Chapter Three - Instinct Prevails
Sonic ran in absolute fear for what seemed like hours. Running on all fours, through forest and trees, fields and meadows. Even as dawn broke, and the sky filled with light and colour, he didn't stop. He didn't turn back to normal either. Sonic wasn't surprised at this. He had read that the werewolf transformation from a full moon lasts for three nights and the two full days in between. Sonic now realised that he was a full werewolf running out in the open, in broad daylight. He had to hide. He didn't want to be seen. Panicking, he looked around and turned back the way he came, into a forest, hoping for a dark place to hide out for the rest of day.
Sonic found the shaded canopy of the forest soothing, as the bright sunlight had been hurting his eyes. He finally slowed to search for a hiding place. He looked around sniffing the ground, he was growling out of breathe, the mouth dry, really dry. His acute sense of smell, picked up a scent he knew well, water. There was water nearby. He ran towards it and burst through into a circular clearing with a crescent shaped lake in it. In the centre of the crescent, there was a small sandy bank, leading to the waters edge. Sonic ran there and dumped his muzzle in the water.
He drank. The water tasted so good. Finally his fear and panic began to ease, but they let through what they had been masking. Sonic screamed out in pain. His howl rang out across the forest. The left flank and leg were still bleeding and in absolute agony. His head was throbbing, still blooded. Sonic's mind buckled up with the pain, but his 'inner wolf' fixed his eyes on the water.
'Oh, you have got to be joking!' Sonic thought, as his 'inner wolf' moved his broken body away from the water, and prepared to run.
'Wait!' Sonic squealed but before it could stop himself, he had made a run and jump into the water and landed with a very large splash. Sonic's body and head plummeted beneath the surface of the water, and Sonic panicked. He couldn't swim. What were his wolf instincts doing? But then, his 'inner wolf' came charging to the forefront of his mind, moving his arms and legs methodologically in the water.
'What the...!' Sonic thought, as he head broke the surface. He could breathe. To his total amazement, his head stayed where it was, it didn't sink beneath the water again. Sonic looked around, and his heart jumped for joy, he was swimming. It was the doggy paddle, but swimming, was swimming, and the pain in his left flank and leg, and in his head eased. The water cooled the deep cuts and bites, until they stopped bleeding.
Sonic felt like a million dollars, swimming around in small circles in the water. He stopped and thought.
'Thank you!' He said to his wolf instincts, they really did know what to do. They purred at him in response. They didn't completely hate him. Sonic smiled and made his way slowly towards the bank of the lake and pulled himself out of the water. He stood there, dripping wet on the sandy bank. Now Sonic really smiled, he had been wanting to do this for years. A Full Werewolf Body Shake.
He laughed. 'Pity no one was around to get wet.' He thought. He lowered his head, and screwed up his eyes. He began to turn his head from left to right and back again. Slowly at first but sped up. He allowed the shake to roll from his head to shoulders, and front legs, down his back, to his back legs. The shake was now in full force, spraying water everywhere. It felt fantastic. He shook for about five minutes and he perfectly executed the shake with an expert flick of his long bushy tail. He collapsed to the ground in a happy bundle of joy, surrounded by water.
But as Sonic hit the ground however, tiredness took hold. His eyes began to drupe. He had been running for hours, he'd be awake for even longer. He settled down on the ground, making himself comfortable, and closed his eyes. He fell fast asleep in the beautiful clearing.
Shadow ran across the open countryside beyond Tails' house. He was traveling at just over the speed of sound, so covered a lot of ground fast. His rocket shoes were leaving large black scorch marks on the ground, but Shadow didn't care. He headed back to where the Grand Prix had been and then on in the direction that Sonic originally fled. He travelled for many hours. Shadow's sense of direction was superb, he had a built in compass. He scanned the area ahead of him, left and right, with his eyes and his nose. Shadow had a feeling that he would smell the werewolf first before he saw him. The morning's events were still churning in his mind. He had to find his friend. Yes, Shadow did now considered Sonic a friend. His self sacrifice and willingness to give up everything he held dear, to save them all, rated very highly in Shadow's books.
