The road back home was far easier to travel. With his shoes properly fitted, Silver found his feet light and airy once more. Expertly fitted to his paws and wonderfully grippy on the road, the fixed shoes allowed the hoglet to twist and shuffle his feet without an ounce of pain. The only thing that prevented the hoglet from flipping cartwheels and scaling the may trees was Shadow's sour mood.

Despite having been traveling for several days at this point, the rugged ranger still had a prickly side to every word and action that he did. Sentences were short and curt, eye contact was minimal, and even worse - he did not hold Silver's hand.

Silver felt a bit devastated that the elder refused to hold his hand while traveling. The tight and comforting grip usually kept the child calm and feeling safe while exposed to the great and wide world. Without the tight glove around his paw, Silver felt vulnerable and even snubbed. Yet despite the lack of attention that Shadow gave him, the hoglet still felt that the reaction was entirely deserved.

He very well could have killed that playground bully. Shadow was rightly upset at him. Murder was far from the most acceptable thing in the universe after all. With head held even and stride held stiff, Silver marched behind the elder hedgehog with as much maturity as he could muster.

The dead and dirt path had faded to familiar stone some time ago, and with the hard ground beneath his soles, the young prodigy felt even better than before in his adjusted shoes. Despite being a bit loose, the leather comfortably protected his feet from the road.

"I can hear you skipping."

Sheepishly, Silver stopped his jovial bounce. It was a shame that Shadow held a no nonsense attitude. Even though the hoglet was in trouble, it did seem a little unfair that he had to walk an entire week and a half back without an ounce of fun. Staring at the back of Shadow's hood, Silver stuck out his tongue.

Rumble.

With a bored eye, the hoglet noticed the pebbles jump and dance around him - bouncing around with the brief ground tremor like fleas on a dog. Wiping his face, Silver yawned. Such an occurrence was not uncommon in or near the gravity fields. Massive floating boulders fell from the sky quite frequently after all. Even from his little bedroom back home, the hedgehog could see unsecured objects rattle a bit from such a common phenomena.

Shadow held out his hand, motioning for Silver to stop.

"What's wrong?"

"Did you feel that?" Shadow asked, crouching to the ground and brushing his fingers along the wind-worn stone.

"...yeah?" Silver frowned, tilting his head. "It was just a stone-quake."

"We are too far out for that." Shadow commented, pulling his hood down to look around with a frown.

Silver also twisted his head about, staring between the petrified trees with a blank expression.

"Stick close to me." Shadow sighed, shaking his head and motioning for the hoglet to approach him. "Something's not right, so don't fall too far behind."

As the adult continued on his path, Silver trotted up to the elder's side - reaching up with his marked paws and seizing one of Shadow's large fingers. When the ranger neither commented on nor protested the action, Silver felt his heart skip a beat. Grasping the hand in a firmer grip, the young child swallowed a lump in his throat.

Even though he had been in the petrified woods many times, Silver suddenly felt as if the world were strange and new. Every tree seemed out of place and every wisp of the cloudy sky overhead felt unknown and dangerous beyond measure. Sounds and smells crashed into his senses as the stone forest seemed to breathe in and out like his own lungs. Feeling Shadow's cloak flap against his quills, Silver reached up and snagged the leather between his fingers. Using his free hand, he wrapped the dense material around his body. He had to hide…

"Silver, you cannot hide in my cloak every time you are afraid." Shadow sighed, shaking loose from the hoglet and freeing his cloak from the tangle of quills. "What will you do when you're grown? There's no way you'll be able to hide behind me then."

"But I'm scared…"

"You have to be able to be scared and function at the same time." Shadow pointed out. "It's called bravery and you have done it."

"But…"

"No buts." Shadow interrupted. "I can't hold your hand fore-"

The elder cut himself off, stopping dead in his tracks and using his arm to stop Silver in his. Startled by the sudden movement, the hoglet snatched Shadow's wrist - needing to hold anything in an instinctual grab. For a moment, the two stood there. Trembling slightly, Silver tried to distract himself from the environment.

Looking down, the hoglet stared into Shadow's golden rings. His own eyes stared back, albeit distorted from the curved surface, shaking from the stress and anxiety he was feeling. But the hoglet did not look away. He needed a focal point. He needed to look at something…anything…

The environment twisted about in the rounded metal, yet something caught his gold eyes as he stared into the inhibitor ring's mirror-like surface. It was small. Very small. Had the hedgehog been any more frightened he wouldn't have seen it, but there it was. A pair of eyes that stared from within a-

"HAGH!"

A large mobian sprung from his hiding place with a yell as loud as a group of five men. Silver could only watch with mouth gaping as the opponent drew closer. As the mobian threw it's first punch at Shadow's face, the ranger ducked. Swishing his extended arm around, Shadow threw the startled child to the side. Silver let out a squeak as he hit the stone ground - rolling to a bumpy stop at the base of a petrified tree.

"Shadow!"

Silver covered his mouth as the strange mobian planted his feet - assuming a strong stance and punching directly at the ebony hedgehog's nose. In a flash, Shadow brought his hand up and swept the fist to the side, staring directly into the yellow eyes and losing his cape with a swift pull.

Smiling, the purple cat flicked his tail - tightening his core and throwing another calculated punch. Swiftly, Shadow dodged. Slipping to the side, the hedgehog kicked at the larger opponent's shin - ducking below another strike when the leg did not budge. Reacting to the second dodge, the yellow-eyed cat picked up his foot and slammed it against Shadow's chest, knocking the elder back in a well forced blow.

