Her wooden cane, clacked on the rough stone steps. Her quills ruffled in the chilled nighttime air. It was nearly midnight, and the moon was high. The sky a navy sea pinpricked with sparkling stars. Why would anyone be out at this time?
She couldn't sleep again.
Her mind, ever since that day, had been constantly plagued with nightmares. The blood. The screams. The pain. It all would come flooding back as soon as her eyes closed. It was a curse that many of this old mansion shared. Most nights she could swallow the pain and return to the realm of sleep, but sometimes this wasn't the case. Something had stuck with her that night, and she was unable to sleep. So, she did what she had always done during these long nights; wandering around the mansion's grounds.
Sometimes she would roam the beach, others it would be the library or even the infirmary. This evening she was led to the spire, well that's what they had called it. It wasn't any sort of tower, but it was named that anyway. It was built to be the place where they would honor those who had passed; back then none of them knew they would be using it within two years of its creation.
She sighed, as she climbed the last step. The off-white stone, though damaged, glistened in the pale moon light. Black shadows were casted by the individual graves. A silent tear, slipped from her eye and onto her cheek. All it took was ten years, and most of them were already gone. Slain at the hand of this monster that seemed to be unstoppable. Soon she might be the only one left.
She closed her eyes, as more tears began to fall...
The rain was heavy, it soaked his proud red fur, but he couldn't care less. This all felt like a dream. No, not a dream. This couldn't possibly be any dream; it could only be a nightmare. A nightmare none of them could wake from.
It had been weeks, but it felt as if only mere moments had passed. His home, his purpose, his friend. All gone within an instant. How could he have allowed this to happen? It was his sworn duty to protect one of the most powerful artifacts on the planet, just like all his kind before him. Yet, he had failed, and in the process got one of his closest friends killed.
*clack, clack, clack*
Footsteps, he whirled around, his dreads flying out, ready for a fight. A familiar black hedgehog stood before him; an umbrella in his hand. Realizing there was no danger, his fight stance dropped and his muscles relaxed.
"What do you want Shadow? Did Rouge send you out here to get me out of the rain?" he asked.
The black hedgehog, remained silent, his face as stoic and unreadable as normal. His shoes clacked against the stone as he joined the red echidna, in front of the grave.
They stood in silent understanding.
"This was going to happen, at some point." Shadow spoke.
"What?" Knuckles asked.
"He was going to die. We all will at some point. It's only a question of when."
"Says the immortal."
"I don't age, that's different. Whether by my hand or someone else's, I can be killed."
The echidna didn't answer.
"Death claims all, eventually." Shadow spoke.
