lightremains | SEASONS

[Shadow will find set just outside his door is a package.]

[Its two books, along with a packet of those glow in the dark stars one can stick on the walls and ceiling, tied together with a red ribbon and black bow, with a tag that says 'For: Shadow, From: *A blue star*']

[Its his own personal dictionary! As well as a book on the stars of Ellipsa.]

Edited 2025-02-07 20:46 (UTC)

[glow in the dark stars.... he loves these. HOW DID HE KNOW???

Sonic may be able to find Shadow on the roof of the house the night after, with a red light illuminating the book (to save his night vision), looking for constellations]

[ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLING. Also like he likes stars, but the fort did point to the fact that just star shaped stuff was still probably cool.]

[Sonic is...not necessarily a fan of the soundproofing of the rooms, but at the very least, he can hear the faint sounds of movement on the roof. Which usually says something on the roof, which he's fairly used to.]

[When ones little brother flies and Knuckles likes the high guard, there is a lot of time just spent on the roof.]

[And also Sonic absolutely opted into the skylight. He likes the sky, so he will investigate, peaking out and]

[Oh, Shadow.]

[Hmmmm.]

[After a few moments, he'll climb out and move over to sit near him. Just enough to see the pictures in the book and look up at the sky himself to see what he can spot.]

[Stars were cool. Clouds, trees, natural stuff. Maria had liked all of that, since the base had no windows. Shadow didn't have anything to compare it to, and wide open spaces were still a little intimidating.

Shadow says nothing when Sonic joins him, but gives him a small nod before going back to squinting at his book. He's quiet for a long moment, then frowns]

Nothing is familiar... we must be so far from Earth.

[He hums.] Maybe. Though it could also be the angle.

All the stars are in really different places, they just all hit us from the same angle. So....when you were in the same Solar system....the constellations mostly stayed the same. Because that's how far the all those distances were working. A Solar system is close enough together to make it all look the same.

But when you got to another solar system, even the next one over, that's enough of a change for stuff to start looking really different.

[He's keeping his volume low at least, as he studied the sky.]

Earth's constellations looked really different from the planets I was on before. A few....a few were the same, but some got really different.

[Ah Sonic. He can always rely on the blue guy to fill every available ounce of space with talking. As he goes on, Shadow sets the book aside and looks up at the sky, hands folded across his chest.

Angle, huh? Well. That made sense. For all that it looked like a big two dimensional painting, space was vast and three dimensional. ]

How many other planets have you been to?

Edited 2025-02-16 02:33 (UTC)

About...fourteen, I think.

A few were...safety planets. Places I should have been able to go if Earth didn't work out. But when I checked them out when I was just...going too stir crazy, there were people who had moved in too close to where I could picture.

There's this planet just full of Mushrooms, that one didn't have people even after I checked around for days. Some weird bitey mushrooms, but otherwise pretty empty. That was going to be my next one.

But most were when I was with Longclaw. Just...fragments. Different skies, grass with different colors, weird trees, stuff like that. New patterns in the stars. We'd move from place to place whenever someone tracked me down, until we got to a planet where most societies chose to live more by fang and claw so people didn't want to visit and there wasn't a lot scanners picking me up. As long as no one physically saw us, we were fine. That was....two solid years, I think.

Though I think I liked that one best. Besides Earth.

Edited 2025-02-16 02:59 (UTC)

Fourteen...? [how many habitable planets were there out there? It's mind-blowing to think about. He'd only ever known a single planet But... wait...] How did you travel? [Ah. Nope. He never saw warp rings in use!]

How did we-

[He paused. Thinks about it.]

Oh, you never saw the rings.

There are these rings from those worlds that allow travel. It's how we got away from the black hole and how Tails and Knuckles got onto the cannon. Also a lot of our traveling.

You just need a picture of where you want to go. Toss up, gateway opens. There's a whole network of planets that use them. I was born on one of them. I dunno which one. Longclaw found me really young.

I actually have some here.

Unfortunately they freak out if I try to make a gateway to anything that ISN'T on Ellipsa.

They're also part of why I got G.U.N to not throw me in a lab. Knuckles and Tails knows where to get them and how much barter needs to be offered up, so we get them rings as part of our truce. [Because where else did G.U.N get rings and in such steady supply to weaponize them.]

Edited 2025-02-16 05:15 (UTC)

... I was wondering how you escaped that alive.

[because it was a fucking black hole. Not even light is fast enough to get out of those, bro.

The rings don't work here? That's strange. Why wouldn't they? What made this planet different than countless others...? He wants to ask, but--

But what Sonic says next makes Shadow sit up to glare]

You gave G.U.N. access to instant interplanetary travel?!

