Chapter Text
It had been 26 hours and counting since they'd last had word from Rouge. Her last transmission had mentioned a spot of trouble. She'd missed at least three check-ins since.
Shadow wasn't worried. He knew exactly where she was, in a remote Eggman base tucked in a mountainside at such an elevation that always had snow. Rouge's mission had been a stealthy one, and the base was quiet with no alarms or even an increased guard. There was no way she'd been captured, or so much as discovered. Which meant one of two things.
Either Rouge had gotten hurt somehow and hidden herself away, or she was just stuck between guard rotations and hadn't had the chance to make a break for it yet. Either way, she had to know Team Dark wouldn't just sit by while she was missing. Hell, she had probably planned for it.
Team Dark never abandoned its own.
Shadow snorted to himself, letting out the faintest puff of breath in the cold air. He squinted through his pocket scope, scanning the base for perimeter guards. This one had some pretty hefty towers equipped with spotlights. He couldn't get a good glimpse through the glare, but he was willing to bet each one had turrets of some kind as well. Those would definitely keep her from just flying out. He scanned for vents next, noting a few places on the inner walls she could escape from, but that would still leave her open to those towers. There could be maintenance tunnels too.
He collapsed the scope and stowed it with the rest of his gear. The solution here was pretty simple. He just had to break down the walls in Rouge's way. Shadow stood and brushed the light snowfall from his fur as his wristcom started beeping softly.
"Agent Shadow, this is not your mission. Return immediately."
"I'm going to have to decline," he said mildly, already climbing down from his perch- an old evergreen that had seen better days.
"This is a breach of contra--"
"Hardly." He grit his teeth in annoyance. If the conversation didn't wrap up soon, the transmission would give away his position.
Not that he was going for stealth anyway, but he wanted things to start with a bang.
"Explain yourself," the GUN agent said.
"I answer to Rouge, not you. As she is the one you drew contracts with, they are rendered null on her death," Shadow answered. "You would of course then owe us hazard pay and funeral expenses, which are worth more than the cost of hiring us in the first place. As she is not dead, you are going to have to wait until I retrieve her to make your complaints. Or take them up with Towers."
"You are needed elsewhere! You're going to cost us--"
"Bill Rouge when we get back. Or take it from our pay, whatever. I have a job to do, since none of you seem to have time to back up your own agents. Shadow out."
He clicked the com off and set it to silent. Rouge would likely have words for him later, but Chaos was it satisfying to stick it to GUN. For all Towers' efforts to turn the group around, they still had moments that made Shadow wish Rouge could just cut ties with them completely and register Team Dark as official independent mercenaries. They had some kind of blackmail on her that ran too deep to just wipe away. Blackmail they dangled like a noose every time they thought Team Dark might refuse a mission, or if they acted too freely for petty government tastes.
At least the pay was decent.
Shadow kicked his jets on grimly and stepped off the ledge. His tree had been on a neighboring crag, just sheltered enough the flare of his jets couldn't be seen from the watchtowers, and just high enough that he could pick up speed just by falling. He skated down the slope, silently shooting through the underbrush until he hit a snowdrift packed enough to serve as a ramp, and then he was airborne. Now he flared his jets to max, not caring about the flare that was now in full sight of the wall guards.
What mattered was the nearest watchtower was in full view.
Chaos crackled in his hands and he shaped it into a lance, letting it loose on the tower's spotlight. The light flared, electricity arcing as it shorted out. He grit his teeth in satisfaction as he started falling, and the wall came back up to block his view.
He flared his jets again on his way down, cushioning his fall and throwing his momentum forward again as he sped towards the outer wall, already pulling more chaos around him for another strike- not into his palms, but his core, letting it build and build and build until his entire body crackled with energy. It swirled angrily within him, giving his quills a noticeable glow that threatened to break loose at any moment.
He let it free just before impact with the wall.
Chaos Blast.
