Nervous was, for lack of a better word, was one of the emotions Silver would describe feeling. In fact, when staring up at the large obstacle in front of him, the young hedgehog could feel his stomach sinking into his feet.
"Come on." Shadow urged.
Silver gulped. Having been woken up slightly earlier than usual was bad enough. But being brought to the outer Gravity fields to one of the dead groves of trees without even an explanation as to why was, in many ways, just as bad. The hoglet couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.
"Are you going to climb?"
Shadow seemed impatient. The ebony hedgehog had once again donned his traveling gear for the small trip away from the house. Silver had as well, but the elder had made an effort to carry his essentials. Which didn't help him look any less intimidating than he usually was. With squared shoulders and crossed arms, the hooded hedgehog balanced on the top of one of the many sheared trees, one foot carefully planted on the branchless trunk and the other anchored to his knee.
Gulping down a lump, Silver gripped the stripped wood and clawed his way to the top. It was more than apparent the grove of trees had been modified. How long ago this had happened Silver couldn't say. But the indisputable fact was ever obvious that this was one of Shadow's training grounds. Trees didn't cut themselves in half. That was evidently clear to the hoglet when he reached the top - paws grasping onto the weathered stump in a strained huff. Each tree in the immediate area had been cleaved to precisely ten paces tall with laser accuracy. Shorn to the perfect height with an inevitable intent to practice. It was this exact section of the grove that the trees had grown closest to one another, in fact. However as Silver peered across the larger area, the stumps and logs had been cut far more irregularly.
"Balance on the tree." Shadow ordered, noticing how the hoglet continued to cling to the side of the wooden pillar.
"But I'll fall…" Silver whimpered, drawing his claws slightly.
"Your balance exercises have been training you for this terrain." Shadow spoke, frowning slightly. "Today you will merely be learning to stand and move, not fight."
That was a relief. Silver exhaled slightly as he scooched himself further up the trunk until his chin rested on the flat top. With another huff, he pulled himself onto the tree - placing his leather boots on the ringed stump and pulling his knees to his chest.
"Your current goal is to stand." Shadow prodded, arms still crossed.
Squinting, Silver let go of the tree, wobbling slightly as he extended his arms for balance. The elder hedgehog nodded, responding with mild positivity when the hoglet glanced up for approval.
"A-am I going to fall?" Silver wobbled, knees shaking from anxiety.
"If you do, I will catch you." Shadow blankly answered.
Oh, ok then. Squinting his eyes and sticking out his tongue, Silver dared to lift himself from his crouched position. Slowly and steadily he rose to his full height, arms waving about and hips swaying from imbalance.
"Remember your core." Shadow hinted.
Breathing deeply, Silver corrected his stance.
"Much better."
Silver beamed as he found his balance regained. The slight shift of his toes and the placement of his head did wonders to correct his previous anxieties.
"Excellent." Shadow announced, uncrossing his arms as the hoglet assumed a steady pose. "Your next goal is to be able to move fluidly across this terrain."
Stepping from his log to another, the ranger began to move about, lightly tapping from tree to tree.
"I do not expect you to have full mastery in one day." Shadow began, shifting his feet and leaping into the air. "Today is just a trial to get you used to this specific section of the poles."
Flipping in midair, the elder switched himself upside down, one hand planted on a well worn stump and limbs spread wide for balance.
"Why don't you start by balancing on one foot."
Silver inhaled. With a wide sweep of his arms, he brought his paws above his head; slowly bringing them down with cyan palms faced towards each other. Center the gravity. Center the mind. Keeping one palm frozen, Silver smoothly extended his right arm, bringing his foot up to his knee in tandem with his fingers.
The soft tap of Shadow's boots against wood slightly broke his concentration.
"Hold it…" Shadow directed, mimicking the child's movement until he reached the same pose. " Now take a step."
Bringing his centered palm down, Silver swung his extended arm up - circling them around until his left palm was high above his head and his left out. Bowing down, the child took a smooth step forwards - shifting his weight to his other foot with a sweep of his arms. Up and about his palms traveled until finally he had arrived at the same pose he had started.
"Very good." Shadow nodded, having accomplished the exact same move. "Keep going - mix it up a little."
