Chapter 12 - Live & Learn

During the reminiscence the Fastest Thing Alive finally decided to tell in one straight monologue that kept filling up with unbelievable yet truthful words, the blue hedgehog still refrained from looking at Shadow at all costs. He retreated onto a safer distance between himself and his darker counterpart, taking a seat on some fallen debris not far away from where his black rival was leaning against the wall in his usual thinking posture. Keeping his arms crossed tightly around his peach chest and his spiny head down, the Blue Blur was persistent with his story until the very end and the black hedgehog finally decided to listen to him for once on this damned island.

As the rarely told tale began unfolding before his eyes, the Ultimate Lifeform could only stare with an appearance of puzzlement and shock on his face. Just as the emerald eyed hero was finishing up his tale, the older hedgehog left his mouth agape and blinked in sheer wonder, wondering if this is how it happened exactly such a long time ago. The black mammal had to admit he held no memory of his fall from the ARK at all, even less the conversation the two supposedly shared in his last moments.

Shadow only knew about one simple fact. He did fall toward the Earth sometime during their battle with the Finalhazard and everyone assumed he had died in the process since it is generally believed that no one could have survived an atmospheric reentry. That's all it mattered to him since the unfortunate event only brought him massive problems later on. It was only a small piece of the gigantic puzzle he didn't really care about all that much other than his own past. However, it seemed extremely important to Sonic, otherwise he wouldn't be bringing it up at this point in time, even though he actually had to force it out of him.

To confirm everything his blue counterpart just said, Shadow asked him with clear disbelief in his voice, ''That's how it happened?''

Sighing out, the other merely exhaled heavily without turning around, ''Why would I lie about something like that?''

''I wanted to die?''

Taking his last words into consideration, the black hedgehog needed a moment to think about it. If everything the Blue Blur just said was indeed true, why did he choose to do such a thing? Their positions back in space looked extremely hopeless if any of them were to run out of energy before the battle was over. It seemed like he was actually thinking rationally at the time, deciding the only good thing for him was death, especially after unleashing certain chaos on the entire world that would destroy every inch of it. And what was even worse was the fact that he did it all in Maria's name. It was obvious she wouldn't be too happy about it.

However, everything he did only happened because of his sudden revival from a cold sleep that lasted for a half of century and damaging interferences in his fabricated memory. Shadow started wondering just how he must have been really feeling at the time when he was hanging on the edge of space with only his rival keeping him from falling any further. Did the black hedgehog even deserve to live? That was one of those endearing thoughts he used to have but didn't think of them too much until now.

Sonic must've thought in the favor of living.

Because even after he had impersonated him, got him thrown into jail and tried to kill him several times throughout the entire occurrence, he didn't want to let him go, no matter how close to death Shadow already was or how quickly the blue hedgehog's body could have gave up under intense pressure.

The younger mammal probably had a better explanation then he could ever try to think up in the meantime, ''And you still wanted to save me… why?''

Lifting his heavy head, the Blue Blur didn't hesitate with his reply at all, ''Everyone has a right to live, no matter who they are.''

''Quit with that kiddy bull, Sonic. It's something else, isn't it?'' the Ultimate Lifeform deemed that answer to be complete diversion from the original topic. It was fine to preach something like that to children who don't know any better, but not to the black hedgehog as he was more than glad to point out, ''Why?''

After a moment of silence from the emerald eyed hero, Shadow sighed heavily as he already knew he won't be getting a straight answer from him unless he actually tries with his questions, especially after something like this. He started walking up and down the strange room they were in, as if to think for a short while and leaving Sonic to straighten out his own thoughts. The Ultimate Lifeform tried to remember it again as he closed his crimson eyes for a moment, yet the unfortunate event the Fastest Thing Alive was talking about just now was still just a blur in his head. It slightly annoyed him that the memories he didn't think about or even considered them to be that important closed on him like a thick blank veil.

