In case you couldn't tell, Tone really only exists to shamelessly drop exposition

"Ready to head off?"

Silver couldn't help but feel apprehensive as the older cat held his hefty paw towards the young hedgehog. Looking left and right, the hoglet touched his fists to his chest.

"Is Shadow coming?"

"Nope." Tone smiled, gesturing with his fingers for the child to follow. "It's just us today."

Apprehensively, Silver turned around. The lower story of the structure was darkened, cast in deep purples and blues from the dim light of the rising sun. Candlelight flickered from the well worn workbench, lighting the space just enough for the hoglet to see the ranger working away at a block of wood. The slow scrapes and methodical scratches curled Silver's anxious fur, sending ripples down his ivory fur like the shavings off the ranger's carving knife.

"He's not coming?"

"What, afraid to have a little freedom sometimes?" Tone smirked.

"But it's not safe…"

"Oh dear Chaos." The cougar groaned. "You gotta let go of your fear and just live a little."

"Have…have courage?"

"Yeah - that's the word."

With a wide smile and a flick of his tail, Tone turned and squatted - placing his huge paws on the ground with his back to the small hedgehog. Taking the cue, Silver shuffled his way to the elder prodigy. The cat was much bigger than Shadow, making the climb a little more tricky than usual, but once the child had awkwardly placed his boots on the cougar's axe handle and gripped the muscular shoulders, the hedgehog found it easy to hold himself in place.

"I promise I won't break him, Shadow." Tone called, standing up and turning towards the ranger.

Shadow merely said nothing, only raising his hand in a half-wave as he reached to exchange his tool.

"Best not keep him." Tone shrugged, beginning a sturdy jog towards the Gravity Ring. "Let's get you a good day off."

Silver braced himself as the cougar picked up his pace, preparing for the G-forces of a high speed run. However, the hoglet quickly discovered that Tone's running speed couldn't even touch the velocity that Shadow could run. Heck, Silver felt he could hold on with one hand if he needed to.

The ring of floating stones approached soon enough, and the two prodigies began their ritual trial through the intense waves and dense debris. The task was easy enough for Tone, who's natural strength allowed him to swat away the floating stones without a sweat, but the ongoing silence somehow made Silver feel strange.

It felt so odd to be out without Shadow nearby. The air felt empty without the familiar buzz of Chaos energy, and his hands felt so odd gripping the thick coat of purple fur. His little paws felt wrong around the shoulders of another adult, and the hedgehog couldn't help but feel anxious to be away from the ebony ranger. Even though Tone could defend him if the need arose, it just didn't feel the same. Yet something about the conversation last night had convinced Shadow to let the elder prodigy take the young hedgehog out. With the lack of words the ranger had spoken this morning, and the seeming refusal to make eye contact, Silver couldn't help but feel guilty. Shadow didn't even wish them goodbye. Had he somehow upset the Ranger?

"Am I in trouble?"

"Huh?" Tone grunted, touching down on the ground as the density of debris decreased.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"I don't think so…"

Standing up to his full height, the cougar rolled his shoulder about. This way and that he twisted his arm, using his hand to pull it back and forth until a rather loud pop emerged from the joint within.

"Why do you ask?"

"It's just…" Silver stuttered, gripping the shoulders tighter as the cat resumed his trek. "It's just…uh… last night…Shadow seemed really upset with me…"

"Oh f- uh… how much of that conversation did you hear?" Tone tensed, fur fluffing slightly.

"Most of it…I think…"

"I'm sorry… you weren't supposed to know any of that…"

"Shadow made it sound like I was in trouble…" Silver mumbled, hunching his shoulders and looking at the ground. "Said someone would die because of me…"

"Oh…oh no.." Tone sighed, relief sounding in his aging voice. "No, that's not what he said."

"Well… somebody died…" Silver continued. "And…Shadow sure made it sound like it was my fault…"

"It…it's a bit too complicated for someone your age…" Tone replied, picking up his pace to avoid a boulder floating overhead. "Neither of us expect you to understand temporal shenanigans and grandfather paradoxes when you're only six."

"Temporal?"

"Time stuff."

"What does time stuff have to do with people dying?" Silver asked, nervously gripping the dense fur.

