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The gentle waves lapped against the beach near Sonic’s house, the setting sun turning the water to a shade of orange that was reflecting the dimming sky on the horizon. Sonic, tired from once again saving the town rested on his outside hammock to enjoy the last rays of sunlight before he headed inside to call it a night. He idly stared out into the ocean with glazed over eyes as his mind drifted far away from this place.
It wasn’t like he hated this place, or even had the urge to leave and never return, though he thought about it more often than he wanted to admit. He was just tired for many reasons. Tired of constantly fighting Eggman to save the town, and even more tired from never being actually appreciated, tired from just being ‘the hero’ who was always there when things got rough.
While the thank you’s and cheering was nice, Sonic felt trodden down. Being held up to such a high standard as their ‘hero’ was exhausting. Today showed just how tiring this whole ordeal could be. A few small words and the town turned on him. Then he was forgiven upon saving them, AGAIN! They were complaining over small things, like the Lightning Bolt Society messing up just a few things. He was a hero, not a babysitter! Just for once, for once he wished they would treat him as a person, as a living creature with feelings of his own to deal with. It was stressful, and sure he was a bit crabby but who wouldn’t be? If Knuckles would have just came along when first called there wouldn’t be the issue in the first place!
But blaming Knuckles was just pushing the blame off of himself, Sonic knew that. Damn Amy drilled that into his head during their ‘lessons’ together. It was no one’s fault but his own. He is the one that said the words, even if they were true. A guy was a guy and people are people! It shouldn’t matter how he said it.
“Sonic!” Mike the Ox almost yelled into Sonic’s sensitive ears.
The blue hedgehog shot up, losing his balance on the hammock and flipped right over onto the sand with a heavy thud in his attempt to shoot up fast. His ears painfully echoing his name, causing the hedgehog to wince and groan. That hurt more than face planting onto the sand honestly. But what hurt more was his pride. How had Mike of all people been able to sneak up on him?
“Oh! Careful there Sonic,” Mike lazily said, leaning against his crutches heavily to keep balance in the shifting sand. “You could like, get hurt.”
“... Thanks, Mike,” Sonic spat sarcastically. Luckily the dimwitted town member didn’t seem to notice Sonic’s anger, as Mike kept talking in his slow and monotone voice- much to the speedsters rage.
“Like, we’re all waiting for you in town. For someone who runs really fast, you’re always late I think.” Mike drew out slowly. Sonic swore he could see time warp around this guy, slowing down everything. Even the sun seemed to be moving slower in the presence of this GUY.
“...Thanks,” Sonic drew out slowly to mock Mike. The dimwit didn’t seem to notice, again. Sonic knew Mike saved him today, but that didn’t stop the fact Sonic was at home, and the sun was setting. Even ‘heroes’ needed sleep and time to themselves. With the whole town knowing where he lived he would never get any peace. Besides, how was he late to this so-called meeting if he was never told or invited to it? “I’ll help you there,” he decided over a long moment of silence, though in reality, it was barely enough for Mike to even breathe in once.
Sonic grabbed Mike, supporting him easily and holding the crutches so they wouldn’t swing around and hit his legs as he ran. Once Mike was properly braced Sonic took off running, zipping to town in a matter of seconds.
Sonic came to one of his classic sudden stops right in the middle of town, letting Mike go and handing the injured man his crutches back. Why they sent the injured man to the beach to get him, Sonic would never know.
“Surprise!” The townspeople yelled and cheered loudly. Everyone was here, even the members of the ‘Lightning Bolt Society’. Sonic felt the distinct need to run back to his little cove away from town, but before he could turn tail and run Charmeleon, the dude always pretending to be a tree, grabbed Sonic by his shoulders to keep him in place. Oh, so that’s why there was a tree in the middle of the road. Sometimes the world around Sonic would get blurry as he ran, and he assumed he was misinterpreted what he was seeing, again.
“Can you not?” Sonic whispered, trying not to cause a fuss as he tried to pull out of Charmeleon's grasp. Not like it mattered, the large group of people was surrounding him now, cheering and yelling. A few popped some confetti cannons into the air, the colored paper sprinkling down all around.
