Hy guys! I luvs you all for tolerating my little slip off main story last chapter! I needed to! Aw, I really feel bad for Silver though. The infection is really getting to his head. Poor poor Silver... I just made myself sad... :'(

Bloodstained Ivory

Chapter 20: Chains

"Silver, it wasn't your fault," Shadow whispered down at the distraught hedgehog in his arms, despite the fact that they were still on the battlefield, in the middle of a battle. Silver continued to sob.

"Y-y-yes it is! I'm the one that k-killed them! And they never did anything to me!" Shadow rested his forehead against Silver's sighing.

"Silver, this is war. There has to be death." Silver jerked, and looked up at Shadow, his eyes still glistening after all those tears.

"Why does there have to be war? Why can't everyone just live in peace? Why does there have to be death?" Shadow sighed and hugged Silver tightly.

"Some things..." he whispered. "I just can't answer," he finished. Silver took a few deep breaths and dried his eyes. He stared around through all the melee and spotted a few familiar faces. There was one he couldn't find, and that worried him.

"Shadow," he began. Shadow inclined his head slightly but didn't say anything. "Where's Blaze?" Shadow scanned the battlefield for his sister, but could find no one. He heard quite a bit of commotion in one area of the camp, and turned to look. So did Silver.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked. Silver looked at him.

"Let's not talk like that. Meanwhile let's go see." Shadow nodded in agreement, and they made their way over to a more crowded area, dodging the odd blow here and there.

There, in the midst of it all, where two females. A lavender cat, and a brown ground squirrel. Shadow inwardly groaned.

"You made me bleed!" Sally complained, as one of Blaze's flaming hands scored a rip across Sally's torso. Blaze rolled her eyes, and continued to make a pulp out of the squirrel queen. Sally was not very effective when it came to battles, but she knew how to dodge.

Blaze was having harder of a time than she thought she would. She was also getting quite irritated with the uselessness of the fight. She crashed her fists down on the back of Sally's neck, knocking her unconscious.

Rolling her eyes, she walked over to the two kings. Her eyes widened as her gaze fell on Silver.

"What happened?" Shadow turned around as he felt the air currents shift, slamming his bare fist into the midriff of a blue wolf.

"Let's talk later. We're not safe just yet." Blaze agreed. Fighting their way through the conflict, they chatted, friendly-like to each other.

"Knuckles hasn't been doing anything stupid has he?" asked Blaze. Shadow shook his head.

"No. In fact, the last time we saw him, he saved Rouge from this bat who... nevermind." Shadow re-thought his words before they came out of his mouth. Silver suddenly turned to them, being quiet up until now.

"Blaze, Shadow, have you seen Sonic or Tails anywhere?" Shadow and Blaze shook their heads. Silver scanned the area looking for the two familiar figures. He could see nothing.

Shadow's ears caught a faint voice, through all the chaos going on.

"No...please!...Don't hurt him anymore!..." Shadow twisted around. Grabbing Blaze and Silver, he ran over to where he had heard the voice from. There, in a more secluded area, he found three figures, all familiar. Two hedgehogs, one fox.

Tails was leaning over a limp body pleadingly, as Scourge stared down at him in triumph, his sword raised, ready to strike. As he brought it down, Shadow dashed to where they were, the swordblade falling onto his shoulder.

Hissing with pain, he looked up at Scourge.

"Leave! Now!" Scourge smirked at him.

"Who me? No, I can't be that kind." Furious, Shadow, seemingly out of nowhere, grabbed a rod made out of crackling chaos energy, and threw it at Scourge with the words, "Chaos Spear!"

"How can you contr-" Scourge didn't finish his sentence as the spear knocked him out.

He turned to Tails, who was hugging the limp body, and breathed in sharply. The cobalt blue fur! No! It couldn't be!

"He's dead!" Tails sobbed. "He's dead!" and leaned into Sonic's fur. Shadow stared in shock.

"No..." he breathed. "No...I shouldn't have let you come...No!" Silver and Blaze ran up to them. Their pupils shrunk at what they saw.

"He can't be!" Blaze screeched desperately. "He just can't!" Silver just fell to his knees beside Tails.

"Sonic..." he whispered. Shadow's gaze hardened. He looked up.

"No more deaths," he said firmly. "We're retreating." No one argued. Not even Blaze. They all nodded.

