I have a background in martial arts so every tutorial i watch to make this fic accurate is only making me more powerful
also i write different notes here than AO3 and im not aware of any viewer crossover
i can say whatever i want about those guys
theyre cool
Woken slightly, Silver turned on his side. Unsurprisingly, the hoglet wasn't quite sure when he fell asleep. He wasn't even sure of where he was, much less how he got there. It was natural, he supposed. Nonstop travel and high stress are bound to sap all the energy from a small child such as himself. It was no wonder he wasn't sure where he was, when he passed out, or how he got to his current location. The last thing he even recalled before drifting off was the figure of Shadow walking away as the golden furred dog carried him home.
A vibration traveled through his body, reminding the irritated youngster of what woke him in the first place. Some thing was making the ground shake and it was going to wake everyone up if whatever it was didn't stop. Frowning, Silver flipped to his other side - throwing the pillow over his head. All he wanted was a nice moment to sleep dangit.
Another earth quake shook his bones, even stronger than before. Without knowing why, an intense feeling of déjà vu washed over his entire body. Why on earth did he feel like he had experienced this before? Anxiety crept up his skin, pushing his fur to stand on end as it washed over his being like a wave. Something was not right.
The ground shook once more, as a horrid realization bolted through his head. This wasn't ground phenomena or stones falling from the sky. These… were footsteps. Footsteps he had heard before.
"Goliath!" He shrieked, standing bolt upright only to get tangled in the blankets. The groans and mumbles of the other household members filled the air as Silver struggled on the ground, wiggling and twisting to get free from the fabric. Out of his sight, the dog who had opened her home to him woke from her slumber.
"Prodigy?" The woman asked, groggily sitting up.
"Where's Shadow?!" He cried, wriggling around. "I need to find Sha-"
"Hey…" The woman soothed, walking over and untangling him from the sheets. "You're safe - it's ok…"
"It's coming!" Silver shrieked, making a break for the window only for the woman to grab his shoulders. "I have to find-"
"Hey - calm down." She gently pressed, holding his cheeks softly. "Everything is going to be ok."
The last of her sentence had barely left her mouth when another footstep shook the ground. Wildly, her brown eyes glanced around, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.
"Wake the town!" Silver begged, taking the hem of her dress in his hands. "Please!"
Nodding, she pulled on a shawl and bolted out of the house, making a beeline for the nearest gate. A few minutes passed as the footsteps grew ever closer. Silver huddled on the ground, fighting and arguing with himself as to whether or not he should run to find Shadow. Should he stay in the house or go out and fight?
A bell rang through the air as the gate guard sounded his alarm, waking the townspeople for a fight. Everyone left their huts and houses, headed to the central road in the hopes of finding weapons for themselves and others. Silver followed, hoping if he stuck with the crowd, he would have a better chance at survival.
The blacksmith hurried out of his shop, arms full of blades as he quickly began distributing the weapons. Watching, Silver noticed that most of the blades were unhilted, making them incredibly difficult to hold. However, something was better than nothing. More blades were tossed around, adults and teens jumping to catch the unfinished batch. Silver found a blade dropped in his paws, unlike the other children who were shuffled into the houses and away from the fight. Already they expected the prodigy to be able to hold his own…
A knife was tossed in the air, however too high as it sailed over the heads of the worried crowd. Hands shot to their skulls - hoping not to get punctured as the sharp metal whirled through the air. However, it never hit the ground. A leather glove snapped upwards, catching the spinning metal object between two fingers as it stopped a hand's width away from two red eyes.
Silently, Shadow examined the blade, turning its unpolished surface over in his hands. The townspeople could only stare on, watching the hero in shock and worry. Wordlessly, Silver bolted to the ranger's side, knees shaking from fear and anxiety of the oncoming beast. Unclasping his rope, Shadow threaded one end through the hole in the knife - where the hilt would have been attached. Golden eyes watched in curiosity as a secure knot was tied. What in the world was he doing? A leather glove reached out towards the hoglet, fingers twitching in a becoming motion. Blinking, Silver handed Shadow his given blade, knowing that his own would be sufficient to defend himself.
"Everyone watch the walls." Shadow commanded, tying the second knife to the other end of the rope. "There are usually stalkers around."
