Oh gosh, I'm really late with this, aren't I? Sorry, guys. Real life, summer school, my second year of college starting, and a bunch of other crap, is the reason for that. At least I was finally able to write this, though.
On a side note, this will be the very last chapter for this story. What happens after this in little WereShadow's life, you'll have to find out in the sequel. You'll see my reasons for this at the end of the chapter.
As always, thanks for the reviews.
Oh, before I forget, whenever needed, I will add more details to Sonic's and the Older Shadow's past together. The only reason why I didn't to that before is because I didn't want to make the explanation too long.
Disclaimer: Characters belong to SEGA/Sonic Team. I'm just a writer with no life who borrows them.
Only Warning I can think of: Character Death, but don't worry, it's no one too important.
Note: This might be a long chapter because I'm adding some things that will be important for the sequel I have planned.
Chapter 14
Darkness. It was all he could see. Was he…asleep? Probably. When did he fall asleep, though? Last thing he remembered was…was…Wait…why couldn't he remember anything? He had to remember something. He just had to!
Not remembering…it was scary.
He didn't know how long he was like this, but what he did know was that his head hurt a lot. He whimpered a bit as he opened his eyes.
"Shadow! You're awake!"
Not knowing that was gonna happen, or who said that, he jumped up. Though, it made his head hurt more and made him feel really dizzy.
Before he could fall, though, he felt someone catch him. "Whoops, I didn't mean to startle you, pup."
Pup…? Wait, now he remembered everything. "P-Papa?"
"Good thing that blow to the head didn't give him amnesia. Otherwise it would have been, what, the fourth time it's happened with us, Sonic?"
"I don't know, probably. There's nothing else wrong, though, right?"
"Other than a bad concussion from bashing his head on that branch? No, there's nothing else wrong."
"That's good; I was worried it would be more serious."
One of his ears twitched when he heard what his past self said, and even though it made the pain and dizziness worse, he tilted his head. What was a…a coconshion? Cuncosion? …Whatever it was, he wanted to know about it.
He was already starting to feel better, till he heard what Papa said.
Then he also felt guilty, cause he made Papa worry. He didn't mean to do that, he just wanted to catch the butterfly… "S-Sorry, Papa."
"For what? It's not like you wanted to fall out of a tree, pup. Even if did nearly make my heart stop."
He wasn't sure why…but when he heard that, it scared him and suddenly he felt like he couldn't breathe! He tried and tried, but he just…couldn't…breathe!
"Damn it, Sonic, you triggered a panic attack!"
"I didn't think he'd take it literally. Or that he could have panic attacks."
"…Whatever. Just get him to calm down before things get worse."
Everything was going dark, and he was getting really dizzy now. His chest was hurting too. What was going on? Why was this happening?
Then he felt someone pick him up and hold him. "Pup, you gotta calm down and relax, alright? Try to concentrate on…uh…"
"Taking deep breaths?"
"Yeah, that. Try to take deep breaths, pup."
He tried very hard to do that, but his chest was hurting too much; it was too hard to breathe like Papa wanted him to.
"Dang it, this isn't working…nii-san what else can we do?"
"Well, since calming him down isn't working, all we can do it wait for him to pass out from lack of oxygen."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
Things were going fuzzy, but he thought he heard Papa say something that he'd probably get in trouble if he said it too.
Even though he was still scared and not breathing right, he leaned against Papa. He always felt better when he did that, though he didn't really know why.
"Finally calming down, pup?"
He was, a little, and he didn't want to lie, so he nodded.
"Sonic, I could have told you he was calming down. Not by much, but it's an improvement."
"Right. Plus every bit counts, so maybe he'll calm down fully in a few minutes."
"It's a possibility, as long as he keeps trying to regulate his breathing."
"You hear that, pup? Just calm down and take deep breaths."
He knew what he had to do, so why did Papa tell him again? Maybe…maybe Papa thought he hadn't been paying attention? Was that why he said it again? And was really thinking of a way to-
No! Don't think about that! 'Sides, Papa said that…he wouldn't…but for how long? How long would it be till Papa got annoyed and started punishing him the way…Werehog did?
