Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Chapter Text
Shadow
The sea had always been Shadow’s home. Whether he was gliding through the currents or jumping waves with Maria, he felt at home in the big blue ocean. There were so many things to do, back then. Every day held a new surprise with bundles of excitement and sometimes even treasure ahead. Those were the days when Shadow was free as a bird. His grandfather’s experiments did nothing to quell the fun of the wide expanse of water they lived in – nor did the distance from the other merpeople.
It had something to do with Maria, Shadow had concluded. It might have been the way her shimmering sky-blue tail swished even when sleeping, or the way her blonde hair gathered around her like a halo when she laughed. It could have even been the way her bright blue eyes crinkled when she made a terrible joke, or the way her fragile arms still made Shadow feel as safe as possible when she hugged him.
Shadow would soon discover it was all of them combined, with one more added to the mix – Maria’s bubbly personality that made every day worth living. She was a gold star; one of the ones that they stared at when she took him to the surface even after their grandfather had told them multiple times that it was too dangerous.
And the world had shot down their brightest star.
*****
Shadow’s own striped tail pushed him through the water with a sharp swish, making sure to swim into a current that would get him home faster. Maria never minded that it was much longer and more powerful than hers, and any other mermaid’s. His black and red hair had grown back over the years from when he cut it after that fateful night in a fit of rage and sorrow. Maria laughed as she braided the strands, shaking her head. “It’s really not that hard, Shadow. You should try doing it yourself sometime!”
“But I like you doing it!”
Shoving the painful memories out of his head, Shadow finally arrived at the cave he called home – far away from any other creatures, save for the occasional shark or prey. He’d planned the hideout very meticulously, so it was just close enough to be easy to get to the land and get a human to grab him some food, but far enough from it to make sure they couldn’t send a boat down to get him. “The humans are dangerous creatures,” Grandfather warned. “Make sure you are never alone and can always use your voice.”
He'd always directed the last part at Shadow, though neither of the children understood why, nor did their grandfather explain. Shadow had uncovered the way to use it too late.
Finishing the fish he’d stolen from the humans, Shadow grazed his long black claws through his scales, checking for any that might have been scratched or scuffed in the trip. None. Perfect again, he thought, proud of himself.
Brushing his hair was always the worst part of his routine. He’d thought about keeping it short, but he couldn’t afford to forget Maria’s smile when he looked in the shiny objects that fell quite often into the sea. She’d loved his hair, and sometimes he thought she’s loved it more than him. Maria would play with it any time she got, always twisting small parts or trying new hairstyles that she wanted him to give her. Her own hair wasn’t as long because it got in her way and that was extremely dangerous, but it wasn’t short, either. It was gorgeous, and now it was gone.
Shadow made his way over to the pile of items he’d collected from humans over the years, including a material he’d learned was ‘fleece’, which held up surprisingly well underwater.
The day washed away as his head hit the soft bed, ready to do the exact same thing the next day.
Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Summary:
Sonic's first POV :)
Chapter Text
Sonic
“We’re home!” The call rang throughout the house as Sonic walked inside the seaside house, younger brother in tow. Tails, as they affectionately nicknamed him, ran to the table immediately, perusing the items Amy had picked up on her weekly shopping trip.
“These are so awesome!” he exclaimed, looking up at Amy with appreciation shining in his eyes. “I’m glad I found the right stuff,” Amy replied, lightly ruffling the top of his head. “What did you guys pick up for dinner?”
“It had better be something delicious,” another voice chimed in from the entrance to the room. A red-haired man leaned against the counter, golden tooth glinting in the light.
Sonic laughed. “Don’t worry, Knux. We got your favourite fish, as always.” The captain grinned, hungrily ripping open the packaging Sonic and Tails had gone to get, while Amy grabbed plates off the rack and lined them on the table. “You staying tonight?” Sonic asked her, taking some cutlery to go with the plates.
“Yep!” the blonde replied. “I need more dye, so I figured I’d stop by for a few days to grab some – the shop at home does nothing for me, they’ve got horrendous pinks.” Sonic nodded, knowing how hard it was to find good quality dye that wouldn’t cost all your savings.
As they ate, Knuckle brought up the news. “There’ve been even more thrown in this week,” he started, still with food in his mouth.
“Knux,” Amy said, “don’t talk with your mouth full. And I’m sure people are just being wasteful of supplies, as usual.” The last part had turned into a grumble. Knuckles shook his head before swallowing and continuing. “Not this time. It’s been fresh seafood, sometimes directly off my ship. They just dump it overboard an’ don’t know why. I’m thinking—”
“Don’t start with the sirens again,” Tails said. “There’s been no proof of them, and even so they wouldn’t come to the surface so easily or only use it to steal food and supplies. Sirens are much more powerful in the myths, so they would have done a lot worse to the town.”
“So, what do you think is goin’ on?” Sonic asked. He’d always been curious about the sirens mythology, from books or Amy recounting old wives’ tales late at night. They intrigued him in a way he couldn’t decipher, but Tails had never shown any interest in proving they were real. Unlike Amy, who would often stay up late and drag Sonic to the edge of the water to listen for ‘The Siren’s Song’, as she called it. He’d only heard it once, and very faintly. Amy had been hell bound on figuring out where it had come from until Knuckles assured her there was nothing in the sea as far as their boats could go.
“It’s probably just the crew getting seasick,” Tails shrugged, finishing his meal and looking up at Sonic with pleading eyes. “Yeah, go have fun with your new gadgets,” Sonic shooed the excited kid off, smiling fondly as he tried gathering all the things Amy had brought in one arm.
As soon as he was gone, Amy spoke up. “I think there’s something more going on. Nobody just… loses control like that on the boats, not even Sonic!” The boy in question squirmed, reminded of how horrible the boat ride he’d taken with Knuckles was when he’d first acquired the ship.
“I’ll be the first to agree if something does come up,” Knuckles said. “But for now, I’ll have to stick with the seasick idea. Goodnight.” He strode upstairs, where his dark bedroom awaited.
“Do you really think it’s a siren?” Sonic’s voice was soft, unsure himself if he was actually entertaining this absurd idea. “Of course! There’s no way it’s something so boring if it’s so common, and what other creature has the power of controlling people?” There were practically stars in the girl’s eyes, her hands clasped together and mind no doubt in another world. “Now, are you going to stargaze with me tonight or stay inside?”
“I’ll come with you.”
‘Stargazing’ was a term Amy used loosely. On the off occasion, she meant actual stargazing, like they did on his birthday, just pointing out the different constellations on the roof with a few friends and blankets, but most of the time it was a code for ‘let’s go check if the siren’s song is audible’.
Which meant going to the edge of the land, as close to the ocean as possible without Sonic’s hydrophobia kicking in and Amy’s wild fantasies accidentally tipping her off the edge of the cliff they sat on.
Amy’s small heels clacked on the cobblestones, dress swaying in the slight wind. The moon was dull that night, lighting up the sea in an ethereal glow and making even the darkest parts turn a deep blue. Sonic wrapped his arms around himself, the long but thin white shirt doing little to quell the cold. Winter was on the horizon, which meant Knuckles had to go out twice as often to collect enough seafood before the waters turned to ice and were too dangerous to sail on.
“Any especially high hopes for tonight?” Sonic whispered, leaning into Amy to warm up. “Absolutely,” she murmured, letting her head fall onto his shoulder. Looks like she’ll pass out before ten, Sonic thought, letting her slowly lose consciousness before he picked her up and carried her home.
While he was walking back, though, his ears pricked up and turned towards the wide sea. Sonic stopped, slowly walking to the edge of the walkway while still being held back by the posts lining the path.
A voice.
It was faint, but it was there. Deep and melancholy, like a mourning cry. Sonic squinted, trying to see where the voice was coming from to no avail. There wasn’t a soul in sight, and now he really wished Amy was still awake.
Like all incredible things, the voice ended as abruptly as it started. Sonic felt like he’d been kicked out of a trance. Amy stirred in his arms, and he remembered what he was on the pier for. Racing back home, he tucked the girl into bed and went up to the roof that overlooked the ocean, wind chimes playing melodically in the background.
Nothing.
Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Summary:
The ships were loud today. Some days, they were soft enough to nearly be silent, and Shadow cherished them very much. Most days they parted the water fast and with the intent of catching as many fish as possible before sundown for the winter.
Chapter Text
Shadow
He hadn’t meant to sing that night. He hadn’t ever meant to start singing, because it was different than when Maria did it. His voice didn’t sound as pretty as hers did, and it had some sort of effect on the creatures around him. They flocked towards Shadow like he was a magnet and only stopped when he ceased his voice. Grandfather had loved it, and fussed over Shadow for the next few weeks, constantly asking him to sing or try other strange practices, like growing gills. When he’d failed that, their grandfather left him alone.
He'd never explained why Shadow’s voice did that when Maria’s didn’t. Maria never minded, just kept singing together when Shadow didn’t want to, grabbing his hands and dancing with him instead.
Last night, Shadow had seen her again. He’d nearly been able to touch her hand, feel her warmth, feel the softness of her hair. Then she had disappeared with a red flash, and his emotions hadn’t taken it that time. He’d sung until his throat closed up from sobs and his chest hurt and he couldn’t care less if anyone saw him, so he swam to the surface.
The moon was beautiful. High in the sky, casting a shimmering glow over everything it touched. It comforted him, on nights like these, to be in the presence of a celestial being with the magical feeling it left. It calmed Shadow on even the worst nights.
Eventually, the moon sunk into the depths and the sun rose, so Shadow had to be quick to dive back down to his cave and start another day in the same routine.
*****
The ships were loud today. Some days, they were soft enough to nearly be silent, and Shadow cherished them very much. Most days they parted the water fast and with the intent of catching as many fish as possible before sundown for the winter. Shadow had nearly gotten caught in one of the nets, just after the incident. Luckily his claws had destroyed the net before they reeled him in, and the fishermen didn’t go in the area for a while.
