A/N: We're back!
Silver: Am I in it yet? Am I in it yet? Am I in it yet?
Shadow: SHUT UP!
Disclaimer: Yeah, same as last time. We do not own Sonic's slippers, his jumper, his top…
Chapter 3: The Dawn…
'Lie in the dark and let them go
Lie in the dark and listen.' Lie in the Dark and Listen – Noel Coward
He could have attacked us. We might have won if we combined our strength and worked as a team… but he could have done it… and we could all be dead. But he didn't … why?
Knuckles did not voice his concerns aloud. He was a very serious, enigmatic echidna who preferred to keep to himself. And his rock-solid pride stopped him from making such assumptions aloud. But thoughts were different. They spoke, and he couldn't control his thoughts. He just listened to them.
There was a last throng of robots. They came with stinging lasers and heavy loaded guns. With Shadow in the front, taking the full brunt of the attack, Knuckles did little to save his own hide. And then, after seamless corridors and unfamiliar alien rooms, they were free. The open sky had never looked so beautiful.
The ground had been upturned and for miles all around the base they were trapped in was legions of dead, barren land. They were not in any place familiar. And if Knuckles had any idea where they were, he would have known that Eggman or whomever had taken them far from their homes.
After they were out of the egg-shaped dome that bore all the characteristics of Eggman's ugly buildings, they didn't stop running. Tails resorted to flying. It felt incredibly good to have the freedom to fly.
Sonic knew they were in Bimbol's territory. Bimbol was a lone lizard that liked to live on dead land near Eggman's factories. He scrounged around like a scavenger, seeking treasures from the waste the factories produced, and living off oil from the robots. It was sickening to think that a once-normal creature had resorted its eternal life to this.
The only good thing was, nobody came to Bimbol's land, and it was a hard-to-reach area anyway. Now they had no choice but to cross it.
"Well, so far so good." Sonic murmured aloud. There was no sign of pursuit behind them, and no visual on the stupid lizard. It looked like they were home-free.
With an extra burst of speed, he rejoined Shadow, leaving Tails and Knuckles to trail behind.
"Wanna explain anything, old buddy?" He asked when he looked at Shadow.
"I'm not your buddy." He claimed rather indignantly.
"Oh." He thought of another approach. "Why did you help us?"
"…"
"Come on, Shads."
"Don't call me by that name."
"Okay!" He smiled lightly and they ran on in silence. Shadow's hover boots allowed his strides to pace him forwards without using much effort. It was almost like running on air.
"You know," Sonic said after a time when they saw a row of mountains in the far distance, "I thought you were living on ARK. I didn't know you came back down here."
Shadow scoffed but said nothing.
The sky was leathered in a fog of darkness as the sun kissed the horizon and started to melt into blood red and bronze colors that streaked the skies. Sonic could not see well in the darkness, and advised that they stop and rest for the night. Knuckles wasn't as keen.
"We can't stop." He was saying modestly, "what if they're coming for us now? We have to keep moving until we can be sure we are safe!"
Tails joined his woes. "Knux is right. What if Eggman captures us again like before?"
Sonic ran a hand through his soft quills. "Then I'll go on guard duty, and we can take turns!"
"That's no good." Knuckles sighed and shook his head. "You can't see in the dark."
"Then you can do night watch."
"No."
Tails sat down on the dusty floor and silently shook. He was near exhaustion but he didn't want to stop. He was frightened that they'd be caught again like wild animals and shoved back in their cages.
The horizon was lined with gold now and the last sprinkling of warmth went with it too. The stars were bright overhead and Tails lifted his head to stare forlornly at them. "I want to go home…"
"And so you shall." Sonic had heard him and sat down beside him. "But we're all tired. I bet even Shadow is, but he'd never admit to it."
Tails exhaled loudly, feeling hollow inside. His stomach was screaming in hunger. He wasn't sure when he last ate. "But what if…"
"Nothing bad will happen." Sonic placed a hand on his shoulder to reassure him.
Knuckles grumbled and kicked a stone around as he paced restlessly. "I hope the master emerald's okay. If its gone when I get back…"
Shadow stood off to the side, away from the circle of friends and stared deep into the darkness. The last smudge of sun went at last, and the full throes of night enveloped them in a cold blanket.
"I say we light a fire." Sonic said cheerfully, "that way we can keep warm."
"Are you insane?" Knuckles vociferated madly, "they'll be able to see the fire absolutely miles away! That would be like going up to them and telling them where we are!"
"Cool it knucklehead!" Sonic playfully replied, "robots aren't human. I don't think they'll be able to tell the difference between a fire and an outcrop of rocks…"
"I don't care! Eggman's machines aren't fucking stupid! If they were, we would have won this battle by now!"
