Claire sat on the edge of Sari's bed, listening carefully she could barely hear the voice of Shadow down the hall, having been on the phone for a while now. And, though she couldn't make out the words, she knew he was angry about something. But she also knew it wouldn't bring it into over onto his family (something he had learned just recently) looking over at Sari, who lay in the bed, she patted the small child's head gently, feeling a warmth come from it, "Looks like you're fever isn't getting any better sweety." She smiled sadly.
Sari just smiled back, blankets up to her chin and a small rabbit doll sticking out of the blankets by her, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get sick, especially when you're sick." Referring to the fact that both Shadow and Claire were on medical leave since they were stranded. While the injuries themselves weren't' that bad, they did like taking advantage of this opportunity. That is until Sari was sent home from school a few days ago with a sore throat and fever. Since then Shadow and Claire had done everything to make her comfortable but nothing seemed to cease the reign of fever. This was especially hard on Shadow, the idea that he couldn't' protect his little girl from something. That and the constant phone-calls he got from Sonic since they woke up that morning. Just what was Sonic so desperate the talk about?
But Claire quickly put it aside, right now she needed to take care of Sari, she put a hand on her head, "Maybe if you got some sleep you'd feel better."
"But I can't… my throat bothers me too much…"
"IS there anything we can do to help?"
Sari, thought for a moment, then looked up at Claire, "Well, when I was with Remy, and I got sick, he'd tell me a bed time story to help me sleep."
"Oh?" that didn't seem too hard, already her mind was going through all the books they had
"But this one would always be special."
"How?"
"IT would be one that he made up."
Claire froze, slightly horrified then hastily put on a smile , "I'll be right back sweety." She walked out of the room and ran down the hall to Shadows room.
88888888
"Come on Shadow; at least come with us to the party. PLEASE! Vanilla said she can watch Sari!" came the annoying voice of Sonic the Hedgehog from Shadows phone.
"I said no Faker, besides Saris' sick so I don't' want to leave her. Even if that wasn't' the case, I STILL wouldn't' go. Just like last year and the year before that."
"Shadow! Today is special though! It's your b-"
Shadow heard the door open behind him and slammed the phone down urgently; Claire looked at him with a confused face, "Shadow? What was that?"
"Nothing, Sonic just challenging me to DDR." He looked at the phone again, slightly relieved, he didn't want Claire hearing what today was. But then looked back at her, worried, "IS Sari doing any better?"
"Sorry Shadow..."
The black and red hedgehog sighed sadly, moving he sat on his bed and rested his tired elbows on his knees. He heard Claire move beside him and wrap a arm around his shoulders. On instinct he put a arm around her waist and looked over at her, and smirked slightly, "You've gotten shorter."
"You're full of it." She laughed a little, which made Shadow feel slightly better, "You told me before Mobians don't stop growing for a long time. You're just finally catching up to me shorty. "
Which, was the truth, at this time Shadow could almost look Claire in the eyes without tilting his head, it was a nice feeling and it cheered him up for a moment before he looked away, the burden on his heart again, "What am I going to do Claire? I can't even help my own child sleep…"
"Well, she told me something, she said that when she was sick with Remus, that reading a story to her always put her to sleep."
He looked over at her, ears perked, "Really? Then let's get a book and-"
"But there's a catch."
"Of course, what is it this time?"
"It has to be a story that we make up."
Shadow froze, feeling slightly horrified, "A story we make up!"
"Yeah, it can't' be that hard-"
"Have you ever tried coming up with a story on the spot?" he stood up, 'It's impossible! Writers work years to make a DRAFT of a story, and we're supposed to make up one on the spot?" he gave a loud growl hand to his face as he rubbed his temples, what to do what to do…
"Well…..what if it wasn't a entirely made up story?"
Shadow turned to look at Claire, confused, "What do you mean?"
"What if we take one of our missions stories and just jazz it up?"
"How?"
"I don't know, put it in a different time or situation….like….." she looked at Shadow , a grin on her face, a good thing for him," Here!" she ran right past him and out the room. Shadow , confused at first followed. Then he saw Claire sitting on a chair by Saris' bed. Sari looked at him with a look of excitement, "You're going to tell me a story?"
Before he could answer, Claire said, "WE are, and I really think you'll like it." she looked back on Shadow, indicating for him to sit by her. Which he did, grudgingly. He looked over at Claire, arms crossed. But she was unfazed as she looked back over to Sari.
"Yes, Once upon a time-"
"does it HAVE to start with that?" asked Shadow a bit aggravated, but was rewarded with a elbow to the stomach
"Like I was saying, Once upon a time in a far away kingdom called the…um…..Mobia…..and it was protected by the Castle of GUN, who held the lands most powerful warriors. But none to compare to the awesome teamwork of Sir Lancelot and Chevaleresse Guinevere .They fought together, they even lived together, taking care of a little girl named Diana. They all lived together happily but then…one day a mission- I mean quest came from the King Tower….."
