Ah it is good to be back!
Hey readers! Did you miss me? Admit it, you missed me!
(I may or may not be quoting Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls)
I'll let you know where I've been at the bottom right after you read this chapter I've been writing on and off for 6 weeks. Hope you like it!
Shadow was floating on the surface of the water with his head submerged. He could feel the burning sunlight on his exposed back as he stared down into the dark, inky black depths of the bottomless lake.
Sonic was below him, sinking deeper into the water. His arms were outstretched towards Shadow, the look in his eyes showed that he pleading for help. Shadow tried to reach out to him, but he couldn't. He couldn't even move, as if he was frozen in place.
Sonic attempted to cry out, but all that escaped his mouth was an eruption of bubbles. Precious air.
He was drowning.
"Shadow, where are you taking me?" A voice asked.
Shadow quickly glanced behind him, only to realise that he was standing in the middle of a forest, surrounded by large trees and flourishing flowers. Sonic was standing behind him, safe and dry.
"Shadow?" Sonic addressed him again, confused by his prolonged silence and how distant he was being.
He had to stop doing this. He couldn't let his experience get the better of him. He couldn't allow what had happened to overrun his life.
"Sorry, I got a little lost in thought." Shadow apologised.
"It's alright, don't worry about it." Sonic replied, smiling warmly at him. "So where are we going?" He asked.
Shadow took a moment to think. He had been so completely out of it that he had forgotten what he was doing. It was like he had actually been there, in the water, reliving the whole thing. His fur still felt damp and wet, and his lungs felt like he had almost suffocated. Even now, it was almost as if he was still there, floating in the water.
Then it clicked. "Oh yeah, right. Follow me." He said, taking Sonic's hand and leading the way. The two walked a fair distance before the trees eventually parted and they arrived at an open area.
The sweet green grass below their feet had now been replaced by hard, grey stone. There was some vegetation sprouting at the edges, those being bushes with thick, long leaves. A clear, blue, gently flowing river lay before them, with a small, shimmering and sparkling waterfall not that far up stream.
"Why did you bring me here?" Sonic asked, mesmerised by the scene in front of him.
Shadow let go of his hand and walked up to the river. He paused at the bank and turned to face Sonic "I'm going to teach you how to swim." He stated.
Sonic stared at Shadow and then glanced at the water nervously "Um... Look, Shadow, I appreciate the offer but... I think I'll pass." He replied, taking a couple of shaky steps back.
"I'm not offering, I'm telling. You're going to learn how to swim." Shadow told him firmly.
Sonic slowly approached the river and stared down at the water "I don't know, it looks kind of deep."
"It really isn't that deep." Shadow informed him. Sonic wasn't satisfied by Shadow's reassurance and backed away again. Shadow glanced down at the river and sighed "Would it make you feel better if I got in first?" He asked.
Sonic simply nodded in response.
Shadow proceeded to sit down on the river bank and removed his rocket boots. He placed his shoes beside him and then put his feet in the river. He felt the water rushing passed his feet as he lowered himself into it.
The coolness of the river made him shiver. He'd need a minute or two to adjust. Shadow's feet touched the river bed, allowing him to stand up without his head going under, and making it so that the water only reached his chest, just like he had said. He scrunched up his toes, feeling the grains of sand and small pebbles below his feet. After a brief moment of simply messing, he turned his attention back to Sonic. "See? It's not deep."
"I don't know, I don't like how it's nearly up to your head." Sonic pointed out.
"Sonic, it's not going to go over your head, I can promise you that."
Sonic still seemed nervous, but that was understandable.
"How about we take it one step at a time?" Shadow suggested "You can put your feet in first, and then we'll go from there."
Sonic let out a shaky sigh "Okay." He agreed. He sat down on the bank and removed his shoes, and then placed them beside Shadow's. He looked down at the water and prepared to lower his feet into the river. He hesitated for a moment, before lowering them in.
He shivered and immediately pulled them out, and drew his legs close to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. "It's cold." He complained childishly.
"It's not that bad." Shadow told him.
"I don't think I can do this." Sonic stated, resting his chin on his knees.
The two fell into silence for a moment, with nothing but the sound of the waterfall to listen to. Shadow lifted his hand and offered it to Sonic "You can do this, I know you can."
Sonic looked at Shadow's hand and put his feet back in the water, shivering once doing so. Shadow moved closer to him, his hand outstretched "I'll be right here beside you. I won't let anything happen." He told him.
"Trust me."
The two stared into each other's eyes. Sonic bit his lip and put his ears back as he lifted his hand and took Shadow's. Their fingers intertwined, and Shadow gently squeezed Sonic's as he helped him into the river.
As soon as Sonic got in, he wrapped himself around Shadow, using him as a floatation device. He was holding onto him for dear life, as if he was in some way threatened.