Around midday, Shadow decided to get food. Swimming to the closest pier, as there weren’t any small boats in sight, he cautiously broke the surface and raised his head. Arguing. Shoot. More than one there.
Curiosity got the better of him, so Shadow peeked over the wooden path to try and see the humans.
One was dark skinned, with bright red hair and a captain’s hat set on his dreadlocks. His suit looked new and expensive, from what Shadow had learned of human prices. He had pinched his nose, brows furrowed at the other, clearly put up with whatever the other was saying. He needs a name, Shadow concluded, because if he was going to get some food he needed to at least have something connected to him. He couldn’t call him ‘Red’ because Shadow also had partly red hair, so he was stuck until he got a glimpse of the man’s eyes. Piercing violet, clear and strong. Purple, then.
The boy yelling at Purple was pale, with striking blue hair and shining green eyes. Freckles dotted all over his skin, and he wore a loose white shirt and long black pants with small trinkets sewn on, which Shadow thought was weird. None of the other humans he’d seen had extra things on their clothes, much less things that were terribly mismatched. Blue.
“You know how bad I am out there. There’s nothing you can do to make me!” Blue cried, hands out as if to show Purple evidence. Purple didn’t care. “We’ve gone through this. I need as many men as I can get, and Tails is too young to join. Besides, don’t you want to find the voice you apparently heard last night?”
A voice? Shadow froze. Blue had heard him singing. This was very bad.
“Shadow,” Grandfather said. “If anybody else finds out about you, swim as far away as you can. They’ll want to take your voice and use it for their own benefits. Promise me you’ll swim away.” Shadow had nodded vigorously, terrified of the sternness in his grandfather’s voice.
Do I have to leave now? Where will I go? As the questions and panic swirled in Shadow’s mind, Blue and Purple were still arguing. Their voices dragged Shadow out of his head, something louder than his own thoughts to ground him.
“What about Amy? She’ll be so much more useful than me, and she actually wants to be there!”
“Amy’s looking after Tails, and she’s sick from going out last night, you know that.”
“I-ugh. Please? I’ll literally do anything. You of all people should know how long I’ll last out there.” Blue thrust his hand towards the sea. Desperation had clawed its way into his arguments.
Living on the seaside and he’s afraid of it? Shadow’s interest was piqued. He hadn’t met anyone like that before. Besides that, why did Purple want Blue to go on the ship with him? It’s not like Shadow had been toying with them, and he didn’t think the sharks scared sailors that much.
While he was contemplating, Blue had finally given up. Purple looked at him sympathetically as he slid down to the ground. It took Shadow a moment to recognise that he was now at eye level with Blue. Nearly, anyway.
He shot down into the water while trying to make the least noise possible. Thankfully, neither Blue nor Purple noticed the splash. “We’ll leave in a few minutes,” Purple told Blue. “Say goodbye to Tails and Amy for me, then meet me back here. If you don’t, know I’m not afraid to drag you.” He flashed Blue a smile, one that showed his golden tooth. Blue just groaned but got up and left the pier.
Shadow watched from afar for a while, and by the time the ship was about to leave, he remembered what he was at the surface for. “Stupid humans,” he growled, but couldn’t drift away from the ship that was clearly designed with more bravado than practicality. It was still much more impressive than the usual boats that left the pier, though.
I need to find out what they know, Shadow reasoned as he drifted after the ship. Then he wasn’t technically wasting time chasing after the other species he was specifically told not to follow. He could get food later, when the crew had fished the oceans dry and had lots to give to him.
And so, the adventure began.
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Summary:
Boat ride time :D
Chapter Text
Sonic
Sonic’s day was going horribly, thanks for asking. First, the excitement of hearing the singing again had kept him up at night, then Tails had scoffed and said it must’ve been someone from the village up late too, then Amy had woken up and promptly passed out again from a cold when she tried to walk downstairs. And after all that, Knuckles had given him the lovely information that he was needed on the ship. All day. In the ocean.
It only got worse when Knuckles didn’t tell him what he was needed for. All he said was ‘we need more crew’, which left Sonic fearing the open sea even more than usual. He was not going to die because Knuckles had failed to leave out information of a mass shark attack or something. Or if he did, Knuckles was going to be haunted for the rest of his days.
The sea rocked the boat side to side, not too unpleasantly. It had only been five minutes since they left the pier, though, so Sonic didn’t have high hopes for what it would be like without the vague protection of the land. “How much further is it until we reach ‘prime fishing area’?” The teen asked Knuckles, who just shrugged.
“It moves around. Sometimes it’ll be in the north, but then it moves west, then north again, then south, and so on. We’ll get there when the nets pick something up.” He nodded towards the two nets on either side of the boat, only collecting water at the moment. Sonic grimaced, not pleased at how undefined their time was on the boat. He was only there if the crew really needed a helping hand with the sails or securing the nets, but Knuckle’s crew was so big already that Sonic didn’t know why he was here other than a plea from the universe to make him suffer.
The waves eventually got more powerful as they sailed further away from home, Sonic mourning every extra metre. “Are we there yet?” he called out, not really caring who he annoyed at this point. If all went well, he’d piss so many people off that they never allowed him on a boat again and he could stay on land for the rest of his life.
“No,” Knuckles said, “but I’d get ready for some action if I were you.”
“What.” And with that, all of Sonic’s nerves returned tenfold. “Knux, what are you talking about? What’s going on?”
Knuckles grimaced, looking out at the wide expanse ahead. “There’s a reason I needed so many people here, Sonic. Just be prepared for anything, alright? Call if you need me.” He walked onto the top deck, calling orders to secure the sails and make sure the nets weren’t going to get caught on anything.
Sonic stared up at the sky. It was a soft blue with white fluffy clouds dotting the horizon, what was Knuckles worried about? He looked in both directions, but there were only a few grey clouds spaced along the background. They wouldn’t reach the ship for an hour or so at least.
But of course, nature had to defy itself. Lightning lit up the sky, even though it was day and already bright. “What’s goin’ on?” Sonic asked someone nearby – he hadn’t gotten around to learning Knux’s crew’s names yet. “Weather’s weird in these parts,” the woman replied. “It’s why we try to have everybody on board if we suspect we’re fishin’ here.” She gave a haunted look to the atmosphere and Sonic felt a chill run down his spine. What was so different about this area?
Then the clouds started moving. It was slow at first, just a gradual tilt towards them, but then they got closer and closer until Sonic felt like they were going to suffocate them. He looked to the crew beside him. All were wearing hardened faces, glaring at the heavens above and the approaching clouds.
As Sonic panicked, the waves grew bigger. The winds whipped the sails, threatening to rip them to shreds in an instant. Both elements crashed against the ship, seeming to fight for who could topple it first. “Knuckles!” Sonic shouted, sliding about on the deck. Alas, the captain was nowhere to be seen, most likely with his own problems.
“Over here!” a crewmate hollered. Sonic tried to run over, but it turned out as more of a hurried walk as his legs didn’t work as well as they did on land. The sky had turned into a night show by now, dark grey storm clouds covering the majestic sun Sonic loved so much. Thunder cracked open the sky, and the teen couldn’t help but think of how Tails was handling it. His phobia’s gonna get so much worse if we die out here, Sonic thought grimly. He helped keep the sail steady, rope wrapped around his forearms and tightening by the second.
Don’t die, Sonic reminded himself as the ship fell forward after a particularly big wave. Tails’ll be making his projects alone.
Don’t die, Sonic reminded himself as the others holding the sail went to collect the nets, leaving him alone and his arms burning and his feet slipping. Amy won’t have anyone to search for the siren’s song with.
Don’t die, Sonic reminded himself as the crew screamed for mercy and he caught Knuckle’s eyes from across the ship, haunted and full of regret. Knux won’t have anyone to scare with sea stories.
Don’t die, Sonic reminded himself as he fell into the dark ocean and his breath shortened and his mind went black. You’ll never find the owner of the pretty voice.
Chapter Text
Shadow
The ship had taken off much faster than he’d expected. The Angel’s Voyage, the side read in violet cursive. It was red, green and gold with gorgeous red sails. Shadow was impressed, but he supposed he’d see how well it fared in the open sea to judge properly.
The journey, like all, started out fine. The skies were clear, and the nets hadn’t caught on any pieces of coral or debris from past ships. The wind was powering them enough that shadow actually had to put in a bit of effort to keep up. He followed closely, but not close enough that anybody would see him, and when he did poke his head out of the water he made sure to be gone before the footsteps reached the railing. Blue had yet to make an appearance. He had, however, heard the boy’s complaints and queries about what the crew was doing.
Shadow had sensed the storm before anyone. His fins twitched when storms were close, something Maria had been grateful for when they had to be home before one hit. And now, he was curious as to why the crew was still so far from their own homes when the storm was so close.
The clouds closed in on the ship and Shadow began to worry. Not because he liked the people, but because if they sunk it would be one more broken ship being a danger to the sea life. The boats around from past crashes got small fish scratched and large predators avoided those areas because of how sharp the wood was.
Shadow heard yelling from above. He couldn’t see much from how low he was, but the constant pushing and pulling of the waves couldn’t be good for the crew. The mer would be fine in the giant waves, but one of the crewmates had already fallen overboard. He’s got a life jacket. He’s fine.
Suddenly, the boat tipped. Shadow reared back as about half the sailors fell off, the rest of the crew screaming their names and holding out arms in a pathetic excuse for a saving grace.
Blue. He was there; falling, silent, seeming to have given up as the sea swallowed his body. Shadow’s heart rate accelerated to a speed he hadn’t felt in a long time, but he paid it no mind. All of his instincts told him to swim away from the sailors that would probably see him if he went to rescue them.
Shadow…
The mer froze. Her voice wasn’t something he heard regularly.
