Shadow flinched as he fell into the freezing ocean, leaving a large splash behind him. After steadying himself in the water, he lifted his head up over the surface, coughing out the water that had made its way into his mouth. He shuddered when he realised the taste of salt was still prominent on his tongue. Although one positive thing about the situation was that his body was already adjusting the cold, and the chill that had seeped into his bones was now disappearing.
The hedgehog frantically looked around. There was nothing except the shimmering, blue water and the clear sky surrounding him. Shadow, however, didn't have time to admire the glimmering surface of the ocean. First and foremost, he needed to figure out where the hell he was. The fact that he had been sent here through a portal didn't make this task any easier.
With a growl, he activated his rocket shoes, only to find, absolutely nothing happened. His growl grew louder as he tried again, still nothing. Out of options, he took in a deep breath and began to swim, hoping it wouldn't be too long until he found some land. Shadow suddenly became grateful for the fact that his immortality allowed him to do this. In theory, he could keep swimming forever and ever, never having to worry about food, water, or becoming tired. Nevertheless, Shadow didn't wish that swimming in the ocean for the rest of his life was his fate.
Ten minutes might have went buy, or perhaps twenty? Shadow wasn't really counting. All he knew is that he was getting more and more bored as time went by. He couldn't even worry about Eggman's machine as he had seen Silver destroy it just as Shadow was being flung into the portal. If only the Silver hedgehog had been a bit faster, then Shadow wouldn't be in this mess.
Shadow could've sworn he saw something in the far distance. His eyes narrowed so he could get a better look, but it still remained a small blob on the ocean. He increased his pace, hoping he was heading to some sort of ship or maybe even some land. The blob was growing bigger, surely? That just have meant it was approaching towards him, confirming to Shadow that it was indeed a ship.
"Look's like there's something in the ocean, Blaze!" Marine remarked as she looked out onto the water. The raccoon turned to Blaze with an excited grin, as if expecting the feline to comment. Blaze just looked out, it was probably just some object that had happened to have the misfortune of ending up all the way out here.
Marine huffed when she realised Blaze didn't seem to want to make a remark. "Pass me my telescope, will ya?" she asked finally.
Blaze quickly grabbed it and placed it into Marine's hand. She brought up to her eye and began to look out. "Crikey!" Marine suddenly exclaimed while almost falling backwards.
"What is it?" Blaze asked, still keeping a level head unlike her companion. She knew Marine had a tendency to overreact to things.
"There's a guy in the water!" Marine was still in shock when she turned back to Blaze. Confusion made Blaze blink repeatedly. What was someone doing all the way out here, miles away from land?
"Is he.. moving?" Blaze doubted her own question. If he was that far out, realistically, the poor guy would be dead by now.
"That's the thing though, the fella is swimming!" Marine's tone was fascinated, while Blaze was becoming more and more confused. Marine had to be seeing things.
"Well then," the raccoon made a decisive nod, "we have to rescue 'im!"
Blaze found herself sighing. "I can only hope he doesn't slow our progress down."
"If he's still swimming 'e has to be a fighter!" Marine assured Blaze. Silently, the cat turned and went to look over the edge of the boat into the water. She couldn't afford the process of finding the Sol Emeralds being delayed any further.
Shadow was quickly growing impatient with swimming towards the boat, but if he wanted a chance to get home, he supposed he had to continue. Why had his rocket shoes decided to pack up today of all days?
Much to the hedgehog's relief, the boat was nearer now, and he could get a decent look at it. Instead of the metal he was used to seeing, the ship was made out of wood, along with a tatty sail and blue and yellow paintwork that was beginning to scratch off. Shadow's ears twitched as he heard a voice sound across the water. "We're comin' for ya, mate! Don't worry!" It was a female voice, wait - did she have an Australian accent? Whatever, that didn't matter. What mattered was that he was getting somewhere.
Shadow was right up close to the side of the boat now, and looked up to see a brown raccoon staring down on him with blue and round eyes, wearing an attire of a green top from what Shadow could see. She suddenly smiled and waved. "Stay there, will ya? I'll get ya a ladder!" Shadow couldn't help but roll his eyes, did she really think he'd go anywhere?
She quickly returned and dangled a rope ladder over the side of the boat. "Ya need help getting up 'ere?" she asked with concern. Did she think he was twelve or something?
The hedgehog gave a dismissive grunt as he began to climb up. The rope was very thin in some places, practically a strand. Shadow was expecting it to snap, but surprisingly, he was able to get on the boat without any issues.
"Towel!" The raccoon said as she shoved a towel on his chest. Quickly, he took it from her and began drying off his fur. She might have said towel but it was more like a tatty rag, but Shadow felt there was no need to complain.
Shadow was about to utter his thanks before she interrupted him. "Crikey, look at this catch!" she called over her shoulder, confirming to Shadow that there must be others on the boat. "He's a sinister lookin' fella ain't he?" Shadow paid no attention to this, he was often called something along those lines.