"Sonic, it's fine." Shadow assured him, prying the blue hedgehog off himself, whilst keeping hold of his hand. "Go on, try and touch the bottom." He encouraged him.
Sonic closed his eyes and held his breath, preparing for the inevitable as he put his feet on the river bed and stood up. He opened one eye, and the other soon followed, as he noticed that he was in fact not underwater, but that most of his upper body was dry. The river really wasn't as deep as he had once thought. He was allowed to breathe again! "Huh, I guess you were right about the depth." Sonic commented.
"Of course, would I ever lie to you?"
"Yes." Sonic responded with a smirk.
"True." Shadow acknowledged his response. He couldn't help but smile. "Well, now that we've finally got you in the water, how about we start your lesson?"
"Yeah, I guess I can't stall you any longer." He mumbled. "So what do you want me to do first?"
"Before you start swimming, I want you to just get used to moving around in the water, so all I need you to do wade about for a bit. It'll help make you feel a little more confident." Shadow explained.
"Okay." Sonic replied simply. "Will you still hold my hand?" He then asked.
"Yes. I'm not going to let go, if that's what you're worried about."
Sonic proceeded to move around Shadow in a circle, whilst Shadow rotated in place in order to maintain his grip on Sonic's hand without getting himself tangled up in his own arm. Sonic continued to move around in a circle at a slow pace so that Shadow wouldn't get dizzy, doing this at least five times before Shadow was satisfied.
"That's enough." Shadow told him, causing Sonic to immediately pause. "Are you feeling better now?"
"A little." Sonic replied.
"How about we try some swimming then? You don't have to learn any strokes, you can just doggy paddle."
"When did you become an expert on swimming?" Sonic quipped.
"Are you ready to try some swimming or not?" Shadow retorted, completely ignoring Sonic's snarky question.
"Yeah, I guess so, as long as you don't leave my side."
"I'm not going to. Once you elevate yourself I'll put my hand on your stomach to keep you afloat." He explained. "Now, just try swimming a little and we'll see where we end up."
Sonic bit his lower lip as he lifted his feet off the river bed. Before he could sink, Shadow placed his hand underneath Sonic's stomach and lifted him up so that his head was fully out of the water. Sonic then began to paddle, moving his arms and legs and managing to cover some distance.
Shadow nodded slowly, impressed by how quickly Sonic was picking this up. "Stop for a minute." He instructed him. "You're doing really well. But I think we can take it one step further."
"In what way?" Sonic quizzed.
"I think you can at least swim from here to the other side of the river."
"With your help though, right?"
"Of course." Shadow reassured him.
"Alright. Let's do it." Sonic agreed, sounding a little more confident.
The two proceeded to make their way from one side of the river channel to the other. Shadow treaded through the water whilst Sonic paddled, being constantly supported by Shadow's hand. Eventually, they reached the other side, with Sonic reaching out and touching the bank as if it were some major accomplishment. In his and Shadow's eyes, it was.
"Nice job, Sonic, you're getting so much better. And to think only a few minutes ago you were really nervous."
"Yeah. I didn't think I'd get the hang of it so easily. It's not as hard as I thought it would be."
"I knew you'd be able to do it eventually." Shadow said. "Now, I don't know about you, but I think you should try doing a few laps of this channel." he suggested.
"I don't know, Shadow, don't you think we've done enough for one day?"
Shadow's expression turned sour "Enough? Enough?! We haven't even started yet. I mean, come on, Sonic, you've only barely started swimming and now you want to stop?"
"Well, maybe I don't want to carry on! Maybe I don't want you to keep pushing me into doing things that I don't want to do!" Sonic exclaimed.
"You have to learn how to swim at some point, Sonic!" Shadow shouted back at him. "You can't keep avoiding it forever!"
"I'll learn to swim when I want to, because I certainly don't want to be taught by you! You can't expect me to learn how to swim in one day!"
"Do you think I want to stand in this freezing cold river?! No! I'm doing this for you, Sonic! I've always had your best interests in mind!"
"Well you have a funny way of showing it! You're not as nearly as caring as you'd like to be! You just come off as a straight up jerk!" Sonic yelled. They were both getting up in each other's faces, so close that their noses were touching as they continued to shout at one another.
"Why won't you let me do this for you?!" Shadow questioned angrily.
"Because you are taking it to far! Not once today have you thought about how I feel, you just think you know what's best for me, but you don't have a clue!"
"What do you want me to, then? Let you drown again?!" Shadow cried, finally reaching boiling point.
The two fell into silence. The angry expression on Shadow's face dropped when the sudden realisation of what he had let slip hit him like a ton of bricks. He had let his anger get the better of him, and now he had really gone and messed everything up.
