keep your love away (it only makes me feel like more of a fool) | sonadow story

prologue

'we'll meet again soon, sonic. but next time on my terms.'

and with that shadow dissapeared.

for now. sonic knew that in a month, maybe three, he would be back. and hey, maybe next time he wouldn't try destroying the universe.

subtle wind blew, the sky was light and few clouds were scattered around. the trees and plants swayed lightly with the breeze. everything around sonic seemed like a direct contrast of the way it had been just a few minutes ago. everything was calm, yet he wasn’t. maybe it was the adrenaline that still coursed through his body… but this time it felt different, somehow. maybe even wrong.

sonic dismisses it as a weird side effect of the universe almost collapsing in on itself.

he returns to his friends. they’re battered and bruised but mostly okay. they cheer and joke around about the situation. sonic laughs along even if he can't help thinking about the severity of it.

he was never one to dwell on things.

so he tells himself to cheer up. he just saved the universe, not just his village.

somehow that doesn't soothe him.

after a while of just chatting, the adrenaline dies down and pain starts setting in. everything hurts a lot. it's hard to breathe. probably a broken rib… or two.

'shadow gave us a big beating…' amy says, staring at her feet.

'like he always does.' sticks remarks.

tails mentions the possibility of them rebandaging back at his workshop. just this once, everyone decides to go their separate ways, except for sonic.

sonic and tails start walking to his workshop. the grass crunches beneath their feet. the silence between the two is mostly calm but there is some stiffness to it. it feels wrong, unfamiliar. he hasn’t shared an atmosphere like this with tails in years. the summer heat adds to the uncomfortableness of it.

the twin-tailed fox breaks the silence by mumbling something sonic can't quite hear.

'you say something?' he asks.

'everytime he fights us, shadow, i mean, i just can't help but wonder why… y'know? we've never tried to start a fight with him.' tails repeats himself.

'some people are just more willing to pick a fight, i guess.'

his mind flashes back to the first time he met shadow.

they had beaten eggman for what had been probably the hundredth time. after helping the townsfolk get back to their everyday routine, he started going home. the sun had begun to paint everything gold.

he found shadow in a back alley behind some shop. his red highlights shimmered in what was an otherwise dark alley. sonic was surprised, it was rare to see a hedgehog around these parts of the island.

sonic walked up to introduce himself. the ebony hedgehog looked at him, blood red eyes piercing his own. he remembers his heart fluttering a bit. though shadow was angry (always so angry). he threw himself at sonic and he dodged it with ease. he could see shadow had a lot of untapped potential, so he asked him to join his team. shadow spat at his feet and left without saying a word.

sonic chuckles.

what a way to meet your arch-rival, he thinks.

‘welp, we’re here.’ tails says, breaking sonic from his thoughts.

‘think i broke a rib.’ he says, half-joking.

‘we’ll see.’

—————————

shadow dashes through the forest, fists clenched as the breeze hits his face. the fauna of the forest is unusually quiet, trees and bushes rustle violently as he runs through them, no particular destination in mind. the wind carries the fallen leaves like it carries him.

he suddenly comes to a stop, and it seems like the world has too. a tear starts to form in his eye as his breathing becomes slightly shaky.

pathetic.

the word echoes through his head, taunting him.

shadow quickly wipes the tear and looks at the ground. he wants to pretend it was never there.

the shame of failing yet again hits him like a truck.

he doesn't know why he keeps failing. because no matter how he improves his technique, trains himself, sonic keeps on winning. even when he can grasp his victory, practically feels it in his hands, sonic keeps on winning.

and he keeps losing.

he knows he can beat sonic, be better than him, have everything he has and more. he knows he deserves more. yet sonic has beaten him so many times he can't keep chalking it up to luck.

shadow breaks his staring contest with the ground to look around him, realizing he has no idea where he is.

he thinks about going to his cave.

another hideout compromised. he sighs knowing it’s the third one this year.

he begrudgingly makes a mental note to move his stuff out of his shelter.

he has lost so much to sonic. shadow sits on a stump nearby, wallowing in his shame for a few minutes, wondering how he's let this happen.

he knows he can be more and he will be more than that faker.

so he swears revenge.

‘i will get my victory, hedgehog. and this time, i won’t be holding back.’