Chapter 5: Spending Time As Dolphins
Shadow lightly put his hands on its dorsal fin so he wouldn't fall off and smiled. Like Sonic had said, this was fun. The dolphin swam up to the surface. It jumped before diving into the water and doing so again. It did this for a while before going back into the depths and doing tricks. Shadow smiled; he was enjoying riding on its back.
"This is really fun," he told it.
The dolphin chirped once again. Shadow smiled as he let go of its fin and swam beside it. In a few minutes, the two of them were doing tricks side by side. Shadow smiled. This dolphin was amazing; it was really playful and also cocky. But what did Shadow expect; it was Sonic, after all. He looked around and then spoke to it.
"Shall we head back?" He asked it. The dolphin nodded and Shadow held its dorsal fin again. They soon reached the palace but the dolphin didn't change back; it wanted to say in this form. Shadow patted the front of his snout and smiled. "If you're going to stay like this, I'll make sure I take good care of you."The dolphin nodded and chirped. It swam around for a while before looking at Shadow. The prince looked at it and a smile appeared on his face. "What is it?" he asked.
The dolphin said nothing. It flexed its tail and then swam into the palace. Shadow smiled and followed it as they came to their room. Shadow almost laughed when the dolphin got in bed and looked at him again. Swimming over, he got in bed next to the dolphin.
"Good night," he said.
The dolphin nodded. It looked around and frowned; the bed was too small for it. It swam off and fell asleep in front of the palace.
The next day, Shadow looked around and noticed that the dolphin wasn't in his room. Worried, he looked around the palace before finally finding it sleeping out front. He smiled and saw it waking up.
"You okay?" He asked it. The dolphin looked over at him and chirped. Swimming over, it nuzzled him. Shadow chuckled and patted its snout. "You're a cool dolphin, Sonic," he told it. "How come you want to stay like that? I don't mind; I'm just wondering." The dolphin thought, but couldn't come up with a good way to communicate its reason to him. Instead, it just nuzzled him again and swam around him. The merhog prince smiled. "Can you give me shapeshifting powers as well?" he asked it.
The dolphin nodded. It concentrated a few minutes before giving him the powers.
Shadow groaned in pain as he felt something change within him. He smiled and turned into a dolphin as well. The other dolphin looked at Shadow and nuzzled him happily as it swam. Shadow nuzzled it back, chirping in happiness.
So, he asked through telepathy, wondering if it would hear him. Why have you decided to stay like this?
I like it.
Shadow nodded. Can you change back, or have you made the transformation permanent?
The dolphin smiled, and then turned back into Sonic. "Do you mind if I make one of my forms permanent?"
Shadow changed back as well. "Only if it prevents me from being with you."
"I'm pretty sure it won't," Sonic said. "You can shapeshift now too. But...what do you mean by you being with me?"
"I like spending time with you," Shadow said.
Sonic smiled, flexing his tail. "Same here," he said. "I enjoy being your brother."
Shadow smiled back. "What do you want to do today?" Sonic smiled and changed back into a dolphin. It chirped a little and swam up to Shadow, who smiled and got on its back. "Let's go," Shadow told the dolphin.
It nodded and swam off. As it swam, Shadow began to think about how he had met Sonic. He was starting to have feelings for the blue merhog, but wondered if Sonic was feeling the same. He would ask his brother later. The dolphin continued to swim and flexed its tail, moving faster in the water until hey came to the underground cave. Soon, they came to the treasure chamber. Shadow turned into a dolphin, looking at the other. It chirped in happiness. The two dolphins played in the treasure chamber for a while before leaving to explore the caves more. Shadow smiled; he had to admit, this form was fun. No wonder Sonic didn't want to change back. He looked at the other and saw it swimming beside him, chattering happily. He then heard its voice in his head.
We could get lost down here if we aren't careful.
I know, he told it. Let's head back.
Right now? You're sure?
If you want to.
I'm fine with it. Let's go.
The two dolphins swam out of the cave and headed back to the palace. Shadow saw that the other dolphin was swimming pretty fast. He caught up to it and they stopped at the palace.
Shadow looked at Sonic. Are we going inside for now?
The dolphin nodded its head. It flexed its tail and swam inside the palace. Shadow smiled and followed it. I'm getting hungry. Maybe we should change back and get some food.
The dolphin swam out of the palace to find some food to eat. Shadow smiled and turned back to normal, following it. They came upon some fish and seaweed. Shadow ate the seaweed but saw the dolphin eat the fish. He sighed and looked at it.
"You don't mind eating like that?"
It shook its head.
"All right." Shadow got back to his seaweed.
When they finished eating, the merhog and the dolphin swam back to the palace. Shadow looked at the mammal and smiled. It was a neat creature. Shadow pet a hand along its side as he sighed.
The dolphin chirped, nuzzling him. He blushed. "I don't mind if you do end up making this form permanent eventually," he said. "You can even make your palace form permanent. I wouldn't care."
It nodded, nuzzling him again. Shadow nuzzled the dolphin back. He looked at it and smiled. "What shall we do now?" He asked it.
The dolphin looked around and chirped again. All it wanted to do was play. Shadow chuckled. He smiled and watched it do so, then went back to the palace.