"Shadow, can I ask you something?"
Red eyes glanced beyond the top of the book. Across the table he was seated at, Tails was hovering before him. His hands were by his sides, and he was fidgeting nervously. It was an unusual demeanor, and one that Shadow had not seen from the fox in some time.
Slowly, Shadow placed the book down onto the table.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Well, I was just thinking…" Tails pursed his lips. Carefully, he made his way around the table, a hand behind his head sheepishly as he came to a half just before where Shadow sat.
"Remember the time you were telling me about combustion engines?"
Shadow gave a blank stare.
Picking up that he wasn't exactly following, Tails pointed a finger to the floor where Shadow was seated.
"Your skates—when I saw you use them in the shed, it got me thinking about how they must work. The propulsion power in them must be incredible—!"
Tails paused, eyes going wide. He chuckled, beads of sweat beginning to form along a translucent brow.
"I mean, I was just a little curious! You don't have to—" He muttered.
Ah. Shadow understood now.
"You can look at them, if you wish." He interrupted dryly.
Tails blinked, hands going limp in surprise. The awkward smile plastered on his face at once twitched into something much more genuine.
"Really? O-okay! Great! Err—could you come with me? I wanna do some sketches." He chirped.
Shadow rose from his chair without a word, abandoning his book on the table. Considering the hours he had already spent in the library, he figured he wouldn't be missing out on much else should he humor the fox for a while.
Tails led Shadow down a hall he was rather familiar with by now, and soon they had arrived at the workshop-turned makeshift dining room. Tails brushed aside said seating towards the back of the space—only marginally less cluttered than his shed had been.
"You can sit down right there!" Tails pointed to an ornate chair near a workbench. The wood was scratched and splintering—clearly having seen better days. Shadow hesitated as he sat down, taking care to avoid snagging his skin. He took a glance around: automatons, rigging systems, and pipes lined the walls between cabinets and workbenches.
"Let's see..." Tails muttered, retrieving one of his many sketchbooks from a shelf in the corner. He began to flip through the pages.
"If I recall correctly, spark ignition occurs when a fuel source is mixed with air. A piston compresses the mixture, which causes it to combust. Trains, planes, and automobiles use this kind of power system to reach speeds beyond the average vehicle," he mused, a stick of charcoal to his cheek in thought.
Tails looked up at Shadow expectantly. "That's all right, isn't it?"
"It is." Shadow confirmed with a grunt.
"In that case, my theory is that the same can be said about your footwear." Tails continued, a finger pointed to the ceiling. He leaned down on one knee, examining the metal soles of the rocket skates with a scrutinizing eye.
"I noticed a high-pitched noise when you used them before—right before they ignited the cabinet. I didn't realize it at the time, but that sounded like air compression. That, combined with the spark…am I right to say they use the same kind of system as a combustion engine?"
Shadow crossed his arms, rather impressed. This fox certainly had retained his knowledge. However…
"You're somewhat correct." Shadow said. "But it would be disingenuous to compare these skates to the engineering of cars or planes. For one thing, most combustion engines are horribly inefficient. A large amount of energy is lost between the transfer of individual components, and they're large. Even small ones are nearly half the size of you and I."
Truth be told, for as long as Shadow had worn them, he had not thought an awful lot about the engineering that must have gone into his skates. He glanced down at the chipped paint along the heel ridge, a dull metallic sheen reflecting the light from the windows.
These skates were crafted by none other than Gerald Robotnik himself. The old doctor never would have limited himself to the comparatively archaic operations of the modern combustion engine.
"And, combustion engines typically run on non-renewable energy," Shadow went on through lidded eyes. "These skates have eliminated the parasitic load present in your average vehicle. They are far more efficient, less noisy, and run on an entirely renewable supply of energy."
Tails scribbled in his sketchbook furiously as Shadow spoke, nodding reverently. "A renewable energy source…" he echoed, a finger to his chin in thought.
Shadow gave a curt nod. "Instead of petroleum, their fuel comes from my body—an unlimited source of power."
"Unlimited—is that really true?" Tails questioned.
"Functionally unlimited." Shadow mumbled, leaning his head against his hand.
"Fascinating." Tails whispered. "Say—do you think I could get a closer look at them? I'd like to take some measurements!"
Shadow scoffed. "Do as you please. Just as long as you don't dismantle it."
Shadow removed a skate and handed it to the fox, who promptly brought it over to a workbench at the side of the room. Shadow watched idly as the fox took several minutes to examine the exhaust valves through a looking glass. He leaned back into the chair with a huff, suddenly wishing he had brought his book with him.
