New Beginnings

Chapter 15 - Caring, Oversharing

Sonic's world got turned upside down before he even realised what was happening. With a yell the speedster floundered as he flew through the air, landing and skidding face-first over the ground a good distance away as his cry of surprise got cut off by the beach's trademark yellow gravel piling up inside his open mouth immediately. Spitting out sand and grime he scrambled up as quickly as he could, coughing and gagging at the gross-tasting sensation, but in his few seconds of distraction Silver had long run away behind him. All that was left were the last few whisps of teal colour dissipating in the air, a beach wholly in disarray, and a blue-furred hedgehog that had just had an uncomfortable experience with consuming a mouthful of sand. Blinking at the scene in confusion for just a moment before groaning very deeply Sonic ran his hand over his face, yelping as a few stray kernels of silt mercilessly made their way into his eyes. That had turned awry much too rapidly for even him to follow... and now Silver was somewhere out there, all on his own with his anger and grief. The blue hedgehog could only imagine how mad Espio would be at him, or the trouble the psychic might come across.

What even had happened in the first place? The time traveller's rage directed at him had quickly turned to panic, and then his psychokinesis had... Sonic could only describe it as exploded out of him, like a Chaos Blast or a miniature bomb. Blinking his eyes rapidly to get rid of the painful stinging the speedster made his way back over to where the argument had taken place, the blow from Silver's powers sending him flying quite a few yards back. All the sand had been pushed to the side also, leaving behind something that resembled a small crater in the ground. The time traveller's psychokinesis truly was a force to be reckoned with, though that didn't help Sonic out much right now. With a thoughtful hum he studied the hole, noticing immediately the trench of pushed-away silt that ran out of it into the distance. It led right away from Sonic... Silver would hate if he knew he'd left behind such a valuable clue, though it made the speedster's life a whole lot easier, Sonic smiled to himself as he cut to the chase with the rapidly-sinking sun sending its last beams of light onto his back.

Jogging over the beach at a relatively slow pace for him the now-much-less-blurry Blue Blur kept his eyes trained on the area, unwilling to go too fast and risk missing any info regarding the other's escape. The trench slowly evened out, but he could easily see how the sand had been blown away from rocks and plants' roots as he made his way past the dune. The psychic had to have been desperate to hide somewhere safe, the speedster realised as he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of life. Hopefully he hadn't gone so far as to actually leave the seaside... It would be much too dangerous for him to recklessly make his way through the city in his anguish, not paying attention to himself or his surroundings. Hopefully he hadn't tried to go back to Espio on his own.

Intently studying the area Sonic jolted up as he saw a tiny flash of blue at the corner of his eye. Slowing down just beside a small incline in the dune, the gap protected by thorny bushes and large swatches of switchgrass, the speedster breathed out a sigh of relief as his eyes fell on a few snippets of teal energy dancing over the sand. The shimmering and swirling colours led inside a tiny hole against the gravel he could barely make out, the opening small and cramped underneath a particularly large bush that seemed just big enough for a hedgehog to fit inside of. With how disarrayed the branches were at the entrance it quickly became clear someone had scrambled through in full force, many flung to the side haphazardly and a few snapped in half. Within the tightly-knit twigs would be the perfect spot for his friend to hide... Clearing his throat so the other at least knew he had been found Sonic stepped closer, crouching down so he could see inside the sheltered den. "Silver?"

Weakly the powers shrouding the bush batted at him, though they were much too feeble to knock the speedster down. A strangled sob resounded from inside the tiny shelter as Sonic made gentle hushing noises. "It's alright, it's alright. I'm here, and everything's gonna be fine," the hedgehog murmured as he dropped to his knees entirely and crawled inside also, suppressing a hiss as his quills nearly got caught into the branches poking at him from three sides. The limited space within the bush was much too tiny for both of them to sit comfortably, though Sonic didn't mind in the slightest as his eyes fell on his friend in full. Silver was exactly where Sonic had expected him to be, curled up into the tightest spiky ball at the edge of the dip around the bush's stem, but other than a few twigs and leaves stuck in his pelt he seemed to be unharmed. Grunting a little at the lack of space the speedster tried to settle next to him without getting his quills ensnared in the bush stretching out above, resulting in his shoulders and back hunching down uncomfortably as he shuffled into place. Though, the hedgehog couldn't care less about the cramped position as he turned towards the other. "Hey, Silver," he hummed warmly as he trailed his hand over the trembling form beside him. "I'm here, you're safe. Are you okay?"