“Sonic!” Tails yelled happily, using his small size to squeeze through the bodies of people to get to the distressed hedgehog. “Let's celebrate!” He cheered happily, hopping up and putting a sparkling party hat on the taller male.
Sonic tried his damnedest not to look annoyed or distressed, but he had a severe case of the ‘I don’t want to be here’ and the ‘I really need to go home’ fever.
“Listen, if this is about me saving the town again, it’s really fine. I do it all the time, so it’s not a big deal. It’s late, I should-”
“PARTY!” Knuckles yelled from somewhere in the back of the crowd. “Take him to the party room!”
“I rather not!” Sonic yelled back, only to be lifted off his feet by the citizens. Seems they weren’t giving him a choice in his matter. The crowd carried him to the library, chanting ‘Sonic’ all the way much to his embarrassment.
The Library, normally empty and ignored by the townspeople was getting attention, for once. The wooden floors were polished as normal, shining in the golden light cast by the old bulbs impeded into the decorations in the engraved wood walls. The thick wooden support beams lining the ceiling had party streams thrown over them, one even had a multi-colored disco light hastily taped on- Sonic swore it was bound to fall any second. The incredible tall bookcases were covered in streamers and party decorations, including a few random ones like a hand-drawn ‘pin the tails on Tails’ game. In the sitting area of the library were more games, from twisters to a random glass bottle sitting alone on a table, then even a barrel of water and apples. The sign over it said ‘The Knuckles Challenge. Record, 20 in a minute’.
The crowd dropped Sonic onto his feet in front of one of the long study tables, which was covered in a dark blue table cloth. Every seat had its own party plate, and right in front of Sonic was a 3-tiered blue cake with his face drawn in the frosting.
“Sonic,” the Old Monkey spoke, leaning heavily on the cane he carried around for support. “We were so harsh on you, Amy told us how mean and insensitive we were to your feelings. We didn’t realize how much stress you were under… So, we’re throwing this party to say thank you, and we’re sorry,” he croaked out weakly.
“I-” Sonic began only to be interrupted.
“I bet Sonic it totally stoked! So, to celebrate, let's get this party started!” Knuckles yelled, turning on the music in the makeshift DJ ‘booth’ they had set up at the main desk. Party music started to blast out of the speakers set up randomly around the library’s main area and the lights dimmed as the colored party lights turned on and flashed to the beat of the music.
The party started just like that. The cake was cut and passed around, people were playing games or dancing out on the designated dance floor. Everyone was having fun, except for Sonic.
The hedgehog had the feeling to bolt for the door, but he could see Amy hanging around it, chatting away with Perci as they ate a slice of cake. The front door was a no go then, and Sonic honestly didn’t know if there was a back door. Leaving from ‘his own’ party would be ‘insensitive’, as Amy seemed to rant about daily now.
He just needed a moment to himself, just a moment to process and think.
Sonic carefully backed away from the crowd and walked as fast as he could, not run! That would draw too much attention. The distressed Sonic rushed to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and locking it, not caring if anyone else needed to get in.
Sonic leaned heavily against the door, shutting his eyes and covering his highly sensitive ears to try to block out the pounding music that was getting through the heavy door.
“Some party, huh Sonic?”
Sonic’s eyes snapped open and he lifted his head, his eyes instantly landing on the brooding hedgehog who lazily sat on the open window sill. The dark sky behind him made Shadow almost blend in with the dark. Sonic assured himself that’s why he didn’t notice him at first.
“Throwing a big ol’ party for you, but you’re in here doing everything you can to avoid it. Some friends, don’t even notice you'd rather leave,” he scoffed. Sonic felt the instant need to stand up for his friends. They were just trying to fix everything, today was stressful and they wanted Sonic and the town to get along again!
But, where was the lie? He really didn’t want to be here, he rather be anywhere else but here. The darker hedgehog seemed to be reading his mind.
“Let's get out of here,” he decided easily. Shadow hopped out of the window, landing on the ground outside soundlessly as flames came out the bottom of his shoes, easing the landing.
