Caved In

Free

    Sonic listened in the dark as Shadow shifted in his sleep. He smiled, trying to focus on getting some rest. He didn't understand why Shadow had said that. He tried questioning it, but Shadow had fallen asleep so quickly. Either that or he was just ignoring him. "Why would that make Shadow smile? That she reminds him of me?" he wondered, his eyes barely able to tell the difference between open and closed, as it had gotten so dark. "Maybe he didn't mean that. Maybe he's just loopy because he's tired or something," he thought, "or maybe he meant it in like a friendly way. Like he thinks I'm funny. Not cute or anything like that." Sonic tossed and turned. He was so tempted to poke Shadow awake and ask him about it, but he decided not to push it.

    The next morning, Sonic woke up before Shadow and Ariya. He sat up, stretching and yawning. He glanced over at Shadow. He looked so different through Sonic's eyes. Like he was suddenly sweeter and more approachable since last night. Sonic smirked, which soon disappeared when his attention was brought to Ariya. She shifted slightly in her sleep. "Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on her. It isn't her fault she likes Shadow," Sonic thought, "I'm just being irrational and dumb." Sonic reached behind his head and picked up a small rock. He tossed it up in the air, catching it in his other hand. Both his and Shadow's phones had died at his point, so neither of them had any source of entertainment. Sonic's mind wandered as he tossed the rock up, to the point where he barely paid attention to catching it once it came back down. The last one he threw landed beside him, right on Shadow's head. Sonic covered his mouth to silence his gasp as Shadow groaned and flicked the rock off his head. He immediately jumped up. "Was that a bug?!" he yelled, realizing Sonic was awake. Sonic shook his head. "A rock," he said nervously. "Good. I hate bugs. Did it fall from the ceiling?" Shadow asked, laying back down. Sonic chuckled. "I think so. How did you sleep?" he asked, quickly changing the subject. "Not bad. You?" Shadow responded. "Eh, could've been better," Sonic sighed, twiddling his thumbs. "So listen," he said. Shadow sat up, stretching. "Listening," he said. "Well," Sonic stuttered. "Last night," he said slowly. "Last night?" Shadow continued, hoping to speed up Sonic's slow speech. "I was just wondering," Sonic said, looking around, avoiding Shadow's eyes. "Yes ...?" Shadow asked. "Why did you ... you know, say that?" Sonic asked hesitantly. "Say what?" Shadow asked. Sonic rolled his eyes. He spent all night thinking about it and yet Shadow had already forgotten about it. "Last night you told me Ariya makes you smile because she reminds you of me," Sonic reminded Shadow. "Right," Shadow nodded, as if missing the point of why Sonic was bringing this up. "Why?" Sonic asked. "Well, she's all optimistic and sporty and outgoing and ambitious-" "No, that's not what I meant, I mean ... why would that make you smile?" Sonic asked. Shadow looked rapidly from Sonic's right eye to his left, trying to find the words to answer his question. "Sonic," he started. "Faker," he smirked. "The truth is. Well, what I'm trying to say, I mean, is-" Shadow suddenly stopped upon hearing Ariya take in a deep breath. She rose from her sleep and stretched. "Morning guys," she sighed. "Morning," they both said, sounding a bit dissapointed that she had woken up. She looked over at the two hedgehogs, noticing how close they sat together, and the intense look on their faces. "Is everything alright?" she asked. Sonic and Shadow glanced at each other. In sync, they looked back at Ariya and nodded. Ariya shrugged, "let's have some breakfast then."

After they ate, the three mobians continued their normal routine of wandering the repetitive hallways of the cave. They told jokes here and there, trying to lighten the depressing mood the cave walls emitted. The truth was, they were all started to go a bit crazy being in the dark so long. At this point, it was only each other which kept them from going completely nuts. The company seemed to help their mental state. "Okay, I have a good one," Ariya said as the three walked along. "Let's hear it," Shadow said. "What do you get when you cross a dyslexic, an agnostic and an insomniac?" Ariya asked. "What?" Shadow chuckled at the ridiculous question. "A person who lays awake at night wondering if there is a dog," she said, barely able to say the last word without laughing. Shadow laughed, harder than usual. The two laughed so hard it echoed loudly through the cave's tunnels. Sonic walked beside Shadow, who stood inbetween the two of them. He was completely confused. "I don't get it. What's an agnostic?" Sonic asked. "An agnostic is someone who doesn't necessarily believe in a God, but doesn't necessarily ... not believe in one. You get it?" Ariya attempted to explain. "They basically say they don't know if there is a God or not. They neither confirm nor deny belief," Shadow said. The two waited in silence for Sonic's response. Sonic walked silently as if his brain was processing this new information and then applying it to the punchline of the joke. Without warning Sonic bursted out in laughter, just as loudly as Shadow and Ariya had a moment ago. "I get it!" he yelled, running out of breath. The other two mobians joined again in laughter, this time more so laughing at Sonic's late reaction than at the joke itself. "Alright, let me tell one," Sonic said after catching his breath. "Okay," Ariya and Shadow said in sync. "Why was the math book feeling depressed?" Sonic asked. "Why?" The two asked. "It had too many problems," Sonic said proudly. The three laughed again in sync. Sonic started to feel a bit more included in their group, and decided he was being too hard on Ariya. Of course he was still jealous and averted his eyes anytime Ariya flirted with Shadow, but he decided to lay off them for now. At least for Shadow's sake.

