Sonadow
SonicXShadow
He Is My Master by Taranea

Chapter 8: Returns

Sonic was walking slowly back through the castle corridors, wondering when exactly his life ever became more complicated than running really fast and collecting a hundred rings for an extra life.

I can’t leave my Master.

The words had been out before he had been able to stop himself. Why had he said them?

A gloved hand ran across his collar as he gave a nervous chuckle.

I’m not *really* starting to think of Shadow as my ‘Master’, am I? I am neither his pet nor a slave.

Sonic rubbed his forehead in confusion as he strode along, not wanting to think about the whole issue. It was true he liked to be around Shadow. Yet he had always attributed that to the fact that the black hedgehog was a worthy rival (and by now wasn’t trying to kill Sonic on sight anymore). Sure, he had even hoped that they could become at least maybe uneasy friends over time…

But never my *owner*, the blue hero added mentally.

He then shook his head. This was just this crazy reality getting to him. Plus the fact that he had gotten to like Shadow a bit over the time they had spent here…

He’s got a sense of humour, he’s smart, enjoys banter and he’s actually considerate of others *besides* that dead Maria girl. He just…didn’t show it to anyone else yet. Just to me.

For some reason, Sonic suddenly felt a little bit flattered.

Well, maybe us ending up in this gig wasn’t that bad, he mused, finally. If we can make friends or something over the time, I’ll even wear that friggin collar a little while longer. But I am not, I repeat, *not* becoming a pet or any other freaky thing.

It was at that point he turned a corner and was suddenly face to face with Lazar.

xxx

Shadow stood alone in his chambers, fists on his hips and frowning.

Sonic wasn’t there.

He had just returned from his classes (which had lasted all freaking day), Lazar leaving him after the first half in the tender care of one mean-spirited praying mantis woman that was intent on teaching Shadow proper table manners while all the time clicking her disgusting cleavers. The black hedgehog had developed a nervous twitch (and the wish to ram his dessert knife somewhere uncomfortable for her) after only ten minutes in her company.

And then, when he had been on his way back, every single guard had been running through the castle in some frantic search, jostling him in the process.

Well, okay. One guard had jostled him. But jostling Shadow was generally a mistake you only made once.

Still, the Ultimate Lifeform mused, even that particularly dense rhino would perhaps be able to walk again in a few days.

Yes, all he had been looking forward to now was a couple of hours of peace and quiet.

Next, of course, the door crashed open with a WHAM! and his supposed slave came careening into the room, knocking (a very surprised) Shadow down.

“What the – SONIC!”

“No time, Shads. Where’s the freaking leash?!”

Sonic was already on his feet again, shuffling through the papers on the desk like a maniac and finally grabbing the piece of leather as if his life depended on it.

“Get that thing on my neck, Shadow, hurry!” he urged, already busy tying the other end to the metal ring. The black hedgehog was taken aback, but complied automatically. Of all the words to say from the speedster, he had certainly never dared to hope he would hear those. While Sonic was finishing up the knot, Shadow had hooked the metal clasp in, meaning Sonic was now tied to the wall.

“Okay, so can you finally explain to me what the hell-?!” Shadow began, but Sonic hushed him.

“Shh! Any minute now-”

There came a knocking that sounded like somebody would like to save himself the trouble and just destroy the entire door instead.

“My Prince! It issss urgent!”

Shadow groaned quietly. “Not that nuisance again…”

Shooting a warning look at Sonic that said Shadow knew the blue hedgehog was somehow behind this, the Ultimate Lifeform opened the door and Lazar stumbled inside.

“Your sssslave, my Prince! Your insssolent sslave, the blue hedgehog hasss essc-!”

“Has what, Lazar?” Shadow asked, taking an inconspicious side-step into the direction where Sonic was meekly and with the air of somebody who has just suffered a beating sitting on the floor, not raising his head.

“He hass – he had – I mean he has - !” Lazar stammered and Shadow raised an eyebrow while his mind was busily solving a puzzle. It didn’t have many pieces and the cover of its box showed very clearly a blue hedgehog who was very bad at stealth, very bad at obeying orders, but a lot better at speedy escapes.

“Yes?” Shadow enquired again, and Sonic sneaked a glance upwards, while Lazar was gazing from him, to the opened door, to Shadow, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish’s who had been asked to explain the dynamics of a bycicle.

“I…he…in the corridor! I sssaw him!” he shouted, by now sounding somewhat desperate.

Shadow idly hoped the he hadn’t heard the suppressed snort from Sonic’s direction at this. Instead, he laid an arm around Lazar’s shoulders.
“Now, now. I think you’re a bit stressed, Lazar. Perhaps a bit less work, hmm?”