Much in the same way his body was a catalyst for power, his skates were the same. Gerald had crafted a device capable of harnessing his body's energy, converting it into propulsion power. With that in mind, Shadow couldn't help but wonder about the transportation revolution the scientist could have brought about, if only things had been different.
Of course, there was nothing to suggest these skates too hadn't been another effort towards weaponizing his genius. Their destructive power very well could have been a feature rather than a side effect.
Shadow opened his eyes, peering down at the golden cuffs adorning his wrists. Then again, despite all the doctor's efforts, he had been unable to create a perfect vessel for the energy in the first place.
Shadow let his mind continue to wander as the quiet tinkering from Tails faded into the background. It had been days since Shadow had returned from beyond the wall, and things had noticeably shifted inside the walls of the old palace.
At first, he had been perfectly content to return to the banalities he had grown to expect. He kept to himself, assisted with daily chores, and spent time in the library. Occasionally he would be joined by Tails with the rare appearance by Amy, but generally, he was left to his devices.
Sonic had not spoken to him since their confrontation, but at times, Shadow would see him in passing. During each encounter, he found himself staring at the prince just a little too long. Sonic in turn, however, wouldn't even meet his gaze, and Shadow couldn't tell if it was from animosity or from shame.
Shadow's lip twitched. Despite his previous frustrations with what their "normal" had been, he inexplicably found himself preferring the old Sonic to the sullen shell of a beast that seemed to be roaming these halls now.
Tails was still working dutifully at his bench, blind to the world around him. Shadow took a deep breath, and against his better judgment, addressed him.
"Tails."
The sounds from the workbench vanished at once. Tails lifted his head from the skate, glancing over his shoulder expectantly.
"What is it?" Tails responded, head cocked to one side.
"What did the prince used to be like, back then?"
Tails looked at Shadow in stunned silence. He blinked once, then twice, and Shadow knew he had made a mistake.
"What?" Shadow snapped, narrowing his eyes at Tails' dumbfounded stare.
"Oh! It's just, well—what brought this up?" Tails asked hesitantly.
Shadow's ear twitched, and he let out a huff.
"It's not important. Forget I said anything."
Tails placed the tool in his hand down onto the work table, turning around to fully to face Shadow.
"I'm sorry, your question just surprised me. You…sound just like him."
Shadow blinked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Sound like who?" He questioned pointedly.
"Sonic," Tails laughed. "Usually he's the one asking me about you ."
Now, it was Shadow's turn to be flabbergasted.
"He asks about me?" Shadow repeated, eyes steady and voice as hard as iron.
"Well, yeah." Tails said with a smile. "Ever since the time you started telling me about the outside world. He mostly asks about what we've been up to, what you've told me, how you've been doing. I tell him he would know if he joined us, but he hasn't taken me up on that yet."
Tails gave a good-hearted shake of his head, before once again meeting Shadow's gaze. "Anyways, why the interest?"
Shadow broke eye contact with a scoff. "No reason in particular. I simply noticed he seems to be acting colder than usual." He replied, omitting any further details.
Tails chuckled, but there was no joy in his smile.
"I'm afraid that's not as unusual as you think it is," he said.
He went silent, and Shadow watched as his eyes seemed to cloud over, deep in thought. Then, he let out a sigh.
"When I first met Sonic, I was honestly terrified of him," Tails admitted.
Shadow kept his eyes trained on Tails, but stayed silent as the other continued.
"Not because of anything he did necessarily, but just because of who he was," said Tails. "Before I was brought into the palace, the only other kids I had ever known were all pretty cruel. So when I learned the prince had been asking about me, I got pretty scared. After all, if the heir to the throne decided he wanted to make fun of me, who was going to stop him?"
A fond smile crossed Tails' face and he shook his head. "Looking back on it now, it's hard to believe I could have ever thought that. Sonic was…my first friend. He insisted on visiting me during my training. And then we began to do everything together. He took me outside the castle grounds, even though we weren't supposed to. But I'm sure you can guess what Sonic thought of that rule."
Shadow felt himself somewhat at a loss for words as he observed the way Tails reminisced about his friend. The awe, and the love in his voice as he spoke of him—it stirred up a feeling in Shadow, a pang of emotion deep in his chest.
Still, he remained silent.