The world around him shattered, lighting up like a bomb had gone off but without the stench of gunpowder and napalm, and when his hearing returned there were sirens. This base was mostly manned by drone, with a few sparse Human workers deeper inside. Shadow preferred to avoid harming living beings if he could avoid it, but robots were fair game.
He slammed into one, another chaos spear in hand to ram through its chest. The drone's lights fizzled and died as it crashed to the ground, Shadow flipping overhead to flare his jets in the headpiece of the bot behind it. That one went blind, beeping in alarm as it staggered back- but Shadow wasn't done. He crunched into the snow at its feet and grabbed it by the legs so he could yank it into a spin that ended with it flying into the third and fourth drone.
By now the tower had its spare spotlights scanning for him- and he grinned despite himself. He probably should have taken out its legs instead and sent the whole thing crashing down, but even just keeping its attention on him would give Rouge an edge. All he had to do was keep making noise until she was clear enough to signal him.
And if she couldn't... well, he was perfectly fine with tearing the place to rubble and digging her out of the wreckage.
"Come on then," Shadow breathed, letting out another puff of condensation as he crouched, sizing up the drones that were now swarming to surround him. "How long do you think you can last? Five seconds? Ten?" He didn't wait for an answer, kicking off into a tight circle and running until the wind whipped up around him strong enough to take up snow and debris and fling them into the army's sensors. He kept going until he couldn't see through his own whirlwind, then he tucked and rolled, launching himself like the world's deadliest pinball through the crowd. He counted six solid impacts, and at least four more that hadn't outright destroyed his targets but would at least cripple them- and then he realized his wrist was buzzing.
Shadow partially uncurled mid-air, glancing around until he found a spot with sufficiently deep shadows. He warped to it and tucked himself in, one hand clamped around his wristcom to muffle the sound of it vibrating. Nearby the searchlights were frantically scanning for him. Should he have taken out that tower after all?
His wrist was buzzing in short bursts. Rouge knew better than to call him outright; she was using code.
west stop need more fire stop
Shadow bared his teeth in a grin. He'd been right- Rouge needed a distraction to get clear. Currently he was at the base's soutwest corner, if Rouge was trying to run west then he needed to draw everything elsewhere...
He threw a glance at the nearest searchlight beam. It was time for those to go.
"This is it?"
The old man looked them up and down, not bothering to hide his skepticism. The children around him, both human and critter, peered out from under the man's tattered cloak at Silver. He gave one a little wave and she ducked behind her friends, not bothering to wave back.
"The two of us are more than sufficient," Blaze said beside him. "My friend may look like a child, but I assure you he's a capable warrior."
The old man stared at Silver again, frowning. "You'd better be. These kids ain't gettin' out of Dodge themselves."
Silver wanted to ask what Dodge was. Probably a place that no longer existed. He'd have to remember to ask Blaze about it later; she knew about lots of cities from before the Inferno. "How many?" he asked instead.
"Seven," a tired mouse said from the old man's elbow. It was hard to tell what color fur they had under all that soot and ash. They were all dusty with it- it was hard to keep clean when ash fell from the sky more frequently than rain. "Me and Ol' Dale, plus the five little ones. I- there were three more of us, but with that earthquake earlier we got separated..."
"I am sorry," Blaze said gently. "Once everyone is safely out of the city we can look for them. Do you have their descriptions?"
Silver turned as Blaze and the mouse talked, squinting against the haze to scan for the fallen bridge they needed to bypass. In the old days Blaze said bridges like that were highways that allowed you to leave town easily, but now it was just a gaping wreck over a river of acidic sludge. Here and there little crevices opened up, constantly on fire from the natural gasses that were escaping. They'd been on fire for years.
He felt rather than heard Blaze's approach, like a gentle touch of power against his senses. She had a way of moving that was completely silent.
"Have you picked a line yet?" she asked quietly.