8888888888
Sir Lancelot Shadow walked down the stone hallways of Castle GUN. His shoulders covered by gold armor and a red cloak flowed down his back. His boots were grey lined with reed with gold rings around the ankles and a helmet on his head the shutter down to cover his eyes (but he could still see) and silver chest armor to protect his ribs. His leather gauntlets lined with metal hung on his hand, the his fingers drumming on the hilt of Melethling, a sword personally passed onto him by King Tower, but at the moment the two weren't seeing eye to eye, due to extenuating circumstances. but he loved the artwork that went into his sword, the red hilt with gold lining that twisted in the shape of a dragon, the Asian symbol for luck. The thought of that made him scoff, "As though I need luck." "Shadow! Shadow!" Turning he was rewarded with the sight of Chevaleresse Guinevere Claire, she wore black , worn leather pants, knee high metal boots, a brown elbow length tunic reaching just past her waist and held in place by a black leather belt, her hands bore black leather gauntlets with metal on top. She wore a visor like Shadow (it being up for now) and a white cloak flowed down from her silver shoulder guards. Her white hair reaching her shoulders and her face smiling. ON her waist hung the famous twin blades, with blue hilts and curved blade. Shadow raised his visor, "What is it now?" "Nice to see Thou too, the King has a mission for us-" At the Kings name Shadow growled, "I refuse to take audience with that lumpish tardy-gaited skainsmate!" "Hold your tongue Shadow! Such language will get you thrown into the dungeon and beaten! He already knows how you feel so he's sent someone else to tell of you mission." "Who?" "Dungeon keeper Rat-Nerd." This once again brought Shadow into a growl, if there was anyone he detested as much as the King it was the Kings lackey, the Rat-Nerd was one of the lowliest and disgusting creatures of all the land, a lame legged creature with more brain then brawn, he crept around the dungeons with words no one could understand. But Shadow just assumed it was better then the King himself. Speaking of lame-legged. The creature slid up to them, his beady eyes glaring on the two friends, "The King has a urgent mission for thou." Shadow crossed his arms, "So what is it?" "The Guardian called us not a hour ago, something is draining the Master Emerald of energy, the Island is rapidly dropping altitude and the Guardians are doing all they can to keep the island up but its only a matter of time…..and we are trying to evacuate Downunda but we don't know if we'll get everyone out before…." he let it drift off…. Shadow saw, out of the corner of his eyes, Claries eyes become slightly horrified and eh couldn't blame her, the thought of all the lives in danger even made him uneasy. Reaching over he touched her hand then looked at the Rat Nerd, "What is needed of us?" 'The King wants thou to go to the Guardians, get information then do what thou can to stop this. But before that thou must stop at the armory-" "Oh please we have our own Blacksmith, we'll be out in a minute." The Rat Nerd nodded and limped away. Shadow looked at Claire, who had regained her confident eyes, "ready to go?" Claire nodded. Shadow bent over and quickly hugged her around the knees (so she was sitting on his shoulder) and ran right out of GUN castle with a huge gust of wind. Through the dirt street and out of the city and into the forest. Shadow knew of the Blacksmiths location by heart and arrived at the large barn in moments, a home to the Merry Men of Mobia and Knothole-Wood. These were the original 'Freedom Fighters' of the area before GUN came in. Shadow set Claire down and walked into the large dark barn, knocking on the side, "Blacksmith Tails, are you hither?" From inside they could hear the sound of many things falling over before a candle was lit, revealing the barn was lined with hundreds of swords and weapons of all with unique designs and beautiful work. Blacksmith Tails, a young fox wearing a brown vest, walked up to them, his face smeared with soot and grease but his face ever optimistic, "Hey guys! Lancelot! Guinevere!" Shadow crossed his arms, "Its Sir Shadow to thou. " "Right right, what can I help thou with?" Shadow reached and pulled out his sword, nodding for Claire to do the same, "WE need our swords sharpened for our quest." The young fox took the swords , "Ah, I remember them well, Melethling." he took Shadows sword in his hands, "One of the finest swords ever forged, with metal melted down and mixed with the scales of a dragon. I spent many good nights on this sword making it to perfection." Shadow smirked, of course his sword was the best. Then Tails looked over to Claries twin swords, 'But Melethling has competition with the Sacred Twins: Artemis and Apollo. These two came from melting down a Silver Star that had crashed to the earth, as light as rain but as strong as justice." Claire looked over at Shadow smirking, but he just grunted, "Its not a competition." he growled. Then to Tails, "How long till its ready?" "Along with all your other weapons? I'd say about half an hour.' Claire nodded and looked back over to Shadow, "we have time, lets go say bye to Sari' Shadow nodded back, this seemed like a mission that could take a while to finish. And if they left without saying bye to her it would crush her. So once again picking up Claire, he set off running again, this time to a hill, but unbeknownst to many, there was a house under the hill, which held the Royal Guard, a 'Chaotix' bunch who helped Lord Knuckles protect the Master Emerald. Outside he saw a young Mighty and Diana Sari playing out in the field, chasing each other in their imaginary games. But as soon as Sari saw them run up her face lit up, "Father! Mother!" her tiny body wore a tan dress with a black ribbon that wrapped around her waist, her long black and blue hair tied in pigtails as she ran over to them. Shadow smiled, setting Claire on her feet and picking up the excited child, " I missed thou too My Angel." hugging her tightly ,then Sari pulled away slightly, her eyes confused and sad, "Thou is going on another quest are you not?" "yes…but it wont take long I promise….." he brushed the hair out of her face gently, "We'll be back before you know it." The tiny girl nodded wiping her eyes and looked over at Claire, "is thou going to0 Mother?" Shadow flinched slightly, he wasn't too sure how he felt about Sari calling Claire 'Mother' but it meant that she at least saw Claire as a role-model. And it was important for little girls to have a mother figure right? Claire nodded kissing the child on the head, "But like thou father said, we wont be gone for long." Sari nodded again wrapping her tiny arms around Claire and Shadows neck hugging tightly as though afraid to let them go or they would disappear. Shadow wrapped his arm around his child gently, then (after thinking about it) wrapped his free arm around Claire who tensed for a moment before doing the same with her free arm so the small (odd) family was in a nice hug. After a while ,against Shadows heart, he let Sari go and stood up, pulling Claire with him, "I'm sorry Sari, but we have to get going…" The brave child nodded and let go stepping away to stand with Mighty who held her hand gently. The two children waving sadly as the two left, walking. Shadow felt his heart become heavy and sad, his poor child put up with a lot more then she deserved, but he felt a deep set pride inside him for his Angel….he felt a hand tap his and looked over to see Claire looking at him sympathetically and gave him a comforting smile, as though guessing what was on his mind. Shadow found himself smiling back weakly. " Yeah thou don't need to say it." "I'm not going to ,but I am shocked that thou didn't attack the young man for holding thy daughters hand." "He is young…he doesn't know better…..YET" By the time they got back to the Blacksmith, Tails was standing outside, the swords wrapped up into cloths, "It surprised me to see thy mighty Knights walking instead of riding on the wind like thou normally does." Shadow just ignored him and pulled out the packages, his Melethling sword shining grander then it ever had before, a satisfied smile on his face, "Very good Blacksmith, and my Power?" Tails nodded, handing over a second cloth wrapped weapon, "But be more careful with it." But Shadow was already tuning him out, eyes the weapon he pulled it over and carefully unwrapped it to reveal a long gold spear, decorated with white lines and designs it was Shadows most prized weapon, one he used above all else, his 'Chaos Spear.' he put it in its normal sheath and set it under his cape, it becoming virtually invisible from sight. HE glanced over at Claire who, after paying the Blacksmith, took out her own wrapped weapons. Looking over her swords fondly she put them away, before opening another one, 4 hand held crossbows lined side by side. She took out two of them and tossed them to Shadow, " Here thou will need them." He caught them , smiling and set them on his side before noticing Claire still had another package left, "what's that?" Claire gave him a look of pure evil smile then threw the cloth aside, two axes lay there, carefully carved from stone with ancient Norse writing along the handle and blade, which shone wickedly in the early morning sun. Claire smiled grew even more as the hoisted the axes into the air, holding them by the hilts she expertly swung them into the air and spun, catching them again and swinging them around, the blade so thin it made a hissing sound before finally crossing the axes in front of her, looking over at Shadows awestricken face, "Well? What does thou think?" Shadow paused for a moment, then held his hand out, "Hand them hither," he ordered "what?" "I've decided they're too much for thou and should only be used by a Ultimate Knight such as me-' "Oh thou is so full of it! I ordered these things weeks ago thou Ultimate Pain!" "So, thou refuses?" "Hell-Fire yes!" Shadow crossed his arms, face angry ( a face Claire had dubbed weeks as his pout )as he glared her down, as though expecting her to give up any second now. Claire simply crossed her arms also, glaring back. The two "friends" continued to glare each other as hard as they could while a confused and awkward Tails looked on, unsure of whether to interfere or get a camera. "SIR Shadow that is MY Harley Davidson." "True., but thou would have to bring me to the King himself before I would giveth up. I'm driving and that's final!" but when Claire crossed her arms again (A face Shadow had dubbed weeks ago as her pout). It only made Shadow grin wilder , "Its either thou sits on the back or sits under the horse, its up to thou." Claire blinked then walked on over, holding her hand out, 'Just pull me up thou beast." Shadow grinned, pulled her up, Claire settling down behind him, arms around his chest as she cussed profusely, Shadow, laughing wildly, reared up the horse again and started riding. Leaving Tails very confused. 8888888888
Finally Shadow rolled his eyes ,"Fine! Thou Stubborn Lass!" eh grabbed his sword and stormed out. Claire smiled satisfied and sheathed the axes under her cloak while giggling happily. Then she heard the stable doors slam open, and Shadow yelled, "But then I can drive thy Harley Davidson!" heran into the stable, appearing a few seconds later grinning as he road the great black horse out of the stables, its sides marked with a spiral of red and the reins working like magic under his expert hands. He enjoyed the outraged look on Claries face when she ran out the door to see him riding the mighty beast. Pulling on the reins, the great horse, Harley Davidson, reared back on two legs and Shadow grinned wildly as the horse touched back down, the horses coat was shiny black with red familiar spin streaks, "Well? How does thy Lady feel now?"
