#edit: i have since found out that these are indeed deer bones. went back and found a piece of the skull so yeah

[skulllesbian]

marshland~

[loudlypanickinginvenezolano]

Life is a Big, Bad, joke; 1s Chapter, Edited.

I am happy about how this turned out! 

His mind went through a powerful halt, forceful enough that his eyes hurt again, and he was sure there may be some mid-lasting damage to his thinking. Or maybe his eyes hurt for the abrupt way they almost popped out of his head thanks to the surprise, that was another theory of his…

Whatever it be, the sight before him didn’t change, not even after waiting for a while, and slivers of hope dissipated slowly the darkness he felt prior as, as time passed, he became more and more convinced that, indeed, this was reality, and his friend was really sitting in there!

Or, more exactly, he pushed it all down with all of his might, not willing to let the other know of his inner turmoil just yet.

“Shadow?!” So, he did scream in that part, so he didn’t think twice about the other´s wince. Sonic, admittedly, was too preoccupied with being mad at himself not noticing Shadow before, at SHADOW himself for not saying something before, and, well, happy, as he may now have a chance at getting out of there more quickly and easier than before.

It totally didn’t have something to do with seeing Shadow at all. It wasn’t like his stomach got all giddy with emotions every time the hedgehog and he crossed ways.

Anything but that.

“Mh…Yes?” Came the wary response, which, was admittedly unusual coming from the dark hedgehog. Shadow was looking at him rather strangely, as well, as if he were searching for something on Sonic`s face, but also holding what…looked like a juice box maybe? As if it was a shield, a worried frown marring his face and eyes darting to the door every so before coming back to him.  

Sonic wasn’t sure about what was that about, and he really was trying to ignore the bad feeling growing in his stomach sooooo… he could be forgiven if he didn’t stop to question it too much, right? He really wasn’t sure if he even could afford to do it.

He was trying not to have a mental breakdown, after all.  

“Yes-a nothing, man! You need to get me outta here!” Sonic rattled his wrists in an impulse, grimacing at the loud clanking sound it made. It echoed dauntingly in the big space, bouncing from wall to wall, which almost made Sonic grumble.

Yes, yes, big, bad and scary place, we got it.

Shadow also grimaced, and recoiled even, though he almost seemed in pain, the strange expression making Sonic stop dead on his tracks.

You see, maybe they weren’t the closest to each other, and there were still a lot of walls and facets that Sonic still needed to pass through and see; He was sure of something, though, and he hadn’t needed to befriend the other hedgehog to realize it, so clear as pure water of a lake, if could very well be as clear as the petroleum: Shadow didn’t like doing pained faces, may it be pride or actual fear, he just didn’t. He avoided it, at all costs. He would growl, hiss, stare at you dead in the eye and pick up as many fights as he needed, but he wouldn’t let you see him hurt in any way. Shaking fists, broken bones, bloodied noses, tears and gashes, you name them; Shadow would hide them all, or ignore them so well you would find yourself tricked, and ignoring them too.

To see it so clearly on his face…Uhm. All of Sonic alarms were suddenly ringing.  

Didn’t the ambience feel a bit strange?

“…Why?” The ebony mumbled at the end, almost uncomfortable, and Sonic tried hard, he really did, to not let his smile falter.

“Why, you ask.” He breathed slowly, feeling how his insides froze entirely, reaching up to his throat and hurting with his breath intake, spreading to his every limb until they felt even numbest than before, feeling how his chest seemed tighter, his hands even more unsteady, and how his stomach became a rock. This…wasn’t happening. It really, really wasn’t. How could it be true, for real!? This wasn’t okay, not at all. Just…What?! “Why…Why wouldn’t you? We need to get out of here, Shadow. Don’t you--know?”

Ah, it really did.

He searched for it, unheedful of how his voice seemed to falter, to die mid-word, as if his strength was really leaving him. Sonic searched. For his face, for his true, and he knew mostly were to find it. Even the ebony had some tells.

But… There was some curiosity in Shadows eyes, curiosity. Since when is Shadow openly curious about something?

There was also confusion in the set of his brow, and what he was sure was mistrust. He was used to seeing it there, all right, it was almost by default in Shadow´s face, it never left, but never… never in this-this quantity.

Not directed at him anymore.

There was no recognition.

It hurt more than what he expected.

Maybe because he never expected this to really happen?

Sonic kept smiling, though, he kept waiting, hoping for a brighter outcome.

That is what he did, right? What Sonic the Hedgehog™ was supposed to do…

But it didn’t came, and as time kept going Sonic found himself staring straight at the bitter truth. At the one he had tried hard to ignore, he had tried hard to make himself believe would never come ever again.

“You don’t… You don’t remember me, do you?”

<<You forgot about me again, didn’t ya?>>

Shadow demeanor changed entirely, so fast it could have been funny.

Sonic felt like doing anything, but laughing.

The ebony sat straighter, ears perked and eyes as wide as a little scared deer. Could it be that he had really been frightened? Sonic could see him, feel him almost, the anguish that surged as his mind overworked itself, running wildly in search of the right answer to give.  