Shadow ran back to the main battleground yelling, "Retreat!" His army looked at him surprised ly, but no one argued. Shadow watched them file into the city.

"No victory could come close to the loss we've had today," he muttered. After they all went in, he looked back at Blaze, Silver, and Tails. They got up, Tails carrying Sonic, and walked into the city, heads hanging. Not because of defeat, but because of loss.

Shadow took a good look at Sonic's limp form, and flinched visibly at what he saw. The azure hedgehog had not just been killed, he had been massacred! There were wounds visible and bleeding, on every part of his body.

Tails didn't look well either. He showed welts that looked like he had been beaten with the flat of a sword. His blood boiled.

"Scourge, you. Will. Die." he whispered. They silently tracked to the palace, not a word in between them, but only a few muffled sobs from Silver or Tails.

When they made it back, They headed to the infirmary. Surrounding Sonic, so that Amy couldn't see him, they walked to an empty bed, and placed it on it. Immediately, the sheets began to stain crimson until soaked.

Shadow started at the pink hedgehog's voice.

"Where's my Sonic?" Amy asked. Shadow didn't reply. No one did. Amy tried to look past them, but she couldn't. Shadow sighed.

"Tails!" Amy called to him. Tails turned his worn face to hers. "Tails, what happened? And where's Sonic?" she asked Shadow turned to him, blocking Amy's view.

"Why is she so concerned? Isn't it normal for him to ignore her?" Tails shook his head.

"Actually no. They've been getting closer these past few weeks. Shadow groaned. He wasn't ready to deal with a crying girl.

"Where's Sonic?" Amy asked again, her voice genuinely apprehensive. Blaze looked at Tails.

"Should we tell her?" she whispered at him. Tails shrugged and sighed.

"We can't stand here forever. She has to find out sooner or later." In agreement, they all stepped away from the bed. Amy peered at it, and gasped.

"Sonic! What happened to you?" She jumped out of her bed, and ran over to the still blue hedgehog. She looked at him. "Sonic?" she turned to Tails.

"Why won't you bandage his wounds?" she asked. Tails shared a look with Blaze and Silver, but Shadow replied.

"It wouldn't do much good," he said softly. "He's gone."

"WHAT?"

They next hour or so was a mix of crying screaming, threats, and woes. Shadow had stepped out through it, Silver at his side. They were headed for their dorm, when they bumped into Liza.

"Your highnesses. What's all the commotion?" Shadow inclined his head in the direction of the infirmary.

"I'd rather you find out yourself," he said tiredly. She headed of towards the infirmary. They went to their dorm.

As soon as they entered in, They got onto the bed. Shadow sat with his back resting on the headboard, whilst Silver had his upper body leaning on Shadow's abdomen. Shadow sighed, and stroked Silver's face gently.

"I'm...I'm just glad it wasn't you," he finally said, not looking down. Silver burrowed into his chest.

"And I'm just glad it wasn't you. I wish it wasn't anyone though. Why does peace have to come at so high a price?" he questioned, more to himself than anyone. Shadow's hand drifted down until it was atop his chest.

"Some don't understand it's value," he replied. "Others just enjoy war." Silver shuddered.

"I'll never be able to forgive myself for what I did." Shadow's hand stiffened on Silver's chest, causing the younger hedgehog to wince slightly.

Shadow noticed this and removed his hand. Silver grasped it, and brought it back to his chest.

"No." he said, firmly. "I always want to feel your touch. To know you're there." Shadow smiled sadly.

"I will always be there. I wish it was the same for everyone else. I should've known better than to let him fight with a withered leg." Silver twisted over and embraced Shadow.

"I know how you feel," he replied softly. Shadow's eyelids fell over his eyes, as a lone tear ran out of them. Silver leaned up, and gently licked the tear off his face. "Why are you crying?" he asked, gently. Shadow sighed.

"I can't help but feel it's my fault he's gone," Shadow murmured. "He had an injured leg, I shouldn't have let him go. I'm a failure as a ruler," he said miserably. Silver hugged him tighter, unable to stop a few tears from flowing down his face.

Your spirits are as one. You can do what non other can. The strange echoes ran through the air, unbeknownst to Shadow and Silver, as their tears mingled, their only comfort being the other.

Wow. That was. Depressing. I can't think of any other word. You guys are probably gonna kill me cos Sonic's dead. Sorry! Still. Can you review?