Disclaimer: Sonic, Shadow, and company don't belong to me. Only other characters are mine, need permission to use.

Yay for new chapter! I want to thank everyone for your reviews, you're all so great. And Windfield, you definitely have my permission to post your picture, because I want to see it!

Chapter 11- Reunions

He was away from them now. The claw-like boughs could not touch him. Their futile efforts to grab the black hedgehog were in vain. Their whispers an empty threat. Shadow saw the darkness ahead of him as a covering, something that would protect him from the forest's hunger. So he increased his speed to reach the dark sea.

But the moment Shadow went inside the deep darkness, he felt cold, paralyzed. The shadows had a grip on him, suffocating him. He could hardly breathe. The hedgehog had almost tripped due to his surprise but caught himself in time by grabbing onto the rocks of the slope. He tried to calm himself, slowing down his rapid heartbeat.

Shadow could still hear the whispers from above, although they were much farther away now. They kept repeating that same word over and over. He thought he heard the creaking branches that sounded so close.

Trying his best to ignore them he continued on down the slope, this time slowly. Loose rocks covered the incline entirely, making it difficult to descend safely. The crystal sphere's light could not break through the dark, only illuminating the three feet of hard earth before him. Shadow dared not call out to the others, for who knows what lived down here.

Hardly five minutes passed before the hedgehog caught something. A flash of blue. Recognizing for what it was he rushed towards it in hurried but cautious steps. Rika was sprawled on the incline; black cloak tousled in disarray, her hood fallen off revealing a small cut on her forehead. The blue sphere she wore provided her only means of light that chased away the dark that tried to engulf her.

Shadow kneeled down and gently shook her. "Rika, Rika wake up!"

Cold sapphire eyes fluttered open. Moaning softly, she laid a hand on her head and winced in pain when her fingers brushed the wound. "God, damn it."

"What happened?" Shadow asked.

"Ugh, I tripped on one of those rocks. It was so dark; I couldn't see where I was going. Must've hit my head on one of those stupid things."

The girl tried to stand but did not succeed. Shadow caught her before she fell, wrapping his arms around her waist. It only lasted a moment before she pushed him away, determined to stand on her own. The hedgehog sighed in exasperation.

"Rika, have you seen the others?" he questioned.

She shook her head. "No, I was hoping you did."

Well, things were turning out just perfect.

Shadow brushed back his dark quills. "Guess we have to go find them."

The two continued their descent on the slope, white and blue lighting their way. It was not long before Rika spoke.

"Shadow?" she whispered quietly.

"Yeah?"

"You saw those faces too, didn't you?"

Silence as deep as the surrounding black.

"Yes, I did."

The crimson eyes strayed to her golden face. She had not bothered to put the hood back on. Her eyes revealed nothing yet he heard it in her voice. The same feeling he experienced once he saw them.

Neither said anymore, preferring the silence.

He felt something sharp against his face. Something cold. His muscles were aching sore from the fall, escaping from the cliff.

"Man, I will never look at trees the same way again."

Coming slowly to life, Sonic opened his emerald eyes. He could see nothing. For a harsh second he thought he had gone blind and started to panic, but grew calm once he spotted his gloved hand.

He remembered being swallowed up by black, colder than ice, an endless nothing. The hedgehog had lost his footing and fell on the jagged stones in great force. He recalled Amy screaming in his arms and how he had turned her upwards, away from the ground so that she would not be hurt.

Wait, where's Amy?

The cobalt hedgehog tried to push himself up from the floor. He felt something on top of him that impeded his progress. Sonic turned his head slightly and saw pink quills hanging over a pretty face. He crawled away from underneath her carefully and sat up so that her head was on his lap. He began waking her gently.

"Hey, Amy?" he whispered.

The girl opened her eyes and caught sight of her hero's face. "Sonic! Wh-what happened?"

"Well, I think we fell. Very badly, I might add."