"I have a question!" Sari asked, holding her hand up
Claire blinked, "Yes?"
"why are Lancelot and Guinevere fighting? Aren't they friends?"
Shadow looked over at Claire smirking then over at Sari," Well Angel, their friendship was different then others, but…" he put a arm around Claries shoulder, smiling, "That's what makes their friendship so strong…" then glanced back at the tray of food that had been set out by Sari's bed, "Here you eat and when you're done we'll continue with the rest of the story."
Instantly the little girl started to eat with ravenous haste, and the two friends left the room. As soon as they left the room Shadow grinned at Claire, "So Lancelot and Guinevere?"
"Well, they are the only ones I've heard of in King Arthur's stories, and since Arthur and Guinevere are married, I thought it would be weird to put them as us in the story. After all Lancelot and Guinevere barely come up together. At least that's' what you've told me."
"That's true." the two walked down the stairs into the kitchen, Shadow sat on a chair while Claire looked through the cabinets( to find food to prepare for herself and Shadow.). Looking by the cabinet door, Shadow saw A hamper full of Claries laundry, he saw a pair of her cameo pants hanging out, he quickly pulled it out (thinking about throwing it at her out of boredom) when he noticed how thin they looked. He quickly felt the fabric between his forefinger and thumb to feel how worn it was and it only refined his suspicions. Shadow looked over at Claire, "What happened to your clothes?"
'Huh?" Claire looked back on him, cooking bacon, "What about them?"
"They're so worn and thin, you should by yourself new ones."
"Well, I can't afford it right now. I've been saving up."
"Are you saving up to fix your bike?" referring to how it was now coughing up smoke and was jerkier then the Red Terd.
"Its fine Shadow, like I said I've been saving up." she sat down in front of him and handed him a plate of bacon sandwich before picking up her own, "Its fine." she repeated
Shadow paused then started eating his sandwich, he thought Claire made a fair amount of money, at least enough to pay for clothes and fix her bike. (she put in her own amount for Sari's college fund). But it made him wonder where it was all going towards? Was someone threatening her? The thought of this made him growl lightly (not enough to alert anyone, but just to momentarily choke on his sandwich). That's when he heard Sari call from upstairs" I'm done eating!"
Shadow looked at Claire, "I'll go keep her company while you eat." so he went back upstairs, opening the door to Saris' room, he saw her sitting up with a happy look on her face which, in turn, made him grin, "What is it?" he sat down on the chair by her bed feeling her forehead to find no change. His face fell and he closed his eyes sadly.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah Angel?"
"Happy Birthday!"
Eyes shooting open he was welcomed to a large coloring of Shadow wearing a birthday hat standing on a huge black and red birthday cake. In the picture Shadow was holding Claire and Sari's hand while they all hand smiles way to big for their faces. On the top read "Happy Birthday Daddy!". Shadow smirked slightly and took it and smiled at his beaming child, kissing her on the forehead, "Thank you Sari its just what I wanted." But then became confused, "But how did you-"
The window flew open to reveal Sonic standing there on a 2 story ladder, "Hello!"
The moment immediately was set into the flames as he ran over to the window, grabbing the handles of the ladder he held it away from the house so it was tilting. Sonic, frantic, grabbed the ladder, 'Shadow!"
"What-gives-you-the-right-to-tell-people-about-my-birthday?"
Sonic ducked his head close, "But-But its your birthday, you never celebrate it because you don't have family to celebrate it with but now you have a whole family to celebrate it with!"
"You didn't tell Claire did you?" he demanded. When Sonic didn't answer he shook the ladder, "Did you?"
"No No I promise!"
Shadow heard footsteps coming and leaned in close to Sonic, "and if you ever come into my daughters room by a ladder again I WILL kill you!" he shoved the handles forward and slammed with window shut (muffling Sonic scream as he went flying into the trees. He put Sari's picture under one of her teddy bears before running back to his seat just as Claire came in, looking at Shadow suspiciously,' who did you just injure?"
"what? Me? Oh please, why would I do that," Shadow looked from teh window to Claire, putting on a fake smile," There's no one here. Hee hee….heh…,"His face turned serious again,"..just continue the story."
Claire rolled her eyes before sitting down (earning her a yank on the ear), "Ok….where were we,….."
