shadow wouldn't admit it, but it wasn't silver's words that changed his mind
Silver awoke well before the crack of dawn. That alone was particularly annoying since it was a weekend and the hoglet had been planning on sleeping in, but what was even more annoying was the sounds of rummaging. With a frown on his face, the hoglet turned to the wall, throwing the pillow over his head in the hopes it would help him sleep.
It seemed, by the hoglet's perspective, that Shadow never slept. Every time the young hedgehog was up in the wee hours of the night, the adult was doing something downstairs. Be it reading a book, polishing his blades, or even curing meat for the next morning; Shadow was awake and about. Come to think of it, the only time the hoglet had even seen the ebony hedgehog close his eyes for more than a few minutes was after he defeated Melfis. Even then, by the time Silver had woken up from his nap - Shadow had already been awake for some time.
The sound of a lid closing interrupted the hoglet's thoughts. What could he possibly be doing this time? Silver had no idea.
Since his brain was more than ready to be awake, the ivory child pulled off the covers with a groan. Scratching an itch in his face, he stood - eyes turning to the ladder that would take him downstairs. Might as well get some answers then. The second his foot touched the wooden rungs, the rummaging stopped.
"Go back to bed, Silver." Shadow groaned, boots sliding on stone as the adult turned to look at the descending hedgehog. "I've prepared you rations for the next few days - I trust you remember your cooking lessons."
"Rations?" Silver asked, ears perking up at the word. "Where are you going?"
"To make a routine check in Laser Ravine." The ranger bluntly answered, attaching his familiar belt and pouch to his waist. "I make a point to go there every six months, and I'm well delayed since I wanted you to at least be able to care for yourself while I'm out."
"How long has it been since you've been?" The hoglet asked, bare paws touching the ground as he finished his descent.
The adult paused, staring up through a hole in the clouds at the stars.
"Let's see, it was March when I passed through the North woods…" Shadow mumbled, walking out into the field a short distance to get a better look. "I picked you up then, which delayed me by four months - making…"
Shadow raised his hand to his brow, squinting as the clouds thinned in another area. For a second he stood, red eyes scanning the sky before resting on a bright star.
"...this month August." Shadow finished, staring off another direction down the field. "It's been two hundred and twenty eight days since the Crescent Festival - marking today the sixteenth. I am two months and four days late."
"Woah…" Silver marveled - looking at the stars through the intermittent holes. "How can you tell."
"Constellation positions and time since sunset." Shadow responded, turning back towards the house. "Now please get some rest."
"I want to come…" Silver mumbled, awkwardly shuffling his feet on the ground. "Where's Laser Ravine?"
"I don't know..." Shadow sighed, stowing a dagger in his left boot. "You're still very young."
"Didn't you take the others with you…?" Silver asked, stepping closer to the adult.
"Signal is the only exception." Shadow responded. "Only because I had no idea how to deal with children at the time."
"Oh…" Silver mumbled.
Staring up at the ranger's back, Silver began to sniffle. If he was all alone back at the house, how would Shadow defend him? The hoglet couldn't bear the thought of being alone. If the stalkers decided to come, he wasn't sure if he could throw enough rocks to fend them off. And even though Shadow had taught the child how to start a fire and cook with the materials gathered, the young hedgehog still hated the flames and tried to make the ranger start the fires as often as possible. There was no way he would be doing that. What if he got seriously hurt? Shadow couldn't just leave him here, he was only five! How on earth would he survive?
"No tears." Shadow commanded, spying the distorting face of the child. "Certainly I thought you'd be wanting at least a little independence."
"I don't want to be alone…" Silver sniffled, staring at the unlit fire pit. "I don't want to get hurt…"
"What makes you think you'd get hurt?" Shadow asked, attaching his sheathes to his belt.
"I'm still so little…" The hoglet answered, lower lip trembling. "And...I can't light the fire I'll-"
"Are you still afraid of fire?" Shadow grumbled in annoyance, slinging rope across his chest and securing it with a gold clasp.
The white hedgehog could only nod. As he always did, Shadow let out another sigh. Silver couldn't count how many times he had heard that dissatisfied noise. He figured if he had a ring every time he heard one, he would be rich by the end of the year.
"Please…?" Silver squeaked, holding his paws close to his chest.