Sonic looked back at the locked door, hearing the music continue as Knuckles DJed the party perfectly to get the crowd pumping. It was possible going with Shadow was some sort of trap set by Eggman, but an Eggman attack twice in one day was unlikely… so it was just Shadow here.
Sonic took one last look at the door before he hopped out of the window with ease, following Shadow. He was sure no one would even notice he was missing from his own party. Sonic hurried along, catching up with Shadow who was already on the main street. Looking back at the library Sonic could see the colorful flashing lights through the window and the occasional shadow of someone dancing in those lights.
“Looks like a bore,” Shadow duly noted before he turned away and kept walking. “Try to keep up, slow-poke.”
“I’m not slow!” Sonic huffed angrily, jogging after Shadow effortlessly. “You just got ahead of me for a second.” Sonic suppressed a smile.
“If you’re not slow, then try to keep up with me. I’ll take you someplace you actually want to be.”
“Oh, you’re on!” Sonic grinned.
Shadow hopped off the ground, fire shooting out of his shoes as he effortlessly took off ahead of Sonic. The blue speedster quickly took off, chasing after Shadow. There was no ‘finish’ line, so Sonic figured all he would have to do is just catch up, though Shadow kept making tight turns around buildings and leading the hero around in circles around town.
Sonic barely paid attention to where they were running, his eyes focused only on Shadow so he didn’t lose him in the dark.
Sonic had managed to catch up here and there, taking sharper turns- but he had a sneaking suspicion Shadow was letting him catch up on purpose!
“Is that all you got!” Shadow yelled over his shoulder, taking a turn out of town. Sonic gave chase without hesitation.
“Oh, you’re so dead!” Sonic laughed joyfully, jumping over a fallen log as Shadow dashed into the forest, ducking under the low hanging branches. Sonic pulled his head down, making himself more aerodynamic to catch up, getting a bit more speed behind him.
The sports tape holding his shoes to his legs were looser than he would like, but he wasn’t going to let some weak tape stop him!
That was until his foot hit the sand and the sudden change in the texture caused the shoes to fly off with ease between the weak tape and the incredible speed Sonic was racing at. Sonic tumbled forward, his hands shot out for support and he managed to just grab Shadow on the way down, pulling the dark hedgehog down with him.
The pair skidded across the sand, tumbling and rolling because of the great momentum the two carried.
When they finally came to a stop they were laying on the sand, just a few feet from the gentle coastline in front of Sonic’s own house. Sonic groaned, slowly lifting his head to see he was partly laying across Shadow’s back, who was currently face first in the sand.
Sonic carefully pushed himself up, though that involved pushing Shadow deeper into the sand as he used his back as a brace to put his hands.
“Ugh… Where’d my shoe go?” Sonic grumbled as he sat up, pulling his feet up to see he was just missing his right shoe.
Shadow grumbled angrily into the sand before he too sat up, shaking his head to get rid of the sand clinging to his face. “You jerk, you knocked me down!”
“Well, I did catch up?” Sonic offered with a laugh. “What are we even doing here? We’re at my place.”
“Well, this is where you wanted to be,” Shadow said confidently. “Not at some dumb party held at the library.” Shadow went to stand up, but after a moment seemed to change his mind as he flopped back down, resting on his back as he stared up at the sky.
Sonic moved to get up, wanting to go fetch his shoe which was somewhere within a mile- he hoped. But after seeing Shadow just peacefully laying on the beach Sonic scootched over, laying down beside him instead.
“You hurt?” Sonic asked after a long, tense moment.
“As if,” Shadow said easily. “Takes a lot more than a little fall to even scratch me.” Sonic tried his best not to roll his eyes. “How about you? You’re the one that actually tripped.”
“I’m fine, my shoe just came off when we hit the sand,” Sonic explained easily. “The tape was loose.”
“Tape?” Shadow sat up, looking down at Sonic’s feet. One of the shoes was still taped on, though it wasn’t secure enough to go running. “Tape? Really Sonic? Why not get some straps like my shoes?”
