A New Beginning

[Shadow]

[Two Weeks Later]

It was peaceful on the edge of Never Lake. A gentle breeze blew through the fresh green grass, causing it to ripple and wave gently. The air was full of floating dandelion seeds, small white motes that blew and swirled gently in the wind. The lake was pristine and clear, without wave nor ripple despite the breeze, and it perfectly reflected the deep blue cloudless sky.

Shadow had come to like the peacefulness of the lake in the two weeks since his reawakening, since that first fast-paced day. Two years ago he’d been busy trying to blow up the world, and he’d never had time to just stop and smell the roses, so to speak. The cities were so busy and bustling, with people and noise everywhere, especially now, in the wake of the Sarath invasion, when society was still just pulling itself back together. Shadow hadn’t liked the city, at least not for the time he was there. The countryside, with open skies and visibility for miles, that was what Shadow liked. He’d missed so much in the last fifty-two years… and to think; two years ago he wanted nothing more than to destroy all of this, to wipe it out of existence like it never was. How could he have been so blind to all of this beauty?

Now Shadow stood on one of the high cliffs overlooking the entire sweep of the lake. The sheer drop before him didn’t bother the black hedgehog too much; falling wasn’t much of a problem when you could teleport. Shadow had been out here at the lake for a couple of days now, just thinking, alone and away from the hustle and bustle of society. Just him alone with his thoughts.

And he certainly had a lot to think about. Only a few days ago he’d been chatting with Maria, the only person he could ever come close to calling family, miraculously returned from the dead. Then again, his own return was pretty miraculous… at any rate, just talking to her again, after fifty-two years, was amazing. It brought back memories, memories Shadow had thought long buried until he had seen Maria again. They had shared their stories of how they had survived their respective ‘deaths’, then just talked about what their lives had been like. Of course, Maria, being awake for the last fifty-two years, had a lot more to talk about than Shadow, who had been unconscious for most of them. Eventually they had parted ways again, and Shadow had left civilization behind him, to seek out a place of peace and solitude to think. He had been to many places in the past few days, but every time he’d come back to Never Lake, as though drawn by a string, and eventually he stayed.

Shadow had been at the lake for two days. Two days of thinking. Reminiscing of the past, sorting out the chaos of the present, and figuring out what he would do in the future. He had been out here for two days, just admiring the beauty and thinking deep thoughts. It was the most at peace he’d been for fifty-two years, and as far as he was concerned right then, he didn’t care if he ever left.

[Sonic]

~Blue streak speeds by.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Too fast for the naked eye.

Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic, he can really move.

Sonic, he's got an attitude.

Sonic, he's the fastest thing alive.~

'This tune stuck in my head is great. Too bad it doesn't have any words,' the titular character thought to himself as a certain melody he'd heard from who-knows-where played in his head. The blue hedgehog was running over the large plains around Never Lake, every now and then crossing a river with his speed and leaving a high splash of water in the air in his wake. Sonic was about a buoyant as a brick whether he wanted to learn how to swim or not, but he certainly enjoyed practicing to run over water. It was an extremely handy skill for a guy like him.

Two weeks had passed since the battle of Capitol City and, just like the old days of near-constant adventures, the hero had disappeared without a word to many as soon as he could. Not that Sonic felt he had done much in the last adventure... besides beat the invading alien commander to a pulp, of course. After that the speedster had done some running around the coastline, shaking off his most recent drowning threat. That was done quickly, and the real thing on his mind since was his old arch-nemesis: Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik. In the wake of the alien invasion's downfall the mad scientist had appeared again to the people of the world looking younger but just as evil as ever. He wasn't much for TV but even Sonic didn't miss that news when it broke and kept on going. Two weeks of nothing had followed and after talking with Tails Sonic decided to pay the last know sighting of the "old" Eggman a small visit. Neither expected to find much but as he hurdled and jumped acrobatically from the many high outcroppings of rock along the way to the lake the blue hedgehog didn't really care. The Doctor would make his move when he made it and there wasn't much else they could do unless one of Robotnik's hideouts were found.