As the two hedgehogs stood up, they searched their surroundings. It was so pitch black it was difficult to see. All they could make out were the rocks on the ground, bare of any green life. One step and they would fall into the dark void surrounding them. That was why they did not move.

Behind them was the slope they had traveled on, barely able to see the top. Climbing was obviously not an option.

"Sonic, where are we?" asked Amy with shining green eyes.

Sonic furrowed his brow in thought. "Don't know. Never exactly been here. For all we know, we could be lost for a while."

Amy's eyes began to water up.

"Uh, c'mon Ames, don't cry!" pleaded Sonic who grew nervous at the sight of tears. "Don't worry; we'll get out of this! C'mon, we've faced worse before! Have I ever let you down?"

Amy wiped away the falling droplets. "Um…well, there was that one time when you didn't show up for our date a couple of days ago, and that time you never came to my birthday party while everyone else did OR gave me a birthday present, and that time when-"

"Okay, I get it! But that was different. I was…uh…fighting Eggman. Yeah, that's it. Fighting that evil genius. So I was busy, real busy. So…yeah."

"But wasn't Eggman in jail recently," she said skeptically.

Sonic began to sweat a little. "Uhhh, he escaped! So I had to put him back in before he attacked the city."

"Then how come I never saw it in the news?"

"Because…it's Eggman! He's always trying to take over the world or some other thing. So it's no longer a big deal to people."

Amy raised one eye ridge and put her hands on her hips. "So, for all those times you never came, you were fighting Eggman.

"Yup, fighting. That's what I do. Would I lie to you?" He put on an innocent smile. C'mon, please let her buy it.

After serious thought, she relaxed herself and smiled. She just could not stay mad at her champion. After all, why would he lie to her?

"Okay Sonic! I believe you! I know that you wouldn't ever lie to me!"

Sonic sighed in relief. "Man, that was close."

"What'd you say?"

"Uh, you're a treat, Amy Rose!"

"Oh, Sonic, you're so sweet!" she giggled with a rosy blush.

Sonic gave a chuckle of his own. Even though they were stranded by themselves in the dark, there was something comforting in the fact that they could still laugh and somehow feel safe with each other even in such a dim and secluded place.

Sonic's ears perked up suddenly. He turned his head swiftly that caught Amy's attention.

"What is it, Sonic?"

"I think I hear something."

Soon, Amy was able to pick it up as well. It sounded like voices.

"Hey, we should go this way! C'mon, let's go!"

"We've been going in that direction for an hour! I thought your kind had a good sense of direction."

"We do! See, this rock is telling us they're over there."

"Now you can talk to rocks? Somebody shoot me."

Sonic and Amy did not know what to make of it at first, but as they processed the voices, they became familiar.

"Wait," said Sonic as he remembered the pair that was always going at each other's throats. "Isn't that?"

"Ry, would you move your pathetic self!"

"C'mon, Krysta, don't get so angry. It's bad for your health."

The two hedgehogs turned to each other with amused grins.

"Hey!" shouted Sonic at the darkness.

"We're over here!" joined Amy.

"Ahh! Ghosts! We must run before they suck our blood!"

"First of all, you're thinking of vampires. Second of all, those are not ghosts! It's Sonic and Amy, you moron."

"That was my second guess."

The hedgehogs could hear Krysta's disgusted sigh. "Never mind. Hold on, you two! We're coming!"

Sonic and Amy were relieved that they were finally not alone in the void.

"Gee, it's dark. I know, I'll light the way!"

"No, Ry! Not your!"

An orange light suddenly shot out of the obscurity, aiming for the two hedgehogs. Screaming, both ducked out of weapon's path. The arrow hit the slope behind them, mere inches away from their heads. Its sharp tip bore through the dark like soft dirt. The projectile was glowing with the orange light, illuminating the surrounding area.

Ry and Krysta rushed toward the traumatized two.

"See, this is much easier," exclaimed the imp.

Krysta was red with rage, but knew that no amount of yelling would get through the urchin's thick skull. The lioness turned with an apologetic look toward the hedgehogs and shrugged.