Shadow started making a low guttural sound in his throat. Sonic stood up and was about to approach him, thinking that maybe he was upset when the black hedgehog burst into uncontrolled fits of dark laughter. The sound of it sent tremors down Tails' spine.
"Oh piss off, Shadow." Knuckles growled, "and don't go crazy on us now."
"Leave him along, Knux. He's having another one of his fits again." Sonic led Knuckles away so that they could talk in privacy.
"Well, we can't very much continue now," the guardian sighed and rubbed the back of his head with his gloved paw, "the sun's gone and we might lose our sense of direction. I don't want to wind up going back there again by mistake!"
Sonic nodded. He could barely see his old friend in the blackness, but the light of the stars allowed him to see his dark silhouette.
"How about we find some rocks and make a fire beside them, so it will be harder to see from a distance?" He offered.
Knuckles smiled in the darkness. "We'll need some wood."
Old rotten wood was not hard to come by. Everything was so dead in the area anyway. The only problem was actually trying to see it. Knuckles did most of the collecting, since he could see clearly in the darkness.
After a pile of wood had been accumulated, Sonic begged Shadow to light it.
"You've got chaos spear. Just aim it at the wood and…"
"No." Shadow walked so far away that he was completely out of sight for Sonic.
Dispirited but not beaten, Sonic grabbed two small pieces of rock and rubbed them together so hard and so fast that sparks were flying before he realized it. And before long, he, Knuckles and Tails were round a burning fire. Now Sonic could see their faces round the fire. Anything further than that was coated in blackness.
"I don't think I'll be able to sleep." Tails claimed resignedly. "I can't believe what Eggman did. And I can't believe we were caught that easily."
"Or were we?" Asked Sonic. "Eggman got help, from Shadow."
"Aye." Knuckles agreed tiredly.
"Oh… why would he help Eggman?" Tails shivered and hugged himself.
Knuckles stretched and leaned against a rock. It was late, he wasn't sure how late. His eyelids were growing heavier and heavier. "Maybe it isn't a good idea to have Shadow around." He said. "He could bring us back to Robotnik… in fact he's probably waiting for us to fall asleep right now."
"Where is Shadow?" Sonic asked.
Knuckles did a short nod of his head to the left. "Over there, presumably asleep. But he's probably just faking. Its what he does best."
"What, sleeping?" Asked Tails.
"No! Faking!"
"Oh…" He pouted, feeling a little dumb.
Sonic shook his head. "If he wanted us back there, he wouldn't have helped us. Don't forget that he openly disobeyed Eggman. Remember?"
"Yeah… I remember." Knuckles folded his arms, looking cross and bothered.
Sonic sighed and allowed his eyes to close briefly. Then he looked down at his sneakers. We're always running all the time. When will it stop? Yeah… we run… we fight… but…
He tried to make out Shadow's form in the darkness and soon gave up. We aren't free. None of us are until Eggman is permanently destroyed.
"Shadow's gonna have to explain everything soon." Knuckles opened his maw for a yawn, then lazily snapped it shut again. "Goodnight, Sonic. May you sleep well."
"You too."
Tails reluctantly closed his eyes too. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
The embers of the fire warmed Sonic's fur and made him think of happier times. Still, the light of the fire circling round them was the only comfort he had, and he soon succumbed himself to a tide of dreams.
Who says you have to fight?
I was born into this world alone and I will die in this world alone!
Don't you see? Don't you see!
Why didn't you ask for help?
It ends now!
Sonic!
Let me help you!
"Wait!" Sonic shot up from the ground, covered in his own cold sweat. He breathed heavily, his mouth agape. Wasn't he at home? Asleep in bed? Now he remembered… they were running from Eggman.
Knuckles and Tails were still fast asleep. They were curled round the burnt twigs that once harbored a warm fire. Now a small remnant of smoke curled round the lips of the twigs in a grey haze.
At least it was bright morning, with no foreboding darkness to make him feel uneasy. Only thing was, they had slept way longer than planned.
He rubbed his head and shivered from the cold sweat his fur was veneered in. "What a dream." The annoying part of it was, he couldn't even remember what it was about. "Oh well." He skimmed the dank area for any movement. Nothing. Just eternal dead earth. "Wait… Shadow!"
There was no sign of him. It was like he had… vanished.
Sonic left the sleeping duo and allowed the blood to circulate in his legs. Sleeping awkwardly on a few rocks for a pillow was never a good way to catch 40 winks. Soon he came across what he wanted to see. Footprints. And they belonged to Shadow. He saw the small circular indents of the holes that allowed the air to pass through, thus making his speed possible.