Trick shots saves lives. [Chuckles.]

No. [He meets Shadow's eyes.]

I gave them access to instant planetary travel.

If you don't have a picture of where you're going, you can't get there. The only way for them to get interplanetary travel is to see another world and I'm absolutely not letting G.U.N see one of the habitable and populated worlds. Anytime we go on a ring getting trip, we make sure there's no way they're getting a visual to make the trip themselves.

[He looks up at the sky.]

Because if we did, then our cooperation wouldn't be an absolute necessity.

[Uurrrggghhhhhhh. He understands making a deal for freedom, but...

he groans and rubs his temples, ears folded. He can't think of a group of people who he trusts less with the ability to travel the world instantly.]

God damn it.

[He's angry, but not necessarily at Sonic -- he did what he had to in order to save himself.]

....G.U.N takes up a lot of my math these days.

[He doesn't have to survive in the woods anymore, but G.U.N is a whole issue. He misses when he was just hiding from them. At least then he could just run around, but once they had confirmation that Tom and Maddie was in regular contact with him, well....]

I don't trust them. At all. [And his voice sounds more...tired than it usually is. His eyes focused on the stars.]

There are some agents that I trust to be straight with me, but I can't say I'm exactly surprised during our brief before you, they didn't think to mention hey, the alien looks like you, Sonic, and maybe that's important. [He makes some jazz hands and then scoffs.] Probably hoped it would go off the rails that I wouldn't realize that you suffered the thing I'd been trying to avoid.

Or maybe they really think I'm that under their thumb.

One of those.

Give them the rings, something concrete, and help with the threats they can't deal with, and it makes us useful enough they don't try to extract usefulness by force, and we have free reign in Green Hills.

[He sighs and looks to Shadow.] ....you should come by Green Hills. Montana. I dunno how trustworthy these rings I have here are. But we always keep a bug out supply of rings for ourselves. We could get you some. Show you planets.

Edited 2025-02-16 10:23 (UTC)

[Shadow flops back down with a huff. They didn't even bother to tell him that he was dealing with an alien of the same species? He shouldn't be surprised, and yet here he is.]

Probably the former. GUN has a bad habit of thinking they've thought three steps ahead, only to trip before they can even begin.

[You know -- like storing highly reactive chaos energy in glass containers with no shielding.

Montana. It was even farther north than Colorado, wasn't it? But the climate was similar. He was vaguely aware of the rest of the areas in the United States -- Maria had to study geography, and he helped with that.]

... They can't know I survived. I'm... I'm not like you that way. I will not make any concessions for GUN, even if it means hiding for the rest of my life. [he'll kill them first. No mercy. Any agent who dares to come after him should consider their life forfeit.]

They really do. They tried to set a trap at my aunt's wedding, the one who hates Tom and thinks I'm a menace and is not shy about it, and the only reason it worked is because I needed Tom to use his return home ring to save me from an avalanche in Siberia because that was the weekend Robotnik wanted to terrorize me. I would have just been chilling at home otherwise. Months of work down the drain except they got lucky.

And even then, Maddie broke me out like not even two hours later. In a bridesmaid dress.

[He does snicker at that. It's still rather funny. His family is so chaotic that they really don't know what to expect from them.]

[He looks to Shadow. Reaches out, hesitates, then touches his hand. Squeezes it briefly before letting go.]

I'm not going to tell them about you. The less they know, the better. Come get some rings, I can show you some places that are good to lie low, figure out where you want to stay, but I hope you'll still visit.

I can deal with GUN. They just take a while because that is a whole lot of people to try and change their minds, but I'll get there. As much as I hate the math, I'm not bad at it.

But they've taken enough from you.

They don't get anymore.

[He scrunches up his face as he listens to the increasingly absurd story. There is no way that should have ever worked...]

That sounds like an episode of a sitcom. A bad one.

[he squeezes back,then folds his fingers together again.

Places to lie low. Other planets. He could go wherever he wanted, he was free. Leaving Earth and never looking back would be the safest, smartest thing for him. For everyone.

But it wasn't the right thing. It was like the other Shadow had told him. He had to do his penance. He had to protect the Earth from anyone ever making the same mistakes he had.

"This is your home, Shadow. Earth."]

... I won't let them take away the only home I've ever known, Sonic. I have to stay. On Earth. [he looks over at him, face serious as always] Show me places I can escape to in a pinch. But Earth is my home, and I have to make up for what I've done. I won't leave it completely. Never. [he can't. He owes his protection to the people of the planet. From GUN, from themselves, from any other threats that may come their way]

It does sound like a kind of B plot the feels a bit too disconnected to the main story of a movie, yeah.

