Chapter Text
Defeat.
Despite winning the battle, the blue hedgehog could feel nothing but defeat. Tears welled under emerald orbs has he scanned the waterlogged arena, he still stood in the Nordic tomb that housed the tormented remains of the ruler of Bromjunaar.
He had no idea how to enact a Chaos Control, he’d failed.
Shadow’s breaths were sharp and uneven as he whimpered and shook in Sonic’s arms, The Eternal Champion and The Ultimate Lifeform, reduced to blubbering messes at the hands of Gerald and the ancients.
Sonic couldn’t swallow his cries anymore, as he walked back towards the dry platform at the entrance, his sobs echoed around the tomb, bouncing from every wall, as if a symphony of mourners were crying along with him. He couldn’t focus on the victory, not when the selfish soul of Morokei was still sealed in the mask a few mere feet away, to be reformed by The Firstborn of Akatosh at any given time. Sonic coughed and spluttered as he sat down carefully on the dry patch of ground, holding his beloved tightly in his arms.
Gerald had seemingly stopped his torment for the night, Shadow’s breaths had evened out, unconsciously he snuggled harder into his partner, which only made the blue hedgehog cry more. As they sat in the wet wasteland, filled with drips and cries, it felt as if the world they were blessed to protect had collapsed.
He felt a failure, the lack of adrenaline coursing in his veins threw him back into the torturous thoughts that he’d channelled moments ago. The grief of his former self, the anger towards the Gods, and his terrifying revelation of love were churning around in his head to the point it was nauseating. It was too much to bear, like a heavy rock was sat on his chest, memories cycled through his mind at lightning speeds completely tearing him away from reality. He’d failed to get Shadow to safety, he failed to protect him when Morokei pulled the consciousness from his body. Blue ears flattened against Sonic’s head in an attempt to muffle the memory of Shadow’s pained screams. He shivered violently in response to the soaked fur under his armour, the bitter cold seeped beneath his skin, chilling him right through to the bone.
He couldn’t focus on his victory, only the moments that lead up to it. It didn’t matter than he defeated a dragon because when he saw it, he panicked. It didn’t matter that he defeated Morokei, because he was knocked out first, and Shadow suffered for it. “I’m the reason he got so hurt..”
Sonic was too busy torturing himself to realise ebony ears were flickering in response to his sobs, onyx eyelids cracked open to be met with a face usually filled with a smile that could light up an entire city, reduced to a soul crushing, whimpering mess, the smile had been lost in the battle.
A battle Skywind had fought, and won single-handedly.
Shadow couldn’t bring himself to tell Sonic about Gerald’s threat, not now, instead he wrapped his arms around his partners neck and hoisted himself upright, still settled in the blue hedgehogs lap, “I saw what you did.” he whispered, bringing up an armoured hand to stroke dishevelled blue and green quills, “Talk to me, Skywind”
The bluenette sniffled and stuttered as he tried to respond, his breathing too erratic from the panic, “I-I c-can’t get ‘s o-out.. C-chaos spo-ke.. Morok- ei..” he sobbed.
Shadow remained silent for a while, holding his partner tightly until his breathing had noticeably steadied, “Can you stand for me?” he asked, gently peeling himself from Sonic’s lap and offering him a hand.
In that moment, Sonic was a hoglet again, found sopping wet and crying between the fishing equipment on The Waterfront, after being hauled into Lake Rumare by the children that tormented his childhood. Someone would find him, a fisherman or sometimes a guard, they’d drag him to his feet and march him back up to the orphanage. “Keep wild animals inside” they would say, not once was he found by a caretaker, because not once had they come looking for him.
Sonic peered up to meet Shadow’s gaze, wiping his tear clouded eyes against the exposed peach fur between his gauntlet and vambrace, Shadow wasn’t angry, he wasn’t forcefully dragging him to his feet, he just waited patiently for the speedster to pull himself together and stand. “Oh Chaos why do I have to feel this way about you Shads.. I’m gonna ruin everything..” he thought before taking the offered hand.