"Mix it up?" Silver asked, tilting his head quizzically.
"Be creative." Shadow responded. "Your moves do not have to be locked to a specific pattern. Battle is rarely predictable, so it is best to start breaking from your basic sets now."
Inhaling once more, Silver took another step - this time swinging his arm to the left as in a parry.
"Good." Shadow nodded, staying where he had previously planted himself. "Make sure you stay within the 10 pace poles, I don't think you are ready for the uneven areas yet."
Silver only nodded, hopping once again. With each step he walked, he only grew more confident. Smile plastered on his face, he began to skip about - flying through his well known moves with practiced diligence. Step and a swipe. Arc and a bow. Twist. Twist. Kick. Bow. Silver couldn't wipe the sunshine from his face as he realized how fun the poles actually were. It was like a game. The ground below was…uh… made of fire. Honing his imagination, Silver stared at the floor below - watching the various cracks and crevices light ablaze with green and blue flames in his mind's eye.
Images flooding his head, the hoglet imagined he was on stone pillars above a flaming chasm of doom. Enemies scampered after him as he slipped between the spires, dancing on beams of psychokinetic light. A monster would pounce - but BAM! a kick to the chest would send it toppling backwards to its doom. Another one leaps and POW! Expertly parried off it's balance to its own demise. Giggling with entertainment, Silver pushed his mind again.
Stalkers would leap from below only to be kicked away by a graceful sweep. Hooded crowds of green and red would fall to his mighty strikes. Arc up. Sweep around. Step. Step. Sweep down. A circle of the arms brings defense from above. Swishes left and right bring defense side and front. A kick and a strike. A kick and a strike. No enemy was a match for this little hoglet's powerful palm!
A giant figure loomed on the figurative horizon, towering over the child like a mountain over a village. Smiling, Silver assumed a fighting stance - ready to take on the challenge like the heroes of old. Ah yes, Silver had heard many tales of the monstrous beasts that ancient heroes had slain in their victories. Sonic alone had killed several creatures that were nothing short of deities. Tales of old dancing in his head, Silver smirked. Taking down a giant would be small potatoes for a hero like him.
Dashing across the basalt pillars, the hedgehog flung himself at his imaginary foe. Quills splayed and smile splattered across his face, he planted his foot - spinning around in a roundhouse kick before-
WHACK
His shin hit an unmoving object.
"And that's enough." Shadow grumbled, sounding annoyed through his lowered voice.
Blinking away his imagination, Silver looked down his leg to see what he had hit. Flushing red, he spied his boot pointed straight at the ranger's chest. The hedgehog in question, eyes half lidded, stared back at the younger hedgehog with a blank expression; leather clad palms obstructing the child's raised limb from moving in a stiff-armed block. Sheepishly, Silver lowered his foot.
"S-sorry…I-"
"-got excited, I can see." Shadow blankly responded, face and voice emotionless.
"I'm sorry…"
"I am uninjured."
Hanging his head, Silver stared at the ground.
"Seeing you have taken quickly to the terrain, we can begin combat training tomorrow." Shadow stated.
"R-really?" Silver sniffed, lifting his face towards the ebony adult.
"If you are balanced enough to run around, throw a kick with perfect form, and hold consistent through my block, you are ready." Shadow blandly spoke.
"A-are you mad at me?" Silver asked, hunching his shoulders slightly.
"Why would I be mad at you?" Shadow questioned, tilting his head slightly.
"I…I kicked you…."
"I had told you to do your forms." Shadow sighed. "If you had attacked me out of nowhere, we would be having a very different conversation."
"...oh…"
"Come." Shadow mumbled, stepping off of his pole and dropping to the ground below. "It is time for your midday meal."
"Right…"
Shimmying down the trunk, Silver trotted after the elder hedgehog. Face still flushed and head full of the stories he had been told, the young hedgehog reached into his little pouch.
It was strange how the belt Shadow had given him didn't fit right at first. It had been loose, and it had drug along his hips in a strange and uncomfortable way, but now it rested comfortably at his waist. Even the little pouch wasn't much more than a slight weight anymore. No longer did it bounce against his body. Now he felt much more free to do as he pleased.