Silver pointed in response, tracing an imaginary path from the on-ramp to the hollowed out shell of a building next to it. "We gain enough altitude over there and find a piece of rubble flat enough, I think I can carry everyone over."
"Good choice," Blaze mused, rubbing her chin. "It would have to be reinforced concrete or sheet metal to be safe... Assuming we find something suitable, of course. I can keep any stragglers off your back. Have you thought of a backup plan?"
"N-no," Silver admitted. He felt stupid for not thinking that far ahead.
"It's alright." She put a warm hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "We'll keep our eyes peeled as we go. Everyone!" she added, louder. "Marching order! Silver will take the lead. Follow him and stay close. I will be vanguard."
Silver swallowed, doing his best to look brave as the refugees shouldered their bags and prepared to march. He turned back to the road and set off. They'd scouted this far already and the way was mostly clear, but here and there he had to rely on psychokinesis to shift wreckage out of the way. He and Blaze could cross this stuff in seconds, but the old man... Dale kept coughing more than was healthy. The kids couldn't move very fast, either.
Silver dearly hoped food would be easier to come by outside the city limits. Those kids were so skinny it made his heart cringe.
It was slow going up the on-ramp. He'd known it would be, but every second they were in the open was one more second they were in danger. He grit his teeth, heart hammering every time an Iblis creature yowled in the distance. Some of them could fly, if any came overhead the kids would be easy targets--
Breathe, Silver. Breathe. You've got Blaze with you. If she hasn't noticed anything, you're probably still safe.
He took a moment to calm himself, then focused on the burnt shell of a car, flipping it over and levitating it in place as a bridge between the road and the building. It took a few tries to wedge it in right, and then he went and jumped on it to be safe. The metal groaned on him, sending a shower of dust into the river below, but it didn't budge.
"This way!" he called. "Everyone across!" He held out a hand, helping the old man and the mouse across. The mouse and Blaze had the little kids holding hands, and between them they herded everyone over and into the shelter of a wall that was somehow still mostly intact.
"This is a good place to rest," Blaze announced. "Silver, would you like to take watch, or shall I?"
"Y-you please," he said. "I want to scout ahead for our next bridge."
Blaze gave him a nod, then turned to the littlest child with a smile. "Do you hear that? Mister Silver has a plan."
"Mister Silver is brave," the kid whispered back.
"Yes, he is."
Silver left quickly, ears burning.
He made it back to the on-ramp and wrapped himself in energy, shooting into the sky. He had a better view of the ruined building from there. It must have been an office of some kind; all the floors were wide open and empty, strewn with the occasional rubble that looked like it had once been tables and dividers but were now just ash and empty frames. A table would have been perfect if he could find one still whole...
He moved on to the next building. This one was so damaged it wasn't even standing upright, but it had some metal siding Silver was interested in. He found a panel that was starting to peel away from its girders. He levitated over to it and perched on one end, giving it an experimental knock with his knuckles. It sounded solid enough, and it was big enough for everyone.
Silver jumped down, catching himself with his own aura to fly all around the panel. It still had some rusty bolts pinning it in place. He could try to rip those out, but if they made a sound too loud it could attract creatures. Maybe if he did this slowly...
He focused on the first bolt, imagining it slowly twisting. Flakes of rust started peeling up around its head and he focused harder, concentrating hard on it twisting back, then slowly creeping out--
The bolt shot free, flying clear over his shoulder and vanishing into the murk.
Okay. Okay, this was doable. He just had to go slow.
Silver focused on the next bolt, trying and failing to catch it when it flew free. The third bolt sheared clean in two and the panel creaked, loudly. He pinned it in place with his palms, heart pounding in his ears as he strained them to listen for any sudden monster calls or any sign that he'd been heard.
Something collapsed, rumbling in the distance. It was across town, too far away to be any immediate danger. Silver let out a shaky breath and focused on his panel again. He gave it an experimental wiggle and another bolt sheared off.