After all, the only witness to his fall was the blue hedgehog himself and in the meantime he'll have to hold onto his words if anything wants to get sorted out.

Meanwhile, the Fastest Thing Alive tightened his embrace around himself and eventually snorted out almost automatically but comically, surprising even the older mammal with the unusual monotone tone in place of his upbeat voice he used daily around everyone else to keep an active spirit up and running. He replied with a quiet voice as he found himself staring into his open gloved palm, just when he had previously winced painfully at the black hedgehog's questions, ''Ever since Eggman appeared, I was the one who managed to fix everything no matter how late I was. Animals and people, they were safe because of me.''

Not sure what he was talking about, the black one called out for his name in clear confusion as if to snap him out of a self-induced trance, ''Sonic?''

''I'll be honest…'' the Blue Blur left out with a sigh and turned his aching body toward his rival.

Even when he was talking about these sorts of things, the Ultimate Lifeform wasn't all that good at reading Sonic's emotions as he rarely showed anything else but positive thoughts to everyone around him. If anything, there was a slight possibility of a wrecked regret in his voice, something that came off as extremely weird and unusual from the hero's muzzle. He started to speak again as he blinked, ''When you fell, I was devastated. I was the only one there and I still couldn't do a thing to prevent it from happening.''

However, ignoring what did resemble a clear guilty conscience, the black hedgehog had a better question to ask. He tried not to raise his voice too much or else Shadow felt the other would never speak to him again, ''You knew about it all this time and you never bothered telling me?''

''No… I wanted to, I swear!'' Sonic started defending himself as he quickly turned away from the older mammal and leaned his hands against his forehead, gaining a short nod from the Ultimate Lifeform instead. The way the Fastest Thing Alive saw it from his own perspective, the crimson eyed agent didn't seem interested in any of it before nor after he had discovered his past once again only so long ago and thus didn't want to bother him anymore with it.

Slightly distressed and on the edge of his seat, the blue hedgehog wanted to point out that he only did what he felt was best for both of them, ''I just never got the chance. When you said you got your memories back, you seemed okay with it. You never asked either, so I didn't see the point.''

Nodding at him, the Ultimate Lifeform really had no reason to pressure him over it since the younger mammal was thinking the right way. Shadow said it himself before that the memories he had now were everything he needed to move on, ''I wanted to remember my past. Nothing else mattered at that time.''

''I know,'' the blue hedgehog replied with a meek sound.

While he never exactly cared enough about those memories, he was interested to see just what Sonic was feeling over them. Albeit still slightly shocked over the revelation that he was clearly out to kill himself for the sake of his own redemption, Shadow's past self clearly wasn't the most mentally stable hedgehog who had been meddled with his mind and faint recollections far too much for his liking. Not that his new found amnesia after the infamous fall and reckless rescue mission from the good old local scientist made it any better anyway.

When the black hedgehog questioned the mad Doctor about his rescue and treatment of him, he found out that the Ultimate Lifeform was stuck in a deep, permanent coma for months to no end. Even Robotnik himself couldn't wake him up despite his genius mind, as he was forced to leave him in troubled sleep and could only wait if his condition would get any better. Even when he did have time to monitor a part of his brain, there were always restless dreams and nightmares that decided to invade his mind during his inactivity and haunt him like vengeful ghosts from a forsaken past. For once in his life, Shadow was glad he couldn't recall anything about those at all and could at least sleep peacefully, if nothing else.

Fortunately, the only thing that shattered completely after his would be resurrection was his memory, while he himself turned out to be in perfect health as far as his physical structure went. However, that was actually the most important thing to the older mammal, more than his own being for that matter and he wouldn't hesitate to trade for it at any time.

Folding his hands around his chest, the black one tilted his head toward his counterpart, ''Did my fall really devastate you that much?''