"Is that what all this is about?" Sonic asked calmly.
Shadow turned his head to the side, unable to look Sonic in the eye. "I- I- I mean-" he was unable to get the words out, unable to explain himself.
Sonic shook his head "I think that's enough for today." He said coldly, wading through the water and climbing out at the bank. He turned away from Shadow and began to fasten his shoes back on.
Shadow glanced down at the water, only to see his distorted reflection staring back up at him. When was the last time he had stopped thinking about the incident that had happened to Sonic?
He hadn't.
And he likely never would stop thinking about it. Not unless... He looked up from his reflection and watched as Sonic got up to leave... Unless he did something about it.
"Sonic, wait!" Shadow called out to him. Sonic paused and slowly turned around to face him as Shadow quickly waded through the water and climbed out. "I'm sorry." He apologised "I just wanted to help you."
Sonic sighed "Do you really think you're the only one who was affected by what happened?" He asked. "I'm afraid that it might end up happening again too. I'm scared of swimming, scared of being submerged, scared of... Well, pretty much everything to do with water." He paused for moment, glancing down at the ground and then looking back at Shadow "I want to learn how to swim, I really do. I want to be able to get into any body of water and not feel like it's going to swallow me up at any moment, but I can't. I'm not ready."
Shadow took hold of Sonic's hand and gripped it tightly. "I'm sorry I pushed you. I wanted you to learn the basics, just in case it ever happens again." He explained, staring at Sonic intensely "I want to protect you, Sonic, but I can't always be there to save you... I can't even imagine what might have happened if I hadn't been there."
Sonic gently wriggled his hand out of Shadow's grip and lifted both of them, and then touched his face, stroking his cheeks soothingly. "But you were there, you saved me." He told him softly. "I'm here, I'm safe."
Sonic's words made Shadow think back to the moment that had been playing on his mind for so long.
"SONIC!" Shadow exclaimed as he dove into the lake. He swam down after his companion who was just out of reach. Sonic looked up at him helplessly, his arms outstretched as he pleaded for help.
Shadow continued to swim, the water causing his eyes to sting as he went deeper. He reached out to Sonic, and their fingers only briefly touched before Sonic sank further into the inky blackness.
Sonic opened his mouth, with an eruption of bubbles flowing out. These precious air bubbles clouded Shadow's sight for a brief moment, but that was too long for him to hesitate. Every second he wasted was more time that Sonic lost.
He powered through, swimming as fast as he possibly could. Sonic blinked, his eyelids becoming heavy as he began to lose consciousness, with his lungs filling up with water. Shadow's head was throbbing with pain, and his own lungs were ready to burst after holding his breath for so long.
He wasn't going to give up. He had to save him. He wasn't going to let him die. Shadow used the sheer willpower that he had to swim down and grab hold of Sonic. He then quickly turn around and swam back up. He could see the rays of sunlight shining down into the murky depths from above.
Shadow broke the surface, gasping for air. His head was swimming in pain as he swam to the edge of the lake and pushed Sonic out of the water. He then heaved himself out and rushed to Sonic's aid.
He lowered his head close to Sonic's mouth and listened carefully. He wasn't breathing.
Shadow pressed his lips against Sonic's and breathed into his mouth "Come on, Sonic..." He pleaded, whilst applying CPR. "Come on!" He whimpered. He breathed into his mouth once again, and then continued with CPR.
Sonic stirred before violently coughing up water. He rolled over, spluttering and coughing, but at the same time wheezing and gasping for air. He then rolled back onto his back and stared up at Shadow, with water dripping off of his fur.
"You saved me..." He croaked.
Shadow was on the brink of tears as he wrapped his arms around Sonic and hugged him tightly. Sonic embraced him, only for Shadow to pull away and plant a kiss on his lips. The two engaged in this kiss for some time before Sonic had to break away for air. "Shadow, I don't need you to give me the kiss of life anymore." He said, chuckling lightly despite the fact that he had almost perished.
"That wasn't the kiss of life..."
"You're right, I did save you." Shadow responded, snapping back to reality.
"And you shouldn't let what happened cloud your judgement because you are so much better than that. You can get through this, I know you can."
"I don't want to lose you." Shadow confessed.
"You're not going to. I can promise you that." Sonic told him.
The two embraced each other in a hug. Shadow rested his head on Sonic's shoulder and squeezed him tightly, never wanting to let him go. "Don't dwell on what happened, instead, just remember what good came from it. You saved my life, that's all that matters. You didn't fail. I'm still here, and I'm not going anywhere.
"It probably would've been a lot better if you had just talked to me instead of going to all this trouble." Sonic then commented.
"You know me, I'm never the one to take the easy way."