Sonic came to the site of the old battle and noticed that it was completely swept away. Not even a scrap of a destroyed robot was left behind, let alone a clue about Eggman. Did GUN do that? Sonic couldn't think of anyone else, unless the genius had taken on the habit of cleaning up after himself. Since he was here the hedgehog decided to make the sprint all the way across Never Lake. It had been a while since his last long-distance water run and he wouldn't want to get rusty. The soon-to-be Blue Blur ran in place for a few moments, charging up his acceleration as his legs and feet distorted into roughly the image of a red figure eight before he took off like a rocket loosed from a monumental leash. Sonic zipped over the surface of the water mass, not content to go in a straight line but swerving and changing directions as he went. The amount of water thrown up into the air behind him was bound to catch the attention of anybody who happened to look that way.

~Look out when he storms through.

Sonic the Hedgehog.

Don't doubt what he can do.

Sonic the Hedgehog.~

[Shadow]

Shadow closed his eyes for a moment, just enjoying the warmth of the sun on his fur and the gentle breeze that played past his face. On the Space Colony ARK there had been no wind, and no warmth to the sun's rays, only the cold emptiness of space. Shadow had often gazed down on the planet from the windows of the colony's bridge, wondering what it could be like to live on that lush, blue-green orb. Now I know what I was missing, Shadow thought to himself, an actual smile, not a grimace nor a smirk, but a true smile, playing across his face.

The smile immedietly faded as Shadow opened his eyes, which were greeted by a most unwelcome sight. A great plume of water spewed up across the previously pristine lake, trailing in the wake of something small and bluer than the sky. "Sonic," Shadow grumbled to himself, his tranquil mood spoiled already. Why does he have to turn up here, of all places? It seems I just can't rid myself of that blue nuicance, even in an out-of-the-way place like this.

Shadow shook his head, but he didn't move away. No, if Sonic wanted to find him he was sure the Blue Blur would, even if he ran or warped away (since there seemed to be no escaping him), and if he was just here to practice running on water then he'd run for a while and be on his overly-merry way. Shadow sincerely hoped it was the latter.

[Sonic]

From water to dirt Sonic billowing trail shifted a she hit the earth on the other side of the lake. The hedgehog leaned to his right and let his hand scrape across the surface of the ground as he drifted into a wide turn that ended up facing the highest outcropping of rock around the lake. Unfortunately for Shadow, it was only logical to go to the highest point when you wanted the best view of the area. It may have been for completely different reasons, but Sonic and he shared that desire at the moment. He burst forward suddenly(Almost as if he'd sudden run over some kind of strange boosting pad.... not that anything like that actually exists in random yet convenient places around the world, of course) towards an obstacle course of boulders and stones that he would have slammed head-first into if not for a dizzying display of side-to-side quick steps that suddenly jutted the quickster to a safer parallel course without sacrificing his pace. It took mere moments to reach one of the cliff sides and start to run right up their sheer incline.

At the top Sonic stopped to rest and took in his view around the lake. Someone like him needed sharp eyes to stay alive(And to prevent accidental suicides while going at, ironically, suicide speeds) but he still lacked anything like binoculars or a telescope to make finer observations. He just wanted to see of the large skirmish that took place here had left any lasting impression, but it seemed as not. Really he was happy for it since Never Lake was a beautiful place that didn't deserve battle scars. It was while he looked around that he managed to catch a glimpse of a familiar dark shape.

"Hey Shadow!"

As if the other 'hog hadn't noticed him by now Sonic called out(Did he expect that to keep the other from leaving? It was more likely to have the opposite effect) and a few heartbeats later he had jumped and sprinted his way to the nearby cliff.

"What brings you here?" he asked simply after making a perfect landing and rising back up to his feet.

