Author's note: Yes, this starts with a different point of view on the previous chapter's events. Don't be alarmed.
*Shadow's POV*
Shadow wasn't the type to talk to people at his own free will. The enjoyment in that had died along with a dear friend of his. Her name was Maria. All it took was for enemy lines to fire one gunshot to take her life, and to crush any hope Shadow still had. He was the epitome of an anti-hero. He was willing to lend a helping hand, but it took a lot of willpower. He was both evil and kind. He was the type to just stray away from all other life and go after whatever he saw as a goal, and there was almost absolutely nothing that could stop him once he had his sights on something.
He had no idea where he was going that night. It was a dreary, rainy night.
He just happened to be there, at the edge of the forest, at the same time that misfortune struck another person. The first thing he heard was something tumbling into the leaves somewhere nearby. Skeptical, his reflexes sharpened, and he was ready to attack anything that tried to mess with him.
He was dazed with confusion until he caught sight of her. The young, tan-colored female fox. She was having trouble standing up… unmistakable trouble. Shadow knew that that was the source of the racket.
Normally, in a situation like this, he'd give nothing more than a low "Humph" and continue on his way. Just another weakling having some inconvenience, he'd think.
But instead, his crimson eyes would not come off of the girl. She looked exactly what she turned out to be: young and helpless. She brought certain sensitive memories to Shadow's eyes, and he didn't know how. The best friend he had ever had… the one that was taken away from him at the speed of a bullet… This poor, helpless fox was so much like her.
Either way, he decided on seeing what he could do to help out. Reluctantly, he slowly stepped toward the girl until he was looking down at her, getting a true listen at the agony in her cries. She was clutching her right foot. The misfortune that had stricken her was clearly an injury.
He asked himself one more time why she suddenly seemed so important to him. He had never seen her face before. Not around, not in some sort of coincidental dream… nowhere had he caught sight of this girl before. Yet after seeing her in pain, he felt this great need to make her happy. She reminded him of Maria somehow.
He took a nervous breath, held out his hand, and said "Hey."
The girl looked up at him. She had sea-blue eyes, only slightly darker than the ones Maria had. They seemed to sparkle with hope as she gratefully took his hand and managed to get back onto her good foot.
He put an arm around her shoulders and helped her hop home. They soon approached the front door of a log cabin. Shadow could only wonder how lonely she ever was. Was she the type who always had someone talking to her, or was she the type to fly solo and be more likely to draw a picture under the moonlight than to party until it set?
As they let go of each other, Shadow looked at her once more and said "…Name's Shadow, by the way."
He was so focused on getting away and trying to figure out what was going on that he forgot to catch her name.
When he woke up the next day, she seemed to have escaped from his mind somehow. He grimaced at the morning sun, as bright and cheery as it was. What reason was there to be so bright? It only got in the way of his concentration.
However, later in the day found him speeding through the forest. No destination in mind. He almost seemed to be trying to find one…
He stopped when he laid eyes on a familiar structure. A log cabin, blending with the foliage on the ground. It was familiar… so familiar that Shadow couldn't stand to lose sight of it at the moment.
He peeked in the window and sought out the very reason that this log cabin had built itself into his memory.
He saw the girl he had assisted yesterday. She appeared a little cleaner today, compared to when the rain soaked her hair to the point where it only looked like wet bark. Her injured foot was up on a brown pillow, with a towel and ice resting precariously on top of it. She didn't appear to be any happier, though. Only in pain.
Shadow hid beneath the window almost immediately after he realized that it was in her plain sight. The last thing he needed was for her to consider him a danger. A stalker, at the very least.
He didn't want to bother her, but he felt the utmost desire to know her. To know almost everything about her… to see that she was worthy of a place in his heart.
He peeked around at every window, checking for any sort of guardian that could try to drive him away. Not one other person was there at the moment.
He had to know how the girl was doing. He crept up to the front door and knocked on it quietly.
*Rachel's POV*
The pain in her ankle had woken her up in the middle of the night, along with the nagging memory of the man who had helped her home. She couldn't get over how grateful she was that he had done what he did.
She wanted so badly to see if there was even a possibility of friendship between him and her.
