He is My Master

18: Different Ways

                 *******EXCLAIMER*******
I DO NOT OWN THIS NOVEL IM MERELY TRANSFERRING IT TO WATTPAD CHECK OUT THE ORIGINAL AND GIVE KUDOS TO AUTHOR Chiisai Kitsune ON FF.NET HERE

     https://m.fanfiction.net/s/4256772/18/

The castle stood halfway up on a bare mountain, alone and menacing, the city huddled at the foot of the slope, cowering there as if it was as afraid of its King as of the unseen dangers that might lurk behind the borders. Nevertheless, it was a bustling place, the roads that led to and from it each sporting an assembly of oxen- or slave-drawn carts, people on foot, people on horses, people on weird black things and cattle and sheep being herded from one place to another. The two dimension-travelling hedgehogs could see it all from where they had walked from the castle, since the city basically lay at the edge of a huge plain into which the roads vanished. There seemed to be hundreds of houses and huts, marking it clearly as this kingdom's capital. Any walls it might have had at a time appeared to have been swallowed up by the urban sprawl. The only thing likely to be able to stop the expansion might have been the far mountains in the distance.

It wasn't a pretty city, not particularly ugly either, but just...working. In the middle of it, there was a huge, seething, colourful and relentlessly moving mass which Shadow presumed to be the market, individual figures not recognizable from this distance. Sonic's attention was captivated by something else, though.

"Space...so much...space..." the blue hedgehog's expression looked like he'd just seen Heaven. He was almost drooling at the wide expanse of steppe before him and leaning forward ever so slightly, as if he just wanted to plunge right into it. He turned to Shadow.

"Take that leash off me. Please. I need to run."

"What? But we have to look for the Emerald!"

Sonic nodded, almost frantically, his eyes pleading now. "Yes, I know Shads, and I promise I will help you later and everything, but now I need to run. Really. Really really bad." He was tugging at the leather bit now, his feet moving restlessly. "I need this," he implored and looked at Shadow with a gaze that said it all.

If you really love me...

The black hedgehog sighed. "Fine. BUT!" he raised his voice before the blue hedgehog could start his little happiness dance, "We will meet again. At sundown, at the rock to the east of the city," he said, pointing to the landmark in question, "and you won't just spend your time running around like a maniac but keep an eye out for any Chaos Emeralds of this dimension, understood?"

"Yeah, sure!" Sonic agreed all too happily, and Shadow couldn't help but almost smile at the enthusiasm. With a practiced finger movement, he released his supposed slave, secure that nobody could see them from the castle now.

"We can run together to the city, then separate before we enter and you can have all that plain to yourself. Break a leg of yours and I'll kill you for property damage." Shadow smirked and Sonic chuckled, giddy about this prospect. Shadow shifted his stance slightly, shifting his feet apart. "Ready?"

Sonic was. He, and one second later Shadow, took off like a storm unleashed. The Sonic Boom erupted across the plains and mountains before the blue hedgehog had even taken two steps and now he was only accelerating, grinning with bliss. Shadow followed him easily, the soft swishing noise of his Chaos skates turning into a ferocious hissing as he siphoned power into them like he hadn't for days. Landscape became a blur and the only constant was Sonic next to him, both of them moving at velocities only they could, both of them being rippled through by forces of acceleration and gravity, both of them sharing the thrill of absolute speed...

Shadow glanced over quickly at his pretend pet and his lips curved upward slightly as he watched Sonic. The hedgehog was in complete abandon, doing what he was born to do, at one with the elements and himself. His fur was ruffled by the sonic winds and his muscles pumped, the perfectly toned body of a racer streaking through the landscape. Then he glanced over at Shadow and smiled, emerald containing the sheer joy he was feeling and his happiness that Shadow was there to share it.