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There's a chill in the air today.
The Emerald hums boredly behind Knuckles as he stands in front of the shrine, head somewhere far away. He's always grateful for an uneventful day guarding the Master Emerald — but it's hard not to get antsy after the fifth hour doing nothing.
He decides to fit another patrol into his routine. He's an hour ahead of schedule, but who's about to tell him he can't? He's in charge around here.
Knuckles looks down at Crisp— a little red chao named for his similarity to an apple. There are dozens of chao that hang around the shrine, but this one likes to copy Knuckles's stance and mannerisms. They'll make a good Emerald-sitter.
“If you see anything suspicious,” He says. “scream really loud.”
Crisp gives him a salute before waddling up to inspect the Emerald, little paws thumping together the way Knuckles bumps his fists. Yep. They're a perfect fit.
Knuckles heads into the woods, taking a well-tread path through the frost covered underbrush. Winter is rapidly approaching, and the sky gets less and less saturated every day as a storm threatens to drown Angel Island in snow. Today, it's completely white, choked in foggy cloud cover, heavy overhead, ready to drop.
The wind picks up as Knuckles walks, looking left and right and all about in a laissez-faire sort of way, his thick, woolen poncho swishing as he does. His boxing gloves keep out the cold as well as they can and he's swapped out his running shoes for taller, sturdier boots. Winter will not be kind when it gets here. He might as well be prepared.
Eventually he reaches a dry riverbed, the stream long since rerouted by beavers. It cuts back through the forest, ultimately making the path longer but giving Knuckles a more thorough eye out for potential threats. Smooth pebbles crackle underfoot, and the dark, bare branches of trees reach for each other across the banks, rattling in the wind like phalanges. It's always an ominous detour, but without the chattering of animals to join him on this walk, it feels a little like another planet entirely.
Wait. No animals. It's too quiet.
Knuckles clenches his fist and slows down, his footsteps getting quieter. His eyes scan the area with purpose, now.
There, just ahead. A shadow around the corner. He creeps further up the riverbed, steps so careful that the rocks underneath his feet hardly shift. Closer… closer…
He leaps around the curve of the riverbend, launching himself at the shadow. The shape disappears with a zip! as soon as his fists close around it. It reappears just behind him with the same sound, and Knuckles whirls around fast as lightning, slamming a spiked fist into the wall of the bank.
There, mere inches from where his fist is buried in the dirt, two red eyes stare back through Shadow's face.
Knuckles doesn't allow his surprise to show through his face. At least he tries not to. With a shunk of crackling dirt, he yanks his fist free of the wall, the white of his boxing glove smeared with the black-brown of the riverbed sand.
“I prefer a notice in advance.”
Shadow pushes away from where he's leaning against the wall. He's wearing cold weather clothes like Knuckles; a black puffer vest wrapped tightly around his middle, shiny in the white sunlight, as well as long woolen gloves and socks that go up to his elbows and knees. Knuckles hadn't thought it was possible for him to get cold.
“Last minute decision on my part.” Shadow admits, having the decency to sound mildly apologetic. “I came to warn you of a disturbance in the weather.”
“Disturbance in the weather?”
“Snowstorms heading this way. Big ones. Below freezing temperatures. Ten feet of snow. They’re due to hit Angel Island head on within the next twelve hours.” Shadow dusts dirt from his jacket and fur. “Just thought you ought to know.”
Knuckles stares at him, a little taken aback by his apparent genuine concern.
“...I appreciate your forewarning.” He murmurs at last, shaking away his befuddlement like frost from his spines. “Since when do you care about what happens to my island?”
Shadow’s ears flatten at his tone of voice. “Contrary to popular assumption, I do have a heart. It’s my understanding that Angel Island is home to multiple chao gardens. Do you need any help getting them someplace safe?”
Come to think of it, Knuckles could use some help with that. The quicker they brought the chao back to the Master Emerald shrine and out of the cold, the better.
“There are five.” He jerks his head. “We’ll start at Marble Garden and make our way back.”
Shadow comes to stand at his side. “Lead the way.”
…
The garden in Marble Garden is home to only six chao. Shadow and Knuckles hold three each, and, over the course of an hour, follow a few freezing rivers down to a lake, where another garden is waiting. Their small party of six grows to twelve, and as Knuckles gently coaxes his newly-acquired small army of chao around him, he turns to see how Shadow’s doing.
Shadow is kneeling in the grass next to the river, patting the head of a little pink chao. The chao is chattering at him, arguing about leaving its collection of pretty rocks behind. Sounds like an emergency.
Knuckles joins him. The chao redirects its dilemma to him instead, its chattering sounding more like whining now.