Shadow knew exactly where would be best to take the blubbering bluenette, as much as he really didn’t want to go, he put his own selfish feelings to one side as he uttered the phrase once again, “Chaos Control”.
Thankfully, the world began to shift.
~ o ~
The summer sky and the cascading blonde hair were all to be expected by now, Maria’s expression was somewhat harder than usual, Skywind noticed, "I would congratulate you on retrieving the third piece of the Staff of Chaos, but dire portents have I seen.” the young lady lamented.
Suddenly Maria was standing in vast forestry, so dense it was indistinguishable from any other forest in Mobius, “The fourth piece of the Staff lies somewhere in the Elden Grove, said to be the birthplace of the sacred First Tree that gave life to all the forests on the continent of Mobius.
Its exact location has been a closely guarded secret, so guarded in fact that many believe that even the Elves have forgotten its true location. There are only two provinces within the empire that the Elven people settled upon, and I cannot imagine the first tree was born in Shamar..
Your search should not be too difficult, I wish I could tell you for which city to begin your search, though.. Find Elden Grove and recover the fourth piece of the Staff. I wish you both well on your quest.. Shadow and Skywind.. it has a very nice ring to it.. "
Sonic awoke to the sound of the door clicking open, instinct prevailed once his mind had caught up to where Shadow had brought them. He bolted straight up right and stood to attention as Queen Amelia entered her office.
“Sonic?!” she exulted, quickly shutting the door behind her, her smile fell when two pairs of emerald eyes met, the blue hedgehog looked like a shell of the man she’d met a few weeks ago.
She approached him cautiously before peach arms wrapped around armoured shoulders, “What could have possibly led you back here?” she asked tenderly as she retreated onto the little pink sofa covered in a light dusting of blue fur.
Sonic bowed deeply before he spoke, “Your Majesty, we made it safely to Angel Island, the ritual was successful” his entire demeanour was melancholy, “I learned how to wield Chaos Energy”
“The green suits you” Amy complimented before she hummed inquisitively, “Can you wield it successfully?”
Sonic balled some Chaos Energy into his hands and flicked it up to the ceiling next to the chandelier, “Oh ye of little faith. You sound just like Shadow” he continued, “We then travelled to Holoska and met Queen Blaze, who was super nice.. Her husbands a bit of a mixed bag though..”
The Queen’s eyes were fixed onto the ball of light Skywind had summoned, her brows knitted, “Silver? He’s great, what makes you say that?”
“Oh.. um, forget I said that! Silver’s totally cool, great guy, absolutely nothing wrong with him at all!” Sonic’s fretted aloud, he took a deep breath before continuing. “Heh.. anyway.. We then went to Labyrinthian, fought a dragon and breeched Morokei’s tomb, and now we’re here” Sonic finalised with an awkward, very forced smile, an attempt to cover up the absolute misery that was sat in his chest.
Amy wasn’t remotely surprised, Queen Blaze had already contacted her in regards to Chaos’ Champions, they gossiped over tea via the same contact candle she had gifted to Sonic on their first meeting. “There’s something you’re not telling me” Queen Amelia implied, her gaze had hardened.
Sonic sighed, “We’re here because Shadow got really hurt and I had no idea how to get us out of the tomb.. I couldn’t carry him out, I tried to use Chaos Control and it didn’t work.. I was a mess.. my heads a little all over the place.. this whole thing is just.. a lot..”
“Use it as a learning opportunity, Skywind” she comforted, “Ask Shadow to teach you the art of Chaos Control, I’m sure he’d be happy to. He also seems the type to know a thing or two about emotional turmoil..”
“I guess so.. Have you seen him? He was here when I fell asleep..” Sonic sighed again as he turned his head as if to look for his missing beau.
“Hm, I didn’t see him in the hall..” Amy said as she stood, the pink hedgehog made her way back to the door and poked her head out.
“Did either of you see a black and red hedgehog leave here?” She asked the Redguards stationed outside,
“We saw a blue and red hedgehog leave a few hours ago. Our apologies, Your Majesty, we presumed he was a guest.”