''Not just that. It was something you said,'' the younger hedgehog yelped out all of a sudden as he sharply turned his head toward the G.U.N. agent. The Blue Blur pointed at him with a grim appearance as if to berate his darker counterpart for something he did, ''You looked me right into my eyes and told me you wanted to die. And you know what? I believed you for a second. But how was I supposed to react to that? I had my share of ungrateful rescues before but that was just…''

Shadow nodded his head as he finally seemed to realize his turmoil, ''Are you frustrated about the fact that I didn't want your help?''

''What do you think?'' the blue hedgehog left out sarcastically, ''If you really thought I was gonna let you go like that, you're out of your mind.''

''You could have dropped me when I told you to and I wouldn't have held it against you,'' the black mammal stated with blunt honesty as he raised his hands. Sonic needed to know that whatever he decided back in space was entirely from his own mind and he had no say in it whatsoever. Even if it wasn't an extremely intelligent decision, it was still his right as an independent living being to make choices for himself, just when he previously believed none of them would have mattered due to his condition, ''It was my decision, was it not?''

Unexpectedly, the emerald eyed hero had to say it right away with no hesitance whatsoever, ''Why didn't you then?''

''Don't bring that up…'' the black hedgehog rubbed his forehead in clear annoyance and looked away from him, albeit in reality that was a question to him as well. Why didn't he drop him when the Fastest Thing Alive told him to do so? He guessed it was at least partly understandable why the blue hedgehog didn't want to leave him back in the endless universe. He wasn't the kind of person to leave others in distress after all.

There were a lot of different reasons in his head that tried to explain why he didn't want listen to his words. There was his promise to the yellow furred pilot, proving that he didn't hate the Blue Blur as much as the others liked to poke him around about that misinformed fact and of course, why would Shadow have to be the cause behind Sonic's injuries or even death for that matter? The last reason he firmly hated to think about right now was the fact that he didn't want or need help… especially when it included someone else getting hurt in the process.

Exhaling with a mocking sound, the blue one propped himself on his lap with crossed arms, ''If you're not listening to me, then why should I?''

The black hedgehog never even considered that an accident like that could happen all over again. They were extremely and almost creepily similar, right down to their thoughts and situations they found themselves in. A déjà vu, if you will. They were also extremely stubborn, the probable reason why they didn't want to lose their hold on one another. In fact, it was one of those things that drew parallels and similarities between the two.

Yet, they probably weren't that similar as his next answer might show, ''One more question,'' the black hedgehog replied with no exact tone.

''Shoot,'' the blue wonder didn't wait for a second as he stared at the ground.

''How do you deal with it?''

Blinking a couple of times the first time around, the Fastest Thing Alive tilted his head to the side in slight puzzlement, ''With what?''

''Feeling completely helpless? Feeling guilty for the rest of your life because you couldn't prevent something terrible from happening?'' the black hedgehog knew he had outrageous coping issues and almost let his strong emotions of pure revenge consume his entire life from inside out until he would lose himself entirely and forget the true purpose he was meant for.

He wanted to know how the blue hedgehog managed to keep even his most honest emotions from resurfacing all this time. The Blue Blur always appeared supporting, happy and incredibly cocky, so it was entirely obvious that a person like that could only rarely feel anything negative about their being or anyone else for that matter. As for the emotion of supposed guilt Sonic must have harbored all this time since his fall from the ARK, just how did he keep himself on the right path and prevented his mind from getting completely overtaken by it? He wouldn't be hiding it for so long if it didn't affect him in some way or another.

Shadow shook his head, ''How?''

It was this time around the blue hedgehog stopped fiddling around with various meaningless words and said exactly what he felt about the entire ordeal. Turning around on the debris, Sonic surprisingly grinned, although more at himself than anyone else in this moment. He replied with an honest mind right away with nothing holding him down this time around, ''I learned to live with it. I try to do well but no matter what I do, bad things keep happening to those around me. I've accepted the fact that sometimes even I can't do everything to make things better every time… just like I accepted your death.''