“Your shoes have boosters in them and are mostly metal. My feet can breathe when I run at least,” Sonic proudly said. “I wouldn’t change my shoes in any way. That would throw off everything.”
“Missing a shoe will throw off everything,” Shadow commented effortlessly.
“What are we even doing?” Sonic asked quickly to change the topic.
“Looking at the stars, I suppose.”
“Stars?” Sonic turned his gaze upwards to the night sky. “What about them?”
“I don’t know… I like spotting the constellations I guess. Putting stars in orders and groups, so they’re easy to recognize and name. Calling things what they are,” he added on as his gaze shifted to Sonic. “A star a star, a cluster a cluster. Nothing wrong with calling things what they are.”
“I don’t know what you heard but-”
“That constellation right there is called ‘The Alter’,” Shadow pointed out as he interrupted Sonic. “Then that one over there is The Queen, I rather like the story behind that one,” he mentioned mindlessly.
“Story?”
“Yes, every constellation has a story. The Queen involves well, a Queen and her King. The Queen boasted that she was so beautiful she surpassed the gods, and that, of course, enraged them. The land of the nobles was ravished and destroyed, so the humans asked an oracle for help. They were to sacrifice their daughter, the Princess to the sea. But, when the monster came from the sea for the Princess he instead saved her. The gods then punished the parents, who did the wrong deed in the first place by trapping them into the sky for their boastfulness.”
“First off, that's horrifying. Second... How do you even know that?”
Shadow silently shrugged, his eyes remaining on the sky. “Lay down, I’ll show you.”
Sonic, having nothing else to do laid down beside the dark hedgehog, scooting closer so their shoulders were touching. Shadow pointed up at the sky, directing Sonic’s gaze to the stars that formed each constellation and started to tell the hero the story behind some of his favorites. Sonic listened peacefully, smiling as Shadow talked without restraint- it was a rare thing to see.
This was much better than the party.
Around the fifth or sixth story, or was it the eighth that Sonic started to nod off, his eyes shutting for longer and longer periods. They were out here for at least a good long while, as the moon was high in the sky now and silence has fallen all around. Not even the crickets were chirping in the forest. The sleepy hero didn’t even notice when Shadow sat up beside him.
“Come on Blue-Boy, time to get you inside,” Shadow muttered as he nudged Sonic’s shoulder.
“No, not yet… This is fun,” he whispered tiredly, rolling onto his side so his back was to Shadow instead.
“You’re barely awake. You need rest,” Shadow insisted. “We can do this some other night.”
“No we won’t, you’re never around.”
“Well, maybe I’ll come back tomorrow night. Now let's get you in bed.” Shadow stubbornly lifted Sonic up, carrying the tired hero into his beach home. “Where’s your bed?”
“Hammock,” Sonic muttered without even opening his eyes.
“... Not even a real bed. Some hero you are. I guess saving the town hardly pay the bills?”
“I like hammocks you dark… dark thing,” Sonic gave up on his insult before it even started.
“... Impressive,” Shadow teased as he laid Sonic into the hammock, though seemed to panic a bit when it moved as Shadow stubbornly held it, afraid Sonic would just slip out and land face first onto the floor. Shadow with his little trust for the hammock looked around, trying to find anything else to lay Sonic on. He did spot a few chairs, which he speedily dragged over to place under the hammock. The backs of the chairs pressed against the net of the hammock, keeping it from even swinging.
“Coward,” Sonic grumbled lightly. “I bet you can’t even sleep in one of these.”
“I rather not risk it.” Shadow grumbled and started to walk for the door.
“You should try it, it’s comfortable,” Sonic called out lightly.
“Maybe someday in the far, far away future. Now go to sleep, Sonic.”
“Fine, you jerk. But, you got to promise to come back tomorrow,” Sonic yawned tiredly, turning to face the door as he opened his eyes just enough to see the dark figure in the entryway. “Thank you for a wonderful night, Shadow.”
“... Don’t tell anyone about it slow-poke. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Shadow gruffly added before walking out into the night. Sonic smiled, snuggling into his hammock as he willingly let his eyes shut, a peaceful smile on his face. What a perfect night.