ah yes
the two immortals that absolutely frikkin hate each other
Shadow immediately dropped into a protective stance - sweeping the confused hoglet behind him with a crescented kick. Unhurt by the action, Silver found himself staring at a wall of brown, unable to see beyond the cloak of the ranger. Instinctively he grasped hold of it; gripping the heavy leather tight and pulling his small body close to his mentor. He recognized that voice. The very voice that had haunted his dreams before. Like a flame to a piece of paper Silver's ivory fur began to puff out. Subconsciously he had to make himself bigger. He needed to look threatening. He needed to…
Shadow was not unaware of the hoglet's mental state. Silver could see the iron fists twitching in reaction to his sniffles.
"You just won't stay out of my way…won't you." The cloud demon hissed, somewhere out of view. "You just have to meddle your hands in everything I do."
"I know full well what you're up to, Mephiles." Shadow snapped. "You think hurting those villagers and drying these lands is going to get what you want?"
Silver felt the ranger's boot lift microscopically at the heel. Ever so slightly, the adult slid his foot back; gently jabbing the child with his hardened soles. Silver reached down with one hand. Fluffed fingers probed at the sandy boot, feeling the ridges in the leather carefully. What was Shadow doing?
"You can't fool me." Shadow spat, subtly kicking at the hoglet once more. "You are baiting me."
Another pair of jabs coaxed the fluffed hoglet to turn his head around. Almost directly behind the duo was an old log. Gold eyes frowned as he wondered if that was what the adult was even trying to communicate.
"You know me well." The demon boredly laughed. "It's a pity you don't fall like you used to"
Another pair of jabs, this time less subtle, brushed against Silver's fur. What in Gaia's name was Shadow trying to say? Silver gripped the cloak tighter, only to be met with a shoulder pull of resistance.
"However… I can't help but notice your little…pet." The demon sneered. "It would be a shame if you lost another one…"
"You leave that out of this." Shadow half shouted. "Your words will not convince me to make the first strike."
An extremely unsubtle pair of jabs collided with Silver's ribs. It took everything in the small hedgehog to keep from letting out a squeak. If he wanted to survive, he needed to be silent. Silent…and hidden. Right behind Shadow's cloak.
"I know you'll trap me." Shadow growled. "I know you."
Silver tumbled backwards at the hard push of the boot. A squeak escaped his sealed lips as his tail hit the rocks.
"Then it seems we are at an impasse." The demon smiled. "With a small life on the line."
"You take one step…" Shadow threatened, leaving his sentence unfinished.
A pair of kicks towards the log finally goaded the hoglet back towards the rotted wood. It was hard not to notice the smoke demon. The unnatural green eyes tracked the smaller hedgehog with unnerving precision - almost forcing the child to run. However, Silver was wiser than that. Fliss had always told him that predators like to chase things. If he were ever to encounter a cougar or bear in the woods, he was to slowly back away. And in this case…it didn't feel any different.
"What are you going to do, Shadow?" The demon asked, pulling its hands into a theatrical gesture. "Are we going to stand here for all eternity staring at each other?"
"If it will keep you here, then that is what I must do." Shadow growled.
Silver ducked behind the log, heavy breaths shaking his tiny frame. Not knowing what to do, he squeezed himself against the bark - fluffed quills splaying out like bush behind his head. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. He was breathing way too fast. His air whistled in partial squeaks as he gasped and wheezed. This wasn't good at all. Fearing the worst, Silver hooked his claws at the top of the log, holding tightly as he would Shadow's shoulders.
"Surely you care for the small thing." Mephiles prodded. "You cannot stay here forever. Doesn't it require…food?"
"He's intelligent." Shadow spoke. "He can get on without me."
Golden eyes peeked over the log in protest. Him? Without Shadow? Absolutely not. Reptilian green eyes focused on the tiny hedgehog. Silver felt his fur puff out even further as the unnatural head twisted to the side, growing almost parallel with the ground below. Crystal claws reached out in a point. Silver shuddered as the sharpened fingers began to glow.