"Sonic was always the kind to wear his heart on his sleeve. He took no nonsense from anybody, and always told you exactly what you needed to hear. His confidence, his passion, it inspired me. There's no way I'd be the person I am today without him."
The fox's gaze dropped suddenly, eyelids fluttering half-closed over black sclera. "Sonic is the closest thing I've ever had to a family. That hasn't changed, but sometimes…"
Tails clasped his hands together, a grimace pulling at his muzzle.
"It's been so long since we've really had the chance to talk. Besides castle duties and dinners, he tends to keep his distance. It's been like that for a while now, but I guess I hadn't really realized that until now."
Tails' eyes were now completely shut, the silence lingering between them for a heartbeat more. And then, the fox raised his gaze, quickly turning back towards his workbench.
"Ah—sorry, I'm done with it now. Thank you for letting me get a look at them." He said with a cough, lifting the skate from the table and bringing it back to Shadow a little too urgently.
Shadow accepted it without a word. He leaned down, slipping it back on over his foot and clicking the cuff into place. Tails fidgeted nervously, twin tails sweeping the floor as Shadow rose to his feet.
"Don't mention it," Shadow muttered, stepping towards the exit of the workshop.
But before he departed, he took a pause in the doorway.
"I never mentioned it before, but your assistance with the emerald…I appreciated it." Shadow muttered, glancing over his shoulder. "Even if it was all for naught in the end. And I apologize for the mess I made of your shed."
"Oh!" Tails yelped, voice laced with surprise. "Well, you're welcome? And, uh, don't worry about it! It was practically falling apart already." Tails chuckled lightly, a hand once again scratching behind his head.
Shadow's ear twitched at the sight. Standing like that, he couldn't help but notice how the fox seemed to resemble the prince.
With a curt nod of acknowledgement, he stepped out into the hallway.
—
That night, Shadow sat up in his bed, lounging on top of the covers in the low candlelight of his room. A book rested in his lap, red eyes trailing lazily over its contents.
Idly, he flipped through the pages of the Lancelot du Lac, making note of the torn pages. Deciphering this text was no easy task. While Shadow could tell it wasn't a particularly difficult book, it was written in a language he only had cursory knowledge of. That, combined with the dimness of the bedside lantern had left his eyes sore and mind strained from mental translation.
The life of Lancelot, a knight who would go on to be the greatest in all the land was just beginning.
"The child Lancelot, whisked off by the Lady of the Lake. No one had ever seen a more beautiful child."
Shadow brought a palm to his aching temple, eyelids suddenly feeling rather heavy. Some of the pages were torn out, so he skipped past them. Most of Lancelot's childhood had been lost to the flames, and he now seemed to be reaching the parts Sonic had previously mentioned as his favorite.
The war on King Arthur's land was beginning, a foreign king poised for victory. But then, a mysterious knight appeared to change the tides.
"Both Arthur and Galehaut's knights watched him with equal wonder. No one could come against the Black Knight on foot, and those on horse fared little better, their armor no better protection than bare skin."
Shadow stifled a yawn, his hand slipping from the edge of the page to the softness of the comforter below him.
"In the silence, the Black Knight saw him approach. There was a majesty about him, and the young knight knew he was in the presence of a king: a ruler even more regal than that of King Arthur."
"'Do not be afraid,' Galehaut spoke to him."
Shadow closed his eyes, and sleep finally overtook him.
—
Yet again, Shadow found himself in an expanse of green, only this time white trunks had replaced open fields, sparse canopies casting broken shadows across a seemingly infinite expanse of birches. Bright emerald leaves shimmered in the breeze, and it took Shadow a moment to realize what was missing.
Here, there was no snow on the ground, and there were no markers sticking up through the dirt.
"Hello there."
Far above him, a voice called out. Shadow craned his head to the sky, eyes searching between interlocked tree branches until they landed upon the source.
Perched on a branch high above lounged a figure, his back against the trunk and hands thrown behind his head.
The blue hedgehog smiled, unmistakable eyes regarding him with a playful glimmer.
"I must say, you really surprised me!" He jeered down at Shadow, who remained frozen in place.
With one movement, he kicked his legs up, hopping to his feet and stepping off the tree branch. He dropped to the forest floor with grace and ease, rising to his full height just a few meters away from where Shadow stood.
"I've never met someone who could keep up with me before." The stranger snorted, eyes lidded and a pensive hand to his chin.
A memory flashed through Shadow's mind: green eyes, shining with determination as they fell towards him—an outstretched hand, grabbing hold of him as he plummeted towards oblivion.
