knuckles prime

memorial

Requested by Anonymous 

"Shadow"

the dark hedgehog blinked back to reality and out of his internal monologue

after the recent battle with the Eggman, he was taking time to simply take a breather before the usual "banter" with sonic or rouge

yet unusually it was neither that was trying to get his attention

instead, it was the guardian of the master emerald, knuckles the echidna

waiting patiently for a response

"what do you want?" Shadow asked grumpily as he knew his peace had finished

"if you aren't busy I was hoping you could come to my island, I wish to show you something" the guardian requested

this peaked shadows interest

the echidna was very secretive of the island, those even with permission were allowed little to no wandering out of his eyesight

Knuckles didn't wait for a response, knowing if the hedgehog came or didn't was his choice and left him to think it over, yet to his surprise, the hedgehog was quicker to join his side

"This had better be worth it guardian" shadow stated boredly, even though he hadn't had anything else planned

...

using a warp ring the two were teleported straight up, and the echidna continued to march forward with the hedgehog following curiously

the two continued past the shrine, past the trees and towards a tall mountain, not enough to gather snow but still quite chilly

Shadow started to grow weary as the environment of sunny green that he was used to seeing became barren, the ground's dirt became hard and stone

matching the scene he saw in front of him

numbers and numbers of smooth stone poking out of the ground with chizzled words

"What is this place?" Shadow asked, almost fearing the answer

"my ancestors grave sight" the echidna stated darkly

Shadow knew it was coming, yet he couldn't help but be thrown off by how blunt of an answer it was

he was no stranger to death, having witnessed and committed it

but hearing the subject from knuckles of all mobians wasn't something he expected to hear

he was rough and angry, be knew he was possibly one the purest souls he had met regardless of his past, he talked with great pride about being an echidna and such, and everyone knew that he was the last one to uphold their legacy,

but he never talked about their demise

and suddenly he was here being told of such a tragic time in his life

and was choosing to tell him of it

but why?

as if he had read his mind the echidna took a deep breath and faced the shadow

"when they all died I fell into a deep well, I needed a way to mourn and grieve so I could have some sort of closure" Knuckles began before moving forward

knowing he had to follow the hedgehog did his best to remove his gaze from the makeshift tombstones, knowing it was rude to simply stare, yet there were so many it was very hard to do so

but when he did pull his attention away he found a new and just as shocking sight

a table with a newly picked bunch of flowers and a picture of-

"what is this" Shadow asked shakily as the picture of his long-deceased sister figure

"It's a memorial" Knuckles answered

the hedgehog didn't know how to respond, was he supposed to be angry? to be seen as a sad sack who needed sympathy? was the echidna mocking him? was-

"losing those who are close to you is one of the hardest things a mobian could go through, it festers in the mind and for me, I didn't know how I was to comprehend what happened, but I found honouring who they were, their memories to me and what they were to me allowed me closure, so they could be put to rest and little by little, the days don't feel as daunting, never truly forgotten but a little better" Knuckles explained with a bittersweet tone

Shadow brushed his hand along the picture frame

no feeling of hatred, perhaps a little sadness

but overall

grateful

grateful that he was trusted enough to be told of the echidna's lost

and grateful that someone had gone out of their way simply to help make him feel better

holding the picture tightly as he looked at the echidna with a nod

"thank you guardian" Shadow thanked as he began to sit and pay tribute to his loved one

"no problem shadow" Knuckles stated with a smile, walking to his ancestor's graves, muttering a few words before leaving, allowing the hedgehog to mourn

taking satisfaction in giving the hedgehog a let out that he desperately needed