So Sonic was a werewolf, not a hedgehog.
'So what!' Shadow thought. He judged a guy by his heart, not his head. Sonic had proved his heart would always remain true, whatever creature he was. But now he understood why the werewolf had fled. Why he was scared to tell them the truth. He had read the books, Werewolves had a reputation be being savages. Killing machines, feeding off sapients and humans alike. Werewolves had been hunted down and slaughtered for this, and for centuries, battles had raged between the Werewolves and the 'normal' people. That was some time ago, and Werewolves may have been gone, but the memories were still raw. There were a lot of people who still feared them, and Sonic was scared of what they would to him.
Shadow's heart fell. 'Thats no way to live a life!' He thought, in constant fear of your own friends. Shadow's mind was still on this, when he heard something that made screech to a halt. A long drawn out howl on the wind. It coming a forest on the horizon. He didn't recognise the sound but he recognised the voice. Sonic. The voice sounded like it was in great pain.
'I'm coming!' Shadow panicked, his heart shell cracking still further, as he took off in the direction of the forest. Sonic had managed to save his friends, but had he saved himself. Shadow remembered the fight. Sonic had taken one hell of a beating, and Shadow was beginning to fear the worse. He had no idea how strong Werewolves were, but that monster was huge. He didn't want him to die.
Shadow blasted into the forest and began to slow, searching for signs of his friend. He combed the length and width of the forest. He looked around. Nothing. He was sure that howl came from this forest. But something inside of him, told Shadow to use his nose, not his eyes, to search for Sonic. He stopped and frowned. This wasn't one of his usual instincts. He knew those extremely well. It was something far deeper, like an animal trying get out. He had searched the forest, the werewolf wasn't here. But these new instincts inside of him, disagreed, and told him, again, to use his nose. Shadow's frown deepened. What were new instincts? and why did they feel like a frightened, timid animal?
If there was one thing Shadow had learned over the years, was to trust his own gut. He had been betrayed by Eggman so many times over the years, that they were the only things left he could truly trust. Shadow submitted, and dropped to his knees, placing his nose to the ground. He felt very stupid, glad no one was watching. He had a reputation to uphold, you know. He closed his eyes and brought these new instincts to the front on his mind.
'Tell me. Where is he?' He thought, and sniffed. His mind and nose exploded with smells he had never experienced before. The leaves on the ground, the trees, flowers, and some other random smells he just didn't know. The new instincts were crazy, and before he knew it was sniffing around the ground in numerous different directions. Then it smelt it, a smell of dog on the ground.
'Not dog' Shadow thought, still reeling from the whole experience. He moved his nose around, trying to get a better grasp of the scent. 'Wolf, maybe.' He thought casually, and then his eyes when wide. Werewolf!
Sonic! Shadow followed the scent as fast as he could through the trees, as it turned off of one of the main path. His large sleek black body sliced through the air as he ran, his black quills with their magnificent red stripes, flowing out behind him. His white chest fur blown back against his chest, but getting grubby with the number of times that Shadow stopped to check the ground for Sonic's scent. It was getting stronger. The werewolf was here. But where, he still couldn't see him. He clenched his fists, his well defined muscles on his arms bulged. The red stripes down them rippling along the edge. His long legs were beginning to tire. He sniffed the ground again and saw that Sonic scent disappeared through a large bush ahead of him. Shadow tore through it and stopped immediately.
He was in a large clearing with a lake in it that Shadow didn't even know was here. He looked ahead of him. A large creature lay in front of him on the ground, dark grey in colour, long fur blowing in the wind. He had his back to him. Furred quills with white tips pointed up at him and a long bushy tail that lay still on the ground. The air around the creature filled with his scent, a scent Shadow knew.
