Next chapter in my story! Again, thanks to explodinghead for reminding me not to repeat my words- and also for being my first reviewer. Yay!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with Sonic. Anything at all. I only own my fancharacters. I really wish A Clone Apart and that Monster's Inc. fanfiction Homecoming would keep going. Yadda yadda.
Hey, look, I remembered my disclaimer this time!
All of the administrators and applicants looked up at Shadow, who was standing at the judgement platform. He had just announced that the judging was about to get started. After waiting a few minutes for the group to quiet down (specifically, the rabbit and mouse next to him, who quickly stopped murmuring once they realized they were being glared at- again), he spoke again.
"In case you don't know how the past advisers have been chosen, I will tell you now. You're going to take some tests to find out how much you know and what you would do in certain situations. The ones who have the best answers will be taken to the next series of tests." He then sat back down, looking relieved because he didn't have to talk anymore. Shadow never liked to give speeches. Everyone sat there for a minute before a crane a few seats away from Shadow hastily stood up, obviously having forgotten his queue.
"Yes, umm..." The crane stammered. "The next part is, uh..." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to gather himself, then continued, "I'm Gordon Crane, in charge of the advisory section of the Kingdom. Er... as you all should know, I am not the actual adviser." He paused again. The applicants were glancing at each other, and the mouse administrator whispered to his rabbit friend about Gordon forgetting his lines. Gordon cleared his throat loudly. "Yes, well, I just help with finding who would be the right adviser. I'm the expert on what you're supposed to be like, you might say." He gave a little nervous laugh. Now more people around him were whispering. He cleared his throat again and stood up straighter, trying to look important. "You're all going to move through that door on your right into the next room to take the test. This is one at a time, mind you, and when one person is done, he or she will leave out the back door and be escorted to the hover-mobile lot and the aerial tram adjacent so they can immediately go home. There is to be no communication concerning the tests between applicants, and anyone who breaks that rule will be disqualified." The crane puffed out his chest and took an enormous breath, like he had been holding it this whole time. "You'll notice that there are three doors on the right. All three have tests, and while you will go in one door (I repeat, one at a time) there will actually be three testing at once. All three will be escorted to the lot separately. No cheating, no talking, and no breaks once you get in. Is that understood for everyone?"
No one said anything. Gordon sat down. He picked up a large glass of water set in front of him on the long table and drank the whole thing.
An elderly human man who looked about sixty stood up and separated the applicants into three groups, and then made them stand in three straight lines in front of the doors. Then he stood watch while a fifty-year-old human woman took her spot at one of the doors and the two mouse and rabbit administrators from earlier both went to work in the others. One by one, the applicants were filed through the doors. The administrators still sitting worked on the future reports and tests which they were doing in their sections, and Shadow and Silver quietly left to wait for the first tests to be over.
The two hedgehogs walked down the hallway, through two large, intricately decorated double doors that were covered in gold and red. Outside of this was the entry into the sunlit palace garden that was accessible for all the people in the city surrounding.
Silver was surprised. Shadow was more into nature than he showed. One might have thought he was just dutifully walking through, except for all the pauses he made. He stopped at some geraniums to the side and fingered their blossoms. He picked up some stones that had been thrown into the path, and laid them next to a bush, like a border. He even stopped and seemed to be enjoying the sunshine.
The pale hedgehog following him tried not to look at him strangely. Maybe Shadow was just releasing some stress? Silver happened to have a special love for nature himself, and had planted a large variety of flowers around the old home he used to live in before moving into the castle. It just greatly surprised him that someone so introverted and... well... grumpy as the ebony hedgehog would actually like nature.
Shadow stopped at a willow tree surrounded by pale pink roses. Underneath the overhanging branches was a gray stone bench, with colorful mosaic on top. It was a shaded and very pleasant place. The hedgehog sat down on the bench, and Silver activated his Chaos Energy and hovered up to the branch above Shadow to sit down.
"So... what now?" Silver asked.
"We wait for them to be done," Shadow answered. They sat in silence for a few minutes.
Silver watched the long willow branches blow in the breeze, brushing against the little stream that surrounded the garden. Fish swam by in this expertly taken care of water, their wet scales glittering in the sun. Some people passed by on the cobblestone pathways that crisscrossed the park, glancing at the king and temporal expert, whispering to each other as they went. They were probably just as surprised as Silver was to see their less-than-cheerful king out relaxing, especially in the garden, of all places.
Silver looked down at the flowers beneath him; the roses were planted very precisely, in a perfect circle around the tree. Some of the pink blossoms were edged with yellow, or a deeper red. Little bits of dew drizzled down the petals, making them shine more than the fish, even in the shade. Obviously, their owner considered them precious.
Momentarily, he spoke again. "Who planted these roses here?"
Shadow glanced up at him. "Me," he said quietly.
"You?" Silver exclaimed in surprise.
"They're Maria Roses." The explanation was simple and quick, and Silver nodded knowingly, no longer bewildered by any of Shadow's actions. Everyone in the Kingdom knew about Maria Robotnik, Shadow's old friend who had been like a sister to him.
She was most likely Shadow's only friend at the time, too. They did everything together, dreaming of when they could leave space, where Maria was confined because of a disease she had, and what they would do on Earth. When a rumor spread of how dangerous the experiments were becoming on the space colony, where Shadow was created, soldiers had stormed the place, shooting or arresting anyone they could. Maria had been among the fatalities. Just before she died, she had pushed Shadow into an escape pod. Even though a soldier had shot her in the back, she had resisted the pain long enough to pull the lever that would sent the pod out- and long enough to ask Shadow to fulfill the dream they had talked about together; to help the Earth, and to give the people the chance to be happy.
Considering how close they had been, and how crucial she was in changing his life, it wasn't surprising that Shadow would make a little memorial in the garden for her.
Silver looked down at Shadow again. He was giving him another strange look, like he had given him earlier that day. It wasn't quite a glare, but it wasn't far from it.
Silver showed a confuse frown. "What? What'd I do?"
Shadow shook his head as if he was trying to get rid of a thought, and turned to look back at the garden. Silver shrugged. Shadow must have a headache or something. That made Silver start wondering. Could Ultimate Lifeforms get headaches? Not unless they had been made without the immunity. Professor Gerald, Maria's grandfather and Shadow's creator, had probably thought of giving Shadow immunities to lots of diseases. But, would he have thought of something as trivial as a headache?
As Silver was thinking these rambling thoughts, and as Shadow was thinking thoughts about Maria, and neither of them were paying attention to the cobblestone pathway, two important figures passed by. One of them was Gordon Crane. The other was a bright orange cat, with golden eyes. He had three thick bangs- almost like quills- sticking out in a horizontal line along his forehead, and a spiky tail, and dark red tips on each. There was a haughty and royal look on his face as he walked next to Gordon, as if Gordon was his inferior.
"Laid it on a little thick, don't you think?" he whispered to the crane.
"Hush! Do you realize who's over there?" Gordon whispered back, gesturing to the two daydreaming hedgehogs. The cat rolled his eyes, but said nothing more as the two continued on their way down the stone path. Three hours later, they would all be back in the auditorium for the reports on the first round of tests...
I hope this chapter's okay. I know it's a little rambly, but I was trying to get it out of the way for my next chapter coming up. Sorry if it's a little short. I know, my last one was kind of short, too. I tried to give this one some substance and mystery, and I'll try to make the next one longer and better. Please tell me what you think, and I would welcome any suggestions!