Being Free

Written and other such like stuff by Airo Smicktor

I don't own Sonic, Shadow and such like stuff.

Chapter 5 - Dawn

"Morning - The first or early part of the day, lasting from midnight to noon or from sunrise to noon."

Shadow awoke up, blinking slightly to become used to the surroundings he had spent the night in. Despite arguing that since he'd spent the past few nights sleeping in open air on grass, so sleeping on a couch wouldn't be a problem, he had been persuaded or some sense or the other to sleep in Miles' room. Shadow eventually agreed to this, since he didn't want to start his new friendships off on a bad start. Shadow got up and moved to the window in the room, and opened the curtains. He gazed out into the glorious view of the ocean, sparkling with the bright sunshine from above. It somehow made Shadow feel... good inside, but he wasn't sure how or why, like many feelings he had recently. That would be for him to discover though.

Shadow made his way downstairs, to the dining area of the house. Before he had even gotten halfway down the stairs, he was caught with the strong aroma of some sort. Shadow stood, as he tried to identify it. It smelled like...

"Hey Shadow! You're awake now huh?" It was Sonic, who was just walking back into the house. "Tails insisted you have a good rest, since you had such a wild day yesterday"
"You didn't really need to..."
"Naw, don't think about it man! Breakfast should be ready soon; I was just out on my morning run. I need to work up an appetite!"

Shadow and Sonic both went through to the dining room, where Cream, Cheese and Tails were sitting down at the table.
"Good Morning Mr. Shadow, did you have a good night?" asked the young rabbit, who's pet Chao was sitting on the table, next to her.
"Why, it was fine, thank you" Shadow was still not used enough to friendship enough to fully understand what he would have usually regarded as pointless questions, but Shadow assumed that it played a part in it.
"How was yours?"
"It was nice, wasn't it Cheese?"
"Chao chao!" came the reply of the rabbit's pet. The smiles on both of their faces told Shadow, subconsciously, that he was getting the hang of friendship.
"Hey Tails, where's Amy?" Sonic asked as he and Shadow sat down.
"Well, who do you think is cooking breakfast right now?"

Sonic took a double take as he thought about what Tails had just said, and looked to Shadow with a look of mixed fear and disgust. By just looking at his face, Shadow could tell that Sonic currently feared for his very life.

"Don't you worry my darling Sonic! I've cooked a special breakfast for our two favourite hedgehogs!"
"Why do I have to be number one..." Sonic had no problems making his feelings about Amy known.
"At least you're not a number two." Replied Shadow, which created a small laugh from Sonic.
"Man, where did that joke come from? I didn't know you had it in you!"
"Yes, I've been made aware of realise this..."
"Breakfast is served everyone!"

Sonic's jolly mood suddenly disappeared, when confronted by a worryingly large stack of pancakes with butter on top. Tails and Cream, who along with Amy had normal portions, could hardly see Sonic from the tower of breakfast in front of him. Shadow had a bit more that the others, but way less than Sonic.

"Come on Sonic! Don't you feel hungry? I know you love to make some room by having your early run in the morning!" Amy didn't even notice that Sonic was slowly sinking into his own seat, staring at this mountain of breakfast created by his self-proclaimed girlfriend.

Shadow on the other hand, had eaten very little in the past few days, so had no problems tucking into his portion.
"See Sonic? Shadow appreciates my cooking!"
"Umm... Amy... I think the problem is that Sonic can't see..."
"HUH? What'd ya say Tails?"
"Ummm... err... I mean..." Tails was in deep now, and sort of wished that he were behind the tower of pancakes.

"I think what Miles means Amy, is that Sonic is... taken aback by your generosity." Shadow was thinking fast here, and the look of accomplishment on Amy's face indicated that Amy had fallen for it.
"A-HA! I knew you would Sonic! No-one can resist my famous cooking skills!"

Shadow doubted the 'famous' part of her statement, but couldn't deny that he was having on the finest breakfasts he'd ever had. Shadow swallowed down another mouthful, and looked over at Sonic, only to see an empty chair.
"Excuse me Amy, but did Sonic order a breakfast to go?"
"No. Why?"
"Well there's his breakfast," Shadow then pointed to the open door to the outside, "And there he goes..."

"WHAT? No-body leaves the table without finishing their food! GET BACK HERE SONIC!" Amy was already halfway out the door before she had even spoken, leaving behind a rather worried Cream, Tails and Shadow. Cheese, however, was too busy eating into a slice of toast to notice what was going on.