...It was close enough.
He ripped it completely free, cringing as the metal groaned in complaint, but he had his platform. He carried it back to the group and set it down as gently as he could on the ground in front of Blaze.
"I got it!" he gasped.
The mouse stood, staring at the panel with wide eyes. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Silver knows what he is doing," Blaze said, gently, but with a firmness that drew everyone's attention. "Are any of you familiar with the story of the thief, the princess, and the flying carpet?" She herded the children onto the panel as she talked. Apparently none of them had heard the story- Silver included- so she started at the beginning. Dale and the mouse joined her, crouching awkwardly on either side.
Silver focused on the panel and it began to glow softly. He stepped onto the front like it was a boat, and lifted them into the air. The kids behind him gasped, probably clinging to Blaze who hadn't lost her balance once. She kept going, explaining how the boy thief found the magic cave full of wonders and stole his magic carpet.
"He could hardly believe his eyes," she said, and when Silver glanced her way she gave him a slight smile. "No sooner had he said the magic words then the carpet began to float! And when he sat on it, he discovered it held his weight perfectly..."
This was perfect. The kids were calm and quiet listening to Blaze's story, they were floating across the gap undetected, there were no monsters in sight... it was working. Silver let out a shaky breath and let the panel speed up a bit. This time the kids didn't jostle.
"He asked the carpet to fly higher, and it did, carrying him far above the clouds where the air was cold and clear. The moon above him was pure and white- in this story the moon is whole, it doesn't have a crater like ours does."
"Really?" Silver heard one of the kids whisper.
"Truly. It was perfectly round, and shone with a beautiful light. The boy had never seen it so clear before, nor had he seen so many stars in the..."
He felt Blaze twitch behind him, drawing power of her own like the roar of a distant fire. Silver sped up a little more, heart hammering. Had something noticed them? They were almost halfway across, they were so close to freedom, if they could just get across they'd be okay.
"...In the sky," Blaze continued. How she kept her voice so calm in a time like this, Silver had no clue. But he was jealous of her ability to stay calm. "Like a thousand tiny candles twinkling. We may see the stars too, once we are out of the city."
Silver's hands were shaking. He didn't hear anything yet, but Blaze was preparing to cover them with one of her fire shields. Was it in the sky then? He didn't want to turn around and look, his face would definitely give away that something was wrong and then the kids would panic and they'd be heard--
There was a screech that echoed through the city. And then another. And a third, and a fourth.
"...Silver," Blaze said softly.
"On it." He tilted their entire platform forward, doing his best to ignore how it made the kids scream as he launched them as fast as he dared. The angle meant everyone was pressed into the metal instead of sliding off, even if it was scary at first. The wind whistled past him, stinging his eyes and ears. They were almost there- he could see the metal beams jutting out of the concrete now.
But the screeches were close now too. Blaze finally let loose her power, bringing a sudden wall of fire to life and holding it over them like a shield that trailed sparks behind them. It was also a giant beacon announcing their presence, but if the flying creatures had already noticed--
Something slammed into them so hard it almost flipped the panel clear over. Silver caught someone's elbow in his back, yelping as he split his focus between keeping the thing level and himself from staggering off the front. Now he dared to look behind and oh that was a big one. Dale was clinging to his arm with a surprisingly strong grip.
"That was too close for comfort."
"I know," Silver gasped. "Everyone hang on to something!"
"On your left!" Blaze screamed.
Silver swerved right, tilting the platform into his turn.
"Now right!"
He banked left and something whistled past the fire shield.
"It's above us now! Keep level!"
Silver grit his teeth and evened the platform out. Behind him there was another flash of fire, and then the metal shook under him as Blaze kicked off. One of the creatures screamed in pain and then went silent. One down... how many were left? Three? Four? Had she taken down the big one or one of the--
"Silver! Above you!"
