Sonadow
SonicXShadow
He Is My Master by Taranea

Chapter 24: Visitors Of The Night

"Ma-master? Where are we going?" Tails asked timidly, no leash on his neck but instead Shadow's iron grip on his wrist pulling him forward.

"Hush. Not a single sound until we're out of the castle," Shadow hissed back. It was already after dark and the black-furred Prince hoped not to attract any attention. Tails bit his chewed-up lip, trying not to let a single whimper betray his fear. This day had been the most bizarre in his entire life. The pair descended a narrow winding staircase, keeping to the shadows and sneaking through side corridors as if they were a pair of burglars and not a case of eccentric royalty and his pet.

Inside, Shadow was even faintly amused. This brought back childhood memories of him sneaking through the nightly corridors of the ARK sometimes with Maria, sometimes alone. He thought it a good sign that now he could recall those years spent with his best friend with a bittersweet joy, instead of the mindless rage he'd felt before he'd met Sonic...

Tails was even more confused as they now seemed to be moving through the laundry of the Palace, huge tubs and piles of clothing lining their path, the damp smell of soap and sweat heavy in the air. Finally, they came to a small wooden door which Shadow yanked open. Tails gasped as suddenly he saw the star-dotted sky and moonlit landscape outside.

"There. Cleaning maids' exit. Far easier to sneak out through here than to use the main door." Shadow smirked, striding outside.

"How...how do you know about this, Master...?" Tails mumbled in awe at the space of the plains at the foot of the hill, for a moment forgetting his fear.

Shadow's lips curled slightly. "Please, kit. Just because Sonic is the one famous for running off, it doesn't mean I haven't done my own exploratory trips."

"Oh..." Tails mouthed, then suddenly gasped as Shadow scooped him up in his arms as if he was a doll. Terror flooded the small form of the two-tail, memories of what close contact usually meant for slaves bubbling to the surface of his mind.

"Aaaah! Ma-master...! Please...please don't hurt me now..." he whimpered, already knowing that this would not help, having learned that pleading was always, always useless...

"What are you talking about?" Shadow asked, irritably. He supposed it looked quite comical from a distance, seeing him slightly helpless with a terrified fuzzball in his arms, but after six days with barely any sleep and no food at all he was getting twitchy. He sighed.

"For the umpteenth time, fox, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm going to carry you."

"Carry me?" Tails stopped clenching up for a moment and uncurled to look the bigger Sapient into the eyes, then quickly remembered his place and downcast his glance. "M-may I ask where, Master?"

"It's a surprise," Shadow replied mysteriously, shifting a flinching Tails slightly in his arms to get a better grip. Chaos, they must have mistreated the kit...

"Hold on tight," the Ultimate Lifeform warned before then taking off into the night, the surprised shriek of the little fox all he left behind.

xxx

Knuckles had a fitful sleep. The war against Black Doom was due to break out any day now. As son of the Guardian he was a leader of a part of the echidna army and would have to fight in battle soon. His men and women were as tense and stressed as him, the rumours of a powerful secret weapon Black Doom had allegedly acquired in the last few days not to be quenched. Right now people were still waiting for King Maximilian of Acorn to decide whether he would side with Queen Aleena’s realm and the echidna tribe, or stay loyal to Black Doom. It was said that the squirrel king would have an audience with the evil overlord soon, which would probably decide things. If King Max sided with Queen Aleena and the echidnas, then there was a chance that they could overthrow the dictator and abolish slavery once and for all. If not…

Knuckles twisted in his sleep again, sweat-drenched in a nightmare. He was alone in his tent, on a camp-out with his army at a strategically important position close to the borders of Black Doom’s realm.

There couldn’t really be a secret weapon, right? Where would Black doom have unearthed one now all of a sudden?

But still he couldn’t escape the dark world of his dreams where the Master Emerald would shatter under the claws of the evil King, where he and his father were enslaved like the blue hedgehog he’d seen in the palace, where the whole world was wrapped in chains, where Angel Island would fall from the sky, burning…

Knuckles awoke with a gasp, breathing frantically and clutching his blanket. It took him a while to recognize that it had just been a nightmare, that he was safe in his tent, that his heart could really stop trying to escape his chest now.

Then the entrance flap of his tipi was suddenly whisked open and two blood-red eyes stared at him.

“Guardian. I need to speak to you.”

And if any of the other echidnas had camped anywhere near him, the following scream would have woken the entire campsite.