[Sonic looks to Shadow and he can't say he's surprised. He saw how badly Shadow felt when he let himself feel things beyond rage.]

[And, well, home is important. Even if his cave hadn't been ideal, it hadn't been the happiest place, it had still been hard to leave that first time.]

Escape plans are always good. And hey, vacations somewhere else never hurt, you know?

But is hard to leave home. [He looks up to the sky again.] Even when there's painful memories. It'll be different though. Even if you're keeping a low profile.

You'll have people you can turn to for help. Green Hills has lied to the government before en masse and that was when they just kind of vaguely knew I existed and Tom wanted to protect me. They'll definitely do it now for their favorite alien children.

And I will absolutely play the species card if they start asking about hedgehogs in strange places and ask them if they think we all look the same, just try to not be committing any major crimes at the time.

Edited 2025-02-17 02:41 (UTC)

[He makes a small humming affirmative noise] It sounds like a good town. [yet he still sounds unsure. Shadow doesn't exactly have a good track record with humans not fucking him over. He's not sure he can trust them so easily. Even if Sonic does... all it would take is one selfish person to turn him in.

At that, he makes a snorting noise that might be a laugh, if you squint] I will do my best not to tarnish your sparkling reputation.

It is. I'll introduce you to them one day. When you're ready. We can start slow. We can start with Wade! I get my parents might be kind of, you know, intense. [What with the almost killing thing.] But Wade is super chill and rolls real well with the whole alien thing. He even taught Knuckles how to relax sometimes!

Also on record for wrecking evil human agent shop. He totally conned these AWOL GUN agents who tried to capture and sell Knuckles and then helped beat the guy who was trying to buy him.

[Sonic does get not wanting to trust humans. Some can be really bad. Its just Green Hills HAS helped him and for a lot less reason then they would for Shadow. Before it had just been for Tom and Maddie. Now it'd be for the whole Wachowski family.]

[Sonic looked at Shadow and grinned.] Getting closer and closer to a laugh everyday~

[It may be a goal of his.]

[Shadow and Wade. Can you even imagine??? Maybe he would try to teach Shadow how to bowl. In theory, he at least knows what bowling is, unlike poor Knuckles.

But he managed to take down GUN agents? Then he must be something]

Trying to buy him? [a low rumbling growl. Knuckles is a person. Do these humans truly have no shame?

He knows the answer to that question.

A huff] You have your work cut out for you. Maria only made me laugh twice.

[It would be a whole thing. Sonic would buy tickets to it.]

Yeah. We've reached the point of public awareness that the government knows about us, and people who make it a point to do criminal things in regards to the government. I'm pretty sure the guy was a weapons dealer, makes the most sense.

Ah, but unlike Maria, you will likely see me get knocked around and you definitely got the 'enjoys physical comedy' kind of vibe.

[Shadow may or may not have this vibe. He will just explore all avenues to figure out what Shadow's humor is.]

[another growl and a spark of orange lightning -- just a touch]

Of course it's weapons. It's always about power.

[You're not doing a good job selling the human race, Sonic. Shadow would never tolerate something like that, not for himself, and not for any of the other aliens on Earth. Any human that tried that would be dead. Or teleported to a desolate mountaintop somewhere.

But, that earns another snort-like noise that could be a laugh in some universe] You're right. Seeing you eat dirt would be pretty funny. [still not sure he would laugh, though.]

It is.

For every nine good people, there's always that one person who has to ruin it. [He glances over to Shadow.]

Its not just humans. [He looks to the sky and holds out his hand. He lets the energy crackle over his fingers, on purpose this time.] Every race is mostly good people, or at least people who don't mean any harm. But then there's those who want more and will use force for it.

[He lowers his hand and let's out his own chuckle.]

See? At least if I'm getting knocked around, I can have a bright side. I might get to see you laugh. It'll be a great pick me up so I can pay back the guy double.

[One out of every nine is still too many. There's billions of humans. ]

.... I'll have to take your word for it. I've never met any others.

[he finds it hard to believe that all sapient life in the universe has a fairly high percentage of Assholes. And yet, at the same time...

He shakes his head and looks back up at the stars, in time to catch a meteor streaking across the sky]

... weirdo.

[Don't come to Sonic for accurate numbers. And to be fair, that one out of ten also includes people who are just assholes and not all megalomaniacs.]

I've met a few. Knuckles has met more. Reno wasn't the first time people have tried to sell him. He'll brag about his times in the warrior fighting pits, so good he's not like scarred by it, but worrying for the rest of us. [He huffs.]

...what we have is rare. I don't know how rare. But rare enough.

[He watches the meteor and shrugs.] Nothing wrong with being a weirdo. It seems to make people happier usually.

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