The warm glow of Chaos energy was somehow soothing to look at as Silver sat in the corner of the tent. Wearily he slumped against one of the boxes. Its claw marks and musty smell told the hoglet that it had sat there for some time in the tent of unfortunate rangers. The scornful smell of the demonic fog laid heavy on its cracked surface and almost made the hoglet feel the hatred himself. But alas, his drooping eyes and relaxed quills told him that the feeling was only a scent. A weak one at that. Easily ignored in the throes of lethargy.
Shadow's hands skillfully swayed with the pulses of energy. With one hand splayed across the glowing chest of his patient and the other circling over the dried mouth, the hooded hedgehog commanded intricate swirls and curling wisps of Chaos energy through the maze-like lungs. Red eyes, furrowed with concentration, remained tracked on the ranger below. The young prodigy hoped that the elder wasn't as bitter as he appeared. It was hard to see if the onyx ears were pinned back in anger beneath the leather hood. Yet if the clenched jaw and curled lips were any indicator to go off of, it wasn't too far off to assume the emotional state of the elder.
"Are you mad at me?" Silver mumbled out, feeling the harshness of the poorly hidden animosity.
"Yes."
Great. That question was out of the way.
Curling his legs, the young hedgehog wrapped his arms around his shins and placed his chin on his knees. A slight shudder rippled through his fur as guilt and frustration began to fill his mind. Why now? Why here?
"Look…I… I tried to run away the first time…"
"I believe you." Came the sharp response.
"You do?" Silver gasped, lifting his head with a slack jaw.
A short nod was the only answer as Shadow turned his back. Glowing once again reflected in sparks on the hoglet's shiny eyes as the elder began his work on a different ranger.
"Well… Why… Why are you mad at me?"
"Because you're not wrong."
"A-Am I in trouble?"
Bang
Shadow harshly slammed his fist on the ground before raising it level to his head. The gold rings around his wrist wobbled in the dim candlelight as the elder shook his clenched hand in frustration.
"I hope you know what you've done here." Shadow finally hissed, hand blazing aglow and resuming a position over the murmuring ranger's chest.
"I… I don't…" Silver mumbled.
Curling his legs even tighter, the hoglet braced for a lecture.
"You've just proved to Mephiles that you are capable of acting on your own." Shadow growled. "You know what that makes you?"
Silver rapidly shook his head. Tingles rippled across his skin as his fur prickled in waves.
"That makes you a threat." Shadow spat, turning his head slightly to look at his prodigy with glowing eyes. "He's attempted to attack you before, but that was on my terms. Now there's nothing stopping him from hunting you down in his sick, twisted way to wipe you off the board for good."
Silver let out a squeak under the intensity of the red-eyed glare.
"I have no doubts that you had the best of intentions in trying to help these rangers, but by fighting and winning on their side you've made yourself too powerful to ignore." The elder continued, words still venomous with subtle fury. "Before, you were simply a pet project - a dead body I was hauling around for sentimentality, but now? You're too far gone. Before, he had hope things would be different and that fate may have been on his side. But now that precious period of watching and waiting is lost to us."
Yanking a beam of energy from the ill ranger's mouth, Shadow stood from his knelt position. Shiny white fangs reflected in the candlelight as the elder turned towards an unhealed patient. Prickles and scratches filled Silver's ears as he listened to his quills scraping against the box behind him. Every fiber on his body seemed to stand on end as he imagined the crystal demon's sharp claws and deadly strikes. Mephiles? Actively hunting him? The blood almost drained from his face as he realised the gravity of the situation.
"I can't blame you for trying to do the right thing, but I gave you those rules for a reason." Shadow continued. "You can't take back the actions you've done."
A gloved hand sharply pointed towards the tent entrance.
"What they see; He sees." The elder spat. "And when you fought that - that imp… You proved yourself to be everything he is so so frightened of."
"Frightened?" Silver gasped, lifting his head. "He's scared of me?"
"He knows what you are." Shadow growled. "I know what you are. Your potential. I knew you long before you crossed my path those three years ago and you are everything I have been waiting for over the last two hundred years."
"I-I don't understand-"
"And you won't." Shadow snarled. "Not until I have more Emeralds."
The young hedgehog laid his chin back on his knees. Against his control his snowy ears began to droop downwards, weighed by the sadness and guilt running his mind. Shadow sure liked to talk about things he did not want to elaborate on. Yet behind the veneer of anger and discipline, Silver knew that deep down his mentor was just frustrated. He could see it. The subtle shaking of his fingers, the quiet curses under his breath… He wasn't willing to disclose what he knew, but whatever it was did not mean anything good.
Two hundred years was a long time to wait anyhow. Fighting Mephiles for that length of time would make anyone frustrated. The weight of age and patience clearly laid heavy on Shadow's shoulders. Silver didn't know why he hadn't seen it before, but it obviously had been there the whole time. With every skilled movement and every expert pulse of energy, the young prodigy could feel the embitterment shining through the whispers of chaos energy in the air.
"A-Are you frightened of me?" Silver meekly asked, only daring to raise his voice a decibel above a whisper.
"No." Shadow scoffed, turning to another ranger. "If I were frightened, I would have killed you back when you were no threat to me."
"I-Is Tone scared?"
"He knows just as well as I do what you're capable of." Came the answer. "He holds no ill will."
"I don't understand…" Silver mumbled. "Are all Prodigies a threat?"
