The Migrant's Guide to World Travel, 4th Edition spread across the top of the cover in big bold letters, overlaid across a grand spectacle of a landmark that Shadow did not immediately recognize. He wrinkled his nose at the gaudy lettering.
He was seated at a table in one of the many alcoves of the library, the scent of dust and ink more comforting than the lofty bed and minimal visibility of his own room. His back was to the archway leading towards the main section of the library, and light poured in from a window at the end of the room, hitting the tall bookshelves on either side of him. The encyclopedia, brand new with a hard cover and a glossy finish rested flat on the table before him, along with the leather satchel it had come in.
From the cover alone, the book seemed to lend itself more useful to a hip travelers' blog than a reconnaissance mission. It was all Shadow had, though, so he would just have to work with it. He flipped open to the first page and thumbed over the table of contents. Each of the book's sections were split up by country, subheadings denoting featured cities and locations of interest. And despite his first impressions, as Shadow skimmed over the first few pages of the text, the content itself seemed quite succinct. There was plenty of information on each of the featured cities, including brief summaries of history, demographics, population, landmarks, economy, tourism, and housing information. Shadow had to hand it to her: Rouge had certainly done her research. As far as he saw it, it really was beginning to look like the perfect text for someone looking to move countries and start over.
Shadow skipped past the section on Orléanais. He had decided to stick to looking at cities with populations above one million, and though there were cities of that size in Orléanais, to say that he was pessimistic about his future in the country was an understatement. Instead, he would begin by looking at nearby alternatives. Shadow flipped through the pages until he came to the section on the neighboring country of Spagonia.
He dove headfirst into the text, the world in his peripherals disappearing to the point where he hardly noticed the footsteps approaching his alcove from the main section of the library. Only when Shadow sensed the presence of someone behind him did his eyes finally flick up from the pages. He peered over his shoulder, and Shadow was simultaneously both surprised and not surprised at all to see Sonic walking through the library beyond the archway, a stack of books in hand.
It was the first time Shadow had caught sight of Sonic since their confrontation in the courtyard. However, Sonic didn't even glance at him as he passed by the alcove and out of view, so Shadow elected to pay him no mind in return. He had far more important things to attend to now, anyways. He returned his attention back to his book, skimming over the introduction section of the first city.
But then, a gruff voice sounded from above him, a voice much closer than Shadow was prepared for.
"What do you have there?" Sonic interrupted his reading. Shadow bristled at Sonic's sudden presence behind him. He had not expected the prince to even acknowledge him, let alone attempt to address him. Inquisitive green eyes stared over Shadow's shoulder to the encyclopedia on the table. There was no tension in his voice nor his gaze, only a guileless intrigue that left Shadow somewhat bewildered. As the cold shoulder master himself, Shadow had wholly expected Sonic to avoid him for much longer, especially given how their last interaction went. But right now, the prince now seemed perfectly unbothered as he stood over Shadow with a hungry interest in his eyes.
Perhaps it was because Shadow felt uncharacteristically relaxed that day in the peaceful atmosphere of the library, or maybe he was simply not in the mood to put on his usual air of hostility. Regardless of the reason, Shadow did not outright reject Sonic's intrigue. Instead, he shifted the book closer to the edge of the table.
"It's called a travel encyclopedia. It has information about cities on this continent and around the world." He explained, barely resisting the urge to fall back into his "helpful-bookstore-employee" mode. Sonic nodded, making an "ah" motion with his mouth. He stared down intently at the pages, and for a moment Shadow wondered just what Sonic's knowledge of globalism looked like. Hopefully he hadn't just accidentally opened a can of centuries-long geo-political history worms.
Sonic's eyes scanned along the section title. "Matrit," he read aloud.
"The capital of Spagonia." Shadow finished, finger tracing over the text on the page.
"Spagonia? You're kidding!" Sonic exclaimed. "Back in the day, the castle always got tons of visitors from Spagonia. The stable master was from there—he always had some pretty amazing stories about it. Always wished I could have gone there myself."
Shadow hummed. He had never been to Spagonia either, but he knew just how well-regarded its reputation was in the fields of academia and the arts. He flipped forward a few pages, arriving on the "Landmarks" section. Matrit was home to some of the most magnificent art galleries, history museums, and cathedrals in the world. Interspersed between the text was a full-spread photograph of one such cathedral, showing off an intricately painted fresco spanning the ceiling from wall to wall.
