Chapter Text
This was not something he had ever anticipated. He had expected he would forever wander the ruins of Hallownest alone after Hornet had passed. He had repaired the ancient door that he himself had broken upon his entrance into the then infected kingdom with a spool of Soul Silk that she had left behind. The only entrance into the kingdom that hadn’t collapsed or been covered with time’s passage was the one atop the Crystal Peak. So how had this odd red creature found its way into the kingdom’s remains? It was no bug, of that Ghost was certain from its lack of mask. It was as tall as his sister had been when they had first met. He often would have been overcome with curiosity at the first signs of something new, but looking down on the red furred creature as it made its way into Greenpath stirred something from deep within him. He could allow the creature to continue its exploration. For now, he would watch and wait.
More odd creatures had joined the red stranger in the depths by the Lake of Unn, each carrying different items. Red, the first, seemed to be ordering the others around. Yellow seemed to be advising Red, directing where it was best to place supplies. Pink was doing a lot of the heavy lifting, second only to Red in that department. It reminded Ghost of a time long forgotten, when a scarlet robe meant guidance to the remaining survivors of this ancient land.
She had done everything in her power, but in the end, it still hadn’t been enough. The remaining populace had been too small, the factions between them too divided to be able to restore the land. Most had left the kingdom entirely. Those that had stayed were too attached to their current residence to consider moving to strengthen the community Hornet had promoted at Dirtmouth. The town had held on as long as it possibly could, but it had withered and decayed to nothing after Hornet’s passing.
The dour thoughts had Ghost turning away from the curious work that had brought him here in the first place. He had no desire to be reminded of that sorrow, and so he headed to the caverns above. The construction was not the only thing that held his curiosity after all. It wasn’t long before he stood in front of the great door that sealed Hallownest away. The soul silk bindings held strong, so how had these odd creatures been able to-
Ah, there it was. At the top of the door, one of the fragments had fallen out of place. As he carefully studied it, he realized it had no soul silk along its back to hold it in place. That explained how they had found their way inside. Ghost deliberated on whether or not to put the fragment back into position. He ultimately decided against it when he heard approaching voices on the other side. He turned and dashed out of sight. He would very much like to see how long he could stay out of these creature’s sight. It would provide a challenge he hadn’t had in quite a long time. After all, it wouldn’t do to alert these creatures to his presence as of yet if they turned out to be hostile, would it?
A dark figure peeked out from underneath a series of rocky shelfs in the side of a bleak gray canyon, watching as a formation of Badniks flew past. Waiting until they were well out of eyesight, the figure turned his sharp red eyes back to the deepest part of the alcove. “How is he doing?” A dim cyan light flared up around a white figure and golden eyes met red before looking down on the unconscious blue figure before them.
The white furred figure sighed as he brought his hands over their blue friend. “Not well,” he whispered back. “I don’t know what Eggman was doing to him, but his Chaos energy is all over the place, Shadow. Anytime I try to heal him just seems to cause him more distress.” His frown deepened and he curled his fingers. “I just wish we had somewhere safe to bring him.”
Shadow’s gaze lingered on his companion’s crestfallen expression. He knew where the white hedgehog’s mind was likely wandering. “There’s nothing that the others could do for him that you couldn’t at this time Silver.” He gruffly reminded the younger hedgehog. He turned and surveyed the surrounding canyon walls for any signs of hostiles before moving toward an old radio sitting just within the shadows of their hiding spot.
“I know,” Silver finally replied, followed by a mumble that he probably hadn’t intended Shadow to hear, “I’m just… tired.” Shadow decided to let that though lie, instead switching the radio on and tuning it to the right frequency. They sat there with static as a background to their thoughts, both caught in the exhaustion of the week’s occurrences. They stayed that way for what seemed like hours before Shadow heard a hitch in the static. Both hedgehogs turned to listen carefully as the static cut out in two short bursts, followed by three long pauses. This continued in a series of odd patterns where the static would rise in pitch then fall to deep rumbles. Both sets of eyes widened when a series of high pitch bursts sounded, followed by four short pauses. It fell to low bursts with odd pauses, then repeated the pattern three more times. The buzz fell back to the usual static shortly after.
“An island…” Shadow mused as he brought a hand to his chin. “I doubt the faker will be very amused.” He looked towards their downed companion.
Silver frowned but looked up at Shadow hesitantly. “It is the last place Eggman would think to look for him.”
Shadow closed his eyes. “You say that as if we’re going to those coordinates.” He could almost feel Silver’s disappointment in the air.
“Right,” the white hedgehog said despondently, “It could be a trap.”
A deep sigh filled the small alcove and Shadow opened his eyes. He carefully considered Silver’s dejected look and thought over their possible options. “I’ll scout it out first.” He stated.
Silver’s head shot up to meet his eyes. “You mean-?”
“It would be shameful to allow Sonic to fall back into the doctor’s hands. I will be able to teleport away if I encounter any forces outside the resistance.” Shadow replied gruffly as he shut off the radio and piled some loose stones around it to hide it from view. When he turned back to Silver for his response, he was rewarded with a hesitant but hopeful nod. “I should be back in an hour. Stay out of sight or at least nearby unless I’m gone for longer than two.” Shadow ignored the deepening of Silver’s frown at that comment and instead pulled out the large white chaos emerald he had stored in his quills. With a quick Chaos Control, Silver was left alone with his thoughts and an unconscious blue hedgehog.