Both stood up, though a bit shakily from that little incident.

"Hey, where you been?" asked Ry. "Everyone's been worried about you guys."

"So the others are okay?" asked Sonic with peaceful eyes.

"Yeah, they're all up ahead," Krysta answered. "Except for…Shadow and Rika."

Amy's eyes grew wide. "Oh no. Sonic, they were the last ones up there."

Sonic clenched his fists, remembering the horrid trees from before, breaking through the barrier of light. Shadow and Rika struggling in pain to protect the others. He berated himself for leaving them on that doomed cliff.

Krysta noted his look of concern and spoke. "Sonic, I'm sure they're all right. They're probably just lost like you two were."

Sonic nodded, growing calm. "Yeah, you're right."

Ry had a thoughtful look on his face. "Or maybe those tree-things caught them and they are now suffering in agonizing torment and there's no hope of them ever-"

"Okay, Ry, you're not helping!" yelled Amy who was reaching for her trademark hammer.

"Ah! Sorry, sorry!"

"Where are the others?" Sonic inquired to the lioness.

She jerked her thumb behind her. "They're not too far ahead. We all made camp over there. C'mon, let's go."

Sonic and Amy followed the pair deeper into the night, the imp holding up a sunset arrow like a torch.

"I'm so happy I could sing!" Ry shouted.

"Well, you won't," Krysta stated.

Sonic and Amy smiled at the conversation that would soon turn into a widespread argument. Even though, they thought they could still hear the whispers from before.

The bat shifted her body on the ground. Finally coming around she, attempted to stand up but a strong hand pushed her back down gently.

"Steady, Rouge. Don't move yet."

Identifying the voice, she opened her mascara eyes. The red echidna, Knuckles, was touching her black wings. She started to feel an irritating pain. What was that damn echidna doing? The white bat turned her head slightly and discovered that he was pulling something out. Thorns had embedded themselves into the sensitive skin of her wings, several stabbing through deeply. Knuckles' hands moved slowly as he pulled them out, one by one.

"Okay, what happened to me?" asked Rouge, wincing from the throbbing ache.

Without raising his head, he continued to pluck out the needles when he spoke. "You fell into a thorn bush that was on the side of the cliff. You just froze in mid-air suddenly, so I tried to catch you but you were already down. I pulled you out and you were unconscious and all covered with those little spikes. It was actually kinda funny." He gave a small smile.

Rouge would have been glad to kick away that smirk had it not been for the stiffness in her legs. She recalled herself flying in the surrounding black. The air itself grabbed her, wrapping around her lungs in a ruthless grip. It was almost like being frozen solid in ice and still being alive. Her memory proved no more use to her after that.

"Look, I'm alright," she stated.

"Oh yeah, these wings are certainly fine. The needles speak for themselves."

Rouge grimaced and prepared to come back with a remark. But the bat watched as the echidna tended to her, how he extracted the miniature barbs with the utmost care. His hands were surprisingly soft and gentle despite their rock-shattering strength. She witnessed the concentration written on his face, trying to cause as little pain to the female flyer as possible.

"Uh…Knuckles," she hesitated. "Th-thanks…for helping me. It means a lot."

The echidna stopped in his treatment to raise his surprised eyes to her face. That was something she had never said to him before. Even when he had grabbed her before she fell into the hot fire pool back at the ARK, she merely jested him and gave back the Master Emerald shards, like an aristocrat would give away coins to a dirty beggar. Never a 'thank you.'

Both their eyes locked on each other. Knuckles could not break away. He just noticed that she seemed prettier than usual today…

"Rouge, you're awake!" Tails' innocent voice broke the moment between the two as he came rushing toward the bat's side. "Are you all right? How do you feel?"

"Oh, I'm just fine, Tails. This treasure hunter can survive anything, you know."

The kitsune laughed. "That's good. I was just worried, that's all."