"Pup, you're trembling. What's wrong?"
He couldn't help flinching, cause he felt Papa grab his shoulder. Hang on; he wasn't having trouble breathing anymore. Weird…but he did notice that Papa was right, and that he was trembling. "S-S-Sorry. Um, n-n-nothing's wr-wrong…"
"Tch, yeah, and Sonic's a good dancer."
"Oi, I am a good dancer."
"If that's true, then there's nothing wrong with the kid, which is obviously a lie."
He flinched again. He knew they'd be able to tell when he was lying; he just didn't want Papa to worry…
Only, now that they knew…would…would he be punished? He knew he deserved it, just like he deserved all the other punishments…
…Right?
He didn't know what to believe anymore…
Wait, he could hear them talking. What were they saying?
"…think it'll be best for him."
"Maybe, but we better make sure that they won't freak out like every other place we've gone to."
"Considering what we did, it's no surprise that they're like that."
"Hm, good point."
What were they talking about? He wasn't sure, but he was getting a really bad feeling. He whimpered, shivering.
"…Kid, how much did you hear?"
"Um…j-just the l-last part…Wh-What's g-going on?" He really hoped that as soon as he knew what was going on, the bad feeling would go away.
"We're just talking about maybe moving to a small city. Hopefully one that doesn't know about what we've done, or holds grudges."
Hearing that didn't help. It just made the bad feeling worse.
"The odds of that are pretty slim, though."
"Well, we won't know until we look."
"Why?"
"Well, we just thought that you could use some company to be around besides us. And there's also the fact that now you'll also have somewhere to be whenever I can't keep him back."
Tilting his head, he wondered why he would wanna be around someone other than Papa and his past self.
Then he thought about the last part of what Papa said. He knew Papa didn't like Werehog being in control, but…he knew that even if he were away somewhere, because Papa had a hard time keeping Werehog in his mind, Werehog would find him anyway and find some reason to punish him.
Why bother trying to hide?
Still…maybe living somewhere else would be fun.
"Well, pup? What's it gonna be? Are we moving into a small city, or staying here in the forest?"
Realizing that they wanted an answer, he looked up, and saw that they were looking at him.
"I think…um, m-maybe we could tr-try moving?"
He smiled a little when he saw Papa grin. "Alright, now that we got that settled…how exactly are we going to find a good town to live in before nightfall?"
"About that…I think you two should go find a place first, and then let me know where it is so I can join you at a later time."
He tilted his head, wondering why his past self wasn't going with them.
"How come, nii-san?"
"Just think of what the humans might think if we all appeared together looking for a place to live. Me, you, and a kid who looks like me but has your Werehog qualities."
"What do you- Oh. Oh. Right. Don't want em thinking that."
"Exactly."
Now he was really confused. What were they talking about? "Um…"
"…Er, don't worry about it, pup. You're too young to understand, anyway."
He kinda wondered if that was true, but he didn't want to say anything else. He also wondered when they were gonna go find a city to live in.
His past self seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Sonic, didn't you say that you wanted to find the right city before nightfall?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess I'd better get scouting, then. I'll be back in a bit."
He whined when Papa got up. He didn't want Papa to leave…not without him, anyway.
"Don't worry, pup. I won't be gone long."
"Wanna go with you, Papa…"
He couldn't help flinching a little when Papa turned to look at him. "I know you do, pup, it's just that if I take you with me, and the people there aren't so nice, then not only would I have to worry about myself, but I'd fear for your safety as well. At least with you staying here, I know you're safe."
He wasn't sure why, but he was starting to feel a little angry. Even though Papa wanted to keep him safe, it didn't mean he couldn't go anyway. "Don't care. I wanna go!"
He saw that Papa was getting a little annoyed, but he didn't care. He didn't care if he was safe or not; he wanted to go with Papa.
"Listen, Shadow…"
But he couldn't listen. The bad feeling came back, only stronger, because he thought of something.
What if Papa…was only saying that he would be back…when really…he wouldn't be coming back?
What if Papa was about to abandon him?
Thinking it made him scared, sad…and angrier than he had been a while ago.