“Ah, of course, thank you both.” she said before turning to Sonic, “It seems the cloaking spell attached to you both is more affective than I thought, because according to my men, Shadow is blue.. Have you even asked a human what you look like?”
Sonic finally cracked a smile, he couldn’t help it. Wiping the scowl from Shadow’s face had become one of his very favourite activities, so any snippets of information he could use to his advantage were always more than welcome, “Nah, we’ve been lucky enough to not really interact with many on our travels” he replied as he stepped past Amy and into the hall, “What colour am I?” Sonic asked the men with a co*ck of the head.
“Um, black and green, Sir..” one of the humans hesitated.
“Shadow’s gonna hate that!” Sonic snorted, “Hey, Amelia.. I really hate to ask but, do you have a library we can use? I gotta look something up..”
~ o ~
As soon as the sun rose, Shadow darted out of the palace and into Rihad, ensuring to take the knapsack from his partner on his way out for safe keeping. Sonic couldn’t be trusted to look after something so precious on the best of days, never mind a day where he was dealing with years worth of emotional damage bubbling to the surface. Part of him felt bad for leaving, but as reluctant as he was to admit it, he knew The Queen would take excellent care of Sonic in his absence.
The city of Rihad was renowned for the amount of taverns within its walls, so many in fact it seemed as if a drunken fool was stumbling out from every doorway onto the tawny streets. Despite the early hour, the city was sweltering, the dark stone ground emanated so much heat that Shadow could feel it through his boots.
The walk gave the ebony hedgehog ample time to think about why he didn’t want to see The Queen, his thoughts were soured with almost a.. possessive feeling over his blue counterpart. He let out an audible “Ugh” when he reminisced to their first meeting, how Amy would run her hands up and down Sonic’s back at every possible opportunity, or stumble over her words bashfully whenever they made eye contact.
The Queen was a woman of high standing, she was taking advantage of him, that’s why Shadow didn’t like it.
It wasn’t at all in relation to the warm feeling that blossomed in his chest whenever Sonic was near him, or how much he loved that annoying co*cking smile always plastered on his smug face, or the jokes and quips the bluenette would come out with without so much as a second thought, that never failed to brighten his mood.
Not at all, how ridiculous.
Large palm like trees thankfully shaded a lot of the path as he continued to head east, absentmindedly the black hedgehog twiddled with the golden amulet about his neck, feeling the energy from it vibrate beneath his fingers and up his arm.
It seemed a shame Morokei’s Secret of Life served only as a small pick me up to The Ultimate Lifeform, it could easily double an average persons lifespan if they wore it consistently enough. It was no wonder he’d fought so ferociously to protect it, Shadow couldn’t imagine what would happen if it ended up in the wrong hands.
A rhythmic clank of someone hammering in the distance followed by a sharp whistle caught Shadow’s attention. He turned to meet the noise and saw a young armadillo, working at a nearby forge outside a Blacksmiths. Painted above the Blacksmith’s front door was a distinguishing crossed weapons sign, the side walls were patterned with paned windows, donning bright green shutters that were currently closed.
The young man removed his gloved fingers from his mouth, leaving the outer corners of his lips dotted with black oil. He waved at The Ultimate Lifeform, “Sup! Shadow, right? Ya god’a sec?”
Shadow stepped closer before replying in a hushed tone, “How do you know my name?”
The red armadillo laughed, “I don’t think there’s a mobian on Nirn that doesn’t know who ya are! The stripes help though!”
“Great.” Shadow mumbled, “What can I do for you?”
The armadillo shrugged “Gotta admit I just wanted to say hi t’ya! Not everyday someone like you walks through here”
“Well, hello..?” The striped hedgehog trailed off,
“Mighty! Pleasures all mine!” He smiled, extending a oil covered hand for Shadow to shake.
The ebony hedgehog came closer and shook it, the strap of the knapsack slipped down his shoulder as he did so. Mighty’s tone fell into a whisper as he watched Shadow readjust it, “You’re carrying the staff pieces in a knapsack?”