Rouge began to examine her surroundings. The threesome was in a broken down ruin. Tiny houses were cracked and disheveled, some having gaping holes in their walls. The homes were few in number, possibly only fifteen in the entire area. They had been taking refuge in one of them; its roof and one entire wall completely missing from the foundations. There was broken furniture scattered around the home; chairs, tables, vases, bookshelves, beds, and the like.

A tiny flicker of light caught Rouge's eye. Deeper in the house was the silver hedgehog, kneeling down while trying to feed brittle twigs to a sputtering campfire. The firelight glinted off his sword hilt that he wore in his sheath crosswise on his back. He was far from the three; the flames were his only company, creating a silhouette on one part of the wall, exaggerating his form.

Knuckles noticed her gaze. "Wonderin' about him?"

"Yeah, who is he?"

The echidna shrugged. "Beats me, all I know is that so far he hasn't tried to kill us. But he was the one who led us to this place when we were lost out there. He was also carrying Tails who had hit his head when he fell."

"Yep. I felt completely stiff and couldn't get up," Tails filled in while pointing to the bandage on his head that Rouge had not noticed until now. "But he helped me up. He seems nice and all. So he's probably not a bad guy."

"So basically, you guys have no idea," said Rouge, wryly.

The echidna and fox both nodded their heads in rhythm.

"Alright," she sighed. "Hold on, where are the others?"

"Well…some are missing," Tails reluctantly answered. "Shadow and Rika haven't come by yet, neither has Sonic and Amy."

"What? We have to go looking for them!"

"Settle down, bat girl!" chastised Knuckles as he pushed her back down for the second time. "You still have some of those damn thorns left! The rest of the others went off looking for them anyway."

"Well, how long have they been gone?"

"Uh…about three hours or something."

"Three hours?"

The silver hedgehog raised his head at the sound of her yell. He watched curiously as the two boys tried to wrestle down the ferocious bat.

"Rouge, sit down! You're not exactly making this any easier!"

"Like I care what you think, echidna!"

"Ow! Rouge, you hit me in the eye!"

"Oops, sorry Tails."

"See what you did?"

"Shut it, Knuckles!"

"Why don't you shut it or I'll leave those needles in there!"

"Oh yeah, then why don't you just!" She immediately halted in her tirade and looked past Knuckles.

"Huh? What's wrong?" The echidna turned around to see the silver hedgehog right behind him, looking at them with inquisitive aqua eyes.

"Um…hi?" Knuckles greeted, unsure.

The hedgehog kept staring with those eyes, unmoving. The three began to grow extremely uncomfortable in his merciless gaze.

"…Is there anything we can help you with?" asked Tails.

The hedgehog shifted his gaze to Rouge, releasing the boys while she received the full impact. "Why were you yelling?"

"Uh, we-well, because I'm worried about our friends that are lost."

"So you care for your friends?"

"Well, of course I do!" Rouge stated with wide eyes.

The silver hedgehog simply nodded and walked back toward the campfire, his long quills dragging on the ground. He had gotten his answer, which was satisfactory.

The three companions gave each other confused looks.

"Okay, that was weird," said Rouge.

Out of the darkness came suddenly a voice.

A singing voice.

But it was the most horrible singing that ears had the unfortunate luck to listen to. It was completely off-key, squeaky high, with lyrics that made absolutely no sense. But the person who gave the vocalization continued on without a care.

"Damn it! What the hell is that!" Knuckles cursed as he covered his ears more firmly that his dreadlocks could not.

"Would you watch your language in front of the kid?" Rouge disciplined.

Although that did not really matter since Tails had wrapped his two furry appendages around his head to blot out the horrible sound. But that resonance seemed to go right through to his ears.

Later, there were voices heard in the distance begging with the singer to be quiet, trying to yell above the horrid melody.

For one brief second, the three dared to open their ears to hear the voices, sensing familiarity.

As if on cue, the red-tailed imp walked out of the dark, his mouth wide open, releasing the tune that ricocheted across the chasm. Krysta, Sonic, and Amy came next, their faces showing a combination of extreme pain and anger.

