By
Sakura Courage Solo
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Chapter 4
"Destiny's Calling"
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"D-Dad... ?"
Sakura whispered hoarsely through her fear dried throat at the sight of the roboticized Shadow.
The now metallic Hedgehog never said a word, just standing there as Sleet guffawed and told Sakura,
"Sorry, but he's anything but your Father any longer! Shadow, I think you know what to do. "
The mechanized Shadow nodded and suddenly rushed forward at Sakura, takling her so hard that they both went flying out the window, shattering the glass as they did so.
They hit the ground below hard, Shadow on top of Sakura as he held her down. He held up his arm and pointed the blaster that was set into her wrist right at her forehead, ready to fire... but she didn't move, didn't even look scared. The Hedgehog/Robot was a little confused, wondering why she wasn't putting up any fight. Sakura simply looked up into his eyes with her own, aqua green ones, the look in her eyes so sad and painful.
Shadow held his position, but didn't fire, and then asked her,
"Why don't you fight me? You're stronger than this, I am sure. Why is it you do not resist me? "
"Because... "
Sakura began, swallowing hard as a few tears stung her eyes and flowed down her cheeks.
"Even though you're a robot now, you're still my Dad... and I can't bring myself in good conscience to fight and hurt you... so, I give up... I'd much rather die than hurt you, Dad. "
"This... this does not compute... "
Shadow murmured, not understanding why Sakura had such feelings for him. Being in robot form, all his memories were buried deep within the confines of his electronic mind... but as he looked at Sakura, and all the sadness and pain she was in, some of those memories suddenly jumped forward...
Flashback
Shadow remembered silently and swiftly moving through the dark, midnight halls of the palace, the words said to him by the Oracle vivid in his mind.
'For the child's sake, you must must take her under your own wing for now and prepare her for the battles she will have to face when she is finally an adult. She must remain hidden from th dangers that are about to unfold until she can face them herself, and you are the only one who can protect and prepare her. "
The Black Hedgehog was slightly apprehensive of the Oracle's words, but... he figured he'd best do as told. The Oracle hadn't been wrong before, and he had no reason to think that he was wrong now.
He silently and stealthily made his way through the many halls of the palace, until finally coming up on a room with a white-painted, wooden door with gold-plated Cherry Blossom designs etched into it. Shadow nodded to himself.
"The Oracle said her name was Sakura... the name literally means Cherry Blossoms, so I guess this is it. "
He whispered to no one imparticular as he slowly reached forward, silently opening the door without a sound.
He peered into the room through what bit of a crack he'd opened the door thus far, it not being surprising to him that he saw the likes of a small Child's bedroom, neat and clean with a few toys and stuffed animals on the shelves.
Shadow opened the door a bit more to see a fluffy-looking, white bed across the room by a large window that let the moonlight flow in and onto the form of the small child sleeping in the bed. The Black Hedgehog entered the room now, very quietly moving toward the small, female figure as she slept peacefully.
"I hate to have to do this... "
He thought to himself.
"But... if it's really best for her, and keeps her from danger... "
Shadow very gently pulled back the covers from the young blonde's body, then slowly sliding his arms under her and picking her up, trying his best not to wake her.
Sakura was a light sleeper though, stirring a bit before opening her aqua eyes.
"Hmmm... huh? Wh-who're you... ?"
She asked sweetly, Shadow hoping she'd stay silent as he replied,
"Sssshhh, relax... I'm here to help you, okay? You might not realize that now, but you will later, all right? Just trust me... please... "
Sakura tilted her head in curiosity and whispered inquisitively,
"But... you're a stranger... I'm not supposed to go with strangers... "
Shadow sighed and whispered in reply, trying to speak in terms a young one as Sakura would understand,
"My name's Shadow. I know I'm a stranger, and yeah, you shouldn't trust strangers, but just this once, because I'm here to help you. I have to get you out of here, or something bad is going to happen to you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, understand? "
Sakura was hesitant, but nodded a bit and stayed quiet, Shadow sighing with relief and holding her close to him as he started to quietly leave the palace. Sakura yawned, but tried to make it a quiet yawn as she nuzzled into the white tuft of fur on Shadow's chest and dozed off.
