Childhood egocentricism
gotta love it
When Shadow finally screeched to a halt, it felt like it had been days of nonstop travel. Even though Silver had closed his eyes more than once to get some rest, the sun had never set in the longest day he could ever imagine. Was Shadow lying when he said it would take a few days? How long had the two been running? Was time warped somehow?
Parting some branches, Shadow walked to a cliff - something Silver was not particularly expecting in this relatively flat area. In the blur of trees and stone, Silver had forgotten to take a look at the entirely new biome he was carried through. Rather than the coniferous trees he was used to, these trees were….different. They reached for the sky - limbs extending upwards with leaves greener than he had ever seen. There had to be at least twenty on each tree. Slowly counting the paper-like growths proved him right as he observed the wonderfully twisty trunks and arms. Silver was enchanted. How much differently did these trees act than the normal ones?
Gold eyes turned to the cliff as Shadow crouched on the ground - hand to his hooded brows. Slowly, the adult peered across the deep trench that grooved the landscape, scanning for things Silver couldn't care less about. The ravine itself was...anomalous to say the least. Most cracks and canyons that Silver had seen were jagged and irregular; twisting through the ground like lightning bolts in the ground. Lazer Ravine, however, was a perfectly straight line.
It swept across the ground like a slice in a fish - perfectly bisecting the flesh of the earth. Peering down the smoothly steep walls revealed a trench at least a hundred paces deep. Dried bones and dead plants littered the bottom: indicating whoever or whatever fell down there had a difficult time getting out. Silver shuddered, shaking his head as he imagined what would happen if he were to somehow slide down the impossibly straight landform. Would Shadow be able to get him out?
"I came from the north." Shadow sighed, internally kicking himself for some indiscernible reason. "Must have miscalculated my location."
"What does that mean?" Silver asked.
"I have to jump the ridge, hold on."
Shadow turned and jogged into the woods behind him. Silver clamped his hands tighter, reacting to the unusual bounciness of the ranger's stride. Up and down, up and down he sprung, head flopping about in the rough pace. It seemed he was going to be rather shaken up by the end of this.
Abruptly, Shadow turned on his heel and dropped low, hands planting into the ground as his body charged with a burst of energy. Before Silver could even register the situation, the ranger was off - bolting through the woods at high speeds once again. It was only a few seconds before the ravine was in view again; this time with the adult executing a massive leap.
For a few gut wrenching seconds, Silver watched the ground beneath them fall away. The hoglet could only hold his breath as Shadow flew through the air with arms outstretched like an eagle's wings. The other edge grew steadily closer as Shadow reached the apex of his jump, body bracing for some sort of action. Silver squeezed his eyes shut. He had no idea if they would even make it to the other side and the thought of tumbling down into the ravine was terrifying. Oh How he hoped Shadow jumped right…
The downwards force almost slammed the hoglet through the adult as leather boots plunged into the dead grass. Dispelling the momentum with a twisting roll and a sharp exhale, the ranger finished his jump- looking around with sharp eyes for signs of danger. Before any words could be exchanged, Silver found himself placed on the ground.
"There's a nearby road we will travel." Shadow spoke, pulling his skewed hood back into place. "Your muscles will require work after three days of disuse."
Three days? The sun hadn't set once. What kind of magic was Shadow talking about?
"Come." Shadow ordered, standing from his kneeled position and walking southward. "We will reach River Village well after sundown."
Oh now the sun was going to set. With a pout, Silver skittled after the adult - not picking himself to a standing position until he had reached the sturdy ankles. What kind of time magic was Shadow pulling off. Three days. Hah. More like one really long one.
Parting a bush, Shadow stepped down into a well established road. Silver jumped after him, boots clacking onto the cobbles and stone as he leapt from the slightly higher banks above. It was… odd …. seeing a path that was not made of dirt. Most roads he had seen were paths carved by foot travel and weather, not intentionally upkept structures. Kneeling down, the ivory hedgehog slid his hands across the surface - feeling the smoothened bumps and grooves in his fingertips. Wow. Someone took time to actually make this road.
"Silver." Shadow called, the one word command startling the curious child.
Obediently, Silver stood from his place on the cobble - jogging to the adult's side at the beck of his name. Feeling a bit wanderish, he slid his paws into the elder's gloves. The best way to look around and not have to worry too much about direction or obstacles was to hold someone's hand after all. He could stare in as many directions as he liked as long as Shadow was safely dragging him along. The hooded hand briefly flicked to look at the hoglet before settling on watching the road. Silver grinned, clasping the large fingers tight.
"Do people fall in the crack?" Silver asked, looking behind his back to where the two had met the road.
"Yes." Shadow responded, not looking down at his charge. "Although the village had developed a way to pull people and livestock out,"
"Oh?" Silver peeped, turning his eyes back to the ranger.
"Usually they send one person down, tethered to a rope, and tie the soul below onto a cart which uses pulleys to hoist them both back up." Shadow explained bluntly.
Silver's blank expression went unnoticed by the adult. A pulley? What sort of contraption was that? Did it pull things?
