Chapter Text
Earlier that day, two different sets of boots dropped down onto the outskirts of the frosty mountain range.
One, with a solid, sturdy thunk. Calm and restrained poise emanating from its sharp-eyed owner. Through the slits in the metal that obscured her face and protectively clasped onto the bundles of quills on her back, she observed the distant hum that warbled between the slopes ahead of her. Whose steps were precise and graceful like skating as she maneuvered in a harsh left up the steep ravine and walked with a confidence that held up the bones she wore adorned on her shoulders.
The other pair of shoes landed without much of a sound. However the same couldn’t be said about the owners of these shoes. A cheerful laugh bounced around as she flitted about the birds whipping past her trying to snatch the wooden recurve bow out of her hands. But the forest seemed to be enlivened with sounds just from her voice as she teased the birds and spun around them before shooting off like a dart.
Despite her sturdy and sharp chestplate pairing with her strapped headpiece that adorned its own peculiar set of decorated bones, she moved with a liquidity that challenged the wind to stop her. She zig-zagged through the bumpy forest floor, bouncing off roots and rocks as she propelled through the dense trees. This hunter, Sonic, her mind was set on catching a word with today’s Mark before the hunt began.
If she would ever thank that Egghead for anything, it would be that at least he kept her entertained. The only thing more endless than the hunts Sonic raced on the weekly to interrupt, was the amount of money Eggman seemed to have to fund them all. Each week, sometimes more than once, Sonic would wake from her sleep under a comfy oak tree to a bright beeping. Down on her wrist was a thick leather bracelet, tucked under her metal gauntlets and etched with all sorts of runes she didn’t know how to read. But her brother Tails, sure did. It was kinda his whole thing. He calibrated it to set off a noise when a Chaos Dragon sprung up and messed with the magnetic-something-something in the air. She didn’t know, she just knew that if a Chaos Dragon, a pure creature wrought from disturbed Chaos Energy in the air, was awake, it was going to be mad. Very mad, very soon.
And people would try to hurt it. Despite its anger being justified by whatever environmental damage had occurred around it. It just wanted to protect its home.
Sonic pushed away the twinge in her gut as she continued down her path. They didn’t always used to be ‘angry’. There was a time when she slept under big forest canopies and a Chaos creature, whatever form it took, would curl up near her and keep her warm through the night. But that’s why she felt it was her duty to protect them in turn.
She missed the company, though.
And it used to be a gentle thing, until someone made them mad. Devastating a forest with a magical fire that razed through the valleys like a knife and sunk malicious chemicals into the ground as Eggman powered away his engines to build his stupid land or whatever it was he always yapped about. Now, the Chaos Dragons were awaking to devastation. Each time, it seemed larger and larger amounts of disrupted chaos energy kept coalescing into larger and angrier entities. Sonic didn’t blame them, but it was hard to fight off Eggman’s forces and protect what became vulnerable in the aftermath.
Still, so long as her rune-etched bracelet gave her a direction, Sonic would be there.
But it had been well into an hour into the supposed area and she had yet to catch one clue of this Mark, a Hunter, and their whereabouts. No tracks, not even disturbed pathways! She was half-convinced the flickys around here made a better impression of a Mobian trampling around then her Mark. It was frustrating, but the thrill of the hunt always won her over in the end.
But, if this Mark had seemingly vanished, where was the Chaos Dragon? The very thing her bracelet had guided her towards?
“Hellooo? Any big ole Chaos entities wanna say Hi?” She called out, spinning in a circle and looking for just about any clue.
Sonic couldn’t quite silence the part of her that worried somehow, she’d been too late. And as she stood in between two large oaks that marked the coordinates, her blinker light finally silenced. The world seemed to hold its breath as Sonic attuned her ears to every sound nearby. She didn’t like the nervousness that crept up her spine at the creepy silence.
Well, if there was no rescue to be had, the least she could do was continue to chase this Mark. This Hunter, if they actually managed to kill a Chaos Dragon, that was an ill omen indeed. She gave herself a moment glare at the idea she wasn't here in time, before she shifted her focus with renewed energy. If the Hunter was here, there were tracks, somewhere. They could be as careful as they wanted, but you can't leave every leaf unturned.
