Chapter 2.
And so, Knuckles and Shadow did just that, searched.
They began by warily searching around the cliff sides for any movement, but nay, nothing in sight.
"Must be a sort of. sniper or something?" Shadow tried to guess.
Knuckles sniffed at the air hoping that, since they were downwind, he could pick up a trail of. something. Alas.
"I can't seem to detect anything," he said, frowning. "Neither can I," Shadow growled. "I suppose we'll have to look around." Knuckles grumbled, his exhaustion catching up to him. "Yes, well, let's shall." Shadow began, running to the cliff's edge, and jumping off.
Shadow ran along, bounding about the cliffs slanted features, using them to his advantage, taking to each ledge with a form like that of a gymnast.
Knuckles floated along, observing him in his grace, his mind oddly wandering back to the moment after he'd jumped onto Shadow, moving out of harm's way.
"It was... warm," he thought, shyly.
When Shadow told Knuckles to get off, he felt himself fluster on the outside, but on the inside, Knuckles wasn't all that his gruff appeal suggested. Inside, he felt like lingering for a bit...
Maybe even.
"No, he would never do something like that. would he?" He asked himself, desperately.
Shadow continued to leap along, keeping his peripheral vision on full alert. He didn't want to get snuck up again. He had already been embarrassed by the red ant-eater once today. Not that he was embarrassed in the sense that he was underneath another. dare he say, male. but that, the way Knuckle hovered over him was a little uncomfortable, as Knuckles proved to be quite the heavy fellow.
But still.
Shadow gazed up at him and feigned disapproval. He then chuckled to himself.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested. because that red fellow is one of the most interesting beings I've made a five-minute acquaintance with." He admitted, though no one heard him.
No one of course, except Knuckles himself. He looked down, after one of his five keen senses had detected Shadow's statement, and looked back up with a scowl.
"What's that supposed to mea. whoa!" He exclaimed, dropping out of his floating form. Shadow noted his drop in altitude and jump onto a pillar near him.
"What's up?" He called. "I think I've found the assailant," he said, motioning forward.
And he had. before them, a G.U.N.-type unit was floating ominously before them. This was one looked different from the one Shadow faced, and Knuckles had never really witnessed such a model at all.
Shadow sneered and gnashed his teeth. "This is it? This is what we wasted our time looking for?"
The G.U.N.' auto-response mechanism activated and a voice crackled through a haggard speaker that was attached: "Prepare to be destroyed, hedgehog."
Shadow couldn't help but laugh. "HA! What a waste of parts!" he cried, clutching his sides, his dry and flat laughter causing Knuckles' brow to raise. But he smiled and chuckled lowly as well.
Shadow sighed and stood up, sniffing a bit, then he straightened and looked serious again. "Alright, let's get this over with."
Knuckles stood and observed silently, waiting to watch the first move.
Shadow ran toward the edge of the cliff and leapt off, heading straight towards the machine, and he performed a somersault in mid-air, shooting forward at an incredible rate, and his body bashed into the metal surface, denting it heavily.
Shadow bounced off, and rotated in mid-air, he then kicked his leg forward and shot his body at the Model again, bashing the same spot.
Shadow repeated this several times and jumped onto the same platform Knuckles was on. He landed on one knee and kneeled down for a second, then stood and turned to look at his work.
Sure enough, the machine smoked and created random malfunctioning sounds and began to tilt to one side, dropping slowly; then faster, faster, until.
"Ka-boom," Shadow whispered, watching it explode into shrapnel and wires and fall into the abyss that lay below them.
Shadow stood silently, a weak breeze drifting by and flowing through his quills, not really disturbing them, but shifting them all the same.
From behind Shadow, there came a one-person applause. Knuckles clapped his hands together slowly. Shadow turned on his heel and looked to Knuckles, sneering coyly.
"I'm impressed." Knuckles admitted, ceasing his claps. "Ah, I was just playing around, after all," Shadow replied, rubbing the back of his head, covering his show-off way of dealing with the recent "threat."
Knuckles released a small chortle, "Ch... whatever you say." "So. good work?" He noted, chuckling nervously.
Shadow hummed, "I suppose so."
Knuckles sighed and snorted lowly, now wanting to tease him about it., "No, I really mean it." He mused, grinning.
Shadow gave him a blank stare, "Ok, ok, easy. so it was nothing special, but you have to admit, it was all about the way I pulled it off," he ended in a half-stretch, half-pose, hinting at Knuckles' tease.
