limon-florcempoalli bringing some seriously aesthetic art on tumblr
it looks so much like a childrens book illustration i had to show my friends
The hoglet found himself screaming at the top of his lungs as the adult moved even faster than ever before. Ivory paws clasped the leather cloak with a passion, silently begging the fingers not to fail him as the wind began to take his body. Terrifyingly, Silver's small body began to lift - barely touching the back of the ranger as drag threatened to whisk him away. The only thing he could think to do was grip tighter.
Shadow's erratic movements did nothing to help the small hedgehog's situation. As he bolted along the rough ground, the ranger made abrupt skids and hops; avoiding trees as he raced towards an unknown goal. Unsurprisingly, his cape billowed behind him like a flag in the wind - catching in the orange trail and flickering the ambient energy in various directions.
Silver wasn't particularly aware of the orange energy until he had calmed down enough to open his eyes. It's soft glow seemed to emanate off the dorsal side of the speeding hedgehog - surrounding the hoglet in an ethereal warm light. It was… surprisingly comforting. Although it was definitely Chaos energy, there was no heat or pain that arrived from it: unlike a bolt or attack of energy. Silver took a deep breath, feeling the energy travel through his body. How remarkable that it made him feel so strong while it appeared so beautiful. Looking behind felt like staring into one of the auroral flames. The flickers and sparks that occasionally zipped by turned to fading red as the orange light faded into the distance.
With a jolt, Silver felt the adult hop a crack. The long distance was cleared with a mere skip as momentum carried the duo over the great crevice. It was remarkable how physics worked at great speeds. What would have taken a great effort was now but a breath as velocity did most of the work. Rough terrain was reduced to a slight wobble as the uneven footholds messed with the adult's balance ever so slightly. Silver only pulled himself closer to the ranger's back. He had no intention of falling off after all.
It was almost intoxicating. The wind in his quills, the energy flowing through his body….Why didn't Shadow do this more often? It was exhilarating to watch the trees blast by at blurring speeds. The orange lights around him soothed his muscles as the once white-knuckle grip loosened. He wasn't going to fall off easily. For one, he was between Shadow's back quills. That alone would keep him from shifting too far to either side in case the adult made a turn. Secondly, the slipstream around the adult stopped the air from dragging him backwards as it did in the beginning. So why did Shadow seem so adamant about not traveling at such speeds?
The universe seemed to have a sense of humor. The very second Silver asked himself that simple question, a feeling arose in his belly. It was if his head had enough of the fantastical experience and started allowing things to happen. First came the motion sickness. The whizzing trees and steady back and forth movements of Shadow's body began to make the hoglet's head spin - roiling about in his little body like a swirling bucket of old grease. The ups and downs of the ground began to shake the hoglet at his bones. Every rock and twig that Shadow's boots crossed jolted into his young body. What was this feeling in his stomach?
Nausea.
What he was feeling… was nausea.
The rocking of Shadows body, the rough terrain, whizzing trees, and flickering lights all culminated into one awful feeling that would not go away. Coldness crept into his body as it grew worse and worse. Even if he closed his eyes, the feeling did not leave. Merely it grew; steadily licking at his belly as time crept awfully on. His fur began to stand on end - freezing sweat beading his body as trembles began to uncontrollably shiver through his muscles. Ohh he was gonna be sick.
Remembering the signal, and feeling quite urgent, Silver extended his claws - feeling the pointy keratin poke through the tough fabric. A few gut wrenching seconds passed, achingly dragging on the young hedgehog as he waited for the adult to notice.
Shadow scrunched to a stop, boots grinding on pebbles and dirt as he slid down the wooded area. Stones and dust wafted past them, forcing the adult to bring his hand to his eyes to shield from the clouded particles. Silver wasted no time in sliding off the adult.
"What ever could you-"
Shadow was unable to finish his sentence as Silver crouched over a nearby crack and heaved - emptying the contents of his stomach into the deep hole without any time to spare. Coughing and hacking, he continued. Although it wasn't a pleasant experience, and hardly a new one, it somehow felt better to empty his stomach than try to keep it in.
A sigh of average proportions escaped the adult as he approached the nauseated child. Crouching next to the gagging hedgehog, Shadow patted Silver on the back. The hoglet only coughed, spitting and salivating at the bitter taste that invaded his mouth.
