how to describe something so familiar in such an unfamiliar way was quite the challenge
Senses heightened and fur puffed, Silver found himself practically glued to the Ranger's hand as they walked through the streets of the city square. At every turn, the frightened hoglet found himself looking over his shoulder and sweeping his eyes across the area for any sign of a dreaded colored hood. To make things worse, dyed fabrics were everywhere. Woven flax stained with the green of grass briefly startled the hoglet - sending him bumping into Shadow's sturdy leg as its untethered ends flapped in the subtle wind. A woman in a red scarf crossed his vision, instinctually flaring his tiny spines and rippling his goosebumped flesh. Everywhere he turned his eyes, flashes of green or red fabric greeted his vision. How could he pick a dangerous individual out in this rainbow colored city?
Holding his hands to his eyes, Silver blocked out his vision. All he could think about were those awful fires and horrid popping sounds - playing and replaying in his mind like a bird singing on a branch. Trembling rocked his body as he saw the toothed grin of the red hooded fox. That smile could not be forgotten. Those pointy teeth glistening in a pale cyan light with the reflection of the sharp surgical blade utterly poisoned the hoglet's mind. Pushing his palms harder against his eyelids, Silver let out a whine.
A brief one, however, as he realized that at some point he had let go of Shadow's hand.
"Shadow?" Silver asked, slowly peeling his fingers off of his face.
There wasn't a hood in sight.
"Shadow?" Silver called, growing more frantic as he concluded that the adult had walked away without him?
True to his name, the ranger had disappeared into the crowd - vanishing like a wisp of darkness against a torch on a sunny day.
"Shadow!" Silver shrieked, turning around in a panic.
Without the adult, he was completely helpless. There was nothing that could stop a group of Syndicate footmen from sweeping him up in a bag and hauling him out into some god-awful place like a cage in a cave. Silver felt cold droplets drip down his fur as pure unbridled panic seized his senses. Everywhere he turned, there was a hint of green. A green pot of herbs sitting in a window. A rug dyed green sitting on the paved floor. A skirt with green patterns, flapping under footsteps. And, worst of all, a leopard in an incriminating green hood standing at a jewelry stall.
Silver dared not move. If he made one twitch of a muscle, the underling would see him and whisk him away for a hefty price. Piles of rings for the head of a Prodigy. Silver felt like fainting. What would they do with a child like him? That is when the ivory hedgehog felt a hand grip his wrist with an iron hold.
Spotting the shadow of a hooded figure in front of him, Silver didn't bother to think. With a frightened wheeze he twisted his tiny wrist and pulled downwards - popping loose of the crushing grip in a mere moment. Reacting on his training, Silver thrust his leg backwards and slammed his hard-soled boot straight into the knee of his attempted captor. In a teary eyed blink, the hoglet dashed into the crowd. Using his small stature, he weaved between the legs of the various adults around him. Left and right, up and down, Silver used his learned agility to expertly dodge through the dense crowd around him. He had to escape. He had to get out. If those awful people cough him, he would be done. Finished. Carried off and enslaved to do Gaia knows what. As horrible thoughts swam through his head, the young prodigy only ran faster - sliding under carts and vaulting over boxes with surprising expertise.
Rounding a corner into a dark alleyway, Silver felt his body slam against a sturdy object. Head spinning with all the possibilities of capture, Silver found himself hitting the asphalt floor - spines flared and eyes blurry from panic. Looking up from his place on the ground, the hoglet felt absolute panic sear through his veins. The faceless silhouette of a cloaked figure stood over him, arms crossed and hood flapping in the gentle wind. The syndicate! Someone had found him! Silver found himself panicking as he scrambled to get off the ground - claws scratching on the pavement and boots slipping on sandy terrain. What as only a few seconds seemed like forever for the child as he found his footing - bracing to race off from the awful-
"Silver, calm yourself." A familiar voice spoke, freezing the hoglet in his tracks. "It's only me."
"Sh-Shadow?" Silver stammered, adrenaline pumping and heart beating as loud as a drum.
"Yes." Shadow answered, tipping his hood back briefly so the blank ruby eyes could glisten at the young hoglet.
"Shadow…the syndicate…they grabbed me - I ran - I-"
"That was only me, Silver." Shadow interrupted, raising his gloved hand to cut off the young child. "Although I must commend you on your reaction time - it seems you are remembering your lessons well."
"Sorry…I didn't mean to hurt you…." Silver blushed, shame displaying on his face in a crimson stripe. "I-I was scared I I didn't-"
"The fault is mine." Shadow blandly stated, reaching down and grabbing the hoglet's hand in a careful manner. "I did not announce my presence and you reacted as you should have."
"I did?"
"Most accurately." Shadow nodded.
Silver couldn't help but smile a little bit. Branch would have punched him for daring to strike like that - even if it was presumably self-defense. Where he had expected Shadow to retaliate in anger, he was met only with a disinterested stare.
"D-did I hurt you?" Silver sniffled, staring at the slightly dirty knee of the emotionless elder.
"No." Shadow responded, leading the hoglet back out into the streets. "You would have to strike much harder than that to cause damage to my stance."
Silver only looked down, unsure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, Shadow was not hurt. Silver's boot must have only caused an irritated eye roll compared to the strikes and hits he had taken before. But on the other hand, what if his kicks weren't strong enough to take out a real threat? The hoglet shuddered as he imagined a failed kick to an actual threat. If he couldn't defend himself, then what would he do?