Ruby orbs rolled, “How do you know about that?”
“Lil birdy told me, word travels quick!” Mighty winked, “Follow me, I’ll give ya an upgrade!”
The first thing Shadow registered when entering the Blacksmith’s was soot attacking his lungs, he coughed as his eyes scanned the dark room. Masses of weaponry - mainly scimitars, lined the walls behind the proprietors wooden desk, notably smaller than the ones the Redguards carried.
Unbeknownst to Shadow in that moment, he’d actually stumbled upon Rihad’s ‘Mobian Square’, not a result of segregation, but in fact a self proclaimed independent district from the rest of Rihad City. Humans and beastfolk weren’t catered to here, the weapons, drinks and food were all mobian made and sold. Not many places in Mobius specifically served the original settlers anymore, but districts like these were popping up all over.
“Sorry it’s so dark, Ray hasn’t opened up yet!” Mighty said as he pulled a box of matches from his pocket and lit the oil lamp hanging from the ceiling. “Mobians know what you and ya boy are doing, nobody knows why though, if that answers ya question!”
“My boy..?” Shadow’s brows fell, “You mean Sonic?”
“Yeah, that’s his name! Bean said you both give their asses a good whoopin’ in Fang Lair.. shame really, got me a few weapons at real good prices..” Mighty said sadly, who by now had his head buried in a wooden crate, wracking around presumably looking for the aforementioned ‘upgrade’. “Wouldn’t usually deal with fellas like that, but needs must, ya know?” he shouted.
“I do, more than you know..” Shadow admitted, “Just know we wouldn’t be looking for the staff if it wasn’t of great importance.”
“Yeah, I gathered. Just be careful if ya ever back in Soleanna, apparently the Emperor wants your ‘eads for the whole Chaos Magic thing”
“Of course he does..” The ebony hedgehog growled as he pinched between his eyes. He took note of a wooden stool tucked into the corner and perched himself upon it, listening to the early morning hustle outside of the paned window.
“Ah!” Mighty exclaimed, “Here it is!” he said as he pulled out a sturdy leather backpack that glowed a faint baby blue. It was fastened shut with an iron buckle, much better than the drawstring the current knapsack had. Two pockets were either side, granting easy access to the wearers dagger or potions.
He hated to admit it, but it was quite the upgrade, “How much do I owe you?” Shadow asked as he dipped his hand into the side pockets of his cuirass.
“Don’t be daft! It’s a gift-“
Shadow ignored him, “Absolutely not.” he scalded as he pulled out a brown cotton bag filled with rings. He chucked it across the room, it landed on the proprietors desk almost magnetically. “Thank you” he said graciously, quickly removing the knapsack from his back and transferring the staff pieces and various potions into the new backpack. Still nestled at the bottom was Jet’s feather, he smiled like an idiot before swiftly putting it with the rest of the gear. He donned the pack, adjusting the straps on his shoulders so it was no less than an extension of his very being, the buckle around his waist tinked against his metal cuirass as he fastened it.
“Ya’l probably find that’s a whole lot lighter too, some mage put an enchantment on it, can’t imagine those staff pieces are light!” Mighty pepped as he used a wooden stick to push open the shutters, signalling it was time to open for the day.
“I should probably get going..”
“No sweat! If ya ever around, give us a holler! Could introduce our boys to each other, hm?”
Shadow’s face heated once again at the insinuation, but didn’t correct the armadillo as he headed toward the wooden doors, “Yeah, we could. Thanks again, Mighty.” he waved.
Mighty waved back, “Go save the world! Don’t let me stop ya!”
~ o ~
Sonic and Amy were but a smudge of blue and pink sat on the carpet amongst hundreds of towering books, finally after searching almost all day, they found a single one with information on Elden Grove.
“Adabat is a sea of endless green, a maze of foliage with half-hidden cities growing like blooms from a flower, as if to be Mobius’ garden. One unusual feature of Adabat is its gigantic, migratory trees, many so large that the Bosmer have built entire cities in their branches.