For all the creatures on land and in the sea, give them a chance to be happy.
Tears stung his eyes. He didn’t like to be reminded of that day. But Maria was always in control of his deepest desires, and he had to abide by her last wish.
Making up his mind, and heavily regretting it at the same time, Shadow dove underneath the surface and looked around for sunken sailors. He found many and quickly grabbed them under the arms, propelling them to the surface. A small rowboat had been lowered into the raging sea and lifebuoys were thrown out, so all Shadow had to do was bring the sailors as close to one as possible and let the people who hadn’t fallen off do the rest.
The large ship was moving towards the land now, so shadow had to drag the sailors further and further each time, which he knew could eventually doom the ones too far. He still hadn’t found Blue yet.
-----
He must have rescued about half the crew at this point. Shadow’s tail was sore from how much he’d used it – he really needed to start going faster more often to make it as strong as it used to be. None of the sailors had caught a glance of him so far, though, so he was at least keeping himself safe.
And just as Shadow was about to give up on finding him, Blue appeared in his vision. He was floating motionlessly in the water a few metres away, hair free from the band that contained it earlier. Shadow reached the boy as quickly as possible, pushing his tail to move towards the disappearing boat.
And then it happened. A piece of the boat must have been struck by lightning and dropped into the sea before he realised where it was. Shadow’s tail scraped against it, taking a few scales off and getting his stomach too. He grunted, used to much more pain, but then he saw how deep it was. The cut hadn’t gone into muscle, thank god, although he wouldn’t be able to swim fast enough to make it to the boat before Blue died and the blood filled the water to attract unwanted guests. The sharks wouldn’t go near him intentionally, but it didn’t mean they weren’t animals with animal instincts.
So, he did the next best thing. Catching a current nearby to aid him to the closest island, Shadow kept his grip on Blue and prayed human bodies were somewhat resilient.
Then he remembered that humans couldn’t breathe underwater and promptly shot out of the current to breach the surface.
They’d gotten far enough to be out of the huge storm, save for a few waves that bobbed them up and down. Shadow put one hand over the cut and one secured around Blue’s chest to give them just a bit more time before predators came along. He looked at Blue’s chest, sighing in relief when it rose and fell at a normal pace.
I’m only saving him to find out who he told about the voice, he told himself. Then I’ll go back to normal life, and he’ll be dead so nobody can find me.
Diving back under after catching his breath, Shadow found the current again and whisked them away.
Notes:
Also gang I want to write more but have no ideas if you have any suggestions please tell me :) my tumblr and instagram are infpvee
Chapter 6: Chapter 6
Summary:
Sleeping Beauty wakes up :D
(also thank you guys for telling me about the double chapter 😅💖)
Chapter Text
Chapter 6
Sonic
The first thing Sonic felt when he regained consciousness was the stinging in his throat. He coughed violently, bringing a hand to his throat and being very surprised when he didn’t feel like he normally did when he started coughing – right now, he felt cold and sick and damp.
The boat. Sonic sat up, gasping and looking around. He wasn’t on the boat, or in the ocean, so that was good sign, but he wasn’t on the land they called home, either. He was on some sort of tiny island with palm trees and no other sign of life. He was leaning against a big rock, smoother than he expected to wake up against. There were many more rocks behind him, and a cave a few metres further. And across from him, the open ocean.
Okay. You’re on an island, there’s no one else here, what are you gonna do? Sonic ran through what he knew of shipwreck survivors, but the only thing that came up was ‘wait until someone finds you’, which could last weeks or months or years.
Panic began to take over. Frantically getting up and trying to get his legs to work, Sonic took another look around and prayed it was all some stupid dream or Knux playing a prank. When he fell for the fifth time, he gave up on walking. The sea grew louder in his ears. The waves lapping the shore got closer and closer until Sonic felt like they’d grab him and pull him into them at any point. The waves turned dark and the sky blackened and he was back on the boat again, screaming, the rope was burning his arms and he was drenched and the wind was tossing him about.
Sonic’s hand grasped at his shirt, breath hitching as the memories came back to haunt him. Panic turned his breaths into sharp twists of air and his throat felt like closing up. Nails dug into his skin and oh god he was hyperventilating but he couldn’t stop and the sea was too loud and nobody would find him and he’d die alone and—
“Hey!”
A voice called out to him, deep and commanding. Hands were on his shoulders, a bit tighter than he liked. As he tried to turn around, one of the hands caught his cheek and turned it away. “Don’t look back,” the voice said. Sonic was too shaken to disagree.
The hands went to his neck, slowly scraping shark nails over the area near under his hair. It comforted him and he leaned into it. His heart rate slowed to match his normal pace, and his own hands went in his lap instead of his neck. “Thanks,” he mumbled to the stranger. He should probably be more wary of them, but they were the thing keeping him from losing his mind, so it was fine for now.
“Can you speak well?” the person asked. Sonic thought about how much he’d had to try to get the gratitude out, but supposed he could have a mostly stable conversation. “Probably,” he croaked. The person hummed, then Sonic heard the sand moving and a shuffling noise before they spoke again. “What do you know about the singing you heard?”
Well, that’s definitely not what I was expecting to hear first.
“I, uh, don’t remember telling anybody about that,” he started.
The other scoffed. “You were talking about it with the captain earlier. What do you know?”
“It was just a voice – most likely just someone in the village singing at night ‘cause they were awake.” Of course, he didn’t think that, but it sounded like that explanation would please his saviour. Speaking of which.
“Were you the one who saved me?” he asked. “’Cause while being able to save myself from a giant storm would be awesome, I hate the ocean, so I’m definitely not the one who swam here.”
“You…live on a seaside town.”
“Yep!”
“And… you hate the ocean.” The disbelief was clear in the person’s voice, making Sonic cringe. It’s not like that was the only reason he didn’t go in it too often. The disdain was just an added bonus, so he obviously didn’t need to learn how to swim. Screw Knuckle’s adventuring spirit.
“I know, I know, whatever. Never thought I’d have to be in the ocean, let alone in a crashing ship.”
There was silence for a while, just with the person playing with Sonic’s hair. “Actually, if you saved me, do you know if everybody else survived? Or where we are? And how to get home? ‘Cause I really need to get back, my brother’s probably worried sick—”
“They’re alive. The ship took off before I could get you to it, and I don’t know where we are.”
And with that, the stress came back. How were they meant to get home? A search party might be issued, but for only one person? Not likely. Stupid storm.
“So, can I, like, see you? Kinda weird if I can’t, you know, with stranger danger and all that.” He let out a small laugh after that, glad to know some of his humour was still intact. The stranger grunted, and more shuffling was heard before he gave an answer.
“Fine. But don’t come behind the rock.” Sonic nodded, slowly turning around to look. And then he really wished he didn’t.
The stranger was gorgeous. With dark skin and glowing red eyes, Sonic felt his cheeks grow hot as he stared. The teen had black hair with red highlights, long enough to reach his hips. It looked incredibly soft and had a slight wave through it. He was shirtless, something that didn’t help the warmth spreading through Sonic’s body.
“S-so, how’d you, um, like, save me an’ stuff?” The blue haired teen stuttered in a horrible attempt of a subject change. The beautiful person raised an eyebrow. “I dragged you here after you fell. I was in a supply boat nearby and saw the ship struggling, so I did what I could.”
“Woah,” Sonic breathed. “You’re so cool, dude! Thanks for the save, really.” He held out his hand for a high-five. The darker teen looked at it curiously but eventually met it with his own. Sonic smacked them together, then noticed something. “You have really long nails! Amy’s love to paint them if you’d let her. What’s your favourite colour? She has a bunch, she did mine a black with blue sparkles when she came over last, and Knux got some black ones with a skull on a few. She’s been practicing heaps, and even Tails let her do his!” As he was rambling, he’d taken the other’s hand and inspected the claw-like nails of him, no regard for personal space, as usual.
“Maybe some other time,” the ravenette said, pulling his hand away sharply.
“Right.” Sonic laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck – he really needed to work on his self-control. “Sorry about that.”
There was silence for a few minutes, Sonic fidgeting and getting the last of the water out of his lungs and the other definitely judging him for it. The teen couldn’t take another second of it – the water was stressing him out enough without the whole ‘you’re stranded in the middle of nowhere’ thing.
“Soooooooo,” he said, whistling at the end to cut the word off. “How exactly are we gonna get back to land? I, uh, can’t swim…”
Vivid red eyes stared. Oh god, he’s totally judging me.
“You went on a ship on an incredibly long journey, in a huge storm, with no lifejacket, and you can’t swim.”
Sonic laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ironic, isn’t it? The storm part was a surprise – but by the time I had enough money to get lessons, all the kids left were five-year-olds. They can be so cruel, you know?”
The stranger sighed, bringing a hand to his forehead. He grumbled, something about ‘why this one’, but Sonic was now acutely aware that getting back would require a lot of swimming and was wondering if starving to death would be more enjoyable. “Now that I’m aware of that, and that you’re terrified of the ocean you live next to, I’ll need to knock you out.”
Sonic gave him an incredulous look. “W-what? What the hell are you talking about?” He scrambled away, eyebrows furrowed and questioning his choices in saviours. Was this guy crazy? Before he could get far, or peek behind the rock to see what the other looked like, his wrist was grabbed and yanked down.
“I can get you back to your home,” the stranger growled, “or I can let you starve and drown here. Your choice.” His voice was low and threatening, his breath hot on Sonic’s face from how close they were. Sonic gulped, putting his hands up in surrender, prompting the boy holding him to drop him like a stone onto the sand.
Then he slunk off behind some more rocks, calling over his shoulder, “I will leave in ten minutes. If you’re coming, be ready. Preferably already knocked out.”