Shadow's glove tightened around his tiny paw, reacting to the road while it curved to the right. Laser Ravine reappeared into the hedgehog child's view as a break in the trees revealed the trench once more. A different type of stone caught the young eyes as the gray cobbles mixed with brown.
It was…odd… to say the least. Not only did the brown stone look like it came from a different region, it also appeared to be from a different era. Stone pillars peeked out from the trees, catching the light in a dull orange. Staring at the strange monuments, the hoglet reached the conclusion that these were the oldest constructions he had ever seen. The old carvings were nearly worn away from wind and rain, truly standing the test of time against the cruel hand of nature. There had to be at least fifty. It was amazingly bizarre. All this? On the ridge of a cliff? Gold eyes watched the edge of the precipice, holding tighter onto the adult's steady hand.
"There used to be an ancient structure there." The ebony hedgehog sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "It's a shame, really…"
"What happened?" Silver asked, turning his head back towards the ranger with a flick.
Shadow visibly stiffened. Slowly, his pace dwindled to a halt. Annoyed, Silver twisted his little head up to the adult, a slight frown gracing his features as the ranger stood statue still.
"I happened."
That was a… very cryptic answer. Questioningly, Silver stared at the edge of the hood - hoping the elder would at least give him eye contact.
"Sometimes, when faced with great challenges, you have to take up power that is beyond your limits." Shadow continued, voice lowering and head sinking. "You do things in the hope that some people will be spared."
Red eyes met gold, a tinge of sadness shining underneath a mask of apathy.
"Such battles are extremely….taxing." Shadow spoke, voice barely above a whisper in his state of mournful remembrance. "A battle for control over the entire world."
Slowly, the hooded head turned towards the ravine, hands loosening as internal reflection visibly took hold of the adult.
"I tried to hold it back." Shadow confessed, letting go of the hoglet's tiny hand to meander over to the edge. "However, I missed my shot."
A few seconds passed as the ranger stared down at the geographical landmark - cloak swaying in the soft wind as silence rung through the canyon. Silver found himself feeling quite melancholy. It probably had something to do with the elder's saddened state.
"It dodged my strike, and now the earth bears the scars of my mistakes." Shadow spoke, lifting his hands.
Red met gold once again.
"An entire encampment gone in an instant."
Silver frowned. Although this moment clearly meant a lot for Shadow, the young hedgehog couldn't help but feel annoyed. He just wanted a simple answer to a simple question. Not some weirdly sad moment. Why even was Shadow so sad? It was just an accident.
"How far til we reach the village?" Silver asked, turning away and facing back down the road.
"I suppose you are a little too young to understand the weight of such tragedies." Shadow sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "This is why I refrain from history lessons."
Silver caught the adult's hand as he walked past - allowing himself to be drug away by the superior pace. Oddly enough, Shadow's previous sadness had completely disappeared; leaving the ivory hoglet to think as he pleased.
The first thing that crossed his mind was, of course, food. He hadn't eaten in a few days and it was starting to wear on his belly. Perhaps when they reached the village, Shadow could buy some food. Oh… markets were good. If there was a market, perhaps there could be apples - or even raspberries. The young mouth drooled at the thought. Sugary sweet fruits were so high on his enjoyment list - along with the honeyed rabbit. Mm… honeyed rabbit.
A rumble filled the air as Silver filled his head with dreams of food. The loud gurgling was beginning to hurt, only making the noise more deafening. This sound did not go unnoticed by the adult either. With a sigh, and the shake of his head, Shadow assessed the situation.
"We'll get you food once we reach the village." He sighed, squeezing the smaller hand slightly. "I know you can last a few more hours."
"I'm so hungry…" Silver moaned, using his left hand to rub his abdomen.
With a flick of the hand, Shadow threw his knife - blade slicing through the air and pinning itself to the trunk of a nearby tree with a loud reverberating twang. Silver jumped, startled by the powerful throw and the loud noise. Did the ranger always have to be so sudden with everything? Walking over to his vibrating blade, the adult wiggled it loose - releasing a small amount of nuts and seeds into his gloved hand.
"This will tide you over." Shadow spoke, dumping the handful into Silver's paws. "Eat it slowly."
Just as Silver was about to ask where the nuts came from, an object flew from the treetops and bounced off the range's hood. Loud chittering squeaked from the branches, prompting the adult to take Silver's hand and lead him back onto the road.
"Did we-"
"Relax." Shadow interrupted. "I only took a tiny portion of its store."
"What is it?" Silver asked, slowly popping a rather bitter tasting seed into his mouth
"A squirrel." Shadow responded bluntly. "They used to be common on most continents, but now they are only found here."
Silver glanced behind him, catching a glimpse of a rather angry and bushy tailed creature. Despite its loud noises and rather aggressive demeanor, Silver found the small thing to be quite cute. He felt a little guilty for taking some of its food, but it certainly looked like it had a lot. Especially since it was throwing more nuts at them.
"Thank you!" Silver called out, hoping to express at least a little gratitude towards the angry rodent.
Shadow only shook his head.