He froze, forgetting to keep the platform moving. Blaze was still falling and she'd taken her shield with her.
He'd have to be the shield now.
Silver split his attention. If he pretended there were strings keeping his metal sheet suspended and gripped them with one hand, that left his other free. He turned and pushed Dale down, then imagined a thick wall.
The creature, somewhere between the shape of a flaming chunk of debris and something vaguely birdlike, slammed right into Silver's shield, causing a brief flare of cyan energy that he felt like a sharp pain between his eyes. His platform shuddered, the kids were screaming, but it held.
Blaze- or rather a flaming whirlwind with her at the center- shot towards the same creature. It let out a squawk and fluttered higher. Blaze tried to follow, but she could only reach so high before she ran out of momentum and fell back into the murky streets below.
"Son-" Dale started.
"I know, I know!" Silver clenched his fist, the one with imaginary strings, and tugged it forward, keeping his other hand above them like he could hold up his shield with his palm alone. It looked a little silly, but Blaze always said whatever motions helped him concentrate were good ones. Slowly they started moving forward again. The other side of the bridge was just a couple of meters away. "K-keep an eye out for me, okay? I need to focus."
"Everyone hold on to me," the mouse said behind him. They sounded as terrified as the kids did.
"Son that one's circling around," Dale said.
Silver tugged them along a little faster. "What... Which direction?"
Dale hissed. "It's... on your ten! Coming in hot!"
"Which side is--"
Dale yanked his arm, pulling Silver back just as the creature slammed into his shield. He barely had time to register the talons that had been a hair away from gouging out his eyes. This time the pain was so bad he saw stars and for a second all he could hear was the kids screaming.
He gasped, slapping a hand to the platform and pulling it level again, but they were off-balance and he was tangled in the kids who were clinging so hard he couldn't sit up.
"Dale!" the mouse shrieked, scrambling to the side.
Silver yelped, trying to tilt the platform the other way. They were spinning in a slight circle now. He elbowed the kids off- he felt bad, they were just scared but he needed to move- and tried to crawl to his feet without shaking anything further.
Dale was clinging to the edge, dangling into the open air. The mouse was trying to drag him back on, but they were maybe half his size.
"I-" Silver couldn't catch his breath. For a heartbeat he forgot he was even standing. "H-hang on! I can--"
Dale met his eyes and he froze. "Son. there's another one coming in."
"...Don't you dare," he whispered.
"You need to get these kids out, you hear? Get them out safe."
"Dale please," the mouse sobbed. "We're so close, you have to hang on- just let the boy get us over the bank, we can--"
Silver sucked in a breath. Time seemed to slow down. Dale had time to blink, but it took forever, the image of him staring with grim determination etching itself into Silver's brain. Behind him, above and right, he heard the faint whooshing of wings beating. He twisted around and brought both hands up, the markings on his gloves flaring to life as he poured his focus into another invisible wall above them.
Too late Blaze shot up, aiming herself like a flaming arrow, but the creature simply swerved around her, and then it crashed into the shield talons first.
Silver went blind from the pain. He groped for his invisible strings, tried to pull them upright as he felt Blaze's flames wrap around him protectively.
His platform crunched against pavement, and then he was rolling with the kids as they tumbled across the bridge.
Shadow tore his fist free from the chassis and kicked the lifeless robot away from him, a cracked chaos drive in his hand. There was a mound of drone corpses now, scattered around the tower he'd ripped up. Some of them were still sparking, casting little lights over the snow.
Hm. Should he go for another watchtower? There was a garage nearby too, he could also rig some explosions...
His wristcom buzzed again, and he paused to count the pulses.
all clear stop
Well it was about time.
Shadow crushed the drive in his fist, sucking in what little energy it had left and hurling it as a spear into the drone trying to sneak up behind him. He shook out the shards of glass with a snort. Robots with creaky joints were pathetic at stealth.