He walks really weirdly, Sonic thought, noticing the way the stranger sort of slithered away, almost like his legs didn’t work or they were injured in some way. He brushed it off as something small and probably insignificant if he wasn’t complaining. Maybe Sonic could check on him later to earn some friendship points. Until then, he tried to take his mind off the journey ahead and instead play with the sand in front of him.
Chapter 7: Chapter 7
Summary:
Decision time :)
Bit of a short chapter sorry, next one should be longer <3
Chapter Text
Shadow
He was desperately hoping that the other teen hadn’t noticed his sharp teeth. He’s bared them while speaking and hadn’t thought about it until he’d slunk off into a cave. Blue had just been so incredibly infuriating that Shadow had lost all sense and caution was thrown to the wind.
Grumbling about the unfortunate turn of events, Shadow planned the journey back to Blue’s home. Only because he’ll trust me enough to tell me what he knows about my singing, he reminded himself, checking his wound. He’d cleaned it up as quickly as possible before, not knowing how long a usual human stayed asleep after nearly drowning and not wanting to find out too late. It had turned a near black colour and had scabbed over without infections but still hurt when brushed or leaned on.
The real worry was how long humans could stay underwater without drowning. Blue had already proven he could stay under for at least a minute or two, but that wouldn’t be enough time to get them back. And while Shadow hated using the powers he was ‘gifted’ with, there wasn’t any other way to get Blue to safety.
Not ‘safety’. Just to shore so I can get some answers and then kill him.
He sighed and tried his best to wait out the ten minutes without diving back into the ocean and running away to the routine of his life. “That blue idiot is ruining me,” he groaned, putting his head in his hands. If he slipped up any more, Blue would find out that he was one of the creatures humans used to hunt and would try to get Shadow’s scales to sell.
*****
“Time’s up,” Shadow said, returning to the beach. Sonic was not where he was before, making Shadow’s anxiety spike at the fear that he was behind him, staring at the tail. He whipped his head around, trying desperately to find the blue menace, before his gaze settled on a body playing with sand a few metres away.
“Hey!” he called out. Blue raised his head and grinned when he saw Shadow. His hands were hard at work creating a structure like the castles Maria had described years ago. “Hi!” he shouted back, waving and accidentally throwing sand around until it met his eye. Blue yelped in pain, falling backwards and furiously scrubbing his eyes. Shadow found himself amused but quickly shook it off in disgust.
“Ten minutes have passed.” Blue groaned and curled up on himself as if to hide.
“I know,” he mumbled. He stood up slowly, swaying slightly at the rush of blood hit.
“Well?” Shadow inquired, resting his head on a palm on the rock. Blue walked over and sat beneath him, facing the ocean. “You’ll definitely knock me out, right? Like, before we go in the ocean?” His voice was quieter than ever – more like a plea than a confirmation.
“If you’re coming, I’ll knock you out right now,” Shadow said. He grabbed a rock from a pile beside him and threw it up, having it land at Blue’s feet. He wasn’t actually going to use it, but Blue didn’t need to know that. The teen gulped but picked up the rock and handed it back to Shadow. “Okay,” he whispered. Then a little louder, “I’ll go with you. Just no funny business, yeah?” A cocky grin made it’s way onto his face. “Well, you’re certainly good at hiding your fear,” Shadow snarked sarcastically. Blue stuck his tongue out.
With that confirmed, Shadow gathered the energy inside of him and brought the rock up, preparing Blue for the impact. He swung the rock at that back of Blue’s head, making sure to stop it just in time to use his power and knock the boy out. Blue dropped like the rock, which landed back in the pile. Shadow pat himself on the back for another successful part of his mission. Then he realised he really should have done it closer to the water, because he wasn’t as strong as he was in the water and Blue wasn’t a child.
Grunting, he slowly pulled Blue to the water’s edge and watched as even when sleeping the boy flinched when the waves lapped at his back. Shadow brought forward as much power as he could, having it out the ready when he got both of them in the water.
Before Blue could start coughing or choking, Shadow created a large bubble and warped it around Blue’s head. It had been a while – one thousand, three hundred and sixty-three days – since he’d last used this specific power, so the bubble was at first much too big, then too small, but after a few tries it was finally the right size to allow Blue to breathe and also make sure Shadow could swim with the teen without popping it.
Shadow’s cut stung with the first entrance into the salt water, but it eventually faded into a dull ache as the currents dragged the two towards home. The ship Blue had originally been on had been quite far out, but the island had been even further as Shadow only had knowledge of a few islands close by. The journey back would most likely take them a few hours, and since it was nearing midday now, with all luck, they would arrive just before sundown.
Chapter 8: Chapter 8
Summary:
Flashback time for wet rat
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Sonic
Tails was sick that day. He’d been sick for a while, but today it had worsened. He hadn’t been able to eat and had only gotten out of bed to throw up then go straight back to sleep.
Sonic was beyond worried at this point. He’d taken more jobs to get money for medicine, but the ones they’d tried weren’t enough. The local shops had suggested a captain’s help, and how desperate Sonic was overweighed his aquaphobia, so he sought out Knuckles ‘the Dread’.
The first time they’d met, the captain had asked for his name, then immediately thrown him on deck swabbing duty, telling him he needed to claw his way up the ranks to make it to a respectable job. Before Sonic could ask about his medicinal knowledge, the ship was untied from port and they were in the ocean. Knuckles was yelling out orders left and right, the crew rushing about to follow them quickly. When he finally stopped, Sonic thought it was a perfect time to ask about his help.
Unfortunately, the orders stopping just meant it was time for them to throw a party. On a rocky boat. In the ocean. With loads of food.
Sonic felt like throwing up himself, but that made him more determined to get help for Tails. “Hey, uh, Knuckles? Captain? Sir?” He asked the captain when he finally caught up to him.
“If you’re looking for a higher job, ye haven’t done anything deserving of it yet,” Knuckles replied. Sonic laughed nervously but kept going. “It’s not about that, I promise. It’s just that-”
“Captain!” a crewmate shouted. “We’ve got a catch!”
Knuckles sprung into action, racing down the stairs to assist in reeling in one of the nets on the side of the ship. “Hold it steady!” he yelled. More of the crew crowded the area and heaved until the net and whatever was inside fell onto the ship. When everybody cleared, Sonic did his best to walk straight towards Knuckles, but the boat was now uneven and made the ocean a lot closer than he wanted it to be. Inside the net lay a shark. A big one, speared through the mouth. Blood oozed out onto the deck and he could see the fins twitching. Sonic nearly threw up for the second time.
“Good catch, lads,” Knuckles grinned. “This one’ll sell for a beauty of a price at the market. Load it up!”
The crew hurried about; Sonic tasked with scrubbing the blood off the deck. He was fine with the blood, mostly, but the smell was too much for him to be comfortable doing it. When he finished, he ran to Knuckles again. “I was hoping you’d-”
“I told you, I’m not raising yer rank,” the captain told him.
“I know!” Sonic said, “how stupid would that be? I need your help on something else, please.”
‘The Dread’ sighed, turning violet eyes towards emerald green. “What. Make it quick, lad. I’m a busy captain.”
“My brother, Tails, well I don’t think you need to know his name, its not really important – well it is to me, but you don’t know him and you don’t know me other than the guy who cleans the deck, but he’s at home ‘cause he’s too young to work, but he shouldn’t be working anyway because I should be able to do enough for him and he loves his inventions and I don’t want to take his time away from that, but anyway the problem is—”
“Sonic.” Knuckle’s voice stopped Sonic from spiralling further. “What do you want.”
“He’s sick. Like, super sick. He couldn’t even get out of bed, and we’ve tried every medicine. I was told that, uh, you could help.”
Knuckle’s face tightened. He turned on his heel and strode into his office, gesturing for Sonic to follow. The room was mostly bare, save for a few framed photos hanging off the wall. Bottles filled with either paper or weird liquids rested on wooden shelves. A mug with ‘Ocean’s Best Captain’ printed on it sat on the mahogany desk that sprouted small flowers and a vine that climbed up the wall and onto the roof. It was homely, as much as a room on a boat could be.
“What are his symptoms?” Knuckles asked, browsing through the bottles.
“He’s throwing up, coughing, lost his appetite, and has a really bad headache,” Sonic recounted. Knuckles nodded. He grabbed four of the filled bottles and a bowl, pouring a bit of each into the bowl and stirring slowly. After a few minutes of silence and waiting, the captain poured the new mixture into a vial and sealed it. “You should’ve come to me earlier. It sounds like he has one of the old sicknesses. Give him this in a small cup for a week, and if you don’t see any results after the second day come straight back.”
Thanking him profusely, Sonic took the vial and sprinted out of the ship, only to realise he was still on the water. “Uh, Captain?” he called. “How long until we get back?”
Knuckles stared at the waves. “We’re about ten minutes from shore. Your brother will survive.”
He began celebrating over the catch with his crew, accent changing to a more ‘pirate’ one. Sighing with relief, Sonic sat on the stairs and waited for the seasickness and boat adventure to end.
*****
Knuckles was right – Tails was running around with spare parts less than a week later. Sonic had told the kid to never get sick again if he could help it, which meant going to bed on time every night instead of the occasional midnight mad rush of making machines.
The captain had checked on him a few times in moments of softness Sonic thought he’d never see from the tales and his short experience on the boat. He stayed over a few times even after the kid was fully healed and finally, after about a month, Sonic asked if he wanted to live with them.
‘Knuckles the Dread’ had stayed with them ever since.
Notes:
Ok I lied this one isn't really longer BUT I'll update them like every two days or smth so yeah :D
I'm not that happy with how this chapter turned out so any and all feedback is appreciated <333
Chapter 9: Chapter 9
Chapter Text
Shadow
All things considered; this wasn’t the worst way to spend his afternoon. He was out of the normal routine, and it wasn’t just because he needed to be as far from his house as possible from nightmares or boredom.