Knuckles burst out in laughter and hunched over, lost in a fit of giggles.
Shadows snorted now, and then gazed around, letting Knuckles relax from his fit.
Knuckles stood after a brief moment and stared at him, "I guess I should thank you," he sighed.
Shadow gave an awkward smile, "for what?"
"I haven't laughed like that in some time. in fact; I don't think I ever have laughed really." he said, smirking.
"Then. I guess. you're welcome." Shadow worded out, looking blankly at him.
Knuckles grinned at him, and gave one final sigh, "you know. I think I like you, Shadow."
Shadow gave a small laugh, "Well, thank you, Red."
Knuckles looked at him, and remembered that he had never told him who he was, "Oh, I'm Knuckles, by the way."
"Knuckles then," Shadow grinned.
"Yes." Red said back.
"So. I guess after all this work, I'm not really all that tired," Shadow said, giving a light yawn and crossing his arms.
"Yeah, plus, I should be leaving anyway." Knuckles said, hesitantly.
"Yeah."
There was a moment of silence and the two looked from each other to the surroundings, and back to each other.
"Hey, Shadow?"
"Yeah?" Shadow said, tilting his head.
Knuckles advanced on him and put his hand on Shadow's shoulder, and pressed his mouth to Shadow's holding it there for quite some time. Shadow blinked, and became wide-eyed, and dropped his arms, balling them into fists, then relaxing them, and shutting his eyes.
Knuckles gave a small lick at Shadow's lips, and Shadow obeyed silently, inviting Knuckles' tongue in.
They stood in the moment, Shadow giving off several small groans of either pleasure or disapproval, either way, Knuckles didn't care.
Knuckles finally pulled away, leaving a very hot and red-faced Shadow.
"I guess I'll see you around." Knuckles said, trying to force a laugh.
"Yeah." was all Shadow said, giving a small grunt.
Knuckles grinned one final time, and jumped off, floating along to an abandoned mine shaft full of water, where he was sensing more emeralds.
Shadow watched him float off, and licked his gums, giving a small shudder.
"Yeah." he echoed one final time, himself needing to get back to the ARK.
He nodded and turned, kicking off and heading back the way he came.
Finished. God damn, I feel dirty.
And so, Knuckles and Shadow did just that, searched.
They began by warily searching around the cliff sides for any movement, but nay, nothing in sight.
"Must be a sort of. sniper or something?" Shadow tried to guess.
Knuckles sniffed at the air hoping that, since they were downwind, he could pick up a trail of. something. Alas.
"I can't seem to detect anything," he said, frowning. "Neither can I," Shadow growled. "I suppose we'll have to look around." Knuckles grumbled, his exhaustion catching up to him. "Yes, well, let's shall." Shadow began, running to the cliff's edge, and jumping off.
Shadow ran along, bounding about the cliffs slanted features, using them to his advantage, taking to each ledge with a form like that of a gymnast.
Knuckles floated along, observing him in his grace, his mind oddly wandering back to the moment after he'd jumped onto Shadow, moving out of harm's way.
"It was... warm," he thought, shyly.
When Shadow told Knuckles to get off, he felt himself fluster on the outside, but on the inside, Knuckles wasn't all that his gruff appeal suggested. Inside, he felt like lingering for a bit...
Maybe even.
"No, he would never do something like that. would he?" He asked himself, desperately.
Shadow continued to leap along, keeping his peripheral vision on full alert. He didn't want to get snuck up again. He had already been embarrassed by the red ant-eater once today. Not that he was embarrassed in the sense that he was underneath another. dare he say, male. but that, the way Knuckle hovered over him was a little uncomfortable, as Knuckles proved to be quite the heavy fellow.
But still.
Shadow gazed up at him and feigned disapproval. He then chuckled to himself.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested. because that red fellow is one of the most interesting beings I've made a five-minute acquaintance with." He admitted, though no one heard him.
No one of course, except Knuckles himself. He looked down, after one of his five keen senses had detected Shadow's statement, and looked back up with a scowl.
"What's that supposed to mea. whoa!" He exclaimed, dropping out of his floating form. Shadow noted his drop in altitude and jump onto a pillar near him.
"What's up?" He called. "I think I've found the assailant," he said, motioning forward.
And he had. before them, a G.U.N.-type unit was floating ominously before them. This was one looked different from the one Shadow faced, and Knuckles had never really witnessed such a model at all.
