Dear readers,
Thank you for the prompts given! I plan on receiving many prompts, but so that I don't keep you guys waiting on the main plot, these fillers will mostly be in a separate fanfiction. However, to make sure the story still flows smoothly, there will be some fillers (I've counted three) that'll show that the characters have become friendlier with each other. After these (probably three) fillers, I'll post Chapter nine!
So if you want to see the fluffy stuff and give more prompts concerning something filler-y, please head over to the soon-to-be-posted fanfiction called 30 DAYS (very original, I know, and yes, I will only accept thirty prompts for that fanfiction). If you want to see Chapter nine, please wait for the (probably three) fillers to be uploaded. Hope you'll continue to enjoy reading this!
Now, to the reviewers!
GuardianDragon98: Well, Shadow didn't lose his skates and rings that way...
SPOILER ALERT! LOOK AWAY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW! AND SPOILER TROLLS, I SWEAR, I'M COMING FOR YOU IF YOU DARE TRY SOMETHING!
That's actually related to how he lost his memories and the BIG DIFFERENCES this AU has from canon. If you take a look at Chapter four of this fanfic, you'll see this particular paragraph -
'NOcan'tletthemtakeme!' Panic filled his heart and mind, struggling against bonds that he could only feel in his memories. Desperate to get away. Desperate to escape. Because what they were about to do... 'IDON'TWANTTOFORGET!'
- BEFORE Shadow remembers a scene where Maria got killed. So something happened before he escaped from the ARK, and that is how he lost his memories, skates and rings. It'll come later in the fanfic.
END OF SPOILERS
Thank you for your prompt! I plan to add it in one of these (probably three) fillers! Please feel free to add details if you want. These are also prompts tailored to those who suggested them, so don't hesitate!
SharpDragonKlaw: Again, thank you for your inputs! I'm grateful for them! Your prompt on the astraphobia and how Sonic met Tails has a VERY HIGH chance of coming. It might be long (with my tendency to add words where there shouldn't be...heehee), but I hope you'll like it when it comes out!
ThinMintE06: Thank you for the bet! Let's see how it'll turn out~ And thank you for the prompts, and this filler is actually one of those prompts! The third one (actually, I had already planned something like your prompt for a while now XD. So I hope you don't mind if I add my idea in as well!). Hope you'll enjoy this.
SO TO ANNOUNCE! THIS FILLER IS FROM A PROMPT BY THINMINTE06! YOU HEAR ME?!
Hope you'll enjoy the (filler) chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own-
...ThinMintE06, you won. I swear it; it's a freaking habit! I just typed out the disclaimer before I remembered...
...Just read the chapter people.
FILLER 1
"Hey Tails, can I borrow this? Thanks!"
The poor two-tailed fox couldn't even protest as his older brother snatched the yellow device from his messy desk and shot out of the reconstructing X-Tornado. He could only blink his sleep-crusted eyes and let out another yawn again. Looking at the sky, he could see that dawn had barely touched the sky.
'It's still too early...' With that thought, Tails flopped back onto his makeshift bed. He could get his Miles Electric back later...
At the Black Arms' den, Shadow was having his breakfast, while inwardly frowning at the lack of richness in the taste; he never thought there would come a day when he was displeased with the taste of raw fresh meat. Sun-Spoor was also feasting with Shadow while carefully choosing tender meat from the deer carcass and feeding her growing pups. "So, is Sonic planning on visiting us today?" she asked casually while a pup snapped up the meat from her jaws.
"Knowing the hedgehog, yes," Shadow grunted, licking his lips to clean off the blood. "Rather than asking that, the better question would be what he is planning on doing today."
"Hopefully not another exploration so soon," Sun-Spoor purred while one of her pups pounced on another and the two tumbled off the rock they were on, yelping and chirping. Shadow watched from the corner of his eye with a slight hint of amusement.
A blue blur coming into the clearing soon caught his attention though and Shadow inwardly groaned. Hopefully, whatever idea the hedgehog had this time, it would be tamer...
"Shadow!"
Sonic approached the rock Shadow was sitting on, bag swinging from his shoulder. "Morning," he added as he jumped up onto the rock and casually plopped himself down next to Shadow, gracefully ignoring the deer carcass draped over it and the frown on Shadow's face as the black hedgehog pointedly push Sonic away from leaning in too close. "Remember when I said I would show you what a speed skater is?"
"...So?"
"Well, since we're having some down time, I thought I would fulfill that promise!"
Shadow gave Sonic a dry stare while the blue hedgehog busied himself with the yellow device. When there was no reaction, Shadow silently breathed out of his nose and turned his attention to other (frankly more important) matters, such as cleaning his hands, licking the blood off the black fur and claws.