He had a human, though, who was currently passed out in his arms and Shadow had no idea how long it would be until he woke up, saw the mer’s tail, and immediately tried to kill him. He seems kind, a voice that sounded scarily similar to Maria’s suggested. Shadow shook it off. All humans were murderous, vile beings. He didn’t know why he’d abandoned the truth until now, but he was determined to keep it in what was left of his heart.
By at least an hour in, Shadow’s tail was getting sore. He hadn’t needed to swim this fast of far in a long time (not since her—) and it wasn’t as durable as he wanted. He would have to work on that when they got back.
And since he imagined Blue would get suspicious if he went for more than an hour without a break. Then, he realised that Blue would definitely get suspicious if he woke up in hour ratios, considering he could only go underwater for a very short period of time. With breaks every ten minutes or so, they’d be back by midnight. Midnight, when the only source of light was the moon (her favourite celestial being—) and the occasional bioluminescent jellyfish or sea stars.
Shadow groaned and pulled the body out of the water near a few rocks and planted Blue on the smoothest one he could see. Just so he trust me more. Nothing else.
The bubble popped the moment they broke the surface. Blue was silent for a while, but Shadow knew his spell would wear off soon and the teen would wake up. He slid his top half onto the rock, making sure to keep his hips and tail under.
Surely enough, only a minute later Blue coughed and launched himself up to put a hand in front of his mouth. Groggily, he opened his eyes. And promptly closed them again when he saw where he was. “We’re still here…?” his voice cracked halfway through the question. He brought his arms up to his chest, shivering slightly. The wind wasn’t even that bad, Shadow didn’t know why he was cold.
“When I said it would take a long time,” Shadow deadpanned, “I meant it would take a long time.”
Blue rolled his eyes. He rubbed his arms more and brought his knees up too, curling in on himself. Trying to remember all of the types of powers he possessed, Shadow wondered if he could warm up the teen. With how low they were swimming, and how low Shadow lived, the water was quite warm – he didn’t know why humans were so bent on living as high as possible.
Blue interrupted his thinking. “What’s your name?” he asked casually – or tried to, anyway, before the cold made him stutter.
“Why do you need to know?” his voice was snarkier than usual. That was good. It kept them from getting too close. Blue laughed. “You sure are feisty, dude. I just wanna know, so I’m not calling you ‘saviour’ for the rest of the time. Like you said, we’re gonna be together for a while, so it can’t hurt to break the ice?” At the mention of ice, the boy squeezed his eyes shut even more than they were already.
Shadow sighed. “You first.” He would give a fake name.
“I’m Sonic! Nice to meet you,” Blue—Sonic said as he held out his hand. It went in a direction that was nowhere near Shadow. After a moment of silence and awkwardness, Sonic mumbled something about how often this stuff happens and withdrew his arm.
“I’m… Shadow,” Shadow decided. It’s not like he’s going to remember it – and he’ll be dead before he can tell it to anyone else.
“Cool name! It’s so edgy and mysterious, kinda makes me want a name like that.” Sonic said. “What do you do back home? Aside from, you know, saving everybody and stuff.”
Silence stretched on for a bit, Sonic’s occasional shaky breaths the only thing breaking it. “…Shadow? Are you still here?” he held a hand out, and Shadow bat it away.
“I’m not going to leave that quickly,” Shadow said, purposefully ignoring the question. Sonic breathed a sigh of relief as his arms went back to cradling his legs. He’s going to freeze if I don’t do something, Shadow realised. “We’re going back in,” he told the other teen, grabbing his arm and a small rock he’d broken off. Sonic started in surprise, eyes briefly opening before he squeezed them shut again.
“So soon?” he whined, “but we literally just got here!”
“And you’re going to freeze. Get ready.”
Groaning and shivering, Sonic bent his head towards the rock Shadow was holding. Using his magic without needing to pretend to throw the rock this time, the mer grabbed Sonic and dived into the water with a bubble wrapped around the boy’s head. Unlike the first time, when they hit the water Sonic started to thrash in Shadow’s hold, making it extremely hard to hold him and swim at the same time. “Stop moving, idiot,” Shadow grunted, knowing fully well he couldn’t hear him while unconscious.
They wrestled for a few minutes, but after a particularly warm spot in the ocean, Sonic stopped fighting and went limp. Finally, Shadow thought, making sure to remember to punch the blue-haired fool when they stopped next. They still had a few hours before sundown, but he’d have to either play down the distance or make incredibly short breaks if he wanted the information. He knew it was a lie the first time the teen had given him an explanation, and he wasn’t going to get more trustworthy if he was incredibly fast underwater and got them home faster than anybody should be able to, even in a boat.
Chapter 10: Chapter 10
Summary:
Amy and (sort of) Rouge intro
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Sonic
Amy was always around in some way, whether that was by texting or calling or visiting, and Sonic had come to really appreciate her presence. The first time they met, it hadn’t been the best encounter, or the first few times after that, but eventually they settled into a comfortable routine.
He found her after a note was placed on his doorstep. At that point people had heard about him all over, either from him randomly helping out the villagers or from Knuckles’ tales of glory Sonic was sometimes included in.
The note was not of praise or an ask, rather a command. “We have her. If you’re such a hero, collect some actual money and meet at the pier. Be late and she goes.”
Of course, Sonic immediately ran to the pier after telling Tails he was ‘going out for a walk’. He had half a mind to call their bluff and not show up, but he absolutely couldn’t risk it. Townspeople came up and asked him about why he was just walking around the pier, but he brushed them off with a counter-question of if they’d seen someone missing from the town. All except one replied no – a small bunny called Cream, who said someone named ‘Miss Amy’ hadn’t come into the bakery Cream’s mother owned that morning.
When he’d asked Vanilla, the owner, the elder rabbit said Amy might’ve just been sick, but when he showed her the note she confessed that some people had come in a few weeks ago and asked a lot of questions about him. Amy had shooed them out of the store with a broom that day, and a sharp stick the next.
With that in mind, Sonic waited for a fight when the people showed up. He stayed (very impatiently) by the pier until the afternoon, where Tails came looking for him. Sonic told him to either go hang out with Cream, who he’d apparently met a few days later and forgot to tell Sonic about it, or stay inside until he came home.
When Sonic was about to run all around the town to try and find the gang who had captured Amy, he heard wings behind him. Tensing for a fight, he whipped around and really wished that they hadn’t made the meeting spot so close to the water.
“Hi there, handsome,” a feminine voice called. A white bat dropped onto the cobblestones, dressed in all black, save for the pink heart on her chest. “What are you doing here all alone?”
Sonic put his fists up. “Why’d you abduct Amy?”
The bat’s face gave him a surprised look. “Hon, I’ve been flying around all day. What makes you think I have the time or want to abduct someone of all things?” She put her hands on her hips as a challenge. The small bag she had on her shoulder glistened in the afternoon sun, showing off jewels embedded in the clip. Her emerald earrings sat in smooth, groomed white ears with gold rings hanging above them.
Sonic showed her the note. He had his suspicions that she’d just take it and leave, or get rid of Amy anyway ‘cause he hadn’t fought her, but if he showed the letter maybe he’d save the girl earlier. The bat frowned at the note. “If this is fake, you’ve got a lot of nerve showing me,” she said, handing it back.
“Are you not one of the people who kidnapped her?”
“No, I’m one of the people trying to arrest the people who kidnapped her. Or they might have. I’m kind of just there for the jewels they’ve stolen, but if they’re doing this they have even more reason to go behind bars.”
The bat scanned the area. “Hey, Blue, I’ll make you a deal. You wait here for the gang, and I’ll watch from the sky and come in if it gets feisty.”
Without waiting for an answer, or giving her name, she flew off. Sonic sighed and sat back down on the bench. He’d have to ask later, if only out of politeness.
*****
Once the sun was dipping into the horizon, the gang showed up. How Sonic knew they were the gang, well, it wasn’t everyday that a group walked up to him with a young girl tied up and crying on one of their shoulders. “You’re scrawnier than people make ya out to be, kid,” one of them said with a chuckle.
Sonic glared up at him, not even dignifying the comment with a response before he ducked under an arm or two and pulled the girl down. “Bet your mouths can’t move as fast as your feet,” he snarked. And like the hero he was, he ran up through the cobblestone streets and through to the park that nobody ever used aside from him and Tails. He set Amy down inside a hollowed-out tree he hid in when he was younger. “Don’t move, okay?” he told her, raising a finger to his lips. The girl stared at him with pure adoration.
“HEY! Get back here, you twerp!” Yells made the girl wince and look up at Sonic with pleading eyes.
“I’ll deal with them, don’t worry,” Sonic reassured her, “you just stay here. I’ll be back in a sec!” When he got a nod, he ran out of the area and returned behind the gang. There were only five of them, it would be easy. “Over here!” he called, getting the smallest one’s attention first, who promptly tried to barrel him over. Sonic’s foot did the trick in seconds and the man tumbled down the hill.
The rest were easy work. Unsurprisingly, they went at him one by one, and they were defeated the same way. When the last guy dropped to the floor, a flap of wings caught Sonic’s attention. “Waiting for me to finish them off?” He teased, turning to see the bat landing next to him.
“You had it handled,” she said, sending him a smirk. “I’ll get these guys out of here. Good job, Blue.” She started to wrap a large net around the gang, piling them up and flipping them so they were like fish after a big catch.
“Did you get your gems?” He hadn’t cared at all about that part of her mission but it was common manners to ask. The bat nodded. “Simple as ever to grab.” She flashed a ruby gem from a satchel on her side.
“Well,” Sonic said, “now that we’re…we’ve met, do I get the pleasure of knowing your name?”
“I doubt you’ll be seeing me anytime soon, hon,” the bat replied. Sonic shrugged.
“Rouge,” she relented. “And you are?”
