I diagnose you with fog
Silver leapt off of the pad, limbs flailing and mouth agape. A struggle ensued as his blanket wrapped around him, restricting his mobility and covering his eyes. Muffled yelling filled the air as the frightened hoglet wrestled his invisible foe, quills catching and pulling in the blanket as he rolled onto the stone floor. Not knowing what to do, the hoglet whimpered - laying still on the cold ground. The blanket pulled at his fur and quills uncomfortably, leaving his skin feeling tight and painful. For a while, he just laid there, letting his brain wake up for the morning as well as process his latest mystery. What in the world did that dream mean?
"Shadow?" He called, head lifting slightly off the cold stone. There was no response. Shadow did say he would be gone for the night. That meant that the young hedgehog would have to find his own way out of this mess.
Slowly, Silver wriggled his nose, feeling the blanket slide off of its shiny surface and into the open air. A softly familiar smell of smoke filled his nostrils. Was something burning? The downstairs was full of wooden objects, if something had caught them ablaze…
Panic filled the young hedgehog as the thought of being in another fire screamed in his mind. Shuffling his shoulder, the hedgehog began to roll about, turning this way and that in an attempt to loosen his quills from the fabric blanket. A whine escaped his lungs as he tumbled about, knocking into objects and rolling over the pad. Legs kicked and arms flailed until finally, after what seemed like forever, his arm came loose.
It did not take long for the hoglet to free himself from his fabric prison. Peeling the blanket off his quills, Silver ran to the edge of the structure, expecting to see smoke pouring out from the floor beneath. What panic he had was suddenly replaced with relief as he realized he was overreacting.
Away from the house, by about twenty paces, Shadow sat. From his semi-aerial view, Silver could see the adult working - carefully arranging stones in a circle around a campfire. Intrigued, the young hedgehog turned from his place on the ledge and to the ladder. Going down was a little harder than going up. His little legs had a bit of trouble reaching down and finding the rungs, but after a small struggle he managed to descend the wooden structure. Silver figured that with time, the ladder would be easier to navigate.
Shadow didn't seem like he was at the place very long. Most of the items were relatively untouched from the night before, with the exception of the cloak which was currently draped on a rope. Curiosity rocked the young hedgehog once again as a small pot was placed underneath it, water making small drips into its metal catch. Where had Shadow been?
The ranger in question had finished with his circle and had erected two wooden poles in previously established holes in the ground. A third was soon attached and tied between the two. Finally, seemingly done with the setup, Shadow took a metal hook from its place on the ground, and hung a pot of water over the crackling fire.
"Come." Shadow commanded, not even looking at the small hedgehog in the base. "Sit."
Silver obliged, slowly padding his way up to the adult and sitting on the ground next to him. The warmth of the fire calmed his still anxious body and relaxed his tense mind. After mixing the water a bit, the elder hedgehog placed a lid on top of it and crouched on the ground, watching the fire burn and listening to the heating liquid.
"I had a bad dream…" Silver sniffled, huddling his arms around his legs.
"You probably did." Shadow responded flatly. "You went through a traumatic experience."
"The cloud demon ate me."
Red eyes shifted towards the child.
"Ate you?"
"Yeah." Silver nodded, curling tighter.
"Did he ask you to do anything?" Shadow prodded, reaching out and removing the pot of boiling water and setting it on the stoney ground.
Silver's mind paused. The monster never actually said anything. How was a child supposed to explain that he somehow just… had to go inside. And how was he supposed to explain that he resisted the urge to do a thing. There were never any words or direct commands. Just feelings.
Shadow stood from his place on the ground. With a gesture to follow, he turned from the hoglet and approached the base. Reluctantly, Silver also stood, closing his mouth even though he wasn't sure when it had been left open. Walking into the room, Shadow kicked aside the mountain of soft objects and slid his fingers under the trap door. Golden eyes watched as the adult lifted open the door, reaching inside and propping it up with a wooden pole.
There were lots of strange objects inside. Relics from the past, the young hedgehog figured. Small round things, big square things, weird looking bricks, and a mysterious crate. Silver's attention was pulled to the crate. What in the world could be inside it?
It was fairly small, metal, and surrounded with mystery. Its rusted side and warped paint gave it an air of importance. Shadow had held this crate for a long time if it was starting to wither away. What could be inside it? Gold? Jewels? Slowly, Silver reached his tiny paws out to open it. His ivory fingertips brushed across its surface - feeling its rough texture. What could possibly be inside? Slowly, his fingers found the edge of the lid, lifting it up ever so slightly…
The ranger's gloved hand slammed down on top of the metal lid, shutting the box with a loud bang. Silver jumped.