He started to see red, and without thinking, lunged at Papa. But before he could get too close, he was grabbed by his scruff. It was a very tight grip too, enough to make him whimper while he struggled.
"Go, Sonic. I'll take care of this."
He struggled more when he heard that. Then he saw Papa leaving before hearing a loud WHOOSH! So he started screaming as loud as he could. "NO! NO, NO, NO, N-!"
Only to feel a hard punch to the back of his head, and the pain made him yelp and stop struggling.
Then he remembered that he was being held from his scruff by his past self.
"Kid, you're really lucky that you mean so much to Sonic. You must really have a death wish…If you had managed to land a blow on Sonic, you'd be in for a hell of night later. Did you forget that Werehog can see what Sonic sees?"
He flinched a little. He had forgotten that. But there was a part of him that…just didn't care what Werehog would do to him. He just wanted Papa to come back, cause even if Werehog were to beat him like he always did, it was still better than being alone.
He hated being alone. Just like he hated the dark. It made him think of when Werehog had stuck him in that hole…He shivered. That wasn't going to happen again, was it?
"Kid, I'm starting to think that you're more of a pessimist than I am."
He blinked and turned his head to look at his past self. "What's a pessimist?"
"A negative thinker; someone who expects the worst to happen."
"…Oh."
He then realized that he wasn't being held by his scruff as hard. Actually, he wasn't being held at all; he was sitting on his past self's head. When did that happen?
"I just figured you'd like the view, kid. It's also safer than being in a tree."
Well, he did like the view. It even gave him an idea. He looked at the wings on his past self's back, wanting to know if they worked, and reached out to poke one.
"Don't even think about it, kid."
Surprised, he flinched and managed to lose his balance.
"Oh fu-"
He yelped when he hit the ground, his arm twisting under him, but not enough to break it. That was good. It still hurt though.
"You alright?"
Looking up, he saw that his past self was looking at him, worried.
He was about to say something, when he heard a whooshing sound. Was it Papa? Not caring about his hurt arm, he got up, and was about to run outside when he remembered that Papa had been annoyed at him for trying to get him to stay. Was Papa still mad?
He hoped not, but as Papa got closer, he could see a grin. So Papa wasn't mad anymore? He had to be sure…so, he went outside, limping.
Course, that's what made Papa stop running; him seeing the limp. He cringed when he saw Papa getting mad, but he was also confused when he saw the look aimed at his past self. "What. Did. You. Do?"
"I'm not the one responsible for that, Sonic. He simply fell."
"That's a load of bull! I thought I could trust you with him!"
"Believe me, Sonic; I'm not the one who sprained his arm. When have I ever lied? …Don't answer that. The point is, I'm telling the truth."
"Prove it."
He felt like he needed to say something, but he wasn't sure if he would make things better or worse…but he had to try. "…Papa…he's not lying…He didn't hurt me."
His ears folded back when Papa looked at him, though he didn't know why. He just hoped Papa would believe him.
"…Alright, fine, I believe you."
"Now that that's settled, did you manage to find a place?"
"Yep. Turns out that most of the citizens are refugees who were looking for a place to be safe from either their past or if they had their life threatened by someone. One thing that worries me a little is that some of the others are former criminals…but they say they've changed, so who am I to judge?"
"You managed to know all this in a few minutes?"
"Did you forget who I am?"
"I don't think I'll be able to forget, unless I end up suffering from amnesia again."
"Yeah…well anyway, I think we should get going. The sooner the better."
"I'll meet you there later. I'm going to do a few things."
"Suit yourself."
He watched as his past self left using Chaos Control. He wondered what he was gonna do…
He was also about to ask how he was gonna keep up with Papa, until he was picked up and placed on Papa's shoulder. To make sure he wouldn't fall off, he wrapped his arms, even his hurting one, around Papa's neck, though he also made sure he wouldn't choke Papa.
"Don't let go, pup."
"I won't."
He wasn't sure how, but he didn't yelp when Papa suddenly started running really fast, but when he heard a loud BOOM, he almost let go. Thankfully he didn't.
Only a few seconds passed before Papa stopped running.
He blinked a few times before realizing where they were. It wasn't as big as a city, but there were still a lot of people. Suddenly he felt scared. What if no one liked him?