It pained Sonic. A real lot, to be honest, and suddenly, he didn’t feel like hearing Shadow response.

He felt like he already had it, maybe since long ago.

He still needed to hear the ebony confirm it though. He just needed to be sure.

Shadow was left gaping, stiffened to his soul (Did he had a soul?) under that fella scorching gaze, trying to say something, anything that came to him, trying to deny it, that small fucking detail, that damned weakness that left him so clearly disadvantaged in front of others but…but he couldn’t, not when it was the truth and not when it was so obvious and not when he was in this fucking state.

Shadow couldn’t deny it, even when he wished the situation wasn’t like this, even when it caused some… something to this other guy, going by his sorrowful expression.

It was the reality now.

Nothing he could do to change it, right? No matter how bad you asked for it, life would never be fair.

But

Why did it ache, then?

Ruby eyes snapped back to his juice box, and Sonic found his blood running cold, real cold on his veins. His heart was beating so fast he could hear it, a loud ringing sound that almost drowned everything else. It was like every single thing was getting worse by the moment with such a speed, he couldn’t stop himself from wondering, Was this one of his nightmares?

Would he be able to wake up and find Tails bossing around in the house, maybe trying another disaster-recipe in the kitchen as Cream laughed in delight at the scene? Would he be able to go running around the city, and find Shadow discretely eating a small-sized ice cream under a tree?

Could he?

Don’t take him wrong, even in this kind of situation, they were going to remount! No doubt about it! It just…it just sucked a lot right now, maybe to an extreme beyond words as they could not describe it, or maybe it was him who couldn’t find them…

Thanks to a lucky flash, he suddenly wished fervently to wake up soon.

“What… who did that to you?”

His mind reminded him that they were losing precious time. They really needed to get out of here and go stop Eggman and go search for Tails and go save the world again. They didn’t have time to do this, this whole awkward dance and this whole useless wishing and thinking.

The stunned words still left his mouth.

Shadow hands shot to his head by reflex, trying to feel the injuries there or maybe hide them, he wasn’t sure, but the memory of being told not to touch them stroke him like a thunder, making him stop in the last moment, hands hovering awkwardly over his injuries as his eyes quietly looked around, wondering if there were cameras watching him. Them. Whatever.

They hurt, a lot, there was no way to beat around the bush and downplay the agony he felt at first, and that to some extend he still feels, but they had stopped bleeding mere moments ago, so he didn’t wanted to mess it up and cause a major disgrace. It wasn’t like he didn’t knew what bleeding was, or how to accordingly deal with it, so his worries were forcefully ignored unnecessary, actually, non-existent.

He had gotten worse, also, so there was no real reason to make a fuss about this small matter.

This was okay.

This, really was okay.

Right?

#No, it’s not. Please be kind to, and take care of, yourself. If you don’t feel fine, it is valid to take your time or ask for help. #  

Shadow sighed when the other urged him, calling his name in a strange, demanding way. Even if he didn’t wanted to, he guessed that this mister did deserve an explanation, however chopped was the information Shadow could provide. Wasn’t part of his duty answering what he could?

No, really, was it? It was, right?

<<??>>

What was he supposed to do now?

His being stung for a command.  

“I-I don’t know, sir.” He shook his head slowly, letting his hands fall back to his lap and crossing his heels. He desperately kept his gaze glued to the floor, unable to stand and watch this hedgehog face as he reported. “I don’t know what happened, nor do I know who, uh, who are you, nor where we are, if that is something you wonder. When I woke up I wasn’t gave more instructions besides than to hand over the invention and wait here for the others. No information was shared. I…I don’t have any answers you may need.”

<<I am sorry, fella, I can’t help you at all. >>

It shattered Sonic´s hopes. Maybe not all, but quite the bit definitely.  

“It…it’s no biggie. It really isn’t, just´s a-a setback, we will find a way, alright? We have been through worse! It’s just… We still need to get out of here, Shadow, to get going. Quick. ”

<<I need to get both of us outta this shithole, yesterday. >>

He couldn’t let the other hedgehog in G.U.N.´s hands when his memory was in such a sorry state. Like this, wasn’t he even more malleable, and even more easy to manipulate, than the first time they met?

The list of ´what if´s´ kept growing with more disgusting scenarios each time.

The things they could do with Shadow, the things they could do to Shadow… There was no telling if his state and those ugly looking injuries weren’t a G.U.N. experiments product, and he knew by a good informant that these where awful and really invading, enough to render the brooding-looking hedgehog stomach sick in bed, or anxious for days to come.

Sonic didn’t knew wherever it was how sickening his ideas were, or because there was an actual possibility of them becoming true, but his whole being shuddered, feeling cold and nauseated.

No. He couldn’t keep thinking about it.

The image of a bloodied and unresponsive Shadow still lingered behind his eyelids, no unlike many dawns in which he found himself waking up without breath and tangled up in his sheets, shivering and soaked in sweat like a leaf during a storm.

AO3: 6 chapters, still without editing.