In Hindsight
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog, never will, sadly…
Chapter One: Two Lives
It was twilight. Smoke rose in thick columns among the ashen remains of once proud trees, curling into the air and dissipating in slow, lazy waves. The field was bloody; the tattered remains of the decimated army, once a thousand strong, lay where they fell among the broken and cold bodies of their enemies. A groan cut through the air, softly, where one or two soldiers still had the energy left to form words. Burning wood and blazing fires cast eerie shadows across the still landscape.
A single warrior stood, amidst the rampant death that still clung to the battlefield even hours after the clash; a splintered and cracked shield bearing a gleaming green gem and two golden rings dragging at one arm and a broadsword stained crimson dangling from another. A form melted into being next to him out of the smoke and fog, standing proud though no less beaten and adorned with his own armaments.
"It's all clear. The left flank is intact, but the right flank was destroyed. How are the men on the forefront?" The newcomer cast a steely purple gaze across the torn field; not a flicker of emotion in his eyes at the carnage. Beside him the warrior seemed to snap out of his stony vigil, a snort and the hissing of a blade being sheathed the initial response he gave. At last, he spoke.
"It's rather effortless to see, Knuckles. They're either dead or dying; not a one among them still standing, save me." Knuckles turned to him, a smirk pulling at the end of his muzzle, a fleeting glimmer of something passing through his eyes.
"Save you. Why am I not surprised?" Knuckles turned away, neither hearing nor caring for a response, and flipped the nearest corpse over with a leather-clad foot. The body came up washed out and bloated, flies beginning to gather among the decay. "You'll have to be the one to report this; you know that, right, Shadow?"
It was Shadow's turn to smirk. "I'm well aware."
"Rouge! Where is that dish I ordered? The table at the back is getting rowdy!"
"I'm on it!" A white bat shouted back, straightening from her chore of pulling a clean apron out of a cabinet. She grumbled under her breath as she tied it around her slim waist.
"Rouge! I need that dish now!"
"I'm coming already, didn't you hear me the first time?!"
The dish the innkeeper was so adamant about lay prepped and ready for delivery on the wooden counter, still steaming even a quarter hour after being cooked; the chef had done a spectacular job, as per usual. Rouge swept it up into her gloved hand with practiced ease, blowing past the other serving girls with a grace borne naturally to a bat and out into the common room. The inn was abnormally busy that night, due to the fact that a tournament was being held up at the lord's manor in a fortnight and a festival was being set up in the village square in celebration. Men from all around the duchy, and some even farther, traveled to her hometown of Knothole to participate, and as such there was a wide variety of customers to observe during her free time.
Not like she was getting any free time with all this business, of course. Is she were to take a break her salary—meager as it was—would be cut, and Rouge wouldn't stand for that, not under any circumstances.
The innkeeper--a rotund panda bear by the name of Carthy—hadn't been joking, it seemed; the table in the rear, farthest from the fireplace and closest to the shadowy corners, was becoming rather raucous; already it seemed as if a bar fight was brewing. Rouge sighed in annoyance and straightened her freshly donned apron, throwing her shoulders back and marching up to the troublemakers with a slight flare of her sinewy wings.
Two burly men looked up from a heated arm wrestling match at her approach, one a rhino who probably hailed from the distant south decked in the gear of pirates and the other looking like he was from this very village. Rouge recognized him; Kap was a komodo dragon and a scalawag of the worst sort, dealing in thievery and all kinds of shady things. Everyone around these parts knew what his business was, but the fact of the matter was no one could catch him at it; otherwise he'd have hung from the gallows by now. Kap smiled a toothy, salivated grin as she stopped by their bench. The little group got quiet as she picked up the first mug of ale from her tray, dumping it onto the scratched surface in her hurry to be away from these miscreants. The rhino gave an outcry as some of his drink slopped down the front of his coat from the force of her movement.
"Oi, lassie! Would 'a try not to ruin me clothes? I only have the one pair!" Boisterous laughter rang forth and she gritted her teeth, refusing to flush in either embarrassment or anger. She knew it would only get worse…
Kap leered at her as she smacked down the last mug, turning away and intending to rush with all due haste back to the kitchens, and reached out to snatch her wrist. She clenched her fist as his smug voice floated from behind her.
"Oh, now where are you going? Sit down, enjoy the company. I'm sure we will." Laughter again, and this time she couldn't hold back the glow of anger that flooded into her face.
You son of a—
"Hey, Kap, I think she needs a little motivation—" The hippo in leather's taunt was cut short by a slap to the face. The hilarity quieted down immediately.