Anxiety shuddered through Silver's pelt as he pulled himself closer to Shadow's side. Why did he ever decide to tag along? The elder did warn him about the dangers of the city after all. Syndicate outpostings, dangerous people, heck even on the road to the city Silver had seen animals he had never seen before in his life. Silver didn't even know there were creatures as large as something like a horse in the world. All he knew were the monstrously huge goliaths and they were massive. Much bigger than a horse. All his life, the young child had assumed that goliaths were the largest things in the world. To find out that other things were larger than the average mobian had shaken his small world - even if the creature was friendly enough. Even still, dogs much bigger than the retrievers and hounds he was familiar with dotted the streets of Savannah city. If dogs could be bigger than a mobian, what else could?
As if to answer the hoglet's question, the large golden eyes fell across a creature Silver had never even heard described in his life.
It was tall. Almost taller than a horse as it walked through the city on elongated limbs. Horrifically, it stalked; upright on appendages thin enough to remind the child of a tree's branches. Bland cloths draped across its trunk-like body with dark, ungloved hands clutching at a bag slung across its disproportionately long torso. At the top of its length was an unusually small head with unsettlingly tiny eyes. Black fur draped from the very top of its hairless body, only barely reaching its dark eyes with ribbons of red and green woven within. It towered over the surrounding mobians with an ominous height - stepping over unreasonably dismissive people as it picked its way through the marketplace.
"Shadow the tree-" Silver whimpered, practically hugging the adult's leg in an attempt to hide from the unsettling creature. "The tree it's..it's…"
"What tree?" Shadow asked, turning himself around and assessing the city square.
"It's walking around - I thought trees didn't move..I…" Silver whimpered, pointing across the crowd to the branch like being.
"What, him?" Shadow asked, voice shifting to confusion. "That's just a human."
Silver stared at the creature. The hoglet had only heard tales of such beings that had lived on the planet - never seen one before. He had always wondered what such an advanced race could have looked like. He had imagined a face more similar to his own - with high set ears and large observant eyes. Not some..biological tree thing. If he had known such creatures were so terrifyingly alien, he would never have wanted to meet one in the first place.
"That's a human?" Silver hissed, feeling his fur puff out in fear.
"Yes." Shadow answered, unbothered by the uncanny creature. "They used to be quite numerous on this planet."
The awful creature leaned down and purchased a fruit from a tented stand - almost hitting its small skull on its way out from underneath the structure. Shadow merely shook his head, muttering something about height before turning to glance around the square. Silver hugged the ranger's knee with a squeak. Why was something that large even in the city in the first place?
"Silver, why are you frightened?" Shadow sighed, dislodging his limb from the hoglet's grasp. "You are not in any danger around that man."
"It's so big…" Silver shuddered, grasping the adult's hand tighter. "What if it…what if it eats me."
"Silver, you're being ridiculous." Shadow groaned. "Humans have not been known to ever consume mobian flesh."
Turning towards the lanky figure, the ranger let out another hefty sigh.
"Here, let me show you."
Much to Silver's horror, Shadow began to approach the massive being. It was far too frightening to the young hoglet how confident and unbothered the ranger was. The leather boots stepped far too comfortably and the shoulders far too relaxed for Silver to feel any reassurance that the creature wasn't a danger. Shadow was never frightened by anything. Not once had the hoglet seen the elder's ebony fur puff out. Nor had he ever seen a frightful flare of terror. Shadow had never feared for his own safety. And this confidence that the hedgehog always carried, did not help Silver feel any better.
In a strange tongue, Shadow called out - grabbing the creature's attention with a turn of its head. As the hedgehog came to a halt by the creature's sandaled feet, calculated gibberish poured out of his mouth - speaking words and phrases fully understood by the dark human before them. Fear slapped at Silver's head as he clung to the heavy cloak of his mentor, staring up in pure anxiety at the elongated figure before him.
In the same sort of gibberish, it spoke back, waving its free hand around and pointing down the road and then in various directions. Shadow nodded along, showing great interest in what the man had to say. Then, just as Shadow finished another few sentences, the great thing looked down and spotted the small hedgehog inside the ranger's cloak - giving a warm smile and a laugh. Silver couldn't help but feel slightly better as he spoke directly to the small child, a jolly giggle following every sentence. While wanting to be able to respond, Silver could only stare blankly at the human male, watching its bright smile and feeling only confusion. Fortunately, Shadow was able to respond, speaking slightly irritated words much to the amusement of the human. It spoke once more to the little hoglet, waving his hand in a cheerful manner.
"Can you say «Salut» ?" Shadow asked, squeezing the hoglet's hand to grab his attention.
"Sal oo." Silver blankly parroted, staring up into the cheerful eyes of the human.
«Salut!» The man responded, waving merrily and walking away with a jolly whistle.
Silver could only watch as the human stepped over the crowds of people, occasionally spouting apologetic words as he trounced on a few tails.
"There is nothing to fear about the average human." Shadow spoke, turning to look down at the much less anxious child. "Most of them are weak… and altruistic to a fault."
"What were you saying to him?" Silver asked, turning his head to look at the hooded face above.
"I merely asked if he had seen any large glowing gemstones at an auction recently." Shadow responded, beginning a path in the direction the human had pointed. "Fortunately for us, he had."
"He did?" Silver beamed, gripping the adult's hand in excitement.
"Yes." Shadow answered. "He was at the auction looking for cattle, but the gemstone certainly caught his fancy."
Turning his head this way and that, the ranger scanned the environment for any signs of malicious individuals.
"He remembered it was sold to a cat in a blue hood." Shadow whispered, lowering his voice to a mere breath. "A slight problem, unfortunately."
"Why's that?" Silver asked.
"Not here." Shadow mumbled, lowering his voice even further. "It's not safe here."
"Can we find something to eat then?" Silver asked, pointing to the setting sun between the tilted towers.
"..."
"...sure."