Shadow sneered and gnashed his teeth. "This is it? This is what we wasted our time looking for?"
The G.U.N.' auto-response mechanism activated and a voice crackled through a haggard speaker that was attached: "Prepare to be destroyed, hedgehog."
Shadow couldn't help but laugh. "HA! What a waste of parts!" he cried, clutching his sides, his dry and flat laughter causing Knuckles' brow to raise. But he smiled and chuckled lowly as well.
Shadow sighed and stood up, sniffing a bit, then he straightened and looked serious again. "Alright, let's get this over with."
Knuckles stood and observed silently, waiting to watch the first move.
Shadow ran toward the edge of the cliff and leapt off, heading straight towards the machine, and he performed a somersault in mid-air, shooting forward at an incredible rate, and his body bashed into the metal surface, denting it heavily.
Shadow bounced off, and rotated in mid-air, he then kicked his leg forward and shot his body at the Model again, bashing the same spot.
Shadow repeated this several times and jumped onto the same platform Knuckles was on. He landed on one knee and kneeled down for a second, then stood and turned to look at his work.
Sure enough, the machine smoked and created random malfunctioning sounds and began to tilt to one side, dropping slowly; then faster, faster, until.
"Ka-boom," Shadow whispered, watching it explode into shrapnel and wires and fall into the abyss that lay below them.
Shadow stood silently, a weak breeze drifting by and flowing through his quills, not really disturbing them, but shifting them all the same.
From behind Shadow, there came a one-person applause. Knuckles clapped his hands together slowly. Shadow turned on his heel and looked to Knuckles, sneering coyly.
"I'm impressed." Knuckles admitted, ceasing his claps. "Ah, I was just playing around, after all," Shadow replied, rubbing the back of his head, covering his show-off way of dealing with the recent "threat."
Knuckles released a small chortle, "Ch... whatever you say." "So. good work?" He noted, chuckling nervously.
Shadow hummed, "I suppose so."
Knuckles sighed and snorted lowly, now wanting to tease him about it., "No, I really mean it." He mused, grinning.
Shadow gave him a blank stare, "Ok, ok, easy. so it was nothing special, but you have to admit, it was all about the way I pulled it off," he ended in a half-stretch, half-pose, hinting at Knuckles' tease.
Knuckles burst out in laughter and hunched over, lost in a fit of giggles.
Shadows snorted now, and then gazed around, letting Knuckles relax from his fit.
Knuckles stood after a brief moment and stared at him, "I guess I should thank you," he sighed.
Shadow gave an awkward smile, "for what?"
"I haven't laughed like that in some time. in fact; I don't think I ever have laughed really." he said, smirking.
"Then. I guess. you're welcome." Shadow worded out, looking blankly at him.
Knuckles grinned at him, and gave one final sigh, "you know. I think I like you, Shadow."
Shadow gave a small laugh, "Well, thank you, Red."
Knuckles looked at him, and remembered that he had never told him who he was, "Oh, I'm Knuckles, by the way."
"Knuckles then," Shadow grinned.
"Yes." Red said back.
"So. I guess after all this work, I'm not really all that tired," Shadow said, giving a light yawn and crossing his arms.
"Yeah, plus, I should be leaving anyway." Knuckles said, hesitantly.
"Yeah."
There was a moment of silence and the two looked from each other to the surroundings, and back to each other.
"Hey, Shadow?"
"Yeah?" Shadow said, tilting his head.
Knuckles advanced on him and put his hand on Shadow's shoulder, and pressed his mouth to Shadow's holding it there for quite some time. Shadow blinked, and became wide-eyed, and dropped his arms, balling them into fists, then relaxing them, and shutting his eyes.
Knuckles gave a small lick at Shadow's lips, and Shadow obeyed silently, inviting Knuckles' tongue in.
They stood in the moment, Shadow giving off several small groans of either pleasure or disapproval, either way, Knuckles didn't care.
Knuckles finally pulled away, leaving a very hot and red-faced Shadow.
"I guess I'll see you around." Knuckles said, trying to force a laugh.
"Yeah." was all Shadow said, giving a small grunt.
Knuckles grinned one final time, and jumped off, floating along to an abandoned mine shaft full of water, where he was sensing more emeralds.
Shadow watched him float off, and licked his gums, giving a small shudder.
"Yeah." he echoed one final time, himself needing to get back to the ARK.
He nodded and turned, kicking off and heading back the way he came.
Finished. God damn, I feel dirty.