888888 Shadow rode up the bridge that connected to floating island looking at their surroundings through his visor. "Hmph, doesn't so bad…" he glanced back at Claire ,who also had her visor on shrugged, "We need to be careful." Shadow just shrugged, "If thou says so-" Suddenly the ground started to shake under them. The horse, afraid reared back, the sudden shift in weight sent the two flying off Shadow landed with a thud, his metal helmet cracking against the ground and the dust rising into his mask. Coughing he drew his visor back and tried to suck in the fresh air, over to his left he saw Claire sitting up slowly, he did the same, "Thou ok!" he called over Claire flashed him a thumbs up before scrambling to her feet, the earth shaking under them. Shadow did the same running over he lifted her onto his shoulder and ran the rest of the way, all the while thinking ,'are they under attack?' he thought frantically. Finally the temple came into view, completely immersed in green energy, which flowed from all over the area. Shadow only grew his pace and ran to the steps. Locke, immediately ran out to greet them, his face worn and tired, "Its about dam time you two came." Claire slid off of Shadows shoulder, and ran up to him catching him by the shoulders, "Guardian Locke, please explain what's going on." Shadow ran up the rest of the way, he had to asses the situation, he saw the surviving Guardians all gathered around the Master Emerald, which was now fluctuating quickly. Shadow squinted his eyes and pulled his visor down, "Lord Knuckles!" He called the he saw the echidna wearing red leg armor and wrapped around his chest , his gold helmet tossed to the side as he watched one of his ancestors futilely chant "The servers are the seven chaos, chaos in enriched by the heart…" Suddenly the place exploded into rapid arrow fire, looking up Shadow could see men in black cloaks flying down on dragon made of metal, fire scorching alter in a attempt to scare back the echidnas ,especially the old purple one who was currently trying to keep the island up. Shadow growled heavily and grabbed his hilt, but before he could leapt forward to defend them but Knuckles grabbed Shadow around the neck and threw him back, his sword at as though daring him to come at them again," Shadow….stay….there." Shadow shocked and confused gripped Lord Knuckles shoulder, "My Lord, what's happening?" "The Master Emerald is loosing power by the hour, we're barely keeping the energy from escaping and the Dark Legion keeps bombarding us with fire and dragons, we keep chanting but-" suddenly the island dipped again crazily and Knuckles turned to the alter to see the echidna on his knees, "Grandfather Thunderhawk!" The old purple whither echidna grunted, "th-The user-li-lives to unify-u-unity-" Spectre, dressed in black robes quickly ran forward, pushing the weak old man back into Knuckles, "the servers life to unify the chaos!" beginning the chant once again and the ground stopped shaking. Shadow looked at exhausted old man in Knuckles arms, and felt a great amount of pity, admiring them for their dedication to keep the island up and save the people. He closed his eyes, focusing as hard as he could ,blocking out the noise and hectic, until he could see a faint line of energy flowing from the Master Emerald floating in a path away from the alter, "I found the trail that the energy is going, we'll be back soon I promise." "Please hurry ,my Grandfathers are strong but I don't know how much more my family can take." Shadow nodded, then turned to leave but saw Claire standing in the archway to the alter, her face fixed firmly on Thunderhawk and a look in her eyes that was full of sadness. Shadow ran forward, "Claire we have to get moving." But Claire didn't seem to hear him, for she grabbed the hilts of her swords and started to run forward, a true woman of the people but Shadow reached to grab her but she was already out of grasp, "Claire!" but she had already disappeared into the battle and he hissed venomously, leaping in with his sword drawn. The sword drawn as the robotic Legionnaires leapt at him. But with his cold blade he struck them down easy, but found no joy as his blade flew threw the air, finally he aw Claire taking down a robotic dragon, and drawing out her crossbow. He lunged forward his arm grabbing her around the waist, his free arm keepign a crossbow otu and shooting down Legionaires that leapt at the, dragging her back behind the shelter of the boulder, she turned top face him eyes blazing, "What's wrong with thou? Why art thou stopping me-" "Claire WE cant help them now, we have to go to the source-" "We can't just leave them! They're suffering, its our duty as knights to protect them!" "I understand, but a knight is also loyal to the mission. We have to leave." he looked into her eyes, willing her to understand that he knew her pain. It was the pain he currently shared. Being the Knight that she was she immediately nodded. Shadow quickly set her on his shoulder once again and ran for the pathway, he knew Claire was full of sadness, he was too. But there was a difference between these two and other soldiers. These two refused to cry, no matter what, to them, to cry was opt admit defeat. And that was the one thing they couldn't do. 88888888888 Shadow felt Claire rest her head on his, which was normal (if not comforting). He looked ahead though, his mind set on the mission. The memory of the burning alter and suffering Guardians heavy on his mind, as it was on Claries. The area around them blurring the ground with the trees but he barely noticed as he focused on the faint trail of chaos energy as hard as he could. Tuning out the world…he had to help….he had to stop the Dark Legion.. Suddenly something blue slammed into his body with great speed, Shadow felt his body become unbalanced as he fell towards the ground, instantly he grabbed Claire and held her to his chest as his back collided with the ground, he could feel his sword press against his leg and every rock slam against his armor, eventually slowing to a stop, at first Shadow lay there panting, holding Claire close trying to get his world back into focus as colors flashed before his eyes. "what-what-" Sonic the hedgehog, wearing a gold glove and rustic sword stood over them ,his golden visor currently raised so he could smirk at them," Hiya, I thought I wouldn't be able to stop you-" Rage consumed Shadow, "You." he put Claire aside and leapt forward, swing Melethling down to crush Sonic in the head but the blue annoyance brought his sword up in retaliation, despite the pressure Shadow was putting on his sword Sonic grinned at him through clenched teeth,'" Nice to see you too Faker-" "What the hell is wrong with thou Knave?" he used the sword to shove Sonic away then launched himself at him again, the ferocity of the swords caused sparks to fly through the air" You could have killed Claire!" he brought the sword down again, 'You could of killed me!" Sonic slid forward and , in a cheating move, socked Shadow right in the stomach. A blinding pain shot through him as metal slammed into his stomach. Shadow gasped loudly falling on his knees, arm around his stomach as he coughed uncontrollably. There was a flash of white as Claire leapt in front of Claire, twin swords out as she stood between the crippled knight and the loosely dressed one, "What do you want Sonic?" "Oh come on Claire, I thought you'd be the last one who wanted to start a fight, you were always the rational one in your little couple weren't you?" but then he sighed, "I saw what happened on Angel Island, and I saw how they made you leave…" Shadow heard Claire walk up to him and felt her arms around him, trying to support him. Shadow could feel her arms shake around him, "Its what they wanted…"her voice was sad But the stubborn knight didn't want to listen and growled heavily, gripping Claries arm with a harder grip then he intended, "We don't have time for this ,Blue Knave, We were doing fine until-" "Fine? You were doing fine?' Sonic crossed his arms slightly, sheathing his sword and walking over to the tree's, right where Shadow had been running., "Then get over here.' Shadow growled, normally he would never take orders from a Knight with no master, but he stood