Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters are the copyrighted material of Sonic Team and SEGA. These characters are used without permission without the intent of compensation for my time and effort.

Italics are thoughts.

Life After Death

Chapter 2

Burning Embers

When conciousness next returned to Shadow, the warmth of the sun was upon his back. He lay there for a while, simply basking in the glow from Sol. He felt much better this morning, or perhaps afternoon. He decided that it really didn't matter. All he knew is that the stiffness and ache throughout his body was beginning to lessen. It still hurt to move, as he found out quickly, but it was quite an improvement.

The ebony hedgehog finally opened his eyes, and to his brief astonishment, his vision had almost returned to it's normal sharpness. He rubbed his eyes, banishing what little sleep had formed around his eyes in the night, and began the task of sitting upright. With much pride, it took little effort and pain to rise. Almost immediately he began to take in what poor vision had denied him yesterday.

For miles and miles all he saw was beautiful green forests and bright green plains. Nature was untouched here, completely isolated from any civilization. Turning, he saw that they were very close to the coast, sitting scant yards from the edge of a cliff as a matter of fact. He surveyed his surroundings with childlike wonder, finally seeing Earth up close, away from military bases and bustling cities.

"So this is what Maria wanted to protect. I finally understand what she meant in those final minutes. How could I have been such a fool?"

Shadow's eyes darkened momentarily as he silently berated himself. Fifty years of misundertanding and manipulation were finally behind him. But did he deserve this second chance? Millions of questions flew through his mind as his angst wridden monologue continued silently.

A short time later, the obsidian hedgehog was disrupted from his dire thoughts as a yawn arose behind him. He silently berated himself as he turned. The first thing he should have observed was his mysterious caretaker. The sight that greeted him was . . . unexpected.

All logical and rational thought processes stopped as he drank in his companion's appearance. Angelic was the only adjective that Shadow could come up with to describe her. She possessed beauty unlike any he had ever seen. He realized that his experience with the opposite sex was quite dismal, but he instinctively knew that the woman before was of unparalled loveliness.

She stretched and cleared the sleep from her eyes much as Shadow did, but much more gracefully in his opinion. She sat up and began rummaging through her pack as Shadow watched her. Vaguely, he realized that his staring was quite unbecoming of the Ultimate Life Form, but another part of his mind told him to stop being so high and mighty and drop down a level or two on the prude scale.

His rescuer, "Tikal was her name, wasn't it?", having found what she was searching for, turned round to look at him. Immediately, Shadow turned away, trying but failing quite miserably to look nonchalant. She giggled at the forced look upon his face, and he felt the heat rising to his cheeks and hoped that she couldn't see the blush forming on his face.

Luckily, she seemed not to notice, or didn't care, and proceeded to walk over towards him with a bowl full of berries and fruit. Immediately, his attention was focused on the edible gift, but he kept one eye on her. Quietly, Tikal walked back towards her sack, rummaged through it once more, and proceeded to walk off towards the forest, a bar of soap in her hand.

When she was out of sight, Shadow turned back scanned the surrounding area once more, searching for any of the few scant landmarks he might recognize from his small time spent on Earth. Sadly, he found none. He lay there for a short while before he decided to try and see if he could stand.

Surprisingly, standing only caused him a slight bout of nausea, as opposed to the forceful flops that his stomach had performed yesterday when he had tried to sit up. Testingly, he took a step, then another. Satisfied at his health, he set about finding some form of footwear. Mercifully, he his airskates nearby, blackened, but intact. With his belongings in proper order, he set off at a jog, hugging the coastline.

Jogging, however, sapped his energy at an alarming rate. He doubled back quickly after the relatively foreign sensation of fatigue swept over him. By the time he reached camp, he found that he could barely stand for the waves of exhaustion crashed over him. He stumbled the last few steps and collapsed on the soft ground below him.

Shadow was panting hard when he heard the sound of footsteps racing towards him. Once again he felt the soft touch of Tikal as she hoisted him once more into a sitting position. The canteen once again found it's way to his lips and he drank deeply. Almost immediately he could feel the water's soothing effects taking place. He could dimly hear his savior scolding him for such arrogance, but he ignored her.

Finally, she gently set him back down, though he could feel the air of frustration surrounding her. Visibly, she seemed calm, but he knew that she was quite irked with him. Surprisingly though, she managed to hide her feelings from her voice.

"Are you alright?"

He nodded weakly, his throat still quite dry from his jog.

"Do you think you can stand?"

He once again nodded, and set about raising himself. A dizzy spell seized him as he stood upright, but it quickly passed as he found his balance. He could feel her eyes on him as he wobbled slightly, but ignored her piercing stare.

Finally, the eyes burning holes in the back of his head moved their gaze. When he could no longer feel her watching him, he took up her abandoned watch. The tables turned, Shadow felt the need for a little conversation. Unwaranted fear suddenly raised many red flags at this amazing notion, and he had the feeling that a blush should be rising to his cheeks at this moment. Undaunted, he moved – albeit slowly – up to his rescuer.

"Was there anything else with me when you saved me?"

She turned, an inquizitive look on her features.

"It was dark when I pulled you from that crater. I might have missed something in my haste to save your life. It's just around that copse of trees to the east."

Her brusqueness elicited a small blush from the melancholy hedgehog, but he ignored it, hoping that his attitude would deter her from commenting on the obvious red tinge. He gave a quick snort, turned his back to her, and set off towards the landmark she had pointed out.

She was right. It was amazing that a creature of his size could cause such a depression in the ground. It had to be at least ten feet across, and a good three feet deep. Picking around it, he quickly found one of his gold bracelets, the other strangely missing. In the center though, a small mound had built up. He quickly dug into it, stopping only when he hit something solid. Yanking hard, he managed to extricate a precious jewel.

"One of the most precious gems in the world. A Chaos Emerald!"

He examined it quietly, holding it close as to hid it from the sight of prying eyes. Quickly, he discovered that it was, in fact, the Fake Emerald that Tails had created. He sighed with mild disappointment, but held onto it as he trudged back towards the camp. The short walk still tired him, and he plopped down just as the sun was reaching its zenith.

The smell of cooking reached his nostrils, and he deeply inhaled the heavenly scent. Tikal looked bemusedly up at him, and returned to her task. A quick glance into her cooking pot revealed a thin broth, much as what dinner was the night before. Before long, the stew was finished, and once again Shadow consumed his share with ravenous intensity. His hunger sated, the black hedgehog leaned back against one of the logs and started up conversation again.

"How long do you plan to stay out here?"

"I was waiting for you to be well enough to travel. If you're up to it, I think we can break camp tomorrow and head for the Imperial city."

"I'm well enough to travel."

He turned away as he said that, and began to study the Fake Emerald in earnest. It was exactly like a real Chaos Emerald; but whereas the light shining from the Chaos Emeralds had a heartbeat to it, the Fake Emerald's light shone without respite. Also, energy he siphoned from the Chaos Emeralds filled him with a warm feeling, while the Fake Emerald made his spine tingle.

"Maybe I will test this Emerald out with Chaos Control. Better wait till I am back in top condition, though."

A/N: Took me long enough, eh? Well, I'm hoping this turns out well, considering this fic is already in a C2. Hate to disappoint the fans. R&R with things you notice about the fic.