New Beginnings

Chapter 14 - Mistakes

Not for the first time that late afternoon Sonic glanced over his shoulder, scrutinising the youth walking behind him as they padded over the wooden walkway towards the beach. Silver was positively skittish and on edge, clearly fretting over something and barely responding to the speedster's plentiful questions as he kept staring at the ground. He had something on his mind weighing him down, that much was clear, and Sonic was determined to find out what it was before the day was over.

Despite his refusal to talk Silver was giving away more than he presumably desired. Occasionally he flinched beside him during their walk, his fingers trembling and symbols flaring up minutely. Based on the way he clutched his hands close Sonic deduced his worries were at least somewhat related to his psychokinesis, but why would inquiries about them make the hedgehog so nervous? Or was it perhaps him, too forceful in his attempts to get his friend to join his small adventure? He knew he could come off too strongly on occasion, no matter how sincere his enthusiasm. Considering what he had heard about Silver's past it was likely that the other got overwhelmed easily, especially when other people came into play. In that regard is was a miracle that Espio had gotten so close to him, though the speedster could only be relieved that Silver had at least one person he felt comfortable with. Without the chameleon to guide and support him he'd quickly get himself into much deeper trouble for sure.

Sonic's gaze drifted up towards the sky, where the sun was slowly making its way down the horizon. If the time traveller truly did come from a ruined future, had he ever seen something like it before? Sonic couldn't imagine living his life surrounded by fire and danger, in a world so broken it could only be saved by making sure it never existed in the first place. "If you keep looking down you'll miss the sunset," he quickly warned the other, whose head jolted up immediately at the noise.

"....Oh. Oh, yeah," Silver breathed out, staring at Sonic with wide eyes like a deer caught in the headlights. Shooting him a smile that he hoped elicited goodwill and kindness the speedster led the two of them up the dune that indicated the edge of the beach, climbing the stairs laying against the sandy hill. Wordlessly the psychic padded after him, sending a doubtful glance at the sand and occasional grass swaying in the breeze lining the path... until they had reached the top of the ridge and his gaze drifted to the scenery behind the speedster, his mouth falling right open at the sight. Stepping away so he wasn't standing in the other's view Sonic's gaze fell on the ocean also, the usually grey waves coloured a deep orange in the light of the setting sun. The quiet noise of the rushing waves interlaced with cries from distant seagulls and the salty scent on the breeze only served to make the scene more idyllic, the sunbeams bathing everything in yellow and gold. This was the perfect moment to introduce this particular wonder of nature to Silver, he knew for sure.

"But... How?" the time traveller whispered beside him, hesitantly taking one step closer to the edge of the dune as if he didn't know what to do with himself. "Where did... Is that all... all water?"

"The world consists of water for a very big part. We call it the ocean," Sonic explained as he began his descend down the other side of the sandbank, Silver timidly padding after him with his eyes wide as plates still. "But you can't drink it! And don't get too close, lest you get wet or the waves knock you down," he decided to warn him immediately. Espio had said terrible things would happen to him if Silver were to end up in the sea, and Sonic was more than willing to believe him. The chameleon was quite protective of the psychic he had taken under his wing... perhaps a lot more than Sonic would have expected considering Espio's general withdrawn demeanour, though maybe that was just the usually-concealed loving and caring side of the chameleon bubbling to the surface. No-one could deny just how fond the two of them were of each other, that much was clear. If Espio's worried fussing and the way Silver looked at him were any indication Sonic would even go so far as to say that both were completely smitten, though that was none of his business and he also wasn't romantically-inclined enough to make solid guesses like that. He had promised the chameleon to look after the hedgehog as best he could and introduce him to this unfamiliar environment, and Sonic knew he didn't break his promises for anything.