“Here.” Knuckles digs into the pocket of his poncho and pulls out a little bag of nuts. There are only a few left, so he dumps them into his glove and hands the empty bag to the chao. “Pack ‘em up. Quickly.”
Excitably the chao whirls and runs back to its rock collection. A sigh escapes Shadow at Knuckles’ side, and he looks down to see the hedgehog slouching a little bit, his eyes half-lidded.
“Don’t tell me a single chao wore you out this badly.” Knuckles prods, teasingly.
Shadow blinks, and looks up at him. “Huh?”
There’s a blankness in his eyes that gives Knuckles pause. He’s seen that look before.
This… is an interesting development. “You look tired.”
Shadow clears his throat, pushing himself to his feet. “I’m fine. Where to next?”
“Mushroom Hill. Fifteen minutes, as the echidna glides. More like thirty on foot, taking the terrain into account. Think you can make it?”
“Why wouldn’t I? Let’s just get going.” He swishes past Knuckles and toward the group of chao, huffing out a few orders for them to follow him.
Knuckles watches him for a few seconds before giving him a sharp whistle. Shadow jerks and turns again.
“Wrong way.” He points west.
Shadow’s ears flatten, his cheeks getting somewhat pink under his fur. “I knew that.”
..
The trip to Mushroom Hill is uneventful, what with Knuckles guiding the group around hidden traps as easily as breathing. Soon, he falls into step beside Shadow, directing the chao to walk behind them. Shadow is holding the pink chao from earlier, listening to it chatter about its rocks. He probably doesn’t understand any of it, but he nods along anyway, his eyes far away.
“How you doing?” Knuckles asks, casually.
Shadow looks at him, slow to comprehend his words. “Fine. Why?”
“You look about ready to fall asleep.”
Shadow squints. “I’m not. I’m fully alert.”
“Ah, yes. I can tell by the way you’re avoiding every knot in the path.”
As though to highlight his point, Shadow trips on a loose root, stumbling right into Knuckles, who steadies him with a snort. Shadow shoves away from him again, red in the face with annoyance.
“It’s… the cold.” Shadow finally admits, readjusting the chao in his arms. It had been jolted when Shadow tripped, and was now laying into him in chao language, waving its little paw all about. “It’s coming much quicker than I’m used to.”
Bingo. “You’re about ready to hibernate.”
“I don’t hibernate.” Shadow hisses, whirling on him with teeth bared. “I’m not an animal.”
For Gaia’s sake, not this again. Knuckles rolls his eyes. Shadow has had a history of denying himself his basic mobian needs in a ridiculous attempt to adhere to his 1950’s human upbringing. Frankly, it’s just depressing.
“What do you do every winter, then?” He asks, flatly.
“Copious amounts of espresso.” Shadow mutters. He readjusts the chao again. Damn, that bag of river rocks must be pretty heavy. “Like a prescription drug.”
“It’s not healthy, man.”
“Look, can we just gather up your chao so you can get on with your life and I can get on with mine?”
Whatever. “If you insist.”
..
They gather five chao in Mushroom Hill, and then three at the border of Sandopolis, bringing their group to a total of twenty. Several ride on Knuckles’s back, two in Shadow’s arms, and the rest scamper about their feet as they head toward the forests of the island again. Having gone in a wide circle, they’re about an hour’s travel back to the shrine.
By now the wind is starting to pick up. It brings with it a brisk chill that breezes right through Knuckles’s heavy poncho. A bone-deep chill that threatens a painfully cold night. It stings the nose and clouds the breath, and Knuckles is becoming increasingly thankful that Shadow arrived when he did with his warning.
“The shrine is the safest place for them to be?” Shadow asks as they walk. Knuckles doesn’t bring it up, but it’s becoming clear that he’s talking just to keep himself awake.
“The Emerald will keep the worst of it off the sanctuary. It radiates a gentle heat and its magic encourages plant growth. It may be the only part of the Island that can support us through the winter if these storms are as bad as you say.”
Shadow swallows and nods. “I’ve seen the weather reports. GUN was scrambling to winterize headquarters before it got here. I’m technically supposed to be helping with that, but…” He readjusts the chao in his arms for the umpteenth time. “...this is more important.”
Knuckles reaches out and takes one of the chao from him, offering him a grin. “Thank you.”
Shadow’s eyes linger on his for a moment longer than necessary, flicking away with a clear of his throat. “I’m happy to help.”
“You’re free to run off, if you must. I can take care of the chao from here on out.”
This offer turns behind Shadow’s eyes for a minute as he thinks about it. Then he shakes his head. “No, no, I’ll… I want to see this through. This is a lot of chao to manage.”
