Shadow opened his eyes, the last echoes of a guttural scream bouncing in his mind as the morning sunlight blinded him.

Tuesday, he thought immediately. What was so important about Tuesday. Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday...

"Shit." Shadow rubbed his face with one hand and sat up. He snatched his phone off the bedside table and unlocked it.

Sonic had texted him, Still coming today?

Shadow texted back with a simple, yeah, before he got out of bed. He showered quickly, and got his gloves and shoes on. Just before heading out, he grabbed his bag and his headset. He slipped the headset around his neck and stuck the earbuds in his ears, locked his door, and took off.

Sonic was not a patient guy. Far from it; his speed could take him from here to fifty miles away and back in minutes, yet here he was. Just waiting. He glanced at his phone to check the time. 9:37 a.m. Sonic stuck his phone back in his bag and leaned back against the pole he stood in front of, staring off at the line of stores across the street. If Shadow could just hurry up...

Speak of the devil and he appears, Sonic supposed, as he caught Shadow's figure approaching from his right.

Shadow clicked a button on his headset and took out the earbuds. "Hello, Sonic." There were faint circles under his eyes, and he looked like he had just rolled out of bed.

"You feeling okay, buddy?" Sonic eyed his face. "You look tired. Did you get any sleep at all last night?"

Sonic's questioning only grated on Shadow. "I'm fine," he said firmly. "And don't call me your buddy."

Sonic brushed off Shadow's palpable irritation. With a tilt of his head, he urged Shadow to follow him, and the two took off running. They followed the train tracks out to the Mystic Ruins, planning to go through a well-trodden path in the jungle, one they always took on their occasional runs together.

The fresh air energized Shadow, and within moments, he wasn't looking so out of it. He was silent, seeming focused. When Sonic looked at him, opening his mouth, he saw Shadow had the earbuds in his ears and was lip singing along to whatever he was listening to. Something intense, Sonic could tell, as Shadow's face changed repeatedly, from pained-looking to confident to sad, all over the place. Seeing Shadow so animated made Sonic smile. Might have to take Shadow's phone and look through his music sometime, he thought to himself as he turned his attention back to their route.

Heavy bass, Japanese instruments, and electronic voices pulsed in Shadow's head. He shut out everything but the music and the route. For a moment, he even forgot Sonic was running alongside him. He didn't think. He didn't feel. All that was around was his music and his footsteps.

When they reached the cart tracks that would lead to the cliff with the ladder, they came to a stop. Shadow paused his music and took out one earbud. He took his phone and looked at the time. 10:03 a.m.

Sonic took a deep breath, taking in the fresh mountain air. "So," he said, grabbing Shadow's attention, "are we going together or splitting up this time?" He put his hands behind his head, grinning widely.

Shadow took an armband out of his bag and slipped his phone into it. "Let's split up. You take the left path, I'll take the right." He closed the holder of the band and slipped it onto his left forearm.

"'Kay." Sonic stretched his arms back. "Ready whenever you are."

The two left their bags in a small hiding place in one wall of the short tunnel that led out to the jungle. The darkness of the tunnel was illuminated only by Shadow's phone; he was flipping through his music as they walked, trying to find something he found suitable.

Sonic glanced at the screen once Shadow pulled his hand away from it. DAGames- Left Behind, it read. Shadow put the free earbud in his ear, surrounding himself again with music.

The screen shut off as they came out into the sunlight. The two hedgehogs stood on the cliff, the jungle below them. Off in the distance, they could see a tower with a red line of railway tunnel extending from it. One of Eggman's defunct bases, Shadow remembered Sonic had told him. And it looked like it, with a gigantic marking of the Doctor's insignia plastered on it.

"Hey, Shadow?" Sonic tapped Shadow's shoulder.

Sonic's sudden action roused Shadow from his train of thought. He paused his music and looked at the blue hero. "What?"

"What kind of music do you like to listen to?" A bright smile seemed glued to Sonic's face. He seemed genuinely curious.

"Stuff I find that just has some meaning to me." Shadow reached to hit play.

"Like what?"

Shadow huffed. He turned off his headset and turned up the volume of his phone's speaker. He looked through his music, and then picked one. Kamui Gakupo- Specimen Girl.

Even with Sonic's rusty understanding of Japanese, he understood enough for the song to send a chill through him. He stood silent as the two listened.

After about two minutes, Shadow paused it and turned his headset on again. "Ready?"

Sonic had to pull himself from his mental translating. After a moment of silence, he nodded. "Yeah."

The two descended the ladder down into the jungle and turned to the immediately fork in the road. Shadow played his music and took off down the right-hand path.

Sonic just stood there. Stuff I find that just has some meaning to me. That only made Sonic's stomach turn. Why stuff like that, though? He shook his head and started down the left-hand path.

Running quickly made him forget the disgusting song. He moved quickly, dodging plants that reached in the path and ducking over low-hanging branches. He didn't run to his full capacity, not even close, preferring to take his time and lose himself in the denseness around him. Though he knew the jungle well enough to maneuver it with his eyes closed, Sonic still never got bored running here.

His freeform route brought him to the center, to the ruins that stood in a clearing. He stopped and took a deep breath, just staring at the ruins. His mind wandered, finding its way to Tikal and Chaos. Sonic just stood still, letting himself stand still and remember.

Shadow sat on the riverbank and paused his music. As he stared at the moving water, he let his mind go blank. As noisy as the jungle was, it was also calming. Shadow almost felt isolated, in a good way. Being alone like this, in solitude like this, away from the world, was something he could use once in a while. No wonder Sonic likes coming here so much, he mused as he sat back, looking up to the canopy.

Small bits of green-tinted sunlight filtered through the thick ceiling of leaves. The bubbling of the river and the calls of cicadas made for soothing white noise, and soon, Shadow was leaning back against a tree trunk, asleep.

It's raining, and the sun is shining. In the distance, I can see a group beneath a tree.

A wedding. It's a wedding. The bride is dressed in white, and they all wear masks.

They're dancing, gracefully spinning and jumping to music only they seem to hear.

I'm going closer, and closer. I want to dance with them. I want to be like them.

One removes his mask. I... scream when I see his face. His twisted, rotting face.

Sonic found Shadow asleep next to the river, rays of sunlight falling on him. As he approached the sleeping hedgehog, Shadow's eyes shot open.

Once Shadow's vision focused and he realized he was still in the jungle, he sighed. "That dream again," he muttered to himself.

"I've been looking for you." Sonic sat next to Shadow.

Shadow looked at the time. 12:49 p.m. He stood. "We should be heading back." He looked down at Sonic.

The hero stood, too, and they started walking back towards the cliff, Sonic leading the way. After a long period of silence, Sonic looked over his shoulder at Shadow. "You said, 'that dream again.' What was that about?"

Shadow had been looking at the river and occasionally glancing at Sonic, but now he looked right at him. Shadow hesitated before he answered. "A recurring dream."

"About her?" Sonic stopped. He turned around to face Shadow. That look of pity just... pissed Shadow off. He hated looking at that face.

"No," he answered, an edge in his voice. Hell no. "Quit looking at me like that," he added. "It wasn't about Maria."

Sonic turned his attention back to the path. Knowing Shadow was pissed, he tried changing the subject. "So, uh... Do you want to come with me to Tails' place later?" At first, he took Shadow's immediately silence as a definite no, but Shadow surprised him.

"I may as well. I have nothing better to do today."

Sonic looked over his shoulder, but saw Shadow had returned his gaze to the river. Neither spoke the rest of the way back to the cliff.