deep inhale guys but
Thank you l3m0nle4f for the tumblr fanart- it is very cute and i love the posing!
thank you shadow_robotnik_298 again for the instagram fanart- gotta love the hedgehog angst
thank you pipecleaneruniverse for the multiplatform fanart- i am going to cry i never expected a 3d build out of pipecleaners holy crap

It took several minutes for Silver to fully awaken. Consciousness faded in like a wave on a beach, slowly lapping upon the shore and drawing back into the great ocean of dreams in rhythmic sweeps and swirls. The ivory eyelids blinked open in slow movements. It took a few minutes for the hoglet to even realize he was in his own bed in his own room. Wait… He was home!

Sitting up, Silver took in his surroundings. The brown rug under his bed brought a taste of warm color to the almost monochromatic environment. A cloudy sky with a stoney ground and concrete walls brought an eerie gray to his whole field of vision, making the wooden colored accents to his largely bare room all the more welcoming. Looking out across the field, Silver tried to see if he could spot Shadow anywhere. The adult couldn't be resting now, the ranger almost never stopped or slowed down. When all signs of life seemed barren, Silver decided to pull himself out of bed.

It was a shame his shelves were so bare. The hoglet found himself staring at the wooden protrusions with a slight feel of sadness. Despite having a rope to hang his laundry and a box to store objects in, other than his bed and his rug - the little second story corner felt very empty. This wouldn't do. This wouldn't do at all. A room without stuff is just a room. If Silver ever wanted to feel truly at home in his bed, the little corner would need some decoration. But with what?

Silver looked around. There wasn't a whole lot of stuff to place anywhere. In fact, the only out of place objects were his little boots and belt that Shadow had tossed haphazardly next to his storage chest. Perhaps he could decorate a bit with those? Pulling his shoes onto his feet, and grasping the belt in his hand, Silver began to dig through his little pouch in search of things to personalize his space.

There wasn't a whole lot in there. Shadow carried most of the important stuff. Everything from twine to flint could be found in the well used bag that the ranger strapped around his waist. Any time Silver wanted anything on the road, such as a string or a piece of fabric, Shadow would reach behind his back and pull the object from his sturdy pouch; which left little to nothing to be stored in the hoglet's own bag. What was inside the child's pouch, however, did seem relatively appropriate to be placed on a shelf. A couple of pretty looking stones would do. When the child swept them up in his psychokinetic grasp and maneuvered them to the shelf, they seemed to stand out well enough against the wood and concrete materials. What else? A crumpled pinecone perhaps. It looked a bit strange on one of the higher selves, but it was at least something. How about a flicky skull? It looked pretty neat next to the pine cone. There was also the hedgehog carving. Perhaps that would be ok next to the rocks?

"I didn't know you had that." A deep voice commented.

Silver jumped, almost dropping the toy as his head whipped the ladder. Balancing on his feet, the older hedgehog stood upon the rungs, head just poking over the floor with a curious look in his eyes. Silver found himself stammering, holding the toy close to his chest in the case that Shadow might want to confiscate it.

"I..i..uh..well…Skip gave it to me…I guess…"

"The retriever boy?"

"Yeah…"

Silver gripped the wooden work tighter as the adult finished his climb up the ladder, cloak off and most of his gear removed. It was a bit strange for Silver. The hoglet had gotten used to seeing Shadow in his hood- head covered and body packed with everything from weapons to survival gear. It felt a bit odd to see most of it gone- clothing reduced to the standard gloves and boots. As the hedgehog approached the child, Silver found himself staring at the adult's rarely displayed chest fur and arms.

"Is that a hedgehog?" Shadow asked, holding his hand out to examine the object.

Silver hesitated, feeling extremely possessive over his prized possession. Confusion laid thick in his mind as he passed the carving into the leather gloves, wondering why he was so anxious to give up the little wooden thing. Why would Shadow take it away?

"I haven't seen something like this in some time." Shadow lamented, nostalgia lingering heavy in his voice as he turned the figure around in his hands. "Most of my Prodigies weren't interested in such things."

"They weren't?" Silver peeped, watching the adult's hands with an eagle's eye.

"I think only Signal was interested in non-functional toys." Shadow responded, gently setting the figurine onto the bottommost shelf. "He would take chunks of firewood and carve sculptures like these with a skill that only grew more impressive the older he got."

"Do you have any?" Silver asked, eyes sparkling with the idea of holding a previous Prodigy's art project.

"No." Shadow sighed, eyes falling to the floor in a pained expression. "I don't have anything from Signal anymore…"

Silver only stared at the adult. Silence hung over the ranger's head like a cloud on a rainy day. It took a few moments for Shadow to pull his eyes from the ground, looking around the room with a bit of a bland expression.

"Is that a pine cone?" Shadow frowned, gazing up onto the top shelf with a judgemental stare.

