OK, here's another chapter for the middle of the month! Sorry it's a little short.

Chapter 18

While Sonic was regaling Shadow with tales of his exploits, Tails had led the Black Arms out of the house, where the rest of the pack had just finished exploring the surrounding area on the cliff. "OK guys, feel free to explore the meadow!" Tails called out as the black beasts joined the others, chattering back and forth. In no time, the pack had organized themselves and quickly scattered into different teams. Soon, there were only elders, a few mothers and the pups remaining near the house.

Tails watched as the Black Arms disappeared to the meadows before heading back inside. There were plenty of things to do, mainly preparing a place for the Black Arms to stay. Out here, there were no caves for several miles, and certainly no cave big enough to house all the Black Arms. The meadows were too open, not something the pack would be happy about. As such, the only other options were either the underground hangar or the storage room in the house.

The underground hangar wasn't the best spot though, not with the Blue Typhoon currently being docked there. In addition, the fox had plans to add more vehicles inside the hangar. 'So the storage room it is,' Tails thought as he headed back inside the house. Despite how small it may look from the outside, Tails' house was actually huge if one thought about it. The underground hangar, the workshop-turned basement and the storage room were the main reasons why. Most of the large rooms were beneath the house, which was probably the reason behind its seemingly-small size.

Tails moved up the stairs and passed by Sonic's room. As he did, his ears caught the faint sound of laughter and a familiar voice describing an equally familiar adventure. ''I have something to do', huh?' Tails thought with a small amused huff. 'Well, it wouldn't be Sonic if otherwise. But then again…'

Tails knew, from firsthand experience no less, how Sonic would go a mile (literally, and make that several miles) for anyone he cared about, or anyone he felt was under his protection. It was a part of being a hero; to protect others, to put others' wellbeing above themselves. But the fox also knew that Sonic valued his freedom; he wouldn't obey the public's whims if they went against him.

And that made the relation with Shadow surprising, yet not at the same time.

What was surprising was how it started. In the very beginning, Shadow was a stranger, even a threat. Sonic disappeared for a day (and by Knuckles' angry words, the blue hedgehog was actually kidnapped, with Shadow and the Black Arms being the culprits), and when he came back, with the aforementioned culprits in tow, it was also with injuries that came during his time with Shadow.

But he treated the black hedgehog like a friend. Why would Sonic be so friendly to a stranger that not only kidnapped him, but also (indirectly) brought harm to him?

It was more understandable once Tails was informed of Shadow's memory loss. Perhaps that was the answer; Sonic's hero tendencies acting up to try and help someone who the blue hedgehog saw as in need.

Later on, that surprise faded away. During that one month on the island, Tails witnessed how the bond between the two hedgehogs grew. Heck, the fox could even see the reasons; someone who could keep up with Sonic, especially with his speed, and someone who also watched out for the blue hedgehog? It was not surprising at all that Sonic grew fond of Shadow.

'But then again, it is Shadow that's also involved. I don't think Sonic would do the same if it were someone else,' Tails finished his thought.

A surprised laugh reached his ears, from a deeper voice that noted it as Shadow's. The fox couldn't help a smile. 'And I have a feeling that's the same case for Shadow. Sonic does have a tendency to grow on you.'

The door to the storage room soon came into view and Tails put away the thoughts of Sonic and Shadow for later. Right now, he had work to do.

Now, a little bit of exposition.

The storage room was not just a simple room on one floor. Not only was it quite large with plenty of horizontal space, it was also with verticality, a room that spanned all the way from the first floor to the attic. So, from the outside, it looked like a tall rectangular box was attached to the side of the house, reaching right up to the roof.

Inside, there were several large platforms, connected to each other by hanging walkways. On these platforms were several objects.

The platforms on the left wall held crates containing materials Tails used for his projects (and there were a lot of crates since he needed plenty of materials for his bigger projects. 'Though I'll have to start restocking soon…' Tails inwardly took note). On the opposite wall, there were devices (mostly prototypes) that Tails had built or invented. And on the last wall, facing the door, the platforms stored other more normal supplies like extra furniture, boxes full of old supplies stored for either disposal or due to sentiments and such.

If Tails had to move these boxes by himself to make room for the Black Arms, he wouldn't be able to even clear the platforms on the first level before several hours had passed. 'It's a good thing I installed the moving platform feature,' the fox thought, shuddering at the idea of having to move the boxes by himself.

Entering the room, Tails turned to the wall space next to the door and took off one glove, before pressing his hand against it. A line of light appeared, moving from bottom to top. Once his handprint was scanned, a small panel revealed itself.

Tails put his glove back on and pressed several keys on the panel. There was a quiet beep, before the platforms started moving. The walkways were made to accommodate for the movement, so there was no issue as the platforms that were completely occupied moved to settle at the bottom of the room. As such, the platforms that did have room were now all up on the second floor. 'Now, just a little adjustments and home decorating, and the new den space for the pack will be ready!'