“If you insist.”
They reach the treeline as the first flakes of snow start to fall. Shadow looks up, catching a few on his nose. He shivers and shakes out his quills, and Knuckles can't help the way he snickers at the sight. Not built for the cold.
The faded green and bare branches of the forest are slowly powdered in white as the group of chao march through, the little creatures hopping around excitedly to bat snowflakes out of the air. When they reach the final chao garden, they're already starting to gather together for warmth.
Knuckles counts each little head in his care. Then he feels his heart sink, counting again. Then again.
“We're missing one.”
“I'll find it.” Shadow says without missing a beat. He hands Knuckles the pink chao with the rock collection and— yeah, Knuckles can forgive him for readjusting its weight so many times. That's a lot of rocks. “How far is the shrine from here?”
“About twenty minutes north and upward.”
“I'll meet you there.”
Knuckles turns sharply, narrowing his eyes at Shadow. “No. Not you. You're exhausted.”
But Shadow is already walking off. “Don't patronize me, echidna. I'm faster than you. I can use chaos control to warp to the shrine once I find our lost chao.”
Knuckles is hesitant. He knows Shadow is typically more than capable of finding a lost chao, but with the weather looming so ominously ahead…
“Fine, just… be quick.”
As swiftly and gracefully as his namesake, Shadow disappears into the trees.
..
At last, the group reaches the shrine. Like a batch of schoolchildren, the chao cheerfully waddle into the ancient ruins surrounding the shrine, claiming cozy nests to find warmth in as the snow falls in earnest.
It's coming down fast, now— and heavy. So heavy that it obscures the horizon in sheer white. It makes a gentle rushing sound as it hits the ground, starting to clump together in a thick white carpet.
And Shadow isn't back yet.
“Okay.” Knuckles bites his lip, and looks down at Crisp, still dutifully looking out over the ruins from the shrine. “You're in charge until I get back.”
Crisp salutes.
..
By the time he gets back to the forests below, it's already getting dark. The sky has become a deep navy blue, casting the trees and the snow in shadow. Everything is starting to look the same no matter which way Knuckles turns— which is a little spookier than he cares to admit.
And if Knuckles is having a hard time, Shadow wouldn't be able to find his way at all.
“Shadow!!” He calls, sharply. The snow does its best to absorb his voice, stifling him. “Shadow!! Answer me!!”
Nothing. Gaia, there's just nothing! Nothing but snowfall and a shroud of darkness! Within the hour Shadow would be lost to the storm, fate decided by frostbite and hypothermia.
And Knuckles would be close behind if he kept searching.
He grits his teeth. He will not stop searching.
Suddenly, the squeak of a chao grabs his attention, and he looks down with a start. A little green chao waves at him from a few feet away, already wading through half a foot of snow. A thundering wave of relief crashes over Knuckles and he makes a mad dash for them, his heart jolting to see them shiver and wail in distress. As he gets closer, they wave him further into the trees. And Knuckles, heart leaping, understands.
It only takes a few minutes after that. But it feels like an eternity. Weaving through trees, leaping riverbeds with rapid waters, brushing past shrubbery already frosted with ice. It's nearly impossible to navigate in the snowfall. But soon enough, Knuckles breaks from the heavy thicket and into a clearing.
It's here, in the center of this dark and stormy clearing, that a black shadow is sprawled out on its side, already collecting a heavy layer of snow on top. The chao runs to the shape, slapping at the figure's face and wailing in distress. Knuckles is seconds behind them, falling to his knees into the thick snow and turning the shape on its side.
Shadow's eyes are shut and his body is completely limp. His fur is already wet with the snow, white sticking to his muzzle and his eyelashes. Knuckles brushes it off of his face and pats his cheek a few times.
“Shadow? Shadow, answer me.”
Nothing.
Knuckles tears a glove off his hand and presses his bare fingers against Shadow’s neck. Deep in there, Knuckles can feel a slow, shuddering heartbeat.
Gaia forsake it all, it's hibernation! He knew this would happen, and he let Shadow come out here alone regardless. This could have killed him!
Quickly, Knuckles pulls Shadow out of the snow and against his chest, tucking Shadow's face under his chin and wrapping the edge of his poncho around him. For Gaia's sake, he’s freezing.
The snow thunders mercilessly all around them as he stands, looking around nervously. The shrine is twenty minutes away— but that's too far. He has to get Shadow warm now.
Scooping up the green chao, he runs through the cold forest for a short time, squinting through the snowfall for anywhere to hide away. The terrain rises and slopes, and eventually slants up into hills and rocky cliffsides. And in them, the gaping maws of caves.