"That's incredible!" Sonic cried out, gaping at the image before him. He leaned in closer to the pages, massive frame shoving into Shadow's side and nearly knocking him out of his chair. Shadow paled as Sonic's bulky forearm brushed against his torso. He stifled a growl in his throat, quickly shifting his chair over so Sonic was no longer right up against him.
"Is this…a painting?" Sonic asked, none the wiser to Shadow's annoyance.
"Well, yes and no," Shadow responded with a grunt, smoothing down the fur on his side. "The art depicted there is a painting on the ceiling of one of the chapels in Matrit, but the page itself is a photograph."
Sonic looked at him blankly. "Photograph?"
Shadow let out a sigh.
—-
After explaining the concept of photography, and then the advent of the printing press, and then the revolution of mass-produced media (among other things) to Sonic, the two had continued browsing through the pages on Spagonia. Sonic had (thankfully) pulled up a chair of his own to the table, and before they knew it, hours had ticked by as they consumed the words and images across each page. When they finished the section on Spagonia, they moved on to other countries around the world.
If Sonic had been stunned by the photographs of the art museums and cities, he was absolutely enthralled with the depictions of the natural landmarks. Waterfalls the size of skyscrapers, snow-covered mountaintops, ancient ruins hidden in jungles, entire villages situated on top of water, sandy coasts, volcanos teeming with black glass and bubbling lava—with each one he learned about, the more and more transfixed he became.
Sonic's elation turned out to be somewhat contagious, as Shadow, who had begun the showcase rather uncomfortable, had begun to relax. He even began to get into the wonder of each new location, speaking in an almost playful manner about the ones he recognized whenever he could.
It was…peculiar. For most of his life, much like Sonic, Shadow too had been ignorant to all the different beauties Earth had to offer. And while the book was enthralling on its own, there was no doubt in Shadow's mind that it couldn't beat seeing them in person. A small smile found its way to his muzzle, and a particular memory that he had not thought of in a while crept into his mind.
Is this what it was like for her? Had this been…how she felt looking at the planet from up above?
Shadow gripped the edge of the table, quietly exhaling a shaky breath.
Sonic had taken charge of flipping through the pages at this point. He came to a stop on a page showing a snow-covered scene in the dead of night—the northernmost country of Holoska. The photos depicted a lit up city, but above the buildings, a display of swirling colors painted the night sky to life.
"Wow, this is…." Sonic spoke, a glimmer in his eye. He glanced at Shadow with a wide smile, but his expression dropped when he saw the unfocused look on Shadow's face.
"Shadow, you okay buddy?" He questioned, a hint of concern in his voice at the sight of Shadow's mile-long stare.
Shadow released his grip on the table, snapping himself back to his neutral state. "Of course," He snapped, insistent on getting Sonic's attention away from him and back onto the travel guide. "The northern lights. Pretty magnificent, aren't they? Haven't seen them in person, myself."
Sonic's gaze lingered on Shadow for a moment, but then his eyes fell back onto the photograph. "They are." He agreed, turning the page to reveal another picture of the phenomenon from a different viewpoint. There was no visible city anymore, buildings replaced with snowy peaks and frosted evergreens. The sky lights, pinks and greens, reflected ethereally onto a still lake at the base of the mountains. It was a truly magnificent sight to behold, and the two lingered on it slightly longer than they had with the other photos.
"There's so many incredible things in this world." Sonic spoke after a moment, a wistfulness to his voice. Shadow snuck a look in his direction—the prince's features had dropped, a shadow casted across his face as he stared intently at the page. "There's so much to it, so much I had no idea about."
Clawed fingers dug into the pages, leaving slight indentations into the paper. Shadow stared at his hand, and then back at his face. Sonic's brows were furrowed in deep thought, clearly lost somewhere in his own mind. Shadow hesitated for a moment, but then slowly reached out a hand. He prodded Sonic's arm lightly, immediately causing the latter to snap to attention. Sonic's fur bristled at Shadow's touch, and Shadow retracted his hand quickly.
"Ah!" Sonic yelped, pulling his hand away from the page once he realized what he was doing. "Shoot—the book!"
