In Cosmo's Shadow
By Kellie Fay
Disclaimer: Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Cosmo, and the others all belong to SEGA, Team Sonic, 4 Kids and other people not me
*sigh 400 hits only 4 Reviews. That's 1% for the mathematically challenged. Oh really it's less than that because Kirai-Ninja Reviewed 3 times. PLEASE REVIEW!
Chapter 13
A Year on the Road
The innkeeper gave him his food, and left him alone in the back of the tavern. In the past year Shadow learned that much of what Sonic told him about towns and villages here was true. If you traveled, the best way to get steady room and board was to do manual labor for others. Today had been a long day of cutting firewood, and lifting, but the work was now over and he had two days of favors stored up with the innkeeper.
The last year settled into a familiar if tedious pattern; wander, find a town or village, work or eat until trouble found him, deal with said trouble, pay for damages, leave. The longest he ever stayed in one place was two weeks. Usually it took less than a week for trouble to find him. He never started fights, but he finished him, and because he was the stranger in the town, the blame always fell on him.
He ate silently, and nodded thanks when the innkeeper placed a mug of coffee next to his plate. Today there didn't seem to be anything to catch his attention. He noted the pair of raptors at the bar drinking something that made them burp and talk loudly. Shadow considered them braggarts and fools, but even fools could be dangerous at times. No one else seemed worthy of his full attention, until a silver three tailed vixen came into the inn accompanied by a pale orange chao.
Shadow strove to back up further into his corner. Ever since he left the Green Hill Valley he found that he not only became a magnet for trouble, but every chao within a three mile radius would find their way to his side. He had a sneaking suspicion that the little buggers were not only empathic, but also possessed a way to communicate with Cream's little pet far off in the Valley. No matter where he went, a chao would find him. The owner would always appear five minutes later apologizing and sometimes Shadow would actually get a meal or a bed out of the deal. He knew that Sonic could probably find him if he wanted to, but he never saw a sign of the blue hedgehog for the entire year he'd been on the road. If the chao were reporting information to Cheese then Sonic, it would explain the lack of pursuit.
Sure enough the chao moved right for Shadow. He braced himself for the tackle hug the creatures always gave him, but a scream caught his attention.
"Come on Pie, Stop fooling with those critters. You need a man in your life. Come and spend time with me and Jake here."
The dark red raptor grabbed the vixen by the arm.
Fear shown clearly in her eyes, "Let go of me!" She shouted.
Shadow didn't need the little chao at his side to beg to save his mistress. If there was one thing he learned about himself on the road it was his hatred of bullies. Shadow took one look and the unsettled innkeeper, and said softly. "I am sorry."
The innkeeper sighed, but didn't protest when Shadow moved forward to take charge of the two raptors.
The fox girl still tried to pull away from the raptor. The little pale orange chao flew over and tried to separate the bird from his mistress. Annoyed the raptor dropped the fox's arm and reached out to strike the chao. "Annoying little pest!" He said.
Shadow grabbed his hand using just a fraction of his real strength to keep the stupid bird paralyzed. "I would suggest if you don't want to get hurt you leave the girl and her chao alone." Shadow suggested calmly.
The Raptor he held looked worried. Shadow knew that he felt the suppressed strength in his hand. The second Raptor foolishly pushed his friend out of the way, and tried to challenge Shadow himself. "Mind your own business stranger. This doesn't concern you."
The chao floated near Shadow's left shoulder, and in its own bizarre language verbally berated the stupid bird. Shadow glanced up at his new little companion, and said quietly. "I would suggest you move friend. I do not think he is in a reasoning mood."
"Oh another vermin lover," The second raptor said. "You should get a real job instead of shepherding chao around! Me and my brother are porters for the guy who lives outside Green Hill Valley. He's an important guy. We don't need to bother with a little squirt like you. Who do you think you are anyway, The Blue Blur?"
That did it.
He knocked the first brother unconscious so he would not interfere, and in one move grabed the arms of the other, and pulled back forcing him to his knees in pain. With a smug smile of satisfaction Shadow pulled little more making his adversary realize that he could easily pop the arms out of their sockets if he chose to.