"Perhaps I should put it out of its misery." The demon sighed, seeming to care very little about the statement. "The sweet scent of blood to paint your pain."
Shadow twisted around on his heel. For a split second, Silver's wide eyes met the ranger's in a silent plea for help. Right as Shadow completed his turn, the demon took a step forwards, claws tearing the air as it prepared to charge the hoglet. Silver opened his mouth to scream, but right before the noise could leave the hoglet's mouth; Shadow's airborne foot slammed against the ground. His backmost hand thrust forwards - shooting a beam of energy right at the log.
The wind was knocked out of the hoglet's lungs as the dead tree flew backwards, carrying the child with it. Before Silver could even process what happened, an unpleasant splash of cold shocked his small body. His fur grew unbearably heavy as forces and currents slammed against his frame, threatening to drag him under the wooden log.
Shadow had shouted something, but the roar of water and splashing waves had blocked the sound. Silver gasped, claws frantically dragging against the floating log as he slowly realized he was thrown straight into the river. Was this Shadow's plan?
Clambering, he pulled himself on top of the wooden thing, wheezing and shivering from the elements. Sickeningly, his hand slipped, threatening to pull him back into the river. But Silver refused, using his refined muscles, he pulled against the dragging current and forced himself on the very top - hugging the wood like his life depended on it. Coughing, the frightened child shook the water out of his ears.
Fog exploded from the ground, racing from the banks like dust in the wind. Fearful of the toxic smoke, Silver leaned back - only to realize the misty waters and splashing waves prevented the fog from traveling far beyond the bank itself.
"You cannot stop the inevitable!" The sickening voice shouted, echoing from behind the hedgehog.
"Hold onto the log Silver!" Shadow shouted, orders finally bursting from the mist.
Silver turned his head, trying to see his mentor in the dense purple cloud. Where was he? Silver couldn't see anything in there. Anxiously, he swiveled his head around. Shadow had to be somewhere right? Rapids shook the log, forcing the shivering hedgehog to clamp on tighter.
The river was moving far too fast for Silver's liking. The log wobbled and spun in the waves, leaving the young child wet and cold at every twist and turn. All the frightened hoglet could do was flatten himself against the wood and pray he didn't fall off. Fliss never taught him to swim. If he fell in…
Movement on the bank caught the gold eyes. It jogged alongside the river, keeping pace with the floating log. Who was it? Was it Shadow? Right as the gold eyes squinted to see further, a pair of green iris pierced back. Gasping, Silver scrambled, nearly slipping into the water in his frantic clambering.
Eyes locked, the demon crouched down, preparing for something awful. The hoglet could only stare in wide-eyed horror as the demon pounced - crystal claws whistling through the air like blades against stone. Heart pounding and blood screaming, Silver watched as the mouthless face raced closer, eyes spelling death and fingers promising pain.
"Silver!" Shadow shouted, colliding with the demon perpendicularly.
The responding splash sent the log spinning down the river. Silver yelped as the water bit his skin. His baby fur was not nearly as waterproof as it needed to be, and what layers he had were well seeped through now. Tears lapped at his eyes as he latched himself tighter onto the wood.
Splashing and struggling sounded from behind. Silver dared not look as a fight broke out in the water, sending loud cracks and angry snaps above the roaring waves. The hoglet could only hold on as the log tumbled about, threatening to flip over in the turbulence. Scalding hot splashes slapped his sopping wet body in the wake of bright flashes. Silver cried out, hoping the adult could hear his pain.
Fortunately, the dueling combatants found their way to the bank; with Shadow being thrown back first into a tree. The demon pounced at the adult - claws shining with purple energy as the tree collapsed; taking the stunned ranger with it. Mephiles swiped at the ebony hedgehog: however Shadow countered it with a well timed kick. As the clawed hand jolted outward, the angered ranger twirled with momentum and blasted the creature's chest with a powerful burst of energy.
Silver found himself dunked under the waves. Freezing water filled his lungs and nostrils - demanding a choking cough upon resurfacing. Wheezing, Silver drug himself further up the wood, clambering and clawing for air as he hacked out the water. Right as his shivering hands grasped the top, the log turned once more. Like hands out of the deep, the water grabbed at the hoglet's legs, dragging his body under the log in a sickening pull.