Sonic! He'd finally found him. He ran round to the front of the werewolf, and immediately feared the worse. It looked like the werewolf had collapsed on the ground, in a heap. He wasn't moving. Shadow's heart fell, he fell to his knees and placed a hand on the werewolf's enormous muzzle. The fur felt damp, but soft to the touch. He looked around, the water's edge was quite badly blood stained. Shadow shed a tear for his friend. Then it happened, he felt a warm, moist breathe against his hand.
'What the...!' Shadow thought. But before he knew, the werewolf had rolled towards him very fast, on onto his back, right on top of him. The werewolf was extremely heavy indeed.
Shadow swore and cursed very loudly. Not only was the werewolf alive, causing him unnecessary heartache but was out for the count, fast asleep, and now, right on top of him.
"Dam you, Sonic!" Shadow swore loudly. "When this is over, I'm going to kill you." He said struggling under the immense weight. He didn't mean that literally, of course, he was too fond of him for that. He kicked with his arms and legs, trying to shift Sonic's weight. He was lying on his back on top of Shadow, his large fluffy paws sticking up in the air, eyes closed, growling under breathe, snoring his head off. Sonic's furred quills were digging into Shadow's back now and getting rather painful.
"Get off of me!" He shouted. Shadow's temper seriously began to flare. He dug at ground, trying to pull himself free. No luck. Now Shadow lost his temper completely.
"GET OFF OF ME!" He roared, and the werewolf finally moved. He was moved with a jump, and but was still lying on the ground, next to Shadow.
"Finally, thank you!" Shadow said, scrambling to his feet. Then he looked at the werewolf, and what he saw, immediately broke his temper. The werewolf lying on his front, his head on the ground, his eyes were barely open, looking up at Shadow. He was whining, terrified. Shadow dropped slowly to his knees, holding out his hand.
"Shhh, easy, Sonic. I'm not going to hurt you." He whispered, in the softest voice he could muster, not easy for someone like Shadow. He looked in Sonic's barely opened eyes, there were drowsy, really drowsy, and very blank indeed. Shadow stared. Sonic's eyes, always, whenever they were awake, had a large sparkles in them. Thats what singled him out as different from most people. Shadow expected no different now, werewolf or otherwise. But then Shadow realised something. Sonic was not in there. His mind was still unconscious. He had read about this in Werewolves, that their minds are made of two parts. The sapient and the 'wolf'. The normal mind on one side and the werewolf instincts on the other. They were both one and the same person but it intrigued Shadow. Was he looking at pure wolf here? This didn't phase him, or caused him any fear. He knew Sonic wouldn't hurt him. He lowered his hand to Sonic's muzzle, and placed his hand on it.
"Shhh, there we go." Shadow whispered, and the werewolf purred, closing his eyes and licking his hand. Shadow smiled. Joy filled him up as he realised that the werewolf was still Sonic. His heart shell cracked again, this time acquiring new cracks. This sent emotional tears down Shadow's cheeks. He didn't care, his friend would be alright. He closed his eyes and purred.
The werewolf suddenly groaned. Shadow opened his eyes and quickly frowned as he saw Sonic's injuries on the side of his head. Shadow then looked down the werewolf's body, to his left leg and flank. They had been ripped to pieces and were bleeding again. Dusk was falling all around them, it was getting late. But Sonic needed help. Shadow cursed to himself, as the werewolf fell back to sleep again. He was too big and heavy to carry back to Tail's house.
If he was going to get help, he would have to leave him. He looked around the clearing, it appeared safe enough. Shadow got to his feet, looking back at the werewolf.
'I'll be back soon.' He thought. 'I promise!'. He was desperate not to leave.
But he left away, racing through the forest and out into the night. Shadow may have had perfect night vision, but he didn't know the area at all, especially at night, and it was morning before he made it back to Tail's House. Tails was there waiting for him there alone, the others had left. When Shadow told him he'd found Sonic alive but injured, Tails scrambled his Biplane, filled it with medical supplies and took off. Shadow lead the way on foot. They were going after him.