Silver squeaked, pulling himself off the ground in a panicked huff and taking a step towards the fight.

The ranger dispelled the momentum of the kick in a twisting step. With a hop and a slight huff, he picked up his speed - punching and striking at the large cat's body with a calculated barrage of fists and kicks. In reaction, the opponent swept his axe off his back. Holding it in front of himself like a shield to an arrow, the cat blocked a good chunk of the hedgehog's strikes before sweeping the weapon directly at the elder's head.

SHRING

Shadow drew his blade, metal sparking off of metal as he pushed the sharpened edge away from his face in a strained push.

"So that's how it's gonna be…" The hedgehog huffed, twirling the blade in his hand before stepping towards the cat in an advance.

Sparks fell to the stone floor as the opponent blocked the swinging knife. Drawing his twin blade, Shadow doubled his movements - stepping and swinging in a dance-like flow of snapping strikes. The cat backed away, holding his axe in front of him once more and twirling it about. A step and a swipe, and Shadow managed to slip past the barrier of metal. Slicing at the mobian's arm, the ranger's blade almost hit its mark before the cat pushed the gloved hand off of its course. Movement interrupted, Shadow quickly brought his boots up to the muscular arms, kicking off of them in a flip backwards.

As the axe came crashing down, Shadow slipped to the side. A kick to the opponent's wrist and a failed swipe of the blade broke the large hand from its axe. Leaping off of the large weapon, the hedgehog made a roundhouse kick at the cat's head only to be stopped by the burly purple forearm. Hooking his ankle, Shadow swung off of the arm and threw himself to the ground - aiming to cut the larger legs with his blade with the speed he gained. As Shadow raced towards the thickly furred thighs, the cat made a hop to the side - swinging his arm down and grabbing the hedgehog's wrists in a single sweep.

Silver gasped as Shadow's twin blades clattered to the ground, flung from the sturdy finger in a well placed twist. Reaching his marked paws out, the hoglet attempted to call once more for the elder hedgehog as he was thrown to the ground. Shaking his head, Shadow flipped himself back to his feet. Eyes glowing red, he picked up his speed once more - landing blows on the cat's arms and chest with loud smacks and cracks. Locked in hand to hand combat, the cat put up his arms, guarding his face and head with trained movements as Shadow's spinning boots whirled at his body.

Hit after hit was blocked by the opponent as Shadow's precise movements rained through the air. The cat grit his teeth as the hedgehog slipped behind him, kicking him to the ground with a blow to the upper shoulder. Rolling off the momentum, the cat slipped to his knees. Raised arms blocked a blow from Shadow's speeding fists - slowly sliding the larger opponent backwards with each and every strike. Slipping off his toes, the cat rolled out of the hedgehog's range and planted his hands against the stone - claws drawn through slits in his thick gloves. With a frown, Shadow hopped to the side. In a swift step, he struck at the cat once more. Forced off his paws, the opponent stood. Trying to punch, the cat grounded his feet and struck; only to miss the ranger by a hair as the hedgehog slipped to the side. Kicking once more, Shadow struck at the cat's shoulder. Having found an opening in the opponent's defense, Shadow's boot slipped past the hardened muscle and straight to the jaw.

CRACK

The cat fell to the side - rolling on the ground as the hedgehog chased after him. Leaping on top of the significantly larger opponent, Shadow made a motion to pin him down. Reacting to the grab, the cat raised his arms to snatch the ranger's shoulders. However, having seen the move coming, Shadow merely slipped backwards - hooking the large hands and twisting them together. With a huff, Shadow slammed the hands against the cat's chest - throwing his left boot against the purple throat and grounding himself with his right.

For a moment, the two struggled, wriggling about like worms in the dirt until finally the cat stopped moving.

"Shadow-"

Shadow raised his hand, cutting the hoglet off before the child could take a step towards him.

"How many times do I have to tell you." Shadow growled, frowning intensely at the cat as he tightened his fists and stepped off his opponent.

The mobian rolled onto his chest, huffing and puffing as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. Eye contact was made as the two stood to their full height.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself to make it stick?" Shadow hissed, pointing an aggressive finger at the larger mobian.

"Stop. Dropping. Your. Elbow."

"Oh, so it was too much to expect a hello?"

"You dropped your elbow!" Shadow retorted. "I pulled one of the oldest pins in the book and you weren't able to get out because of it."

"Well why were you going so easy on me in the beginning?" Came the response. "Maybe I wouldn't have dropped it if you hadn't convinced me it was going to be-"

"We both know that's bul-"

"Oh please, it's been years - give me a break."

Silver could only stare in confusion as the two adults mildly argued back and forth. Nervously, he held his ivory paws to his chest. Why was Shadow suddenly so relaxed around the cat? Swallowing another lump, the hoglet began to walk towards the ranger.

"It has been years." Shadow commented, flicking his ears and approaching the cat. "Is that grey in your fur?"

"Indeed it is." Came the response.

Silver felt his fur tremble as Shadow reached up to touch the larger cat's cheeks - grabbing the fuzzy flesh and turning the head left and right so the whitening hairs could glisten in the daylight.

"You are a bit dirty…" Shadow mumbled, wiping some black out of the light colored muzzle with his thumb.

"Shadow….?" Silver asked, stopping a few paces away and making nervous eye contact with the large cat.

"What is it?" Shadow answered, turning around with a much softer look in his eyes than before.

"What's going on?"

"Forgive my manners…" Shadow sighed, shaking his head. "Silver - This is Tone."