It was nearing an hour and a half when the small alcove was filled with the light of Chaos Control once more. Silver jumped up from his position on the floor and almost rushed to question his friend. “Were they there? How did it go? Is it safe for us to take Sonic there?” The white hedgehog was almost pouncing on the other, anxious energy overflowing by this point. Instead of a verbal answer, the black hedgehog gave a characteristic smirk and nodded his head before handing Silver the white emerald. Shadow moved around him to pick up the last of their trio.
“Knuckles sure knows how to pick his hiding spots. I doubt that even the doctor will be able to locate this one so long as we’re cautious.” Shadow intoned as Silver hefted the mass of blue quills and bandages. Shadow looked over his shoulder and watched as Silver pulled the dark blue emerald out of his own quills. Silver nodded towards him and placed his free hand on Shadow’s shoulder, signaling that he was ready. The flash of Chaos Control went unseen, leaving the desolate canyon empty once again.
Shadow sighed as he watched mobians bustle around the oddly acidic lake, setting up tents and equipment. He was hoping that it would distract him from what he’d seen earlier. Sonic had woken from his unconscious state, but he had been so feverish and out of it that he hadn’t even recognized anyone around him. It was an upsetting development for all his friends. He still couldn’t get his mind away from the image of those dull emerald eyes. So much so that-
“Hey Shadow!” He hadn’t even noticed Knuckle’s approach. The red echidna made his way toward the ledge Shadow had stationed himself at. “Come on, we need all the hands we can get to set this place up before the rest of the resistance gets here.” Shadow simply nodded in response and jumped down to follow Knuckles into camp. Knuckles dug through crates and handed odd items off to Shadow. “Hold on, just need to grab a sleeping bag for Silver now.” The echidna resurfaced from a crate with a simple white sleeping bag.
Knuckles headed towards a tent that was on the very outskirts of the encampment and probably furthest from the lake. Shadow found it odd that they would put Silver in such an out of the way location, but he supposed they were the last to arrive. When they entered, Shadow stopped and stared at the floor.
“There’s already a sleeping bag here.” He intoned. Knuckles looked at him over his shoulder with a small grin on his face.
“Well ya, where else you gonna sleep?” Shadow’s eyes snapped up to meet Knuckle's at this. “I know you like your space so I set up the tent in as a remote spot as you’re gonna get. We still don’t have enough tents for everyone so you‘ll have to share with Silver.”
“I have little need for-” Knuckles waved him off in an exaggerated manner as he spoke over him.
“Ya ya, ultimate life form, we get it. But Silver’s not the only one who came back exhausted from that mission.” Shadow placed the supplies he had been carrying on the ground and crossed his arms.
“When I told you that Silver needed a break to recuperate I was not implying-”
“Doesn’t matter what you were doing, I can tell that you also need some R&R.” Knuckle’s habit of speaking over him was getting tiresome but Shadow held his tongue and opted to glare at the echidna instead. “And don’t think that I won’t hesitate on withholding you from missions.”
“The resistance’s efforts will require my skills in order to make any progress.” Shadow was about to say more when Knuckles cut in again. He was really starting to hate how stubborn the echidna could be.
“We’ll still need yours and Silver’s help with teleporting supplies and forces, but you’ll be off combat unless of emergencies or I say otherwise. Unless Mr. Ultimate Life Form wants to become the ultimate dead weight.” Shadow opened his mouth to protest again but Knuckles plowed right through with a knowing smirk. “And if you won’t stop ‘cause I tell you to, I can always have Rouge talk some sense into ya! ‘Sides, having you around will be great for morale and defense!”
Shadow paused at the last comment and closed his mouth with a slight chuff. Though he wouldn’t look Knuckles in the eye, they both knew it was the closest to an agreement Knuckles would get. “Great!” He shouted, “You can go back to fighting just as soon as Sonic’s back on his feet!”
Shadow balked at this “But-!”
“No buts! You already agreed to it!” Knuckles laughed and hit him on the back, making Shadow stumble forward. Shadow came very close to physically growling at that point. He had to remind himself that no, strangling the head of their resistance would not be beneficial. Shadow set about moving the supplies and setting up different things in the tent, mostly so his hands wouldn’t end up around the echidna’s throat.
“I’ll be back later to make sure you’re all set!” Knuckles called as he ducked under the tent flap. The echidna let his grin drop into a more neutral expression now that he was out of sight. He knew that all the hedgehogs needed a break as soon as Shadow had entered the camp with Sonic in his arms. The fact that Shadow hadn’t put up more of a fight and had actually lost his footing when Knuckles pat him on the back merely cemented that conclusion. He was glad he had at least found Shadow fairly quickly to pull him out of his earlier brooding. He just hoped that the resistance would be able to hold out until their star players could rejoin the fight.
Knuckles took in a deep breath and smacked his cheeks lightly to psyche himself up and started towards the middle of camp. He had some rookies to whip into shape.