Once he deemed them clean enough, he wiped his lips with the back of his hand and turned to Sonic, just in time for the blue hedgehog to nearly shove the device into Shadow's face. "Here! This is what we call skating!" Sonic explained as he pulled up a video. Shadow didn't even have to lean forward to see the video (Sonic was pushing the device that close to his face) while Sun-Spoor, in a brief fit of interest, leaned over his head to get a good view of the screen. "This one is on the ground, called roller skating."
Shadow watched, barely hiding a twitch of surprise at the moving images on the device. He had told himself, over and over, that any device from those mobians that he had no knowledge of could do surprising things, that he should no longer be too shocked by what they were capable of. He pushed down his questions though, since Sonic almost always gave less-than-useful explanations; he should ask Tails later.
Now, on the device's screen, the images played out a scene where several mobians were lined up, strange objects decorating their heads, elbows and knees. Strapped to their feet were shoes, but for some reason, they had these circular things attached to the bottom. "How can they stand on those things?" Shadow asked, staring at the circles. By what he garnered from the image, those circles things were flat and thin, something Shadow considered to be unstable to stand on. "How are they planning on moving with those things in the way?"
"That's actually the point of skating," Sonic replied, inwardly smiling at Shadow's questions. It was always amusing and heart-warming to see the curious expression on the usually-stoic hedgehog's face. "Those things are called wheels. Skates are just shoes with wheels strapped to the bottom, and skaters...well, just watch."
Shadow hummed and watched as the mobians crouched in a ready-stance. There was a brief second of silence before they suddenly took off. For a moment, Shadow stared in disbelief at the way the mobians moved. They looked as if they were flailing - gracefully, but still flailing - with their legs and arms swaying everywhere. Then, when the curve came, their movements smoothed out. Now, their speed could be seen as they rounded the track, and Shadow caught a faint background noise.
"What is that noise? The clapping and shouting?"
"This is a competition. Here, they compete to see who's the fastest in skating," Sonic explained. "So the crowd is cheering for the racers, for the mobian they hope would win the competition. It's the same with running, but I usually top those!" Sonic's grin turned cocky for only a split second before it fell to a sheepish tone. "Course, after the first race, I was banned from entering any other race unless I had restrictions on."
"Why is that? Isn't that unfair?" Shadow growled, quills bristling at the thought. "All competitors should be allowed to race with their best. If not, what is the point of the competition?"
"Well, we're talking about the fastest thing alive," Sonic said, both a boast and a matter-of-fact tone in his voice. He couldn't help it if it was true. "Racing against me is like racing on foot against a rocket or some other super-fast vehicle. It is not fair to the other competitors. Besides..." Sonic shrugged, a nonchalant expression in his eyes. "I don't mind. While I do love running and having some actual friendly competition would be a dream, it's not as if I'm too hung up on it. Anyway, this is just the roller skates. Just wait until you see the skates used for ice!"
"Ice?" It was a new concept to Shadow, who had lived on a tropical island for the ten years he remembered. There had never been snow or ice on the island. Sure, there had been some cold days, but even the tops of the mountain range remained clear.
"You'll see it here," Sonic said as he pulled up another video. "But ice is just frozen water; water so cold that it becomes solid. Super slippery and super cold; not exactly the ground I would like to run on."
With that apt bare-bone description, he played the video.
Shadow's eyes shone with interest when he saw the copious amount of white in the surroundings. "Is that ice?" he asked.
"Nah, that's just snow. Think...like, sand, only colder and white and maybe softer?" Sonic replied with a shrug. "Ice is different from snow. Both are frozen water, but ice is harder and more solid...think of like a cold, flat, slippery ground." Just as Sonic said that, the video displayed the image of a mobian dressed in black with goggles coming onto the icy track. The lens zoomed in to the skates and Shadow's eyebrow raised in pleasant surprise at the sight of what seemed like a suitable weapon (it looked sharp, like a deadly claw) stuck to the bottom of the shoes.
"That must be quite useful in defending oneself," Shadow commented. "That sharp claw is much better than those circles from before."
Sonic blinked in surprise and looked at the skates. It took a while before he got what Shadow was referring to and chuckled, just a tad uneasily. "Yeah. They are sharp, but I don't know if they're sharp enough to cut or make damage...though if they can make tracks on a thick layer of ice, I'd say they'd be pretty dangerous alright," Sonic agreed, making a mental note not to piss off ice skaters. Who knew if they would actually resort to using those knives-in-disguise-as-skates to attack.
This time, the video showed not a race, but just that one mobian skating around the lap. To Shadow, the ice skater seemed just a tad faster than the roller skaters. The motion seemed much smoother too (though that could be because the video just cut straight to the skating rather than the starting scene).
Once the lap was done, the video ended. "Well, there is more to skating than just these," Sonic said. "But I gotta return this quick. See you later today Shads!" With that, the blue hedgehog tucked the device back in his bag and took off.
