#Yeeaaaaah ignore the nub-like hands

[izzydaninja]

Sonic with baby Shadow! Finally writing something for this!!

Chaotic Reaction - Part 1: A Little Stuck

Hands cupped around a small, fragile package as he keeps it close to his chest in an effort to protect it. He hurriedly rushes through a deep, swampy forest he’s not the most familiar with. Shoes soaked and slipping in the muddiest puddles as rain pours down all around.

He wasn’t even sure where he was heading anymore, under all these thick, slumped trees. And even that doesn’t change that rain still manages to coat him all over, leaving him dripping wet as he continues to scramble away with something needing protecting.

He was covered in small aches and pains from the battle he’d just managed to escape, although, barely as he still runs from the shrieking engine of his mechanical copy, and his many other clone brothers –er- whatever they’re called. Being hunted through this wretched weather fog was not on his day-plan.

Seeing a nice cover under a short, stubby tree hanging over–his quick feet slip not so graciously a few times as he attempts to turn in the tree's direction. One of his hands had to pull free of protecting his package in order to catch himself briefly so he could book-it for the tree.

His free hand swats the large, hanging leaves of the drooping tree, out of his way before he dives towards the trunk, where the ground’s layered in a puddle, like everywhere else. The leaf slides back down, shadowing the hedgehog in its protection as speeding blurs zip by, almost endlessly.

He carefully curls around himself, subconsciously trying to shield what he holds, as his eyes dart back and forth, zoning in on every single bot that speeds by, making sure they don’t catch notice of him in his last-minute hiding spot.

When the last one zips by, and the engines are no longer in range to be heard, he slumps in relief, finally exhaling to breathe properly. Only then, does he realize how protective he was acting towards his company, and he awkwardly clears his throat, opening his hands to reveal his little companion. A little black and red hedgehog, looking up at him with big, reflective ruby red eyes. Eyes that hold nothing but innocent curiosity, a childish curiosity that doesn’t belong on the face of his rival.

“Uh.. Shadow?” He voices, trying to be quiet in case the Metal Sonic’s weren’t too far off. “You’re.. Still in there, right?”

The little hedgehog just sits in the palms of his soaked hands, also a little wet, but doesn’t react in any way that would suggest he’d even spoken to the little guy.

With an overly stressed and frustrated groan, he pulls a hand free to brush back his own messed up quills, trying to ease the way they started to spike out in defense. His eyes, panickily glued to the little hog in his hand.

“Okay.. It’s fine.” He tries to ease, with a slight shake of his voice. “If I can just get a hold of Tails, he should be able to… ah.. Right.. Communicator was lost in the fight.” He thinks aloud, eyes now traveling down to his bare wrist, where a few deep cuts lie, a pinkish red, staining his fur where the rain washed at it.

“And Tails is halfway across the world, right now..” He adds with an uneasy sound. Shrunken, tired eyes, drift back to the mini hedgehog in his grasp, which has now lost interest in him, and is looking around the makeshift tree-tent they are currently sitting beneath.

Lips pulled tight, tension making him feel antsy, he watches the little hedgehog, unable to process much outside of: “We’re in trouble…”

A chill riding up his spine, finally draws his mind back into his body and–oh–does he feel the shiver that wracks him from the ice-cold mini-pool he’s sitting in, along with how soaked he already is, rain getting through his quills and fur as if he were in the ocean. Running helped keep his adrenaline going, it kept him warm, kept him busy. Now, he can feel the blistering chill of the wind blowing through the leaves, hitting his drenched self, and feeling as though it’s tearing straight through him. It felt about as cold as winter! The only–hardly–good thing about that, was the fact it numbed most of the injuries he’d sustained over the course of their battle with Metal Sonic and his army of twins.

A particularly sharp gust of wind blew through, and reflexively made him curl in on himself. Shivering against the thick trunk of the tree, he notices he’s not the only one getting affected by the extreme weather and lack of action. A faint trembling in his hand, had him look down to the tiny, curled ball in his palm, that is shivering up a storm of its own. A small, shaky, squeak sounding from the wet ball of fur.

Reacting on instincts and past experience–with a–not as young–fox–he immediately rips off his soaked gloves, dropping them in the pool of water as he cups his hands around the little hedgehog, trying to help warm him up again.

“Sorry, Shads..” His voice cuts a little from the cold. “If I could, I’d get a fire or something going, but-” Another gust of wind cuts his sentence off short, and he turns his back to it, curling more around the little hedgehog in his hands. “I don’t even see why I’m explaining this to you..” He shivers out. “You’re nowhere near old enough to understand this stuff right now. And even if you can understand, you’d already know from the obvious.”

Outside their little tent is barely lit from daylight trying to illuminate through the thick, gray clouds rolling in, leaving the inside of their natural tent, nearly pitch-black. As that does make their hiding spot safer from the mirror army of droids, it is also making running home right now a more dangerous option. Not being able to see his enemies coming, or where he’s going, especially with all this heavy rain. Tonight was going to be a trip…

The occasional sounds of the robotic copies' engines whirring out with a speeding light not too far, suggests those machines were still on the hunt, and since water doesn’t seem to affect them, they’d likely be looking all night long if it came to it. Meaning, he’s going to need to move places soon. But that won’t be happening until he’s certain these copies are far enough away that he won’t draw any attention.

It was getting darker, and the rainwater on the ground was now reaching his ankles, and he can officially say his feet were numb. The rain had long since gotten through his shoes and filled them with water, soaking his socks, too, and as uncomfortable as it is, he’d also accepted the fact he’d have to deal with it, till he can get back to Tails’ lab.

With a shaky exhale, he leans forward, away from the trunk of the tree, checking outside their little tent for the fifth time since daylight died out. Leaving things next to pitch-black and making it to where the vaguest of shadows were his only indication that something was there. At least, until another Metal clone came flying back, leaving an orange glow in its wake.

The area seemed clear. He hasn’t seen, nor heard anything, though, that could be because of the lack of light, and the overwhelming splashing of the rain, along with the rumbling claps of thunder. Seeing or hearing anything right now, would be near impossible. But he hasn’t seen any bright glowing red eyes, or orange flaming engines flying around, so that should, hopefully, mean they’re in the clear. For now..

Unable to see in the dark, he brushes a thumb over the quilled ball in his cupped hands, trying to check on the little fluff ball, who’s no longer shivering. A rough vibration with a small gruff sound from the little hedgehog was enough of a warning to not do that again. Okay. He still doesn’t like being touched. Noted.

Unfortunately, though, in this situation, without the advantage of sight; Sonic needed a free hand to feel around for directions, so Shadow was going to have to deal with it. And so, he shifted the little quilled ball into one hand–earning another little growl at the movement–and held him against his chest to help with keeping the wind from him.

And with a free hand, he reaches down into the water feeling for where he’d discarded his gloves–not wishing to leave a trail–before he steps out of their little shield in hopes of finding better shelter for the night. At least, someplace much drier.

“You are so going to owe me after this.” He grumbles aloud. The thunder, so graciously covering it up. Though, I do really hope you don’t remember any of this after you’re back to normal.