Reclapsing the pouch clip, Silver brought his little hedgehog toy to his chest - examining its carved surface with a smile on his lips. One day he would grow up into a hedgehog just like the little toy. Tall, strong, even slightly muscular. The loosely defined limbs implied great strength in the wooden arms. Silver dreamed to be as strong as Shadow one day…
"You really like that thing…Don't you…" The ranger commented, pulling apart a dried bush and brushing off an area in the grassless stone.
"Skip gave it to me…" Silver smiled, rubbing a finger across the featureless muzzle. "And it reminds me of Sonic."
"Really?" Shadow frowned, lighting fire to the recently arranged pile of sticks and turning to a nearby circle of mushrooms. "Why him?"
"He's my favorite hero." Silver chirped.
"Of course he is…" Shadow grumbled. "He was everyone's favorite."
"Did you like him?"
"Not particularly." Shadow sighed. "Hindsight is 20/20 when it comes to how you view a person; and if I think back to memories with him, he tended to bring out the worst in me."
Silver's ears drooped slightly.
"I like him now. " Shadow shrugged. "I hold his memory with honor and respect."
Silence hung in the air as the elder seemingly froze in his place. Shaking his head slightly, Shadow removed one of the thin branches from the fire and speared a few of the mushroom caps. Pulling an herb from a nearby crack and wrapping the leaves around the uncooked goods, the ranger handed the stick to Silver - directing the hoglet to hold it over the fire until the caps were nice and brown.
"Why do you get upset when I talk about him?" Silver asked, letting a small chunk of time pass before breaking the silence.
"Silver…" Shadow sighed, pulling down his hood and rubbing his forehead. "When people die…under less than optimal circumstances…"
The ranger stopped, staring into the fire with a melancholic glance.
"It tends to…leave scars behind."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you remember when I broke you out of the cave base?"
Silver flinched, instinctually backing away from the fire by a finger's width upon the mention.
"Y-yeah?"
"How well do you remember that?"
Visions slipped across the hoglet's sight like the auroras in the night. Splatters of blood. Faces of teens. Teeth. Weapons. Clashing metal. ….Fire….
"Very well…" Silver trembled, fur rippling from anxiety.
"Bad memories like that are commonly referred to as …trauma…" Shadow explained, hunching his shoulders and resting his arms on his knees. "Memories like that…don't ever go away."
"They don't?" Silver gasped, horror blinking through his head as the idea of being stuck with the memory hit him like a whirlwind.
"Relax…" Shadow sighed, rubbing his face once again. "They don't alway haunt you like they do now.."
Silver exhaled, turning the caps around to roast the other side.
"But…they still stick around…" Shadow mumbled. "And they still hurt…"
"Did Sonic…give you trauma…?" Silver asked, turning his large eyes towards the elder.
"...not directly." Came the response. "Though his death…and several others…have left me with scars like yours."
"Can I see them?" Silver asked, scooting slightly towards the elder.
"They don't exist on the body, Silver." Shadow sighed. "They exist on the soul."
"Oh…"
Silver turned back to the fire. The orange tongues danced and slipped through the air, catching in the child's eyes and lighting in his very being. Scars on the soul…. Silver pondered the saying.
"Is that what hurts inside when I'm scared of fire?" He asked.
"Yes."
"So thinking about Sonic makes you hurt inside like that?" Silver questioned, understanding slowly flickering inside like the fire before him.
Shadow merely nodded.
"Do other things make you hurt inside like that?"
"Lots of things." Shadow mumbled. "When you live a life as long as mine…you see things….lose things…"
"Can I help?" Silver sheepishly offered, holding the hedgehog toy out. "This makes me feel better when I'm sad…"
"I appreciate the offer, but I've already dealt with my pain." Shadow spoke, standing up and walking over to the hoglet.
With a gentle flick of his hand, Shadow brought his fingers under the hoglet's stick and lifted the browning caps from the fire. Embarrassed, Silver brought his mushrooms close. In great puffs of air, he huffed, blowing on the wrinkled surfaces in an attempt to cool them off. Sweet smells of the herbs Shadow had wrapped wafted off of the fungal meal - filling the hoglet's nose with the promise of a good tasting lunch with each subsequent exhale.
"Eat." Shadow ordered, stomping out the fire with his boot. "We are not done with training today."