Knuckles was on his feet in an instant, rushing towards the intruder. His right fist struck forwards at snake-like speed, but the figure dodged with reflexes even faster. He swung his other arm, only to be blocked by his unknown adversary, and whirled around with a kick, which also failed to connect. Knuckles was just about to attack again, when his enemy finally shouted something.

“Stop fighting! I’m here with a kid, for Chaos’ sake!”

“What?!” Knuckles would have expected a lot, but not this. “Who are – WHAT!” He gasped as his nightly visitor stepped forward into the moonlight to show himself. It was none other than Prince Shadow, son of the creature who was threatening to conquer the entire free world.

“YOU! You dare show your face here?!” Knuckles shouted, immediately dropping back into a fighting stance.

“I’m here on a peaceful mission. Don’t make me fight you,” Shadow growled back, knowing that a brawl between him and Knuckles, no matter the outcome, would shatter his entire plan.

“Your people imprisoned me. Your father is about to fling us all into an all-out war. Your family enslaves half of your population!” the echidna accused the black hedgehog who scowled, knowing that it wasn’t technically his fault, but it still complicated things. Tails hid behind his back at this, whimpering at the rage of the red-furred Sapient.

“That’s not me, echidna. I am just an experiment of Black Doom, not even his actual son and I have nothing to do with his dealings, no matter what it looks like on the outside. But listen, I am here because I need your help.”

“My help?!” Now Knuckles looked even more flabberghasted than before. “Do you actually know who I am? Do you know what is going to happen at any time from now? Have you gone completely insane?”

Yes, at times I think I have. Out loud, Shadow ignored the echidna and said: “I’m here because I need you to take this kit with you. He needs to grow up in freedom.”

So saying, Shadow shoved Tails forward, the fox boy no less confused than the echidna. Both stared at each other for a second, and something seemed to shift in Knuckles’ gaze. Then the echidna glanced up sharply.

“Why?”

“Because Sonic would want it.”

“…Sonic?” Knuckles repeated the name, eyes narrowing.

“The hedgehog I own,” Shadow stated. “He freed you from your imprisonment, as he told me. He also helped destroy a mercenary camp that held one of your young ones. I believe you believe in repaying your debts?”

“We do,” Knuckles nodded. “And that debt was repaid when I let him go after my people had captured him as a spy from your kingdom. I believe he is back in your possession now?”

“Yes,” Shadow nodded. “He returned to me and told me where you were. I have read up on your people, echidna. Sometimes you have been known to adopt outsiders.”

“Sometimes we do,” Knuckles replied cautiously. “Why this kid?”

“He is smart. He can fly. He has the makings of both a hero and scientist, and his mind is pure. All he needs is a decent home.”

Knuckles cocked his head and crossed his arms. “You have snuck into enemy territory all the way from your castle in the middle of the night just to present me some prodigy pet of yours?”

“Listen, I know it sounds ridiculous,” Shadow glared at the echidna. “But I told you, for various reasons this fox kit is very important to Sonic. He wants him to grow up to lead a healthy life, and this is the only place for him I can think of. You know that in Black Doom’s kingdom slaves cannot by freed by means other than death.”

Tails gave a little whimper at this and again bit his lower lip.

Knuckles stared at Shadow for a long moment. Then:

“If I took him in, what could you give me in return?”

Shadow dropped his gaze. “…I don’t have anything to give you. All I have is Sonic, and that is nothing I can give away.”

The echidna frowned. “Tell me, what is it with the relationship between you and him? I have seen him fight, I have witnessed his temper and character. He is not broken, yet he accepts you as his Master. Why does he submit to you?”

Shadow met Knuckles’ eyes, holding his gaze. “I don’t know.”

The echidna frowned. “Haven’t you two ever fought?”

At that, the black hedgehog had to smirk. “As a matter of fact, yes. Most of our early meetings consisted of fights with no holds barred. He even defeated me once.”

“He…defeated you?” Knuckles sounded incredulous, and Tails gave Shadow a disbelieving stare as well. “And yet he still lets you collar him like a pet?!” The echidna did not seem to be able to warp his head around the concept.

Shadow merely shrugged, even though the echidna was voicing the exact thoughts the black hedgehog had thought time and time again before.

“I like to think it’s because I’m not mistreating those entrusted to me.”

Knuckles gave the dark-furred Prince a long, calculating stare. Then his gaze shifted to Tails.