He then noticed that nearby people, the younger ones, anyway, had seen him, so he tried to hide.
"Shads-"
He didn't realize that a few of the kids had come up to them until he heard someone say "Who's that?"
When no one else said anything, he realized that everyone was waiting for him to say something. He would have, but he was scared.
He glanced around at everyone, but stopped when he saw a young girl hedgehog. She was a kind of…gold color, and her eyes were the same blue as the sky.
She seemed familiar for some reason.
Tilting his head, he tried to figure out why she was familiar…when an image of a human entered his head. The human looked almost exactly like the hedgehog girl.
Then…
He remembered the human's name.
Maria…
He just wondered if the girl would have the same name.
Slowly, he let go of Papa and walked over to the girl, who was looking at him, probably curious.
"…M-Maria?"
She, like the others, looked surprised. "How'd you know my name?"
"I, um…uh…" How was he supposed to answer that?
He looked over at Papa, wondering if he would help, but before Papa could say anything, one of the other kids asked "What are you, anyway? Some kinda runty mutant?"
He tensed a little at the word 'runt', cause it made him think of Werehog, but then he got mad, so he growled, tackled the kid to the ground, and dug his claws into his shoulders. "Don't call me that."
He kinda thought the other kids would run away from the growling, but instead some of them looked nervous, even…the girl, Maria, she looked…a little afraid.
Then again, the kid under him looked like he was about to faint.
Seeing this made him feel…odd. He felt…almost happy knowing he could make someone fear him, but…
He realized that it also made him just like Werehog. To make someone afraid of him…just because they made him mad…
Shivering, he quickly got off and didn't look at anyone. "S-Sorry…"
Then he heard Papa sigh. "Shadow…"
He wasn't sure why, but when the other kids heard his name, the ones who hadn't looked nervous got really excited.
They were asking too many questions, and they were talking too loud for him to actually hear what they were saying.
So, he panicked and ran back over to Papa and hid behind him.
Course, it made a few of the others laugh, but he didn't care.
"Oi, knock it off. He's not used to being around so many people. It's just been the two of us all this time, for as long as he can remember."
His ears twitched a little as everyone went silent.
Peeking out from behind Papa, he looked around at everyone, and saw that they were…sad? No, it seemed a little different. He couldn't figure out what it was, though.
Oh well. He'd probably find out later…
BOOM!
…Or not…
He turned his head towards the sound, and saw that there was smoke coming from somewhere in the forest.
At least Papa seemed to know what happened. "Of all the times to…Guys, go show Shadow around. I'll be back."
His ears folded back. He didn't want Papa to leave again. But, he knew he couldn't get Papa to stay here, so he moved out of Papa's way.
A second later, Papa ran off and was gone.
And now he was with a bunch of people he didn't know.
He didn't know what they would do.
And no one could help him.
He started to panic again. It hurt to breathe, which was hard to do now, and he was shaking really bad.
It was a…a panic attack. Even though he wanted it stop he also wondered why it was happening in the first place.
That's when everyone rushed forward, which only made him panic more.
He flinched and used his Chaos Energy to make the shield so that they couldn't get to him.
But, it didn't keep them all away.
Only Maria was able to get through the shield, and, for some reason, just her doing that made him calm down a little.
He was still worried cause he didn't know what she would do, but at the same time, he just knew that she wouldn't hurt him.
Slowly, she reached towards him, and he flinched abit.
"Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you."
It sounded like she meant it, but…he wasn't really sure. "P-Promise?"
Seeing her smile and nod was enough to calm him down a little.
Although, he knew she wouldn't hurt him, but what about the others? He wasn't gonna let it down until he knew they wouldn't hurt him either.
Almost as if knowing, everyone else backed away, so he slowly relaxed and made the shield go away.
Only to flinch again and back away when he felt someone pat his head. He forgot about Maria being so close.
His fear seemed to worry her. "Are you okay?"
