<<Hųśh>>

-'17'-

Pain was the first thing to invade his senses. It overtook his entire body and refused to let go.

A loud groan escaped his lips as he opened his seemingly heavy eyes. He felt as though he had slept for a while. He blinked a few times and allowed the world to come into focus, looking around. He knew for definite he wasn't in the dark dingey basement, if the obnoxiously patterned wallpaper and curtains said anything. "Shadow?" He asked impulsively. Nobody replied.

He sat up quickly, fear overtaking him at the realisation. Before he could collect his thoughts, pain forced him back down. His ribs and abdomen stung and ached. He grunted helplessly and wrapped his arm around his abdomen. The hedgehog looked down to inspect the area in pain. To his suprise, a blood stained bandage enveloped his entire torso and separate bandages concealed his arms. What had happened? He couldn't recall being hurt at all.

The hedgehog attempted to get up once again, slower this time to avoid as much pain as he could. He looked around the room, properly this time. Many beds trailed along the walls in close proximity. He was probably in a camp of sorts, meaning they had found him in the basement. It baffled Sonic how they had managed to bring him back.

A mirror caught Sonic's eye in the corner of the room. He adjusted himself to be in clear view of the reflective object and began to inspect himself. His skin was no longer pasty, his fur was a healthy blue and his eyes were a striking green again. It was almost as if he had been dreaming all along. Had he?

He fiddled with his gloves, staring down at them, as he allowed his thoughts to take hold. He was clearly beaten up, his gloves were torn and stained in - hopefully not - blood. He must have been infected, he didn't know for how long though. His tongue trailed along his teeth as he thought. He immediatley shivered in disguist and recoiled as the awful taste of plaque and blood invaded his senses. He really needed to brush his teeth.

Deciding he had procrastinated enough, he delicatley pulled himself out of the bed. Every muscle burned and ached as though he had put himself through the longest run of his life. The familiar pains of bruising, burns and cuts overcame him as a much more rapid, aggressive force. He hissed, almost silently, and pushed forwards.

He limped to the door and tried the handle. It opened with ease with a long, loud, drawn-out squeak. Surely, whoever had saved him heard him. He dragged himself around the unfamiliar maze of hallways, resorting to dragging his left leg when the pain became too much and pulling himself along the wall for support. The hedgehog grunted and groaned as he pulled himself around in his desperate pursuit of an exit, or a person.

After what felt like hours, he stumbled across stairs. He must have been on the first floor, evident by the window in clear view of the bottom of the stairs. He looked down at his beaten up body and then back at the stairs before him. It would definetly be a challenge to get down them.

He clutched the banister and leant his weight on the poorly attached wood piece and slowly began to lower himself step by step. He hissed and grunted as he moved, being too tired to attempt a yelp. He knew it was probably best to remain silent anyway, he could possibly be in danger after all. He could only grasp at the hope of a nice person stumbled across him and helped him out as opposed to an awful person who intended to use him for their means of survival, a sad fate suffered by some he had witnessed.

His body seemed to disagree with his thoughts. His ankle gave way mid step, earning a yelp of pain that was quickly followed by the blue hedgehog tumbling down the stairs with numerous, large thuds. Of course he managed to mess it up.

He remained on the floor, too hurt and tired to get back up. Padded footsteps began to approach him, getting louder and louder with each step until a door swung open infront of the hedgehog to his left. It creaked as loud and slow as the door upstairs. He didn't bother to look up at whoever had entered the room.

The lapiz hedgehog was gently helped up by gloved hands. Sonic slowly lifted his head up to look at the person who had helped him. Familiar ruby eyes stared back at him. He gasped in a confusing array of shock and suprise before throwing himself onto the other and forcing him into an embrace. He tightened his grip around the other, holding him there. Suprisingly, the smaller hedgehog did not protest, and instead hugged him back.

Sonic pulled away and inspected Shadow. He was covered in bruises, cuts, scars and bandages. "You've been through it too, huh?" The lapiz hedgehog joked, tracing his finger along a few injuries on Shadow's arm. Shadow nodded. "Most of them were from you." He replied. Sonic froze and stared directly into the other's eyes. His eyes were harsh and serious and seemingly poised into his soul. He was not joking.

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916 Words

Written/Published: 17th August, 2024

((Edited))