"If something is ever bothering you like that again, just talk to me and I'll help in any way I can. I don't want you to feel like you can't tell me anything, because you can. You don't have to keep it bottled up inside." Sonic told him "We might need to work on your communication skills though."
Shadow chuckled lightly and Sonic did the same. "Y'know, I wouldn't mind if you were my swimming teacher... Just as long as you don't make me do anything too crazy. Maybe we could take it in smaller steps."
"Baby steps." Shadow spoke up. He then pulled out of the hug and took hold of Sonic's hand. "I know just the place." He stated, taking Sonic along for the ride.
Shadow picked up his shoes and lead Sonic further down stream until they eventually reached an area of crystal clear stagnant water. There was a small area of land in the centre, with a large, fully grown willow tree, it's long, dangling branches gently swaying in the breeze, with green leaves flying off on the branches and landing on the water.
"Nice place, huh? We could go in and cool off in the shade." Shadow suggested.
"How deep is it?" Sonic asked after taking in the scenery.
"It'll only go up to your ankles." Shadow answered him.
"Well, in that case..." Sonic trailed off as he quickly knelt down and removed his shoes once again "Let's go paddling!" He exclaimed, running into the water and startling the small fish that had been swimming calmly without a care in the world.
A faint smile emerged on Shadow's face as he followed Sonic into the shallow water. Sonic had gone over to the willow tree and was sitting down on a wooden log in the shade, wriggling his toes and watching as the small, golden scaled fish swam around his feet.
Shadow came and sat down beside him. He watched the fish for a moment, before titling his head back and staring through the branches at the round, orange sun. He closed his eyes and felt the warmth on his fur, whilst letting out a sigh of relief.
"This place is really peaceful." Sonic commented, still playing with the fish "Though I don't think we should have my next lesson outside. I wouldn't mind going to a public pool. They have life guards after all."
Shadow opened his eyes and glanced at Sonic "You could join in with all the little children learning how to swim." He responded. "I could get you some floaties, and a life jacket... And a rubber ring... And a blow up crocodile... And-"
He could go on forever, but unfortunately Sonic cut him off by pushing him over. Shadow landed with a splash, sending a spray of water up into the air. Laying face down in the natural pool, he rolled over and looked at Sonic "What was that for?"
"I thought you needed to loosen up a bit." Sonic replied cheekily, grinning at him.
"Oh really?" Shadow asked, grabbing hold of Sonic and pulling him down into the water. The two began to roll over and over several times, until Sonic got the upper hand and pinned Shadow down.
Shadow stared up at Sonic, the cool water rippling around him and chilling him right to the core. He lifted his hands and placed them on both of Sonic's shoulders, squeezing them tightly "Don't ever scare me like that again." He said, referring to his near death experience.
"I won't." Sonic responded firmly, his gaze fixated on Shadow.
Sonic's words and the look in his eyes was all the assurance he needed. He could rest easy now, knowing that he wouldn't have to worry. Well, he would always worry. He just had one less thing to be concerned about.
The two lay in the stream, allowing the water to soak their fur, while the hot summer sun kept beating down on them. No longer would the memory of the event haunt him. Being there with Sonic in such a tranquil environment made him feel relieved, like all of this had lifted a heavy weight off his shoulders.
He was truly at peace.
Yay swimming. Fun times.
I HAVE RETURNED.
First of all, I'm not dead, so that's always good. Just in case any of you were wondering. I haven't really been anywhere to be honest.
So, let me give you the run down. First week of writing this I started feeling under the weather. After a while I got progressively worse until I could not physically move from my bed. I had a pretty bad fever. So I couldn't write for a while. While I was onto the road to recovery I was viewing houses every other day. I'm moving, you see. Then, school started up again so I had to put this chapter off for a while till eventually I finally finished it after a long time of writing on and off.
And that's basically it.
I never meant for there to be such a big wait so I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. The gap between this chapter and next chapter will be a lot shorter in comparison. Hopefully.
Speaking of next chapter, I'm using the only idea I've ever got a request for. That's right, the baby one. Although, it's not going to be what you might think it will be. It's going to have my own little spin on it. And don't worry there isn't any giving birth stuff.
A friend of mine is doing a reading of one of my chapters to put on YouTube which I think is wicked cool. I'm really looking forward to it.
Anyway, good to see you all again. Hopefully you're still here and haven't given up on me and my inconsistent upload schedule. You won't have to wait long for the next chapter, I'm sure of it.
So leave a review of what you thought of the chapter and blah blah etc. I'd really like to know what you thought of this one.
See you later!
Also I definitely quoted Bill Cipher. I was catching up on Gravity Falls episodes during my 'time off' writing since they take a while to air in the UK.
Remember! Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye!
Hehe, yeah. See you all soon. And thanks for being patient.