“Sonic! Sonic the hedgehog.” With a nod and a smile, Rouge flew off with the gang in tow. He didn’t know how she was strong enough to do it, but he didn’t hate the ‘adventure’ because he met her.
“Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Arms wrapped around his waist. Sonic flinched, jumping out of the embrace with his hands up in surrender. Amy tried again, this time burying her face into his chest. Sonic laughed nervously. “I, uh, you’re welcome? Do you have a home, Amy?” The girl nodded.
“Do you know the way back or do you want me to take you?”
“I can walk back. Thank you again, Sonic! We’ll have to meet up sometime!” Her green eyes were bright with enthusiasm, as if she hadn’t been a hostage less than an hour ago. Sonic gave her a thumbs up and watched as she turned back into town and started her journey home.
Notes:
I'll probably change it to weekly updates cause I don't have as many chapters stored as I thought I did D:
Chapter 11: Chapter 11
Summary:
Next stop!
Chapter Text
Shadow
The next stop was a few hours out, just enough to get to the next island without making it too suspicious. Once again, Sonic woke up a few minutes after he was released from the bubble, shivering at the wind. Shadow would admit, it was stronger than before so he could see why the boy was cold this time. Unfortunately, he didn’t have anything to cover him with other than seaweed off the ocean’s floor, which he didn’t imagine would help considering his fear of water.
“Ugh, that was somehow worse the second time,” Sonic spat, sitting up. Shadow had managed to find an island that was more sand than rocks this time, but was still hiding behind a big cluster for obvious reasons.
“You kicked me,” Shadow mentioned, looking down to see if any of his nails had been damaged or ripped in the fight.
Sonic had the gall to smirk at him. “Afraid of a little dirt, princess?”
Shadow sent him a glare that promptly shut him up. “Need I remind you who pulled your limp body out of the ocean?” he growled. Sonic shook his head. Then he clamped sand in his hands, pulling it together to create a small…thing that Shadow had no idea of what it could possibly be. “Sonic, we have to leave in a few minutes. Don’t get too attached to whatever that is.”
“I won’t, promise. I don’t want to be near this island again, to be honest. Too much water.” He grimaced. They were silent for a few moments while the waves rolled in, seemingly too close as Sonic crushed his sand thing and moved closer to the two trees that covered the island to continue it there. Shadow watched him with slowly fading interest.
“You’ve never made a sandman before, princess?” Again with the tease. Shadow rolled his eyes.
“I’ve never made something that looks like it just climbed out of hell, so no.”
“Dude! That is so rude! I spent so much time making this lil’ guy, and you go ahead and insult him! Don’t worry, Erebus, I think you’re beautiful.” Sonic put his hands in front of the sandman protectively. He playfully scowled at Shadow, and the mer had a realisation that he wasn’t so different from her.
Suddenly, blue hair turned blonde and that silly glare brought him back to a half-hearted attempt at a new art project. She’d been wanting to create a present for their grandfather – it was his birthday and she hadn’t gotten time to get something. The coral glasses stared at Shadow as he tried to comprehend what he was looking at.
“It’s Grandpa! He’s just a little…lopsided, that’s all!” Even her voice hadn’t held as much hope as she was trying to hold onto. Shadow had laughed and she’d joined in a moment later, statue made of all kinds of sea materials and weird human things they could find forgotten. Their grandfather had loved it and Maria gave Shadow all the credit.
That was a week before the accident.
“-Dow! Shadow? C’mon, don’t leave me here!”
Reality smashed into him in the form of his shoulders shaking. Sonic was holding his wrists, careful not to look behind the rocks. The teen’s face was scrunched up in confusion and sympathy. Emerald green eyes locked on ruby red.
“You back?” The simple question gave Shadow his senses – and made him realise that his face was wet. Had the water not dried off? He shook Sonic’s hand off one of his wrists to find his face, finding tears running down his cheeks. Ah.
Shoving the blue-haired teen back onto the sand, he scrubbed at his face and turned away. “I’m fine,” he bit out. Sonic looked sceptical but didn’t push, something Shadow was quickly coming to appreciate about him. “If you say so,” Sonic replied, going to make a second sandman. This one was taller and had insane muscles, not in a good way. Strangely enough, the sight calmed the mer. The sand getting clumped together and shifting when Sonic picked more up was mesmerising.
“So, uh, how do you swim so far so quickly?” Shadow froze, thoughts speeding through his mind and heart rate accelerating. Does he know? Is he leading me to capture? I can’t go back. I won’t.
“Because I’m better than you,” Shadow blurted out. He was deflecting and the other knew it. But, like before, Sonic didn’t push. The mer was considering keeping him around for a bit.
“You might be faster in the water,” Sonic said, “but I’m the fastest in the world back on land.”
Shadow raised an eyebrow. “Why did you say ‘maybe’? I am absolutely faster than you in the water, and I’m certain on land too.” He was lying, of course – he would never be able to run like humans, but it was fun to play with the teen’s ego.
Sonic laughed. “Sure, faker. Once we get back, let’s race!”
His good mood was infectious, and Shadow found himself cracking a grin. For a minute, it was just two people chilling on a beach far away from any sign of civilisation, enjoying each other’s presence. The sun was still relatively high, the winds had calmed down, and the waves made beautiful splashes against the shore to block out their thoughts.
For the first time in a while, Shadow felt calm. His body was showing the signs, at least – his shoulders were slumped as he leaned heavily on the rock and his head was resting on his left hand. His right was playing with his hair.
Soon enough, though, Shadow had to look for the sun, finding it a lot lower than he would have liked. “We need to go,” he told Sonic. The teen sighed, then groaned, then lay down in the sand and sighed again. The sand people he’d made stayed together when Shadow knocked their creator out as close to the ocean as possible. Shell eyes kept their gaze on him on top of stick arms and seaweed clothes. If anyone asked, Shadow would deny that he’d said goodbye to them.
His side was mostly healed now, so he powered into a current with his normal strength and Sonic in his arms. Thankfully, like the first time, Sonic’s unconscious form stayed motionless when they entered the water for the third time. The temperature rose and they were back on track. Small algae glinted in his side vision as they swam, something he could only see from his enhanced sight. Starfish grabbed his tail for a few minutes then dropped off into the deeper waters, where the sun didn’t reach at the time of day.
Star-like bubbles rose to the surface every so often, and Shadow took a moment to appreciate their beauty each time. Maria had loved the sea for that reason – you could see the stars anytime you wanted.
“It’s like a constant circle of magic,” she would say as she popped the ones closest to them. Then she’d laugh, and Shadow would laugh too and sometimes even Gerald would join in if one popped too close and startled either of them.
Maybe Sonic would like to pop the bubbles with me.
The thought alone stopped Shadow’s mind so much that he dropped the teen and his tail fins flared up. While he instantly grabbed Sonic’s shoulders again, he didn’t resume swimming. One hand was brought to his head with long nails as if he was trying to scrape the thought out. Don’t betray her like that, he reminded himself. Nobody could ever replace her.
He shoved the horrific masterpiece of a thought into the back of his mind, effectively putting it in the time-out corner until he was free of the blue nuisance held protectively in his arms and could deal with the idea correctly.
It lingered for the rest of the swim.
Chapter Text
Sonic
“Dude, we seriously need to talk about…” Sonic’s voice trailed off as he opened his eyes for a split second. Instead of the usual surrounded-by-sea look he was used to, a dark cave was presented. He took a moment to adjust to the light and when he did, he wished he hadn’t. Black sea lapped at the rocks he was sitting on, no sign of escape anywhere.
“…Where are we?” Sonic whispered. His fingers were already clawing at the sides of the rock instead of rubbing up and down his arms like they should’ve been because wow, it was freezing. He couldn’t see Shadow anywhere either. “Shadow?” he called. On his second time yelling, a head poked out of the water. Warm skin and red eyes greeting him, widening in surprise when he saw that Sonic was awake. Sonic moved over as much as he could without falling off to get Shadow some room and the other teen accepted, raising his arms to rest on the rock. His lower torso and legs stayed beneath the water.
“Where are we?” Sonic asked again. He reached out, not really caring if it was too quick, and latched onto Shadow’s bicep to ground himself. Shadow tensed but didn’t push him off.
“There’s been a complication,” Shadow told him. “We’re in this cave because there’s a boat outside.” Sonic drew in a breath. Pirates? I thought they’d given up on pillaging years ago!
“What sort of ship is it? Maybe you’ll be able to swim past it?” He suggested in a last-ditch attempt to not be stuck in the cave any longer. A mean side-eye told him that wasn’t an option. “They’ll just catch up,” Shadow rebutted.
“Maybe they’re friendly?”
“They’ve got large fishing nets and spears.”
“…For fish, not humans…?”
Shadow flinched and turned away. Sonic couldn’t pick out what he got wrong so he stayed silent. Maybe he accidentally got hit with a spear a while ago. Is that why he’s so fast? ‘Cause he didn’t want to get hit again?
“Can I at least see the ship? There’s gotta be some sort of land around here for me to sit on other than rocks,” Sonic said. The dark-haired boy sighed and rolled his eyes, but motioned for Sonic to follow him nonetheless. “Close your eyes,” he said, then yanked Sonic underwater. The boy yelped as he was pulled into ice-cold water and squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could. They resurfaced a few seconds later outside the cave. Shadow shoved Sonic onto the sand as he coughed and spluttered.
“Some warning next time would be great!” Sonic groaned.
“Shut up,” Shadow hissed. The sky had darkened – it wasn’t much lighter than the cave now, but at least they were on soft sand. The sun made pink and orange hues dance across the sky like a heavenly painting. If Sonic wasn’t currently terrified beyond compare about being only surrounded by water, he would just lie around until the sunset turned to night and appreciate the beauty of it.
“So… where’s the boat?”
