"Sha…. dow.." The ebony hedgehog stood and stared into the darkness of what seemed to be a sewage tunnel, trying to find the source of the comforting voice.
"Shadooooow…" He perked his ears up. The sound seemed to be right in front of him! Placing his hand against the wall, he walked faster, thinking only of the person that voice belonged to. 'Silver..' He thought, breaking into a slight jog. As if it was possible, the tunnel grew even darker, leading him to unknown whereabouts on the quest for the ivory hedgehog. After a few feet, his face collided with concrete. Confused, his hands searched in the darkness; dead end. His ears twitched slightly, now hearing the faint whispers of Silver's voice behind him.
Shadow turned, squinting into a an appearing circle of light. The light grew larger and larger, filling the tunnel with a pale white glow. In the middle, a small, silvery figure stood facing away from him.
"Shaadooww.." The sweet sound of Silver's voice drew the other towards the light, running as fast as he could to try and reach his other half. The figure turned slowly, holding out open arms to reach for the ebony hedgehog. A wave of happiness engulfed his body as he thought of finally having Silver in between his arms. The figure grew closer and closer, and the features of Silver's soft, loving face came into Shadow's view. His heart beat madly as he pushed himself to run faster, and a laugh escaped his lips as he drew closer into the pale light.
Shadow gasped in surprise as his shoe caught an uneven piece of ground and he tumbled, landing in puddles of oozing, black sludge. Ignoring the pain of his fall, he glanced upwards toward the silvery figure. The figure turned away, slowly walking into the pale glow.
"S-Silver!" Shadow reached out in despair, his voice hoarse. The figure stopped for a moment, glancing over his shoulder before turning back to the light, which was growing dimmer each passing second. Desperate, Shadow propped himself up on his elbows, crawling slowly towards Silver's figure. "Silver!"
The figure stopped once more as the last of the pale light slipped away, leaving the two in udder darkness. A faint ringing sound pierced the ebony's ears as he watched Silver's figure turn towards him, an evil grin plastered to his face. The ringing became louder and louder and he shook his head, trying to rid the nausea that came with the piercing ring. Silver moved slowly forward, his eyes closed as his head was down towards the floor. A tinge of fear spiked in Shadow's chest as Silver came to a stop in front of him. His vision swam as another wave of nausea hit, ripping the last bits of strength from his arms as he plopped down into the sludge. Panic surged through his veins as he felt the sludge engulf his throat and begin to constrict around it, stealing the precious oxygen from his lungs.
Blurry - eyed, he stared up at Silver's figure, shooting a fearful look at the other for help. Silver only stood, the grin even wider on his face. Louder and louder, the ringing pierced his ears, and he swore he could feel them bleeding. The last breath was finally grasped from his lips as his throat was squeezed shut, and he layed there, clawing at the ooze that seemed to have a grip of stone. Through the deafening ring, he heard a low chuckle rise from the ivory's throat. With his last bits of consciousness, he glanced upwards at the figure, and his gaze was met with bright, hate- filled green eyes as blackness consumed him..."
Shadow woke with a start, grasping at his throat. His heart raced against his chest as he sat up, taking slow, deep breaths to calm his nerves. 'Silver..' He thought, remembering his puzzling nightmare. On the nightstand, his phone buzzed as his alarm notified him it was time to start the day. He sighed, rubbing his tired eyes and standing to head for the bathroom.
Standing in the shower's warm stream of water, Shadow's thoughts drifted back to his dream. 'What did it mean?' Silver didn't have green eyes, so whose were they? And the sludge?' Confused, Shadow washed his quills slowly, trying to figure out any explanation. After some time, the water ran cold, sending goosebumps down Shadow's fur. Stepping out, he grabbed a towel and dried his face, sighing in frustration.
Dressing in his G.U.N. gear, he walked downstairs to grab his keys and headed outside into the early morning light. His bike came to life with a growl of the engine and he sped off, enjoying the cool breeze that blew across his face. The birds chirped their songs from the trees as he sped by, leaving a smile on his face. Stopping at a stop sign, his smile left his muzzle as he looked down the street, spying Silver's small white house a few blocks down. Arguing with himself, his worry got the best of him and he turned to see if Silver had come home.
His heart sank when he saw that Silver's house still sat vacant. 'Where could he be?' He wondered, turning around the block to check around the back of the house; Nothing. Sighing, he glanced at his watch; 8:03 A.M. Rouge was going to kill him for being late, but that was the least of his problems. With a heavy heart, he headed down the street in the direction of the G.U.N. base outside of town.