"You." Shadow breathed. "I remember you. You jumped after me."
The stranger smiled, amused. The hand on his chin fell to his hip—the other he pointed straight at Shadow.
"That's right," he beamed. "You just went a little too far. All I did was reel you back in."
Shadow stared at the outstretched finger in cold silence for a moment. But before he could say anything more, the stranger turned away from him, arms thrown behind his head.
"Where are you going?" Shadow barked after him as he sauntered in the opposite direction.
"On a walk." The stranger replied, not missing a beat. "Care to join me?"
He stopped in his tracks, taking pause to cast a sly look over his shoulder.
"Or, would you prefer another race?"
Shadow felt a twinge of irritation, but simultaneously, a feeling of inexplicable familiarity as he glared back at the stranger's teasing eyes.
He shook his head firmly.
"No. I just want to know why I'm here," Shadow snapped. "This place—I've been here before, but it's different somehow."
The hedgehog's features softened, a hint of what Shadow swore he caught as disappointment flashing over his eyes. He dropped his hands to his hips, releasing a sigh.
"You're not mistaken." He said. "This place is a part of the world you know, but from another time."
Shadow narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"What do you mean, 'another time'?"
"A time before this land was changed. Before Dark Gaia, and before the prince became what he is today."
At this, Shadow perked to attention, eyes widening at the stranger's words. "How do you know about that?"
The stranger shrugged. "Oh, I've been here for some time now. I know all about this place, and about those who live here."
Shadow took a quick step forward, his voice suddenly feeling heavy in his throat.
"Then tell me—-what is it that happened here? This Dark Gaia—why did it choose to curse this kingdom?"
The stranger offered a placative smile. "That, I'm afraid, I cannot speak of. My apologies."
He offered a facetious bow, and Shadow felt his fur bristle. The tone the stranger had adopted—feigned and rehearsed formality. If politeness was his intention, the obvious fakeness of it only proved to agitate Shadow further.
Shadow took another quick step forward.
"And why is that?" He growled, voice low and warning.
The stranger's features fell—brief and fleeting, but long enough for Shadow to catch the twitch in his muzzle. He stared at Shadow with unreadable eyes. And then, that familiar glint returned, irises shining with an intention Shadow understood all too well.
"How about this, then: I'll tell you, if you can catch me."
Shadow stared back at him with bewildered eyes, an intense gaze searching for any sign, any indication that this was some kind of joke. Any clue to this stranger's true intentions.
However, there was nothing of the sort. No, the stranger was being dead serious.
Wordlessly, the tension slipped from Shadow's shoulders. Curious eyes watched him, and Shadow caught the flash of momentary surprise within them as he lowered himself into a runner's start.
The grin on the stranger's face stretched ever-wider. A mutually-agreed heartbeat later, their stare down ended.
Through the infinite expanse, blue and black afterimages dotted the foliage. Across slopes, breaking through branches, two hedgehogs rolled and dashed in furious sprints, their forms utterly indecipherable as they darted up, down, and all around the birches.
"Is that all you got?" The stranger taunted. He was easily five paces ahead of Shadow, and the more they ran, the more clear it became who had the advantage.
The stranger knew these woods, and obviously, he had no qualms using that to trip Shadow up at every opportunity with quick turns and seasoned maneuvers around countless unseen obstacles. The blue hedgehog banked left, sliding with expert ease under an exposed root while Shadow clamored over it, barely avoiding an awkward stumble.
Shadow gritted his teeth as the realization began to dawn on him: the truth was that their last race had not been an accurate demonstration of the other's real speed, after all. This was nothing like their first bout. It wasn't a blind dash, but a back and forth with the two of them gaining and losing ground. And yet, Shadow found that he could not make any headway.
A glimpse of pure glee crossed the stranger's face as he made another turn, skidding past Shadow who adjusted his trajectory with expert poise.
However, it wasn't enough. It took all the focus Shadow could muster to even maintain his current pace, and no matter how hard he pushed, he could not get within arms reach of the stranger.
And yet despite this, somehow, Shadow found that he wasn't becoming frustrated. Against all odds, a smile of his own began to pull at his muzzle.
Ridiculous. This blue hedgehog was treating this like a game of tag—utterly childish. And yet, this was like a game of tag, wasn't it? It was nonsensical, but at the same time, Shadow couldn't bring himself to be irritated, even as he began to fall further and further behind.