up, and limped over, as Sonic grew back the vines, Shadow was filled with horror as he witnessed a giant opening in the earth, being revealed, the pit seeming bottomless. "I almost ran into that…" "With Claire." "Claire!" shadow spun around, and she still sat where he had left her, her face was sad and her eyes confused, a bruise on her arm where he had gripped it. Quickly he was by her side, kneeling down and touching her face, "I'm sorry I'm sorry!" he gently took her bruised arm in his hands, "I'm so sorry-" "It's alright Shadow, you were distracted. You didn't mean to." she offered a sympathetic smile but Shadow looked away, pained, what kind of knight was he? A failure…..a failure as a knight,….a failure as a partner and ,worse of all, a failure as a friend…, "I'm sorry…" he whispered, Then came Sonics voice, "Wow! I can't even get you to apologize once, and you apologized to Claire four times! I feel like you're playing favorites, Shads." Shadow growled turning to glare at the smirking hedgehog, but this time he glanced back, gripping Claries hand, (feeling her squeeze back made him feel better), "I'm not in the mood, Blue Knave, " "You're never in the mood, " he smirked at the two but couldn't help but smile kindly, "Now that your head is on straight, want to finish what you started?" Shadow looked at Sonic with a glare but then looked over at Claire taking her hand in his, "Is thou ready for thy mission? Together?" but part of him willed for her to yell at him and call him stupid. But her hand just shot out and yanked on his ear, her eyebrows raised and frustrated, "Thou is thinking of me as a weak lass again. We are knights, born to protect and serve our King at all costs." she pulled her hand away for a moment before holding out her hand again, this time Shadow smirked and gripped it too, the two pulling each other up to their feet. Sir Shadow grinned for a moment before turning back to Sonic, "So, do you have a way to the Dark Legionnaires base?" The Blue Knave grinned, "Would I have run you off the road otherwise?" "Knave-" "Alright," Sonic turned pointing down road,' its just this way.' then turned to grin at Shadow, his eyes challenging, "Wanna race there?" Shadow rolled his eyes, what did the fool know? Knights didn't take part in childish things such as races? And with a glare Sonic shrugged and set off running but, not two seconds later, Shadow ran over and hoisted Claire onto his shoulder, "Hold on!" he warned then set off at high speed, catching up with the Knight of the Wind with great ease . He looked over at Sonic and felt a little bit of gratitude, 'Thank you…' he thought to himself. But its not like he'd ever say it, seesh. 888888888888 Sonic slid to a stop just behind a jumble of rocks, Shadow stopped just behind it, the dust stirring up slightly around them,, but not rising above their legs. Claire slid down from Shadow and followed Sonic as he pressed himself against the rock and slid to the edge. But Shadow put his visor up, sliding past Claire and yanking on the Blue Knaves elbow and hissed, "Why did you lead us out here? We're in the middle of nowhere, there's no chaos energy." But Sonic just smirked at Shadow, causing him to growl in anger, "Don't thou worry Shads, just use thy Chaos senses and thou will see." But this just brought another glare from Shadow, 'Thou knave expects me to obey him?' he thought to himself furiously, but (curious) started to tune in his senses. To his shock, he felt the energy coming towards them, "What the hell-" in the distance he saw a trail of smoke covering and plaguing the sky into a dark poisonous green. Shadow could only look at Sonic with a horrified look in his eyes, "What the hell is that?" he demanded "it's the Dark Legions latest weapon, a Land Dragon that is running on energy from the Master Emerald, it producing poisonous gas that will kill everyone it comes by…and its headed right for…." "For where?" but Shadow felt his heart drop down as he could only guess the tow. But Sonics eyes said it all ,"Knothole….." "Sari…" he whispered. He could only imagine his sweet child eating dinner with the Chaotix….her fragile lungs that could barely stand the air NOW…if they were subjected to poison ….the thought sent a paternal instinct through his spine. He drew out his sword, " So we get in, and destroy it right?" "Bingo." Sonic winked, then looked over at Claire, "We'll get you close to it and you use your axes to hoist us up, ok? I called Knothole ahead of time, but we still need to get to it before it reaches town, keep your visors down to block out the poison." the Blue Knave pulled down his golden visor, "You ready you two? Shadow watched Claire nod and pull her visor down before doing the same. "Lets go." There was a loud hissing sound that suddenly erupted. Brining Shadows attention back to the poisonous trail, which was now jus behind the mountains. Suddenly a large gray beast shot into view, about the length of a full lined train, its smooth body weaving back and forth over the ground like a snake, the "Head" was shaped like a arrow and the top of the body was flat, you could see several Dark Legionaries running over it, apparently trying to keep the large monster moving and, at the raised center (probably the controls) stood the leader. Lein-Da, descendent of Dmitri her red fur was tied off dreadlock style like most female echidnas, her body was clothed with black leather and a black whip hanging at her waist. Shadow felt Clair tap on his shoulder, snapping him out of his awe. No time for games, this was serious. He quickly turned and put his hands together, Sonic doing the same, Claire quickly climbed and stood on their hands, kneeling down as to not fall off. Shadow moved his hand up to her lower back (to keep her from falling off) then Sonic looked Shadow in his eyes, with his trademark smile. "Lets do it to it." 8888888 Claire , now being up against the side of the Monolith (despite the waving of the body) carefully drew her twin axes out from under her cloak (not wanting to loose balance and go flying off of Shadow and Sonics hands). Claire slowly drew back one of the axes then slammed it into the side and sinking easily into the medal (she would have to thank Tails later). She tested the security of the ax for a few seconds before slamming the other one. Sonic and Shadow instantly grabbed Claire waist, holding on for dear life. Claire looked down on them for a moment, making sure THEY were secure before she pulled out one ax and slammed it above them, then using the next blade and pulling herself up higher, then again, and again. Within the minute Claire had pulled them all the way to the top, then glanced down on Shadow, "Its your turn." The Ultimate Knight nodded, and carefully climbed over Claire (not grabbing her anywhere in appropriate) to the top. Right there were a few Legionnaires standing there with their back to them, perfect. Shadow quickly pulled himself to the landing before turning and pulling up the other two. Claire and Sonic crouched by him, watching the oblivious Legionnaires carefully, pulling out their blades slowly. Shadows eyes never leaving them, at this rate they could go through the entire vessel in a silent invasion, this could work-' Then "CHARGE!" screamed Sonic, charging forward, the Legionnaires looked over and screeched, one of them ran and grabbed a bell, sending a alarm all through the vessel. Shadow sighed heavily as Legionnaires started gathering around, crossbows drawn and pointed at them. This was perfect, he felt Claire pull on his ear again, smirking, "Lets go!" she pulled down her visor before leaping up into crowd, her blades swinging around and catching them. Shadow sighed and drew out Melethling, "Lets get going." he charged forward, his sword sliding forward and knocking a group of them off of the vessel. Grinning inn satisfaction he turned and stepped to the side in time to dodge a attempt to shoot at him from a Legionnaire, he ducked down then rammed his body into the echidna, making him go flying off again-
888888888888888888
"Daddy!"
Shadow, who had taken over telling the story a while ago, blinked as he was interrupted by his daughter, confused he looked at her, "What?"
"Are you going to focus on fighting? What about the villain?"