Shadow threw his hand towards the sea. Sonic peeked around the palm trees he’d landed behind. Metres away, a small boat sailed along, a few people rushing about and shouting to their captain. The boat was old and rusting – it looked like one of the boats families would rent out for a day to go around the lake in from back home.
“Can you see who’s on it?” Sonic asked. “It might be someone from one of the other towns! I’d recognise a few of them, surely. Then they can take us back!” He was practically vibrating from how excited he was, thoughts of pirates dissipating with every second. ‘Pirates would have a much bigger boat’ was his reasoning.
Shadow squinted. He was still behind one of the fallen palm trees that was in the ocean, arms holding up his head. “I can only see basic colours from here. There’s someone with brown hair, looks down to their waist; another with bright purple; one with a pink bob; someone with icy blonde—”
“A pink bob?”
“…yes…”
“What else? What are they wearing? What else do they look like?”
Shadow gave him a strange look but complied. “A red dress…pale skin, holding onto someone’s hand – I can’t see what they look like, don’t ask, but they’re small – and a purple and brown captains hat.”
When he turned back to Sonic, the teen had tears in his eyes. “It’s Amy!” he said excitedly. “They came for me! Quick, Shadow, start waving!” He threw his hands up and started shouting to the boat. Shadow knew it was too far to just call out to. “Sonic, you’re not going to be able to get their attention from here. You’re going to have to swim to them.”
A cold feeling washed over Sonic. He just thought Shadow would swim him there, like they had been the whole time. “Do I, uh, really need to?” He wrung his hands and tried to come up with some other way. “Can’t you just go to them and call them over? I can’t swim, if you forgot.”
Shadow glared at the ocean. “I can’t,” he finally said after a few moments of silence.
“What? Why?”
“I just can’t.” His voice had hardened, surprising the blue-haired teen. “…so don’t ask again,” he followed up. Sonic decided it would probably be best for his safety if he listened.
Slowly, Sonic inched closer to the water. The waves made soft sounds as they kissed the shore – they sounded like alarm bells in Sonic’s head.
He wanted to go to his friends, of course he did. He just…couldn’t. Couldn’t get his boots to touch the dark water. Couldn’t give himself a good-enough pep talk to take the leap of faith. Couldn’t shout loud enough to make the boat turn and face the island. What’s the point of saving others if I can’t save myself?
A sigh brought him back to reality. “Look away. I’ll get them over here.”
The teen obeyed immediately. Shadow ducked under the water. About five minutes passed.
“It’s done.” Shadow’s voice was huskier and more worn out than before – Sonic felt guilty about having Shadow carry him everywhere now. But he looked for the boat again, and sure enough, it was powering through the water towards them. Sonic couldn’t help himself. “Thank you so much!” He grabbed onto Shadow’s shoulders and tugged them together, wrapping the moody teen into a hug. They were both soaking wet and Sonic was so cold he could hardly feel his fingers, but the joy of the moment removed any discomfort.
“I need to go,” Shadow argued against the hug. The one he was wrapped around didn’t say anything. “Sonic.”
“Where are you going? The boat’s, like, two minutes away.” Sonic released the other teen.
“My crew knows where I am. They have a tracker in my clothes. I’ll be fine.” The short, choppy sentences didn’t do much to quell Sonic’s worry, mostly because if Shadow was constantly hiding behind rocks did he really have any clothes on, but he trusted Shadow enough (when did that happen?) to let him go. “Hey! Maybe when we both get home, we can catch up! I feel like you’re a coffee guy – I prefer tea but there’s a really good tea store in town that a couple of my friends own that we could go to if you want. They make incredible green tea, you should totally try it—”
“Sonic. Your friends are nearly here, I need to go.” A hand was placed on his arm to stop his rambling. Sonic scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “Right. Have a good trip back! Good luck!”
Shadow nodded at him, waved, and with a little bit of hesitance, slunk off into the cave. Sonic didn’t like the way his heart felt heavier and a small sliver of panic rose when the boy went away. He thought they’d had a relatively good time hopping from island to island, even if he could only remember being on the islands. I really hope I can see him again.
Wings flapping above him drew his attention. “Blue!”
Rouge’s smirking face met his wide grin. He raced towards her, nearly knocking her off her feet as she landed and he gave her a huge hug. “Rouge! Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you!”
The bat laughed. “I know, I am quite alluring.” She returned the hug gratefully, even getting her wings to encompass the teen. “The whole town’s out of whack with you gone. We needed to get our resident hero back!”
They stayed connected for a while then, just glad they’d found each other. It had only been a day, but Sonic couldn’t be more excited to get back home. “So, ready to go back? Knux is worried sick,” Rouge commented, her face taking on a smitten look at her boyfriend’s name.
“Absolutely! Hey, do you know anyone called Shadow? He helped me get here and saved my life! Not without my incredible help, of course.” Sonic kept his hands on her shoulders. The bat froze. Her eyes scanned the area cautiously, like how she did when she was on a mission. “It must’ve just been your incredible help,” Rouge said. “I’ve never heard of a Shadow before. Let’s get in the boat before you come up with any more fantasies of a strong saviour,” she teased. Looping her arm around his, she dragged him towards the shore, where the boat had finally pushed up against the sand.
“SONIC!” A ball of pink knocked him off his feet, catapulting both of them onto the sand. Tears soaked his already drenched tunic as Amy nearly strangled him with how hard she was holding on. “Hey, Ames,” Sonic laughed, clinging her just as tightly.
“You idiot! Do you know how worried we were?” She got up and slapped him lightly on the arm. Tears were still falling from her eyes – he couldn’t tell if they were happy tears or I’m-going-to-beat-you-up tears. He really hoped they were the former. “From the way you’ve greeted me, I’d say you were overjoyed at the opportunity,” Sonic said with his signature smirk. Amy groaned and buried her face in his shoulder again.
“…Sonic?” A timid voice asked. Amy got up, helping him to his feet with a powerful pull, much stronger than necessary that nearly sent him to do a full 180 back down. When he realigned his centre of gravity, he found Tails standing there with his fists clenched at his sides. He opened his arms. “C’mere, buddy.”
The kid barrelled into Sonic’s chest. He was more practiced now, so when the force came, he only sank to his knees. He wouldn’t admit that tears were streaming down his cheeks.
Tails curled up in his lap while keeping a tight hold on his arm. “If you do that again, I’ll replace your bed with bricks,” he mumbled through hiccups. Sonic didn’t have the energy to reply, only held the kid closer. They stayed sitting for a while, but eventually Rouge spoke up.
“I don’t know how all of you are with the dark, but the sun’s gonna dip in a few minutes. And I’m not directing you the whole way.”
Sonic shivered. Even the thought of sailing in the dark brought a eerie feeling to his mind. “Welp, let’s get going then!” he said, carefully picking Tails up and putting him on his back. Amy gave him a warm smile and helped them on the boat.
“Bye, Shadow!” Sonic called out. He didn’t know if the handsome teen could hear him, but he wanted to keep the hope that he did. A few people on the boat gave him strange looks.
They pushed the small ship from the shore and started on the way back.
Chapter 13: Chapter 13
Summary:
Shark attack :D
Chapter Text
Shadow
The boat was pulled up against the sand, Sonic was hugging all of his friends, and he would get home. It was bittersweet, in a way. Shadow felt some strange sort of…longing for the blue-haired teen to turn around and live under the sea with him. It scared the hell out of Shadow when he thought it, but he was too tired to address it.
It wouldn’t hurt to follow them, he reasoned. Maybe he’d just forgotten the way back and needed to follow the ship purely for survival reasons. Besides, he thought, my original mission still stands. I need to get Sonic alone and question him.
The mer couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about the interrogation part of the plan. It was the only reason he’d followed The Angel’s Voyage in the first place. He didn’t see how one human had taken all his motivation away.
He watched from afar as the blue menace laughed joyfully at the jokes his friends said, still having a child clinging to his side. I’d been like that once.
“Shadow, let’s go to the seaweed forest today!” Maria’s hand clamped onto his, smile wide and bright. Shadow only nodded, happy to go along with whatever she wanted to do. He was always behind her. He swam fast enough to be able to tug her behind him if a predator came along but slow enough to not power ahead of her. She didn’t have the best stamina from her illness but she was determined, and that was usually enough.
Her hand stayed in his the whole way there, a constant presence Shadow was ever so grateful for. She’d never told him to let go or stop being a baby or that he was ‘the Ultimate Lifeform’, he should be able to go to the seaweed forest alone.
He’d never hold her hand again.
Shaking the unwelcome memories off, Shadow kept his eyes focused on the small ship. The bat was a secondary target for interrogation. She’d been awfully suspicious when Sonic had told her about Shadow and he wanted to know why. Nobody should know of him – he died when his family did. He did, however, need to stay further from the boat than he would’ve liked because of her large ears. If she even thought he was nearby, he was sure she’d bag him and sell him to the nearest bidder.
*****
They’d gotten about halfway back, if Shadow’s calculations were correct, before disaster struck. It was pitch black, save for the moon’s soft light, and the wind had picked up significantly. The boat rocked back and forth, the lanterns hung up around the edges swaying and threatening to fall into the depths. With Shadow’s enhanced eyesight he could see the blue-haired teen wrapped in a blanket but still shivering. He didn’t think it was because of the cold.
Shadow decided it wouldn’t hurt to pull the same trick he did to make the boat approach them back on the island. It took more energy than most of his other abilities but it was possible. Dipping under the waves and holding his palms out, he made sure he knew where exactly the boat was and pulled the waves around it to as much of a standstill as he could without being suspicious.
He had to keep his whole body underwater to keep the boat steady, so he didn’t see the huge wave charging towards them. It didn’t fall on top of the boat, but the ripples were too strong to hold the vessel upright and a few crew members tumbled off the side. Luckily, Sonic was still on the boat—
Is that IDIOT trying to save them?