It wasn’t until the sun was dipping out of the sky that Sonic spotted an abandoned piece of luggage. A couple of springs and rolls and she was unfurling a stashed paper as she stood back up.
It read:
“If you are trying to be sneaky, you should try shutting your mouth every once in a while.”
Sonic scoffed at the notion before continuing to read.
“This is my claimed hunt. I don’t care what Robotnik paid you, if you seek to steal my prey I will remind you why I am the Terror of the West.”
How fancy, this person thought themselves a real sport, huh? Shame they didn’t put their name down because Sonic was sure as hell never using a silly title like that. Though, hearing the ‘West’ certainly gave Sonic an idea. If the ‘West’ stood for the large city of Westopolis, then yeah, maybe there was a name she could try when she caught this Hunter.
But regardless, it was sounding to Sonic like there was a real race on her hands. She hadn’t had this lively of a competition in a long time. And leaving letters to her too? She’d almost think they cared. Something about this mark felt like a special thrill. Any of Eggy’s henchmen were nothing but a warmup and most Hunter’s that took jobs from him weren’t very esteemed. But this? This was looking to be like some old fashioned fun.
Sonic resigned to stick around the area for her meal stop, in hopes the Chaos Dragon may still emerge near the coordinates, but there was no luck. She poked idly at the fire she made with a stick. After finding her first lead in a day filled with nothing but exploring, she set down to camp as the sun fully fell behind the trees. Once she had her meal heated, a classic wrap of dried meats wrapped in warmed but stale bread, she was stomping out the fire and sleuthing a direction for her resting companion to have gone. Best to be friendly, right? Sonic had the advantage of being able to navigate at night, best to use it to her advantage.
One scarfed down grub later and Sonic was on the prowl. Scanning the skyline, she was almost impressed to find no other smoke trail lighting the sky. Only the moon’s ambient light to guide her. They weren’t kidding, this guy was legit. Either that, or she was on a goosehunt, but she didn’t give up that easily.
A couple hours passed and with no convenient appearance of her Mark, she decided to finally fold in for the night. Despite curling into a ball and sticking herself like a burr in a nearby tree with a mat below to keep her muscles warm, Sonic could feel her muscles roar to action at the thrilling prospect of a good hunt. She liked knocking the ego hunters down especially. Come morning, she’d go at it again with the same vigor. No rock undisturbed, no leaf left unturned.
—
Despite two broken traps and an absolutely robbed hunt for a meal, Sonic finally caught her break. When her fateful and absolutely earned hunt for a nearby rabbit was snatched, a partial heel imprint wasn’t covered enough to escape Sonic’s sights this time. Now that she knew what footprints she was looking for, she could trace small odd curved pockets sunk into the dirt. They were barely there, but Sonic finally had her pattern. Lo and behold, in just under an hour of tracing, she found not the smoke of a fire but rather was able to smell just the faintest scent of one. Clambering with a little more grace and a bit more silence, Sonic wove between and over blocking foliage until she came across the scene she’d be hoping for all day.
There, in a manmade clearing of cut shrubs to form a protected corner, was a dark silhouette. It seemed to take a shorter stature, with long points to paint behind in a threatening manner. So, potentially a Hedgehog? Even more exciting, Sonic thought with glee. They were haunched over a rock that seemed to glow a hot, yet quiet, red. Sonic squinted to barely make out the etchings of a rune likely crudely drawn onto the stone by a blade.
Huh, pretty resourceful. It finally explained why her normal tracking patterns had been failing her too. But now she sat itching with impatience, idly recentering her chestplate before twirling forward into a spindash that landed at her shock Mark’s feet.
Let’s see what kind of a hunt she was in for now. She cleared her throat obnoxiously.
“Fancy seeing you ‘round here, oh what was it? The ‘Terror of the West’? Or maybe it was…hm, that hunter I always hear mentioned with Westopolis; Shadow.” Sonic started with an exaggerated drawl.