Crying, Silver re-emerged - dragging and fighting against the hypothermic waters to reach the top of the log. An unpleasantly loud explosion shook the river, sending ripples through the waves as Shadow aimed a blast at the unseen demon. The tiny paws loosened in the vibrations, threatening to lose the soggy wood. With only his claws to save him, Silver scratched his way back on top. Wheezing and coughing exploded from his exhausted lungs as he laid on the wood.
Mephiles tackled the ranger, sending the two into a grapple in full view of the hoglet. They twisted about, rolling one on top of the other in a death-spin of pain. Crystal claws swiped and fanged teeth bit as the combatants ditched formality for brute force. Indescribably animalistic growls and hisses sounded from over the waves as the two wrestled about. Dead grass and dirt was loosened and thrown into the air as unhooded quills and beastly claws raked the earth. Sickeningly, the demon plunged a beam of purple at the elder hedgehog and threw him - sending the adult flying back into the trees.
A roar of anger rippled the water as the demon turned towards the drifting log. As Gold eyes met green, the cloud demon pounced once again - forcing a scream out of the hoglet. Right as the creature left the bank, Shadow appeared behind and caught the crystal legs in his iron grasp. Flipping about in the air from skewed momentum, the two landed with a splash into the water. Gasping and growling emerged from the waves as the fighters wrestled back onto the bank.
A crack of bright light shook the entire environment as Shadow emitted another bright blast. Silver found his ears ringing from the noise before the log rolled once again. Struggling and clawing, he crawled with the rotation - fighting to stay on the top.
Shadow let out a yell as Mephiles pinned his shoulder against a boulder - stone cracking from the pressing force as the smoke demon drove the crystal harder and harder against the writhing hedgehog. In a moment of clarity, Shadow twisted - pivoting himself upside down and kicking the demon square in the forehead. Pushed back from the force, the indigo entity spun himself around, freeing the ranger but allowing for another momentum powered strike.
"Keep holding on!" Shadow shouted, jumping off the tree he was knocked into and tackling the demon once more. "Go back to the village - I'll keep him here!"
"Shadow!" Silver cried, reaching a paw out to the dueling elder.
"Don't worry about me!" Shadow half shouted and half wheezed, lungs partially empty of air from a well placed punch. "Just get back to the village!"
Silver cried out as the ranger took a blast of purple to the head, leaving black quills messy and undone. Reacting to the pain, the ranger dropped himself to the ground, grabbing the dirt with a fierce grip. Leather boots spun in midair - kicking at the crystalline entity in a windmill of chaos energy. The creature yelped, using a thick wall of shadow to protect itself from the light-based attacks. Flipping upright in an acrobatic sweep, Shadow shot a volley of orange beams into the dark cloud; smoking the demon from its hiding place.
"Shadow!"
Silver called out again, screaming for the adult as he drifted further and further away. Sickeningly, the log turned once more - dropping the freezing child below the waves. Rapids shook the water, keeping Silver underneath for an uncomfortable length of time. No matter how he scrambled, no matter how he pulled, the log just kept turning about. Growing dizzy, Silver pulled faster, kicking with his legs against the liquid prison to get on top of the twisting driftwood. He had to get up. He needed to breathe.
Bursting out of the water, Silver choked out what water was in his lungs and wheezed, dragging himself to the top once more in a desperate pull for safety. Swiveling his head around, the child tried and tried to spot the ranger only to be met with half-brushed woods. The sounds of explosions and whistling crystals greeted his ears, but only faintly. He was getting further and further away from Shadow, and he didn't know what to do. Silver called out, shrieking the ranger's name at the top of his lungs as the river swept him further downstream. The sounds of fighting grew dimmer and dimmer until they were swallowed by the roaring waves.
"Shadow!' SIlver called, begging to be safe at his side once more.
The rushing water was the only response, forcing Silver to keep himself from rolling below the log once more.