"I'll try to slow down." Shadow sighed, standing back up. "However I don't know how often we can afford to stop as we must hurry."
Wiping his muzzle, Silver stood - wobbling slightly from the weird airy feeling that usually followed throwing up.
"I should have left you behind." Shadow grumbled, shaking his head and kneeling slightly so Silver could clamber to his shoulders.
"No." Silver coughed, gripping onto the leather with a passion. "I want to come."
"Are you sure?" Shadow asked, turning his hooded head slightly to look over his shoulder.
Silver nodded.
"You will run into Mephiles again."
Another nod.
How on earth could Silver explain that being apart from Shadow was infinitely more terrifying than being with fire or facing Mephiles. He needed Shadow. The adult was the only thing in his life besides Fliss that made him feel safe.
Silver felt his ears droop as the adult bolted off again - this time at a mildly slower pace. Why did the mere thought of Fliss make him feel so sad? What even were these feelings he had? What even are feelings? It wasn't like he could ask Shadow. The mere speed he traveled at combined with the slipstream made the environment near soundless. The only noise the young hedgehog could hear was a soft whooshing blow in his ears. Talking to the ridiculously fast ranger was impossible.
Even if he could, what would he even say? He missed Fliss? That was an obvious statement with no leads or questions to the burning inside. No words his young mind could even tag to the feeling even came remotely close to the true scale of it all. Hurts? Sad? Miss? Nothing words in a nothing brain that didn't quite know how to think abstractly yet.
Fliss seemed to know how to read him. She was always comforting the young hoglet and guiding him through chores. She taught him a lot. Her soft smile and baby blue eyes always danced in his head whenever he was cleaning up a mess or staring at a flicky off in the distance. Her gentle pink arms always held him while he was sad. Those motherly hands tended his scrapes and bathed his fur far better than Shadow ever could. The ranger was rough hard and cold on the outside; never smiling and always blankly staring ahead. Fliss was gentle soft and warm though and through; always smiling with grace and beauty. The bird was an angel of light in every way. Oh how Silver wished he could see her again…
Burying his face into the adult's shoulder, Silver let loose a few tears. Why did he feel so sad? Why did he miss her so bad? He had known her as long as he lived, why couldn't he just feel better?
Perhaps he just needed to hold on tighter to Shadow. If Fliss couldn't be there for him, perhaps Shadow would be. The adult had been tirelessly caring for him since the day he showed up in that old orphanage. Even if she was gone, Shadow would be there. He was the Hero after all. Undefeated champion of the world - mentor of Signal - raiser of heroes; what couldn't this hedgehog do? If he was with Shadow, why was he still missing Fliss? Silver didn't know.
With a jump - the ranger in question cleared another crack - expertly vaulting off trees as the unexpected density forced razor sharp movements. It was spectacularly precise how Shadow met his obstacles. Every leap, hop, step, and slide was expertly executed with not a quill out of place. Silver found himself twisted this way and that through as he was drug behind the parkour master. It was difficult not to feel sick, however the hoglet could keep it in this time.
It was true that Shadow felt very urgent about the River Village situation. Even though the adult wanted to get there as soon as possible, he was still at least kind enough to travel at a reasonable speed - despite the fact time was of the essence. Speaking of, it seemed like a day had already passed from the soreness of Silver's muscles. Although his hedgeling instinct still allowed unconscious grip strength that could crack walnuts, it was still work to stay on the adult's back. The emotional turmoil had been carrying for some time, and it felt like it should have been nightfall. He must have been thinking about Fliss for hours. However, it was still light outside. Was there some magic with how Shadow was running?
The adult stopped his side to side arm movements. Jumbling Silver into a slightly uncomfortable position, his right hand reached back and caught hold of the cape. Fingers fumbled with the leather until a clasp was found. Silver knew exactly what would happen next as the adult clipped it into his left boot.
Gliding was always fun.
The treeline broke as sand and rock blasted into the air. Loose particles floated high into the air as Shadow's boots kicked up a storm cloud of dust and sand. It was eerie how no plant life grew in this desertish area.
Gently, the landscape curved downwards - sand and rock meeting Silver's eyes as the sudden slope took them further and further down. The hoglet felt the ranger's muscles tense as he gripped the edges of his cloak, preparing for another leap. Silver, in turn, braced for the lack of ground - waiting to watch the landscape carry away.
