Whispers in the Dark (A Sonic Fanfiction)

Chapter 5: The Day After

{Recommended song: Strange Sight from Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast}

   Shadow spent the night wandering through the woods around the base, keeping watch. It made sense for him to be the one to keep watch. As the Ultimate Lifeform, he didn't need much sleep anyway. At least, that's what he told himself.

   When the first streaks of gold began to peep over the horizon, Shadow made his way back to the base. He pulled out his Chaos Emerald to teleport inside, pausing a split second before it was too late to realize he probably shouldn't jump directly into the room where the girls were sleeping in case they weren't decent. Instead he teleported outside the door and knocked three times. "It's me. Shadow."

   Whisper pulled the door open. She was fully dressed except her cape, exposing her soft brown shoulders. Her ponytail had been taken out, fur hanging freely down her back all sleek and freshly brushed. It was really pretty hanging down like that...

   Shadow coughed. Good. She was almost ready to get going. He stepped inside.

   Tangle peeped out from her pile of blankets and sat up halfway in her cot, eyes barely open. Her tuft of forehead fur stuck out all crazy. "'m gettin' up." She rolled over and off the bed, faceplanting onto the floor. "I'm up."

   Whisper pulled a brush from a pocket on her cape and set it on a table next to Tangle's bed. Tangle limply reached out her tail to drag it over and started to brush out her fur, still lying on the ground. Whisper got out a pocket mirror and tube of mascara to do her makeup.

   "Here." Shadow took the mirror and held it for her so she could use both hands.

   She gave him a small smile when she was done. "Thanks."

   "Rouge makes me help her with her makeup all the time." Shadow actually chuckled a little as he handed the mirror back.

   Tangle finally pulled herself up to finish getting herself ready for the day. Shadow stared over at her. She hadn't spoken to him yet, but he couldn't tell if she was still angry at him or just half-asleep. Was her arm okay? He'd grabbed it pretty hard last night. It didn't look like she was having trouble, but he should probably check...

   He walked over to her. "How's your wrist?" he asked quietly.

   "My wri--? Oh, yeah! No, it's okay." Tangle gave him a half-grin and flexed her fingers.

   Shadow took a deep breath. "I... I am sorry for being so... aggressive." It was hard to say it, but he was trying to work on swallowing his pride.

   Tangle rubbed her shoulder awkwardly. "I know I still need to work on the whole 'touching without asking' thing. I'm trying." She held out her tail, again forming it into an outstretched hand. "Truce?"

   This time Shadow reached out and shook her tail-hand firmly. "Truce."

   He caught a glimpse of Whisper smiling at them, which made him feel good.

   The trio converged in the center of the room. "Where are we heading?" Shadow asked.

   Whisper handed him a small communicator. A message from the Restoration read, "Mimic spotted a few hours north of your location. Sending coordinates."

   They loaded up a bag of food and supplies and continued their journey towards Mimic's last known location. Again, Tangle spent the entire time chattering, but Shadow didn't mind it as much. He even inserted a few comments of his own.

   In the mid-afternoon, they reached a town not far from the coordinates. A good place to see if there had been any sightings of him.

   The moment they stepped into town, they were greeted with angry shouts. A crowd of villagers confronted them with pitchforks, knives, wispons, and a variety of other makeshift weapons.