"No." Shadow bluntly answered.
"But-"
"It's far too dangerous for someone as small as you." Shadow interrupted, having already calculated the excuses Silver could make. "I took a great risk even bringing you here."
"But-"
"No 'but's." Shadow snapped, aggressively sheathing one of his knives. "I don't want to start putting you in danger before you're ready."
Putting him in danger? Silver thought back to the past few months. It was true, there was certainly a lot of danger involved on the road. Most children didn't leave their hometown - let alone homestead - until they had finished their first growth spurt. Large eagles and wolves could pick off a small child without any issues - especially since young Mobians were so low on the food chain. To make matters worse: Silver had been malnourished up until Shadow showed up - leaving him delayed developmentally slightly. It was certainly true that he was small for his age and due to this fact… he was definitely vulnerable.
Which was all the more reason not to be left alone.
"But it's dangerous to leave me here!" Silver cried, throwing his hands up and stomping his foot. "Shadow...I'm scared!"
Shadow didn't have to turn around for the hoglet to know he had rolled his eyes.
"Silver, there is no way anyone other than myself could make it through the Gravity Fields." The adult sternly spoke, sheathing the other knife. "The only current exception is Tone - and he's off doing Chaos knows what."
"But I'd get hurt…" Silver sniffled, not backing down. "There's so much that could hurt me here…"
"Like what?"
"Fire… falling rocks...starvation...imfectin…" Silver listed, counting off on his fingers.
"Infection." Shadow corrected with a low grumble.
"I could fall off the upstairs and hit my head… I could eat something raw and die of belly aches…." Silver continued, stalling even further to dance around his main fear.
He couldn't stand the thought of being alone.
Sure Shadow had taught him how to cook and defend himself, yet he hadn't done so on his own. Fliss had always told him that he should always have someone with him until he got bigger; and every stalker chase, demon encounter, and near death experience had only further reinforced this thought. He was too little to be alone.
That and, of course, the fire. If he had to light one single fire while Shadow wasn't right next to him observing - he was certain he would light ablaze and perish. If Shadow left him alone, there would be no warmth, no food, and no light at night. That alone was a terrifying thought. Yet not even starvation and fear of the dark could compare to the fear of being caught again in the burning flames. Even thinking about it brought back the memories of the burning house and crumbling cave.
Being alone and dying of starvation, cold, and darkness was enough to make his fur stand on end. There was no way Silver was going to let himself be left behind. There had to be some way to convince the road block of an adult to let him tag along. Shadow was always adamant of his decisions and convincing him was usually a tough task. But the hoglet knew he had to try.
A low grumble filled the air as the ebony hedgehog put down his cleaning cloth. Bringing himself to his full height, Shadow fully turned around. Glowing red eyes stared down at the small hedgehog; scrutinizing his appearance and build in a brutal glare. Leather arms crossed as the intimidating adult made eye contact. The ranger's brows knit together in a stern look of reproach - foot tapping in disapproval. Silver found himself shuddering under the intense look.
"No."
"Please...I'm too scared to be alone…" Silver choked out, eyes bulging in his attempt to keep back his tears.
Ebony eyelids fell half-way as Silver stared back up. The adult's lips twitched as Silver forced himself into a staring contest. The pearly white fangs bared half heartedly as golden eyes peered back up. Silver knew he was getting somewhat through to the hardened adult. He just needed to keep looking...He dared not to blink…
"No…"
"Please… I don't want to die…"
Unbeknownst to him, Silver's eyes started to dilate - small tears forming in the corners of his large eyes as a look of complete innocence and frailty fell over his body. His lower lip started to tremble as he fought to keep back the tears - Shadow had told him not to cry…
"Please…?"
Shadow's shoulders slumped, head falling in defeat as another sigh carried through the air.
"You're positive you won't survive without me…?" The adult begrudgingly conceded, straightening back up to re-cross his arms.
"Yes…" Silver responded. "I'm paw sitif…"
"You're sure you don't want to be left alone at the house?" Shadow asked. "Unsupervised with total freedom?"
"Yes." Silver responded without missing a beat. He didn't even know what "unsupervised" meant - so he figured it would be better to be "supervised" in case it was a bad thing. Another sigh rung through the tiny ears.
"I'll get you prepared for the road."