"For the love of all that is holy and pure, shut up!" the lioness roared.

But the imp ignored her and continued to murder music. After their little argument following the rendezvous with Sonic and Amy, Ry decided to take a chance against the Krysta's authority. Sure, she may just kill him for doing this. But he absolutely loved to sing, something that he used to do as a child. Especially on happy occasions. And finding the hedgehogs after a three hours search counted as a celebration. So what better way to express his cheerfulness than through singing, no matter how untalented and horrendous he was?

Of course, no was exactly ecstatic about his choice.

Amy was the first to take action. Unable to take the torture, she grabbed her Piko Piko hammer and gave Ry a good whack on the head. The imp only got to mutter an "Ow" before he fell to the ground out cold. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice hit" Krysta commented.

"Thanks!" said Amy, happily.

"I am forever grateful to you," Sonic said in reverence before he realized he had spoken.

The girl turned to Sonic with hopeful eyes. "Does that mean you'll finally go out with me?"

"Uhhhh, hey look! Everyone else is here!"

At that moment, Tails came running toward them, unbound joy in his eyes. "Sonic! Amy!"

"Hey there, buddy," Sonic said, all cool as if nothing happened. The fox boy wrapped his arms around the azure hedgehog who in turn gave him a brotherly pat on the head. When Tails went to Amy to give her a hug, Knuckles and Rouge walked up to them.

"Hi guys, how ya feelin'?" greeted Sonic.

Knuckles crossed his arms. "Well, after jumping off from a five hundred foot cliff, we're just great."

Sonic smirked, but soon noticed the silver hedgehog by the fire, looking up curiously at the circle of friends that he was not a part of. The speedy hero instantly ran to him, causing the others, including the silver one, to raise their eyes in surprise. Sonic halted in front of him.

"Hey, I just wanted to thank you for helping us out back there," he said casually.

The other hedgehog raised the single black quill away from his face before he spoke. "Um, you're welcome." He seemed to be nervous.

"What's your name?" Sonic asked.

"M-my name's Alexander, but everyone calls me Alex for short."

"Cool, nice to meet ya, Alex. My name's Sonic." He held out his hand.

After a moment, Alex scrambled to his feet and grasped Sonic's hand in friendship.

Meanwhile, the others walked toward them. Krysta was dragging Ry by the tail who was still lying on the ground, snoring peacefully.

"That was some pretty awesome moves you pulled back there," Sonic commented.

Amy gave a dazzling smile. "Yeah, you were so brave!"

Alex scratched the back of his head and blushed. "I-it was nothing."

"When you guided us back in the forest, you seemed to know where you were going as if you've been here before," Tails observed.

"Well, I do know how to get around this place. But I only come here every once in a while."

"How come?"

"To visit."

Amy gave a confused look. "To visit this forest with those trees?"

"Not really the forest but some people who live here."

"People actually live here?"

Alex grew hesitant. "Well, I guess live isn't the right word. People don't really live here anymore. A lot of them used to. This spot was one of their villages."

The others began to realize the reasons for the houses which surrounded them.

"No one knows why they're gone." Alex continued. "They just seemed to disappear one day."

"So they lived with those tree things?" asked Sonic.

"Those trees were never here before. I'm not exactly sure how they came."

"So how do you know this place?"

"You see, I used to know some people here, a couple of friends. I would always come to visit and walk around the forests with normal looking trees. When I came back one day, it was completely different. All the trees changed and there was no sign of anyone, and I searched everywhere. I guessed that there was some sort of an attack since many of the houses I was able to find were in ruins."

His voice turned solemn. "I always come by to pay my respects. I just feel that I have to. But none of those trees ever hurt me, whatever you guys did must've really made them furious. Hey, why are you guys here?"

"A dragon called Draken led us to this place, saying it was urgent to come," Knuckles answered. The echidna looked around. "Where is he anyway?"

There was a turning of many heads once they heard the question.

"I didn't even notice. Is he lost too?" asked Amy.