“But…but…yess, my Prince,” the lizard finally muttered in defeat, not daring to disagree with a royal. “The essscape of the other prisssoner…the war….yes. Stresss. Pleassse excusse the dissturbance.”

The door closed behind him, the reptile still muttering and shooting glances at Sonic, who had to resist the urge to give a smug grin. As soon as the the wood connected with the frame again, however, the blue hedgehog’s amusement was abruptly cut short as he was yanked up by his leash and pressed against the wall by a seriously pissed-off Shadow.

“Ouch!”

“I had a seriously bad day, Sonic. Now tell me why you are so intent on making it worse.”

Sonic squirmed briefly in the other’s chokehold, but it was useless. One hand was around his neck, not suffocating him but using just enough pressure to let him know it could do so at any minute. The other had grasped both of his wrists and was pinning them against the stone over his head, leaving him open and defenseless. Shadow was the stronger of the two and right now his face was inches away from Sonic, snarling.

“Shadow, I –” The collared hero hated the fact that the black hedgehog had the advantage in strength and could fixate him so easily. The only way for Sonic to escape would have been to kick Shadow, but Sonic’s leg muscles were strong, and while he was annoyed, he didn’t want to cause the other actual pain.

Sonic suddenly was dimly aware of how their lower bodies were grinding together in the wrestle, Shadow’s knee pushing between his thighs. The blue hedgehog jerked again, more forcefully this time, at once desperate to get away.

“Shadow, please, let me go!”

Gloved black hands released their hold at this, the dark hedgehog slowly taking a step back, staring. There were a few moments of silence while both Mobians were trying to process what just happened, all the while not taking their eyes off each other. Red-streaked arms sunk down to hang limply at the black hedgehog’s sides again, emerald eyes slowly losing their shocked look as the blue hedgehog rubbed his collared neck where he had been manhandled.

“I’m…I guess I snapped,” Shadow finally managed, swallowing. “Sorry.”

How had that happened? He had lost his self-control in front of Sonic…but had immediately let go at the pained plead. Both so uncharacteristic. Usually, he didn’t attack because of a simple provocation, his temper a lot calmer. And when he attacked, his victim was left either hurt or dead. This time, neither of those two principles had been fulfilled and it was just because of that blue hedgehog…

“You can say that again,” muttered Sonic, but sounded more peeved than freaked-out or angry. “What the hell was that for?”

“I…I don’t know.” Shadow looked away, not wishing to look into those emerald eyes where he knew accusation would probably be waiting at such a lame excuse. “I just – these lessons lasted all day, were annoying as hell, I wasn’t able to find out anything about the Emerald, I developed a serious issue against female insects, and just when I think this waste of a day is finally over, you storm in, knock me down and bring that idiot Lazar in your wake, endangering our entire act even though I told you this morning not to do anything stupid. I just…snapped,” he finished, wondering whether he had ever said so many words in a row since the day Maria died. But it felt curiously good to be able to talk to someone.

“And you felt it just so convenient to go snap on me,” Sonic replied, his arms crossed and expression unreadable.

“Look, I said I’m sorry!” Shadow lashed out at this again, and immediately felt bad for it afterwards. Sonic was surprised to see sharp-edged ruby soften ever so slightly when Shadow then added:

“…did I hurt you?”

“Me? No. But if you ever try something like that again, I’ll plant my sneaker in your midriff so hard, you’ll have to wear a shirt to hide the imprint,” Sonic said, and surprised red eyes shot up to see that the blue hedgehog was actually grinning and not bearing ill-will against Shadow like he’d thought he would.

Sonic had actually been a bit shaken by that display of violence, but was now already back to his usual attitude. He had been to a lot of battles and was used to playing rough with Knuckles, so it wasn’t nearly as shocking to him as it might have been to someone else. Plus, the fact that Shadow had let him go when Sonic had screamed showed that the black hedgehog hadn’t truly been out to hurt him. No, the thing that had startled the blue hedgehog far more was the feeling like his entire body had suddenly been on fire when their hips had touched…so, now the blue hero was trying very hard to hide any confusion from showing up on his face and his trademark grin and quips were actually an excellent way to do that.

Shadow shook his head. “Better not while we’re here,” he said, feeling a lot better and actually a bit grateful that Sonic was somebody not shocked that easily. The black hedgehog took a step forward, extending a hand somewhat awkwardly. “You probably want off that leash again, just hold still…”

The blue hedgehog held up a hand. “Uhm, no. Sorry, but right now it’s not-touching-Sonic time. I might take you up on that offer later, though.”

