Innocence (Sonadow)

Chapter 2

Sonic walked slow as he carried Shadow, not wanting to go too fast in case he scared him.

“How long has he kept you here?”

“Including today, I think 1,395 days, but I can't be sure.”

Sonic inwardly gasped. Almost 4 years… and he and the others didn't have a clue! It made Sonic feel so incredibly guilty that it had taken him this long to find the poor hedgehog in his arms. No wonder he had trust issues.

“I'm so sorry that I didn't find you sooner.” He whispered gently.

“It's ok, Sonic.” Shadow shook his head. “You didn't know. And besides, what matters now is that you did find me, even if it did take long.”

“I suppose.” Sonic smiled as he slowed down to a stop right by the exit. “Now Shadow, it's going to be really bright outside, which might hurt your eyes because you've been in the dark for so long. You can close your eyes until you're ready if you want. You can even bury your face into my shoulder if you think that might help. I just want to warn you before we head out there.”

“Ok.” Shadow nodded, closing his eyes and burying his face into the crook of Sonic's neck. Sonic smiled before stepping up to the self-sliding door, stepping outside into the sunlight once the door opened.

Once they were outside, Shadow began to feel very warm, a large contrast to his cold cell. He slowly lifted his head from Sonic's shoulder and slowly opened his eyes, squinting when the bright sunlight attacked his eyes.

“Ow.” He whimpered as he closed his eyes and buried his face again.

“I told you.” Sonic chuckled. “It's ok, you'll get used to it.”

“I wanna see.” Shadow whined. “I've never seen the outside. I wanna see what it looks like.”

“You will Shadow, I promise. You just gotta give your eyes some time to adjust.”

“SONIC!”

Shadow whimpered at the loud voices. Loud voices meant trouble. Whenever the bad man got a loud voice, he knew he was in trouble.

“Sonic, are we in trouble?” He whimpered, trying his best to bury his face deeper into his savior's neck.

“Shhh, no Shadow, we're not in trouble.” Sonic gently comforted him, rubbing his back. “Those are just my friends. They must've been worried.”

“Sonic, it's about time you got out here!” A red echidna glared at the blue hedgehog. “We were starting to think that Eggman escaped our trap and caught you.”

“Come on guys, you know me better than that.” Sonic gently chuckled, trying not to yell into Shadow's ear. The poor thing was already trembling enough. His friends were scaring him.

“Is that the prisoner Eggman was keeping?” A two tailed fox asked in horror and astonishment.

“Yes, his name is Shadow. Can you guys tone it down a bit? He scares easily.” Sonic told them, hushing and comforting the black and maroon hedgehog who kept whimpering into his neck.

“The poor thing looks awful.” A pink hedgehog gasped. “How long has he been trapped here?”

“Almost 4 years.” Sonic sighed, causing his friends to gasp. “Shadow… Hey Shadow. Come on little one, open your eyes. It's alright, they won't hurt you.”

Shadow's whimpers slowly died down as he obeyed Sonic's offer and slowly opened his eyes, squinting to keep the sunlight out for now. He turned his head towards the three new voices and shyly whimpered when he saw them staring at him.

“Shadow, these are my friends, Tails the Fox, Knuckles the Echidna, and Amy Rose the Hedgehog.” Sonic introduced each of his friends. “Can you say hello to them?”

Shadow whimpered and buried his face again into Sonic's neck, too shy to say hello.

“I guess he's shy.” Amy gently chuckled.

“He looks to be about the same age as Sonic,” Tails frowned. “But he acts like a small child.”

“He's been through a lot Tails, cut him some slack.” Sonic sighed to the fox.

“I didn't mean any offence!” Tails quickly replied.

“I know you didn't little bud, but he doesn't know that.” Sonic gestured to the sniffling hedgehog in his arms. “Shhh, it's ok Shadow. He didn't mean it.”

“It's not that.” Shadow whimpered, his entire body trembling.

“Then what is it? What's wrong?”

“... the bad man.”