"Well…" Tone inhaled, slamming his foot down a little too hard as gravity increased slightly. "Shadow doesn't want you to worry about that stuff right now."

"Why?"

"Because…knowing things about the future tends to make life a little stressful." The cat explained. "Makes you paranoid."

"Does Shadow know stuff about the future?" Silver pressed, adjusting his boots so they wouldn't slip. "Is that why he was so upset last night?"

"More or less." Tone shrugged. "It's really gotten to his head lately."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry - just give him some time to chill out and he'll be right as rain."

The ground trembled slightly as a boulder fell from the sky, rattling through the two bodies in familiar quakes.

"But…he sounded really worried…" Silver mumbled.

"He is."

"He is?"

"Yeah, he's gotta work through some stuff right now." Tone explained. "I wouldn't expect you to understand, but he has some trauma resurfacing; and somehow my showing up was the final straw."

"The soul scars…" Silver whispered, pressing himself close to the cat's body as a large stone floated dangerously close.

"Aw, you do understand." Tone smiled, flicking his neck to the side with an arthritic pop.

"Shadow explained why it hurts inside." Silver nodded. "But…he said he was fine…"

"Shadow wouldn't know 'fine' if it punched him in the face."

"He said that thinking about Sonic was making him feel bad…"

"Oh did he now?"

Tone laughed to himself as he ducked beneath a boulder, narrowly missing hitting Silver's head on the rocky surface. Ignoring the slight squeaks in protest, the cougar realigned himself, walking in a different direction than before. As he found himself carried along, the little hedgehog spotted a familiar treeline in the distance; dotting the horizon like bristles on a fur brush. Drool lined the lips of the hoglet as the thought of foraging for food crossed his mind.

"He's not lying, but he's not telling the whole truth either." Tone grinned, shaking his head. "I can't say much, but I can say that it's the event where Sonic died that's messing with him."

"The event?"

"Ever had something traumatic happened to you?" The cougar asked.

"I was taken by the Syndicate…" Silver answered slowly, beads of sweat forming on his skin. "There was so much blood…"

"Yeah - that whole event there." Tone clarified. "You remember everything, right?"

"Yeah?"

"He's remembering everything like that."

"But he said that thinking about Sonic-"

"Thinking about Sonic takes him right back to this field two hundred years ago." Tone specified. "Waaaaay up in the sky there."

With a tilt backwards, the elder cougar pointed to the clouds overhead. Squinting his eyes, Silver tried to see what the cat could be pointing at.

"There was a massive battle here once." Tone continued, dropping his arm. "Did he ever tell you about it?"

"A little…" Silver answered. "But it was a while ago - back in Twisted Canyon."

"Did he show you Sonic's grave?"

"Sonic has a grave?" Silver gasped, gripping the fur tighter in excitement.

"I'll take that as a no."

Confidently turning on his heel, Tone changed his direction once more - picking up his speed to a well paced jog around the outside of the Gravity Fields. Excited with the knowledge of a new location nearby, Silver hoisted himself over the shoulder of the large cat, hoping to see into the distance further than he could already.

Old Legends and epic tales flooded through his head as memories of Fliss's bedtime storytelling rushed to the front of his mind. Oh Sonic the Hedgehog. A man of many talents. Fur rich and blue as the ocean. Eyes vibrant and green as grass. Teeth straight and snowy white. Silver couldn't help but feel giddy at the thought of such a hero. Fliss said no one could beat Sonic in a race. Heck even Shadow seemed to fall slow to such a tale. Skilled, handsome, and strong. The hero to all and the god slayer. Sonic the Hedgehog was the perfect hero.

Snapped back from his inner thoughts, Silver spotted a crater out in the distance. Holding his palm to his brow, the hoglet attempted to squint out more details. What in the world could have caused such a geographical phenomena?

"So what did he tell you?" Tone spoke up, feeling the child squirming around on his shoulders. "Give me the rundown."

"Uh…um.." Silver mumbled, brain fumbling as it attempted to retrieve the memory. "Two hundred years ago…there was a doctor that downloaded his mind onto.. The inter …intersomething."

Hopping over a crack, Tone grunted in approval.

"And because of that a monster was unleashed on the world, and everybody had to go fight it." Silver continued. "Shadow and Sonic killed it but Sonic died in the process."

