THE ADVENT: PHASE ONE
From the [Eternal Chaos] fan-series.
Chapter 1: "The Journey Begins"

Since being questioned on order, here's The Advent. AKA: the very beginning of the series.
This particular piece will focus on Shadow and Tails' fun-filled advent experience.

Location unknown. A forest setting...

Warm rays of light peered down through the looming, fully-bloomed trees that swayed back and forth in the soft breeze. Light blue eyes blinked a few times, examining the pleasant though unfamiliar atmosphere from a rather peculiar upside-down perspective, the sounds of a flowing river and forest-bound nature boding warm welcome.

The young boy currently lying on his back and blearily looking up to the sky couldn't have been more than twelve years of age. He had short and slightly ruffled orange hair, baby blue eyes, and fairly pale skin, his attire consisting of a plain white T-shirt with a dark blue, unzipped vest over it, khaki boy-shorts covering his bottom half while coming down to his knees, and almost spotless, white tennis shoes. His stature was on the small side, him standing around five foot four, his build borderline scrawny and face showcasing that of virtue and innocence.

"Oww... my head." The boy groaned, reflexively putting a hand up to shield his eyes from the streaming sunlight as he lied on his back - and on top of something particularly uncomfortable - evidently unaware that he wasn't alone...

"Do you mind?" Came a rather vexed voice directly beneath him.

"Huh?" The boy sat up slightly and turned his head to look at what it was lying under him, only staring for a moment before both realization and panic set in. "Oh! I'm sorry!" He apologized before quickly hopping off, only to trip over himself and land on his rump, now propped up by his hands as he looked on in wonder at the strange being before him.

As said being - who'd been lying on his stomach - began pulling himself from the dusty forest ground thanks to no longer having someone so rudely sitting on top of him, the young boy took the time to thoroughly examine the oddly familiar somebody's features, the deep, cynical voice resonating in familiarity all too well.

From what the boy could tell, what was currently pulling himself up from the ground was a more sinister-looking boy who appeared a bit older than himself. The older boy had wild yet stylish jet-black hair that sat straight towards the front, but was curved in a sort of wavy, upward fashion towards the back, red streaks adding character. A darkened shade surrounded harsh, piercing red eyes and his skin held a slightly tanned tone to it, many shades darker than his own. He was a good bit taller than him as well, standing around five foot ten. As far as his attire went, he wore a white undershirt with an open black leather jacket over it, complete with a small white fur collar around the neck. Black leather pants covered his legs, also complete with a stylish studded belt-buckle, as black leather boots covered his feet and fingerless black gloves covered his hands.

It took a moment to register, the young boy blinking in wonder. "...Shadow? Is that you?"

Now standing, the sinister-looking boy rubbed his own head, a rather disgruntled look upon his face. "...Yes." He answered in all simplicity. Piercing red eyes shot over towards the other, making the youth flinch ever-so-slightly. "And let me guess. You're supposed to be that fox-boy. Miles, was it?"

Tails continued to sit there on his rump, looking to Shadow in disbelief. "Y-yeah. I'm Tails." He finally answered in return, though continuing to fixate on Shadow. "Why do you look so... different?"

Shadow only gave a humored scoff. "You should try looking in a mirror." He advised, eyes returning to examining their forest surroundings.

Realization hitting hard once more, Tails' hands instantly went to his face, arms no sooner laid outstretched before him, eyes examining his hands, gaze following up his arms until he was looking over his own shoulder and down his backside. He quickly ran to the nearby river, kneeling down to examine his new appearance, much to his own horror. "I... I look different too!" He finally exclaimed. He looked back towards Shadow. "Why is this happening?! What do we do?!"

"Calm down." Was all Shadow offered, now playing around with a strange, black device. "Tell me, fox-boy. What's the last thing you remember?"

Still kneeling by the water, Tails thought about such a question for a moment. "My... shop? The Mystic Ruins?" Yes, that sounded about right. But it was such a distant memory and- "No, I... I don't remember." He said with sudden insight, eyes widening. "I can't remember a thing about how we got here! Or even before that!"