Quick as a flash he ducks into one of these caves, running as far as he dares into the darkness before turning to look through the mouth again, seeing the way the snow rushes past like a billowing white curtain. The wind picks up, whistling through the cave entrance like a howling ghost.
Knuckles just stands for a moment, clutching Shadow to his chest, breathing hard. The chao on his shoulder digs their face into his spines, sniffling.
There's a brief silence. Then he heaves a deep sigh, finally looking back down at Shadow's face. The hedgehog is as still as the dead, red eyes lost behind leaden eyelids. But as Knuckles watches, faint puffs of cloudy breath escape his slightly parted lips.
Knuckles's heartbeat slows, calming down from that scare in the storm. He rests his chin on top of Shadow's head for just a few seconds in something he will never admit is a hug.
...That was a close one.
The next few minutes are quick and efficient. He gently sets Shadow against the wall of the cave and starts to collect some of the dry vegetation speckled around the floor— mostly sticks and leaves blown in from outside. Then he starts a fire, coaxing it into a comfortable blaze.
The cave is lit with a warm, yellow glow, and it slowly starts to warm up the immediate area. The chao loafs up in front of the fire and purrs, trying to release the anxious tension in their tiny little body. Knuckles himself sits down and leans against the wall, pulling Shadow up against his side and re-wrapping the flap of his poncho around the two of them like a blanket. He takes off his other glove and sets it aside, brushing his fingers through Shadow's fur. Stimuli like that always helped wake Sonic and Amy from their naps. Maybe it would rouse Shadow, too.
It takes about ten minutes, but... Shadow finally stirs. Knuckles feels an anchor drop off of his chest and onto the cave floor, relief making him go nearly weightless.
“Shadow?” He asks quietly, mussing up the fur behind his ears. Wake up, wake up… “You okay, bud?”
A little whine escapes Shadow when his shoulders stretch. He blinks slowly and turns his head to look up at Knuckles, cheek pressed against his shoulder.
“Wha…?” He mumbles, sleepily.
“You fell asleep.”
“I did…?” Shadow tries to look around, eyes bleary and unfocused. “Where…?”
“A cave on Angel Island. You're on Angel Island, remember?”
“Angel…” Shadow's eyes blink harshly now, and he rubs at them as he quickly tries to rise away from Knuckles, pushing at his chest. He seems a little more awake now. “Oh my god. It started snowing and I— I apologize, I—”
“Hey, hey—” Knuckles leans after him, grabbing him by the shoulder. “It's okay! It's okay. I'm just glad you're safe.”
Shadow looks around like a spooked cat, taking in his surroundings. He spots the fire, the cave entrance, swarmed with snow. “Shit— you came out after me? I've put you at risk— for Gaia's sake, I've trapped you out in the storm!”
“Hey. Relax. It's my island, remember? I'm more than prepared enough to spend one night in a cave.” He gently taps on Shadow's puffer vest, still slick with snow and trapping wetness into his fur. “Here, let's get this off. You need to get dry.”
“Um—” Shadow looks down at it as though he's just realizing how wet and shivery he is. He unzips the vest and slips it off, laying it next to the fire. The fur from underneath sticks to his skin and his shaking gets worse. “Right. Chaos, I feel like my mind is only half here. I apologize for this.”
Rolling his eyes, Knuckles drapes his poncho back over Shadow's shoulders, rubbing the hedgehog's fur against the grain to pull the water out. “Stop apologizing. You're okay.”
“No, this isn't okay. I've endangered your life by forcing you to come out into the storm after me. The damn cold incapacitated me before I could bring home your lost chao. I should have taken more calculated measures to prevent this."
No sense beating a sad man while he's down. Buuuut,
“Well," Knuckles begins again, pointedly, "it was pretty reckless of you to bulldoze into a snowstorm this close to your hibernation cycle.”
Shadow's head snaps to him and he growls, ears flat. “I. don't. Hibernate!”
“Right, right.” Knuckles musses the top of his head, making the wet fur stick straight up. “Mister Human Hedgehog right here.”
Shadow bats his hand away. “I'm not a hedgehog.”
“So you just call yourself 'Shadow the Hedgehog' because it's funny.”
"For Gaia's sake, Knuckles!" Shadow's frustration reaches its limit. He starts to gesture erratically, flicking melted snow toward the fire. “The professor built me in this form, but I'm not really a mobian hedgehog. I'm just a…" He searches for a word. "...a thing!! I'm some— some freaky, alien, hybrid... thing someone made in a lab!! I'm not a hedgehog. So no, I don't act like one.”
...Oh.
That's... that's kind of sad.
