Chapter 1
I awoke to a pink blur hovering right above my face. Startled, I slipped off the side of my bed and heard a feminine voice giggling. Untangling myself from my bedsheets, I stood up to find the pink hedgehog from yesterday who was out in a horrible storm. I scooped up my blanket off the ground and threw it onto my bed while the pink hedgehog said, "You never change Shadow."
I stopped fixing my bed and turned to the female hedgehog stunned. How did she know my name? So I must have known her from before... but when? I glanced at the hedgehog as she pouted, "You've forgotten me haven't you?"
She walked out my bedroom and down the hallway, as I followed closely behind. It seems she has been up for quite some time to know her way around. The light pink girl twirled around and walked backwards as she talked to me, "Don't you remember me Shadow? Amy Rose?"
At that moment I felt like a complete moron. She was the hedgehog girl always tackling Sonic, even had mistaken me for Faker one time. Amy looked slightly different now than she had back then and that's probably why I didn't recognize her. The pink hedgehog was still walking backwards, smiling right at me she didn't notice the stairs coming up behind her. In an instant she started falling and I quickly chaos controlled right behind her to catch her just in time. It seems she didn't know my house that well, so it must not have been long since she woke up.
"You're still kind of a klutz after all those years huh?" I teased as I noticed her face turn red- most likely from embarrassment
"Eh heh heh heh..." She nervously said as I felt her clutch tighter to me, "Um Shadow, can you put me down? I'm not a fan of being carried..."
I nodded and carefully sat her down onto the wooden stairs as she continued her way down to the living room. I went into the kitchen to whip up some breakfast for us, now seems as good of a time as any to ask her a few things. Amy took a seat at the kitchen's island and watched me cook.
"So Amy, why were you out in the woods?" I asked as she looked around nervously trying to avoid the question. Just this simple question can get her worked up?
"Um...well..." I heard her struggle to determine whether she should explain herself or not
"Nevermind Amy." I started to tell her as I notice Amy loosen up, "If you don't want to say you don't have to. I was just curious."
She breathed a sigh of relief then stood up from the stool and stood next to me while I was making eggs, waffles, toast- the basic stuff.
"You cook?" Amy asked trying to make up a conversation as I smirked at her
"Well when you live alone and far from town you gotta eat something Rose." I teased her as she turned red, "I just picked up a few things while being alone out here."
I grabbed plates from a nearby cupboard and set them on the kitchen's island. As Amy stared at the plate in front of her I make my way to the stainless steel fridge and opened the door to grab some cokes within it. Heading back to the island, I pulled out a stool and sat right beside Amy, sliding her a coke across the marble countertop as she took her first bite. Her emerald eyes widened as she started yelling, "This is amazing Shadow!"
I cracked a smile for a second as she started guzzling the food down. Amy was going so fast I thought she would choke at some point as I braced myself to have to help her. I was amazed that Amy ate so fast when I barely touched my food for fear she would swallow the breakfast wrong. Was she running for a long time to get that hungry? I took a bite of my eggs when I hear the front door clang against the wooden walls of the house. Almost choking, I took a swig of the coke as I stood up angrily.
"Why Shadow dear!" A familiar voice called out to me as I sighed and wrapped up the food. Suddenly I lost my appetite from nearly choking.
"…and Amy Rose? Shadow you have other guests besides me now?!" the albino bat exclaimed as I slowly grew annoyed by her. Rouge must have noticed my breakfast because she proceeded to yell, "You made breakfast and didn't make me any?!"
I placed the container inside the refrigerator annoyed as Amy talked to Rouge. I ushered the two chatty girls into the living room and onto my black leather couch.
"Rouge, I haven't seen you in forever! What have you been doing?" Amy asked shifting as I returned to the kitchen to clean up.
"Just chasing down Knuckle-head. Just the usual." Rouge replied nonchalantly as she sat beside Amy
Amy giggled, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you like him."
I couldn't see it but I knew well enough that Rouge quickly grew red by Amy's comment, "I-I DO NOT!"
I smirked at how worked up Rouge got, she must have a thing for that red echidna.
"AND DON'T YOU DARE SMIRK IN THERE SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG, YOU'RE NOT THAT ULTIMATE! I CAN STILL BEAT YOUR ASS!" Rouge exclaimed as I cleaned off the dishes and went to join them in the living room. Amy attempted to calm Rouge down by changing the subject.
"So you visit Shadow often Rouge?" The pink hedgehog asked as Rouge nodded while I sat on the other side of Amy, that way Rouge won't try to hit me.
"But Amy, how did you get here? Shadow isn't the most social type- especially with girls." Rouge asked as I glared menacingly at the albino bat.
"Hm..." Amy pondered the question, "Um, Shadow, how did I get here?"
