Little ShaDows

Chapter Ten (Set apart this dream I)

She was in her room and yet it felt nothing like her room. Everything looked the way it should have looked, but she could tell there was something off about the place. It was too, too...what?

'This feels weird...' Amy thought, studying her surroundings. A sudden chill snaked up her spine. Without a doubt, someone was standing behind her...

She swallowed, reluctant to turn around and see who it was. For some reason her intuition warned that harm would come to her if she looked back. Would she die or suffer through great pain? Not knowing was a terror in itself. But her curiosity was also piqued. Who was it standing behind her? The presence felt familiar...

Something tugged at the hem of her pants' leg. Her heart skipped a beat at the contact, fear tensing her muscles and halting her breath. But wait. The hem of her pants? That meant whoever it was had to be awfully small.

'Shadow!' she thought with relief. She should have known.

No longer sensing impending doom, she turned around and looked down. A little black creature stared up at her, a mere silhouette without any distinguishable facial features but for its eyes, which were round and emitting a green glow. Amy frowned.

"Wait, you're not Shadow." She examined the little silhouette closely. Her eyes widened in realization. "Sonic?"

He nodded. She couldn't believe it. Was it possible? Could it be? Were her eyes playing tricks on her? She had felt his touch, though, and that meant he couldn't just be a figment of her imagination. So, did that mean Sonic was...he was actually...

"S-Sonic, is that you?" she asked again, a smile already working its way onto her face. He nodded. In an instant all her doubt was forgotten, washed away by an overwhelming surge of joy.

Amy cried out his name and fell to her knees, swooping him up into her arms. Yes, this is what she wanted. Her Sonic, her little Sonic! Hers to love and care for and adore forever!

"Oh, Sonic!" She pressed him to her cheek and he rubbed his head affectionately against her. It was a dream come true.

"We're going to be so happy together. I'll take care of you and I promise I won't ever step on you. Now and forever, it'll be me and you and..."

Her eyes shot open. Shadow! How had she forgotten him?

She held Sonic a short distance from her so she could get a clear look at him. "Sonic, where's Shadow?" she asked.

He blinked and cocked his head.

"Do you know where he is?"

He continued to simply stare at her. Amy furrowed her brow.

"Sonic, do you know where Shadow is?"

His eyes drifted to the side and she followed his gaze. Another little silhouette had appeared out of nowhere, but it too had the eyes and shape of Sonic. Now she was getting confused. There was more than one Sonic?

"What? I don't..." She shook her head and returned her attention to the first Sonic. "I don't know who that is, but it's not Shadow. Where is he, Sonic?"

Sonic looked sideways once more and when Amy did the same she was surprised to see another two additional little Sonic silhouettes standing nearby. Her confusion was becoming frustration.

"They aren't Shadow, Sonic!" she shouted at him.

His eyes flickered and she knew he was angry. He stood in her palms, clenching his fists. And then, right before her eyes, his form began to change, his quills morphing until they appeared exactly like that of Shadow's. Amy stared in awe.

"That's amazing." she breathed. "How did you? That's just...Wow. But..." Here her face fell. "But...you're not Shadow, Sonic. Please tell me where he is."

He shook his head and pointed to himself. She frowned.

"No, Sonic. I want Shadow! My Shadow!"

He stamped his foot and pointed to himself again, but Amy would have none of it.

"You are not my Shadow!" she declared.

Sonic's emerald eyes were burning hot and his body shook uncontrollably with rage. But Amy didn't care. She wanted her Shadow and she wanted him now!

"Tell me where he is!" she demanded.

"What do you want with him?" he shouted, grabbing his head in agony before his body exploded into an all consuming darkness. Amy's scream was cut short as her vision went black.

ooOOoo

Amy awoke with a gasp, heart pounding like a drum. She was lying in her bed. It had been nothing but a dream.

"Amy?"

Hearing his voice, she sprang upright. There he was, sitting on her pillow, right where she had left him. Right where he was supposed to be.

"Sha-Shadow..." A painful lump rose to her throat and tears welled in her eyes. "You're alright?"

"I'm fine, but you were screaming." he said.

"I...I had a bad dream..."

"I figured as much."

Amy stared miserably at him, sniffling. She didn't know why she was letting a silly little nightmare get to her. Shadow probably thought she was being pathetic. It was just that the dream had felt so real. And she had known the entire time that Sonic knew where Shadow was. He was hiding him from her and it made her so mad and...scared...She had been scared. Why?

Her shoulders trembled.

"S-Sorry." she hiccuped and wiped at her eyes. "It was just a stupid dream. Go...Go back to sleep. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

She shook her head, holding her face low to hide the tears from his view. "I am, really. It was just...nothing. It's nothing. Go back to sleep."

Shadow doubted it was "nothing", but if she didn't want him to press it, he wouldn't. They both laid down again, neither one getting much sleep for the remainder of the night.