After the three had finished their breakfast, they decided that it was better not to wait around for Amy and Sonic to return. Tails knew from past experience that at the earliest, Amy wouldn't be back by nightfall, Sonic might not return for days. So, to keep them busy, Tails offered to take Cream and Cheese on a tour of the air in his plane; Cream had been a little nervous, since she'd never been on a flight before, but after some reassuring from Shadow, she had accepted. Shadow thought that a look around the area wouldn't hurt either, but he'd take it all in at ground level. Shadow found it slightly awkward agreeing to not stay outside for a long time, since he was still presumed dead. Some people might freak out upon seeing a dead hedgehog running around.

"You promise you'll be extra careful Shadow?"
"I've told you Miles, I'll be very, very, VERY, careful! Now do YOU promise to take care of Cream and Cheese?"
"Of course I will! I'm always a responsible pilot!"
"Have a nice time Mr. Shadow."
"You too Cream, you as well Cheese."
"Chao-cha-o!"

Shadow stood back as he watch the plane start up, make it's way up the runway, and then take off into the sky. He watched it for a while longer, before taking out the map Miles had given him, so he didn't get lost. Shadow scanned the places that were nearby: Windy Valley, Red Mountain, and the thick jungle section of the Mystic Ruins were all possibilities, but they didn't seem to have anything to interest him. They were some other areas that were marked out, but they involved travelling through the city to reach them. Shadow was beginning to think that his tour would have to be cut short, when he spotted something on the map. It looked to be somewhere in the middle of a sea, called Ocean Palace, and it looked like a challenge just to reach it, let alone explore it. A challenge, just what Shadow was looking for. Without much of a second thought, he raced off in its direction, leaving behind a cloud of dust as he took off.

Silently, Rouge approached the home of Miles 'Tails' Prower. His house was not the hardest of places to reach, or in fact find. You practically just had to turn and look after stepping off the train to see it. But that would be too obvious, so Rouge had taken a stealthier, and only slightly longer approach to it. A quick flight up the rock face, followed by an athletic cartwheel and slide, and Rouge was at the side of the house. Carefully, Rouge put an ear to the wall and listened. Nothing. Rouge still took no chances as she edged along the house wall, until she came to a window. Taking out a small make-up mirror out her pocket, she held it below the windowsill as a custom periscope to view inside. It was empty, aside from a rather large stack of pancakes on a plate. It was midday now, so there must have been some rush out. Perhaps they had moved the ARK item out quickly?

Rouge opened the door slightly, throwing caution to the wind as she stepped into a sort of sitting room area. Quickly she scanned the room for any signs of the item or what the item might be. Some arranged seats in sort of circle, which showed signs of a discussion, an assortment of newspapers, all concerning the ARK incident, and a video camera.
'First they leave the house unlocked, and then they leave an expensive piece of equipment out in the open for any two-bit thief to take? You've got a lot to learn young fox...' Rouge thought as she moved towards the camera, and examined it. She pushed open the eject button, and pulled out the videotape. It had a hand-written label on it: 'The Surprise!'

Rouge couldn't believe her luck!
"You actually filmed it? I wish every mission were this easy to finish off! But don't you worry kid, I only want a copy for my spy friends... and myself..."

Shadow had made it through to the Ocean Palace. It hadn't taken as long as he expected, even though he had to get there via Seaside Hill, but it was deserted except for a few hermit crabs. Shadow was impressed by what he saw, for as it's name suggested, it was a large palace built on the sea. It was vast, and looked to be filled with passages and other secrets. He'd wasted little time in setting off to discover more about this place, and already reasoned he had been about halfway through it...
The copying of the videotape was quick and easy, Rouge had quickly flown to her place and back again without any fuss at all. She even took the time to place the original tape back in the recorder.
"Now that's over with, let's go and see what surprise you have in store!" She said, holding up her copy of the tape. Without a doubt in her mind, she wouldn't need the latest Hollywood blockbuster to be in for an interesting night's viewing...
It was all too easy. Shadow had expected slightly more of a challenge that what he had received. Only the occasional crumbling pillar had posed any real threat to him, but he was, of course, far too fast to be caught out by it. It had proved to test his skills very little, and was much like the 'assault course' he had run at Emerald Hill. Even now, he could tell that he was near the central temple already, and it wouldn't take long at all to reach it. He looked up from the small patch of grass he was standing on, and saw that to continue, he would have to use a spring to jump up to the path. It looked simple enough... almost too simple... For an ancient temple, he had had a very eventless journey. Shadow could smell a trap; he could sense it in the air. These pillars and stones were hiding something, and Shadow was sure he'd find out at the last minute.

Shadow jumped onto the spring and was instantly catapulted up high into the air. Shadow looked below and saw he was heading down to the path he was aiming for, but he also saw a strange looking rock. It had ancient markings on it, as well as some strange form of blades on them. Shadow landed down on the path, looked behind him, and saw the rock begin to shudder. Shadow instantly ran forwards, as the huge rock began to fall off the platform it was on, and roll down the slope towards Shadow.