I shifted on a seat diagonal to the couch Rouge and Amy sat on, it was about time I told her. While explaining the incident, I went over about finding her and taking care of Amy up until the point of me falling off my bed. The last bit of the story I saw Rouge's face light up ever so slightly. What was going to happen?...
"She was in your face when you woke up Shadow?" Rouge asked slyly, "What happened?"
Getting off the couch, I snaked my way around the furniture in the living room and went out the wooden front door out onto the deck to avoid the question. Although I could've just told her since it wasn't a big deal, it's just I didn't like the thought of Amy's face in mine when I had woken up this morning. I sat upon an old wooden rocking swing bench to see if it had stopped raining, and to take my mind off the topic and hopefully deter Rouge from asking once more, but it looked like there'd be another storm soon. I hope it's not bad enough to make a tornado or even topple trees over. I scanned the sky and saw dark clouds and a distant boom of thunder. This seems like odd weather, but it's time for tornadoes so it's not all that surprising that clouds are swirling. The front door creaked open while Rouge stood beside me and watched the dark sky become more prominent.
"Seems like a storm, am I right Shadow?" The albino bat asked as her boots clicked along the wood, "If that's the case I better be off, it seems the storm will be here sometime in the afternoon."
Rouge smirked as her wings spread out, "It'll be enough time for me to go catch a red echidna."
The door creaked opened once again as Amy stepped out to wave goodbye to Rouge as she flew off in the distance, away from the storm. I took one last glance at the sky then returned inside, Amy close behind. Sitting back down upon the couch, I grabbed the remote to start flipping through some channels. Checking any odd weather patterns on the news.
"Hey Shadow?" Amy asked as I gave her a small nod of acknowledgement, "You think this storm is going to be a bad one?"
I shrugged as I stopped on a random news channel as I muted the annoying man explaining weather patterns and fell into the couch cushions, "I doubt it. I was planning on taking you back to wherever you usually reside at but to be safe you may have to stay here the night."
She smiled and nodded sitting next to me as we watched the weather and news appear across the screen.
"Evidentially, this is a freak storm that is only focused out here in the forest on the outskirts of town." The reporter explained as I grew suspicious. Robotnik couldn't have done this, he doesn't have the brain capacity to understand weather let alone control it. Maybe it's just nature, it can't always be predictable.
After a while I realized that it was almost 3:30 pm, we kind of missed lunch. It's about time for me to cook dinner. I got up while Amy was still glued to the television and headed to the fridge to get out a steak I was marinating from yesterday- before our mission. Fixing it up onto a plate, I walked out the back door into the backyard to put the steak onto the grill. Staring into the dark clouds, I hoped this food would be done before it started to pour down. Amy walked out and smelled the air coming from the grill and stood beside me as I flipped the steak over.
"Ooo, smells good Shadow." She said as I heard her stomach growl
I chuckled a little as I flipped the steak over, "So what did they say about the storm?"
"It will stay here for a while, maybe until four in the morning" The pink hedgehog explained then asked, "Hey Shadow, I want to take a quick shower…"
I placed the steak onto the plate in my right hand as walked up the concrete steps into the house.
"Go ahead, no one's stopping you." I told her as I wandered the kitchen looking for ingredients.
"Yeah…" The pink hedgehog started off slowly, "but I have no clothes so I was wondering if I could use yours?..."
Stopping what I was doing, I nodded and led her to my room. Shuffling across the wooden floor and up the stairs, I plotted what would suffice as an outfit for Rose. Pushing open my bedroom door, I rummaged through my drawers finding some black and red shorts and an old black t-shirt. I handed her the clothing and explained that there were towels inside the closet of the bathroom and made my way back down the stairs to finish up dinner. Setting up the plates and utensils onto a small table I had just outside the dining room table, I made sure everything was in order. I just sat down when Amy came up with her hair wrapped up in a towel wearing my clothes. In her hands were her clothes she wore when I found her. Standing up once more, I took them from her and went to the laundry room in the basement.
When I had returned she was eying the food I made, eager to eat. I sat down which must have been her cue since she dug in. Minutes later I heard the rain pour down outside as it pelted itself against the window. Rose stopped eating and looked at me wide eyed, seems like she doesn't take too kindly to storms all that much. I was about to say something when a loud boom interrupted and I immediately turned to look outside. The rain started out slow then gradually poured down hard, another loud boom came and lightning struck a nearby tree. I heard Amy scream from surprise as she jumped out of her seat and onto the floor. Immediately I stood up to help Amy as she clung to me tightly, almost ripping out my fur.
Noticing Amy trembling a bit, I left the food on the table and carried her to the black leather couch and turned the television on as she laid in my lap. Her face was buried into my chest as I watched the news on the storm unfold. Amy was clinging to me so tightly as if she was going to slip away or something, what would make her react this way? I attempted to pry her off to check the laundry but she wouldn't budge. I wasn't going to force her either, she was in a fragile state at the moment. We laid like this for a while until I dozed off with the sound of rain and an annoying weatherman.