She had made friends with a lot of people, but other than Sonic the Hedgehog, all of them had irked her somehow. One particular case was a little girl named Cream. She was an adorable rabbit with a bright outlook. She was the type of person who could provide sunshine to anyone who was having a dark and stormy day, and her pet Chao was absolutely heart-melting! But Rachel always had to watch her words to make sure she wasn't speaking a little on the mature side, and that became tiring… quickly. Oh, and whenever she was a bit on the irate side, Cream would always get on her about it and make her feel like a bad person.
It just wasn't meant to be. And even Sonic got a little tiring sometimes. His athletic personality and her sedative one didn't get along very well at times… and quite honestly, it was starting to make them drift apart a bit.
But this mystery person… he almost seemed like a male clone of her. Could she finally have communicated with someone who would truly understand her and her selfish ways? She was the type of person who did whatever she felt like doing. Could she finally have met someone who would accept that?
Right as she gave a sad sigh, she heard calm, little knocks on the front door. She almost didn't recognize the sound as someone knocking; it was extremely rare for visitors to come by.
Knowing that her injury had launched her far from being able to fight a potential threat, she got a little scared. She kept quiet and remained perfectly still. Who knew what kinds of hobos and rapists lurked out in these woods? She didn't.
"Hey, I know you're in there," a familiar voice demanded from the outside. "It's me. Shadow."
No way. There was just no way someone like that would ever come back just to check on her. Anyone else would just walk away and forget. To Rachel's great joy, Shadow hadn't. It was really him. She had a chance…
"Come in," she said.
At that, the door opened, and Shadow walked in. He then closed the door and walked up to Rachel's bed, kneeling by the bedside… examining her foot.
"How's the foot doing?" he asked.
"Got it checked this morning," Rachel sighed. "It's broken. Definitely broken."
"I wonder why they didn't put a cast on it," Shadow huffed. "Don't they know it'd heal better that way?"
"I think it'd hurt less, too," said Rachel. "Something about any sort of bandaging on a wound… it always makes it feel better. I don't know what it is about it… My name's Rachel, by the way. I just remembered that I never told you that!"
They just talked for the next couple of hours. They got to know each other's interests and dreams, yet Rachel had yet to uncover Shadow's past. Who knew if she ever would?
"It does get really lonely out here," she had sighed somewhere within their conversation. "Normally, I walk out of the forest and find the city whenever I'm feeling alone, and the bustling atmosphere usually cheers me up."
"You can trust me," Shadow had nodded in response. "I can keep you company whenever you need it."
"That'd be really nice," Rachel had said out of lack of anything better to reply with.
They were both alarmed when Rachel's mother walked in the front door as the sun began to set. She was alarmed as well. She was also a tan fox with brown hair, but it was a darker brown, and she usually kept it in a ponytail and wore old-ladyish clothes. She was a tad shorter than Rachel as well.
"Who is this?" she asked nervously.
"This is Shadow," Rachel replied quickly out of fear that her mother would call the police. "He's the one that helped me home last night."
"Oh," her mother said with a sigh of relief. "…N-Nice to meet you, Shadow."
At that, Shadow simply nodded at her and walked toward the front door, opening it and waving to Rachel, who waved back.
"When can I return?" he asked.
"Oh, you can drop by any time," Rachel's mother smiled. "We're all alone out here!"
At that, Shadow left.
And indeed, he and Rachel had a friendship going. This made Rachel extremely happy, almost to the point where she almost hadn't remembered that her ankle was in extreme pain.
During an instance when she did remember the pain's presence, she asked desperately "Mom, when can I get a cast on this foot?"
"Tomorrow," her mother replied. "You have an appointment at the orthopedic at 9 in the morning."
*Shadow's POV*
Just as his intuition had felt, she was much like Maria. For the first time since he lost Maria, he had met someone who he could relate to. Someone who seemed to understand him. Someone he could be free around. At least once, he almost called her Maria.
While they hadn't known each other long enough for him to know whether he'd care for her more than anything else or not, she was certainly the best friend he had at the moment.
Finally… he knew someone who could make him purely happy again.
Author's note: I almost always will do anything to keep my fans happy… but here's one exception: I'm sorry if Shadow's out of character at all. I try my best, but… but I can only consider it so much. Anyway, I would greatly appreciate some reviews! I'd love to know how I'm doing!