I Am...All of Me

Reunions (Sequel to Vivid Memory)

Third Person POV

It was around nine o'clock when Sonic woke up from a dreamless sleep and climbed out of his hammock. It was a windy day but still warm out; he could feel it seeping in through his open windows and doorless entryway. Sonic strolled into the kitchen and fixed himself a quick breakfast of fruit and juice. Tails stumbled in a few seconds later, still only half-awake. He had, once again, been up all night working on a new invention.

"Hey, lil' bro," Sonic greeted and was met with a grunt. The blue hedgehog grinned and shook his head knowingly. "Ready to meet the gang for lunch later?"

"Later," the kit replied and made himself a bowl of cereal. His older brother laughed and stretched his arms over his head, the itch to run building steadily since he had woken up.

"Hey, I'm gonna go on a run. Need anything?" he offered. Tails shook his head and enjoyed his belated breakfast while the blue blur dashed out their hut.

"So nice," he breathed as the midmorning sun warmed his quills while he raced along the beach, "Sun's shining. Egghead's not attacking. I could get used to a day like this."

The cobalt hedgehog then took his run inland, leaving the beach behind, and raced through the ravine often called Shadow Canyon. He hmphed to himself in amusement, as the name brought to mind his only worthy rival and racing pal to mind.

"Shadow Canyon. Why do they even call it that anyways?" he asked no one in particular, "There's no shade, and the dude it's named after is never around."

His attention was suddenly diverted by a streak of red disappearing down a second lane in the ravine. Sonic smirked and chased after it. Speaking of..., he mused inwardly. The crimson blur took another turn, and the blue hedgehog followed, steadily catching up to it. Huh, he's not going at full speed yet. Maybe he's just enjoying the day? Nah, he'd only be doing that when it's dark and raining. What an emo-hog, he thought.

Shadow skated along his favorite route through the chasm, trying to distract himself from his latest nightmare. The longer he glided, the sooner he realized how exhausted he was. Sleep had been elusive to the black blur as memories began to resurface over the past few weeks, and it was beginning to take its toll on him.

"Yo, Shads! Wanna race?!" a voice shouted, cutting through his thoughts, and he grumbled in annoyance. There goes my hope for a peaceful morning, he thought and skated faster. Sonic took this as an invitation and ran to catch up. Shadow took several sharps turns to loose the blue streak behind him, but he couldn't shake him. The striped mobian leaped and landed on a path several feet above the canyon floor before running in the opposite way they had been going. Sonic skidded to a stop before turning around to follow his reluctant racing partner.

"You're quiet today, Shads!" he called after realising he hadn't heard so much as a 'get lost' from the black hedgehog.

"Beat it, Sonic. I'm not in the mood for any of your childish games,, and I told you to stop calling me such a degrading name," Shadow replied harshly as said hedgehog finally found a way up to the same landing he was on. Sonic smirked, Not a "get lost" but close enough.

"How do you even know your way around this place? It's a total maze!"

Shadow tripped and slid to a sudden stop as those words brought on another memory. One close to the same time as his nightmare took place.

"Shadow, how are we going to get out of here? This place is like a maze," Maria whispered, as they ran deeper into the facility, trying to find a way out. The others were with them, looking around the winding halls for any kind of sign. The alarms would go off any minute now, and they were all painfully aware of the danger they were in if they were caught now.