“If you insist.” Knuckles tries not to dwell on it. Above anything else, Shadow needs to tend to his health. “But freaky alien hybrid thing notwithstanding, you're still at least part hedgehog. You come with hedgehog instincts. They're natural. Vital to your wellbeing, even. Skipping hibernation is like submitting yourself to sleep deprivation for weeks at a time. You could really hurt yourself.”
Shadow gives him a long-suffering look.
“Listen,” Knuckles starts again, patiently. “Why don't you call Rouge to come pick you up? She can carry you back to the ground.”
At this, Shadow's ears droop. With a sigh, he shakes his head. “She's out in Spagonia with Omega on a mission. GUN insisted they needed me here, so… I didn't go with them.”
Yeesh, Spagonia. That's nearly a full day's flight, even by plane. There’s really no possible way for Rouge to come pick up Shadow in a reasonable timeframe— especially not in these storms. It's just impractical. Dangerous.
“I'll try to get ahold of Tails.” Knuckles says, reaching into Shadow's vest pocket for his phone. It's an old flip-phone, ancient compared to the technology Amy and Rouge use, which Knuckles actually appreciates. He doesn't even have a phone— technology as a whole is much too annoying for Knuckles to try and keep up with outside of the absolute basics. At least that's something he and Shadow have in common.
Calling Tails yields no results. The dial runs until it goes dead, and it does so several times as Knuckles tries over and over to hear that answering click. He curses. Must be the weather. Really, he should have expected that. He keeps forgetting how unreliable technology can be when you really need it.
“Nothing.” He finally relents, snapping the phone shut. This is when he notices the weight on his shoulder. Knuckles looks over, surprised, to see Shadow's head dropped gently on his shoulder again, eyes shut and breath steady.
He's fallen asleep again.
That's to be expected, Knuckles thinks, swallowing, watching Shadow's face for a moment. Without his usual grimace or scowl, he looks so… peaceful.
Still, he can't get caught up in this; not when Shadow has expressed his unwillingness to be so vulnerable. He pats Shadow's cheek until he wakes again— though ‘wakefulness’ is starting to become less defined.
“Shadow?” Knuckles asks, lowering his voice. The last thing he wants to do is spook him in this state. Shadow accidentally teleporting back into the snowy wilderness would be the end of it. “Hey. You still lucid, bud?”
“Mm...” Shadow replies, blinking slowly. His pupils are dilated more than before. “Yes. I think so.”
There's a brief silence in which Shadow continues to stare at him, not seeming to know what else to say. Knuckles becomes antsy, feeling the time tick away. At some point Shadow's eyes will shut and it'll take falling off of Angel Island into the freezing sea below to wake him again.
Finally Knuckles voices the question that hangs in the air.
“Why don't you stay here?”
As soon as he says it, the words land like bowling balls in Knuckles’s stomach. He's never hosted anyone for hibernation before. He never in his life imagined the first would be Shadow.
Shadow, for his part, doesn't appear to take it badly. His eyes flick between Knuckles’s, as though waiting for him to take it back. Floundering in his silence, Knuckles wonders if he should.
“Here?” It comes out quiet, Shadow's voice getting rapidly softer.
“Well, not here here, in this cave. I only mean… on Angel Island. With... me." Gaia, is that the fire that's making his face burn? "I mean, you can stay at the shrine, where it's warm.” He looks away, fiddles with his poncho. “I don't exactly hibernate… I go through these short bouts of torpor, in a meditative state. So I'll be awake all winter looking after the Emerald. I could keep an eye on you, too. I just mean… if that would make you feel safe.”
Shadow continues to stare at him. But when Knuckles finally turns to meet his eyes, he finds with a gentle relief that Shadow's lingering gaze isn't hostile at all. They're gentle pools of warm red, simply exhausted and considering.
“...Or I could keep calling Tails.” Knuckles tries to give him options. Something that feels less… intimate. “I can reach him once this weather clears up. Tails is looking after Sonic this winter, in one of his workshops. He may be able to find room for you until Rouge gets back—”
“It would.” Shadow murmurs at last, voice thick.
Knuckles trails off. Shadow sinks heavier against his side, and he quickly pats the hedgehog's face again.
Red eyes open again. Still lucid. But just barely. Before Knuckles can say anything, Shadow speaks again.
“Um… being here. With you. That would... make me feel safe.” He whispers, every word an effort. Still, he sounds grateful. Moreso than Knuckles has ever heard from him in his life. “Thank… you.”
Knuckles nods, looping his arm around Shadow to pull him closer. In seconds, Shadow is out again, and this time, Knuckles doesn't wake him.