Leaving his arms dangling by his sides and turning his crimson eyes right into the ground, the Ultimate Lifeform leaned backwards, ''Is that so?''

Acceptance and moving on was not foreign to him at all. In fact, he did it all the time because that's how he lived his life by his own rules and had no time to be looking back at how things could have happened if something was done differently. Nodding and remembering something else, the Blue Blur spoke out more to continue his reasons, ''You see, when you showed up out of nowhere in Frog Forest, I felt like I've been given a second chance. I wanted to help you even when you didn't want me to… because I couldn't the last time.''

Snorting lightly, the black hedgehog remembered that encounter in the forest. It was incredibly awkward and even he himself had no idea what he was saying at the time.

''It will be a date to die for!''

Even when he couldn't tell who the blue hedgehog was at that point, the other mammal managed to influence his mind beyond belief. That was probably because he could barely recall his own persona and had to borrow it from somewhere else for just a little while before finding his own in the confusion made by his second revival. However, Shadow understood what the blue hedgehog was saying. It was an idea of living your life further no matter what the consequences. No matter what horrible things happen to you in the past, you still have the entire future to live to the fullest and provide yourself a happier fate. That was something he only recently found out about. It was the right idea of living for someone like him as well.

During the alien invasion the world suffered not a long time ago, Sonic only occasionally left his side other than to do certain things on his own or help someone else at that point, as much as the black hedgehog tried to lose him in the gigantic confusion or burst out in anger at him every chance he got. Considering it was a massive emergency at the time, there was no time to talk it over either, so he had no idea why the Blue Blur kept coming back to him even when he didn't need any guidance or help from his side. If it was genuine help or sense of guilt Shadow himself resurfaced from the blue hedgehog by appearing once again in front of his eyes, he couldn't actually tell.

While still feeling slightly angry at the other mammal for not telling him about these things sooner, he had no reason to blame him for anything that happened to him during that accident. For the last time, the Ultimate Lifeform wanted to make sure the Blue Blur understood perfectly that his unfortunate fall had nothing to do with him as he hesitantly admitted to Sonic his inability with his then new found powers, ''I… fell because of my own inexperience.''

''But I had it,'' the blue hedgehog quickly disagreed and clenched his hands into loose fists, ''I've used the Chaos Emeralds for as long as I can remember. I could've saved you and then you wouldn't have to go through that again.''

Nodding at his back, the Ultimate Lifeform only faintly remembered the two of them together wouldn't have stood a chance in any case as both of their transformations already reached their climax. It was only going to get worse from then on. That was enough for him to believe there was no other way out of it, ''You pushed yourself to your limits as well. It was either me or both of us.''

''I wouldn't mind,'' the emerald eyed hero snorted and briefly looked over his shoulder, ''It's what I do.''

Repeating what the black hedgehog did for his rival's sake and his own redemption, Shadow didn't know anymore if he should be grateful to Sonic or mad at him for making him so distraught. The only thing he did know was that both of the choices the hedgehogs made were pretty damn stupid on both of their accounts, ''What you did earlier…''

Hearing his words, the Fastest Thing Alive replied with a halfhearted grunt, ''I never got the chance to do something for you. I owed you big time. But I'd probably do it in any case.''

The older mammal lifted his head, ''Why?''

''Because I'm your friend,'' turning his head around again, Sonic left out a short chuckle, ''Or at least, I wanna be.''

Occasionally the blue mammal wondered if things turned out differently then they have, would their relationship be any different from how it was now? If the Ultimate Lifeform didn't fall from space, would they actually be able to stand next to each other without spouting various insults and puns or just casually beat up one another?

Probably not but it was a nice thought.

''… we could've even been friends.''

Snorting slightly, Shadow leaned back against the wall to think about those words and in turn left his blue counterpart alone with his thoughts as well. He and the Blue Blur weren't even friends in such a way, more like companions in battle. Anything else seemed to drive them both on the edge of their nerves when they even considered being anything more than that. One of the few things that did tie them together was their different as day and night personalities, which while odd, actually managed to work according to some. They represented certain views and aspects the other hedgehog won't be able to show nor feel as much as the next one could in various situations. It's only then you come at a full circle.

