New Beginnings

Chapter 20 - Otherworldly

"Silver!"

Muttering frantic curses under his breath Espio crashed through the undergrowth of the forest, dashing around trees and bushes as he kept his eyes peeled for any flashes of grey. It had been inevitable the psychic fled the scene with Sonic and his friends, if his anger had been anything to go by, and Espio could only pray he'd find the other again quickly before anything could befall him. With heart pounding in his chest from both his mad rush and his shock at the fleeting brawl from moments prior the ninja permitted himself a small groan, tail curled up tightly behind him and hands balled into fists. They probably should be grateful the hedgehog hadn't bashed Knuckles' head in instead, or things would have gotten ugly quite quickly indeed... at least more ugly than Espio presumed they were now, or would be when he and Silver came back. Though, considering it did mean the chameleon was forced to sprint after the other into a dark, crowded forest with leaves and spiky branches scratching at his scales in his agitated search, things certainly could have gone better also. Where had the other gone...?

Ignoring the worry increasingly gnawing at his mind the chameleon forced himself to remain calm, keeping his eyes on the surroundings and his wits about him. Slowing down a little bit to take a deep breath and focus himself his attention got caught by a loud crash a bit wayward, followed by a shriek and more noise. There!

"Silver!" he cried out as he witnessed the grey-furred pelt of the other, accentuated by a bright flash of cyan, emerge through the foliage, the chameleon kicking into action and rushing over as quickly as his legs could carry him. "Wait- stop!"

The hedgehog whirled around at the sound of Espio's voice with another shriek, the anger in his eyes that made the very air around him tremble flaring up before dissipating once their gazes met and getting replaced by something the ninja could not exactly place. "Oh- Espio," the hedgehog murmured surprisingly quietly, ears angling back as his head slowly lowered towards the ground. From what the chameleon could tell from his disarrayed pelt he had gotten ensnared in one of the prickly bushes decorating the edge of a small clearing, which now had a significant amount of branches less. "You're... I..." Silver stuttered as Espio scrutinised him, his dear friend hunching up his shoulders and tensing his brightly-glowing hands as he stood rigidly at the edge of the clearing.

Silence rang out after that, disrupted only by the chameleon's slight panting and the buzzing hum of Silver's powers as they whirled through the air. From what Espio could tell as he ran his eyes over the other over and over again the hedgehog wasn't injured other than some minor scrapes and the healing wounds he had sustained during their fight with the Ifrit. Though that was a relief, on the other hand the ninja could not read minds, and based on the look on Silver's face and the way he clutched his arm there was a whole lot of turmoil going around in his. "Hey," the ninja decided to settle on eventually, slowly stepping a bit closer. "Are you alright, Silver?"

The powers around the psychic sparked up just a bit more before they dissipated entirely under Espio's surprised glance, as if they had never been there in the first place. "Of course!" Silver beamed brightly as his gaze flicked up once more, much too brightly as the chameleon tried to shuffle as close as he could without frightening the other. "I'm- I'm just doing fine, really! There's nothing, um, I'm not..."

"What you are not is doing okay," Espio cryptically interrupted as he slowly placed his hand on Silver's shoulder. It was beyond easy to tell from Silver's demeanour and words, as well as the clearly-forced cheerful tone that the other had never displayed before; he was faking his happiness, and remarkably poorly too. Did he fear the chameleon would be upset with him?

Though his touch was meant to be comforting the psychic instead flinched the moment Espio's fingers trailed over his body, scrambling back with wide eyes as the chameleon jolted in surprise. "Don't-! Do that. Um," Silver squeaked out, his powers flaring up slightly anew and forcing the chameleon's hand away as the hedgehog himself quickly took a step back. Haphazardly running his hands over his quills and swallowing thickly he showed Espio the happy smile once more, which was just as badly faked as the first time. "Um, uh, sorry. I'm just, um... Um..."