Calming down a little, he nodded. "I-I'm fine. I j-just, um…didn't w-want to get h-hurt…"
That sure shocked everyone. For a second he wondered what else would shock them. Besides learning about Werehog…
No; mustn't think about him yet…not till he come out tonight…If he came out tonight…
Although he tried to stop thinking about Werehog, he noticed a hand reaching for him, and, thinking he was about to get slapped, he tensed, whimpering as a few memories of Werehog, of his 'punishments', started to fill his mind.
'Learn your place, runt!'
When he first heard that, he had tried to do as he'd been told, but he didn't know exactly what it meant. He still didn't fully understand it.
He shivered as he remembered something Werehog said the last time he was out.
'There's only room for one Alpha! I'll make sure you learn that it's going to be me!'
He knew he didn't really have a choice in that lesson, but he just didn't want Werehog to be Alpha. He just had the feeling that if Werehog became Alpha, he would do something bad to him, something worse than the beatings. And nothing would stop Werehog from doing it.
He shivered again, not wanting to know what would happen, if it ever did.
"Hey, Shadow?"
His ears twitched, and the memories went away for now, when one of the older males calling for him. "Y-Yeah?"
"You alright? You looked like you were about to get beaten or something."
He tensed, but not wanting anyone to know that he was being beaten, even if only at night, he shook his head. "I'm f-fine."
"You don't have to lie. I can tell you've been beaten at least once. I've been there too, so have a few of us. That's why we came here, to get away from it. Right guys?"
Looking around, he saw at least…five others nod.
Still, what he was going through was different. "Y-You don't understand…"
"We won't understand until you tell us everything."
He shook his head again. "Can't…"
Before anyone else could say something, he ran off, not towards the forest, but just somewhere away from them.
He couldn't tell them. Why? He didn't know.
Maybe…
Maybe Werehog was right about him being weak. He couldn't even talk to people without feeling nervous.
It wasn't fair…though…was anything in his life fair?
Sure, he had Papa…and his past self…but they couldn't really protect him from Were-
CLANG!
Ow…
Okay, now he was angry. He growled and slashed at the metal pole that was in front of him. "Dammit!"
"Shadow!"
He tensed, and in a second, his anger was gone, his ears folded back. "P-Papa?" Uh-oh…
Glancing behind him, he saw Papa standing a few feet away with his arms crossed, looking…angry? Sad? It was hard to tell, but it made him feel bad.
"Shadow, get over here."
He hesitated as Werehog's words ran through his head again.
'There's only room for one Alpha! I'll make sure you learn that it's going to be me!'
He shivered abit, but somehow he knew that even if he did do as Papa said, Werehog would probably punish him later anyway.
So, he quickly walked over to Papa, and as he did so, he remembered that he had banged the side of his muzzle, which was starting to hurt, so he knew there was a bruise. He could also taste blood, so he stopped to spit it out onto the ground.
He didn't expect a fang to come out too.
"Pup?"
Flinching, he glanced at Papa again. "S-Sorry…"
"Hey…you alright? Pup, let me see how bad that bruise is."
"Papa, I'm fine…"
"And I'm a ballet dancer. There, now we're both liars."
Ears twitching at the sound of his past self's voice, he looked around for him.
"Up here, kid."
Turning around again, he looked up and saw that his past self was sitting on the pole. He also saw that his past self looked a little beat up…
Then he noticed…
The sun was setting.
"Oh no…"
Looking back at Papa, he saw that he was already starting to change.
Not knowing what else to do, and not caring if he would get punished for it, he ran and hid behind a bush he hadn't noticed before.
"Werehog…I won't let you…hurt him anymore…You won't w- AAAAAH!"
He cringed when he heard Papa scream, and he could sense something bad was happening.
Just what was happening, he wanted to know…a little; especially when he faintly heard people gasping.
"To think things couldn't get any worse…"
What did that mean? Maybe he should see what was happening…
Peeking out from behind the bushes, he saw…
No…
It couldn't be…
Werehog had his own body!
Oh, this was really bad…
He tensed when he heard Werehog laughing, and ducked back down behind the bushes.
"Finally, I'm free. I knew that pathetic host of mine wouldn't last much longer."
"So sure of yourself, Werehog?"
"Obviously. Now, get out of my sight. I have to deal with that little runt."
"Like hell I'll let you do that!"