Now, while the blue hedgehog did consider him a friend, the black hedgehog was still hesitant to say anything about the whole subject. They pretty much built up this entire façade about them being lifetime rivals and it was almost impossible anyone else would view them any differently even if they publicly announced it to the whole world. Even Eggman would probably fall on his giant nose for a second before forgetting about it and returning back to work.

However, it wasn't a bad thing to be thinking about.

Maybe someday, they could bury the rival hatchet. Sooner or later, both of them and everyone around them will get tired of seeing them as nothing more but two ego inflated multicolored hedgehogs with superiority complexes over each other. Probably to the point somebody will practically demand for them to stop their act. Shadow was fine with how it was now, but he wasn't going to forget the possibility. Although the black mammal felt they still had a long way to go, this was a nice start for them. Especially since they could actually be completely honest to each other and thankfully nobody's looking at them anyway. It's gonna take even longer when they'll be able to act like this in public.

Slightly tightening his fists, the black hedgehog felt something wet on one of his hands. Quickly looking at it, he noticed it was actually blood seeping through his white glove and onto his fur. It wasn't his, as he could already tell. Instead, he peeked over to the sitting blue hedgehog who kept his arms around his chest at all times. It wasn't long until he noticed a slow trail of dripping blood from one of Sonic's wounded arms he had hidden with his own hand from Shadow's sight.

Sighing at himself, the older mammal hasn't been thinking about his blue counterpart's condition and must've accidentally pressed on his wound far too much, ''Did I…'' he tried to ask somehow, only to get a confused look from the other.

''What?'' the younger hedgehog only now noticed that his wound opened up and his gloved hand started filling up with red sticky substance all over the place. To assure his darker rival otherwise, he shrugged it off immediately for no apparent reason, ''Nah, it's from the fall.''

Walking closer and kneeling next to him, Shadow wasn't going to let him sweep it under the carpet, ''Let me look at it.''

Slightly scooting over to the side as if to avoid the black hedgehog, the Blue Blur started nodding with an awkward grin on his face, ''It's nothing really, it'll heal by itself.''

Getting annoyed with the stubborn hedgehog, the older mammal growled out with a heavy sigh, ''Not like that it won't,'' and grabbed his wrist much to Sonic's surprise, although this time he didn't even try to fight back nor move away further.

Slightly embarrassed, the blue hedgehog looked away and rubbed his nose out of awkwardness, the only thing on his body that was at least considerably fine and wasn't full of perpetual aching and painful throbbing. In the meantime, he left the older mammal to do his thing. The black hedgehog made it up to his bleeding wound, sending a small electric shiver through the hero's spines as he touched it out of interest with his finger. Examining his peach arm, the Ultimate Lifeform eventually concluded the wound was going to become much worse if he doesn't cover it up with something soon. From his observation it didn't seem broken at all, but it still wasn't a good idea to be moving it around too much. Pulling out a white handkerchief, he wrapped it around the wound area and managed to gain a small wince from the younger one as he tightened the knot around it.

''It should hold for now,'' he finally replied, ''As long as it doesn't get infected, you should be fine.''

''Well, geez. Remind me to buy you a new one,'' checking out the immaculate white handkerchief that slowly filled with his leaking blood, the blue hedgehog turned back to the crimson eyed hedgehog with a question, ''Speaking of which, where did you get it?''

Snorting almost noticeably, the Ultimate Lifeform asked in return as if to lightly mock him, ''Where do your rings go when you collect them?''

''Uhhh…'' lifting his finger and leaving his mouth wide open, the blue hedgehog had to shrug immediately with a hand on his chin, ''That's actually a very good question.''

Standing up from his crouched position, the black hedgehog asked something that was more important to answer, ''Can you walk?''