With a sudden crouch, and an impressive push, Shadow leapt off the sandy surface and extended his arms - letting the wind catch in his cloak like a sail. Silver watched as the landscape turned to a cliff beneath him - displaying deep trenches and large, almost mountainous rocks below. Gold eyes dilated at the brown and yellow environment. The erosion and grooves in the cliffs and stone were unlike anything he had ever seen.
"Ugh what I wouldn't give for my air shoes right now." Shadow grumbled, clearly reacting to the drop in speed as the duo glided downwards.
Visions of transparent shoes that wafted and waved like the summer breeze filled Silver's mind as he tried to imagine what air shoes would even look like. Were they invisible? Did they blow about like a breeze? They must have been the ugliest looking shoes then if they were invisible. All someone would see were Shadow's feet.
"Air shoes?" Silver asked, giggling to himself as more and more daydreams of invisible boots floated through his mind.
"My old kicks." Shadow mumbled, the strange speech pattern shining once again. "They could make me run as fast as Sonic."
Silver gasped, sparkles shining in his eyes at the mention of the Hero of Old. Shadow could run as fast as Sonic once?
"How fast?" Silver asked, leaning in closer to the hooded head.
"Mach five." Shadow responded bluntly, making a slight course adjustment in his aerial travel. "Without them, the best I can muster is Mach four - with Mach three being my average."
Silver stared blankly. What did Mach mean?
"Is that how fast Sonic could go?"
"At first." Shadow responded. "Although as he got older, I think his top speed reached somewhere around Mach ten."
"Mach ten?" Silver asked, obviously confused by the ratio of measurement.
"Meaning if you ran around the equator at that speed, it would take you three hours and twenty minutes to come back to your original location."
Shadow touched down on the dirt, blasting through the environment at a slower pace than before.
"How fast are we going now." Silver asked, looking for a point of reference.
"Roughly four hundred blocks per hour." Shadow answered, dashing around the base of a monumental rock formation. "On the surface, I was clocking in at about six hundred."
Before Silver could ask any other questions, a rusted metallic structure caught his large eyes. Shadow was running towards it, thankfully, but even as he got a closer look - it wasn't like anything he'd ever seen. Not even in the Gravity Fields.
The best way he could describe it was like a shoe. It was a large metal shoe with a house on top of it. If it was a shoe, then who did it belong to?
"Ugh blast this gravity." Shadow cussed, weaving through a series of natural spires. "We're losing time."
"Why?" Silver asked, curious as ever.
"We're well below sea level." Shadow grumbled, jumping a rock. "Or the old sea level at least. The atmospheric pressure is creating so much drag."
Silver looked across the leveling plain. It didn't look like water had been here. As Shadow picked up his pace, the comforting glow of chaos energy surrounded the young hedgehog once again. The faster travel was definitely rougher on the hoglet's body, but Shadow's urgency was still an issue. The ranger was dead set on reaching River Village as soon as possible, and it seemed as if nothing would stop him.
A line of blue appeared on the horizon as Shadow unclipped his cloak. It inched steadily closer as the adult readied himself for some sort of...thing. What was Shadow bracing for?
The more he stared at the line of blue, the more Silver realized that it was water. The most water he had ever seen in one place. The hoglet didn't even know that water could remain on the ground in one place for so long - let alone take up his entire peripheral vision. Was Shadow going to swim the water?
No.
Shadow was not.
As the sight absorbing water raced towards them, Shadow adjusted his footing - running on top of the surface like it was a mattress pad. Grunting, the ranger picked up his speed - not wanting to fall in as he crossed the enormous body of liquid. Silver reached out with his arm - feeling the ocean spray brush against his face from the cloud of mist the black hedgehog kicked up. He couldn't hear himself laughing from the rate he traveled, yet the young child knew that he was from his open mouth and twitching lungs. Oh how spectacular the water looked! It took up every corner of his vision - dusting him with refreshingly cool droplets. The mere smell brought smiles to the hoglet's lips. It was all even better than his already nonexistent expectations. Oh how beautiful everything was. Salty, sparkly, deliciously rich water. He wished he could stay here forever.
But alas, Shadow would eventually reach land.
River Village was in trouble, after all.