“I see,” Shadow said quietly, turning away. Again, the blue hedgehog’s refusal to let Shadow help hurt more than it should, and what was worse, this time it was him who had been the reason for Sonic’s distance.

“And besides, I think right now you would rather listen to my new info on the Emerald anyway,” Sonic said, and Shadow whipped around.

“What? You found something?”

“Yup. It’s with Black Doom, though. Maybe we can sneak into his chamber tonight?” the blue hedgehog suggested, from where he had lowered himself onto the mat underneath the ring he was tied to. It was probably the bed he was supposed to be sleeping on, too, but right now the ostensible slave was merely sitting on it, hands laced behind his head leaning against the wall, legs angled and spread, feet on the floor. Judging from his relaxed attitude, the leash didn’t seem to bother him much anymore.

“We’ll have to,” Shadow nodded. “I just hope he sleeps at night and has it stored somewhere where we can find it. Where did you get that information?”

Sonic shrugged. “Sneaked into the kitchen, talked to the…slaves,” he said, adding an awkward pause as he couldn’t quite bring himself to say “the other slaves” in front of Shadow. Looking away, he quickly resumed: “Or tried to, anyway.”
His mind seemed to shift gear then, for his tone suddenly changed and he was once more staring at Shadow intently.
“Which reminds me again: Shads, we have to overthrow Black Doom!” Sonic had stood up now, stepping forward as far as the leash would allow, both hands clenched tightly. “It was like a nightmare – he and his servants have completely destroyed the minds of everyone they enslaved, it’s like they were freaking robots! It was beyond screwed down there…Shadow, we gotta help them. Please.”

Their gazes met at the last word. Once again, hearing Sonic plead for something was completely alien to Shadow, but the black hedgehog found that it for some reason tugged at something inside him more than any yelling ever would be able to. He closed his eyes.
“We’ll see what we can do. Okay? And besides, some others are already trying to free them, anyway.”

Sonic’s ears perked up at that, surprised. “Oh yeah? Like how? And who?”

Shadow paced up and down the room. “From what I learned in the lessons, this country is at war, constantly. Other realms who are opposing slavery are trying to abolish Black Doom, freeing the slaves. However, so far attempts have been unsuccessful, for the others are too weak and apparently not collaborating. Right now, it’s just the neighbour kingdom of Queen Aleena fighting and their troops don’t stand a chance alone. There’s two more neighbours of this country, though…but the leader of the first one, King Max, believes the slaves to be creatures uncapable of free will anyway and therefore isn’t sure whether overthrowing Black Doom would be a a good idea and actually worth it, if they’re beyond help. The third realm that would be needed to win this war has their Prince kidnapped by Black Doom and held as hostage in this castle, so they can’t join the fight, either.” Shadow frowned. “But I actually think this Prince escaped today, hence why the entire castle is in uproar.”

Sonic was suddenly very interested in his fingers.

“This kingdom with the abducted Prince…it wouldn’t happen to be the echidna tribe, would it?” he asked in what he hoped would be an innocent tone.

Shadow gave him a small, disbelieving stare. “You didn’t…”

“Hey, it was this reality’s version of Knux. What else should I have done?”

The black hedgehog sank down upon the bed, covering his eyes with one hand.
“I tell him to be inconspicious. He goes and frees the single most important prisoner in the entire castle.”

“Yes, but nobody saw me do it!”

Crimson eyes narrowed. “Then what about Lazar?”

“Oh. Yeah. But he only saw me later, and then he made a mistake.”

“What mistake?”

Sonic grinned. “He blinked.”

“I see,” Shadow said dryly, knowing that this would have given Sonic ample time to vanish around the next corner. In fact, the only one able to keep Sonic in sight when the azure whirlwind accelerated his movements to the Mach-speeds he was capable of was Shadow, his eyes trained to take things in at the supersonic speeds he, too, could achieve. So at least for the moment their act was safe.

“But it was a good thing I did it, right? Maybe now they can win that war!” the blue hedgehog asked again, once more seated on the floor and looking up at Shadow.

“Yes, they might. But as Prince, I would prefer not to be here anymore when the pitchforked mob storms the castle.”

“Well, that just depends on how our little trip into Black Doom’s office tonight goes, right?” Sonic asked and one emerald eye briefly closed, winking at Shadow.

And tan lips smiled faintly back.

xxx

The next hour was spent in companionable silence. Shadow was going through the drawers trying to locate a map of the castle to find out where Black Doom’s quarters lay, while Sonic had untied himself from the ring. Since he was still unable to open the hatch of the leash on his collar, he had merely slung the leather item multiple times around his own neck until the end no longer dragged on the floor, but hung loosely from his back down to waist height.

