Shadow x Rouge: Agents in Love

Chapter Ten: The Crystal Cave and Remembering Maria

Half a week passed since Shadow and Rouge's rainy night at the mansion and the rainy weather had calmed down, allowing the two agents to continue going outdoors. One sunny day, Shadow and Rouge met up for some rock climbing in the mountains.

Their rock-climbing area of choice was Pearl Mountain, one of the tallest mountains in the world. Taking a good look around, the valley encompassing the range was full of trees, sunflowers and grassland as far as the eye could see.

For Shadow, he'd been looking forward to a swell afternoon with Rouge, who loved doing a bit of rock climbing, even though she had wings.

But of course, they wanted a fun challenge and couldn't cheat with their powers. Shadow had put on his special rock-climbing gloves and shoes while Rouge donned a revealing hiking bodysuit with goggles, the latter were to protect her eyes from debris.

Sharing a warm hug and a kiss, the couple made sure they had everything with them: Rock climbing gear and anything else they needed. Once they made sure all was good, Shadow and Rouge made their way to the foot of the mountain.

Rouge went first, beginning her climb up the tall mountain, and Shadow followed suit. Within minutes, they were off the ground and scaling the face of the mountain towards the top, holding on to any ledges they grabbed along the way.

Rouge was an expert at climbing and her climbing skills seemed to be comparable with those of Knuckles the Echidna, Shadow recalled that the two had battled it out a couple of times in the past, most notably on the ARK shortly before his fight with Sonic.

Very few small rocks fell as the duo climbed higher and higher up the peak, Shadow made sure he and Rouge didn't touch any slippery surfaces, especially since it had rained days ago and water did have an effect on rocks after who knew how many days.

If Sonic were here, he'd have run up that ledge at super speed and beaten the two agents. If Knuckles' were here, he'd playfully challenge Rouge to a rock-climbing race. Thankfully, neither Sonic or Knuckles were here and none of that would happen now.

Above in the sky, the sun's rays beamed down over the area and a warm breeze blowing in blocked out any searing hot summer heat, allowing Shadow and Rouge to climb the mountain without touching one hot surface.

"How are you doing there, handsome?" The white bat asked the Ultimate Life Form who was a bit behind. "Hmph," Shadow grunted, "Perfectly fine, thanks for asking. So, are we almost at the top yet?"

"We're halfway up. Just a bit further and we'll be there. Patience, edgy hedgie."

The hedgehog and the bat passed by a small bush growing out of the side of the mountain, hardly touching the weeds just in case it caused issues. Luckily, there weren't any spiders, snakes or anything else that could bother them.

As for the possibility of encountering bears or mountain lions, Shadow and Rouge hadn't found any near the base of the mountain or in the area around the mountain. The chances of finding a bear or lion at the top were probably slim.

Rouge grunted as she kept climbing, a tiny bit of sweat beading her head. Shadow hmphed every couple seconds as he grasped a ledge along the way, the climb looked tough but not that hard. In seconds, they'd made it to the top.

Shadow slightly accelerated his climbing speed and climbed on top of the cliff ahead of Rouge before extending his hand for her. A sweet smile on her face, the bat took the hedgehog's hand and he pulled her onto the top of the mountain.

Wiping some sweat off her forehead, Rouge raised her goggles and sat down on the ledge, overlooking the valley as Shadow rubbed her shoulders to assist in getting some minor sores out of her muscles from the climb.

Rouge stood and kissed the Ultimate Life Form on the nose tenderly, complimenting his kind and caring decency. Shadow warmly hugged her and they looked around Pearl Mountain, taking sight of a cave entrance close by.

"Interested in going in that cave?" The white bat heard her boyfriend ask smoothly.

"Oh, I'd be thrilled to enter a cave." Rouge said, "Bats don't mind dark caves."

The two walked through the entrance of the cave and Shadow pulled out a flashlight only for Rouge to remind him that their eyes were able to adjust so they could see in the dark. Quietly grunting, the artificial hedgehog put away the flashlight.

Getting curious, the two headed further into the cave beyond the entrance, wondering what secrets they could find and considering the possibility of spending some time making out and getting intimate here together, but they decided to wait until later.

Dim reflections of lights emitted off the cave walls, indicating the possibility that something was here. Rouge wondered if those lights happened to belong to gemstones, leading to Shadow smiling and rolling his eyes. 'Bats and gems.' He thought.

Both bat and hedgehog turned a corner and Rouge put a hand over her mouth, muffling a happy gasp, while a look of surprise crossed Shadow's face. They'd just entered a cavern full of crystals, Rouge's favorite type of jewelry.

Along the walls, on the ceiling and almost everywhere on the floor, jewels and crystals of various shapes lay, sparkling clearly, illuminating the dark. Rouge spotted a cube crystal that lay nearby and picked it up, holding it close to her.

Shadow noticed a crystal-made sculpture of what looked like a girl and examined it, wondering how it almost looked familiar. As he looked at the crystal, a memory from a long time ago flashed into his mind, one of him with Maria on the ARK.

"The stars are so pretty." Maria said, "They're... They're almost like crystals in the night sky and in space. I wish I could hold a space crystal in my hand, but..." A tear fell down her cheek, "I'm confined here."

"I could ask the professor to bring you a crystal."

"Y-You'd do that? Oh, Shadow." Maria hugged the dark hedgehog.

"I can't make a promise, but I will see what I can do for you, Maria."

"Shadow?"

Hearing the voice of his current companion brought Shadow back to the present time and he noticed Rouge watching him with a look of confusion of her face before noticing he was hugging the crystal statue almost reminding him of Maria.

"What?" Shadow shook his head and took the bat's hand, "I-I'm fine, its just..."

"I know, you were thinking of her again."

"Sorry, the crystal looks like a sculpture of Maria."

"It's just a coincidence, I don't think it's intentional that the crystal resembles her."

Rouge hugged Shadow, her hug bringing warmth to the decades old artificial hedgehog as he returned the hug. "So, um?" Shadow asked the bat, "I guess you wanna bring home a gemstone from the cave?"

Kissing him on the cheek, the bat smiled and said, "Shadow, I'd be thrilled to have a cave gemstone." Shadow looked around the area to find a gemstone for Rouge to keep and picked up one shaped like a triangle, deciding on it before handing it over.

The bat accepted it, holding it close and smiling as a small tear of joy trickled down her cheek. She put the gem in hammer space and wrapped her arms around Shadow, pressing her shapely figure against his body and giving him... the look.

Holding back a chuckle, Shadow ran a hand under Rouge's leg and lifted it up before the two melted into a kiss with the hedgehog pressing the bat against the wall as they started to have a make-out in the cave with nobody to interrupt their happiness...