Day Eleven, Prompt: Animal Trap
The night was nice enough to go for a run. Shadow and Sonic had their typical everyday race until Sonic's leg unexpectedly is caught in a bear trap.
The cold breeze hit their faces equally as they neared hitting the speed of sound. It was a chilly night yet refreshing. It had been very hot in the last couple of days so when the sun finally set and the night set in, it was the best time of the entire day to go out regardless of sunlight. It was perfect for a run.
They swerved around plants and trees making sure they wouldn't run into them. Sonic was about to surpass Shadow but the lifeform made sure to keep up. They weren't going anywhere specifically. Just until one of them eventually gave up.
They had long left the vicinity of where they lived, far into a dense forest. It was getting hard to navigate around it as the trees were so close together yet the two never slowed. Sonic seemed to gain some fun out of it noticeably by the wide smile that plastered over his muzzle.
Shadow was so busy looking to his right where Sonic was he nearly slammed into a thick trunk right ahead but was quick enough to swerve with enough force that he didn't touch it. Because the forest was so dense it was difficult for moonlight to shine through the leaves that overlapped each other after every other tree so it was difficult to see where exactly they were going.
Finally, it seemed like there was an opening ahead. An exit to the woodland when Sonic suddenly disappeared from his view and he stopped in his tracks sliding from the built-up friction.
Shadow looked behind and saw Sonic on the ground. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "So I guess that means I win?!" Shadow yelled.
Sonic looked up at him but not with his typical everyday expression on display. It showed a face of shock but it wasn't because he was shocked he had lost the race.
Sonic didn't say anything, opting to lay there. Shadow innocently, playfully laughed to himself and ran back over to where Sonic was but when he looked down, his demeanor instantly faded. Shadow froze.
It was a bear trap, lined with sharp teeth around both bases that had embedded itself into Sonic's right leg the second he stood atop the plate.
Shadow just stood there, eyes glued to the trap. What he didn't understand was Sonic's odd silence.
"Holy- holy crap. Sonic?"
Sonic looked behind him, trying to figure out why the hell his leg was hurting so much. The moment his eyes laid on the trap that held his leg hostage, the pain almost instantly grew tenfold. His reaction was delayed momentarily because he simply just could not process what was happening.
Then he screamed. It was one laced with pain. Birds had flown out of their nests up to the sky when they were jumped scared by his screams. When Sonic was getting too loud and wouldn't stop after a couple of seconds Shadow covered his mouth with his mit.
"Okay, okay. Shhhhhh, Stop. Breathe. Hey, breathe shhh. I know it hurts. It's okay." Shadow tried.
Sonic was practically biting the palm of his hand but Shadow didn't care. He eventually stopped his wails but with Shadow covering his mouth he was having a hard time breathing and found himself hyperventilating, afraid he wasn't getting enough air.
Sonic's hand wrapped around Shadow's wrist in a desperate attempt to rid the mit from his mouth.
Shadow lets him remove it and Sonic's gripping his hand so hard he might break it.
"Sonic. Let go, look at me. Come on." When Sonic doesn't, Shadow tugs away from his grasp and uses his hands to hold Sonic's head in place forcing him to look at him.
"I can't help you if you don't cooperate with me, Faker, so please listen to me." Shadow makes out. Sonic's breathing is hard and fast and he can't focus. His vision is blurring every once in a while and he feels dizzy despite being seated.
Shadow's breathing in and out demonstrating and trying to get Sonic to do the same. His ankle feels like it's on fire, nerve endings miswired by his injury. Finally after several minutes, Sonic finds himself being able to breathe more easily. The pain hasn't stopped but at least he's calmed down.
Shadow orders him to not move to inspect the wound. Long sharp teeth around the clamps were longed at the base of Sonic's leg where it met his ankle. It was deep and the blood that bubbled and overflowed at the edges combined with lack of light didn't help as Shadow couldn't tell where steel met with bone.
It was bad and any movement caused Sonic to flinch in turn causing it to be even more painful. This wasn't a pretty sight. Every part around it was colored a bright red. Grass-stained beneath too.
