Escaping the city

The moon shone brightly, its light dazzling on the water pools in the dusty Sharmar streets as Sonic and Shadow continued to weave carefully through the alleyways so far remaining unnoticed. The burning embers in the fire torches they had come across so far were blue, pink, green, yellow, red and even white making the streets glow in their multicoloured luminosity.

The musical instruments of the festival played cheerfully outside the maze like alleyways and the sound of the foreign language singing was mixed within it. The two had to remain slow, moving at their speeds could draw unwanted attention to themselves.

"Faker...the dog is following us." Shadow growled quietly as to not alert the dog.

Sonic gave a quick glance behind him, so fast that the dog couldn't have possibly detected it. Sonic nodded in agreement, there it was, the cute black pug hiding behind some sandy crates and peeking out its little round head. When Sonic and Shadow took a couple more steps it quietly stalked behind them to hide behind a brown pottery vase when it thought one was looking. Sonic gave a small laugh.

"It likes ya," Sonic sniggered and Shadow went a little pink and looked at him confused.

"Why would it like me Faker! I must give off a bad vibe, or something." Shadow questioned with confusion, feeling flustered and giving a small nervous glance at the dog who was hiding its head again. The dog was obviously trying to stay undercover.

"Well, it let me stroke it, but didn't ya notice how it was staring at you the whole time. For some reason...it has a thing for ya," Sonic mocked with a smirk, his index finger pointing upwards in a know it all fashion, one eye closed whilst the other emerald eye glittered playfully at his partner. Shadow gave a weak and hardly any effort involved glare.

For five whole minutes it remained like this. The dog following with small little steps at a time, its black eyes locked on the black hedgehog. Not even the celebration and the smell of cooking meat could distract it. They turned corners and used the opportunities to turn around and catch the dog unawares, but it just hid silently and waited. Through out this whole time, the dog was only thinking one thing; Rare Breed!

"The fact that it is staring at me, and not you, is disturbing me greatly. Why would it like me? Most animals cower in fear when I am in their presence, not follow me around!" Shadow told him embarrassed as the dog bounded from one side of the alley to the other in order to hide behind a pile of trash. Sonic just shook his head gently with a genuine smile.

"Maybe this one has managed to see further than the others, maybe it wants to know you," Sonic grinned.

"Doubtful," Shadow huffed in disbelief, but a little part of his mind was nagging him that maybe this was true.

Or I am hoping it is true...but why would I hope for that! Shadow thought hysterically and managed to catch another glimpse of shiny black fur scurrying across the alley to hide behind a potted plant. It was then he realised, the dog's determination to get something reminded him of Rouge.

"Shoo!" Shadow spun around suddenly and made a flicking motion with his hand. Nothing stirred. He turned and kept walking. The unmistakable sound of scurrying feet in the sand. A vein popped up on Shadows forehead. He spun back around. "Stay!"

The alleyway was empty to the naked eye, but Shadow knew the pug was there. Sonic couldn't contain his giggles at Shadows behaviour and muffled it with a gloved hand. The sand was churned up by their feet but apart from that, and the dog, everything was calm and still down here.

"Maybe we should try and lose it," Shadow snarled and tried to keep his temper under control at the pugs' big black eyes boring into the back of his head,

"Awww, let it dream Shads." Sonic spoke in a pretend sad tone, Shadows opinion was not swayed.

Without any warning he grabbed Sonics arms and yanked him into a run. They turned two corners and ran down two horribly smelling alleyways before coming to a rapid stop. Neither one of them was breathing heavily since to them, that wasn't far and they didn't run at top speed either. Shadow peered around the corner and looked down the alley they had just run through, he couldn't see the pug.

"There was no way that little dog could have possibly-"

Shadow turned around to start walking again when right in front him. Sitting their panting. Was the little black pug. Round eyes looking at him with adoration. Shadow flinched back.

"You are a demon dog! You must be!" Shadow yelped very much unlike himself and Sonic burst into tears of laughter.

"Awww look it at it, it can't be a demon Shads...it's too cute!" Sonic suddenly picked the pug up into his arms; the pug barked happily and wagged its little curly tail. Its eyes never left Shadow though. "Come on Shadow, maybe if you stroke it, it will be happy and leave ya alone." He suggested.

Shadow stared at the pug who was doing a paw motion to him. In Shadows mind he thought it was thinking, come here prey come here. When the dog was actually thinking; Rare Breed! Rare Breed! Want approval from Rare Breed!

Shadow put his hand out to touch the dog in Sonics arms but his hand hesitated for a second, perhaps it is just putting on this cute act so that I will get close, it could really be plotting to bite my hand off! Shadow thought in paranoia as the dog did the paw motion again and was looking at him with cute puppy dog eyes and panting expectantly. Rare Breed! Rare Breed! Want to be friends!