"Well, the fighting was very important," he looked at Claire ,hoping for a back up but she just crossed her arms and looked at him with her eyebrows raised amused
"Shadow, she's 6, I don't think the useless-henchmen-montage-kill scenes really appeal to her, maybe you should just skip to the ACTUAL fight."
"Oh fine!" Shadow rolled his eyes ,then mumbled under his breath, "It was pretty bad-a though-"
"shadow"
"ok ok fine"
8s888888888888888888888888
Sir Shadow knocked the last Legionnaire of the battle ( a battle that was, not only legendary but full of awesome kills) to the ground, where it lay sparking. He looked through the remains of the robots ,making sure they were all offline. "As if they ever stood a chance." he smirked. He enjoyed destroying robots, at least they weren't alive. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sonic walking over, his visor still down to protect his lungs from the poisonous air but gave off the air of a smile, which made Shadow growl, "What now Blue Knave?"
" Its just you, I'm a little shocked." "About what?" and why bring it up now? "You've changed, normally you drew out the battle more, and you look out for yourself, but this time…." Shadow crossed his arms aggravated, as though they had time for this, (Claire currently running ahead to scout out the next battle) ,"Knave thy better make thy point fast-" "My point is that this time, you never left Claire's back. You were always side by side….that's not like you." "Well, fool, we've worked together for a while know, we are used to fighting side by side, it only natural I would be drawn to stand by her side." "I don't know, it just seemed so much more then that,…just a feeling I got….you've changed Shadow…" The Ultimate Knight scowled, turning his head he looked in the direction of where Claire had left, drumming his sword slightly, he hated it when Sonic made accusations that didn't make sense, Claire was his friend so it should be only natural that he wanted to protect her right? Speaking of which, Claire hurried towards them, hands on her twin blades and her face slightly worn. "Comrades, tis a straight shot to the control, but I fear the time is drawing nearer, we must hurry. Tis this way." turning back she started running back down the vessel, Shadow running behind her, hand on handle just in case of ambush. He could see Sonic out of the corner of his eye, Shadow could just SEE the smirk on his face which brought another growl to his lips. Why did the Blue Knave have to bring up something so incredulous now? They had no time for this. But he became increasingly worried as the poison gas became thicker the further they ran, almost to the point where it surrounded them, ruining their perception on how much room they had to run before they would go flying off of the vessel. Luckily Claire's white cloak stuck out like a beacon, guiding their way, she already having memorized the way and adjusted to the jerky nature of the path (which was still swinging side to side). For some reasons Shadow felt a strange peace fall over him, realizing there was no one he would rather go into battle with (whether being blind or deaf) then with Claire…. A thought that sent a strange feeling in his chest. Finally they broke through the fog, the sun bitterly shining into their dilated eyes which made Shadow slide to a stop (seeing his comrades doing the same) and covered his eyes with the back of his eyes, "Dam,,….thy sun is sour." he growled A cold sharp voice came into his ear, "And the air is about to become a bit more….deadly." Lowering his hand, he was "welcomed' with the sight of Lein-da, standing at the round table that served as the controls to death machine, a armada of Legionnaires surrounding her, her face was in a cold demeaning smile that glared down on the Knights (who remained unfazed), "I'm surprised thou has made it this far, but I shouldn't except any less from the Knight of Gun, the Knight of the Wind and," he gaze fell on Claire, her lips drawing back into a cruel smirk, "a Wolf-Eared freak." Shadow glanced back on Claire and, even though her visor was down, he could tell that her face was unfazed (being used to years of discrimination). He drew out his sword pointing it right in Lein-Da's direction, "Under order of the Kingdom of G.U.N, you are under arrest, now will you come quietly…or do we have to bring thy down painfully?" A cruel laugh rang from the demented echidnas lungs, she drew her whip back and snapped it against the metal under her feet, the Legionaries jumping slightly, "Tis not going to be that easy, KNIGHT OF ARK!" she pointed forward, her bare, pointed teeth drawing back into a coyotish grin as she pointed at them and screeched, "KILL HTEM!" So the battle ensued, Sir Shadow, Chevaleresse Claire, and Sonic leapt forward, clashing with the oncoming army, their swords glinting in the sun and slashing through the army, slicing robots in half and shoving through. The 3 BEST warriors of the land, slowly making their way through but the army pressed on. Shadow threw off another legionnaire with a war, slicing the robot through the chest before jumping back, slamming into another Legionnaire, causing it to go flying back into a group of oncoming robots. He gave a satisfied smirk watching them retreat back, even robots knew better then to challenge the Ultimate Knight. He heard a crack of a whip and glanced over to see Lein-Da in a battle with Claire, the Wolf-Eared Knight easily holding her own, Artemis and Apollo drawn to counter Lein-da's cruel whip. Even though Lein-da was falling back in great haste, there were obvious signs that Lein-Das weapon had made a mark against Claire. Which made Shadow growl as anger filled him, he grabbed his sword and started running towards them, he had to help- Suddenly something slammed into his side gripping his arms and trapping him, making Shadow stumble back, he growled again and grabbed for his sword only to se it was Sonic, "Knave!" his fist shot out and grabbed Sonic by the front, "Why is thou blocking my way?" "Because Claire will be fine, but we've wasted too much time, we're getting too close to the town, we need to stop the Land Dragon NOW!" "How?" he demanded, but before Sonic could answer Shadow ran to the edge of the vessel, looking at the ground, his mind working on a plan, 'if the Land Dragon is moving like a snake, then if he get under it jus right the we can trip it over a d help everyone!' he ran back over to Sonic, "You Faker, when I say so, follow me." then ran back over to where Claire was, how had currently kicked Lien-Da back ,"Claire! " "Yeah?" she asked, swords drawn, "Me and the Knave are going to try and stop thy Land Dragon, but before that I must know," his throat became dry, "Do you trust me?" Claire turned and gave Shadow a thumbs up, "would I be here if I didn't? Do what you got to do Shads, I can distract the Legionnaires." Shadow smiled relieved, then ran back over to Sonic, "Aright now follow my lead Knave" he leapt off of the Land Dragon, his feet hitting the ground running, instantly settling into a speed that matched the Land Dragon, he could see Sonic out of the corner of his eye doing the same. Shadow turned and ran away from the Land Dragon, moving quickly over the hills, his eye never leaving the vessel , 'please let this work.' he prayed, 'please let Claire me safe.' then he yelled back, "NOW SONIC!" he turned back at a hard angle, sliding across the ground, dirt rising around him in a great storm, he heard a screeching behind him indicating Sonic was doing the same. Shadow put a hand to the ground, which curved his slide as he kept his concentration to a blinding glare, then he set off again, running forward a gold blur shooting over him as he reached sound-barrier limits, a giant cracking sound as Sonic did the Same. They zoomed at the Land Dragon with blinding strength, gritting his teeth Shadows reached under his cloak and drew out his Chaos Spear, which was now glowing gold as it reacted to his great speed, the instant they collided with the Land Dragon he screamed at the top of his lungs. "CHAOS SPEAR!" The vessel started to screech as they made impact, the compact making a huge tear right through the middle. The lack of balance knocking the bottom half over but the front half, without a engine, jerked around and flipped over. Then came dead silence. Shadow quickly ran over to the wreckage, scouring over, "Claire!" he tipped over a stray piece of metal becoming frantic , where was she? His heart began to sink, he could see Sonic becoming frantic too, did Claire die….. "Thou know, Shadow, I do trust thou, more then I've trusted anyone else." Heart lifting he spun around lifting his visor to see Claire stumbling out of the wreckage, dragging Lien-Da behind her, her was smeared but it still held her smile "But, next time we're fighting on a Land Dragon, and you want to tip it over with me on it, I might want a heads up. But it was a good plan." Relief spread out Shadows face as he hurried over, just happy to see her ok, "Well you're still alive aren't you?" "Yeah yeah." a beeping sound came from Claries pocket, she reached in and took out a small crystal ball with words running across it. Shadow watched Claire's face become relieved as she looked back at him, "The Master Emerald is now stable, and the Dark Legion has retreated from Angel Island. Everyone's safe." Shadow sighed with relief, this was the dream, a impossible mission turned happily ever after, everyone safe, and the villain captured. Looking back at the /blue Knave he asked ,"You can take the witch back to the G.U.N dungeon right?" "Well yeah, "Came the answer, "what are you going to do-" Shadow just turned to Claire, "Want to walk back?" Claire smiled, "Course," she draped a arm over his shoulder, he did the same with her waist (in a 'friendly' way. The two started walking back towards the town, a strange conversation taking forth. "Want to order pizza when we get back?" asked Shadow "Hell yes!" "Ok but we're not ordering any of those strange topping you like." "Oh come on! I have good taste." "Onions and bacon? Gross." "You're gross!" "I can't be gross! I'm the Ultimate Knight!" 88888888888888888888 "
The End." said Claire, the story at a end.