It is said that somewhere close to the city of Eldenroot, lies Elden Grove, the birth place of the first tree..” Amy read aloud with a smile, “I have to say, after reading that I wish I was coming too, it sounds so.. romantic.” her tone was cunning, but Sonic didn’t notice. She gently closed the dusty old book, setting it to the side of her on the cluttered floor.
Sonic sighed as he held a map of Mobius in his hands, “More water..” he lamented, “Do you have any idea how we could get there?”
Amy thought for a moment, “The ships from my port dock-”
“N-no ships.”
“Well.. I don’t believe Eldenroot has a Mages guild..” she puzzled before using her thumb and pointer finger to prize the map out of Skywind’s hands. “I believe there is one in Southpoint though, I’m sure the guild here wouldn’t mind popping you across.” Amy smiled as her eyes remained fixed on the map.
“..I’m not following.”
The Queen chuckled, “The Guild Guides have little portals between each other, so the mages here could transport you to Southpoint, and I can arrange a carriage to take you to Eldenroot. ”
“So Chaos Control that’s, y’know.. legal. I guess it’s better than sailing..” Sonic shrugged, “And you don’t need to waste a carriage, Shads has this real cool horse he can magic up ou-”
Amy sighed through a smile, “You’re fond of him, aren’t you?”
Sonic’s ears pricked at the interruption, “The horse? Yeah it’s super cool, rides up hills like nothing I’ve ever seen before”
“I meant Shadow!” She laughed, “Does he know?”
“Oh Chaos.. no, I mean.. I’m just glad he’s my friend”
“So.. this ‘just a friend’..” she giggled, “Brought you back here even though he clearly doesn’t like it, because he knew you’d be comfortable. Blaze told me he lets you just drag him around and gets all shy whenever you touch him.. and you don’t think he feels the same way?” She counted the points on her gloved fingers as the spoke, she lowered all but her pointer finger and booped Sonic’s nose playfully, “You’re so stupid!”
“Hey, Amy! That’s not very regal of you!”
“You just called me Amy!” She squealed, pulling Sonic in to a hug.
“I- Your Majesty, I just feel as if-”
She pulled back, two pairs of emerald eyes locked with each other. Amy smiled almost sorrowfully at The Eternal Champion, “Go and find Shadow. The cards are very wise, you know. Blaze is, too.”
A pleasant silence fell between them before Sonic rose to his feet, offering a hand to Amy which she took gracefully. Once stood, The Queen brushed the dust from her red dress and linked arms with Sonic, quickly pulling him towards the exit of the library.
“Where’s the best view of the stars from here?” The bluenette asked politely as they traversed the long halls back towards the palace entrance.
“The docks, I imagine. I’ll send a footman to inform the Mages Guild you’ll be dropping by. They don’t tend to appreciate unexpected visitors.” she nodded to a passing guard as she spoke, who quickly bowed and ran down the hall, “The stars.. are you an avid astronomer, Skywind?”
He giggled, “Not one bit, but I know someone who is! A certain blue and red hedgehog no less, he’ll probably be there.”
“I could send someone to grab him for you?”
“Don’t be silly, as long as he doesn’t push me in I’m sure I’ll be okay.” Sonic breathed out a laugh, “Thank you for all of your help today, Ames. When this is all over, I’m gonna bring all of my new friends here to meet you. Tails and Rouge, Blaze and Silver.. Chaos.. I might even invite Jet!” The duo laughed at that, Amy had very much enjoyed hearing Sonic’s stories as they searched the library, he’d even indulged her about his accidental Skooma consumption in the sewers, he hadn’t even told Shadow that one.
The blue hedgehog found out more personal information about Amy, too. Her mother had taught her how to read Tarot, the elderly lady now worked part time alongside the court mage in the Palace, in her younger years she was a very skilled sorceress. Amy recalled her mother’s horrible reaction to her running in the election after the previous monarch died, she almost had a heart attack when Queen Amelia was crowned.
It wasn’t long before once again the pair were stood hand in hand under the grand arch, basking in the last of the sunlight.