End Flashback
The roboticized Shadow blinked a bit as the flashback ended, shaking his head a bit as he got off of Sakura. The blonde girl tilted her head in confusion and stood up when she was able, watching the robotic Hedgehog's confusion before asking,
"Dad? Wh-what's wrong? Are you okay? "
Shadow shook his head a little more, still seeing a few other memories of raising the girl in the back of his electronic mind and trying to sort them out.
Sleet and Dingo stood in the window above, the Wolf growling and yelling,
"Shadow, you idiot, kill her! She's right there, so shoot her! "
"No... "
Shadow finally mumbled, actually trying to fight the robotic part of his mind now as he glanced to Sakura and said,
"Sakura... run, get out of here... I might not... be able to fight it much longer... "
The blonde girl gasped a bit, standing there in shock a moment before finally managing,
"Dad... even though you're roboticized... you're still in there somewhere... "
The Black Hedgehog nodded, then grunting and falling to his knees, grabbing his head as he yelled,
"Sakura, run, now! "
"But I can't just abandon you! "
She argued, Shadow growling as he looked up at her and said,
"Sakura... don't worry for me, you'll see me again sometime... for now, it's best if you run... go, before Sleet and Dingo come after you... "
"But... Dad... I... "
"For me, Saku... if not for yourself, then for me... run... "
Sakura swallowed hard and nodded, tears pouring down her face now. Even though she could hear Sleet and Dingo coming swiftly down the stairs inside, Sakura took the time to give Shadow one good hug and say,
"Thanks for everything, Dad... I love you... "
With that, Sakura sniffled, turned and ran, disappearing into the nearby mountain foliage just as Sleet and Dingo came out the back door.
"She got away... "
Sleet mumbled, then snarling.
"Doctor Robotnik won't be happy... "
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"That's it! "
Sonic finally exclaimed as he, Manic and Sonia stood in the hidden cavern with the freed prisoners.
"She's been gone way too long! We gotta go find her and make sure she's all right! "
"I hate to admit it Sonic, but you're right! She might've gotten into trouble! "
Sonia agreed, Manic nodding.
"Yeah, let's go! Sakura might need us! "
None of the three hesitaed in excusing their presence from the freed prisoners in the cavern and immediately leaving, the three of them scattering out in different directions to cover more ground in search of their Sister.
Needless to say that Sonic was zipping around in the usual blue blur of speed in his search... until after a few minutes, he came to a screeching halt upon hearing the muffled sounds of a sobbing female. Sonic was in the woods just a bit from the village now, and followed the crying a bit deeper into the foliage.
He finally came to what sounded like the source of the sad sounds and parted some bushes, sighing with relief when he saw Sakura sitting there on her knees. She didn't seem physically hurt, but the way she was crying, it was evident she had been hurt emotionally in a brutal manner.
Sonic slowly moved forward and put a hand on her shoulder, Sakura jumping a bit in surprise. She sighed when she realized it was Sonic.
"Oh... h-hey Bro... "
She choked through her sobs, Sonic sitting down next to her as he gently rubbed her back in a vain attempt to calm her down.
"Hey, Sis... what's wrong? Did... you find Shadow? "
"Y-yes, but... "
"But... what? Where is he? "
Sakura hesitated, unable to speak for a moment at the mention of Shadow, but finally managed to say,
"H-he's been roboticized... "
"Oh, no... "
Sonic murmured in shock, understanding now why Sakura was crying so badly. He gently hugged her to try and make her feel better, Sakura not hesitating to hug him back as she continued to sob into his chest and told him everything that happened.