"I couldn't find anything else in my bag." Silver defended, crossing his arms and pursing his lips.

"If you were feeling a little bare on decoration, you could have mentioned something." Shadow grumbled, reaching up and taking the destroyed seed pod into his paws.

"I just woke up though." Silver whined, uncrossing his arms and throwing his head back. "I didn't even know you were home!"

An almighty sigh filled the air. It was far too easy for Silver to forget the sound had even happened.

"Let me see what I have downstairs."

Waving his hand, the adult set the pine cone next to the hedgehog toy and jumped off the second story, disappearing into the main room below within seconds. Silver was quick to follow. With an annoyed grunt, the hoglet swung himself around the ladder and shimmied down the rungs with rhythmic click-clacks. As he touched down onto the main floor, the hoglet spied Shadow pulling the rug and pillows off of the usually hidden trapdoor and out into the field. Gold eyes dilated. Shadow rarely entered the trap door.

Most things the hedgehogs usually used had been removed from the storage space within the first week of living at the house. Blankets, tools, books, weapons; anything that would see frequent use around the property had been pulled out and assigned a place into the first level living space. It felt weird to look at the room without its central rug. The hoglet had spent many hours lounging on the grounded pillows and watching the adult work at the workbench. The multipurpose counter served as the center for all life at the house. Carving new spoons, repairing a broken tool, preparing food for the fire, all things were done on the south wall counter. If Silver needed to find Shadow? That is usually where he was. Looking at the work space even now revealed a half prepared dish of blueleaf and carrot - goliath claw idly placed next to the cutting board and kitchen knife.

A noise interrupted Silver's thoughts as the creaking hinges of the trap door opened once again. The hoglet found himself jogging over to the rarely accessed area - curious eyes peering in at the boxes and stacks of objects. Shadow propped the door open with the pole and dropped down into the stairless space below, hoglet following behind as the adult began to dig through the crate.

A glint shone into the hoglet's face as the mysterious metal box called his name once more. What in the world could Shadow be hiding in there? There had to be a reason he had slammed it shut before. Was it something special? Something dangerous? Ignoring whatever thing that the ranger was digging through, the hoglet approached the box again. He had to know.

"Silver, come look at this." Shadow called, snapping the hoglet's attention away from the metal case.

"What?" Silverd chirped, sliding over to the crouched hedgehog's side with as much of an innocent look he could muster.

"I have a few things that Axon had in that room." Shadow spoke, pulling a crate out into better lighting with a slight grunt. "Do you want to take a look?"

"Sure." Silver shrugged. His room was bare enough, and if there was anything to make the space less bland, he should take it.

With a creak, the lid was pried off. Curious, Silver leaned his head into the box - wondering what kind of person Axon was. Come to think of it, before he had met Shadow, Silver had never heard of any "Axon" prodigy at all. A frown crossed his face as he looked around at the objects. If Signal, Breeze, and Tone got to be so famous, why didn't Axon?

"He wasn't very materialistic, so I apologize if there isn't much to go off of." Shadow spoke, voice cracking slightly for some odd reason.

There certainly wasn't much to go off of at all. In fact, there were very few items in the crate that caught Silver's attention. A pair of stained gloves, oddly familiar looking boots of leather, and an unsheathed metal blade were what stood out the most. Everything else was either a book of words too large to read or a tapestry that didn't suit the hoglet's taste at all. Feeling a bit disappointed, Silver backed away from the crate - shaking his head to let the ranger know nothing was of interest.

"Do you have anything from Tone?" Silver asked, wishful thinking overtaking his head. If only he held something from the current hero of the world… now that would be exciting. Silver could only smile to himself. Oh how badly he wanted to meet that amazing stone-shattering cougar. That would be everything. Merely dreaming of holding something of the Prodigy's possessions would certainly make his mind explode.

"Tone took everything when he moved out." Shadow spoke, shaking his head. "I only have Axon's stuff."

"Well you had Breeze's belt." Silver protested.

"Breeze liked to store things she grew out of." Shadow spoke. "I have plenty of her old training equipment, but she took most of her personal possessions with her when she married."

"Most?" Silver smiled, holding his fists up in excitement. "What did she leave behind?"

"Her pre-kevlar fans, if I recall correctly." Shadow frowned, meditative thought crossing his face as he tried to remember. "I gave her upgraded weapons before she exited my care, and I think she left behind her old pair."

Turning on his heels, the ranger began his hunt once more - pulling aside boxes and stowing them in other places. Silver found himself much more invested in the ranger's hunt. Although it wouldn't be her famous war fans, it was still exciting that he would be able to see any weapon of hers at all. The hoglet found himself bouncing on his heels in excitement, wondering what any weapon of the famous Breeze the Dove would look like. He had heard so many tales of her fights and accomplishments. Her dance-like moves were legendary across the storytelling world - with Fliss speaking of sweeping strikes and graceful flights like Breeze was her personal role model.

