two weeks into a developmental psycology course
i totally did not decide to do that because of this story

Silver bolted. Without thinking for a second, he scrambled over the fenced box and fell roughly 2 paces before a sturdy hand caught his boot. For a few sickening moments, the hoglet dangled - limbs flailing and foot kicking before the guard pulled the tiny child back into the gatehouse.

"Prodigy!" He gasped, lungs wheezing from adrenaline. "Don't do that!"

"It's Shadow!" Silver cried, stepping to make another dash. The guard grabbed his wrist.

"And you're going to jump?" He wheezed.

"How else am I going to get down?" Silver anxiously answered, the instinctual need for Shadow's protection crawling over him like a swarm of ants. "I need to get out there!"

"Prodigy - it's dangerous out there." The guard pressed, tightening his grip on the hoglet. "Do you fancy getting picked off by stalkers or being skewered by the Demon itself?"

Ears drooping, Silver pondered the situation. The sight of one of Shadow's chaos attacks had certainly kicked his system into action. Here he was jumping off of platforms and turning his brain off - all in an effort to get to the ranger's side. Shadow would never approve of such mindless action. Silver would have been scolded for being irrational by now; had the elder hedgehog been there to see it.

"I…I…" Silver stammered, trying to think over his racing heart. "I have to get out there…"

"Do you?" The racoon asked, tilting his head.

"Yes…" Silver answered slowly.

"Why?"

Silver paused. He hadn't really thought about why he needed to get out there. If he simply bolted into the woods, his previous concerns would come true. Sliced, diced, snapped, shot, skewered, burned, drowned; all possible ways he could get killed - even accidentally. Why on earth did a young hedgehog such as himself need to get out there? How could he even help the ranger?

Irritated, the raccoon sighed; slumping down into his chair and tapping his forehead methodically. Slowly, the black rimmed eyes slid between the hoglet and the woods. Silver found himself watching the dark eyes. A distinct look of exasperation could be read on the sentry's face, yet the hoglet didn't understand the reasoning behind it. Sure the guard wanted to keep him safe, but he was also wanting to keep the town safe.

"What exactly are you going to do out there?" The raccoon mumbled, slumping even further down his chair in defeat.

"I...I'm gonna use my power." Silver answered.

"Yeah, but how?" The racoon stressed.

That was a good question. What was a hoglet to do in this situation? There was no way he could take the demon physically. Not only was the crystal hedgehog thing twice his size - it could take Shadow in a fight. Shadow was nigh unstoppable. The warrior hedgehog had taken down an entire syndicate base without breaking a sweat. That alone was a remarkable feat - especially considering the ranger was handicapped with fifty kids at the time. But against Mephiles? That thing actually landed hits on the ebony hedgehog. It actually forced the ranger to fight for his life. The crystal demon was, in Silver's words, dangerous.

But, Silver had learned how to build a gate. With his mind. Just thinking about the accomplishment made the young hedgehog giddy. Six months ago he couldn't even control his power - let alone build things with it. There had to be something he could do with this information. There had to be at least one thing he had learned that could help.

Frowning, Silver stuck out his lower lip. Gold eyes slid between the sentry and the gate, trying to find at least a clue to help with the situation. What had he even done with the materials? Well, he had picked them up and put them down. He had also bent things- this way and that. He had also pulled on things. If only there was something here…

A matchlight idea struck.

"I'm gonna grab the Mephiles demon." Silver answered confidently.

"You're gonna grab it?" The raccoon asked, one eye raising slightly in uncertainty. "Just…Grab it?"

"Yep." Silver answered, crossing his arms with a smile. "I'm gonna grab it."

"Why?"

Before Silver could ponder the question, the guard interrupted himself.

"Is it to stall the thing so the Hero can finish it off?"

"...Yes." Silver answered, puffing out his chest in response to the idea that was totally his. "I'm gonna do that."

"Well, I wish you luck." The guard replied, standing and shuffling over to one of the corners. "Gaia knows you're gonna need it against that thing."

In a smooth motion, the sentry unfurled a coil of wood. With a twirling thunk, the rope ladder hit the ground; granting Silver access to the earth below. Smiling a thanks, the hedgehog child clambered awkwardly over the ledge and down the wobbly rungs. As his leather boots met the ground, the hoglet found himself ever grateful that Shadow had increased his balance and motor skills so much. Twisting wood and wiggling ropes was a challenge Silver hoped to avoid in the future.