He hopped down from his mound of corpses and kicked on his jets, gliding over the snow and picking up speed as he went downhill towards the outer wall. He flared the jets into his jump, kicked off the wall until he was over, then simply warped clear of the barbed wire.
His inhibitor rings were starting to feel warm, edging to the uncomfortable zone that wasn't hot enough to burn yet but was still a warning that he'd drawn too much power through them too quickly.
Whatever Rouge had been sent to steal, it had better be worth it.
He circled around until he was just west of the base, safely out of range from any of its searchlights. The forest was denser here, the shadows all the deeper from the rising sun that hadn't yet burned away the cloud cover. It was almost pretty, if it hadn't been cold enough to numb his nose.
"Boy are you a sight for sore eyes."
He looked up to see Rouge the bat, dangling upside down from an evergreen branch. Her makeup was immaculate despite having just spent a day and a half behind enemy lines, but Shadow could tell behind it she was exhausted. She flashed him a glowing smirk anyway.
He looked away. "They didn't send any backup."
Rouge crunched into the snow next to him. "It was supposed to be a high-stealth mission. Only Towers and a few others even knew about it."
"You were officially missing after hour fifteen. He could have sent someone."
She sighed, stepping a little closer. Then gasped and pressed herself to his arm. She was shivering slightly. "How do you manage to radiate so much heat in this weather?"
Shadow scoffed and wrapped an arm around her. Her wings especially felt frozen. "A little cold is no match for the Ultimate Lifeform. ...You're clearly more delicate. Where to?"
"God," Rouge whispered. "Yes please let's get out of here. There's a GUN station in the valley, disguised as that worn out canning factory."
Shadow scooped her up, keeping her pressed against his core as he kicked on his jets and slid downhill. Rouge gratefully huddled into his shoulder.
"Are you hurt at all?"
"Hardly," she snorted. "He doesn't even have decent lasers in the vents. Getting in and out of the vault was the hardest part. First time I've ever seen an electric lock worth a damn. Oh! Do you want to know what I stole?"
Shadow swerved around a boulder. "Wasn't that classified information?"
"I mean, so was my stealing it, but that didn't stop you one bit."
It was his turn to snort. "Fine. I'll bite. What was it?"
Rouge dug it out of her bag with a delighted hum. The sudden faint glow almost made him pause. No, it wasn't quite a glow, it almost had the halo of ultraviolet light to it, but was dark towards the center like it was trying to suck everything in. It was a little vial, carved from clear crystal and set into a scepter of some sort with tarnished silver and what could have been jewels embedded in, but Shadow didn't like the look of the thing and spared it only a brief glance.
"Pretty," he said sarcastically.
"Oh it's absolutely tacky," Rouge chortled. "I love it! The file said it was something like a cursed amulet though, so I probably won't keep it. At least Eggman doesn't have it anymore."
Shadow grit his teeth. "It feels wrong. Chaos energy is clear, like pure water. It can be sharp or gentle depending on how you use it, but this... Whatever's in there is like sludge. Toxic."
Rouge paused, then tucked the scepter back in her bag. "I was hoping the curse was just a rumor."
"That begs the question of why GUN wants it." Shadow held her close and angled himself into a slide. The slope here was too steep to run down without picking up enough speed to freeze Rouge solid, so he dialed his jets into a comfortable hover and went straight.
"Yeah, that's the part they didn't tell me. The files mentioned something about it coming from Soleanna though. It's called the Scepter of Darkness and it's supposed to be a seal for some great evil. There's a housing for it in the kingdom's castle, something like a vault that in theory acts like a second seal."
If he hadn't been carrying her, Shadow would have pinched his brow. It was always some great sealed evil with the doctor, always some stupid plan to break it free that always backfired in his face and caused an aneurysm's worth of property damage.
"...I know," Rouge said softly. "GUN doesn't have the greatest track record dealing with these things either."
