AN: Thank you CrimsonDestroyer, MissMJS, Nebula the Hedgehog, aliciathewolf45, Captain, MysterySecret, and Sunny for the reviews you left on my first chapter. Appresh!
•~•
After having some fun upstairs, Shadow and Amy finished the night watching TV in the living room. Already undressed and in her PJ's, Amy cuddled up next to Shadow while they watched their program in silence. Shadow kept one arm over the back of the couch and behind her as she snuggled in closer, but when a commercial came on, Shadow turned his head, finding the right opportunity to reveal some exciting news. "I might as well break this to you before they get back, but, Silver is proposing to Blaze tonight."
Amy's eyes beamed at the exciting news. "Really? Oh my gosh, that's wonderful!"
He smiled at her reaction. "I'm just as elated as you are. Blaze is a perfect mate for my brother."
"Watching the two of them is everything I've ever dreamed of when I think of true love." She cupped her hands together and sighed happily. "Gosh, I can't wait to get married myself one day," Amy fantasized.
"When the time is right it'll happen," Shadow hinted with a coy wink, causing Amy to smile and giggle.
A knock on their door drew their attention away and both of them looked back towards the front door. "I'll get it." Shadow stood up and muted the TV as he wandered over to the front door.
Amy stayed behind on the couch while she watched him open the door. The two were surprised to see Caleb standing on the other side. Amy smiled at his sight. "Caleb, what brings you here?"
Unfortunately, Caleb didn't seem to be as in high spirits as Amy was. Instead, he appeared quite crestfallen. "It's nothing good, I'll tell you that."
Shadow opened the door wider, inviting him inside. "Please, come in," he gestured. Obliging, the dingo entered the home and Shadow shut the door behind him. "What's going on?" he asked as they headed for the living room together.
"Ever since I returned the moonlight rings, there has been division amongst the pack."
They sat down on the couch together. "Over what exactly?" Shadow probed.
Caleb rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. "Let's just say, that not everyone was on board with the idea of giving up the rings," he began.
"So, what's going on now—a revolt?" Shadow surmised.
Caleb nodded his head. "Because of the division, a large chunk of my pack has abandoned me to align themselves with a witch rumored to make moonlight rings."
Shadow scoffed at the fantasy notion. "Well, they're not going to have much luck. The only person who knew how to make them was Rouge and she's dead now. Besides, the page from my mother's grimoire with the instructions on how to craft them was destroyed."
"That's just the thing… I've had a couple of my guy's spy on the pack members that left. It sounds like there is a witch who has promised she can make moonlight rings," Caleb explained.
Shadow's eyes widened in alert by the thought, perhaps he'd have to investigate this incident out, just to be on the safe side. "What's her name?"
"It's Aurora," he answered. "She's just a teenager, but a talented witch based on my sources."
"I see," he replied with intrigue. "And the traitors, anyone I know in particular?"
"Andrew was one of those that really initiated a drive into revolting. He wasn't happy when I gave up the moonlight rings," Caleb answered.
"Do you know where his location is? I want to have a word with him."
Caleb bobbed his head up and down. "Yes, I know where he and the rest are staying."
"Great." Shadow looked over to Amy. "I'll be back later, just stay here and watch over Faith."
Amy stood up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Just be careful, Shadow."
"I will," he smiled.
•~•
Meanwhile, in the city, Silver and Blaze walked hand in hand down the sidewalk after enjoying a wonderful evening together. Blaze glanced down at her left hand, adoring the ring around her ring finger. Silver had a keen eye for the type of jewelry she liked, and the ring represented her perfectly. "You like it then?" he asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Her eyes met his. "Yes, it's absolutely perfect. I had no idea you were going to spring this on me—I mean, I've felt ready for some time now, but I just didn't expect it to happen tonight."
He chuckled softly. "That was the point. I figured it'd be too obvious to do it on our anniversary."
"You've always been quite cunning," she commended.
"So…" he began. "What's on your mind right now?" he asked as they continued walking.
Her eyes fell to the sidewalk momentarily as she mulled over the question. "Well…with helping take care of Faith, it's really made me think about having a baby of our own."
Silver's smile faded and the two came to a sudden halt. It was then that Blaze could see the shift in Silver's mood, turning from optimistic and joyous to concern and doubt. "Blaze, you know if I could, I'd love nothing more than to conceive a child with you," he said holding both her hands in his. "After all, you're the love of my life, and bringing a child into our world would be amazing if I could grant you that."
Blaze's smile faltered and her eyes fell to the sidewalk below them. "Yes, I realize that, but I'm sure we could always adopt?" Blaze proposed.
His smile returned but stayed weak. "When it's the right time, we'll discuss it." He leaned in and closed the gap between them. Blaze closed her eyes and relished in the kiss, but before it could get too passionate, a male scream erupted from one of the nearby alleyways. Startled by this, the couple broke apart.