Hearing his question, he slowly started picking himself up from the debris and Sonic eventually replied with a quick nod, ''Yeah…'' only to feel a little dizzy after repositioning his spiny head back on the right track. The blue hedgehog tried to keep himself from falling over until he got used to the sudden differences in the environment, even though he found it hard to remain still in this situation. However, when the entire room somehow rotated around him before his very eyes, the Blue Blur stumbled lightly in confusion, not being able to stop himself from dragging unconsciously to the side.

The emerald eyed hero was quickly caught by the older mammal before he could welcome the floor with his face, ''Easy now,'' he replied endearingly as he kept Sonic from falling over.

Only now Shadow realized that his blue counterpart was going to have massive problems walking or even standing correctly, much less get through the building and the entire island in one piece. It was the first time he has ever seen him this weak and battered up. Even in the worst of situations they used to deal with in the past, the Blue Blur barely ever qualified for a doctor's appointment. Whatever happens on their way back to the surface, the Ultimate Lifeform will need to look out for him around a lot more closely than he usually required, since Sonic appeared as if he'll break down into unconsciousness anytime soon without a warning. Not that the younger one would ever admit being in tremendous pain but that was only one of the many problems they might have. It was also the first time the black hedgehog will have to take point and responsibility for both of them, even though his previous decision was completely nullified once his rival made a choice for both of them.

Mumbling out a short grunt, the blue hedgehog brushed his forehead in a clearly tired manner and tried to calm himself with a quick shake of his head. It wasn't long until he looked up to his darker rival with a cheeky grin on his face, ''I think my leg's asleep.''

Typical answer for the Fastest Thing Alive as the black one sighed out entirely over that small thought in his mind. Straightening him completely and keeping Sonic on his feet the entire time, the older mammal replied, ''We need to get out of here as fast as possible.''

Tilting his head to the side, the blue one blinked in a puzzled manner, ''You're not mad at me anymore?''

The Ultimate Lifeform snorted at the mere indication he brought up, ''Far from it…'' he answered laughably but kept his voice as low and less condescending than it needed to be to relieve the various tensions between the two rival hedgehogs. He was still angry at the blue wonder for keeping secrets from him and getting him into this mess. However, the black hedgehog wanted to forget about those problems for the time being and focus on getting to safety instead, ''But we'll deal with it once we're out of here. I don't want to stay here anymore.''

''Great,'' as a sort of surprise, the younger mammal only left out a sigh of relief, ''For a moment I thought I actually got to your soft spot.''

Carefully releasing his hold around Sonic's torso and leaving him to stand on his own for a short while trying to confirm his balance, the black hedgehog suggested with a simple finger point, ''We better be on our guard from now on. There might be more of those robots out there.''

''But who's commanding them?'' folding his hands around himself once again, Sonic tilted his head, ''I don't think it's Eggman. And the city is deserted.''

As much as the Ultimate Lifeform really wanted to get far away from this place as quickly as it was physically possible, he still required some answers from his blue counterpart, particularly about this mysterious location of all things possible. He had no idea what to think about this island or its history. It was entirely possible nobody else had either. Sonic seemed to be the only person to know anything at all and if by some strange coincidence the younger one didn't hit his head far too much against the hard metal flooring, the emerald eyed hero might as well be his only source of some strange and vague information for the time being.

Shadow decided to ask with slight doubtfulness in his recognizable smooth tone, ''Are you really from this place?''

''Of course!'' the blue hedgehog yelped quickly and sent one of his aching arms into the air, only to slightly gasp out in pain. He then spent the rest of his time here petting it in sheer concern with a twitchy eye, ''How many Christmas Islands are out there anyway?''