"It's fine." Shadow assured. He scooped up the encyclopedia in his hands, closing it with a "thud." That was enough research for today, he decided. Though, he was quite sure he couldn't reasonably call any of what had just transpired "research." Shadow examined the indents Sonic had made with his claws; the pages were hardly damaged, but a look of guilt remained on Sonic's face as he leaned back against the chair, gaze turned up to the ceiling.
Shadow rose from his chair, pulling the leather satchel from across the table and dropping the encyclopedia inside. As he packed up the remaining contents, Sonic too pushed out his chair with a grunt and rose to his feet. He stretched out, limbs stiff from sitting hunched over for so long.
"That book just proves it. The biggest mistake of my life was not leaving this place when I had the chance." He grumbled, stretching an arm across his chest.
Shadow snapped the latches of the bag closed and swung it over his shoulder. "You had a duty, did you not?"
Sonic gave him a scowl, waving him away. "Ruling over a kingdom isn't as fun as it sounds, trust me. Having that title did nothing for me but cause problems. Those royal stiffs never even let me leave the country! They would have kept me on the castle grounds permanently if they had it their way. Of course, no one could actually stop me from coming and going as I pleased." He said with a snicker.
"You know, most people in this world don't even get to see a fraction of what this planet has to offer. So you're not alone in that regard." Shadow murmured.
Sonic dropped his hands to his hips. "Now there's something I just can't understand." He mused with a shake of his head. "If I had it my way, I wouldn't stay still for a second."
"People often have circumstances that keep them in one place. I'm sure that's something you can understand."
Sonic gave Shadow an unamused look, but despite that, a familiar spark had found its way back into the prince's eye, his somberness all but forgotten in just a moment.
"What about you, then? How much of the world have you seen?"
"My former work allowed me to visit a variety of different places, but it was never of my own accord. I didn't have time to sight see, so I suppose I can't say I've seen that much of this world." Shadow replied. It was the truth: GUN missions did often involve deployment to a variety of foreign nations, but it was never for very long, and always for the purpose of an objective. And of course, Shadow would omit mentioning to Sonic any additional details about what exactly those missions entailed.
"Well, then where would you wanna go, if you had the chance?"
Shadow paused, wholly unprepared for such a question. On one hand, the past year of his life had been almost nothing but pondering where he should go. But his research and his travels since then had always been for the purpose of safety, of discreteness, all in order to disappear. Never before had he thought about where he would like to go. He placed a thoughtful hand to his chin.
"I'm not sure. I've never given it much thought." He responded.
Sonic let out a good-natured snort. "Well, when you figure it out, let me know. It seems like you've got plenty of options to look into now." He pointed a finger at the bag.
Shadow raised an eyebrow at him. "And what about you? Where would you go if you had the chance?"
A wide grin appeared on Sonic's face like he had been waiting for that question, a fang poking out of the corner of his mouth.
"Anywhere and everywhere." he responded without a moment's hesitation, voice and gaze both full of resolve. "As long as there's an adventure to be found, it's perfect for me."
Shadow wasn't sure if he wanted to scoff or laugh out loud. The way his demeanor seemed to shift on the slightest turn had been unnerving to Shadow at first, but the longer he stayed in the castle, he couldn't help but begin to wonder just what the prince had been like before all of this.
In the end, Shadow just offered Sonic a small smile and a curt nod. Then, he turned towards the archway and took a step towards the exit of the alcove.
"Hey, I heard you talked to Knuckles the other day." Sonic called after him, causing Shadow to halt abruptly. He glanced over his shoulder, eyes narrowed.
"I didn't know you had it in you." Sonic continued. His arms were crossed, but his attitude remained light-hearted as he spoke.
Shadow let out a huff. "I was wondering when you were going to bring that up. Did he tell you himself, or was it that girl?"
"The knucklehead himself." Sonic smirked. "He sure is stubborn, but don't worry. I'm sure he's forgiven you after landing that rib-shot on 'ya."
Shadow's frown deepened into a scowl. "And I suppose you expect something from me as well?" He snapped.
Sonic shrugged. "Not really. You lost your cool, he lost his cool. And then you talked it out—it's got nothing to do with me. Although…" he trailed off, "you might want to talk to Tails at some point. He feels pretty bad about the whole thing. Honestly, I can't believe you found those dusty old passageways."