"That doesn't sound good…" Blaze spoke, looking around.
"Someone's in trouble," he grabbed her hand, pulling her along with him. "Come on!" The two followed the noise and came to an alleyway where they saw an older black and silver hedgehog devouring a male porcupine next to an already deceased female on the ground. Silver and Blaze stayed back as they watched the older male hedgehog toss the body to the side after he was finished feeding.
Surprisingly though, the porcupine wasn't dead, but instead gravely injured and weak. "That all you got, man?" the porcupine grumbled, trying to get to his feet.
"Not quite, dear boy." Suddenly, he stabbed a wooden stake into his chest.
Silver was about to intervene but felt his whole world freeze when he saw the face of the attacker in the moonlight. Standing over the now deceased body of the dead vampire was none other than his father, Coal, an Original just like himself that hunted his very own kind: vampires. Questions resonated in his head. How was this possible, how was his father among the living once again?
His amber eyes fell to an item tucked in the back of his pants—the very weapon that could kill them, a white oak stake, the only weapon in existence that could kill an Original.
Blaze began to open her mouth to say something, but Silver quickly grabbed her before she could utter a word and sped them out of there. Coal turned his head after hearing a whoosh but saw no one in sight. His eye's narrowed suspiciously before he made his departure out of the ally in search for his true targets.
•~•
After getting them a safe distance away, Silver released his hold on Blaze allowing her to walk on her own. They were now on another street, far enough away from the vampire hunter where they could talk in peace. Blaze shot Silver an incredulous look by his move and watched him look around their surroundings, appearing quite paranoid. "What was that back there? We could have helped that guy."
Silver kept looking over his shoulder, terrified that his father would appear any second. "You don't understand. That wasn't just any vampire, that was…my father."
She blinked a few times, taken aback as she processed what he said. "Wait, your father? But isn't he-"
"—Dead?" he answered, finishing her thought. "He's supposed to be."
"I-I don't understand," Blaze murmured. "How is this possible?"
"I'm not sure, but we need to get back home and tell Shadow."
•~•
Out in the Mystic Ruins, Shadow and Caleb walked down an old abandoned campsite searching for Andrew and the others that had betrayed the pack. Eventually, after some time, they found the bunch huddled around a campfire eating dinner. Caleb and Shadow stayed hidden behind the trees and bushes as they watched the group of wolves. "There they are," Caleb spoke quietly. "I gotta warn yah, they may be a little standoffish."
Shadow narrowed his eyes on Andrew as he watched him stand up from his seat and walk off. "As they should be," he said quietly before storming through the shrubbery out into the open. Caleb quickly followed behind him, just as the rest of the wolves stood up and looked in their direction after hearing his approach.
The group of wolves backed up but stood in defense notifying their new leader that something was wrong. Once he spotted the two intruders, Andrew's expression turned into a scowl. "The hell you two want?"
Shadow held his stoic expression as he calmly walked towards the group. "Hold your tongue or I'll tear it from your gaping mouth."
A little bit behind Shadow, Caleb put his hands up, showing no harm. "We didn't come here to fight, Andrew. We just came to talk."
Andrew crossed his arms over his chest as he stared hard at his old leader with scrutiny. "Go on then, talk."
Caleb lowered his arms. "Our pack has been divided by people that want us to be their slaves. What we need right now is a leader. We need to reunite and become strong again," he pleaded with sincerity.
Andrew scoffed. "Why should we let you be the leader again? You don't know what's best for us," he pointed accusingly. "This is just another reason to say yes to Aurora and her moonlight rings." Caleb looked dumbfounded at his old friend, only causing Andrew to chuckle. "Yeah, that's right, they," he said gesturing to the other wolves behind him, "Would rather follow a witch than you—and I'd rather die than follow you."
Feeling that he had heard enough, Shadow intervened and sent the disrespectful dog onto his back with a powerful punch to the face. Andrew slammed hard into the ground and grunted. Just as he tried to sit up, Shadow's foot pressed firmly onto his chest, keeping him held down. "Well, at least you didn't drag this out."
"Hey, wait a second—let him go, Shadow!" Caleb begged. This was not how he intended this to go.
Shadow ignored his wishes and kept his foot on top of the traitorous hound. "You need to learn about the art of politics, Caleb. You gain support by killing your detractors," he foreshadowed with an evil glint in his eye.
"They may not like me very much, but these people, including Andrew, are my family," he reasoned before his eyes hardened. "Now, let him go now," he demanded sternly.
Shadow smirked, impressed by the courage and determination he emanated. He looked past Caleb among the other werewolves looking on anxiously at what Shadow's next move would be. Seeing that he gained what he wanted out of them, he chuckled. "You see?" he said gesturing to Caleb, "There's your leader—powerful, fearless, and unlike me, merciful," he finished before lifting his foot off of the dog. Andrew gasped a breath of fresh air and sat up, glowering at the hybrid with disdain.