Shadow, thinking about it found it very odd that a bear trap was out here in the middle of the forest for no rhyme or reason. No bears surrounded this area as far as he knew nor any other large creatures. Aside from it being cruel, it was incredibly inhuman to capture any animal regardless of size, and trap them like this. The trap itself was out of place. It appeared old anyway by the fact how rusted and discolored the thing appeared. Shadow needs to remove the thing soon because if the trap is as old as he thinks it is, Sonic puts himself at risk of infection from the rust.
"C-can you -uh- can you remove it?" Sonic stuttered, finally being able to find his voice.
Shadow sighs with a lack of good news, "I can, but I'm not going to lie to you Sonic, it's going to hurt bad."
Sonic winces at that and hums to himself. "Y-you have to. Y-you can do it."
Shadow doesn't really want to but it's not like he has any other choice. The last thing he wants to do is further inflict pain on the blue hero but it's his only option if he wants to get him out of this forest.
"Are you sure?" Shadow questions.
Sonic nods, not trusting his voice again.
Before doing anything, the lifeform looks around him and picks up a lone branch, handing it to Sonic.
"Just so that you don't burst out my eardrums this time."
Sonic seems taken aback but doesn't have the time to ponder when Shadow has both hands at each clamp from either side ready to flip it open. The small unmoving pressure makes him jerk again and Sonic shoves the branch in between his teeth and unintentionally tells Shadow he's ready. The grass between his fingers is the only thing he's holding onto at this point.
Shadow doesn't want to count down because he knows Sonic might stop him. It might not be the case but out of precaution, he had to do this without warning. He turns to Sonic before he does so and tells him "I'm sorry" before he splits the jaws wide open enough to where it's no longer clamping around Sonic's ankle and he throws it quickly away to the side trying to make sure his fingers don't get caught in it.
Sonic breaks the branch into two and it falls out of his mouth and he's right back to his wailing that echoes through the forest.
Shadow lets him this time because damn he knows this is not something that could be brushed off. There's nothing that he can wrap Sonic's ankle with and he panics because removing the trap only triggers further bleeding to the surface and overflow the gashes.
The lifeform doesn't have an emerald with him to heal Sonic but he could still teleport to his place of choice regardless. He picks up Sonic quickly into bridal style before teleporting to the hedgehog's home.
He sets the wounded one down on the floor and looks around the kitchen and bathroom cabinets to find a first aid kit. When he does he returns and thanks to his medical background and training he's able to carefully precisely stitch, wrap, and bandage Sonic's injury.
Sonic doesn't say anything through this, just letting Shadow take over. He hates being this vulnerable, especially to someone like Shadow who has only boasted about how invulnerable he is. The blue hero was just tired and his head was still spinning. He was not sure if it was the race or the bloodloss making him tired but it didn't matter, his eyes longed for closure.
He doesn't realize he's dozing off until Shadow taps him on the cheek to awaken him. He sits up with the help of Shadow and a few pills are thrown into his mouth alongside a glass of water being pushed to his lips allowing that cold liquid to flow down his throat.
'It'll help with the pain. Now let's get you to bed so you can rest. Do you prefer me to carry you or do you want to try walking?"
On any other day Sonic wouldn't dare let Shadow come even close to carrying him around like some damsel in distress but this time he was too tired to argue or even attempt to stand so he just shook his head and wrapped an arm around Shadow's neck signaling he preferred to be carried to his bedroom.
Understanding, Shadow picks him up once again and proceeds to make his way into the hedgehog's bedroom. He sets Sonic upright briefly while he pulls away at the covers before laying him down under them. The moment Sonic's head hit the pillow he was out like a light.
Shadow stepped back in relief. Tonight had been quite eventful. He knew two important things. Sonic was going to be okay and also he had won the race between them.
Shadow was going to rub that in Sonic's face at any chance he got. That's for damn sure.
Tomorrow I'm supposed to present my essay to my professor that's due this Sunday so that she can review my progress but I haven't even started nor have a topic picked out either pfffff. Uh, I promise after writing this I will start that essay. This is more important right now. That's for sure *wink*.