「 light in the darkness. 」

≻ . recover

The dust had yet to settle, the sky yet to clear. There was a silence never before heard that fell upon the land; there were no birds left in the trees to be heard, nor even a breeze to rustle in the leaves of what trees remained standing. Perhaps this was d
merely due to the impact, but Shadow could hear nothing but his own heart pounding in his ear. But, it was the same for Sonic; all the blue one could hear was Shadow's heavy breaths and his own grunts of pain as he tried to stand.

"You need to get Light.." Shadow barely managed to speak, pain shooting through him as he sat himself up, only to collapse against the side of the crater. There was a delay in his speech, a slight wince every time he moved. It was a wonder he managed to survive the fall itself, let alone be conscious and able to move. Then again, his endurance was far greater than that of any ordinary being.

"Why?" Sonic asked, unable to help but wince at the sharp pain in his side. He was still bleeding, it was making him dizzy.

"Healing. That is her power.." Coughing up blood, the dark hedgehog gripped the sides of the crater, using that to help him stand. Though he only slumped over with a pained growl, he managed to keep himself up. "Your bandana, you fool.. use it to stop your bleeding.."

The blue one, trying to stop his head from spinning, weakly rose to his feet again, mirroring Shadow's actions by using the crater walls for support. "Look, pal.. I ain't thinkin' straight. If Tails were here, he'd—"

"But he isn't here. You are on your own as clearly, I can't help you."

And he was right. Sonic was alone. He refused to let his friends stay and fight in fear they'd end up hurt.. but would it have all been easier if he'd let them help? Tails was smart, Knuckles was strong.. they could have easily helped the two hedgehogs and perhaps they wouldn't have ended up wounded as badly as they did. This time, Sonic didn't have his friends to turn to for help. All he had was Shadow, who couldn't even walk. Not that Sonic thought he'd help him even if he could.

"They'll be here. Everyone should've seen you kick that thing into space, they should know it's over.."

Shadow groaned as he forced himself to climb out, even despite the amount of pain coursing through his body. He would heal on his own, but given the amount of damage, it'd take longer. He needed Light to speed up the process.

"Get your sorry ass up here.."

The darker one offered a hand down towards Sonic who hesitated at first, unsure if they still had enough strength to successfully get him up. Fortunately, once the blue one did take his hand, Shadow was able to muster up enough strength to pull. It took Sonic using his hands to help push him up to actually climb over the edge, only to collapse on the flat ground.

"Fuck you're heavy," Shadow complained, taking a moment to let the pain pass. He could still taste the blood, feel every bit of sharp pain run through him. He hated it, feeling like this; almost weak and vulnerable.

"Shut up and look— it's.." Sonic could barely put together a sentence. His head was lulling back, his dizziness overcoming him. "A-Amy.."

"Sonic!" The female's voice called out in a panic. It was not her voice alone that caused Shadow to wince, but more so the thud of every footstep and the mumbles as those who fled returned to what remained of their home. Only few houses managed to stay intact, but even they seemed ready ro collapse. It was a shock to see their home in such a state;  their homes in ruins and a crater in the center of it all.