sighed and shook his head, "Could you start by telling us where we are and how we get out of here?"
Aero looked around the room that they were all in and then looked at his hand before he said, "We are in G.U.N. Eastern base. Looks abandoned though."
"Thanks for stating the obvious, Aero... I see it's abandoned, but what is G.U.N?", Fuego asked.
Aero didn't answer at first, and he looked like he wasn't going to answer until he grabbed Shine and took a large bound to the side. Fuego moved after them, especially when he saw a large robotic foot come down where they were just standing. It was oddly shaped and yellow with a green leg. Aero put Shine down next to a computer and Fuego joined them before he said, "Stay here.", and he ran, or rather skated, to the robot. Flames came from under his shoes and he started to skate quickly, circling the robot that reminded them of a great big grasshopper with no front legs. It had a gun mounted on the head of the robot and it faced Aero. A cold voice came from the robot as it said, "Prototype, return to your pod or be destroyed."
Aero seemed to smirk and stopped running to say, "I'll take my chances. After all, I'm not going back to sleep anytime soon."
The machine seemed to process the response to the command and the clicking from the gun being armed could be heard. Aero stood were he was and simply stuck his hand in front of him and aimed it at the great robot, "If you have any logic in that CPU of your's, you will back off."
The robot only fired quick rounds as the machine gun began to go off. Aero on the other hand seemed to be in one spot then the next with out any effort. Fuego and Shine both watched in sheer awe, knowing only one hedgehog in their lives that and it was the hedgehog they called Shadow. Aero suddenly appeared just above the robot when he shouted, "Chaos Inferno!"
From those words being said, a strange flame was summoned in Aero's hand. The flame was green like an emerald, and it had an unnatural glow and feel to it. Shine then felt her jewel in her hand glow. She looked at it and how it reacted to Aero's flame and was puzzled. Unfortunately for her, while she was looking at her charm Aero was demolishing the robot. The flames had melted the armor on the robot and exposed a lot of inner circuits. The robot seemed to spark up and shout, "Malfunction! Malfunction! Prototype escape! Malfunction!"
Aero seemed to growl when he heard the word Prototype and then went into a spin dash directly into the center of robot's body, thus making it crash into flames. From the flames, Aero stood and looked at Fuego and Shine. Fuego had seen the whole thing and was in sheer shock. Though it was a fight that only lasted a few seconds, it was something he didn't expect to see. Shine looked up and saw Aero with in the flames, and could only see the silhouette. Aside from the blue eyes, Aero looked and sounded exactly like the Shadow that she and Fuego had known. Why was this so?
"Why are you two staring at me?", Aero asked as he stepped out of the flames.
Shine blinked a moment to snap out of her little daze and said, "N-nothing... um... now... thank you for protecting us."
"All apart of the service that I am to give.", Aero said, taking a bow.
Fuego still had an uneasy feeling about this hedgehog, so he asked, "Why is it that you want to serve us? I mean, most would have said that saving our lives was enough, but you are actually willing to serve?"
"If you must know, it's because of this. Freedom is the right of all beings. Though I may not look it, I have been asleep in that pod prison for over fifty years, or more if the computer over there had the right date. That being said, I was alive, but I couldn't truly live. You two freed me and have given me my life to live, for that I must pay what I owe.", Aero stated with his arms crossed.
Fuego blinked a few times and actually felt a little bad for snapping at Aero. He should have known the whole imprisonment deal since his sister had been going through such an ordeal herself. Granted it wasn't for as long as Aero here, but it was still something that he felt for his sister over. With a sigh, Fuego looked up at the ivory and blue hedgehog with a faint smile before saying, "We appreciate it. Thank you, Aero."
Shine smiled at Fuego accepting Aero's generosity, and then coughed to get them attention, "Ahem. I believe we were going to leave this place."
Aero nodded and looked to a wall before cracking his knuckles. He went into a spin dash and went through the wall, creating a tunnel that lead to the outside. In this case, more like the surface. They were beneath the floor and earth, so Aero had to spin more upwards until he reached sky. Unfortunately, he didn't get the view he had wanted after waking up. Aero stood at the opening on the surface for a while to just stare at the surroundings in shock and horror. The horror wasn't shown, but he must have felt it. With a drop down the hole, and a nod to his new companions, he returned back up the hole to look at the horrid view again. Shine was the first one up, followed by Fuego, who was helping her up the hole, and they all could see it as well.
Darkness. The trees were dying or dead. Ruin, shifting rocks and dirt on every corner. The sky was gray and covered in clouds with out a speckle of sun to be seen. It was obviously day time, but with the clouds everywhere, it was hard to tell if the sun was going down or coming up. No matter what direction they looked, there was only wasteland that went on and on. A question plagued the minds of all three as they looked all around. What happened to this world, and is there anyone here besides them?
Author's Note
What a weird way to start a story. I had a bunch of different opening chapters for this story, but I thought it would be less confusing if I had started it this way. Right after the Silvaze trilogy. Makes more sense, and it at least let's people take a deep breath and relax about Fuego and Shine's fate. And as you can see, my other OC made and appearance. Strange world, but I guess that for you to say and not me. Please leave a review if you would. Feedback has been what kept me going so far, and it still keeps me going.