"Hm? Are you disappointed your secret's been found out?" Shadow challenged, a note of superiority in his tone.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"The hidden hallways in the castle." Shadow insisted. If this beast was playing dumb, he was not amused. "That was how you beat me in the race, was it not?"
"A cramped space like that? There's no way I could have beat you using those!" Sonic responded, staring at him with a dumbfounded expression that only further fueled Shadow's irritation.
However, a sly smirk crept onto Sonic's face once the realization hit him. He leaned forward, an eyebrow cocked in amusement. "Hold on, were you sneaking around to figure out how I beat you the other day?"
"Well, there's no way you could have beat me with your own speed!" Shadow retorted with a growl. For some unfathomable reason, he could feel his face burning as he scowled up at the beast's cheeky expression.
Sonic chuckled, shaking his head back and forth. "I didn't use the passageways to beat you."
Shadow raised an eyebrow, words left unspoken but understood by the other all the same. Sonic approached him in the doorway and flashed a thumbs up as he passed by.
"Since you care so much, allow me to show you," he said with a wink.
—
Shadow hadn't realized how much time had passed since he had first settled into the library. Now, atop the balcony, a red glow had settled across the sky above them, the sun having begun its descent below the tree line. Shadow glanced back through the open doors of the top terrace, the memory of their first race fresh in his mind as he watched the curtains billow in the breeze.
While Shadow stared back into the tower, Sonic had crouched down in front of one of the raised beds, yanking a bundle of radishes from the soil. Shadow's ear twitched at the noise of disturbed dirt. He turned to face Sonic with an angry look.
"What do you think you're doing?" He barked.
Sonic waved him off with a hand. "Relax. I'll get to it. I told you these were ready to be picked, didn't I? I figured we could kill two birds with one stone. If you lend a hand, it'll go a lot faster."
A growl vibrated in Shadow's throat as he resisted the urge to ruin all of the goodwill he had built up over the past day via an impulsive act of regicide. Instead, he simply knelt beside the beast in a huff, grabbing onto the greens of a radish and yanking with all his might. The stem snapped off, and Sonic had to stifle a laugh.
After a few more rounds of broken stems and subsequent cursing, Shadow had managed to get the hang of freeing the vegetables from their beds. From that point, the two continued on in silence and as Shadow got into the rhythm of it, he found that the action was, in fact, somewhat calming. Tension lifted from his muscles as he worked, and soon, they had a whole pile of radishes between the two of them.
Sonic rose to his feet and brushed the soil off his lap and legs, satisfied with their work. "See? Told you it would go faster."
Shadow, too, had risen to his feet. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but Shadow couldn't say he found the activity unpleasant. However, his patience was beginning to wear thin. He shot an unimpressed look at Sonic, who received the message with a grin.
"Alright, alright. I suppose I can show you my 'trick' now."
With that, Sonic stomped over to the railing of the balcony, blue fur appearing almost black with his silhouette against the twilight. One hand clasped the metal handrail at waist height, the other pointed down at the castle spires below them.
"Right down there—that's where the entrance is. The main archway is just behind that tower there."
Shadow stared at him with calculating eyes, watching each of his movements. This was all information he was plenty aware of. Sonic met Shadow's scrutinizing gaze with a twinkle in his eye, and then, without another word, braced his entire weight against one hand and bounded over the handrail, plummeting out of sight.
Shadow was at the railing in a split second, hands gripping the metal tightly as he leaned over, eyes searching frantically for any sign of the prince. And then, he caught sight of it: a bundle of midnight spines swaying nearly twenty feet below him. Shadow stared down at Sonic in shock, only to be met with a set of bright white fangs flashing a smile. Sonic was currently swinging from one of the balcony's support beams, his arm stretched to an impossible length as it had during their fight and later in the library.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Sonic called up to him. He kicked his legs forward and then back, swinging like a pendulum and building up momentum. "I may not be as fast as I used to be, but I could never do this back then!"
Just before the apex of his swing, Sonic released his grip on the beam and went flying through the air towards the lower tower. His arms shot out once again, wrapping around a spire before he went sliding down the roof towards the ledges below.
Shadow allowed himself to remain baffled for a moment longer before he, too, volleyed over the rail. His hover shoes gave him just enough lift to guide him down to the same roof Sonic had landed on. From there, he skidded along the slanted roof after him.