Shadow looked over at Sari who was beaming from ear to ear, a tired look in her eyes, 'mission accomplished.' then over at Claire who was smiling too just at Sari, her face brought a gentle smile across his lips. Reaching over he took her hand gently squeezing it,
"good job…." he whispered to her gently, leaning in close to her head to not arouse Sari
"Thanks." she smiled leaning over to him too
Shadow smile grew wider, life was good-
"daddy?" came the small voice
Looking over, Shadow saw Sari's eye slowly opening, he quickly reached over and started stroking the Childs hand, trying to get her back to sleep, "Sh, go to sleep sweet sweety."
"I will Daddy I will…but I have a question about the story."
"Yes Angel?"
"IS this story take place before or after Lancelot and Guinevere get married?"
Cold realization hit Shadow like a bullet, the smile and warm feeling that had been there turned into terror, "Excuse me?"
"Well, in Author Legends, Sir Lancelot and Princess Guinevere get married."
Shadow looked at Claire , who also held the same face of horror. He quickly kissed Sari on the head, "Be right back." he grabbed Claire by the waist and dove under the bed, to give them the much needed privacy they needed at the time. Shadow looked over at Claire, a look of horror in his eyes as he hissed furiously, "You told me that Lancelot and Guinevere DIDN'T' end up together!"
"I'm just going by what you told me!" she hissed back," You're the one reading Arthurian Legends!"
"That's no excuse! We're going to give Sari a complex! For goodness sake, you portrayed us as the couple in a story!" out of frustration his hand shot out and squeezed Claire's ribs. Instantly there was a small high pitched sound like a toy which made Shadow pause, "Did you just squeak?"
"No!" her face slightly horrified eyes wide and hands over her mouth in a attempt to hide where the noise had come from, "I…hiccupped…."
Shadow raised his eye brow then his hand shot out and grabbed her ribs again making another squeaking sound to fill the air, he gave a loud laugh, his eyes wide at this discovery, "Holy Shit that's hilarious!"
"Dam it Shadow-"
Shadow grabbed her ribs again, the squeaking sound making him laugh loudly again, and squeezed her side over and over again, almost like a child with a new toy, "This is freaking awesome!" he declared, then felt Claries hands over his face, pulling on it angrily in a attempt to force him off
"Dang it Sh-(squeak)adow! Its' not F(squeak)unny! (Squeak!)"
"I beg to differ!" he gave another loud arrogant laugh, "this is great!"
Suddenly the tiny tired voice called over the bed, "Quit making out I'm trying to sleep!"
Once again a feeling of horror shot through Shadow, "Sari it's not what it-" he sat up quickly only to bang his head on the wood of Saris' bed, lights flashing before his eyes as his head pulsing painfully as he laid his head back down, "Ow…"
Wild laughter erupted from the Squeaky Soldier, as she literally rolled on the floor laughing, her feet kicking his side as she declared, "Not so funny when its you is it?"
"Shut up Claire! My heads killing me!"
8888888
Despite the excitement, Sari was asleep by the time Shadow and Claire (as soon as she stopped laughing and Shadow stopped making her squeak) left the room. Shadow , after gaining self control and his vision, stumbled down the stairs, only to see Claire walking from the front door with a package in her hands, a excited look on her face" What's that?" he asked, "DId the mail-man just drop it off?"
Claire , looked at him, as though disappointed he had seen her, then looked at the box, before holding it out, "Here.'
Confused he took it, it was small but he looked at her, "What-"
"Just open it."
Shadow paused then set it on the table, using his nails to pull open the flaps and pull the tape off, what was it? It confused him, then , after going through miles of newspaper and Styrofoam, his hand touched something glass, his hand drew back before taking it gently into his hands and raising it up to the light, shocked.
It was a small glass case, the bottom was carved artistically out of stone half of it was, carving to match the outside of the Space Colony Ark, the other half had been painted to look like earth, coming from that was a glass holder, on the Ark side was a picture of, to his shock, a old but rejuvenated picture of Maria, Professor Robotnik was standing behind her, Maria was sitting at a table across from himself, the two seemed to be talking about something as the Professor looked on, a proud look on his face. The picture on the earth side was a group picture of all the friends Shadow had made since he got to Earth, all located on the beach, even Claire and Shadow were in there. The entire thing was held up by onyx stand, Shadow, hands shaking looked it over, to the picture of Maria and the Professor, he could feel emotion rising in his throat as he ran his hand over the picture, "Where…..where did you find this picture?"
"I pulled a few strings. Happy Birthday Shadow."
Slightly shocked , he turned look at her, still in awe of the gift, "How did you find out?"
"I have my ways."
He remembered how she had said she had been saving up, her worn clothes and ruined bike and the price of such a artistic and personal gift. He looked at her, putting a arm around her shoulders, "IS this…what you've been saving up on?"