It had been ages since he had done something like this. The thrill of boundless freedom—no mission to attend to, no soldiers, drones, or weapons to test his abilities. No bounty hunters to escape from or mechs to outmaneuver. Right now, it was just him, his pounding heart, and that blue hedgehog.
And there was something else too.
Never before had Shadow witnessed a being move in the way the stranger did, and yet simultaneously, there was something so familiar about it. The grace he moved with, the glimmer in his eye. But Shadow's mind could not hone in on exactly what it was, no matter how much it pounded at his skull.
Caught up in his brain as he was, Shadow had not realized he had slowed to a halt until a blue streak skidded past him, coming to its own halt at least one hundred meters ahead. A prideful smirk decorated the stranger's face when he turned back to face him.
"What's the matter?" He shouted, eyes squeezed shut and hands cupped around his mouth. "Give up already?!"
In less than the time it took for the stranger to open his eyes again, Shadow had closed the gap between them.
The hedgehog let out a cry as Shadow barreled into him. He was knocked off his feet, and the two of them went tumbling across the forest floor, rolling head-over-heels down the slope in a tangle of limbs.
The blue hedgehog collapsed back into the grass with a gasp, and Shadow leaped at the opportunity. The stranger's arm shot out—a last ditch effort to ward off his pursuer. However, it was all for naught. A quick hand caught his wrist, and in one motion, Shadow threw both his hands down, caging the stranger's head between them.
To Shadow's surprise, the stranger did not immediately struggle against him again. Wide eyes stared up at him, a mouth parted slightly with small breaths. Shadow couldn't help the look of satisfaction that crept onto his face as he stared down at his opponent with intense eyes, knowing he had won.
Shadow took the moment to catch his own breath, his face still hovering over the unmoving hedgehog below him.
Blue quills lay splayed out against the darkness of the grass, sleek blades brushing lightly against his tan cheeks and framing his face. Between green and blue, speckles of white flowers poked to the surface. A small smirk crept onto the stranger's face, his eyes practically glistening, and for a moment, Shadow found himself utterly unable to look away from them.
That is, at least, until the stranger opened his mouth.
"Hey—you can let me up now." He whispered.
The trance Shadow had not realized he was in shattered. He reared back, rising to his feet with bristling fur. Below him, the stranger lifted his head from the grass, an amused look on his face.
The stranger chuckled, hopping to his own feet as Shadow tried his hardest to get his heart rate under control. He pointedly turned away from stranger in an attempt to do his best impression of someone who hadn't just been staring at his face for an uncomfortable period of time.
"Alright. You caught me," the stranger laughed, brushing particles of grass from his fur. "A deal is a deal, I suppose."
Shadow blinked. That was right—the reason they had started this wild chase. He had almost forgotten.
He looked back at the hedgehog—only to see the other standing with arms unusually tense at his sides. He was staring off at nothing in particular, mouth held in a tight line
"Say, how about we continue our walk?"
—
A silence lingered between them as the two walked through the birches. From where Shadow was, it really did seem like they went on forever—no cliffs indicating the edge of the valley in sight.
"Are you angry with him?" The stranger piped up from ahead of him.
Shadow stared at the back of his head with calculating eyes. The other continued walking forward, no sign of slowing whatsoever.
"No," Shadow responded after a moment. "I just don't understand his intentions. If he isn't even willing to tell me the whole story, why bother keeping me around?"
The question lingered in the air between them. As they continued to walk, Shadow began to notice the trees thinning out around them. Green leaves became sparser and sparser, and the grass below his feet began to dissipate.
The stranger came to a halt directly ahead of him.
"Why do you think the prince let you stay here?" He asked.
Shadow closed his eyes, thinking back to his second arrival at the castle. It seemed so long ago now, but Shadow could still remember bits and pieces of the night. His collapse, glass littering the bedroom floor, a dream he couldn't remember but a feeling of aggression that lingered in the depths of his nervous system.
"When I arrived at the castle, the curse infected me." Shadow answered slowly. "The same curse that affects this place. I managed to overcome it, and the prince wanted to find out why."
The stranger glanced over his shoulder, eyes once again unreadable.
"That may be part of it, but tell me, do you know why you were able to overcome its effects?"
Shadow's upper lip twitched in irritation as he suppressed the urge to lash out. To him, the answer was obvious: he was the ultimate life form, biology perfected, impervious to all and any forms of illness. And yet, deep down, Shadow knew that he was not infallible, as much as he hated to admit it. If a cheap poison was enough to render him useless for days, there was no reason to expect that an affliction able to destroy an entire kingdom would be incapable of affecting him as well.