Two red irises locked onto Sonic’s with enough wrath to make them glow. Definitely a hedgehog, but she’d never seen markings like the red stripes that accented her silky black fur. Her brain flitted back to her head at the growl that suddenly came from the stilled threat in front of her.
Ohoho…So she had been right. By the tensed fury of her opponent, she’d scored a perfect bullseye without having to move a muscle.
“What? No friendly conversation?” The cocky hedgehog teased. Maybe if she kept poking until that pot boiled over, the anger would make this Shadow Hunter slip up something important.
“How do you know my name?” Sonic knew the other hedgehog was the one who asked, but the statue in front of her seemed to barely move even to breathe. It was eerie. Sonic was probably way too intrigued.
“Oh that?” She made a nonchalant wave motion, “Easy. Just have to ask the right people the right amount of times.” Okay, so lying and riling this Hunter up was quickly becoming Sonic’s favorite thing.
Her companion only raised one eyebrow, not even her mouth twitched. Alright, poker face, let’s go.
“So how’d you get such a singular favor for the grand Egghead himself?”
“Who?” Shadow seemed to ask, dumbfounded by Sonic’s little nickname.
Sonic snickered, “He doesn’t pay me to grovel and call him ‘Robotnik’. And he looks like an egg, heh. I think it works pretty good.”
Shadow finally did move, but it was to slouch in incredulity. There were a couple of dead moments of silence, Sonic couldn’t help the way her foot started to tap away to the crackling of the campfire between them. “You’re an idiot.” The dark hedgehog said with a low grit, like she couldn’t believe her own eyes.
“Dunno, feels like an odd name to give to a Hunter. Would that make you one too?” She tossed back with a sly grin.
Shadow slowly moved her hand to the massive blade strapped to her waist in silent threat. She seemed angry, yet non-plussed. Okay, confidence, Sonic could respect that.
“Alright, alright. I’m not here to push this into a fight, though I wouldn’t oppose either…,” She scratched the back of her neck with a sheepish smile, “Just wanted to know what you’re doing out here, is all.”
Seriously, a statue. Shadow sneered without moving, “Why would I answer this?” Her hand remained in a soft lock on her sword.
Sonic let out a loose sigh as her shoulders sank in exasperation. As her eyes darted around Shadow’s campfire. Wow, she’s packed for a long haul. Musta cost Eggman a pretty penny to hire her.
“Look, I’m just here to ask if you’ve been chasing Chaos Dragons.”
“And if I have?”
“Well then I’d tell you to step off, ‘cuz that’s my turf.” Sonic gave a dark look of her own, jabbing a thumb towards her chest like a threat.
There was another moment of silence. Sonic didn’t waver until Shadow responded, “That… isn’t how hunting works, but be my guest. It’s your grave to dig.”
“Ooh, boastful, eh? Let’s put that to the test. If you haven’t left here after days of hunting, I’m willing to bet that means you’re still after a Mark out here.” She leaned forward with a wild grin, “Betcha I can make it there first.”
Now that really set Shadow off. Sonic would have had the survival instinct to be worried if she wasn’t so excited to finally get a lively response from her opponent.
But before she could even prod her rival for slipped secrets, the ground shook like thunder in a storm. Both Hunters scrambled to keep balance until the quake settled. But the cause of such earthquake became apparent pretty quickly.
There, in the distance. Disrupting their bickering, was the echoing call of a roar.
A Chaos Dragon.
That was fast, they didn’t normally appear this quickly. She could only think to guess that their emotions may have triggered it to surface, but then again, it requires such a large disturbance of chaos Energy. Just who was this Shadow person? It was odd, but as Sonic noticed her sparring partner, sorry, rival, shoot off - she was quick to follow the trail.
May the best Hunter win.
Sonic thought with a smirk as the fire in her veins thrummed with her alight senses picking up the best direction to beat Shadow to the prize. This Mark didn’t stand a chance so long as she had something to say about it.