As he bolted towards the treeline, Silver found himself looking back at the raccoon sentry on duty. The trusty lantern was held high into the air - helping the guard see the ivory hoglet as he crossed the clearing. Grinding himself to a halt, Silver turned around right before the forest thickened to face the raccoon guard. He hoped the sentry wouldn't be too worried about him. It would be sad if the sentinel couldn't perform his duty properly. That lone raccoon was the only person between Mephiles and that sleeping village.

Raising his hand into the air, Silver waved at the guard - a simple goodbye from a long distance. After a few seconds, the raccoon waved back; face and words indistinguishable from the space between them. For a minute, the two stood there, waving at each other until the sentry put his arm down. Satisfied, the hoglet turned back into the woods, facing the direction where he thought the energy beam had burst.

Stumbling slightly from the uneven terrain, Silver picked up his speed again. Worry of heading in the wrong direction laid heavy on his mind, but the hoglet didn't back down. Shadow could use his help - and by golly was the hoglet going to try. It didn't matter if he wasn't able to do a whole lot, what mattered was that he tried - and that was what counted in the end.

Branch had told him to never back down from a fight. The older cat was always hard on the significantly smaller child. Always shoving him out of the way and stealing scraps of food off his plate. But if there was one thing the irritable teen had taught him, it was to never give up. Branch had told him one night that he was weak and silly, that he would die in the cruel hard world if he didn't know how to fight back. After blowing the hoglet's candle out, he had spoken words that stuck with the hedgehog ever since their utterance. Always fight back, and never back down.

Leaping over a log, Silver tightened his resolve. Shadow wasn't ever going to back down from this fight; and if there was any hope of the adult winning the battle - Silver would have to give him at least a little advantage. A little was better than nothing, and the hoglet knew that. Even the slightest change in the landscape of a fight could be utilized. Shadow was good at that. He was good at making use of little things.

Ears perking to the distant sound of an explosion, Silver skid himself to a stop. What direction did it come from? Where was it? How was he going to get there? Snow white ears flicked and fluttered - trying to detect the noise again. It had been so faint, yet it had been audible. The question was if it was going to happen again.

Crack-kow

There it is.

Silver slipped slightly on the dirt below, shoes skidding about before his speed found its footing. Dashing once again, the hoglet followed his ears - hoping it would take him in the right direction. Almost ignoring his surroundings, Silver pushed onwards. He had to get to Shadow. Shadow needed some help. Shadow could protect him.

As the child's inner voice began to narrow on a single objective, a boot-grabbing tree root interrupted his thoughts - sending him face first into the ground. Coughing and sputtering, the not so white hedgehog picked himself up. With a slight whimper of discomfort, he brushed his arm across his face. The eye was no place for dirt to be.

Shaking his head, Silver pressed on. The noises of battle were growing louder and louder. Shadow had to be close now. He had to be.

Silver picked up his pace - this time watching where he stepped. If the forest was going to be inhospitable then he must adapt to that environment. Tree roots would have to trip someone else now. Silver was on a mission.

The explosions were much louder now. Slight rumblings in the ground told a story of extreme effort and exertion. There was no doubt that the two combatants were going at each other hard. For the ground to shake this much, there had to be at least a few bursts of energy a minute. Or the demon was striking the ground hard enough to break it. For all the child knew it could be both.

With the volume, came the anxiety. Silver dreaded seeing Mephiles' mouthless face. That thing was a nightmare in both dreams and reality. Even thinking about the morbid monster plastered the reptilian green eyes under his eyelids. Shedding a tear, Silver wiped his nose. He had to keep moving. He had to get Shadow. He needed Shadow.

A razor sharp beam of light sliced through the air. Silver ducked as it raced over his head - felling the tree behind him in a powerful crack. Squeaking, Silver flopped to the ground, covering his head with his hands as he trembled from fear. The fight was close now. Unbearably close.

The ground trembled under his belly, vibrations creeping into his internal organs like a bug crawling into an ear. Regret filled every corner of the hoglet's being as he wondered why he dared come out in the first place. Grab Mephiles? How was he even going to get to the demon without losing his life first. What a horrible plan! Silver felt like such a stupid baby for even thinking he could accomplish the feat in the first place.

But what was he going to do? Turn around? If he turned around, the likelihood of getting killed was just as equal as staying put. Another pounding explosion shook the environment as the hoglet curled into a ball. If Shadow just found him, then things would be so much easier. Then he could be told what to do. There was no way he could think on his own in such a stressful place. Heck, he couldn't even remember how to move his arms.