The road to the base was short, but it gave Shadow enough time to think about his situation. Where was Silver? His mind drifted back to his dream. 'Could he be in trouble?' He shook his head. Silver was smarter than that. Maybe he could call Amy on his lunch break and see if she had figured anything out.
Pulling up to the base gate, Shadow swiped his badge into the computer, hearing the small click as the latch unlocked and the gate slid open, revealing many different concrete buildings of every shape and size. Military vehicles were parked in front of almost every building, some of them occupied by other G.U.N. soldiers. He parked his bike in front of one of the larger buildings, preparing himself for the wrath of being late.
Not even 5 steps in the door, and his ears flattened as he heard the ragged, booming voice of his employer, Mr. Ewing.
"Shadow! You're late!"
"Yes sir - "
"Do you have a reason for this?!" Shadow looked around, feeling the stares of the other employees in the lobby. He sighed and clenched his fist slightly.
"No, sir."
"This shall never happen again, no?"
"..No."
Satisfied, the chubby brown fox known as turned back to his office, leaving the room in silence. As soon as the door shut, it seemed as everyone in the lobby breathed a sigh of relief. Shadow took a deep breath, settling his anger as he headed for the elevator. Maybe someday he'd get the chance to use that fat brown fox as a soccer ball.
Shadow rode silently down to the basement, his mind preoccupied on Silver. He sighed, mentally telling himself to relax on the whole thing. The doors slid open, breaking the elevator's silence with the sounds of gunshots and the smell of gunpowder. Monday was target practice for field agents. He stepped out onto the floor, heading over to the gun cases for his weapon of choice. Selecting an M9, he walked over to his slot, focusing on the human paper target.
Pow! the shot punctured through the paper near the target's neck. He sighed and tried to clear his head, but thoughts of Silver and the black ooze flooded his mind again. Pow! Another miss. He shook his head and took a deep breath, focusing for a third shot.
"Well, looks like someone's off their game today, huh?" The sudden interruption of Rouge's voice almost had the ebony hedgehog jumping through the ceiling. After the initial shock, Shadow glared at the giggling bat.
"What's got you on edge? You looked like a deer in headlights!" Rouge laughed, ignoring the other's cold stare. "Oh, come on, I can't be the only one laughing here!"
"Yes, you are, which makes you look like an idiot." Shadow smirked as he saw her smile change to a playful scowl. The two walked over to the table where Shadow busied himself with emptying the cartridge of his gun. Rouge sat down, staring at the ebony hedgehog with a look of concern.
"So, anything on Silver?" Shadow's face went pale.
"Who told you?!" Rouge smiled, looking at her nails, "I have people. Now, yes or no?"
Shadow sighed. "No. And don't think now that you know, you can go parading the news around like you're 6 and inviting everyone to your birthday party! I could lose my job! Not like I didn't almost lose it this morning.." Rouge eyed him knowingly.
"Relax. My lips are wound tighter than a two - dollar watch. And for almost losing your job, that's all on you. But, since you were late, you get the fun job of filling out the paperwork from last Wednesday." Rouge chuckled as she heard her partner's low groan of dislike.
Upstairs, Shadow grabbed the stack of papers from the filing tray and plopped down at his desk, sluggishly moving to start this boring ordeal. He glanced down at the time on his computer screen; 11:32 A.M. Close enough to his lunch hour to call Amy. He dialed her number and sat impatiently, listening to her phone ring almost 5 times before she answered.
"Can I help you?" Shadow held his phone away from his ear. Wherever Amy was at, it was loud.
"Have you found anything else out? On Silver?" He asked, trying to drown out the horrid sounds of what seemed to be music on the other end.
"No, I haven't really been looking." He heard a girl's voice on the other end, then Amy broke out into laughter. Shadow growled slightly in annoyance.
"Could you talk to the others please ? See if they know anything?" Amy laughed again,sighing into the speaker.
"Yea - wait, I have a better idea! Why don't you meet all of us tonight and we can discuss what they know over dinner!"
"Amy I don't think - "
"Great! See you at Mobius Point at 6!"
"Amy-" He sighed in defeat. That girl was somethin' else. Thoughts of his dream entered his mind again, and curiosity got the better of him. He logged onto the internet, searching specifically for the one answer to his question.
'Do dreams mean something?'
He scrolled down the page, looking at all the suggestions of information. 'Yes.. No… Yes.. Yes...' Pretty much all the answers said yes, so he was sticking to that. He sat back in his chair, trying to figure out the one question that boggled his mind.
'What does THIS dream mean?'
Chapter 7 is now here on Fanfiction - REVIEW!
