Innocence (Sonadow)

Chapter 7

Sonic heard the screams loud and clear from his room. Recognizing the voice to be Shadow's, he immediately sprang to action and ran to the ebony's room, just right across the hall from him. When he went in, a horrible sight greeted him.

Shadow was all tangled up in his sheets, twisting, turning, and kicking, getting himself even more tangled in the sheets, it must feel like a straightjacket to him. Tears were running down his face in a quick pace as he screamed and cried, calling out for help in his sleep.

Recognizing this to be a nightmare, Sonic quickly ran over to the hedgehog in distress and began trying to wake him up.

“Shadow!” He called, shaking the ebony shoulder. “Shadow wake up! It's ok! You're dreaming, it's ok! Wake up Shadow! Wake up!”

With a final scream Shadow shot up in bed, wide awake with tears in his eyes. He looked around and cried out when he saw Sonic sitting beside him. He cried and began kicking his legs again, trying to untangle the sheets from his body so he could get away.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa Shadow, it's alright. It's alright.” Sonic desperately tried to calm him. “It's alright. It's me. It's Sonic. It's alright.”

“Please don't hurt me.” Shadow whimpered, staring fearfully into the green eyes he used to trust. “Please.”

Sonic was shocked. What on Mobias was Shadow dreaming about?

“Shadow, what makes you think I'm gonna hurt you? I would never do such a thing.”

“But you did.” Shadow sobbed. “You grabbed my arms and pushed me into the big, dark, scary hole. You called me weak and useless. A disgraceful baby. You left me alone. You promised you'd protect me, but you didn't.”

Sonic’s heart shattered. Is this really what happened in his nightmare? As a Wiccan, Sonic often knew a lot about dream symbols and what they could mean. To sum it up, Shadow was feeling helpless and having doubts about this new situation he was in, and he was afraid of being abandoned, left to fight for himself again.

Was he truly free?

“Shadow,” Sonic whispered. “I never did any of those things. It was a dream, a nightmare. It was all just in your head. It never happened. It was a dream.”

Unfortunately, Shadow wouldn't listen. No  matter how many times Sonic said it, the fact that it was only a dream wouldn't register in his mind. He was truly terrified of Sonic.

The sight of this ripped the blue hedgehog's heart to shreds. He had tried so hard to befriend this poor abused soul, to gain his trust and prove that he was there to protect him, but this one nightmare may have just ruined it all. He didn't want Shadow to be afraid of him, but with his tortured mind having trouble registering what is fake and what is real, he couldn't trust anything.

That fact is what broke the blue hedgehog.

Sonic couldn't take it anymore. Tears gathered in his eyes as he let out soft sobs, ashamed with himself for scaring the ebony hedgehog in front of him. He was meant to protect him, to make him feel safe and loved. Now, the azure one felt like he had failed the onyx one.

Shadow watched in astonishment as Sonic cried in front of him. He began to feel really guilty. Sonic has been nothing but kind to him and what did he give him in return? Distrust and fear. He supposed he couldn't really blame himself, that nightmare really messed him up.

Yes, he was now beginning to realize that it was just a nightmare. Afterall, Sonic would know if he had pushed the ebony hedgehog, wouldn't he?

Shadow untangled himself and scooted over to his sobbing savior, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. Sonic gasped and quickly hugged back, rubbing Shadow's back, not wanting to let go.