Hours passed and the three had gone silent. They had practically run out of things to talk about and talking for hours with stopping had made their throats dry. With limited water, this was probably the worst possible thing for them. So instead they marched on quietly, with Shadow in the lead. Sonic's eyes began to force themselves closed. He struggled to keep them open as the day went on. The lack of sleep he got last night really did him in. "You doing okay back there, Faker?" Shadow asked. Sonic shook his head to wake himself up. "Mhm," he sighed. "What's going on?" "I'm just tired," "Do you want to sleep now?" Shadow asked. Sonic wanted to say yes, but instead he refused. He knew it was still too early. "I'll be okay. Thanks," Sonic said. Shadow didn't respond, and continued looked forwards. "Hey, do you guys hear something?" Ariya asked. "Like what?" Shadow asked. "Wait, shush," Ariya said, putting her arm out to stop Sonic, who was beside her. The two stood and listened carefully as Shadow continued walking. "Shadow," Sonic said. Shadow stopped, and turned around to face them. "It sounds like sirens," Sonic pointed out. Shadow listened, and then turned to face the front of him again. "I hear it, it's coming from here," Shadow said. "Is it a way out?" Ariya asked. "Let's find out," Shadow said. The three began walking, which quickly turned to running as the sirens got louder. "We're getting closer!" Sonic yelled. Their hearts pounded as they approached a light. Blue and red lights flashed through the exit of the cave. They ran out, gasping for the fresh air. Sonic's vision went blurry with the shock that they were finally out of the airless, cramped tunnel. Police officers ran over to the three mobians, Ariya grabbing on to one of them to stabilize herself. The police officers frantically asked them questions, but Sonic and Ariya were too dazed to answer. Shadow took charge and answered their questions. "Sir, did your group lose anyone else while you were in the cave?" one of the female police officers asked. "Yes, a bunch of our friends. There was Amy, Knuckles, Tails, Blaze, Silver, Espio and Rouge," the police officer quickly jotted notes into her notepad as Shadow spoke. "And my brother. His name is Archer," Ariya added. The police officer quickly flipped through her notepad. "I have an Archer written down here," she said. "You do?" Ariya asked with excitement. "Yes, ma'am. My partner, Scott, over there will help you locate him," the police officer said, pointing behind her. Ariya stared at Shadow, as if asking "will you be okay?" Shadow nodded. "Go. Come find us later," he said. Ariya nodded, her eyes tearing up. She ran off to the other police officer, and Shadow's focus was back on the female police officer helping them. "We already have a search team down there now. We'll let you know immediately if we find any of your party. If you would like to stay here and wait you are welcome to do so," she finished, nodding her head. "Thank you," Shadow said. The police officer walked back, towards a large group of officers. They all spoke quietly in a circle. "Shadow are they going to be okay?" Sonic asked. Shadow turned around to look at Sonic. "Of course they are," he said. Ambulances surrounded the area and some injured mobians could be seen sitting in the back of them. The three of them watched as members of the search party came in and out of the cave, sometimes with mobians who had clearly been trapped down there. "They're coming out with a lot of people. Let's go sit by the rocks over there and see if they come out with your friends," Shadow said. Sonic nodded, following him. The two sat down on the grass and their backs leaned against the group of rocks which faced the exit of the cave. Sonic let his head relax back as well, as he closed his eyes. "It'll be okay," Shadow said, noticing how stressed Sonic seemed. "I'm just so worried about them, you know?" Sonic frowned. "So am I," Shadow sighed. He took a deep breath in and looked around. "I'm starving," he said, trying to change the subject. "Me too," Sonic smirked, peeking an eye open at Shadow. There was a pause in their conversation as Shadow thought of whether or not he should suggest what he was thinking. "Sonic, listen ... How about I leave my phone number for that police officer? I'll ask her to call me if they find any of them. And you and I can go back to my house. We can charge up our phones and get something to eat. I don't even know what time it is," Shadow suggested. Sonic took a deep breath in and nodded. "Let's go," he said.