It looked like a scarf from the bondage shop, but Sonic actually didn’t care that much at the moment. He just didn’t trust his body around the black hedgehog right now, so he thought he would probably wait until their little midnight trip before asking Shadow to take it off. Instead, the blue hedgehog was busy pacing the room in as wide circles as possible, or alternatively stopped every few rounds to stare out the window, which showed the area behind the castle, the moat and then a wide, barren plain, with only a few black mountains in the distance. The sky was darkening rapidly now, making it difficult to recognize any landmarks, even if there had been any forests or rivers instead of the dead landscape.

In front of the castle was the courtyard and the castle town, of course, which they had glimpsed briefly from another window on their tour to the dungeons, but the view from their current dorm offered absolutely nothing to distract the collared hero, which made itself rather noticeable.

Shadow slammed the last drawer shut with rather more force than necessary, his right hand slapping the wood.
“Nothing! Not an entire map in this whole goddamn room! Aboard the ARK, there were maps everywhere, because everyone besides Professor Gerald tended to get lost! Why aren’t there any maps here?!”

It was safe to say that both hedgehogs’ nerves were a bit frayed.

Shadow ran a hand across his face to calm himself down, which worked fairly well. Then he saw that by now Sonic had run a circular hole in the carpet.

A black hand grabbed the 70-mph-pacer at the shoulder and brought him to an instant stop.

“What the hell is your problem, Sonic?” Shadow asked, his tone a dead-pan, but still indicating that the little pinning-against-the-wall situation could return at any moment. His grip relaxed when the blue speedster turned his gaze towards him and emerald looked at him so miserable as if Sonic was in actual pain.

“I need to run, Shads…”

Shadow sighed. “Sonic…”

He didn’t know how to continue. Part of him wanted to berate the blue hedgehog there and then for his stupidity to ruin the carpet, but somehow, seeing how unhappy the other already was, Shadow just didn’t have the heart to do it.

“I’ve been cooped up here for two days already, Shadow. It’s…it’s hard…” Sonic said, looking away, but not shrinking from the black hedgehog’s touch anymore.

Crimson eyes studied the drooping quills and shoulders, contemplating, as he still held his supposed slave by the shoulder. Shadow enjoyed excercize now and then as well, but contrary to Sonic, he had grown up in an entirely enclosed space, so the yearning for free plains to run was not as deeply ingrained in him…the black hedgehog briefly thought that this would probably even be the worst form of torture if he was actually considering to break the blue hedgehog for real.

Not pain. Not humiliation of whichever nature. Take away his speed from him forever, deny him the use of his legs, let him be a beautiful creature in a cage, unable to achieve that which defines him, only to live for his Master’s pleasure…

It’s a bloody wonder he even let me leash him in the first place, shot through Shadow’s head. Maybe he’s giving more up for this act than I gave him credit for.

“Say what, faker. When we have found this Emerald, I’ll give you that race. For free.”

A small smile. Then: “…you mean it? Because I’ll completely cream you.”

The Ultimate Lifeform’s trademark smirk returned at this, the atmosphere suddenly a lot lighter, as if both hedgehogs just had been able to release quite a bit of tension.
Shadow nodded then, leading Sonic back to the ring and tying him there anew, the blue hedgehog following docilely as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “Still think you can beat me, then, Sonic? I think it’ll be you who will swallow my dust…”

“In your dreams, Shads. Can I ask you why you’re tying me to that ring again, by the way?” Sonic asked, pointing at the knot and raising an eye ridge curiously.

“Simple. I’ll go looking for a map outside. You will stay here and look genuine,” the black hedgehog replied, turning to leave.

“You’re not seriously thinking that this knot would pose a problem to me, are you?”

“No. I’m thinking you’ll be a good little pet and for once do as I say.” A flash of smug crimson, and Shadow was gone, leaving a slightly peeved Sonic behind.

“What the hell?! Just who does he think he is!” the blue hedgehog shouted as soon as the slight surprise had worn off, while his slender back slumped against the wall in annoyance, arms crossed in front of his chest and actually a small pout in his face.

“And don’t you think you could hold me, either,” he added in a grumble towards his leash dangling from his neck to the ring in the wall, giving the thing a look as if it was personally responsible for his current situation.
I could just run. Yeah. Run, feel the wind on that plain, shatter the sound barrier so hard everyone here is deaf for weeks, show them what true speed really is...…and maybe he’d even be able to slip back into the castle undetected. It was risky, but ‘Risk’ (not to mention ‘Devil-may-care’…) were Sonic’s middle names.