"If you would kindly release me," Rouge started icily, "I might not be tempted to plant my foot in your groin." Kap, after a moment's hesitation, slowly relaxed his grip on her wrist and she snatched it away, stalking off with indignation. A cheer greeted her at the door to the kitchens and a fiery-furred cat rushed her, linking arms with the fruit bat and pulling her into their haven.
"Way to go, Rouge! Show those arrogant assholes who's boss!" Blaze was a serving girl at the Golden Rings as well, full of cheer when it was necessary and perfectly serious when the situation called for it. Rouge gave her a proud smile.
"Of course. I was in control the entire time. Couldn't you tell?"
The hours slowly clawed by, the din from the crowd of drinkers and guests diminishing as the witching hour approached. Rouge kept track of the passage of time by the handy grandfather clock tucked away in the corner of the common room, her turquoise eyes watching the dragging hands of the clock with the focus of a predator. At last, when the chime toned two past midnight Carthy told her to go home, taking off his own apron with a yawn that stretched his sizable maws.
"We need our best girl in good shape for the morrow," he exclaimed as he opened the front door for her, waving his huge white paw as she walked sedately down the beaten road of the street, "and be careful! You have no idea what kind of riff-raff crawl the streets these days."
Rouge gestured back with a short laugh, certain in her belief that no one would dare attack her, of all people. She wasn't Rouge for nothing, after all.
Shadow stood outside the large oak entrance to the Great Hall, leaning against the doorframe and looking for all the world perfectly composed. Knuckles entered the corridor from the door down the hall, striding towards him with confidence as the maids and servants swiveled out of his way. He slowed to a halt before the black hedgehog.
"Nervous as hell, eh?"
Shadow allowed a brief smile. "Was it really that easy to tell?"
"Not particularly. I just know you too well."
Shadow turned away from his comrade-in-arms, crossing his own across his armored chest and closing his eyes in an attempt to meditate. "Hm." Knuckles too grew quiet, hovering in the center of the passage and glancing between the doors and Shadow.
"You know they're not going to call you in for another hour at least, don't you?"
"Of course I do. It's just entertaining to see their faces when I do walk in…especially when they know I've been out here for so long and listening to everything they say."
Knuckles gave a short laugh and punched him on the shoulder, though the effect was ruined by the polished mantle protecting the hedgehog's body. "You're sick, you know that?"
"Hm."
Shadow lived his life as a soldier; more specifically one of two Generals in the Lord Hedgehog's army. If asked when he had enlisted Shadow would most likely tell you a half decade ago, but even he did not know precisely how long he had been in service, let alone anyone else. What everyone does agree on, however, is that he had rose quickly in the ranks and had achieved a status held previously only by one of Sonic's—the lord's son—closest and oldest friends, Knuckles the Echidna. In the beginning, during his first few weeks as a trainee in the barracks, most of the residents of the lord's manor would mistake him for Sonic—how Shadow couldn't imagine; their coloring was completely opposite another. Sonic himself Shadow found relatively annoying, though bearable as opposed to the majority of the fools in the local duchy.
Shadow disliked being in public, which translated well to his hatred of socializing. Because of this most people have never seen Shadow, but his was a household name in Knothole; he was well-known for his aversion to contact with others. Among the few he deigned to associate with was Knuckles, Sonic and the lord himself; Shadow passed most others by.
A rough knock to his arm broke him out of his reflective reverie and Knuckles gestured to the doors now slowly creaking open. Knuckles rolled his eyes.
"Damn theatrical piss-offs. Are you sure you want to go in there alone?"
The sudden concern was unexpected, but Shadow simply brushed himself off and turned away from his companion, rolling his shoulders and smirking. "I'm sure. Go flirt with some of the kitchen girls."
The other General bloomed maroon in the face and raised a threatening, clawed fist, an angry retort on the tip of his tongue as the Great Hall doors slammed shut in his face. Shadow glanced back briefly, wondering in amusement if Knuckles would take him up on his suggestion before returning his attention to the pompous gathering of frilly-clad idiots clamored en masse around the U-shaped table taking up the majority of the chamber. Most of them barely hid a flinch as he approached with deliberate slowness. A grin tugged at the end of his mouth when most of them refused to meet his eyes.
Being General was good.
A/N: This was a little experiment of mine; I had the thought earlier of 'what would the Sonic universe be like in a medieval setting?' and this just popped into my mind. I'm a huge Rouge/Shadow person, so that's what this will be. Constructive criticism is welcomed (and considered much needed) and flames will be used to motivate the characters to slave harder in the story. You don't want Rouge to work overtime serving those beasts their ale now, do you:P