Times encounters

You first encounters, not mine

“You look sad, isn't the future already saved?”

“Well, the future was saved but in return, I lost my friend, the only person I've ever known because of it. At the end I was still alone, not sure how to feel about every thing right now.”

“Hm… If you don't want to be alone that much, you can find me.”

“Huh? What does that supposed to…”

“Well, with your ability, I'm sure you'll soon find out my hiding place. Of course, whether you want to release me or not is up to you. But whatever it is, I won't let you be alone… Silver.”

That was the end of Shadow's first encounter with Silver, and compared to the others, he found it to be a rather peaceful ending. He didn't know why,but there was something about this young, silvery little hedgehog named Silver that attracted his interest. Perhaps it was the contrast between them, or perhaps he was still very proud of that roundhouse kick to his head. Either way, Silver gives Shadow a glimmer of hope, a hope that no matter what the future holds, at least he will have an interesting companion to stay by his side for a while.

But only a month later did Shadow understand that, time is much crueler than it seems. He had thought that their relationship might be something quite unique in the future, when they lived in a world where only the two of them remained. Only now did it become, perhaps, the most fragile relationship he had ever had when he coincidentally saw a familiar hedgehog walking around the corner of an alley.

“Oh, sorry…” Silver's words sounded confused at the gaze of his shocked, red eyes. “Have we met before?”

Still the same silvery white figure, still the odd quills on the head, still those golden eyes shining like bright stars, and still that naivety and immaturity. He was still the same Silver that Shadow met a month ago, yet to him, Shadow is just a stranger.

Slowly letting go of his hand and stepping back, he spoke in a quiet, distant voice. “No… Sorry, wrong person.”

And they never interacted with each other again.

The second time Shadow encounters Silver, he realizes that a new timeline equals a new person, a new Silver. So as a result, their interaction ended in silence and an atmosphere of distance as Shadow didn't want to see Silver afterwards.
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The third time Shadow encounters Silver, it also ended quickly since Shadow tried to avoid contact with him as much as possible.

Although it may sound a bit harsh, in Shadow's opinion, being erased by time, erasing existence, is similar to death. And getting to know someone only to see them die over and over again, every time he meets it's a different person... Sudderly, he feels it no longer has meaning anymore.

But at the same time, the thought of having to stay away from someone is not because he likes to do everything alone, but because everything is meaningless. For some reason, it makes him feel irritated and frustrated. Shadow didn't know why he felt like that, obviously he had nothing to be angry about, that's just how the timeline works, if you change time you'll have to pay for it, it's always like that.

So why did he feel like this and occasionally glanced at Silver?
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The fourth time Shadow encounters Silver, everything is still the same as previous times, he still doesn't want to interact with Silver. The only difference is that Silver had make a very stupid decision, sacrificed himself in order to protect everyone.

As he standing in the middle of the large pit that was left over from the battle, Shadow watched the 13-year-old white hedgehog struggle to get up, with a body that was slowly glitching out of this timeline, yet still managed to smile at Shadow.