Thinking for a slight moment, the crimson eyed agent remembered their short lived conversation the previous night where he had questioned the Blue Blur about his rivalry with the mad Doctor and his unknown origin nobody questioned or even thought about bringing up. As much as the blue hedgehog tried to avoid that exact topic, the older mammal did get some vague answers that might be a key to solving the mystery of this island and perhaps even the younger one's past as well. Sonic mentioned before he doesn't recall anything about his true home or for that matter, he doesn't even know how a normal hedgehog is supposed to act like in the wild or with those of his own kin. Whatever happened all those years ago to Sonic, the blue wonder possibly had no idea even in this time or age.

Lifting his eye ridge in slight wonder, the black one chose to use that as his second question, ''You mentioned you don't remember a thing about your real home. If that's the case, how do you know its name then?''

''That's the only thing I remember,'' the Fastest Thing Alive shrugged immediately.

''Really?'' the black hedgehog quickly predetermined that this won't be as easy as it appeared, ''Does anything around you look familiar?''

Looking around slowly and keeping his large emerald eyes on the various rust and cobweb stricken walls, the Blue Blur already checked out the building and the green jungle outside earlier to try and recall anything plausible in his head. Through seeing certain things in this place, there was surely something that could push his memory into the right direction anytime soon. However, Sonic was surprised to find out it didn't work on him as well as he believed it would.

He answered with a deadpan expression, ''No.''

Not letting him give up so soon, the agent asked again, ''Not even slightly?''

''Everything looks so… foreign,'' Sonic felt disappointed in himself and caught himself on his knees when he almost doubled over, ''It doesn't mean anything to me.''

Stroking his wild spines and exhaling quietly, the Ultimate Lifeform wasn't sure what to think of the blue hedgehog's situation. He found himself in the same position not a long time ago, so he was obviously the best choice to help his lively counterpart as best as he could. However as he seemed to realize fairly quickly, unlike the emerald eyed hero, Shadow had some blurry memories left of his previous experiences that kept him awake for several nights to try and figure them out. Even when some of them turned out to be completely inaccurate later on, they were his only starting point to solving the purpose behind his creation.

However, his blue rival has barely anything to work with which managed to sound even worse in comparison, leaving him completely stranded on where to go next, ''This is going to be much difficult then. It's not like in my case where I at least had a basic idea what to look for.''

''Nothing rings a bell. Not even a convenient flashback or anything,'' the blue hedgehog mentioned and picked himself up with a grunt. Sighing out, the Fastest Thing Alive scratched his ear in a short lived embarrassment and kept looking at the walls as if in hope of remembering something in the meantime.

Turning over to him, the black one growled out quietly in return, ''I really hope you didn't expect it to be that easy.''

''I didn't…'' the younger hedgehog quickly nodded, gaining only a snort from his darker counterpart. He was actually lying again as much as he hated to do so anymore in front of the Ultimate Lifeform. Sonic really believed this would be a piece of cake for him. It wasn't until he finally landed here he realized the place held no memory or familiar feelings for him whatsoever. The blue hedgehog started feeling lost and wasn't entirely sure what to do next. When they found the building earlier this morning, he thought it was the next best thing he could ever find in the jungle. After all, he really had no other choice than wander around aimlessly with no set destination.

''Then what do you remember?''

With a widened thoughtful look and a finger pressed against his muzzle, the blue hedgehog tilted his head slightly to the right as if to recall anything, ''It was a long time ago but I was told I was found washed ashore on South Island as a kid. I couldn't remember anything, except for that name. Other than that, I have no idea.''

''Must be a trauma induced amnesia,'' it's been years since the last time the emerald eyed hero was anywhere near this island and even then he must've been too young to preserve those memories. It was fairly obvious to him that Sonic wouldn't be able to remember anything even if he tried hard enough, ''And let me guess… nobody knew a thing?''

Sonic shrugged as if to confirm his statement quickly as possible, ''Bingo! The more I asked, the more it became annoying.''