"You're not ready." Shadow barked, teeth bared slightly as he pulled up a different box from under the space.
With a cold glance, the ebony hedgehog gestured for the child to come out of the storage space; shutting the trap door behind him as Silver sulked his way back to the fire. With a huff, the ivory child sat down, hearing the adult approaching behind. Whatever box Shadow was carrying had objects inside. Rattling echoed from inside as the adult set it down.
"Open your mouth." Shadow commanded, pulling a long tube from the kit.
Silver obliged, opening his jaws as wide as he could. The tube was inserted under his tongue, leather clad hands shutting his mouth around it. A stern look told Silver to keep it there as the adult walked back into the room and grabbed a cup for water.
"Dthoo you zj-"
"Aht." Shadow snapped, voice echoing from inside the space as he dipped the cup into a barrel of water. "Keep it shut."
Silver frowned, crossing his arms with a huff. When the adult returned with the water a minute or so later, he slid the tub out and looked at it. Slowly, Silver took the cup that was handed to him and downed it, feeling obnoxiously thirsty from the night before.
"Interesting." Shadow muttered, hand flashing orange as energy briefly crackled and twisted around the tube. "Your temperature is low."
"Low?" Silver asked, setting the empty cup down. The ranger nodded, pulling another object out of the box.
"I need to check your blood pressure." Shadow stated, pulling a piece of fabric from the box. "I need you to relax."
Silver took a deep breath as the adult removed his gloves and wrapped the stiff fabric around his arm. Slowly the cuff began to fill with air, constricting around his arm and pinching his skin. Resisting the urge to clench, the ivory hedgehog squeezed his eyes shut, taking deep breaths to relax. Finally the squeezing stopped as the cuff stopped growing. Cold fingers probed at his wrist, resting in a single spot as the adult began counting under his breath.
"That's low too." Shadow mumbled, releasing the air from the cuff with a hiss. "He was here last night."
"Who was here?" Silver asked, feeling a twang of fear.
"He wasn't here in full." Shadow continued, ignoring the hoglet's question. "But he did project himself into your mind."
The adult put on his gloves.
"No doubt by the fog." He squinted. "It's still in your lungs."
Silver gulped.
"H how do you get it out?" Silver trembled, feeling very afraid.
"It's extremely painful." Shadow sighed, sitting down. "I usually do it to myself after each battle, but you got caught in the fog this time as well."
Silver stared into the red eyes, wondering how in the world one removed such a demon.
"The choice is simple." Shadow continued. "You can keep him in there and live with the nightmares."
Silver shrunk back, not wanting to have another bad dream.
"Or…."
Ivory ears pricked up.
"I can burn the air in your lungs and thus remove Him."
Silver shrunk back even further. Eugh. That sounded horrifically painful. Silver had been burnt before. Once he had touched the fireplace poker while it was still hot and burned his left palm. Fliss had to hold his hand underwater for twenty minutes while he cried and sobbed. Fortunately her quick actions had saved him from serious damage, but the thought of that happening inside his body was enough to send shivers down his spine.
On top of that, the orphanage had collapsed on top of him when Branch set fire to the place. He had been trapped in the flames for goodness knows how long, screaming for people to get him. He was lucky to be alive in that situation - he could have easily burned to death.
Worse enough was the whole debacle with the Syndicate. Shadow had burned the place to the ground, but in doing so created such an awful environment, Silver wasn't sure if he could look at fire the same way again. The smoldering hot air, the singing hot sparks, even the chokingly thick smoke. People had died in that fire. And Silver felt that he was lucky to not be one of them.
Blood splattered walls and dead faces flashed through his mind as the thought of that incident broke through his memories once again. The child felt his lip tremble under the emotions that followed. Why did it have to be fire,,,
"How bad does it hurt?" Silver choked out, tongue feeling thick and heavy from fear.
"I can lessen the damage to your lungs by controlling where and how Chaos energy flows through your airways, but I can't lessen the pain." Shadow explained. "The damage will be minimal but your pain will be high."
Silver shook his head violently.
"No… I don't want it…" He sniffled.
"That seems fair enough." Shadow obliged, turning away and hanging an object over the fire. "Although I must warn you."
Red eyes met gold.
"Your nightmares will get worse."
Silver stared back as the ranger spoke again.
"Are you sure you can handle it?"