“Let’s just say I was to consider taking this one in…how would you have thought I would raise him?”

Shadow took a breath, wondering what it was that Tails would need. “Teach him about dignity,” he finally said, “Teach him about pride. Teach him to fight.” There was a moment of silence before he spoke next. This Tails is all alone, echoed through Shadow’s head. This Tails will never have a Sonic to look out for him, never a Maria to love him. Crimson eyes bored into violet.

“…make him your little brother.”

For the first time in their conversation, the expressionless mask of the echidna slipped.

What?!”

Xxx

A Tails back on Mobius who was about four years older, was not owned by anybody and had had a very decent upbringing for the last six years, currently had entirely different problems, however.

“Please, Shadow, we freed you two from the prison cell, we have to leave Robotnik’s base now…” The fox was currently tugging at the black hedgehog’s arm, but it was having very little effect.

“He tried to take my pet away from me, strange two-tail! The human will PAY!”

“Master, I’m scared…” Sonic whimpered at this point and Tails very, very much wanted to agree with his apparently concussed older brother.

xxx

“You are going to return to the castle now, aren’t you? To Black Doom,” Knuckles asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

Shadow gave a curt nod. “Yes. I left Sonic there and I have to return to him.”

“What will you do when the war breaks out?” Knuckles asked flatly.

“I am not planning on fighting against you,” Shadow replied. “I hold no sympathy for Black Doom and will not stand at his side.”

“When I find you in battle, I may have to kill you as a member of the royal family,” the echidna warned, obviously wanting to gauge the black hedgehog’s reaction

The Ultimate Lifeform nodded, even though he knew that he most likely wouldn’t be there anymore when that happened.

“You may try. But I would ask you to leave Sonic unharmed. I do not approve of innocent blood being shed.”

The echidna inclined his head and Shadow wondered whether he had imagined a glint of appreciation in those violet eyes. “I do not approve either, Prince Shadow. Let us hope that there might yet be another way.”

“Yes,” Shadow merely said, not wanting to draw out this scene any longer. “Good bye, echidna. Don’t let the kit get hurt.”

“We take our young to a safe place when the adults go to war. No matter how the battles may play out, you can be sure he will survive. Now farewell until we meet again.”

Shadow gave a last nod to both echidna and foxlet, then made to turn around to skate back through the night as he had come. A cry from the kit stopped him.

“Ma-master! Where are you going? Please…please don’t leave me, I’m scared…” he stammered, but Knuckles put a hand on his shoulder that made the fox look up.

“Don’t be. Never show your fear. You will never be a scared slave again…” Powerful red hands snapped the brittle collar around the fox’ neck instantly. “…echidna.”

The boy regarded the fragments of his choker in his hands with wide eyes. Then he raised his gaze to Shadow, who still lingered.

“He’s right. I’m not your Master anymore. Now go and make Sonic proud that he’s saved you, Tails.”

“Is that your name?” Knuckles asked at this, noticing now that he didn’t actually know it yet.

The fox kit shuffled his feet. “I…my first Master named me Miles. But I hated him and the name. But then the Prince’s other slave, Sonic, he called me Tails. I…I think I like it much better, yeah.” The fox gave Knuckles a shy smile. “It fits, doesn’t it?”

The echidna returned a small grin. “I think it’s a very good name for the newest member of the tribe.”

Shadow breathed a sigh of relief that this had gone so well. He hoped that Sonic would be happy and understand when he returned.

“Pr-prince Shadow?” Tails suddenly called out when he had just been about to power up his skates.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. You and Sonic. For everything.”

“That’s okay. I’ll tell him.”

And with that, Shadow departed with a blazing trail through the night, leaving behind the happiest fox kit in the world and wondering what would await him when he got back.

xxx

Sonic by now had drifted into a strange world between sleep and consciousness, not able to return to either. The door opened and the blue hedgehog weakly managed to turn his head.

“Sha…shadow?” he asked, trying to summon enough strength to make his voice sound harsh and accusing, but it wouldn’t quite succeed. But then, the shape that had just appeared in the doorway was not the form of the Ultimate Lifeform, either…

“Well, well, well,” Lord Drago drawled. “I thought I had seen the Prince leave you alone in here.”

To be continued...

We all looooove cliffies, right? Right? Well, I hope you liked Shadow's solo venture and I wonder whether the majority here thinks it was a good idea or not...especially after that last paragraph. :D Would love to hear your thoughts!
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