"Thank you," Caleb nodded.
"These people need to show you more respect, my friend. How you handle them now is up to you." Shadow began to walk off, leaving the dingo baffled by his exit.
"Wait, where are you going now?"
He stopped momentarily to look back at him. "I'm going to find this witch. It seems I need to educate her as to what she may or may not do in my city."
•~•
Like promised, Shadow entered the witches' cemetery in search for Aurora. As he walked around, there was not a soul in sight, but just because Shadow could not hear or see them, didn't mean that he was alone. His eyes searched the foggy cemetery grounds before he stopped in the dead center. The ebony hedgehog crossed his arms over his chest, sensing he was not alone in that moment. "Where is this witch who dares craft moonlight rings without my permission?" he asked loudly to silence.
As if on cue, a group of witches came from around the mausoleums and encircled the hybrid. Shadow eyed them all, as they stared him down with glares of disgust. "The party finally arrived, I see," he noted.
"—Shadow," a young feminine voice spoke from behind the crowd. Shadow's eyes darted among the many faces but were unable to detect the one who had spoken. Suddenly, the crowd split into two halves, allowing a gap where a beautiful, light pink, female echidna stepped out to face the hybrid. "I've been expecting you," she spoke softly.
Shadow blinked a few times as he registered her appearance in his mind. Even though he had never seen her before, it struck him as odd as the young girl stood there looking rather confident. There was something oddly haunting as he examined her, as she seemed familiar in a strange sense. "Who are you exactly?"
She placed a hand on her chest. "My name is Aurora," she introduced kindly. "And I know we have much to discuss, Shadow." Her hand gestured to her left where an opened mausoleum was. "Why don't you join me inside and we can talk more in there," she insisted.
"Fair enough," he spoke before he walked past her and entered the building.
The pink echidna looked to a group of male witches that began to follow the ebony hedgehog inside, but she placed a hand up, signaling for them to stop. "It's alright, I can handle this on my own." With her command, the witches backed off and scattered in different directions in the cemetery.
As Aurora entered the building, she spotted Shadow already making himself at home as he waited at the table she had set up for their meeting. Shadow was busy taking in his surroundings, looking at the numerous lit candles inside, and swiping his finger across the dusty table surface in scrutiny. Aurora walked over to her kettle on one of the ledges, picked it up, and began to pour two cups of tea. "I want to begin and offer my condolences for my coven," she began.
He rubbed at the dust between his index finger and thumb. "You mean for trying to sacrifice my daughter?" Shadow surmised dryly as he intently watched her.
"Yes," she nodded. "Although I understand their reasoning, I could never condone such behavior." The echidna finished pouring out their tea and placed the kettle back down. "…I lost a child myself once, too," she recollected.
Shadow looked her up and down skeptically. "Aren't you a bit young to be having children? What are you, about sixteen?" he guessed.
She gave out a subtle chuckle. "Oh, there's much more you'll learn about me tonight."
He leaned back in his chair nonchalantly. "If you cared so much, then why didn't you try to stop them?" he questioned.
She brought over the two cups of tea and laid one out in front of him before taking a seat across the table. "Opposing your coven is a risky move, Shadow. I could have easily been shunned by them, with even more unpleasant punishments later in store for me," she explained. "If there was any way I could have helped to stop it, I would have. Violence to children is not in my teaching."
He stared at the cup and saucer laid out in front of him. "So, is this tea your idea of a peace offering, then?"
"Chamomile has lots of healing properties," she replied taking a sip of her own. "Did you know that it's also a flowering plant?"
"I did," he responded with disinterest. "The plants grew wild near my home when I was a boy, but neither the tea nor your botanical musings explain the reason why you've taken it upon yourself to forge new moonlight rings."
"I assumed it was obvious." Shadow tilted his head, lost on her assumption, forcing her to continue her explanation. "An alliance between the wolves and witches would restore balance to our home."
"Well, that's a lofty goal for a teenage girl," he tsked.
Despite his moody behaviors, she continued to uphold her cheerful nature. She wasn't about to let his brooding bring her down. "You do realize that long ago, the witches and the wolves were at peace," she reminded.
"Of course I'm aware of that," he scoffed at her subtle condescending tone.
"Obviously, you remember the time of the vampires…a plague made flesh—A curse on this earth," she described with a bit of contempt in her tone. Her expression grew disappointed. "Your kind has no humanity and you punish those who do."
"And how exactly are we any different from your kind or the werewolves?" he challenged, slightly offended by her description and apparent bias.
"Simple," she spoke. "Witches have covens and wolves have packs, making us a constant reminder of everything you have forsaken," she pointed. "Creatures such as yourself will always hate the living, and so we will always have to defend ourselves."