"Actually he came with me and Ry to look for you and Sonic," Krysta stated. "At one point, we decided to split up so we could cover more ground. He wanted to look for Shadow and Rika especially. But I thought he'd be back by now."

"Do you think something happened to him?" asked Tails fearfully.

"He's probably fine," Sonic reassured. "Guess he's still looking for those two."

"But what if something did happen?" Amy began to panic a little.

"Look, if all three don't come back in an hour, we'll go looking for them."

The others nodded in unison, feeling somewhat better.

Though Sonic put on a calm face, he had this uncomfortable feeling deep inside.

After almost an hour of slipping feet and silent curses, Shadow and Rika finally made it to the bottom.

"Alright, now what?" asked the fox girl, breaking the silence.

"We have to find the others," Shadow answered.

"Where?"

"I don't know, okay?"

"Fine."

Before deciding on a direction, they heard the flapping of wings in the distance, and it was getting closer. Shadow and Rika tensed themselves, gathering energy for their newfound enemy.

"It's over there!" warned Shadow.

They saw a part of the darkness move, but before they attacked, it spoke.

"Wait!"

It swooped down and landed five feet away from the pair. The hedgehog and fox's blue and white light shone off of green scales.

"Draken?"

The dragon folded his wings behind his back and straightened up to meet their eyes. "I've been looking everywhere for you two."

Shadow and Rika both sighed, thankful to see a familiar face.

"Are you two alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Shadow answered.

"Good, I couldn't afford both of you being injured. Now follow me." The dragon immediately turned around and walked rapidly. Caught off guard, the two hurried up to him.

"Wait, where is everyone?" Rika asked.

"They're over there to the east. Don't worry, they are all safe."

"Then why are we going the opposite way?"

The reptile halted in his steps that led to darker night. He turned his head so slightly, not to Rika, but to Shadow who had spoken in a deathly voice.

Not even deigning to answer, the dragon resumed walking.

"Draken! I asked you a question! Why are we going this way?"

Already the dawn was finally breaking through the night's shadows that was running from the sun's warm light. Rays stretched across the bloody forest, shining ruby. But the glow was absorbed in the chasm's dark void, creating the effect of eternal night. Few were able to seep through. One landed on Draken's green scales. He walked out of the annoying daylight into the dusk.

He still refused to turn around.

"When we get there, I will show you why. You may choose to come if you wish." He walked away.

Shadow and Rika stood still, unsure. They felt something tugging at them.

"We should just leave him," Rika stated.

"Yeah…we should," answered Shadow.

Still neither moved.

The red and black hedgehog watched the emerald dragon move in the distance and, somehow, he was tempted to follow. Just like back at Amy's house, in his true form of legend. He was imposing then. But now in a miniature state, three inches shorter than Shadow was, he still held the hedgehog in his claws. He was falling for it again.

Why could he not walk away? What was pulling at him? What was it that had made him walk on those fragile-looking wings by himself onto the creatures back before, not even caring if the others would come?

He turned to Rika and saw the same struggle on her face. Back there, when she saw Draken for the first time, he had offered and she accepted so readily, when for all her life she had trusted no one and walked on her own. Just a couple of words and she was his. Like that stupid dog, Cuervo.

They should turn back.

The fox and hedgehog looked toward the opposite direction. They could briefly make out an orange glow of a campfire ahead, inviting. Barely hearing warm voices that promised comfort and protection. Just a couple of steps and they would arrive.

Shadow looked ahead and saw the dragon finally facing him, turned around fully, and waiting.

Damn you, bastard the hedgehog swore in thought.

Feeling the strings pulling at them, Shadow and Rika followed emerald Draken further into the isolated darkness.

Fate's hands guiding them.

My God, that was horrible! I'm a terrible judge of my own work but I'm betting it's true. Quick question; Do you think that I have improved in my writing, stayed the same, or…gone worse? Oh no, I have! (cries) Okay I'm done. Just wondering. I'm still gonna continue no matter what. Well, till next time. Have to go to a class, on a Saturday…yeah.