"Hmm... Well, it was interesting," Sun-Spoor commented after Sonic disappeared into the greenery. "I have no idea such activities even existed. Quite interesting..."
"Indeed. It was certainly different from what I had imagined," Shadow agreed. "I think I might just stick to running..."
"That might be a wise decision," Sun-Spoor hummed. "Did you notice that the ground they skated on is free of any obstacles or imperfections? It was all just smooth and flat, and in the jungle, such things are virtually impossible to find. If you try to skate here, I have no doubt you would end up tripping rather than getting somewhere in a timely manner. Skating seems to limit you to a certain type of terrain. Not practical I say."
"True," Shadow sighed. 'So that means I'll have to train my body to get out of that habit... It's going to be hard; I've always relied on muscle memory to get me through when I was without any memories in my mind, and I've grown too used to letting my body control itself. But...if I can't reach the speeds I want on muscle memory, I'll just have to practice, if I'm ever to reach the speeds the hedgehog can...'
'So that I can truly race against him.'
He looked around the clearing, and after he took in the mostly-elliptical shape, an idea came to his head.
Later that day (after Sonic sneaked the Miles Electric back on Tails' desk successfully), the two received a visitor.
"Hey Knux!" Sonic greeted excitedly when he spotted the red echidna coming down from the large floating island now hovering some distance above. Without a pause, he almost pounced on Knuckles as he asked with barely-restrained glee, "Did you get them?!"
"Yeah, yeah," Knuckles grunted, pushing the hyper blue hedgehog away from his personal space. "And as you requested, the wheels will withstand friction and work on most terrains." With that, he reached into the huge box he was carrying and brought out two pairs of roller skates. "What are you planning on doing with them anyway?"
"It's for Shadow," was all Sonic said before he rushed off towards the Black Arms' den, eager to get started.
Knuckles watched the blue hedgehog disappear and snorted. There was a comment he dearly wanted to say to Sonic's face, but that could wait. He picked up the box again and headed inside the X-Tornado. "Hey Tails? I got your supplies here!"
Back at the Black Arms' den, Shadow's brow furrowed in concentration. The large area in front of the mountain range was cleared away with the Black Arms all sitting at the very border. The dirt was smoothed out, the smaller rocks and bones were removed, creating a nicely-free space of dirt, perfect for running laps, which was what Shadow set out to do (the laps were a spontaneous idea born from watching the videos this morning, hence the cleared space).
But before he could get started, there was a blue flash and Sonic sprinted into the clearing, nearly jolting in his stop from surprise at seeing the usually-cluttered clearing so clean. "Hey Shads! What's up?" he asked, glancing around at the clean clearing, the Black Arms audience and back at Shadow. "Wow, talk about perfect coincidence! This is great!"
Shadow didn't get a chance to put a word in as the overly-eager hedgehog pushed a pair of objects into his arms. "Go on, put them on!"
"What the-?" Shadow started, only to stop when he recognized the objects, only bulkier. "...Roller skates?"
"Yup!" Shadow looked up and saw that Sonic had already put on his pair. "Since you're more comfortable with skating, I thought you might want a pair of skates of your own! That way, you'll reach those speeds I know you can, and we can have a real race for sure!"
Those words brought back the conversation about fair competition and his own thoughts earlier today. Shadow stared at the skates and back at the bright smile on Sonic's face. The blue speedster's gesture brought a strange feeling in his chest. Here was Sonic, doing his best to help Shadow out, even outside of matters they initially agreed on. On one hand, his pride didn't exactly agree with Sonic's gesture, but on the other, it wasn't difficult to see that Sonic had genuine intentions of wanting to help Shadow, not belittle him.
With something that might grow to a smile, Shadow put on the skates.
Sonic's grin seemed to light up even more as the black hedgehog carefully stood up. A frown of concentration was on the other's face as he searched for a firm footing with wheels that seemed not to understand the concept of friction. "Here, put your feet in a V-shape. That'll help," Sonic suggested, gesturing at his own feet in that position.
Shadow grunted and copied Sonic's stance. Once he was sure of his footing, he looked back up at Sonic, who was skating over to the other side of the clearing. Just like years ago, when he learned how to survive by copying other animals, he watched the blue hedgehog carefully and copied his motions, quickly coming up next to Sonic.
"Nice," Sonic hummed. When a turn came, he leaned into the curve and Shadow copied along, matching stride for stride (or is it skate for skate?). "Alright, try to go faster. Those wheels won't burn. Go on!"
Shadow's eyes glinted eagerly and the black hedgehog started to speed up. Once he got comfortable enough, he leaned lower. 'Let's see how fast I can really go!' With that, Sonic barely had the time to move out of the way before a black blur sped past him. His emerald eyes shone as he watched Shadow tore through the laps, the Black Arms making a ruckus to cheer for their leader. "Well, I can't let him have all the fun!" Sonic said to himself as he also started to speed up. Sure, skating was not exactly his thing, but that didn't mean he couldn't give someone a run for their money!