Shadow closed his eyes and put his hand out and stroked the little dogs head. The dog got extra excited and barked happily, almost making Sonic drop it. Shadow withdrew his hand and opened his eyes; Sonic placed the pug back down.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it." Sonic mocked as he shrugged his shoulders, Shadow only gave a deep sigh in answer and stared down at the pug who was looking at him with even more adoration than before...if that was even possible. The problem was the dog still didn't leave, in fact it decided it would stop hiding and walked right next to Shadow. I don't know what is worse...Shadow mentally cried and tried his best to ignore the constant stares from the pug to his left.

XXXX

They finally reached the edge of the city, but it was going to incredibly difficult to escape, the giant sandstone archway with the desert foxes engraved on it had a constant flow of people swarming around it. Sonic got down from his little lookout of a wooden tiled roof and jumped down with ease to Shadow on ground level. The pug was sitting next to Shadow, no longer panting but just looking at the two in wonder, interested in what they were doing.

"We need a distraction, there is no way we can exit the city undetected when it is like this," Sonic had turned serious and was eyeing Shadow for a plan; it was always Shadow who could come up with a good plan. Shadow gave an exasperated sigh.

Leaping onto the same roof as silently as a bat he looked at his surroundings. Straight ahead was the archway. The bustling people of the fourth tier market were swarming around visitors and working. The guards on their horses were, literally, at the sides of the gate. Trying to prevent our escape, they are still hunting us, Shadows mind reeled with all the information, taking everything from several different points of view. He put a hand on his chin in thought as Sonic and the pug both stared up at him, waiting. Shadow stared at a particular part of the market, a contemplative look on his face. A smirk spread across his tan lips, he knew what to do. He landed with a small thud on the ground with expert grace.

"I have a plan...but there is one big flaw in it," Shadow crossed his arms.

"What's that?" Sonic asked worriedly, Shadow shut his stern eyes.

"Someone that is not either of us has to do something," Shadow began, removing one hand from his crossed arms and had his palm facing upwards. "We could get someone off the street that does not know us. Which is highly unlikely. They would need to attack the guard on the right side of the archway, run for the pots furthest away on the same side, causing the guards to run through a crowd and attract attention, the pots must be deliberately destroyed which will cause an uproar. All this combined would get nearly everyone's attention. We would then escape undetected."

"Right...so we just need someone who will willingly risk their life." Sonic said sarcastically with a sweat drop and looked down at his tapping foot in concentration.

"If only Motiff were here, I would force him out there," Shadow smirked evilly and Sonic punched his arm. However Sonic suddenly froze with a frown, his fist still against Shadows upper arm; Shadow cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What is it?" Shadow asked uncrossing his arms, his ruby eyes locked on his lover and filled with concern.

"...Where's the pug?"

XXXX

Shadow and Sonic bolted to the edge of the alleyway and peered around the corner. The pug was running for all it was worth for the guard on his horse to the right side of the archway. Barking at the top of its little lungs.

"Oh no..."Shadow droned and palm smacked his forehead; well at least the pug was making itself useful. Sonic, to say the least, was shocked beyond belief.

"That's one brave little dog," Sonic gasped out and blinked as the pug suddenly lunged and managed to bite into the flesh of the armour-less guards' leg.

A scream filled the air as the pugs fangs sunk down and latched on for all it was worth. The guard kicked and flailed about. The pug held firm. Crowds near the archway turned to watch. Some screamed with terror. Some laughed as if it was humorous. With all his flailing the guard actually fell off his horse. The white horse reared back in fear. Almost trampling its owner to shreds. The dog let go and ran as fast as its little legs would carry it.

"GET THAT LITTLE RAT!" The guard screamed with rage, his brown hair clinging to his face with sweat as he forced himself onto his injured leg. The other guards on the left side forced their horses over with concern. Shadow smirked; this is all going just as planned.

The pug was jumping up and down as if this was a fun game, mocking the guard who screamed and tried to limp over to where the little rat was...right near a pile of freshly made and almost dry pottery.

"Let it go mate! There is no point!" His fellow guards, who were also strangely amour-less, tried to reason, but nothing would stop him now.

With obvious adrenaline and rage he ran on his painful leg. Pain causing him to grimace and stumble with a slight limp, but even so he still moved fast. The pug barked happily and wagged its tail and thought; must impress Rare Breed! Must make him proud! The guard was now close enough. Being a small dog the pug weaved in between the pots with effortlessness grace. The guard however wasn't going through the pots like planned but went around to catch the dog on the other side. Sonic put a hand to his mouth. This wasn't taking a good turn.

"Got you!" The guard snarled in victory as the dog skidded to halt with a whine. Not even millimetres away from the coarse and rough fingers! If a dog could grin evilly, it did.

