♥︎『Fanged Rebels』♥︎

♡Ⲥhⲁⲣⲧⲉⲅ 32

We all gathered around an enormous tree and for some reason it looked very similar to the tree from my subconsciousness, where Chip healed me and talked to me. Shadow sat on the grass next to me and grabbed my hand, so I let him hold it and even rubbed his hand with my thumb for some comfort. Two male echidnas carried the bodies of Shadow's parents covered by a thick, dark purple fabric and set them both neatly by the roots of the tree. I glanced warily at Shadow, who watched the scene with an unreadable expression on his face and I gently nudged him to get his attention.
"You okay?" I whispered and he gave me a small nod before returning his gaze to the two covered piles. I sighed and remained quiet afterwards, as a male spiritual chief of the tribe stepped forward and tapped the ground twice with his majestic pikestaff, which indicated his social status for sure, along with feathers sticking out of his dreadlocks, a necklace consisting of claws and teeth hanging around his neck and a royal purple loincloth with golden edges reaching down to his knees. He seemed to be elder, for some spots on his body were silvery white, including his eyebrows.
"Let the ritual begin!" he exclaimed before turning to face the two piles and kneeling in front of them he got into a praying position while closing his eyes and muttering something under his breath. The other echidnas each held hands with their fellows and one of them took my hand, whilst another took Shadow's hand. We were now all connected and I went along with it, as I closed my eyes and just tried to listen to what others were doing in order to learn what to do in this kind of ritual.

I could hear the echidnas humming a melody, which was, of course, unfamiliar to me, so I remained quiet and just innerly prayed for Shadow's parents' souls to departure to the other side in peace. The echidnas sang the foreign song for quite a while, before the chief tapped the ground once with his pikestaff, which silenced everyone and I opened my eyes to see, what was going on. The chief now stood in front of the piles and hovered his free hand in the air above them while saying something in a language I couldn't understand. I was itching to ask anyone around, what the echidna is saying, but luckily restrained from doing so, since I did not want to interrupt this obviously important ritual.
"Your majesty, please, come over here and share your very last farewell with the two spirits, before I guide them to the Heaven Realm," the chief spoke to my vampire king, who nodded and getting up he let his hand slip out of mine, as he stepped forward and kneeled in front of the two piles in a respectful gesture.
"Mother... father," he whispered and closing his eyes he lowered his head. I could be definitely sure, that he is trying to hold his tears back from the way his hands trembled and his quills tensed up.

Just then, two spheres of a raw, pure white energy flew out of the bodies and hovered in the air while forming the shape of Shadow's parents.
"Please, do not cry for us, our son," I could hear Midnight's voice talking to him, whilst she gently cupped his cheeks with her transparent hands, making him look up at her.
"M-Mother...," I noticed tears rolling down his cheeks and felt a strong urge to comfort him, but knew better to rather stay back and not interrupt the moment.
"You're a strong man now, Shadow. We're both proud of you," Onyx spoke next while placing his transparent hand on Shadow's shoulder with a proud smile on his face.
"You need to allow us to departure in peace, Shad. Do not forget, that even if we are physically no longer around, we will always be in your heart," Midnight said with a small smile on her face and moved her hand towards his chest, where she gently ran her fingers across his chest fur. Shadow looked down for a moment before lifting his gaze up to her again and gave her a nod while sniffling.
"I-I'll keep that in mind, mom," he said quietly while shedding more tears. The sight ached my heart and I felt some tears prickling the corners of my eyes as well.