“I hate this part, it’s nice having other hedgehogs around.. You know, other than my mother..” Amy admitted, “You're both welcome here anytime.” she sniffed.
Sonic released her hands and bowed low to his Queen, “I’ll be back, I promise.” the bluenette said kindly before bringing Amy’s gloved hand back up to his muzzle and planting a soft kiss upon it.
~ o ~
The view was beautiful on Mazuri’s Gold Coast, The Abecean Sea rippled gently beneath the twinkling stars, not at all obscured by the artificial light that emanated from the city behind him.
It was a shame the docks were so noisy, Shadow listened absently to the Redguard’s hollering to each other as they carried their cargo onto a nearby ship they’d referred to as ‘The Shahra’. Their heavy boots caused the wooden docks to shudder as they walked, causing the dark mobian to stumble a few times.
As a result, he had chosen to retreat to a low stone wall that served as a divider between the city and the docks, his head was tilted up to the sky as crimson orbs flickered back and fourth, trying to find a certain constellation that only appeared during the spring.
“Great minds..” Sonic thought as he watched his partner from a distance, admiring every little detail that made him so uniquely Shadow. He was as still as a statue, his upturned quills grazed against his shoulders as his chin was tilted up towards Aetherius watching the stars intently, just like the speedster knew he would be.
Sonic so wished he could see his partners face right now, no doubt his mouth was hanging open slightly without him noticing, his sharp fangs poking out beneath his top lip glistening in the moonlight. So engrossed by the stars his features had softened.. Dang. He had it bad.
The cobalt hedgehog made his way towards him quietly “Hey, Faker” Sonic chuckled as his clumsily joined his companion on the wall, two pairs of ears pinned back in response to his ebony armour screeching against the stonework as he did so.
Shadow frowned, “Faker? Excuse me?”
“Hey, you!” Sonic shouted to a nearby Breton, “What colour is he?” the bluenette could barely get his words out, already laughing uncontrollably.
The human’s face twisted in confusion to the seemingly obvious question, “Um.. blue.. and red?”
“Oh man!” Sonic exclaimed as he pretended to wipe tears from his eyes, “Ain’t that funny, Shads? You’re such a Faker!”
Shadow rolled his eyes, “Hysterical. How was your day?”
“It was nice actually.. Ames was great, she sat with me all day to help find out about Elden Grove!”
Shadow had to stifle a scoff at the speedsters nickname for The Queen, “I take it that’s where the next piece is?”
“Yeah! Couldn’t find exactly where it is, but the closest city is Eldenroot, in Adabat.”
“Interesting..” Shadow responded, “How are we getting there exactly?”
“Well..” Sonic looked back into the city over his shoulder, “The mages are gonna use cool magic to get us to Southpoint, then I was thinking we could ride your cool ghost horse up to Eldenroot!”
Shadow chuckled, “And here I thought you didn’t like multidimensional travel.. Cool ghost horse.. yes I’m sure that’ll be fine.”
“You didn’t seriously think I’d get on a ship, Shads. You’re lucky I even came to find you!”
Sonic fidgeted in his seat as the conversation died between them, he thrummed his fingers against his thighs as his head swivelled to meet every voice around them. Eventually he settled to watching the sea, something so terrifying to him seemed like a figurative drop in the ocean in that moment. He took a deep breath, reminding himself that he was safe, he was far away from Morokei and dragons, however the cause of most terrifying thought of them all was perched right beside him.
Shadow had occasionally glanced to the side of him, watching Sonic’s expression morph through seemingly every emotion in the matter of a few minutes. His chest twinged thinking back to how absolutely distraught his partner seemed when he placed him on Amy’s sofa the night before. It was clear Sonic was attempting to bottle it up and push it down, Shadow didn’t like that. “I got you something, back in Labyrinthian..” he mumbled, part of him hoped Sonic hadn’t heard it.
“Really?” Sonic sounded surprised.