But there was something holding him back, and it was not just the worry about not finding Shadow again because, after all, he would return to the black hedgehog later anyway, wouldn’t he? No, it was something different that made him feel uneasy at the thought of just running off…

It suddenly dawned on Sonic that he was unwilling to disobey Shadow’s orders.

…what the hell? he thought again. Since when do I care exactly what anyone (besides Tails) thinks, let alone *him*?

He was not becoming…submissive, wasn’t he? No. Never. But…

Again, this train of thought hit a proverbial hold-up as someone knocked.
“My Prince? I’m bringing your dinner today. May I come in?”

A thousand answers to that question shot through Sonic’s head, none of them repeatable in polite society.

Outside, Jet the Hawk wondered why nobody was answering.

“My Prince? If you’re not inside, I’m instructed to leave your dinner on your writing desk. I’m coming in now!” the bird announced then, shattering Sonic’s hopes that if he played dead, the feathery annoyance would maybe go away. He braced himself as the door opened and Jet stepped into the Prince’s dormitory.

“Huh, what the hell happened to that carpet, he must have – oooh, look who’s here again…”

Sonic groaned very quietly.

Why me? Why him?

The green hawk carefully placed the tablet on the desk, then ambled slowly over to Sonic, grinning slyly all the way.

“Not chained to the bed today, I see. A pity, your body looked so good stretched out like that…”

Emerald eyes started to blaze at this, the leashed hero oscillating between humiliation and anger. He was seriously tempted to do something to Jet he’d regret later, but still forced himself to remain in his position. The neon bird of prey took that opportunity to sidle closer, stepping around Sonic, seemingly inspecting him from all sides.

“Not so brazen and daring to talk today, I see…” the feathered sapient sneered, surprising Sonic as suddenly a hand reached over his shoulder and touched his stomach and chest, “I wonder whether it was the starvation that taught you manners or your lesson in the dungeon yesterday…”

The blue hero abruptly took a step sideways, freeing himself from the ticklish grasp, mentally cursing the leash, but not feeling as vulnerable as he had been on the bed. He had his hands free. If Jet tried any funny business with the crop today, he would see just how fast ‘lightning-quick reflexes’ really were.

“Get lost. You’re just a servant around here, so you’ve delivered the dinner and that’s it!”

Blue eyes narrowed, their hue now that of a sky just before the storm would be unleashed.

“That’s right, slave. A servant. And that also means that slaves obey me. So, if I tell you to lay down for me, you will. And now, until your owner returns, I want you to submit...”

“The hell I will!”

The hawk merely raised his eye ridges, unimpressed but interested, just stepping closer again. “Well. Maybe I’ve overestimated the progress on you after all. But I do know that the Prince usually breaks them all, sooner or later. And if he doesn’t, then Lazar will.”

Some reaction to the name of the repulsive lizard must have shown on Sonic’s face at that, because Jet’s beak only smirked broader. “Ah, yes, you know Lazar then. A true bastard, isn’t he? I must know…I work for him.” The hawk gave a faint laugh at this, his eyes still ravaging every movement of the blue body in front of him and unnerving Sonic to no end. “Yes, and I know his methods very well indeed…”

The blue hedgehog had reached the end of his leash and could step back no further, which Jet used to bring their faces inches apart. “So tell me, pleasure slave of the Prince…” he whispered into a twitching blue ear,

“…how did the ginger feel?”

“May I ask what you are doing with my bed slave?”

It was a very good thing that Shadow returned at this moment, because otherwise there would not only have been a holey carpet to explain but also the corpse of a servant and quite a lot of blood.

As it was, Shadow’s tone alone would have been able to stop global warming at the moment.

“Oh! My Prince! So sorry, I was only checking up on the general state of his health! He’s in very fine shape, he is!” Jet gabbled frantically, bobbing his head like a pigeon while trying to inch past Shadow towards the door. “I will be going now, I will collect the supper later, I meant no disrespect!” the bird called, almost running as he vanished completely, the door slamming behind him.

Shadow looked from a fuming and flustered Sonic to the green feathers still fluttering to the ground and back.

“…what the hell was that?”

“Jet the Hawk,” Sonic spat, “And at the moment I have a serious wish to take my Extreme Gear and break it on his head.”

Crimson eyes remained expressionless, but at the same time, Shadow wondered just how long it would take for the blue hedgehog to reduce the next individual of this particular universe to very fine sawdust.


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right, there you are! Please review, these are whgat keeps me writing.^^ IM sorry for the long ait, but I am currently in japan and, well...those of you who have ever been there will know that one is constantly tired, constantly out of time and having fun all the way through. I should return in a few weeks, tho...please review and tell me what you thought! ^^
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