Once she had finished her story, Sonic sighed and said,
"Well, maybe there's hope then. If he could find enough of himself to let you get away like that, then maybe we can get him back somehow, okay Sis? "
"Okay... "
Sakura choked out, Sonic then helping her to stand up as he said,
"Come on, we'd best get back to Manic and Sonia. They're pretty worried about you. "
The human girl nodded slowly, her legs shakey under her, but she managed to stay standing with her Brother's help. Sonic helped support her as she walked, the two of them heading off to find Manic and Sonia.
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"Man, poor Sakura... "
Manic stated as he sat with his Hedgehog siblings in the SU Van now, Sakura peacefully asleep on a futon on the vehicle floor a few feet away. It had been several hours since the girl had been found by Sonic, all the villager's were now safely on their way to other towns, and Sonic had just told them what had happened to Sakura.
Sonic sighed and added,
"I... know how she feels. "
"We all do, Sis. "
Sonic agreed, looking down at the floor.
"Well, at least she still has us... "
Manic said, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Sonic and Sonia smiled slightly and nodded, the pink-haired Hedgehog then adding,
"Yeah, at least there's that. She'll ALWAYS have us. "
The three of them looked over to their adopted Sister as she slept soundly, the slightest smile on her face as she slumbered, occasionally muttering Shadow's name. She was apparently having a good dream.
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"At least Sakura managed to escape. "
Shadow thought to himself deep within the confines of his mind.
"She's probably safe now with her Brothers and Sister. "
The Black Hedgehog would have sighed softly if he'd had control of his now robotic body. Shadow found he could now think freely now that his memories had been pulled forth, but he couldn't control his actions. His body was still a metallic slave to Dr. Robotnik.
Shadow did however find comfort in the fact that his daughter was now safe as he stood in his holding vessel; holding vessels were where Robotnik kept his robots when they had no work to do, or were damaged and awaiting repairs. It was time where Shadow could think, and view all his fond memories of raising his adopted, human daughter; a small escape from the evils that surrounded him.
That's when he suddenly heard the door of his holding vessel click open. He turned on his electronic eyes and looked to the white cloaked, feminine figure before him. His metal body's first reaction was to destroy anything that wasn't identified as an ally in the electronic part of his mind, but before he could do so, the cloaked woman slipped some sort of a microchip behind his ear.
Shadow's robot body was frozen for a moment, before he suddenly found himself having control over his actions again. He would blink if his electronic eyes'd had eyelids as he looked at his hands, moving them a bit to make sure it was really he himself who was moving them again.
He looked to the woman who had helped him, seeing her smile at him from under her hood.
"Th-thank you, but... who are you? "
He asked, the figure then glancing around to make sure no one was watching, then removing her hood... Shadow was in shock.
"Qu-queen Aleena... ?"
The Black Hedgehog whispered through his shock as his eyes examined the countenance of Queen Aleena.
The Queen nodded, it taking a moment for Shadow to get his bearings before he suddenly fell to his hands and knees before her in respect. Aleena shook her head and placed her finger under Shadow's cold, metal chin, lifting it up until she was looking into his eyes.
"No need for formalities such as that, especially now. We must leave at once. "
"But... why are you helping me like this? "
Shadow asked, Aleena then helping him up as she replied,
"Your services may be required for one, and... think of it as a thank you for looking after my daughter for another. "
The Black Hedgehog's eyes would have widened had he been able to do so with their metallic roundings, but they did brighten a bit in the surprise that Aleena had found out about Shadow's taking Sakura. Fortunately, she didn't seem to mind, and in the fac seemed grateful he had done it. Apparently, in realizing what Shadow had done, she had also realized the reason behind it.
"You did tell Sakura she would see you again, right? "
The Queen asked, the Black Hedgehog nodding slowly before getting the reply,
"All right then, let us be sure that happens. "
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End Chapter 4
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Yes, finally another chapter ish done! I hope you all like it. It wasn't as good as I intended for it to be, I think, but mah well. I tried. Now cometh the hard part; how to get to the ending I want. XD! Anyway, thanks for the reviews I have gotten so far, and I hope I get reviews here and now too. Thankies so much, and ejoy! Until next update, then!