The only trick had been gravity. It was so simple, Shadow couldn't even find the will to be angry. He slid down the tiles of the roof, catching sight of Sonic as he reached the edge. Sonic swung between the poles, spires, and edges on the outside of the castle with expert technique, descending quickly down its verticality. Shadow leaped off the roof after him, but the architecture was strange, and he soon found that he could not maneuver it as Sonic did. Maybe with practice, he could have overtaken the beast, but right now, he just couldn't keep up.
Sonic had touched down in the archway mere seconds before Shadow landed on the ground beside him. It was a small time differential in the grand scheme of things, but to Shadow, it was more than significant. The prince turned to face him with a smile, letting out a whistle. "Phew, you really managed to keep up. Though I can't say that's all that surprising!"
Shadow smacked a hand to his forehead. "You really are a bizarre creature, you know that right? I'm just going to forget this ever happened."
"Well now, at least you know the truth. Are you satisfied?"
Shadow grumbled. "Satisfied" wasn't the word he would have used, but at the very least, he no longer had to deal with those annoying thoughts that poked and prodded his brain.
"It seems that I misjudged you. You're not the complete con artist I thought you were."
A sputtering laugh sounded from Sonic's throat, and Shadow's eyes snapped to him. He took a pause at Sonic's reaction. Just what the hell was so funny?
"Sorry—" Sonic beamed, picking up on Shadow's stare of discontentment. "You just sound so disappointed."
Shadow turned away from him pointedly, "On the contrary. I'm simply pleased that you didn't beat me with something as pathetic as trap doors. It seems so foolish thinking about it now."
Sonic offered him a shrug. "Yeah, but I understand where you were coming from. Plus, your investigation wasn't completely for naught."
Shadow glanced back at Sonic, a feeling of anticipation in his gut at the suggestion in Sonic's tone. A rush of cold air blew through the archway, sunlight slowly dissipating from the entrance.
"I hope you at least found whatever you were hoping to find." Sonic grunted, finally addressing the topic that days later had remained unspoken. Shadow observed him—his mood was difficult to gauge from his face alone, but his voice at the very least did not sound upset.
Shadow exhaled through his nostrils, turning to face the courtyards before them. A rich orange glow illuminated the stiff grass. "It was a paltry investigation from the beginning, and the results were just as worthless," Shadow stated.
The memory of the gray emerald flashed into his head, and Shadow frowned. All of that energy and all of that anticipation for nothing. His efforts were unsuccessful, his logic fundamentally flawed. The whole fiasco truly had been a pipe dream from the very start.
Shadow shook his head gravely. "I miscalculated, and you made the reasonable decision to intervene. And for that, I should not have reacted as harshly as I did."
He shot a hesitant look at Sonic, not sure what kind of reaction to expect from the prince. However, Sonic only blinked at him with bewildered eyes. Shadow curled his lips into a grimace at the sight of Sonic's dumbfounded expression.
He let out an exasperated sigh. "On second thought, just forget I said anything." He amended with a grumble.
If Sonic had laughed before, he was full-on cackling now. He threw his head back, hand clenching his stomach. Shadow noticed the laughter lines on his cheeks, creasing against his smile and his eye twitched involuntarily.
"Jeez, I can't tell if that was a thank you, an apology or what! Either way, you're terrible at it!" Sonic breathed between his laughter, wiping a tear from his eye.
Shadow bristled like an agitated cat, a snarl twisting onto his face. Inexplicably, his cheeks once again felt unusually warm as he glowered at Sonic.
"I told you to forget it."
"Sure, sure. Consider it forgotten." Sonic replied, doing his best to get his snickers under control.
By now, the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon, shadowing the two figures standing there in the archway. Despite the dropping temperatures, the two of them stayed that way for a while, staring off into the sky's afterglow in silence. The end of yet another day had come to pass on this planet, and though Sonic had long grown weary of the sun that had set countless times in his life, something about it had felt wholly different today. He admired the glow peeking above the canopy, and at that moment, Sonic thought it just may have been the most magnificent sunset he had ever seen.
Shadow stood with arms crossed less than a meter away from Sonic. And though his indignant expression remained as he peered off into the sky, unbeknownst to Sonic, he happened to be thinking the very same thing.