"Be a good hedgehog and take care of your friends, your lover and family. Stay humble and kind, be polite and stand proudly against all struggles in your life. May you be blessed by the Highest Spirit," Onyx gave him a last little speech, before he and Midnight both started ascending towards the branches of the huge tree.
"Goodbye, m-mom, dad," Shadow watched them along with everyone around us, as the two spirits turned into the spheres again and then dissipated into the thin air. Silence took over the place for a moment, before the chief gently placed his hand on Shadow's shoulder.
"I assure you, they will rest peacefully in the realm now and watch over you from up there," he comforted him. Shadow wiped some tears away and nodded in response.
"Thank you, chief. M-May I be alone now?" he asked quietly and the chief nodded.
"Of course, your majesty," he gently patted Shadow's shoulder before backing away from him to give him the needed space. Shadow shortly glanced at me and gestured to follow him, so I abruptly got up and followed him back towards the pyramid. On the way I could see the physical bodies of Shadow's parents fully gone, which felt like some miracle to me. Was the chief capable of some magic? He seemed to be spiritually wise and experienced.

We ended up entering the private guest room once more and there Shadow fell to my embrace while softly crying on my shoulder. I hugged him in return and gently stroked his quills with one hand while tracing a calming shapes on his back with my other hand. He cried for a short while before pulling away from the hug and sniffling he looked me in the eyes.
"I'm sorry," he whispered and I pressed my index finger against his saffron lips.
"No. Don't apologize, Shads. I am glad you got it out of your chest, it's what I am here for, right?" I then grabbed both his hands and gently rubbed them with my thumbs.
"Yes, you're right," he quietly chuckled while giving me a small smile. I returned the smile and nodded.
"I know," I said proudly before leaning in to gently peck his lips.
"I love you, Shads and will always do," I claimed this fact once more and truly meant it.
"I love you too, Sonic," he replied and then checked the time.
"It's almost evening, shall we return back to our mansion?" he suggested afterwards and I nodded.
"Yeah. I think we got everything settled here, so we can head back," I agreed and we both went to share farewell with some echidnas around, mainly Tikal, who was also chosen to be the new queen of the tribe.
"Thank you, Sonic, for bringing peace to our tribe. We will be forever grateful for your brave action," Tikal paid me respect and bowed in front of me, which made me feel a little awkward, since I wasn't really that formal at all.

"I just did what I deemed as the right thing to do," I rubbed the spot under my nose while shrugging.
"Of course. But it helped our tribe to restore the peace, that is a raw fact. Have a safe trip back home, take care of each other and may you both be welcomed here anytime you might need a sanctuary. It's been an honor to have you here," Tikal replied with a smile on her face and her hands in a praying position.
"We will do our best," I smiled brightly at the new queen.
"Take care," Shadow said shortly and we shared the last goodbyes with her before heading back towards our mansion.

~♡~

"...and then bam! The balloon exploded!" Tails spread his arms wide while chuckling. We sat in the kitchen, Rouge served the rest of the fruit pie to all of us and I definitely felt relieved to be back home. Silver joined us as well, ocassionally conversing with us, or laughing along.
"It's nice to be here with you all," Shadow stated in a happy tone and seemed to feel much better now. We had to turn the page of our story onto a new chapter, since it was futile to stay stuck in one spot forever anyways, because the time was still flying forward. It never stopped, it never slowed down or speeded up. It kept still the same pace and it was up to each of us, if we let ourselves go forward along with the time itself, or if we decide to forever drown in the void of our pasts. I definitely wanted to keep moving forward, leave the past behind and create a better future in the present time by enjoying my life to the fullest. And with a loving partner and a proper family by my side I shall never face any struggles in life alone. Same goes for the others around me, I will never let them deal with their struggles and problems alone, I will never leave them hanging. That is a promise I intend to keep so long as I am alive.

~🧡🖤👻🦇🎃🕷🕸🖤🧡~

Author's note: You've reached the end of the story. I thank all of you for taking time to read it, pressing votes for the chapters and commenting some parts of it. I hope you enjoyed this story and I myself am glad, that I managed to finish it right as the Halloween arrives. I wish you all Happy Halloween! Take care of each other, be humble, kind, help each other, do not fight too much and most importantly spend time with your loved ones until they're still around, because you can never know, what fate might plan at the next minute.
See you around!

Sincerely, Shad