The storm was still raging on, and it was already night when I awoke. Rose had fallen asleep as well in my arms as I carefully stood up while she subconsciously clung to my neck tighter in her sleep. Trying to make as little movement as possible, I shuffled across the floor of the living room to the bottom of the stairs. Here's the hard part… I lifted the pink hedgehog higher up as I moved up the stairs so she wouldn't feel me walking upwards. After the agonizingly long walk, I shuffled across the floor once again into the first room on the left. With great skill, I managed to open the door to the guest room and entered without disturbing Amy. I laid her on the bed as I looked out the window and saw the rain beating down harder now.
Thunder boomed louder and much closer to us that it shook the small house and awoke Amy from her slumber. She sprang up into my arms again and trembled. I patted her back and explained she would be alright but she has to sleep now. Trying to pry her from me I heard her whisper frightened still and voice trembling as she asked, "Shadow, could I sleep with you?"
Sighing, I gave into the pink hedgehog's demands and stood up with a female necklace dangling from me as I carried her to my room. Laying her down into my bed, she let go of me so I could turn off the lights. I felt my way through my room to the other side of the bed, glad that Amy had finally stopped clinging to me and was absorbed into the cushioning feeling of my mattress. Laying on my back, I propped my hand underneath my pillow for support and listened to the storm outside. The storm outside seemed to go on forever, with the giant booms of thunder and lightning- I could even hear the trees topple over. I don't think this is some freak accident. If it wasn't Robotnik behind this, then who? Hearing the sheets shift around, I suddenly felt an arm snake over onto my torso and a leg propped over my own. I felt my snout turn red in the dark room as Amy nuzzled into my side, cuddling up closer to me. We both drifted off to sleep eventually to the sound of rain and the safety of each other.
I awoke the next morning to a pink hedgehog still nuzzled up to me. Shifting quietly, I tried leaving without being noticed and silently grabbed some clothes and left the room. Headed to the bathroom, I took a quick shower then changed to go get Amy some clothes of her own. I slipped on some jeans and a black tank top then searched for my sneakers. Finding them in the living room, I put my socks and sneakers on then headed out the door. Opening and closing the door mutely, I examined the weather. It was still raining but since it was just myself I can teleport into town, maybe grab some food as well. I would have to hurry though; Amy gets finicky during storms.
Teleporting randomly within the town, I noticed there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I can't dwindle on that right now however, I walked around on the sidewalk, trying to figure out what to get Amy and fast. I can't be gone too long otherwise she may freak out. Thinking critically, I scan the area and decide to go to a nearby restaurant and grab some food first before going to get clothes for Amy. I jogged up to the restaurant lined up with other stores alongside it. Entering the place, I hoped there is a miracle as I place the order. I asked for some sandwiches and hash browns for breakfast. I noticed a small brown and white rabbit who looked familiar staring at me as I stood off to the side of the store waiting.
"Mr. Shadow?" I hear the girl chime out as I turn to her after placing my order
"Who are you?" I reply almost snappish but I'm a bit anxious
"Cream, remember? Amy and I hang out a lot." The bunny explains as an idea shoots through my head
"You know Amy well right?" I ask the rabbit as she nods shyly, "Could you pick out some clothes for her? I need them since she'll be staying with me for a while."
"Why is she with you Mr. Shadow?" Cream asked as I sighed, I don't have time to answer questions, "Don't you teleport? Can't you just bring her here?"
"It's not that simple…" I sighed as I grabbed my food and walked out the door with the bunny closely behind. Following her lead, she went to a store still wondering why I couldn't teleport Amy here. I started a rant on molecular structures and how it would be dangerous and unstable with a live being, I would have to practice first to get it right. We went through aisles as Cream tried her best to go fast and pick out clothes, seems she knows how scared Amy can be. We finally came to a close, and I went to pay for the items. Cream followed me and I thanked her and told her I would return Amy to her as soon as the storm had subsided. The bunny smiled and skipped off out the door as I teleported back into the house listening to see if Amy had woken up yet. All I heard was the pounding of rain onto the rooftop as I breathed a sigh of relief. I just laid the groceries upon the countertop and subtly made my way back to my bedroom to find Rose still fast asleep.
Stressed from the speed run for groceries, I hopped back in bed quietly as I rolled onto my side and fell asleep once more to the sound of a storm and Amy snuggling into my back.
This wasn't as long as I hoped for but I suppose it's a start, please tell me how it's doing so don't forget to review or PM me! It would be greatly appreciated. I may redo this chapter's ending but I like this more than the original so I'll leave it like this for now.