"If you want to live to pursue your career of working for Egg-Man, you will never compare me to Sonic the Hedgehog again." Shadow said quietly.
With that he dropped the arms, and knocked him unconscious also. All too often before he would leave his opponents conscious to consider their error, and they thought to attack Shadow when his back was turned. Now he always made sure only he remained standing after a fight.
Instantly the chao came back to his side obviously pleased that he eliminated the threat. The vixen simply stood back looking at Shadow worriedly.
Shadow sighed, and began to walk out of the tavern. He resigned himself to an evening back on the road. The chao flew in front of him suddenly squeaking and shaking its head. It clearly didn't wish him to leave.
"Peaches, let him go," the kistune said sharply. It made Shadow smile and relax a bit. So the girl was strong willed enough to command chao instead of blindly going along with whatever her pet wanted. Chao were deceptive little things. They seemed harmless and helpless, but they were empathic. Shadow knew they survived by making others love them. Without understanding why chao continued to follow him, he decided early on that he did not want to fall into their trap. He avoided chao, but unfortunately they went out of their way to find him.
"It is best that you listen to your mistress," he said to the creature hating looking the thing in the eye. "You can tell Cheese I am fine." He tries to leave again, but the little chao laughed, and continued to block his way. In the back of his mind Shadow could sense that he pleased the chao somehow. Then it turned and squeaked to the girl.
"You know Cream and Cheese?" The girl asked, her three tails flicking back and forth nervously.
Shadow shrugged. "Yes, I haven't seen them in quite some time though."
The little chao, Peaches chirped again. "What does it want?" He asked annoyed.
The girl frowned at the chao. "She said you have to come and meet my grandmother."
"And you don't want me to?" Shadow asked. He knew he looked and acted intimidating, but he didn't know why this girl was reacting to him like this.
The girl shook her head firmly. "It's not that," she said. "I…I can't be near people. There are too many things in their heads and you..."
Shadow understood. She had some kind of talent of the mind, but she could not control it well. No wonder she kept company with chao, he thought. If she had no control over what she saw or felt within the minds of others his turbulent mind would be a whirlwind to her.
Remembering what Espio did teach him, he calmed himself, and allowed the color blue to fill up his mind. "My apologies," he said, "It has been a long time since I had to suppress my thoughts among others. Is that better?"
The girl looked at him surprised. "Most people don't know how to do that," she said.
That sounded like a compliment "A friend taught me," he said.
The girl looked him up and down, now obviously quite puzzled. "I've never felt anyone like you before. Do you want to come meet my grandmother? Peaches wants you to."
Shadow gave the girl his own visual look over. Her three silver tails twitched up and down like a nervous habit. Shadow tried to recall what he knew about kitsune from Tails. The memories unfortunately came up short. The little chao, Peaches, grabbed onto his arm, and tugged gently, chirping. Its intentions were clear. With the distinct impression that he was going to regret his decision, he took in a deep breath, and said, "I suppose I should. I am Shadow."
"My name is Pie," she says. For a time they walked along in silence with Peaches happily flying between us. Then she asked. "So why don't you like Sonic the Hedgehog?"
Shadow winced. He didn't realize she noticed his comment to the raptor. "I don't hate him," he said sharply, hoping that it didn't sound too much like a flat denial. "I just don't like being compared to him. I am sick and tired of people asking me if I'm related, or if I know him, or if I'm as fast, or as strong as he is." Privately he wondered if Sonic tired of the comparison also.
"It must be very annoying," she agreed. Somehow Shadow knew that she did understand. He wondered about her powers, and he wondered where she intended to lead him.
Coming Soon:
Chapter 14
She Sees Without Eyes
He opened his mouth to speak, but she had more to say. "I surprised you, hey lad? Don't know why. I can feel the demons running around inside of you boy. I can feel them in your blood and I can hear them in your mind. Now the ones in your blood, that's you and you're controlling them fine, but the ones in your mind…Well you're the one who has to fix those boy. Ain't no one who can do that for you."