As Tails busied himself preparing accommodations for the Black Arms, Sonic himself was also preparing his space for Shadow, despite the black hedgehog's quiet yet forceful protest. "Hedgehog, look, I can stay with the pack just fine," Shadow growled even while the blue hedgehog zipped around the room, cleaning up his belongings. "There's no need for you to offer yours."

"It's fine!" Sonic chirped, equally stubborn as he stacked another box of his belongings on the small pile outside in the hallway. Despite how cluttered his room looked, when it was all packed away, there was surprisingly not many things as one would initially think. "I've been meaning to do this anyways. It's about time I have a place of my own, you know?"

Shadow paused at that. If that was the case, then Shadow could understand Sonic's feelings. In the terms of the wild that the black hedgehog understood better, Sonic had been sharing territory (i.e. the guest room) with his brother-kit. But as with all animals, once the kits grew up, they had to separate from the older ones and find new territories of their own to claim. So, by Sonic finding his own place, it meant that the fox kit had grown up and the hedgehog was now looking for his own territory.

Still, it didn't explain why Sonic was offering what was once his territory to Shadow. The part of Shadow that grew up in the wilderness couldn't understand the logic. It would make more sense to him if he had fought Sonic and won the rights for the territory, but that wasn't the case. Sonic was offering.

The part of Shadow that was made up with slowly-recovering memories didn't see anything wrong with the action, which just created a confusing tug-of-war between the two sides.

"Alright! That's everything!"

Sonic plopped down the last box outside, leaving behind a room that contained only the shelves, the hammock and the rug. The blue hedgehog eyeballed the hammock and turned to Shadow. "Do you want to try sleeping in a hammock?"

The black hedgehog frowned and stared at the aforementioned object. In all of his memories, he had never seen a hammock before. How did others even sleep in something like that? He eyed the rug below and firmly settled down on it, earning a chuckle from Sonic. "OK, that answers that question then." He took down the hammock and placed it on top of the boxes. "I'll grab some cushions and some more rugs. In the meantime, feel free to explore outside."

Shadow hummed in agreement at the suggestion. He got up and headed out of the room, descending the stairs and exiting the house. Sonic waited until the black hedgehog was out of earshot before breathing out a sigh.

In truth, there was another reason why he was adamant on having Shadow use the guest room.

With the return of memories from the ARK, Shadow was changing. Heck, he was already changing even with Sonic introducing the black hedgehog to new things like 'videos' and 'cooking'. It might be presumptuous of Sonic to think that he knew what the black hedgehog would do, but he felt that there was the slightest chance that once Shadow recovered all of his memories, he wouldn't be content with returning to the wild.

If that were the case, as slim of a chance as it was, Shadow would need a place to stay. Just like Sonic did once Tails settled down in this house.

'I did say it is a guest room,' Sonic thought in ill-timed humor as he moved the boxes downstairs, inside the living room. 'It's just more long-termed than a normal guest room.'

You know, while I was typing this, I realized something.

Do I use the gag of Tails having to move boxes as a device to move the plot along, multiple times?

I don't know if this is true; it might be the numerous times I rewrote the chapters and they're all mixing together in my memory. But if it is so…

Who votes that I keep it as a running gag?

Anyway, over to the more serious stuff. So here, Tails basically explained what his thoughts are about the bond between Sonic and Shadow. What about you guys? How do you think the two hedgehogs get to where they are?

And also, Sonic revealed his plans to integrate Shadow back into society. Of course, it depends on Shadow's decision, but the timing was too good to pass up; Sonic is about to leave for his own place and he wanted to help Shadow feel more comfortable living away from the island. So, why not offer a place to stay? It killed two Flickies with one stone!

Review Responses!

GuardianDragon98: Tails might be young, but he is also a super genius. Coming up with some creative pranks is a piece of cake (also helps that Sonic himself has a knack for pranks of his own XD).

SharpDragonKlaw: For some reason, when I read your review, an image of an evil overlord Tails giving an evil laugh while the Black Arms cowered in his shadow popped into my head and nearly made me bust a gut in laughter! And since there might not be a chance for Shadow to explore the world just yet, Sonic's doing something about it!

ThinMintE: The Black Arms aren't entirely mischievous in nature, but even so, they definitely will think twice next time! And Sonic actually lived with Tails for the first few years after the kit got the house, just to make sure he got settled in nicely (though I headcanon that it only lasted for years because Sonic was being overprotective ;)). But now, he's planning on moving out and getting his own place (maybe it will be something like his beach shack in Sonic Boom).

Guest: Thanks for your review! I'm glad you like this story!

OK! Hope to see you guys at the end of this month for another update!