The idiot was, in fact, tyring to haul the fallen crew out of the ocean with limited strength, some of them pushing him aside as quickly as possible to get on and almost pulling the teen in while doing so. Fools. He’s saved them and they try to kill him.
He poured more power into controlling the vicious waves, but moved some energy to the water under the boat to push it along the course back. I’m going to have to rest for a week after this, he thought, shoving all of his mind to cooperate in saving the stupid crew. Why couldn’t they have stayed at the island for a day so they weren’t sailing in the dark?
Suddenly, Shadow’s nose picked up something that sent a shiver down his spine that wasn’t from overuse of power. Blood. The iron tainted his senses until all he could see was a lifeless body at the bottom of the sea, her last scream, her last breath, her last goodbye. Golden hair streaked with red and crying and scrambling away and nets and hooks and pearls getting scattered and howlsandteethandclawsand—
His scales sharpened and shimmered, bringing him back to the present. Predator. He let go of his hold on the boat; they were far enough along the journey to be out of the direct storm and he needed as much strength as he could muster if he was to fight.
There.
Gliding towards them, circling, was a ‘cookiecutter’ shark. Shadow always thought the name was stupid. Grandfather said humans loved to name things stupidly.
It had caught a sniff of the blood and was coming for its prey. Shadow’s first instinct was to turn to Maria and bolt, but now he’d need to grab whatever dumb human had fallen off the small boat and throw them back in, then speed both himself and the crew out of range as quickly as possible without losing any limbs.
Swirling a miniature current towards the beast, Shadow looked for the body. A shock of blue hair made him curse all the heavens twice over as he raced ahead. The boat was rocking with the crew reaching their hands in to reach him but they wouldn’t find anything – he was too far deep already.
The mer cast a bubble over Sonic’s head and brought him close once again. “I’m never saving you ever again,” he hissed. His eyes kept flicking back to the predator lurking just behind them. It had recovered from the current switch and was back on the blood trail. Shadow followed it himself and wasn’t surprised to see a scratch trailing up the teen’s arm, only bleeding slightly but still bleeding nonetheless. He slapped a hand over it in a foolish attempt to let them get away easily, when he heard a gasp of pain and reminded himself to curse the heavens three times over.
Sonic’s awake.
Green eyes met red and Shadow froze in place for a few of the precious seconds they had to run. Sonic looked over his shoulder and yelled “GO! GO, it’s catching up!”, which successfully kicked the mer into overdrive and his dark tail propelled them through the water.
Chapter 14: Chapter 14
Summary:
SECOND LAST CHAPTER LETS GOOOOOO
Notes:
ALSO! I'll be making this a series, one before explaining what happened to Maria and one (if I can be motivated enough) about what happens after this one focusing on sonadow but my hyperfixation on transformers kinda kicked me into the sun so it's iffy
Anygays enjoy!!!
Chapter Text
Sonic
He didn’t know why he wasn’t reacting that much, but it would probably sink in when he wasn’t high on adrenaline from a shark chasing them and being in a somehow not pitch-black ocean, clinging to a mermaid for his life.
The last crewmate he’d pulled up after the giant wave had tugged him a bit too hard when clambering on, and even though Sonic had been helped by Tails at the time, the kid could only add so much weight and he tumbled in. His left arm scraped its way down the side of the boat on the way, which was why he was now bleeding and attracting a shark. And apparently a mermaid, too. Or did I just make Shadow turn now? Like how a werewolf turns in the moonlight – maybe when I need help, Shadow turns into a mermaid!
At least the mermaid thing explained how they got to an island without swimming for a whole day. He’d been a bit suspicious the second time around but didn’t want to question his saviour, that might’ve gotten him un-saved.
He could figure it all out (including how he felt on the matter) when they weren’t about to be eaten alive. Shadow swerved and avoided teeth in a way that made Sonic dizzy and really wishing they were on land, but finally gave up on evading. “Stay here,” the mer growled, just straight up dropping Sonic from his hold. “I’ll be fine!” the blue-haired teen yelled. “I can totally swim!”
He got a certain finger thrown at him and couldn’t help but laugh. It was absurd but he wouldn’t change it for the world. He would, however, prefer to have some sort of light other than the weird glow effect the small fish around them had. If one of them touched Sonic, he was going to die. Especially if it was one of the big ones.
He could just see Shadow whipping around the shark, tail swiping at it like a cat. There was a razor-sharp, sword-like bit at the end of his tail that acted as a blade to slice, and when he got a hit in, red seeped out of a large cut and clouded the shark’s senses.
In the end, it didn’t stand a chance. Shadow dealt the killing blow with ease and let it sink to the ocean floor. It was quite gross, looking at the sinking body, so Sonic opted to never go into the sea again to properly avoid it.
Shadow then grabbed Sonic and swam to the surface. The bubble popped over the blue-haired teen’s head and he took in fresh air with hunger. “So,” he said, laughing a little. “You’re a mer…maid, man, whatever. Were you ever gonna mention that?”
Shadow glared at him, running his hands over his black and red striped tail. It really was gorgeous, and it shimmered like a precious gem with the luminescent fish around them. “No,” he replied. “But now I have to kill you because you know.”
Sonic gave him an incredulous look. “What?!”
When Shadow didn’t laugh or play it off as a joke, Sonic continued, “I thought we were friends! You literally just saved my life and now you want to kill me? That’s not fair, like, at all!” He flailed around in Shadow’s hold like a child having a tantrum. To give him credit, he did get Shadow’s chest a few times that looked like they hurt. Nobody could say he didn’t at least try to escape.
When the silence got a bit too forced and he didn’t feel a stabbing pain in his leg or chest, Sonic calmed down a bit. “Uh, how are you going to kill me? And can I put in a request for not drowning?”
Shadow laughed. It was a beautiful laugh, one that lulled Sonic into a sense of peace and security. Sonic wanted to hold onto the sound for years to come, doing anything he could to make it happen. “I’m not going to kill you,” the mer said. “I’m not a monster.” If his ruby eyes glazed over when he said ‘monster’, Sonic wouldn’t be the one who told.
With precision to avoid any sea creatures that only an expert could pull off, Shadow swam them up towards the boat that now had Tails clambering in and Amy helping him. The storm must have passed a bit earlier. “Guys! I’m over here!” Sonic yelled, waving his arms around. When the crew saw him, they shot over to the motor to speed towards them.
“Are you coming?” Sonic asked. Shadow was still holding him up – but he wanted confirmation they’d meet again. Shadow’s face went blank and Sonic feared the worst.
“You don’t have to!” he interrupted before the mer could reply. “I just mean, like, maybe we could meet on the pier a few days a week or something? Or, we could install a giant swimming pool in the house and you could live with us? Any idea’s a good idea, you know!”
He rambled on for what seemed like an hour before Shadow dunked him under the water to shut him up. “I would like that. To meet up, I mean,” he said. Sonic’s heart soared and before he could think about it, he lunged towards his saviour and wrapped him in a hug.
He thought he felt tears in his back where Shadow had nuzzled his cheek into his neck. Must just be the water, he thought and brushed it off.
“SONIC!” A frightened shout made them break apart. The boat was now only about a meter in front of them and people could very much see the merman holding Sonic. Shadow ducked his head under, but Sonic carefully lifted it back up. “They’re friends,” he said, “I won’t let them hurt you. They won’t want to, but if they do I’ll fight them off. Promise.”
Shadow looked skeptical but complied, raising his head to face the people inching closer. Sonic couldn’t wait to introduce them.
“Well, well,” Rouge smirked. “Looks like you’ve caught a nice fish, Blue.”
“Everyone,” Sonic started, well aware of Shadow’s dissipating patience. “This is Shadow! He was the one who saved me, then saved me again, and then saved me just now. He’s a merman!”
“I can see that,” Amy mumbled, looking giddy. “I can’t believe you got to meet one before me!” She stuck her hand out. “I’m Amy Rose! I apologise for everything this idiot has put you through and hope we can be good friends.”
Shadow slowly shook her hand with an indifferent face. Rouge took one look at Shadow’s other hand around Sonic’s waist paired with the wide grin Sonic had on his face and smiled smugly. Sonic felt a blush creeping up his face but shoved it away into the ‘things for later’ box that was overflowing in his head.
Sonic was helped into the boat for a second time and cocooned in blankets and towels. He had Tails snuggled in his arms and his friends around him (bar Knuckles, who he would later find out had stayed behind to ward off the officers from revoking their boat privileges when they started the technically illegal search), the sunrise peeking over the horizon, and a new merman friend. Life was good.
Chapter 15: Chapter 15
Summary:
LAST CHAPTER!!!!!! It's super short I'm so sorry, I've kinda been dropkicked into Transformers but I hope you guys like it!!!
Chapter Text
Shadow
He stayed underwater for most of the journey back, understandably. He wasn’t sure if he could trust the rest of the humans, and he’d only just revealed himself to the guy he’d spent the last few days saving. It was confusing, and Shadow didn’t like confusing.
He supposed, though, that he could help them get back to the mainland and ask Sonic about his song – if he’d share it around the town (the worst possible outcome) or if he’d keep it a secret. Maybe he’d ask Shadow to sing again–
The mer shook himself free of the thoughts. He felt like he was betraying Maria more and more with every passing thought. On the other hand, though, he felt freer than he had in years. He had a choice, now – a choice to stay in his routine or go on an adventure with Sonic and his friends. They weren’t forcing him. Shadow didn’t think he was forcing himself, either.
He knew his occasional ‘betrayals’ of Maria would never stop hurting. That was something he’d learned long ago.
But he could continue to live and learn. To work on trusting someone again and creating a new life.
The ocean would always be his first home, but nobody said anything about having a second.
Shadow thought he could do that.
If he couldn’t, well, he could still try.
And from up above, higher than anyone could reach, a pale girl smiled lovingly down at her brother as he made his choice.
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