He followed these footprints eagerly like someone on a treasure hunt. But, sadly and to his unveiling disappointment, the footprints stopped at the base of a rock. He had probably teleported somewhere far away. It was not like he had morphed through the rock.
"Looking for someone?"
Sonic snapped his head upwards so fast and suddenly, he strained his neck. Sitting on top of the large rock like a proud statue was Shadow.
"How…?" Sonic mumbled, while rubbing his sore neck.
The black hedgehog had his legs crossed and his eyes were hooded. "Nice sleep?"
"Yeah."
Shadow nodded as if in approval and hopped down from the rock. "Come. I want to talk to you."
"Okay."
They walked slowly together up a short hill. Sonic allowed the silence to glide over them. The wind sang and the warm sun made him feel secure and ready for anything.
They stood on the top of the hill and looked down. The rows of mountains in the north looked much closer than they were yesterday.
"I didn't want to live in the ARK anymore." Shadow spoke quietly, and his hooded eyes stayed focused on the mountains ahead. "When you've been in a place full of memories for too long… it does things to your mind." His hands clenched into fists out of habit. "So, I left about two months ago. I didn't know what to do anymore. I wanted to protect Mobius, but the help of a chaos emerald would make it so much easier. So, I went to the only person who I knew would be able to get me one."
"Eggman…" Sonic whispered.
Shadow fell silent for a least a whole minute before proceeding. "I knew how sordid and evil that human was. But I was told that if I captured you, Knuckles and Tails within twenty-four hours, I could have a chaos emerald. So I did it."
"And then what happened?"
Shadow's opulent eyes balefully gazed out at the wilderness around them. "Eggman did not keep to his side of the bargain. He didn't give me the emerald."
Sonic remembered the conversation he heard when he was in the ventilation shaft.
"Doctor…"
"Shadow, don't think you can bribe me with your silly excuses. I am the controller."
"But I did what you asked."
"Yes, you did, and you shall be rewarded. Just not yet. I have things to do. Far more important things. Now leave."
So that's how it all went.
"How did you…" Sonic wasn't quite sure how to phrase it. "How did you… capture us without our knowledge of it…"
"Easy. Chaos control."
"But you need an emerald for that!"
"Yes." Shadow began to anxiously toy with the gold rings round his wrists; "the Doctor gave me a fake. A copy of the real emerald. It had enough power for me to do chaos control once. And once was enough to steal into your homes, stop time and warp you back into Eggman's base."
Sonic swallowed nervously. "So that's how you did it!"
"Aren't you angry?" Now Shadow's incandescent eyes pierced Sonic's. His reticent voice growled, "Eggman could have killed you. Why are you not mad at me?"
Sonic considered the question. In a way, back at the base, he had been a little vexed. Tails was in danger, and the guardian too had been removed from his home. They were kidnapped and it was done in a cowardly fashion. But in the end, they had come out okay, and now he knew Shadow's motive for such a heinous act.
"I'm sorry, Shadow, but I gotta tell ya, I love the adventure! Next time though, leave Tails and Knuckles out of it!"
Shadow lifted his upper lip in a snarl. For one horrifying moment, Sonic thought he was going to attack him. But Shadow merely sneered and started walking away.
"Wait!" Sonic kept astride with him. "If you're looking for some punishment, forget it! And don't do anything brutally angsty either!"
"Go away."
"No, seriously. Have you ever considered joining our side before? You are a protector are you not?"
"I said GO AWAY!"
Sonic flinched and held back. After the shock he regained his composure and followed his old rival. "Do you want me to say it? I'm not angry Shads! There I said it! I forgive you!"
"Shut up!" Shadow turned and rose a fist to hit him. The pounding anger in his head gave way when he saw Sonic cringe. Then he said in a prudent tone, "I'm leaving. There is nothing for me here. Emerald or no emerald, I'll move on. Farewell, Sonic. You won't have to worry about me again."
Sonic grabbed his arm before he could leave. "Shadow, you can't run from your problems."
"Yes you can. Don't you do it?"
Sonic bit his lip at that comment. "What I mean to say is, you can't fix things by ignoring them. I have an idea, one that could benefit the both of us. You're looking for a purpose, and I'm looking for some payback. Got the hint?"
Shadow shook Sonic' grip off him. "No!"
"Then let me explain and you may want to consider your options. I haven't told Tails and Red this but…"
After Sonic had confessed his idea, Shadow decided to stay.
Dib07: I hope you enjoyed that chapter. It was slow, but things must come together before, yes, that's right, the war! Lol! And there will be deaths! LOL!
Sonic: 'gulp'!
TBC