"Yup." she smiled, "tis worth it though"
HE smiled back weakly, looking to the gift, he set it down then looked at her fully, "I have to pay you back for this, when's your birthday?" To his surprise ,Claire started laughing, hand over her mouth which confused him, "What did I say?"
"I'm sorry, I guess It's so obvious to me, " she smiled at him," I don't have a birthday."
"what? Don't be preposterous-"
"I'm serious Shadow, " but the smile never left her face, "I was never given a birthday, they didn't even mark down when I was dropped off at the Orphanage, I don't know when I was born, so I don't get to celebrate it." she shrugged, "But I love celebrating other peoples birthdays." then turning she started heading for the kitchen ,"So since its your birthday guess you get to pick the pizza and movie right?"
But Shadow didn't hear her, he was too busy starring ,in awe, at the extravagant gift, a feeling of guilt coming over him, every year on this day he avoided everyone, he had always taken birthday for granted. It was just another day….but now.. Claire probably never had anyone fuss over her, or beg to throw her a party, or a chance to blow out candles. How could he have been so stupid? Was there anyway to make it up to her? His eye caught the gold on his wrist, reminding him on of his inhibitor rings. Before he knew it, he had hurried forward , pulling off his inhibitor ring (just one) and grabbed her wrist, pulling it over her hand and onto her wrist, instantly the ring resized itself to fit snug against her skin. He watched her face become confused as she looked over it , "Shadow what are you doing? You need this-"
"No I don't, I can get another one." he held her wrist, "This was the same ring I fell to earth with, I gave the other one to Sari a while ago, but its one of my most prized possession…."
"shadow I can't take this-"
"Yes you can…Claire….I…" he paused, he wasn't use to doing things like this, "If you have that ring on, I'll always be able to find you….we'll always be connected. Even if we get separated and you go to the ends of the earth, I'll find you….you…..mean a lot to me…me and Sari. You've done so much for us…but I've done so little for you….." his eyes fell in sadness
"But Shadow I never wanted anything from you-"
"That's the point Claire, you've never asked anything from me…."he paused, "I….I want to share my birthday with you."
Claire, her eyes slightly teary eyed, "You want to what-"
He kept his hand and eyes focused on her hand that he held with both of his "I never celebrate it, if anything I'm even colder on my birthday…but….If I shared it with you….I think I'd enjoy it….I'd enjoy , at least, celebrating yours…" he heard a sniffing sound and looked up, horrified to see Claire with her face in her free hand, her shoulders shaking and tears pouring out between her fingers. Shadow leapt back a little shocked, "what! Was it something I said! I thought I was being nice! If ti wasn't tell me I'm not used to being nice-"
Claire just shook her head, her voice thick, "N-NO one's ever b-bb-been this nice to me before….I-I don't know what to say…."
Shadow blinked then walked over to her he reached out hesitantly withdrawing for a moment, 'what an I doing?' he asked himself, then pulled her hand down gently and wiped her eyes gently, like he didfor Maria so many times, "Then shouldn't you be smiling?"
She nodded quickly wiping the remaining tears out of her eyes, "I'm sorry Dam it, my tear ducts broke when you kept squeezing my ribs."
Shadow gave a faint laugh wrapping his arm around her waist (friendly way, once again ) "So how about I choose the movie and you order the pizza, to celebrate the last few hours of OUR birthday?"
Claire nodded putting on a smile, "Warning the onions, WILL be there."
8888888888888
Few hours later
Shadow picked up the plate next to Saris' bed, smiling silently at her sleeping face. Her ears twitching every so often. Reaching gently he felt her forehead, satisfied to feel the nice cool feeling that signified a healthy little girl. Pulling the blankets more over her shoulders, and kissed her on top of her head, "Just keep sleeping." he stood back up, watching her sleep for a few more minutes before walking out, yawning widely as he leapt down the stairs, the tv was flashing credits, "AH hell Claire, I thought I asked you to pause it before the final scene-" rounding the couch he saw Claire was laying down, her head lolled over and breathing softly, indicating she had fallen asleep. Shadow smirked slightly then walked over, "Ok fine I'll clean the dishes." picked up plates he walked over to the kitchen, moving pizza into cartons and putting them away.
He heard a small sound coming from the living room and looked back in, "Huh?" he walked back in then smirked, Claire was probably talking in her sleep again, something he had discovered when she first moved in (when she fell asleep during a movie ,which she did often). And one of his favorite things to do was listen in and torture her on it later. He stood by hers carefully tuned on her whispering, but couldn't make anything out. Growling he leaned forward, one hand on the back fo the couch and the other and the ground, putting his ear right next to her mouth-
"SHADOW WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"
Surprised, Shadow stumbled forward, grabbing the couch to keep from falling on Claire, he growled again and looked towards the window.
88888888
Sonic and Knuckles ducked under the window, hearts pounding and faces panicked. Sonic was holdng a ruined birthday cake to his chest (havign hugged it out of shock). Knuckles looked over at Sonic and hissed, "what the hell is wrong with you? Why did you yell!"
"You saw it too! He was going to steal a kiss!"
"I knew coming here was a bad idea1"
"Never mind that now RUN!' Sonic grabbed Knuckles wrist and started running , but didn't get 2 feet before there was a rush of red energy in front of them, making Sonic slid to a stop. There stood Shadow, his eyes red and red energy running down her hands,
"..!"
Sonic, despite all his speed, stumbled over his words like a newbie, "wlelwkjeaifipawf'awjfp'ajwe'fp-"
"FAKER-"
"Aright aright! We stopped by because we wanted to give you a birthday cake, but when we got here I saw you in the window TRYING to kiss CLAIRE!"
"I wasn't trying to kiss Claire!"
"Yes you were! You were leaning over her and everything!"
Shadow growled again, a deep heat running over his face ( a unknown feeling), "I was listening to her talk in her sleep! What's so wrong with that?"
Sonic eyes narrowed, turned surprised then mischievous, leaning back arms crossed, "But you wanted to."
"what? That's absurd!"
'You totally did, your face is RED! This explains everything!"
"Explains what-"
Sonic grabbed Knuckles wrist, calling back, "I'll explain later, but do me a favor, if you do kiss Claire don't' steal it while she's asleep!" laughing wildly he ran right past Shadow and out of sight. Leaving Shadow standing there, releasing the energy back into his body. Confused he walked back into the house, "Stupid Sonic, Doesn't know what he's talking about." he looked at Claire, who was still asleep, " As if I wanted to kiss you." suddenly the feeling returned to his face, a red hot feeling, he quickly put a hand to his face, was he getting sick? He shook his head, Absurd! Who ever heard of the Ultimate Life form getting sick! Growling again he walked over and scooped the sleeping wolf-girl into his arms, "Might as well not let her sleep here….." and walked to put her in her room