He raised a brow, somewhat seeing her point. "You are quite perceptive for your age," Shadow noted. "But I can't help but notice your disdain for my kind…Not all of us are that bad."
"You must understand that the rings for us level the playing field. If we are united nothing can stand against us, including vampires."
"It's an ambitious strategy," he observed as he leaned forward, leaning his arms over the table. "But allow me to offer a few words of advice, if I may be so bold…"
She took another long sip of her tea before placing it down on the table. "Very well, let's hear it."
His expression turned very serious. "This town is a vicious place and your enemies are everywhere, like behind your back, and before your very eyes. You will need to remain vigilant against those who would seek to destroy you. Some of whom you may never see coming," he advised.
"I've already begun to take precautions, Shadow. In fact, I'm taking them as we speak."
Shadow took a sip of his tea, making a wry face before coming to another thought. He lowered his cup back onto its saucer and pushed it away in disgust. "You know…Chamomile is the same tea my mother use to make. Oh, how I loathed it."
She tilted her head and gave him a sweet smile. "Would you have preferred mint?"
"No," he replied. "But back to the topic of my mother—Did I mention she was insane?"
"No you did not," she paused. "Was she really crazy?" she asked with feigned ignorance.
He smirked in reminiscence. "Yes, it's true. She believed we were abominations. 'A curse on this planet stretched out over generations,' was how she put it. It's just a shame she didn't realize she was the true monster. She changed her children, stole our innocence, made us vampires, and condemned us to an eternity of blood lust. And then…acted if it were us to blame."
Aurora was finding it quite difficult to remain placid after Shadow's tirade, but luckily, she refrained from showing her true scorn. "She sounds just awful, but are you building up to a question, Shadow?"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why do you look and talk to me as is if we are familiars—I find it insulting. A witch once revealed that your coven was under my mother's influence. Does she speak to you now?" he interrogated.
"She doesn't have to," she answered simply. Shadow's face grimaced in response. "Because I know exactly what she would say in this moment."
"And what's that?" he probed.
Her feigned smile suddenly dropped into a frown. "She would tell you to go to your room for being so rude and disrespectful," she replied venomously.
Out of anger and shock, Shadow abruptly rose from his seat, slamming his hands on the table and inching closer so he was face to face. Surprisingly, Aurora did not flinch as Shadow stared her in the eye, practically searching her soul as he tried to intimidate her. But as he looked at her, something troubled him by what he saw. Aurora smirked proudly by his findings. "H-how?" he stuttered.
Aurora only smiled triumphantly as she stood from her seat. The look of confusion on Shadow's face was enjoyable to watch on her end. "I believe this is the end of our meeting, Shadow," she spoke, breaking his daze.
Shadow's eyes followed her form as she retreated without any urgency out of the mausoleum. "But—wait, I have more questions!"
She ignored his pleas. "—Goodnight, Shadow. I'm sure we will speak again," she said before completely vanishing into the fog.
•~•
After returning home, Shadow and Silver met in the wine cellar to catch up on their day in private. "It's worse than we thought," Shadow began. "I met the witch, Aurora. While I studied her, her presence, and the way she carried herself—heard the fervor with which she voiced her hatred of our kind, that's when I realized…"
"What?"
Shadow grabbed him by the shoulders. "I looked into that girl's eyes and I swear to you, Silver… she is not just guided by our mother, she is our mother!"
Silver blinked in surprise, suddenly growing sick by the thought as his brother released his hold. "What is happening out there?"
"I don't know, but I'm going to kill her." His fists clenched in displeasure. "I will boil her bones and feed them to the dogs if that's what it takes."
Silver's ears lowered slightly knowing Shadow was not going to like hearing the news he had to share. "Shadow there's something else you need to know…"
"—What? What could possibly be more important than the return of our mother?"
"How about the return of our father?" Silver countered. The color in Shadow's face practically drained by the mention and he felt lightheaded. "I saw him standing there in the flesh. What's worse is, he holds a white oak stake."
Shadow backed up slightly, resting his back on one of the stone walls. "…Just when I thought things couldn't get any possibly worse."
"I know, I froze when I saw him, he was killing another vampire at the time. I-I was with Blaze and I didn't want her to get hurt, so I ran," he admitted in shame.
Shadow placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't feel shame or weakness. Our father is strong, relentless, and a psychopath at best. You did the right thing," he assured.
"So, what now then?" Silver probed.
"There's only one question we need to ask, isn't there?"
Silver tilted his head curiously. "And what's that?"
"Which of our parents shall we kill first?"
•~•
Now that Shadow and Silver realize their parents are back, what do you think will happen?
Also, what's the deal with Andrew being a Judus and ditching his old pack? What a dickhead.
Remember to leave me a review!