The stranger seemed to pick up on Shadow's hesitancy, and took a step to face him.
"You see, you have more of a connection to this place than you think." He said. "The draw you feel to the chaos emeralds—it is no coincidence."
Suddenly, a vision of a stained glass mural, seven emeralds radiating power over a monarch's head flashed into Shadow's mind, rivets of energy overflowing from their wielder. Shadow winced at the vivid images, a hand to his head.
"Your power, and the power they possess is one in the same." The stranger went on, a finger pointed at Shadow's chest.
"That's impossible," Shadow grunted with a shake of his head, "Those emeralds—they've been here this whole time…the Ark, how could I have—?"
Shadow grimaced as another vision exploded across his neurons. Seven energy capsules—a jungle of wires and tubing like blood vessels connecting them to a center console housing a space station's most precious cargo.
An orange substance flooded into the console where it rested—it was the power that his creators had molded him with, the very same power that had made him into what he was today.
A lightheadedness overtook him. He hunched over, a hand to his head, but he did not fall. The stranger, in turn, only watched him with knowing eyes.
"The chaos emeralds possess an infinite capacity for power, but chaos is fundamentally a free-flowing force. The emeralds are merely conduits," he said, taking a step towards Shadow. "In a way, you too are a conduit. It was your ability to draw in residual chaos energy that protected your body from Dark Gaia's influence."
The pounding feeling in Shadow's head began to subside. Slowly, he rose back to his full height.
"If that's the case," Shadow rasped, "why did the emeralds not protect Sonic and his friends back then?"
"Because, their power was used up containing the curse to the castle." The blue hedgehog responded. "By sealing Dark Gaia to this land, there was nothing remaining to save their bodies. Their minds, however…"
The stranger trailed off, arms crossing over his chest.
"The prince believes his friends' survival is a punishment, but he's wrong." He said with a shake of his head. "The truth is, the prince has a soul that not even Dark Gaia's influence can touch. His heart, his connections with his friends—that is what kept his mind intact, and it was how he was able to save the ones he loves the most."
The hedgehog took another step forward.
"And the same can be said for you, too." He pointed a finger at Shadow.
Shadow went tense, brows furrowed in confusion as what this hedgehog was saying sank in. He shook his head in disbelief—it was inconceivable.
"Why?" Shadow demanded. "We were strangers at the time. So why would he…?"
A sad smile crossed the hedgehog's features, his eyes downcast.
"The years the prince has spent here have worn him down." He said softly. "He has lost faith in himself, and he has lost faith in others. I had begun to think he had lost all hope entirely."
The stranger raised his gaze, brilliant green eyes meeting Shadow's own as he took yet another step towards him.
"And then, you arrived."
Slowly, he reached down, cupping one of Shadow's hands and bringing it up between his own. Shadow, in turn, let him—too stunned to do anything else.
"He sees a hope in you, Shadow. From the very beginning, I believe his soul recognized yours, and that is why you were spared."
The feeling of uncomfortable pleasantness returned to Shadow's stomach as the stranger clasped his hand. He felt utterly at a loss of words, but somehow, managed to speak.
"How do you know my name?" Shadow breathed.
The stranger smiled, creasing the tops of his cheeks as he stifled a laugh.
"Like I said, I know everything about this place. But, I'm afraid it's not my place to speak of it. Only the prince can do that."
Tenderly, the hedgehog ran his thumb over the back of Shadow's hand—a sensation so longingly foreign.
"Show yourself to him, and he will show you the truth." He said softly, the words echoing through Shadow's mind as his vision grew hazy.
The realization of where they were dawned upon Shadow just as soon as the birch trees around him dissipated to nothing, the ground at their feet nonexistent.
Shadow's own fingers wrapped tightly around the stranger's.
"The last time I woke up, I didn't remember you." Shadow muttered, "I didn't remember a thing."
The hedgehog smiled. "Don't worry. You'll remember everything you need to when you awake. But after that, it's up to you."
The world was fading all around them now, but Shadow just held on tighter.
"Hold on." He whispered, his own voice suddenly sounding very distant. "Who are you, anyway? And why tell me all this?"
The stranger's amused look was the last thing Shadow saw before his vision faded to white.
"Me? I'm no one important." His voice whispered. "And as for your other question—it's the same reason I jumped after you…"
Though his form was gone now, Shadow could just barely make out the voice close against his ear.
"You interest me, Shadow."