Shadow’s hand came up from the wall it was resting on, it routed around in his striped quills for a few moments before pulling out the tiny purple book he’d taken from Kanen’s tower, “I know you like to read, it may come in handy on the ride, saves you snoring against my back again.” he said, pressing the book into Sonic’s waiting hands.
The bluenette was dumbfounded, despite the trials of Shalidor’s Labyrinth, Shadow had spared a thought to something he enjoyed, and went out of his way to keep it safe. “Those cards really are wise..” Tears had welled in his eyes without him even noticing, “T-thanks Shads..” he said through a small smile, quickly wiping his eyes. He quickly tucked the book into his own quills before scooting closer to the ebony hedgehog, Sonic tried his luck by leaning his head on his companions armoured shoulder.
Shadow didn’t push him away, quite the opposite. Crimson orbs once again floated up towards the sky, scouring it until finally, there it was. His left arm came to rest on Sonic’s shoulder, his right pointed towards the constellation he’d spent an hour searching for, “You see that, Skywind?” He asked.
Sonic leaned further into the contact, he raised his head and squinted, following Shadow’s direction until he found the collection of stars, vaguely they looked like a human woman, “She’s pretty” he said.
“They call her, ‘The Lover’, she can only be seen around this time of year.”
Sonic smirked, “Are you flirting with me?” he jested, emerald eyes remained focused on the constellation.
“In your dreams, hedgehog.” Shadow grumbled, “It was my mothers favourite, it signalled that warmer days were coming.. Well, as warm as they’d get on Christmas Island. She taught me everything I know about the stars, it makes me feel closer to her. I often wonder if Chaos preserved that memory, just to give me something to hold onto.”
The bluenette hummed thoughtfully, since their second night together on the Mazuri boarder, the stars had felt so daunting. Sonic was thinking of has beens and what ifs when he looked at them, but the distant sun’s from far away solar systems were the only connection Shadow had to his family, to the home and the life he once knew.
Sonic had always felt alone in this world, with no family or friends to guide him, to raise him into a brave or intelligent man, he’d had to figure it all out on his own. Shadow was alone too, but his story was the result of a terrible twist of fate. He’d had a normal life and a great family, but it was torn from him, all for the betterment of the world.
The ultimate sacrifice.
A pair of dark arms wrapped around the blue hedgehog, he hadn’t even realised he’d started crying again, Shadow rested his chin on the top of Sonic’s head before whispering into his ear, “This reminds me of when I had my ass kicked by a bully, you know.”
“You? Had your ass kicked?” The speedster asked through his tears, he sounded shocked, open mouthed breaths fogged up the armour on Shadow’s chest.
“Sure did, probably more times than I recall.. I wasn’t always so hard faced.” he chuckled under his breath, “My mother always held me when I cried, we’d always be on the porch or by a window, the stars were always there, they still are. They’re the only witnesses to my family, my childhood, my friends.. They remember it better than I do, I find a lot of comfort in them, makes me feel less alone.”
“You’ll never be alone again, Shads.” Sonic comforted as he squeezed his arms around his companions waist.
“She’d have really liked you, she was so wise, always gave me the best advice when I needed it”
Sonic peeled himself from Shadow’s chest, reclaiming his position comfortably at his partners side, bloodshot emerald and crimson locked almost instinctively, “I could use some.. What do you think she’d tell us right now?” he asked tentatively.
“What makes night within us, may leave stars..”
“W-wow.. that’s beautiful..” he spluttered in adoration of his counterpart’s mother, lost to the tricks of time, “What was her name, Shadow..?” he asked softly.
The Ultimate Lifeform scowled in thought, his head tilted towards the ground slowly as he did so. The name of the woman he’d only ever referred to as her title, the same woman who gifted him his life’s blood and essence.. had escaped him. He remembered he warm eyes, the lessons she taught him at the softness of her ebony fur against his childlike wonder, but simply enough - he remembered her as ‘mom’.
Shadow’s soft sigh was the only sound to fill the deafening silence around the heroes for a while, before he spoke the shameful words he never thought he’d admit to another living soul,
“I can’t remember.”