He could see purple appear from behind a crate that was sitting on the deck. It revealed itself to be a cat wearing an unusual attire. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, looking like feathers coming out of her head. She wore an outfit that left an area that women usually covered exposed, but it still covered her chest and arms, Shadow didn't even know what to call it. Her angular eyes were narrowed slightly as she looked at Shadow with a stoic expression. Shadow's gaze drifted away from her amber eyes and was met with a little red spot in the middle of her forehead. She had to be the most unusual thing he'd ever seen. "Hmm." was all the cat responded with to the other girl's comment.
"The name's Marine!" The raccoon announced, holding out her hand for him to shake. Shadow just stared at it, before looking back up at Marine's face.
"Thank you for getting me out of there." he said finally, dipping his head a little to show his gratitude.
Awkwardly, she laughed and lowered her hand when she realised Shadow wouldn't accept the handshake. "What's your name?"
"Shadow." He replied, still drying his fur, now rubbing his quills to get at the water caught underneath them.
"I 'ave to say it suits ya!" Marine grinned, putting her hands on her hips. She tilted her head towards her companion. "And of course ya know Blaze!"
This remark made Shadow halt and look over the cat. No, no he didn't know her, he would've remembered such a face. "No." Shadow replied simply, going back to drying himself.
Marine blinked a couple of times before shaking her head. "Right, let me get this straight, you ended up all the way out in the ocean, somehow still being 'live and not even tired! And now you're sayin' you don't even know you're own princess!"
Suddenly, all the pieces came together. Clearly, Eggman's portal machine hadn't sent him somewhere else on Mobius, but a different world entirely. "I'm not from here. I believe I'm probably in another dimension." he told her.
"Huh, that explains that then!" Seemingly, Marine took his explanation without giving it too much thought.
"Might I ask what dimension you're from?" The cat said it as more of a command than a question. Her regal tone clearly evident, showing her royal roots.
"Does it really matter?" Shadow asked impatiently, he didn't want to chat needlessly anymore.
"I'd also like to know!" Marine pitched in, "I wanna know who's on me ship!"
"Mobius." Shadow grumbled. Suddenly, the pair stared at him in shock, and Shadow began to glance between them through narrowed eyes. "What?" Shadow's voice had a hint of a growl.
"You're from Sonic's dimension, aren't you?" the cat's voice was barely more than a whisper. "We've met before, he might have mentioned my name before, Blaze, as we worked together to defeat Eggman Nega and Eggman."
Shadow now was recalling how she and her friend Marine had been referred to many times by the blue hedgehog. Shadow didn't tend to listen to Sonic's stories, each one was more exaggerated and self-centred than the rest. "I have heard of you." Shadow said once he was out of his thoughts. "Could you use your.." he paused, trying to remember the name of the gems Sonic had mentioned.
"Sol Emeralds?" Blaze shook her head, "If I had all seven, I could, but I don't, I'm currently searching for them, I have four, but I still need to find three."
Shadow grit his teeth and stared at the wooden floor. Luck? What even was it? Clearly, he didn't possess it. The day would insist on getting worse and worse.
"Ya need somethin' to eat, mate?" Marine asked, her voice was sympathetic and her eyes softened. "Ya must be hungry!"
Shadow shook his head. "For reasons I can't be bothered to explain right now, I don't need to eat or drink, nor will I ever get tired or even die."
A wide grin crept on Marine's face. "It's our lucky day!" she exclaimed, punching the air triumphantly. "This fella's immortal!" She turned to Blaze excitedly.
"Do you happen to have fighting skills amongst your other attributes?" Blaze asked, clearly preferring to keep the conversation more business-like than anything else.
"If you thought Sonic was skilled, you haven't seen anything yet." Shadow said with certainty. Blaze's eyes only narrowed further, her eyes burning straight into his.
"Just as I thought!" Marine squealed, "he's a sorcerer!" This only made Blaze face palm herself. The raccoon ran off suddenly, coming back with a large pirate hat with a skull on it, looking like it was part of a silly costume. "We'd love to have someone like ya in our crew, especially if we don't need to feed ya!"
"Crew?" Shadow raised his brow, his gaze landed on the hat. "I'm no pirate." His voice was practically disdainful.
"Ya don't 'ave to worry about that, mate!" She slapped the hat right on his head. "I'll make a pirate out of ya! Don't ya worry!"
AUTHORS NOTE
I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS FOR THIS ONE AND AAAAA I JUST NEEDED TO START WRITING IT. EXPECT LOTS OF DRAMA, HUMOUR, AND A BIT OF A SLOW BURN RELATIONSHIP!
BLAZE IS MY FAVOURITE SONIC CHARACTER, HANDS DOWN.
I SHIP SHADAZE BECAUSE OF THE COMICS, YA GOTTA READ THE COMICS WITH THEM TOGETHER MAN XD, THEY HAVE GREAT MOMENTS!
HAVE A NICE DAY FOLKS!