In a smooth motion, Shadow unclasped his cloak and dropped it onto his prodigy. Silver squeaked, surprised by the sudden article of clothing. The leather fell past his feet and wrinkled on the cobbles, hood covering his eyes in a blinding shade of brown as the heavy cape buried him alive. A thump rang through his ears as the shoulder guards rolled off his tiny body and onto the ground. It was safe to say that the adult was much larger than him. With a sigh, Shadow picked up his shoulder guards and re attached them to his shirt with a magnetic clank.
"Try to hold the line, Silver." He ordered. "Remember your training."
"R-right." Silver gasped, pulling the hood off his face.
Turning, Shadow faced the opened gate. A loud metaling clang broke the air as blades hit the ground - sparking on the cobbles from impact. Step by step, the ranger approached the gate, roped knives dragging behind him as he exited the town. Nervous townspeople followed behind, wondering what on earth the fabled hero was even planning.
Shadow stopped twenty paces outside the gate, red eyes scanning the forest for any signs of predators in the night. Stopping at the gate, Silver stepped out in front of the townspeople; realizing for the first time that the ebony adult had asked him to defend the village. What a daunting task that was. Silver had never carried his own in a fight before - let alone defend others. And now Shadow was asking him to do both of those things? Did he really think the young prodigy was ready? The villagers sure did. They handed him a whole knife instead of shuffling him inside with the rest of the kids. Now there were expectations on his shoulders.
Red eyes pierced from just above the treeline as a heavy set of footsteps ground to a halt. Fearfully, the townspeople shuffled back. Goliaths were massive. Silver had almost forgotten how absolutely huge they were. Especially since the last time he had seen one was from underneath a burning building.
A sparking clank pierced the air as Shadow smacked the blades against the road once more, this time as a threat. The goliath shifted, unblinking eyes watching the adult in slight hesitation. A slight burst of energy hit Silver's senses as Shadow charged himself. Raising his hands, the ranger forced the knives into a spinning motion - pinwheeling them at his sides counterclockwise in an impressive arc. Sparks erupted from the ground as the blades continually scratched at the cobble - sharpening themselves as Shadow kept their continual motion.
The townspeople backed up even further as the goliath approached, ultimately deciding not to back down to the ranger below.
"Silver." Shadow ordered, not turning around. "Nothing gets past that gate."
"R-right…" Silver gulped, trembling slightly from fear.
As the heavy paws slowly shuffled towards the ranger, Silver prepared himself for a battle. What was that stance again? Right - swing both arms up as graceful as a swan. Pull left hand back and push right hand forwards palm out. Silver stared down the massive beast, stance wide and stable as he peered through his fingers. Gosh how he wished he wasn't so scared….
Shadow's blades continued swinging, sparks shooting from the stone road like a knife to a grinder. Silver gulped, summoning his aura as the paw dared one more step. Shadow's foot shot left, catching the rope as the blade swung by and fishing it between his legs. In a split second, his right boot shot forwards - kicking the knife and sending it right between the claws of the massive paw. The beast recoiled, black blood spurting from the wound as Shadow pulled the rope back, swinging it around his chest in a tight wrap and catching the blade in a cross body grab. Silver felt a pulse of invisible energy as the red eyes flashed a glow.
"You shall not pass." Shadow growled, staring the beast right in the eyes.
Silver shuddered as the goliath let out a growl. Gold eyes glanced around, looking for something to throw. If he could only have a few rocks….
The beast stepped forwards once again, this time leaning into the pace as if to continue walking past the ranger. Spinning around, Shadow expertly untangled himself from the coils - throwing the left knife as it exploded with tongues of chaos energy. The flaming blade whipped around, slicing at the massive leg as Shadow twirled and pulled - piercing deep black skin with expert precision on its way back.
Arms thrust in and out as the rope darts shot back and forth, stabbing the legs of the beast from a distance in alternating patterns. In a precise pull, the right blade wound itself down the hedgehog's body - catching around the heavy leather boot as it went. Swinging his head down, the ranger built momentum into a spinning kick - flinging the dart from his ankle and shattering a crystal claw from the goliath's paw. As the beast yelped, it stumbled back - allowing Shadow to pull the blades close once more as he flipped upright. Round and round the blades spun, crossing the ranger's body diagonally as he stalked towards the beast.
