Chapter Text
Shadow cracked open the door of his bedroom and listened for any signs of life from his housemates. Rouge was clearly awake. He could hear her jazzy vocal rifts drifting through the air while she showered. As he crept down the hall and passed Omega, he could hear the electric hum of Omega’s charging station in action, proving that the robot was still getting rested up after their latest adventure.
He paused at the whiteboard Rouge had mounted to the wall by the front door. Since he didn’t bother keeping track of a cell phone, he had agreed to make it easy to find him in an emergency the old-fashioned way by leaving notes whenever he left unannounced.
Chao.
– Shadow
That’s enough information for an expert treasure hunter. I wouldn’t want to insult your intelligence. He thought with a smile, knowing he would hear about his lack of details later. If he were anything less than Shadow the Hedgehog, Ultimate Lifeform, Rouge might worry if his absence dragged on too long. This game wasn’t about making Rouge worry, though. It was about leaving borderline useless notes for the sake of it.
In a flash, he was under his favorite tree in his favorite chao garden, taking a deep breath. The air was cleaner here. Not a moment later, a familiar dark chao who looked a lot like Shadow was bounding towards him. Shadow knelt and petted his head, greeting him, “Hello, Toto.”
“Did you name him after the dog, Mr. Shadow? From Wizard of Oz?” Shadow heard a soft voice ask behind him. Someone was on the other side of the tree. His head whipped around to see who it was. Cream was peeking back at him. Not a stranger. Cream was known for being well-mannered and wasn't particularly loud, so he concluded that she wouldn’t bother him too much. Or tease him for being there.
“You’re correct.” He answered plainly. Cream smiled, clearly feeling victorious before settling in on her side of the tree again. Rotating his ears, he could hear a pencil on paper, moving back and forth. Sounds like she’s preoccupied with drawing. He sat down, pulled a plum from his quills, and handed it to Toto, who ate it to the pit with reckless abandon. He watched, thinking about how simple life must be for a chao.
“When’s your birthday?” Cream asked, colored pencil still in motion.
“I wasn’t born, and I don’t age, so I’m not sure.” He had an idea, of course, of when he was made. It wasn’t like the anniversary of his creation went uncelebrated on the ARK. On his own, he didn’t feel the urge to celebrate. His creation wasn’t something he had a hand in, and his original purpose… Surviving another year wasn’t an accomplishment to him, tracking such milestones wouldn’t mean much. It was just a natural consequence of being hard, if not impossible, to kill. He heard the pencil stop.
“Oh. Are you a fairy?” She asked, as though that were a normal thing to ask someone. Shadow opened his mouth to deny such a nonsensical accusation but stopped himself to think. She didn’t seem to know much about him. She was probably going to ask more questions, which could lead to explaining the incident to a young child. He's never really had to explain his past to anyone. Whether he liked it or not, most of his allies already knew. Circumstances didn't give him the option to have secrets. Twice when the planet was in peril, he and information from his past were key to saving it. Toto crawled into Shadow’s lap, clearly ready for a nap. There was no escape.
“I won’t tell anyone if you are,” she whispered, not waiting for a definitive answer, “where did you come from?”
“The stars.” It wasn’t a lie, technically. He heard a page turn. It sounded like she was writing now.
“I didn’t know there were star fairies! What was it like up there?”
“It was quiet.” He stroked Toto’s head. It’s even quieter now.
“Do fairies really grant wishes?”
“Well,” he began, aware he was likely backing himself into a corner with this one, “I have promised to grant a wish before.”
“I hope it was a good one. I’ve heard fairies only have one wish in them.”
“Yeah,” Shadow didn’t offer any further explanation, and the garden was quiet for a while. Cream had gone back to coloring, and Toto was fast asleep in Shadow’s lap. Shadow busied himself inspecting his chao’s quill-like features, checking them for any trapped dirt or hidden injuries. Toto fussed at the pestering in his sleep but wasn’t bothered enough to leave. Finding nothing of note, Shadow Shifted to lie on his back and put the chao on his chest.
“What was it?”
“What was what?”
“The wish?”
Shadow hummed, choosing his words carefully, “A long time ago, my friend wished for me to protect this planet. She sent me here, and I’ve been here ever since.” No gruesome details for you. It wasn’t just for his own sake, though being able to maintain some level of privacy over the topic without ignoring the subject of his late friend entirely was nice. His grief wasn’t taking the stage today, and it hadn't snuck up on him for a while. Cream was tough enough to fight Dr. Eggman, but he got the impression that she maintained her sensitivity. Not a bad thing, but he wasn’t interested in making anyone cry.
“Her name was Maria.”
“What did she look like?”
“She was human. Taller than me, blue eyes and blonde hair.”
Shadow heard more writing and the sound of a book closing. Cream called for Cheese, and the two of them came into his field of vision. Shadow sat up to face them properly, cradling his chao so that he wouldn’t fall. He was relieved to see that nothing he revealed to her affected her much. He’d succeeded, though his method was slightly dishonest.
“Thanks for playing with me today, Mr. Shadow. I must go, now. I hope I see you here again sometime!”
Shadow nodded, a little confused. He didn’t recall anything that resembled playing. As Cream curtsied and took flight, his chao awoke with a yawn and wiggled his way out of his arms. The sun was much higher in the sky than it was when he had arrived, so it had gotten warmer. Typical. Toto only sticks around if he’s cold. Once late fall hit, the chao would decide that living indoors isn’t so bad. The weather was still too nice for any of that right now, so Shadow returned alone.