"They can't be trusted with something like this," Shadow said. "Without Omega their security is pathetic. The doctor will just steal it back, and we'll be back to square one."
"You want to go charity case?"
Shadow gave a grim nod. "This one we handle ourselves."
Rouge hummed again, rubbing life back into her fingers. "Soleanna sounds like fun. They're tropical, balmy coastal weather year round."
"Sounds perfect for you," Shadow deadpanned. They slid into town and he angled his jets to slow them down. By now Rouge was warmed up enough to walk, so he set her down and they set off for the run down looking cannery at the end of the lane.
"Call it a working vacation" Rouge said beside him. "We deserve it."
Shadow grunted noncommittally and shouldered the door open. Inside was about as dusty as expected, with a few snowdrifts fluttering in from broken windowpanes, but in the far corner there were two guards stationed in front of a large crate. They'd been playing cards when Shadow and Rouge had come in, but now stood at attention with a cautionary hand on their sidearms.
Rouge flashed her ID at them. The first guard scanned it with his wristband, then sighed. "Agent Rouge. Didn't realize we'd be seeing you here in the middle of Bumfuck-nowhere."
"Oh, I get around," she said loftily.
"Agent Shadow?" the second guard said, holding up her wristband. "I- I know who you are, but I still need to..."
A growl bubbled in the back of his throat, but he bit it down and dug out the stupid badge. She scanned it and stepped aside so they could access the crate, which was, of course, a closet that led down to the teleporter room. Shadow jumped down rather than touch the ladder, landing in a heavy crouch. Rouge slid down behind him. She stepped around neatly to poke at the console, bringing up the network of GUN teleportation pads.
"Huh, there's one just across the strait," she said. "It's not a direct line, but for this..."
"A hike is fine," Shadow finished for her. "Less of a data trail."
Rouge nodded and punched in the coordinates. The pad lit up and a safety rail deployed until it was stabilized, then the rail lowered and they stepped on. The rail closed around them and Shadow bit down the bitter thought of how much it resembled the docking clamps that had once gone over his stasis pod whenever he'd been hauled around like cargo.
The teleporter activated. A harsh, mechanical light flashed on around them, and then there was the awkward sensation of falling. Shadow's feet hit an identical pad with far less scuffmarks and far more dust, and the light died down. This rail screeched a little as it folded in, clearly having gone without a good oiling for quiet some time. The air was immediately different- warmer but also heavier with moisture and the scent of damp sand.
Rouge stretched as she hopped down. "Ahh, so much better. Next stop, the beach!"
Silver's mouth was dry. It usually was, when you lived in the ruins of a volcanic eruption that was constantly on fire, but this was a little different than just dehydration. He didn't have the strength to swallow even though he felt like crying.
"I don't... I don't have much to pay you with," the mouse was saying. They had a child in each arm and more clinging to their tail. "Dale had some rations in his bag. That's about all I have."
"W-we don't need--" Silver started.
"Please," the mouse whispered. Copper. That was their name. "I can't carry it and the children. I only- I only have two hands and I don't want to leave a trail."
Silver winced, glancing at Blaze for help. She was chewing her lip. Neither of them felt good about taking food from hungry kids, but Copper was scrawny. The children were all too small to carry a human sized bag either.
"...We'll sort it," Blaze decided. "What we can stow into smaller bags for the children, we shall. The rest we will accept as payment."
Copper sagged in relief. "I- yes, I can work with that."
Blaze herded everyone into the shadow of what had once been an overpass and dumped out Dale's bag, sorting through everything quickly. There were bits of cloth, probably an old shirt or something, but folded into a sidebag nicely. Blaze packed it with the first aid supplies and as many ration bars as she dared. Copper threw it around their shoulder while she packed a second shirt. This one went to the next oldest child. There were a few ration bars and a heavy multitool left.
"You could trade it, I suppose," Copper muttered.
"If we see your friends, maybe one of them could use it?" Silver suggested.
