may or may not be based on childhood hatred of certain trees
Run.
That's all Silver could think about as he bolted through the woods. It had been several days on the road and boy was it exhausting. Shadow had insisted on Silver walking a lot of the way to "build muscle", whatever that meant. However, noticing the hoglet had nothing to dress himself with, the adult had decided to take an alternate route to stop in a village a ways away. Which led to the moment where Silver currently was.
Running for his life.
Again.
Silver wasn't nearly as frightened of the stalkers now. Especially considering he had to hide from something that even Shadow was scared of. But since the adult had gone foraging, there was no one to defend Silver. Of course he was still frightened. Those jaws filled with three shining rows of teeth certainly could kill him in one snap. But Silver had more experience since last he saw them.
"Shadow!" He shrieked, trying yet again to get the adult's attention. Alas there was still nothing.
A low hanging branch caught the hoglet's attention; and within an adrenaline filled moment, Silver found himself halfway up a tree with no idea how he got there. The snapping jaws below forced the young hedgehog's limbs to wrap tightly around the trunk of the sticky, pokey pine tree without a moment's thought. Where was Shadow when he was needed?
The beasts howled, scratching their huge claws on the base of the pine, shaking the tree in an attempt to loosen the hoglet from below. In return, Silver only grabbed tighter, masses of sap pressing into his fur along with bark and moss. Raging mobs of creatures accumulated at the forest floor, snarling and growling in starvation induced madness. The black mass of monsters writhed together, each taking turns pouncing and trying to climb the coniferous tree. One got a foothold, launching upwards and snapping at the hedgehog easily a story up still.
Silver screeched again, reaching over he pulled a sizable pine cone off a branch. With a howl he chucked it at the nearest beast, the hard and spiky seed pod bouncing off the tough hide without even leaving a mark. Pine cone after pine cone were thrown at the snarling stalkers, the young hedgehog not even aiming as he haphazardly threw them below with anything he could grab within arms reach.
"Shadow!" He cried again, hollering into the air as the beasts tried to stack upon one another in their hunt.
A flash of light and a loud explosion rocked the tree as Silver clung on for dear life. Shadow's shouting voice filled the air as the stalkers turned their attention away from the tree and on the adult. Silver looked down upon the scene below, watching to see what happened.
Shadow stormed in from between some bushes and stared at the creatures. From below the dark leather hood, Silver spotted two glowing eyes that seethed rage. The ranger raised his crackling hand, and what the hoglet could only interpret as some fire/lightning hybrid erupted from the leather gloves. The beasts scattered, circling around the adult in a hungry mob. Yet, Shadow seemed unfazed. His hand raised again and the red magic shot out. Snarling and howling filled the air as the beast's burning cries raised higher. Enraged, one charged the black hedgehog, but Shadow merely stepped to the side.
Silver found himself briefly raised from the branch he was seated on as the stalker crashed into his tree. Squeaking, he clung tighter, not wanting to be dislodged and thrown into the hungry mouths below. Red light shone again.
The acrid smell of burning flesh wafted into the hoglet's nostrils, causing a cough of distaste to come out of Silver. He gagged as the burnt beast fled into the woods. The remaining group charged Shadow briefly, but ultimately fled when the ranger did not budge. Dust kicked up behind the cowering claws as they bolted into the deep woods.
"That will do it." Shadow called up. "Jump down so I can catch you."
"I'm stuck." Silver hoarsely answered, coughing from the miserable stench of burnt stalker flesh.
"Stuck how?" The adult asked.
"It's sticky." Silver coughed.
Shadow sighed. Heavy boots gripped onto the lowest branch as the ranger hoisted himself into the tree. With about as much effort as it takes to breathe, Shadow scaled the tall pine and seated himself next to the stuck child. The hood was slid back as red eyes expertly assessed the situation.
"Glue sap." Shadow sighed, gripping his face with his gloves. "You sure ran up the wrong tree."
"Glue sap?" Silver choked out, unable to even move from his predicament.
"It's a powerful adhesive." Shadow explained. "When normal glue went out of production after the fall, a group of botanists engineered a fir species to secrete a similar substance."
A knife was produced out of the ranger's cloak. Golden eyes shut as the metal object was wedged between the small body and the bark. Was he really this stuck?
"Of course the trees spread." Shadow continued. "And now they are found all over this forest."
Silver found himself grabbed by the waist and pulled. The sap pulled back, causing his fur to pull. As the whining hoglet was pulled harder, the sap stretched and webbed, following the hedgehog's body like a toddler's thumb and nose mucus. Finally the sap gave, leaving the sore child with tears in his eyes from the experience.
"If you're going to go climbing trees." Shadow stated, pulling a pinecone off a branch. "Look for the distinct oval plates on the cones and avoid tree hugging."