"I think it's this one." Shadow contemplated, setting a small box on the ground. With a strong puff, the elder blew the dust off of the wooden frame, sending a cloud of dirt that forced a cough from the hoglet's lungs.

"Yeah, here they are."

Gold eyes widened as the ranger pulled a pair of objects out of the wooden container, brushing them off with quick swipes. As quickly as the hoglet found himself amazed, he found himself underwhelmed by the mundanity of the simple things. The stacked pieces of metal didn't even look functional as a weapon, much less anything that was awesome.

"They seem in good condition too." Shadow commented, raising his brows in approval.

THRRAP

Silver jumped at the loud noise as the ranger flicked his hand - object sliding open in rolling bursts of sound. Smoothing his puffed fur, the hoglet found himself amazed by how much the object had transformed - turning from a metal stick into a wide and beautiful fan.

Before, all Silver had seen was the metal ribbing, but now that the fan was open - the hoglet could see the weapon in its full glory. Its shiny metal sticks served as a stark contrast to the beautiful dark green leafing - gold and white paint illuminating patterns across its sturdy fabric. Bits of razor sharp blades dotted their way across the very top of the fan - serving as a harsh reminder that although it was a thing of beauty, it was a dangerous weapon still.

"I remember when I gave this to her." Shadow recalled, gently folding it up and sliding it down his boot. "She begged me for paint to give it more life than a 'drab green dishcloth'."

"Did she use them often?" Silver beamed, watching the adult stow the empty box into a corner and make his way out of the hole.

"Until she turned eighteen." Shadow answered, helping the hoglet out of the storage area. "I gave her the kevlar fans as a parting gift. Those are the weapons everyone is familiar with."

"Do you know how to use them?" Silver asked, feeling excited as he watched the elder close the trap door and re place the rug and pillows.

"I did have to teach her how to use them." Shadow dryly responded. "Although I think she surpassed my skill level by the time she was twenty-five."

"Can I see?" Silver begged, dilating his eyes in an attempt to look as adorable as possible.

"I can show you her kata." Shadow shrugged.

Silver felt his fur tingle as he watched the adult walk into the stone plain. Shadow was going to show him Breeze the Dove's own fighting style? It brought shudders of pure adrenaline through his fur with the sheer excitement of it all.

"I selected an art that allowed for easy movement of air." Shadow spoke, drawing the fans from his boots and holding them in each hand formally. "Her aerokinesis was extremely powerful, and required weapons that accommodated for the constant wind she created during her fights. That, and could gather more air in the event she created a vacuum."

THRACK

The loud crack of the fans opening was far less startling in the open space. As Shadow dropped into a single-footed crouch, he held the twin weapons in an inwards span, displaying the patterns in full to the small hoglet before him. With a spin, Shadow swept his leg around and closed the fans, holding them to his face and pulling to a stand. Up and around the sticks traveled until the hedgehog dropped once more, one leg close to his body and the other splayed out - fans opening once more in a mirror to his foot placement.

"She could gather the air around her in wide sweeps." Shadow commented, transferring his balance from one foot to the other in a forwards motion. The fans flapped outwards, wind blowing towards the hoglet in gentle blows as the ranger began spinning. One foot over, one foot under, the adult stepped his way to a stand; fans held outwards in a graceful catch as kicks spiraled out from between the massive weapons. With a flick of the hand, the fabric closed, movement switching to swiping and stabbing as if handling one of his own daggers. In and out the ranger struck - bladed tips spinning and twirling in his fingers like leaves in the wind.

FLAP

"Wide movement was essential to her power." Shadow continued, stopping abruptly with the fans placed defensively in front of his chest and waist. With a spin, the fans closed- jumping between hands as the hedgehog flipped over backwards and opened them once again.

"Unlike you, her body was essential to the control of her power. So I trained her accordingly."

In rapid fire, Shadow opened and closed the fans - jumping from pose to pose with air-like fluidity. Silver watched with awe as Shadow danced through the plain - spinning and twirling as if he were made of air himself. The fans seemed to be an extension of his own body - flapping like wings and striking like fists at a moment's notice.

"She took to this style like a moth to a flame, studying and practicing well into her thirties and forties with admirable dedication."

Balance and energy flowed through the moves as Shadow spun on a single foot - one leg out and fans splayed wide. Open and closed the fans swept, snapping into strikes and shielding for defense.

CRACK

"That-" Shadow dropped with his arms held out and fans open wide - "Is how she became a fearsome warrior."

Silver could only stare with jaw dropped and hands slack as the elder hedgehog returned to a normal stand.

"If you are looking for decoration, I think these would sit very nicely on your shelf." Shadow commented, remembering the original directive of the hoglet's questions. "However, it will have to wait until after breakfast, as I do not want the vegetables to wilt in the heat."