The mouse looked at him and he suddenly realized their friends probably hadn't made it. "...Maybe," they said hoarsely. He felt awful for bringing it up.
"Either way," Blaze said gently, "we thank you for these." She gestured to the leftover ration bars. "From here on out you can follow the roads to the coast. Do not drink the sea water, the salt needs to be filtered out first, but I've heard of a freshwater spring towards the jungle."
"Here's hoping it's still there." Copper scooped a kid back up, balancing the little guy on their hip. "Come on, everyone. It's time to go."
"Safe travels," Silver said awkwardly. He waved, not sure what else to do while Blaze folded down the backpack into something a little smaller and shouldered it.
"...We did what we could," she said quietly. "Saved who we could. We lost four, but there go six lives that would have otherwise been lost."
Silver sucked in a breath, a sniffle more like, and then his chest was clenching and his eyes stinging. "I- I just wish... He was right in front of me, Blaze. If I'd been stronger, I could have--"
"Don't." She put a hand on either shoulder and squeezed gently. "Guilt will be the death of you. You did everything you could, Silver."
"It wasn't enough," he whispered.
"We cannot save everyone. We can only keep trying."
He squeezed his eyes shut, hot tears on his face. Blaze pulled him into a tight hug. They stayed like that for a moment, him sniffling and struggling to get his breathing under control while she supported him. Finally Silver felt calm enough to break free, scrubbing at his eyes.
"...It's getting worse," he sniffled. "I- I can barely see the sky these days. Those kids have the cough, too. They probably..."
"Try not to think about it," Blaze said. "They're out of the city and bound for cleaner air. There's a chance they could recover."
"A slim one," Silver muttered.
Blaze didn't answer that.
Silver hugged himself, gripping his own patchy arm fur. "Blaze... Be honest with me. How much longer do you think we'll last? With things... as they are."
She didn't answer that one either.
Blaze had always been honest with him. She had never once told a lie, even to comfort him. Instead she went silent.
"...We should move on as well," she said softly. "South? The last trader we spoke to mentioned people were escaping there. Perhaps we can escort the stragglers."
"...Sure. South," Silver said lamely. He felt sick. Crying certainly hadn't helped any.
Blaze dug out a ration bar for him as they walked. It was so dry it was like trying to chew gravel. He couldn't swallow without choking, couldn't spit it out without wasting precious calories, so he ground his teeth instead, not sure what else to do.
They walked in silence. Finally, Blaze sighed.
"I never finished the story. The thief boy," she said, glancing at him. "My favorite retelling has him marrying the princess after showing her the starry sky. The princess gets the freedom to leave the palace whenever she likes and the boy never goes hungry again."
Silver choked on the ration bar, forcing it down even though it felt like sandpaper and sharp bits and hurt all the way to his stomach. "Wh- what about the other versions?"
Blaze hummed in thought. "There was one where instead of a carpet it was a magic box that could fly. The boy became a con artist using it to perform tricks, such as flying up and setting off fireworks from midair. The people loved it; he could have made a living just by performances alone, but while showing off his box caught fire and burned to ashes. His princess was waiting for him all night on the rooftop, but he never came."
"That--" Silver coughed, thumping his chest. "That's so sad!"
"Hence why I prefer the first version," Blaze said. "I like a good rug over a snuffbox any--"
They both froze. There hadn't been a sound like a monster screech, but something had--
There it was again. A flash, not of light, but of power nearby, like the flare of Blaze's flames when she was fighting.
"Trouble?" Silver whispered.
"Could be. For someone else." Blaze jerked her head at the ruined overpass. Silver caught on and grabbed them both with his psychokinesis, lifting them soundlessly to the top. From here they could see something moving on the building nearby, more of those flying creatures circling around a figure. One of them got too close and Silver instinctively flinched, but something bright lashed out and the creature let out a faint screech of pain.
Oh. This person was like them.