[Shadow]

Shadow shook his head and looked up at the sky as Sonic landed next to him, giving the appearance of ignoring him. Damn it, I should have gotten away when I had the chance, he thought to himself with a grimace. All the same he responded. "I came here for the solitude, to be alone," Shadow said making his feelings clear, although he doubted the Blue Blur would be detered by it. In the time Shadow had known him (albeit not really that long) he hadn't seemed to ever take a hint.

"I could ask the same of you," Shadow said, turning to actually face Sonic. "What brings you here? If you're going to disturb my peace you might as well tell me why. Great, strike up a conversation with him, Shadow scolded himself in his head, You must be feeling good and masochistic today. But for some reason, the idea of talking to the blue nuicance didn't seem so bad just then. All this pretty stuff must be getting to my head, he thought.

[Sonic]

Sonic was still smiling, but it wasn't overly zealous. Just a guy enjoying his day, really. Shadow's attitude wouldn't change that.

"Well, Eggman's been pretty quiet for a full two years since the ARK incident when we all teamed up to save the planet," the hedgehog began, almost as if deliberately reminding his impromptu conversation partner of the good terms they'd parted on. "But he's popped up again and this was the last place he showed his face in public when he messed with the Time Stones a few weeks back."

Sonic raised his hands out in front of himself and took a more explanatory expression as he... well... explained further.

"Apparently he's gone and taken a good few decades off of his clock from that stunt and now he's broadcasting his "big comeback". We don't know where to find him so I just felt like visiting this place again."

As Sonic's pose returned to a more common relaxed stance and casual face a thought dawned on the hero. "Hey, do you know all that anyway? Where have you been for the past two years? Hiding for the solitude of it?"

Oh and by the way, why are you alive anyway? Guess he forgot that part. Sonic wasn't much of a guy to dwell on what's already done.

[Shadow]

Shadow shook his head. So, the good Doctor's making a comeback, eh? Shadow thought as he listened to Sonic. "No, I didn't know any of that," Shadow said bluntly. "I've been unconcious in the field where I landed for the past two years. The last thing I remember, I was still Super Shadow, so I must have still been invincible when I fell." Shadow smirked and he almost laughed. "Not quite the mysterious and miraculous explanation you were expecting, was it?" Shadow asked with the slightest twinge of humor in his voice.

"What about you?" The black hedgehog, mentally slapping himself for continuing the conversation. Am I really that lonely? Maybe I should go back to the city... "Have you just been running around and annoying people for the last two years?"

[Sonic]

Suddenly Sonic's smile widened.

"Why Shadow, don't tell me you've forgotten that talk I had with Amy in front of you already. Or could it be that you're a little bored of being alone after all?" He laughed, but didn't press the matter. It was back to regular Sonic soon enough. "Don't worry about impressing me with your survival. I've been having plenty of fun seeing the world. Somehow I don't think everyone has the same reaction to me as you do, though," he finished, leaning slightly forward to emphasize the point. After that he started walking towards the edge of the cliff to look at the lake again.

"I guess you woke up in the middle of the invasion huh? A two-year nap with no up time isn't the kind of vacation I need between times to save the world. No wonder you were in such a bad mood."

Empathy from Sonic?

[Shadow]

"Hmph" was all Shadow said in response, his face as unreadable as ever. It was true though, waking up in the middle of an alien invasion didn't exactly help the nerves too much. "So, other than the first half of an alien invasion, what else did I miss while I was out?" As long as he was talking to his annoying counterpart he might as well find out just what had been going on during his two year absence.

[Sonic]

"Nothing as Earth-shattering as the two events that started and ended your break," the hedgehog shrugged with a shake of his head before turning half-way to face Shadow again. "I'm sorry you missed the chance to see a peaceful Earth. I think you would have liked it. At least Eggman hasn't made any real trouble for the past couple of weeks so could finally cool off."

Sonic's face turned a bit more serious before he continued, though he still wore a friendly smile.

"I guess time just stood still for you ever since our battle to stop the ARK," he finished, qualifying his last statement.