"You're close." Tone smiled, stretching his arms with a pop. "I see it's been a while since you've heard."

Jogging to the edge of the crater, the cougar slowed himself to a stop. With a squat down, the cat sat himself on the edge. Instinctually, Silver slid off of the Prodigy's back; toes touching on the cracked stone with a soft tap.

"What is this place?" The hoglet asked, kneeling down to run his hands across the damaged stone.

"Shadow always called this place the 'impact crater'." Tone replied, standing from his place on the edge. "This is where they fell from the sky."

"Who did?"

Looking into the crater itself, the child spotted a collection of stacked stones at the bottom of the curved dent in the earth. A frown crossed the child's face as he peered at the tower of rocks below. This was a grave?

"Come on." Tone urged, sliding down into the crater. "Come look."

Reluctantly, Silver followed - tracing his hand along the crater's edge as he slipped down into the damaged stone. Holding his fists to his chest, the hedgehog slowly approached the stack of stones where Tone stood. It was much larger than expected up close. The stones were slick and eroded from age, with notches and dents from previous damage slowly smoothening the surfaces with time. Shifting his gaze from bottom to top, Silver counted the rows on the stack - finding nine rows to the pillar.

"The first five are from Sonic's close friends." Tone spoke, voice solemn with respect. "The other four are from us Prodigies."

"Prodigies?"

"It's tradition." Tone explained. "When we leave Shadow's care, we place a stone on the stack to honor Sonic's memory."

Silver found himself glancing at the top stone.

"Signal started it." Tone laughed. "It's funny how he did it out of spite, but Breeze picked it up when she left."

"Does Shadow know?"

"He knows."

Silver looked at the elder cat.

"He never told us to do it, nor has he ever commented on it." Tone shrugged. "But it's a tradition I want to see continued."

Looking at the ground beneath the stack, Silver began to feel funny. Sonic's grave was a column of rocks? It felt wrong somehow. Heroes before had entire statues dedicated to their honor - inlaid with gold and intricately carved. A hero like Sonic did not deserve a stack of rocks. Let alone to be shoved in a hole beneath them as a final resting place. Sonic deserved a place in the Crescent City Cathedral - statue placed with the heroes of old with candles and honor from the citizens' own love. Being buried in an unmarked pit felt…sickening…

Looking to the side, Silver spotted another stack of rocks, not nearly as tall as the nine layer marker. Curiosity striking him, he slowly stepped his way in front of the column. Anxiously, he squatted in front of the other marker. One…two…three… only three rocks were counted in the other unmarked grave…

"Who's this?"

Tone visibly stiffened.

"Uh…someone else was fighting with Sonic and Shadow on that day." The cat coughed, tail flicking back and forth in anxiety. "He didn't make it either."

"Is Shadow the only one who survived?" Silver asked, turning to look at the twitching cougar.

"Solaris was an incredibly powerful deity." Tone explained, sitting down on the ground. "Even with the power of a Super state, they only managed to split its soul in half - not kill it."

"Oh…"

"It cost the life of the other two fighters." Tone said, shaking his head. "Shadow survived - and only because they took him out of his Super state by force…I think."

"What's a super state?"

A smile crossed Tone's face in a playful smirk.

"When you get all seven Chaos emeralds, you can gain the power of a god."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah." Tone smiled, standing and climbing out of the crater. "But not everyone can do it - only those with Chaos Connection."

Chaos Connection. Silver had heard the phrase before, but he had never known what it meant.

"What's that?"

"The ability to sense and or tap into Chaos Energy." Tone replied. "The amount of Chaos Connection may vary, but if you have enough of it, you can achieve a Super state."

Scrambling out of the crater, Silver joined the cougar at the top - brushing his dusty fur off with hasty swipes.

"Do you think I'll ever get a Super state?" Silver asked, eyes lighting aglow with excitement.

"Oh probably." Tone awkwardly smiled. "I've heard your connection is pretty strong, so you shouldn't have any trouble getting one."

Silver beamed.

"-But I promised Shadow I'd take a look at your fighting skills." Tone dodged, holding his large paws up into a fighting stance. "So why don't you show me what you got."

Before Tone could even say "begin"; Silver anchored his foot, twirled on his toes, and swung a well-forced kick straight into the aging cougar's knee.