Another cry of pain was screamed to the heavens as the dog bit straight into his bare hand. No clothes. No protection what so ever. Just pure skin and flesh. Blood splattered to floor as he threw his arm about frantically. The dog held on. Refused to let go. The guard was actually making it worse for himself. Losing his balance in his flurry he fell on top of the pots. Smashes filled the air and the other guards rode over to help their companion. If everyone's attention wasn't on the scene it was now. The dog let go and ran off.

The guard laid in the broken mess with blood everywhere from both his leg and hand wound. The owner of the pot shop came out yelling in the Sharmar language. The guard trying to apologise in the language as well. Everyone gathered around as the old woman came over and whacked him over the head with her walking stick. Causing the guard to cry in protest. At this the whole crowd and the other guards burst into laughter. Everyone missing the laughter of two hedgehogs escaping undetected through the giant stone archway and into the desert beyond.

XXXX

"I hope the pug will be alright." Sonic thought aloud as Shadow and Sonic ran next to each other deep into the desert, Shadows skates blazing away and him moving his arms in rhythm.

"It is only a dog, it is insignificant. We need to get that page," Shadow sounded heartless, except for the fact he was indeed impressed with the little pugs' act of bravery. Sonic knew this as well and smiled.

"We have only been here three days, it feels like way more," Sonic muttered as he looked at the full moon above.

"It only feels that way because of all that has happened. We have eighty three days left until the comet arrives; it feels like a long time. A whole week has already passed since Tikal arrived to us. We seem so close to a page now, in only three days...it is too easy," Shadow whispered in answer, Sonic almost didn't hear it. "Knowing Mephiles...he is scheming right now or even has a plan in action right this second."

"Shads don't jinx it," Sonic grinned to try and lighten the mood. Shadows lips quirked up a little into a small smile of his own, his ruby eyes reflecting the light of the full moon made him look mysterious as they focused on running straight ahead of them. Aminas words suddenly crept into the crevices of Shadows mind.

"You must head east from the entrance to the city, keep running east until you reach the `Suns eye`. Beneath the eye, buried beneath centuries of sand...you will find the buried temple." Amina instructed.

XXXX

All night they searched, they found nothing. Sonic was getting too tired and you could feel the heat already starting to build as the sky started to turn reddish orange from the sunrise. They found a large brown rock with a gap beneath it for shade and Sonic immediately fell asleep on Shadows shoulder, Shadow stayed awake in case of scorpions or any other poisonous insects suddenly crawling out of nowhere.

The suns eye, what does it mean? He desperately thought for an answer, he thought so hard that with all the warmth from the rising sun and Sonics softness against him he started getting strangely exhausted. The warm, musky scent of the desert was the last thing needed to relax him beyond the point of remaining awake. He couldn't stop himself as he fell into a dreamless sleep. Little did he know...they were being watched.

XXXX

Shadow found himself opening his eyes groggily to a cool breeze sweeping over the desert. The sun was setting into twilight with its purples and blues; they had slept for the whole day. Shadow sat up sharply, effectively throwing the still dozing Sonic off his comfortable shoulder and into the sand. Sonic yelped awake, the sand burning hot from the days scorching sun made his body sting in pain. Turning he glared at Shadow who had a very sheepish look plastered on his face. However, the ultimate life-form thought he was almost going to faint at the next thing he saw.

"Ruff!" The black pug barked making Shadow jump out of his skin.

"HOW THE-YOU MUST BE A DEMON!" Shadow shouted as he saw the pug sitting calmly next to him under the rock, tail wagging and tongue panting from the heat. "YOU ARE SUICIDAL!"

"Ruff! Ruff!" Was the simple reply, its black shiny fur had gritty sand all over it.

"Sonic! This dog is here! We are miles and miles away from the city and this dog managed to reach us in just a day! You can't tell me this thing is normal!" Shadow babbled as the dog seemed to smile with joy at what it classed as its new friend. I found you Rare Breed! I found you!

"Must have a homing instinct," Sonic spat out sourly, he was rubbing his sore and burned arms.

Shadow fiddled with his stone fox head necklace around his neck, the ruby jewel sparkling in the light of the once again gibbous moon. The pug cocked its head to the side with a small whine; it seemed interested in the necklace, before catching Shadow unawares and pouncing onto his lap. Shadow froze as the dog nuzzled the ruby with its nose, sampling its scent. As quickly as it had come it jumped off and sat back down again. Shadow blinked at it and the dog panted joyously in return.

For the whole night they ran, leaving the dog behind having a strong feeling it would find them no matter where they went. Like Amy, Sonic compared mentally as he searched around some high pointed rocks reaching towards the clear night sky.

The pug was lying down under the rock they had used as a shelter the day before, big black eyes watching as the occasional blue or black blur would whiz past churning up sand in its wake. Her furry head following them as they went by. With a cute little yawn it rolled onto its back and fell asleep, Rare Breed could be a while.