Jayde and the Seven Shards [1]

23: Back Home✔️

MUSIC: Pablo Bendr vs OneRepublic - Apologize (Remix)
[A/N - This was supposed to be an instrumental version but I couldn't find one]

The Next Day

Everyone was back at Tails' workshop. No one spoke a word. Jayde sat on the chair, her leg bouncing in place, her hands by her mouth, her body tense. She was quiet. Ever since her negative form had been sealed by Shadow, she didn't speak to anyone - she felt too ashamed. Amy still had the bruise on her neck, Shadow still had a dark patch on his muzzle that blended in with his fur and Tails' head was still bandaged up. The grey hedgehog stared at the table in front of her, her eyes not moving from that one spot.

Silver and Blaze stood in the corner, leaning against the wall. Blaze's palms were playing with fire, but her mind went to the grey hedgehog. Jayde would surely ask questions about why they were still her friends - she could have killed them. But no matter what, the purple cat would stand by her side and continue to be her friend. Silver sighed to himself, staring at the ground. He partly blamed himself. He should have made Jayde return to Cream's house because they all knew that Mephiles was around - it was an accident waiting to happen. His stomach still burned from her attack, but it was slowly becoming no more than a dull ache. He refused to have bandages because he didn't want to make the grey one feel any worse.

Shadow stood from the other side of the desk, arms crossed, watching the grey hedgehog's almost motionless body - that leg bouncing had to be a nervous twitch. He knew that it was tough on the female and she would always be afraid of her dark side and what it can do. She'll never be the same as she once was because underneath it all there will be a broken girl scared of herself.

Sonic tapped his foot on the ground, folding his arms as he watched his proclaimed brother search on his computer for the next shard, "Okay, I found it. It's about three miles south of here." He spoke, tapping a few buttons before it appeared on Knuckles communicator. "Knuckles, Rouge. You're up. Apparently, there are some carvings on the walls of the podium, make sure you get a photograph of that."

Rouge nodded, "Come on, Knux. Let's get that Shard." She grinned at the red echidna who grumbled a few words under his breath before following her out the door. 

Sonic and Tails turned to the grey hedgehog, staring at her form. Even though she was the enemy, her fur was still matted with her own blood, not just theirs. A deep wound inhabited her left arm and a light bruise was on the right side of her muzzle. Shadow glared at that bruise, hating himself for hurting the female hedgehog. But it wasn't the wounds that bothered her; it was the scars it left inside her friends that pained her. She knew that they'd always fear her to some extent. The twin tailed fox walked to his desk, fixing up the final pieces on his latest invention – he hoped she liked it.

Amy walked up to the silent female before wrapping her arms around her. Jayde froze. The pink hedgehog, that she almost killed, forgave her and was pulling her into a hug. The grey hedgehog refused to let the tears fall, digging at herself to be the strong teammate. Her fingers clenched into her arms, her eyes still staring in the same spot on the coffee table.

The red striped hedgehog sat beside her, Amy removing her grip and letting Shadow comfort her. He put his hand on her back before her body leaned into him. The dark hedgehog wasn't used the physical contact, and even though Jayde hated it as well, they all knew that was she needed right now was support. Jayde glanced up at the male hedgehog, hating the bruise on his muzzle that had her name written all over it. Her gloved hand reached up, gently smoothing the wound, a small flinch coming from the black hedgehog, making her ears drop, "I'm sorry." She whispered, turning to the others in the room, "I'm so sorry."

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're you; we won't let him get to you again." Sonic spoke, giving thumbs up to the grey female.

Jayde shook her head, standing up from the chair, "What shard have Rouge and Knuckles gone to?"

Tails turned and frowned at her worriedly but clicked on his communicator nonetheless. "Well, we have the purple, blue, red and orange one so far - that's three of seven. You have the blue on and they've gone after the pink one so there's the green and black one left."

Jayde nodded, "What about those carvings?"

"They are some kind of drawings or Latin words about the shards. If we can get them, maybe we can find out more about the Seven Shards. But there's a problem."

"What is it?" the cobalt hedgehog asked his best friend, walking to peer at the communicator.

"Well, since Jayde found the blue shard about five miles north of its podium, we couldn't get the carvings from that place. Because it's the largest, it also holds the most power, which in turn means that Jayde will be the most powerful of the Protectors. So, we need to look at the carvings on the wall because there is a lot of them!" Tails spoke.

Jayde walked towards the door, her fists clenched to her sides, "I'm going to find out what it says."

"Wait, Jayde." Tails called, screwing up the final bolt before presenting the female with a grey and green hoverboard, "Because of the fact you're always with speedy people, ahem," he nodded towards the speedster and the Ultimate Lifeform, "I've made you a hoverboard which allows you to reach unparalleled speeds and keep up! I also borrowed your shard and charged it up with the Riot power."

Jayde walked over to the smiling fox who handed her the board, nodding weakly, "Thanks, Tails."

"Oh, and with this wristband, you'll be able to call it over to you with just a tap! Also, it opens up the foot locks which connect with only your specific shoe so you don't fall off at high speeds! Which I recommend for the first use." Tails grinned, "It's also made from a strong metal which can survive almost anything – even Shadow's chaos blast!" the young fox wiped his nose, "I created it."

The grey female looked down at the orange wrist back, two small rectangular buttons beside each other. She grinned weakly at the fox, silently thanking him before turning and walking out.

"I'll go with you." Sonic jumped up about to walk alongside her but the grey female shook her head, holding her hand out to the side of her, holding her board against her other side, "No. I'd like to go alone. I need to... clear my head." She sighed, closing her eyes before walking out. Shadow watched her go, the blue hero slumping on the sofa. The red striped hedgehog wanted to be there for the grey female but he knew what it was like to want to be alone, so he gave Jayde her space - she'll be fine.