Shadow didn't move, continuing to fidget with the small, black device. "I see. So you've lost your memory too." He held back an aggravated grunt, eyes narrowing with irritation. "How troublesome."

"Yeah..." Tails lowly agreed as he looked upon a strange animal he'd never seen before across the river. Spotted, the curious four-legged creature retreated back into the forest. This place was pretty strange... He looked back to Shadow. It was obvious enough by this point that he was in the exact same boat as him, which didn't seem very promising for either of them. Tails then took a curious interest in the object in Shadow's hand. "What's that?" He asked.

"A communication device." Shadow answered, continuing to study it. "It was in my pocket."

"Really?" Tails' eyes sparkled with hope, him suddenly rising to a standing position himself, wobbly at first. "That's great! Maybe we can-"

"It doesn't work."

"...Oh."

Shadow let out a trying sigh, returning the small, dead-sparked device to his jacket pocket. "This doesn't make any sense." He grumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "The two of us wake up in a strange forest within strange bodies, and with no memory of what happened."

"Well, that's true, but..." Tails looked to the sky, hand to his chin in thought. "But I'm sure Sonic or someone we know is nearby. Maybe they can help us figure out what's going on."

But Shadow seemed to be having different thoughts entirely, him staring off into the distance with a rather uncanny look.

"Shadow?" Tails voiced again with mild worry.

"We should leave." Shadow stated yet again, still looking in the distance. "Now."

"Huh?" Tails was more than confused. He began to look around nervously, only strange plants upon his vision. "Why? Did you remember something? Are we in some sort of danger?"

Again, Shadow didn't answer.

Tails' worry only grew. He made way towards Shadow, stopping close by. "...I really think we should find Sonic or someone we know." He said, slightly recoiling from the immense uncertainty of their strange situation.

"Forget about your ridiculous, thrill-seeking friends for a moment." Shadow snapped back in harsh decisiveness, earning a flinching jump from the young boy. Sighing, Shadow calmed himself. "Think about it. We wake up in some strange forest with no memory of how we got here or why we're like this. We could have been fighting someone. Anyone. We could be in enemy territory as we speak."

"Y-you think so?" Tails questioned, who couldn't have been feeling any more apprehensive at this point.

"Just look around you." Shadow continued, gesturing to their surroundings. "We're obviously not in the Mystic Ruins. Or Green Forest or White Jungle for that matter. Tell me, fox-boy; do you know where we are?"

Tails stared at Shadow for a moment before looking around himself and realizing his point. "Well, I..." A doubting frown came to the boy's expression. "No..." He admitted. Shadow was right; he had no idea where they were...

"Exactly." Shadow concluded, glad to have gotten his point across.

"But I don't understand...!" Tails persisted, now even more confused than before. "I've studied Mobius' geology a hundred times over! I know every zone, every region, and every environment there is to know!" It was true, him saying such without the slightest bit of hesitation. He paused, uncertainty resurfacing as he began to look around once more, the strange vegetation and wildlife continuing to linger around him. "But this place... I've never seen it before in my entire life."

Shadow held his ground. "...I know." Was all he said.

Tails' attention drifted back to Shadow, worried eyes fixating on the once-hedgehog. A rather sinking feeling washed over him. "You don't think..."

If Tails was right - if this truly was an area uncharted on Mobius - then this might not even be Mobius at all. But the idea of being on a completely different planet - in a different dimension even - was a concept quite difficult for either to grasp. The fact that neither of them could remember anything only added to the uncertainty of it all. For all they knew, they could be galaxies away from home and their friends.

Shadow shook his head. "I don't know." He finally said, breaking the sinking silence. "In any case, it's like I said. We can't stay here. We have to keep moving."

Tails nodded. "Yeah..." He weakly agreed, his mind still muddled. A different world? A different dimension? What about Mobius? What about his friends? Were they okay? Why was he with Shadow of all people? What happened to the two of them and their original bodies? And why couldn't they remember anything?

"Well? Are you coming or not?"

Tails jolted his attention upward to see Shadow already making way through the forest, following the river downstream.

"H-hey, wait for me, Shadow!" Tails cried, quickly scrambling after his new and rather petulant companion.

TBC...