Silver gulped. The beast was starting to look irritated and it could try to bolt towards the gate at any second. Looking behind revealed the villagers, all still armed with unfinished weapons and looking absolutely terrified. Goliaths were not to be messed with, and Silver highly doubted they could even hold their own if the beast decided to run the gate. Heck, he doubted if he could hold his own if the creature decided to run the gate.
Spotting a pile of stones, Silver grabbed the hard objects, pulling them towards him one by one - accumulating them in a pile by his feet. Shadow wasn't giving this his all, and Silver assumed he was merely trying to deter the goliath. Unfortunately, it didn't seem very deterred.
Hissing from the stinging darts, the beast attempted to walk forwards only for Shadow to drop down. Leather gloves planted against the cobbled road as Shadow pushed into a windmill - legs twirling with the blades at his wrists and chaos energy blasting from his boots. The wave of orange singed at the goliath's feet, sending it back once again. Flipping upright, Shadow leapt at the creature's face. Knives firmly in his hands, Shadow sliced at the giant eyes. The leather boots balanced on the goliath's nose, keeping their owner upright despite how the creature twisted and turned. Ropes twirled once more as Shadow extended his reach, slicing at the eyes and cheeks of the massive thing in a fiery whirl.
The ground shook as the goliath stumbled around, knocking Silver off his feet. Quickly he righted himself once more, determined to hold his position like Shadow ordered. Keep your balance. Balance is key.
Shadow leapt off the crystal laden nose, pulling the knives to his hands and driving them straight into the creature's neck. An awful roaring filled the air as Shadow slid down the scaly spine - knives tearing deep trenches into the sturdy skin. Reaching the spined back, the ranger pulled a single blade from the skin; spinning the other around and lodging it into the opposite side.
Silver caught a tree as the massive tail uprooted it from its place in the dirt - sending it hurling to the village gate. The bark stopped a mere pace from his shiny black nose as he forced his psychokinesis. Dropping it to the ground, Silver ignored his heightened anxiety and swung his left hand down, trapping a stone from its pile in a cyan glow. Remember the training. Pushing his left leg back, Silver snapped his hand forwards - rock flying through the air as the hoglet released it from his grasp. His right hand swung from above his head, snatching another stone as the first one missed. Mirroring the position, Silver shot the stone forwards - left hand arcing above his head as he prepared for another stone.
The volley of rocks did not go unnoticed by the goliath. As the fair sized projectiles smacked into its face and wounds, it let out a roar of anger, briefly forgetting about the ranger on its back. As it charged towards the small hoglet, Shadow tangled his foot in the rope, sliding his boot back and pulling the blades from the skin as his hand shot forwards. A volley of spear-like lights exploded into the back of the goliath's head, forcing the crystal adorned skull to plant into the hard ground. Using momentum, Shadow kicked the blades up; catching them in midair with a jump and precisely throwing them back downwards with the rope over the muzzle of the beast. Pinned, the goliath tried to remove its head, only for the ranger to land in front of him. The massive jaws opened in a roar, knives shooting upwards out of the ground. However, this was planned for.
A blast of bright light shone through the air, prompting everyone to cover their eyes. The belly of the beast exploded as a blast of Chaos energy shot down into its gullet, killing it instantly. Silver gagged as the smell of rotten, yet cooked flesh filled the air. Ugh that was nasty. Silence rang as no one knew what to say or even do in the utter lack of noise. The shock of being attacked was definitely ripe - as well as the disorientation from the bright energy attack. What does one do after facing off against a massive creature?
Silver dropped his stance, breathing heavily from the adrenaline high and the shock of almost being crushed by a tree. Had he been any slower he would have been squished for sure. The absolute girth of the trunk was intimidating enough, and the hoglet was surprised he even was able to hold it. The largest thing he had moved previous to that was a rock half his size, let alone something fully his size. Did the sheer reflex and anxiety allow him to do things he previously thought impossible?
One by one the villagers moved forwards, investigating the corpse of the massive monster with curiosity. Most people would never get a chance to see such a rare creature - let alone up close and live to tell the tale. Now was as good enough time as ever to get a good look at such a thing.
"Well…he didn't pass." One of the villagers stated, breaking the silence and putting his hands on his hips.
"No." Shadow spoke, untying his rope from the blades. "He did not."