As far as he could remember, at that point he was a lone hedgehog in the world amongst all those weird and strangely interesting animals he had met instead. All of them belonged to a certain group usually by mere appearance or common traits, only Sonic didn't exactly fit anywhere. It was his more prominent features, the sharp spines coming from the back of his head, his outrageous speed and his odd cobalt colored fur that differentiated him from everyone else. A blue speedy hedgehog probably looked more like a weird tourist attraction, but that slowly calmed down as the time went by. Even so, he made himself comfortable with all of them, regardless of how different the various species were to him.

It must've worked all too well as evidenced by his next reply, ''I eventually just settled down and created a new life until Eggman came along. I even forgot about Christmas Island. I couldn't remember or find out anything. It just seemed pointless to be asking around anymore.''

The black hedgehog didn't exactly accept that answer, ''I have a hard time believing you would just forget about it.''

In return, the Fastest Thing Alive merely smirked and waggled his finger up in the air in front of him, ''Is it really that difficult to guess?'' he replied with a short whistle coming out of his mouth and pointed at his chest, ''I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, I run with the wind and I never look back. This is who I am.''

''I still don't understand you,'' Shadow backed away slightly from him to lean against the cold wall with a thoughtful expression. He was more likely to learn the meaning of life than figure out the blue hedgehog in any possible way. Then again, sometimes you just had to ask honestly and bluntly instead for an easier approach as he found out recently, ''Why is it that you do this? Put yourself in danger whenever evil's afoot?''

The emerald eyed hero replied as if it was common knowledge to just about anyone on this planet, ''I just do what I wanna do. I don't care what everyone else thinks, I'm my own hedgehog,'' noticing the older mammal still tilting his head at him with vague conclusion, Sonic slightly extended his explanation, ''If I can help someone, I'll do it. I don't like rules to prevent me from achieving that, Shadow.''

Nodding his head around, the black one replied with a peculiar question, ''Is that why you don't live in the city?''

With a bit of a blank look in his eyes, he only shrugged, ''One of them,'' and pursed his lips for some reason or another as his arms dropped almost lifelessly against his sides. He probably even believed the idea of a fellow citizen was completely absurd.

As it turned out, the blue hedgehog was as stubborn as much as he didn't care about what the entire world thought about him or anything he came up with. It was his choices that mattered the most after all, especially in crucial situations and nobody in the planet was capable of turning him against his own wishes. Sonic only did what he felt like doing and considered it to be the best way in his opinion, view of the world be damned. It extended all the way to disregard his own safety to achieve a desired effect. There was a reason he didn't wish to be affiliated with various groups or organizations. Staying tied to them would only be interfering on his freedom and his perseverance in saving anything dear to him.

And he liked having it, that odd thing called freedom… more than anything in the world.

However, if the blue hedgehog really goes with the wind all the time, why is he here then? Shadow rubbed his forehead in curiosity, ''Hold on. If you don't look back, then why did you come here in the first place?''

''I just…'' the Blue Blur hesitated for a short while and tried to answer it as best as he could. His previous statement did make him look like a complete hypocrite and he rather carefully picked his words this time around, ''I just wanted to know if this was real. I didn't want to at first but curiosity got the best of me.''

''And when where you going to tell me or Tails about it?'' that was another question bothering him.

''Actually I wasn't going to tell anybody,'' for a slight moment Sonic felt like that wasn't the smartest thing to say, as his darker counterpart was quick to exhale tremendously and threaten to ignore him again all of a sudden. The younger mammal stopped him from rethinking this situation over to explain it properly this time around, ''Wait a second, just listen. If there was nothing here, you'd have no reason to know about it. It doesn't really concern you all, so…''

The black hedgehog nodded as he did make sense of it, even if he remained slightly frustrated over the fact, ''I understand,'' the Fastest Thing Alive never really liked to pester anyone with his problems anyway and dealt with them himself.

''You do? Cool,'' the blue hedgehog was relieved they were finally on the same page and added another thing with a chuckle, ''Oh and… thanks.''

Slightly puzzled by that claim, the Ultimate Lifeform looked over his shoulder, ''For what?''

''For helping me.''