Shadow was nearly dizzy from the speeds he was going, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. This new speed was amazing! And best of all, his body and instincts felt 100% comfortable with it, something that set his mind at ease. From the corner of his eye, he saw an approaching blue blur and smirked when Sonic finally caught up. "What took you so long, hedgehog?" he teased, something lighthearted in his baritone that had Sonic teasing back.
"Oh, I just didn't want you to eat my dust so early on in the game," Sonic smirked. "But since you look like you can offer a good challenge now, I won't have to hold back! Three laps! See you at the finish line Shads!" With that said, the blue hedgehog pumped his legs faster, slowly gaining a lead against Shadow.
"Oh no you don't hedgehog," Shadow growled almost playfully as he easily caught up. Thus began the battle for the lead.
It was never a sure outcome; as soon as Sonic managed to get a lead, Shadow doggedly followed with his better stamina until he overtook that advantage, but then, the curve would come and Sonic's smaller figure would slip inside the curve and the blue hedgehog would be at the front again. And that was what made the competition exciting; Sonic wasn't sure if he would win, which made the entire challenge even more fun!
Soon, it was the last lap, and the two were in dead heat.
"Skates or no, I'm gonna win this one Shadow!" Sonic taunted, speeding up until he was almost directly in front of Shadow.
"I'll be waiting for you at the finish line then," Shadow mocked back, before turning his eyes to the unanimously-agreed-on finish line. His legs pushed harder and he leaned down further into the wind. The two were almost at the finish line, and then-!
Shadow's new burst of speed sent him careening right into Sonic, and the two tumbled past the finish line. The Black Arms yelped, but they couldn't get away in time and ended up breaking the two's fall, painfully for all parties considered.
Shadow grunted and breathed out lowly. He wasn't entirely out of breath, but his heart was racing and he was nearly quivering from everything. There was a soft groan coming from under him and he looked down to see a slightly dazed Sonic staring back up. The other hedgehog was in the same state; not exactly out of breath, but from under that thin layer of flesh and peach-colored fur, Shadow could feel his heart thumping loudly.
"I...I say that was a tie?" Sonic asked, grinning up at the looming black hedgehog.
"...Agreed," Shadow breathed back out, finding his own lips tilting up in a smirk, not entirely too upset with the ending...though whether it would be the outcome of the race or the literal ending itself would remain unknown. "But that won't be the same next time."
Sonic snorted. "I'll believe you when you break the sound barrier," he retorted back with a laugh. "Now, we better get up..."
"Right," Shadow blinked and tried to move away quickly. Unfortunately, he forgotten that he had wheels strapped to his feet and in his haste, they slipped and he instead ended up falling back down again. Sonic yelped as his vision got buried under a mass of black fur while Shadow stiffened.
"The wheels," Sonic muttered, his voice muffled slightly. "Shadow, use your knees instead."
The black hedgehog growled lowly - Sonic unable to hold back a shiver as the sound rumbled through him from the close contact - as he followed Sonic's advice, bringing himself back up with his knees. Then, slower than before, he got up, his feet sliding into the V-shape smoothly. Sonic breathed out and pushed himself up, also carefully getting up to his feet. Behind him, the Black Arms were shaking their heads and doing the same. "Hopefully, this won't happen every time they want to race," one of them muttered, being the unfortunate one to bear the frontal brunt of the two hedgehogs.
"It was great!" another remarked, bearing his teeth in a toothy grin. "But I agree; next time they race, hope it won't be here."
"Leader, can we use the clearing now?"
Shadow nodded and the Black Arms reclaimed the clearing, lounging around and going back to their daily businesses. Turning his head back to Sonic, he saw the hedgehog muttering and fiddling with his skates. "The wheels look good... Though can they hold up if we break the sound barrier? Might have to ask Tails... Now where is...ah!" The wheels from Sonic's skates suddenly retracted, much to Shadow's surprise. "These skates can act as shoes too just in case," Sonic explained to the staring black hedgehog. "Just press the button at the back of the skates."
Shadow nodded slowly and looked at the back of his skates. Sure enough, there was a slightly raised spot of red on each of the black-and-white skates. But he didn't press them, preferring to still try out his skates. While Shadow practiced in the clearing, slowly (re)learning how to maneuver in other ways, Sonic watched from his spot. 'He's a natural for sure. Just some minutes in and he's already skating like he's born to do it...' Emerald eyes caught the content look in the other's eyes and Sonic smiled.
'Wonder if we can try out other kinds of skating too...'
And that's a wrap! ThinMintE06, hope you enjoyed this!