"Shadow!" He screamed, only to be drowned out by another bone rattling explosion. Unnervingly, the tree next to the prone hoglet toppled over - scars of previous hits burned into its bark and wood. As it crashed to the forest floor, Silver scrambled towards it. Climbing over its trunk and ducking behind it's mass, the hyperventilating hedgehog re-assessed his situation.

What was he thinking? Why did he think this was a good idea? How was he going to get out of here?

Well, there was no way he was getting out of here without Shadow's help, so what was a hoglet to do? Stay put?

The reverberating thump of a body flung unceremoniously against a tree reached Silver's ears. The dueling hedgehogs were extremely close now. All the hoglet had to do was look over the fallen tree to see where each person was. Maybe then he could enact his first plan.

The spine scrunching screech of crystal against metal forced Silver to slam his head into the log; hands plastered over his ears in an attempt to block out the absolutely miserable sound. Apparently he wasn't the only one. The entire tree rattled as a foot ground its opponent into the felled oak. Silver pushed back against the sliding log - only to be swept away in the sheer force of the following kick.

Before he could process he was airborne, the hoglet found himself slammed into a tree - wind knocked out of his lungs. Gasping, he fell to the ground, grasping at his diaphragm in an attempt to get a little air. A few agonizing seconds passed, body devoid of oxygen and lungs refusing to work.

As breath slowly returned to him, Silver watched the fight unfold before him. Neither of the fighters had noticed their tiny audience as they clawed and swiped at each other. Enraged, Mephiles kicked and swung at the air as the ranger teleported around - trying and failing to land a blow on the offensive creature. Breathless, the hedgehog blinked around, dodging the unnervingly accurate attacks. Eventually, a reprieve was granted with a hole in the demon's defense allowing for a crescent kick to the back of the indigo skull - flooring the beast in seconds. As the ebony hedgehog landed, Mephiles swirled his legs around; wiping Shadow off his feet.

"Shadow!" Silver screamed, standing fully upright as the demon jumped on top of the adult. Claws raced and sliced as the pinned elder blocked with his forearms. Unclasping his cloak, Shadow threw it over the demon's face - sliding between the purple legs and onto the rigid back. Punting the crystalline creature into the ground, Shadow pulled the cloak from under the demon - spinning the miserable thing against rock and stone as he violently re-attached his leather gear.

Enraged, Mephiles used the spinning motions to windmill a kick - once again giving itself the upper hand. Shadow flew backwards into a tree, vibrations traveling through the ground upon impact.

"Shadow!" Silver cried out, hand reaching towards his mentor.

Immediately, the green eyes of the unnatural mobian shot towards the helpless hoglet. Yet before the crystal thing could take a step, a bolt of energy shot in front of it - halting it before it even moved.

"Silver!" Shadow called.

Before the child could respond, Mephiles plunged his sharpened hands into the dirt - cloud and smoke erupting from the ground in a harsh line between peace and war. Vision cut off from his caretaker, Silver bolted towards the wall of fog only to be stopped short. Lights and explosions shook the ground, knocking the hedgehog off his tiny feet before he could cross the boundary. Gasping, Silver sat up, eyes glued to the blinking fog. Why on earth had the demon chosen to eliminate him from the cloud? He could have easily absorbed the child into its sickening influence, but he had not.

Repeated flashes and tail injuring thuds rocked the hoglet's senses as a clear uptake in offense occurred on the field. Shadow was fighting even harder than before, and Silver hoped that whatever he was doing was killing the crystal thing faster. A thousand crashes followed by an blinding flash and then…

Silence.

An agonizing few minutes passed as Silver stared into the fog. Shadow had to have won, right? Where was the ranger? Was he ok? What had happen-

A limping figure outlined itself in the fog. Squinting, Silver tried to spot who it could be only to make out the cloaked figure of Shadow. Relief rushed through Silver's system as the elder emerged from the fog, coughing and wheezing from the dark cloud.

"Shadow!" He cried, standing up. "Did you do it?"

"Yes…" Shadow groaned, moving his shoulder about in a circle as if to relieve tension. "It's over."

"I came out here to help…" Silver meekly admitted, taking a few steps towards the hooded elder. "But I guess I didn't have to…"

"I admire your intrepidity." Shadow sighed, crossing his arms. "However, I cannot condone your stupidity."

"I'm tired Shadow…" Silver whined, taking another step. "Can we go back to the village now?"

"Of course," Shadow responded, obscured head turning away from the hoglet. "I ca-"

"You spurious Faker!"

An identical figure to the one before the hoglet ruptured from of the mist - tackling the twin from behind and planting it face first into the dirt.