Shadow fell eerily silent, his hands dropping to rest on the body of the child under his gloves. For a second he remained with fingers clenching and unclenching in asynchronous waves.
"Some more than others…"
"Okay, I have one bowl of penicillin." Rake announced, barging unexpectedly into the tent with spoons clattering at his belt. "It's the best thing we've… we've…uh…"
Awkwardly, the squirrel glanced between the two hedgehogs. Setting the bowl on the box next to Silver's head, he began to tap his foot nervously.
"Am I interrupting something?"
"No."
"Yes."
Both hedgehogs answered at the same time, leaving the teen with a knowing look in his eyes.
"Is he in trouble, sir?"
"Yes."
"I promise it's not his fault." Rake began, wringing his hands together. "I'll take the blame - honest - I'm the one who dragged him into this, I'll take whatever consequences he wi-"
"He's received consequence enough." Shadow interrupted, voice dark and unwavering. "Fixing up the damages of the fight has sufficed for his infractions."
"O-oh…"
Silver let out a sigh of relief.
"Everything else is out of my control." Shadow grumbled, sitting back on his heels. "Anyhow, I've finished my business here."
"They're cured?" Rake asked, eyes sparkling with hope.
"Make sure they get plenty of sunlight." Shadow instructed, standing from his place on the ground and gesturing for Silver to do the same. "The more light they get, the faster their symptoms will leave."
Rake let out a sigh of relief, tears running down his cheeks from the joy of release.
"They will be extremely lethargic for the next few weeks. Nausea and vomiting will follow the sicker ones for a bit, but they will recover with proper light exposure." The hedgehog continued. "Normally I would recommend penicillin to help keep the immune system in check, but considering you've been giving it to them for months - I would stop immediately. Prolonged doses of antibiotics can produce bacteria resistant to it's presence and render the medicine useless."
"Oh…"
"If that is all, me and my prodigy should be on our way."
"Wait-"
Before the teen could finish his sentence, the elder hedgehog had pushed past him - cloak flapping against the tent fabric on his way out. Silver abruptly trotted after him. Swiping aside the slit cloth, he raced to keep at Shadow's heels.
Daylight burst into the hoglet's eyes as he stumbled into the outdoors. The unwelcome brightness served as an abrupt shock to his retinas as his pupils contracted and eyelids squinted. Had that much time passed since being in the tent? Awkwardly positioning his palm over his eyes, Silver shielded himself from the cloudy sky.
"L-leaving already?" A miserable voice groaned.
"I must be on my way." Shadow answered.
"Shame you can't stay longer." Shepard mumbled, slumping himself back to the ground in an unceremonious pile. "Would have liked to hear your story too…"
Silver blinked as his eyes adjusted, ears flicking and fingers twitching in discomfort.
"My story is too long to tell." Shadow stated, having stopped himself a good ten paces from the young hedgehog. "I have demons to fight and artifacts to find."
"I couldn't help but overhear your stern words to your Prodigy." Ria spoke up, emerging from behind a barrel with a sheer bandage over her eyes. "It is Chaos Emeralds you seek?"
"Yes."
"I heard rumors of a gem of power back in Crescent City." She continued. Careful and unbalanced, she meandered her way to the ebony hedgehog.
"Yes!" Silver exclaimed, snapping his fingers in remembrance. "You said it was with the Royal family, right?"
Subtly, Shadow turned from the hoglet, averting his eyes with a slow blink.
"It was only my assumption." Ria answered. "But that would be a good place to start."
"I dunno how you'd get an au…audense with the Queen…" Shep slurred, slowly placing his good arm over his eyes.
"An audience with the Queen serves no issue for me." Shadow sharply spoke. "I would like to know where you heard this rumor though."
"Whispers in the square." Rake answered, pushing aside the tent flaps and nearly spilling his bowl of medicine. "While searching for the doctor, I overheard several different market vendors muttering amongst themselves how much they wagered an emerald of unspeakable power would cost."
"That is enough of a tip to lead me in that direction." Shadow nodded, reaching out to grab Silver's hand only to find him too far away. "Thank you for the information. I shall be on my way."
Every ranger within earshot turned towards the two hedgehogs. Placing their palms together, they held their hands out and bowed their heads. Confused, Silver whipped his head around. Shadow reciprocated the motion. With bowed head and pressed hands, he turned towards the hungover Shepard and let out a sharp exhale. Feeling extremely awkward, the ivory hoglet did the same - albeit sloppy.
Loosely, the ranger leader slapped his palms together. His wobbly breaths reached the young hoglet's nose in strained puffs - alcohol heavy in the scent of his air. Face scrunching, Silver attempted to not gag on the smell.
"May the air you breathe be fresh and fulfilling." Ria spoke, measuring her words carefully with each syllable carrying intent.
"Travel light and travel fast." Rake blessed, also carefully measuring his air.
"May Gaia honor your life and guide your path." Shadow formally answered.
"Uh… may the wind be… gentle?" Silver blundered, unsure of what to say but too uncomfortable to say nothing at all.
The rangers let out a soft chuckle. Their sounds, although blush inducing, did not sound unkind. The soft smiles and twinkles of appreciation helped the hoglet feel somewhat at ease. Still red at the cheeks, Silver side-stepped to his mentor and grasped at the strong arms in an attempt to be less visible.
"Thank you, young prodigy, for your help." Ria spoke, dropping her hands and allowing herself a slight wave. "It has been a pleasure."