He didn't want to see what was happening, but he could hear it.
There was the sound of sound of something flying through the air – his past self, probably – Werehog growling, the sound of claws ripping through flesh, someone screaming, and then…
Nothing.
It scared him, and he tried really hard not to panic.
"So much for the Ultimate Life-Form. Now that he's taken care of…Runt, get over here!"
He flinched, and, without meaning to, whimpered.
His ears twitched, and lowered as Werehog growled again. "Runt!"
He didn't think. He just ran.
Of course, then Werehog grabbed him and slammed him to the ground. "You stupid runt! When I tell you to do something, you do it! Never run from me!"
Then came the slap, right where the bruise was. He could even feel a couple of Werehog's claws slash him. Somehow he managed not to yelp, but with the pain in his muzzle, he almost started crying. Luckily he didn't. "S-Sorry…"
Glancing up at Werehog, he shivered when he saw him grinning. Not good. "I have a deal for you, runt. Either you willingly come with me and we both leave this dump, or I'll slaughter everyone here and make you come with me."
He knew Werehog would do it. He could smell his past self's blood on Werehog's claws… "Don't hurt them…"
Expecting another slap, he tensed abit and shut his eyes, but the after a few seconds, there was nothing.
"Accepting our deal? Good. Now, follow me, and don't stall."
As soon as Werehog let him go, and heard him walking away, he quickly got up and followed him.
Only to freeze when he saw Papa just lying there – though he could tell Papa wasn't dead – and…his past self…Werehog had slashed his head off.
So much blood…
It made him feel sick.
"Runt!"
Whoops. "Sorry."
He started to run to Werehog, but then he stopped again.
Glancing back at his past self's body, he quickly went over to it and took the Rings off his past self's wrists.
"I thought I said no stalling, runt!"
He flinched, and was about to apologize, only to yelp Werehog kicked him in the side.
Somehow he managed to hold onto the Rings. Barely.
"Why were you stalling, runt?"
"I-I was j-just…"
He didn't get to finish, Werehog kicked him again.
Knocked to the ground again, he lost his grip on the Rings.
"What the hell…?"
His ears went flat against his head. "Sorry…"
"What…were you going to do with those, runt?"
"I-I was, um…gonna k-keep one…and then g-give th-the other one t-to Papa…"
Punch to the muzzle. Maybe he shouldn't have answered…
"You couldn't have asked?"
"Y-You would've s-said no…"
"Just get on with it, already! We've wasted enough time here as it is!"
Flinching, he nodded and quickly got up ran over to where the Rings landed, grabbed them, and then ran over to Papa.
He managed to get one Ring onto Papa's right wrist, kinda wondering how Papa was still in his night form now that Werehog was gone, before putting the other Ring on his own left wrist.
After that, he fully realized that this was probably the last time he would ever Papa…
He felt a pain in his chest, and he was really close to crying.
Rather than let Werehog know he was about to cry, he let a few tears fall as he nuzzled Papa's arm, whispering "I'm sorry…" before turning away and walking back to Werehog.
"You done yet, runt?"
Trying to ignore the pain in his chest, and not wanting to say anything, he just nodded.
"Then let's go."
As he followed Werehog, he wondered exactly what Werehog would do to him, besides the beatings.
Whatever happened, he would just have to deal with it.
For everyone's safety.
Fin.
Before you all bombard me with questions wondering why no one stepped in to prevent Werehog from getting to WereShadow, think about it. They had just witnessed him killing the Older Shadow, and they were still in shock from seeing him being separated from Sonic. Who would want to get in his way after seeing all that?
Also, the similarities between Maria Robotnik and the hedgehog Maria are purely coincidence.
The reason why I'm ending the story here is because WereShadow no longer has a choice in who he would listen to, not that Werehog gave him much of a choice, so it would make more sense to write a new story chronicling WereShadow's new life with Werehog, which I am already planning.
Unfortunately, I won't have much time to write once school starts in a few days. I will be in a one-year Veterinary Assistant program at a nearby college; so much of my free time will be spent studying. I will try to write as often as I can, so don't worry.
Well, readers, looks like this is goodbye for now.
Review!
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