He was deep in Trap City, and was about to become its first and last citizen if he didn't keep running. Shadow followed the pathway around its curves and slopes, hearing the heavy roaring of the stone as it chased on with increasing speed. Shadow could easily outrun it right now, but not forever. That soon didn't matter, as Shadow saw a sudden break in the path in front. Thinking quickly, he leaped forward. The speed he had collected while escaping from the rock was just enough for him to safely land on the pathway beyond, as he continued onwards, breathing a small sigh of relief that the worst was over.

"Hmph, these people must have been VERY old to have thought such traps could..."

But Shadow's self-congratulations were cut short by the arrival of a different rock coming off its platform and giving chase.
"Perhaps I've underestimated these ruins a little." Shadow still continued at speed from the first chase, so already was ahead of this rock, and was continuing to follow the winding, and now getting wider pathway.
'What, wider? Does this mean...' Shadows own thoughts were answered by not only seeing the arrival of the original stone out of the corner of his eye, but a THIRD stone from the other side! Now Shadow had three problems to deal with now.

"Things just got a little more interesting!" Shadow said to himself, as he picked up the pace to beat an escape out of the once friendly temples. It seemed though that the path went on forever, and the stone were constantly picking up momentum. Shadow sensed this, and wasn't going to let some inanimate object defeat him! Looking ahead, he could see the main temple that he was aiming for, and to get there, he'd have to jump an even larger gap than he had before, across an area of water. Failing now was not an option, as the alternatives were being flattened, or drowning. Shadow had little experience of water; he'd always usually been in the labs or in Space Colony ARK. The chances of success were slim, very slim. But Shadow had the one advantage he knew would make him pass – he was the Ultimate Life-Form.

Shadow pushed himself to his very limits, forced his heart to pump even more, sent more rushes of energy pulsing through his body, forcing him to push himself harder, faster, stronger. He wasn't going to let his second life end this soon, and not this way. The stones chased, the hedgehog ran, and the ground began to cut away in the distance. With one more sudden push of energy, Shadow surged forward once more, this time screaming out loud in a cry of absolute power, as he took the giant leap.

He leapt high and long over the calm water, focusing only on the temple edge in front of him. His only thoughts were of survival, not of safety. As the large rocks fell off the path behind him, and crashed into the water, Shadow outstretched his arms, hands, and fingers, as he began to fall. He saw the edge of the temple floor way just below, and made that his target. Just as it looked like Shadow was going to fall into the sea, his hands grasped the hard edge, and Shadow was left holding onto it, his feet only dangling some feet above the water. Shadow took a short while to catch some breath back, only to feel some slight droplets of water from the splashes that the rocks had created. Shadow turned his head slightly to look back at the gap he had just leapt, and then smiled as he pulled himself up.

Without a doubt, that was one of the most foolhardy things Shadow had ever attempted, let alone passed. Yet Shadow was pleased in this, glad of this act of almost utter stupidity in the search for thrills. Maybe because, this is not what the 'Old Shadow' would do. The 'New Shadow' however, would easily do it all over again. Shadow gave one last look at the gap, before turning around to look at the temple he had escaped death to reach. It was worth it to see the high pillars, the wall carvings, and the great masses of architecture around him. Such beauty could easily make him forget the troubles he had just survived. He walked up the flight of steps to see the rest of the temple, only now becoming aware of the energy he'd used up. Perhaps it would be a while before Shadow decided to...

What Shadow saw at the top of the steps made him stand still, and stare. There, lying on top of a small stone platform on the ground was a Chaos Emerald.
"Well I never... I guess this was worth it after all." With that said, Shadow walked forward, and picked up the Emerald. Now Shadow would have no problems getting back to Miles' house quickly, with the use of Chaos Control. So saying, Shadow held it in his hand, closed his eyes, and began to summon the power inside him...

"Chaos... Contr... huh?" Shadow opened his eyes to see what looked like a small ball of light floating in front of him. It appeared to drip some sort of... excess energy as it floated, Shadow had never seen anything like it. Then it began to start moving around Shadow's head. Shadow followed it's path around, puzzled by such a strange phenomena as it circled around him. What was it? What did it want? Why is it out here...? Yet before Shadow could ask any more questions to himself, a bright white light, a light that seemed very familiar, suddenly smothered him...

Author's notes: There's another chapter for you all! R&R please, as well as all the usual stuff. Watch out though, as there may be a few sub-plots running along-side Shadow's story, but it's all relevent, believe me. It may not seem like it, but it all makes sence eventually... Man, I LOVE being ambiguous!

Edited 25-03-05 for paragraphing