Without warning, the adult leaned back. Falling gracefully off the tree with a screaming child and landed on the soft ground below. Red eyes inspected the hoglet, looking for signs of injury and infection. Luckily, Silver was clear.
"Well… there's a village a few miles from here." Shadow sighed. "I picked the road because you need a few things, but if I recall correctly they have hot springs in there too."
Silver sighed dejectedly.
"Maybe we'll get that sap off of you." The ranger groaned. "In the meantime, try not to…uh…touch anything."
The walk there was…miserable. Sap clogged up the poor hoglets joints so much, the best he could muster for a pace was a stupid looking crabwalk. His young body was sore and stiff from the run, but it was ultimately useless to ask Shadow to carry him. Gluing himself to the highly active ranger would be a death sentence to someone as fragile as a hoglet.
Hours passed as the child miserably wobbled down the path. The road was mostly silent as the two progressed, with Shadow occasionally dropping his hood to glance a sympathetic look as he guided the stiffened child along. The sun just hit noon when Silver began to notice little stacks of smoke rising into the air.
When the duo finally arrived in town, it dawned on the youngling he had never been in a town before. It was quite quaint. The roofs were not the rotten wood tile of the orphanage, but thatched; stitched together from various leaves and hay. The shops and houses were built from mud brick and arranged around each other in neat rows for easy mobility. And speaking of shops, they were captivating. Silver had never seen so much…stuff before.
Stalls upon stalls of fragrant food and meals the small hoglet had never even dreamed existed. Ropes of vibrant color draped over spools of thread that glistened with the colors of the rainbow. Woven rugs of wool danced along the walls and doorways - decorating the space with carefully crafted patterns and shapes. Silver thought he was in heaven. Golden eyes flitted back and forth, taking in the views and colors he had never even seen. A bird so exotic, it seemed it was pulled out of a sunset, preened itself at the corner of the lane. An elderly snake lovingly rolled sauces and pastes into a scrumptious looking dumpling. A young giraffe carved away at a pot that glistened like pools of water. A lemur dipped a mass of fur into a large barrel, pulling it out to reveal it stained a brilliant blue.
Scents and sounds wafted through the air and into the tiny ivory hedgehog's senses. The heavenly stimulants almost carried Silver into the air, beckoning him with soft airy fingers and whispering like a song. Stumbling, he fell forwards - falling into the siren call of sights to see and sounds to hear. Slowly, he approached a stand.
"Hey!" Shadow barked, startling the hoglet. "You're still full of sap."
Silver stiffened. Shadow was right. In the haze of pleasant new experiences, he had almost blocked out that his movement was painfully restricted by the glue sap. Cheeks flushed red as he waddled back to the adults side.
"I know someone in town who can get this off." Shadow sympathetically explained. "Lets see if she knows what to do.
After about twenty minutes of walking through the wonderland of stalls, the two eventually arrived at a wooden building. Going up the steps was a bit difficult for Silver, especially since the glue had hardened a bit and was beginning to lock his joints, but with a bit of prodding from the adult, he finally hobbled through the door.
"Hel…oh…." The lady from the front desk trailed off. "Uh…I'll get my aunt."
The wait, although only around a minute, felt like an eternity for the child as awkward thickness hung through the air. Even Shadow seemed to feel it as the normally still adult tapped his heavy leather boots against the wooden boards. Finally the woman returned, followed by an elderly looking badger. Shadow immediately removed his hood.
"Trix I got another one for you." He sighed, gesturing to the hoglet at his side.
"Indeed you do." She mused. Her raspy voice grated Silver's ears, but somehow it was pleasant at the same time.
"Tell me, young one, however did you get into this sticky situation?" She laughed, coughing as she finished her giggle.
"Stalkers chased me up a tree…" Silver shyly whispered, trying his best to slide behind Shadow's strong figure but finding it increasingly difficult to move.
"I've taken another one." Shadow began. "Was out foraging when he got caught up a glue fir."
"Another one ey?" She coughed again, looking at Silver with a twinkle in her eyes. "Why this tiny guy?"
"I owe him…." Shadow quietly trailed off.
"I bet you do." The elderly badger smiled. "But standing here hardening won't do any of us any good."
She turned to the back and gestured for the two to follow. Shadow took a stick off of the wall behind Silver and carefully wedged it under the hoglet's arms, helping him unstick from the floorboards with a sickening jolt. Before Silver could do anything else, he found himself hoisted through the air and swiftly down a hallway, getting a full view of steaming rooms with steaming coals inside. Before the child could ask anything, he was swiveled down a hallway and past a set of doors with labels that he couldn't read.
"We remodeled so it's out this door now." The badger lady called from up ahead. And before Silver could ask any questions, he found himself blinded by the sunlight.