You awoke to someone desperately shaking you awake from within the pod. A strange light flooded in from the gaping hole in the craft which you had been taken there in. Apparently, your pod crashed onto the fascinating planet. The one shaking you was very familiar to you. It had been many years, but you still knew exactly who he was.

"Shadow...?" you asked sitting up from within the pod with a massive headache. None of the earlier events came back to you. It was annoying, and you struggled to figure out how you got there. Somehow, you remembered Shadow and Maria. That was about it. "What happened...?"

The stern gaze in his eyes was clouded as if he didn't really know himself. Just his urgency made you remember that it was something important. It was startling to realize that you were now on a completely different planet. Looking out beyond Shadow, you saw the color blue. Wide and vast was this color just like black in space. Space? Was that where you came from?

Shadow, who had yet to say anything, pulled you to your feet. He was short. Something seemed to stir in your mind about once being the same height as him with your sister Maria. Maria? Where was she? Why couldn't you seem to remember?

"Please Shadow, tell me, what happened...? Why do I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and why do you act so urgent?" you asked him. When he didn't respond, you couldn't help but get mad at him. "Speak for once, Shadow! I know I'm not Maria or Gerald, but the least you could do is explain! TELL ME!" you shouted at him. Salty tears emerged from your eyes and you still didn't understand why.

"They are... gone," he finally replied. Gnashing his teeth together, he added, "And they won't be coming back..."

Suddenly, images of the men in black uniforms and Maria pulling the lever came to mind. The missing pieces fell into place and you remembered why you felt the way you did. Maria was gone. She was shot on the Ark in an effort to save you and Shadow. The instant you realized the truth, your tears and sobs couldn't be contained anymore. It took about ten minutes before you could even think of looking back up at Shadow.

When you did glance back to Shadow, his gaze was fixed outside the pod. He was looking up at the sky. "I had promised... we'd see the planet together... We both wondered what it was like to see the sky above our heads... What other humans and other forms of life were like...," he said in remembrance of their constant conversations about the planet. His red, distant eyes flashed angrily back to you. "And she didn't deserve to die! After everything I promised I would do, she threw it all away just to save her sister who she barely knew at all! You shouldn't take this personally, but it should have been you who saved her! Why did fate think that it was better this way? Is this a cruel joke?!" he snapped almost completely losing it in an instant.

You were taken aback by his sharp tone and stinging words. The sadness from before melted into anger. "Do you think I wanted this to happen?! I know I haven't seen you or Maria in years, but I still love Maria and I would have died for her! But that's just not the way things worked out. This probably couldn't have been changed even if we wanted it to be changed. Besides, you can't change the past. We're here now and that's what matters now!" you told him forcefully.

His ears flattened aggressively and then he relented. What you said was true. "I suppose so. Matters will only get worse if we continue to fight with each other.... We'll have to work together on this planet whether if we like it or not."

"And first we have to get out of this space pod," you said.

Taking your first steps out of the space pod to the bright, shining light of day on an actual planet, you felt a sudden shiver of excitement run through you. It was Earth! Planet Earth! You only heard about it from the scientists. They saved all the pictures to show Maria of the surface. You walked out completely blind to what lay ahead. When you saw the sunshine, the sky, the water, the plants, and life in general, it was as if you stepped into an alien dimension. Everything was so much more colorful than it was on the Ark. It all seemed more natural than what you grew up knowing. The air was fresher, the sky was bluer, and somehow you felt less lonely. Even Shadow seemed amazed.

"Gerald told us about these areas on the planet covered in trees and plants which were known as "forests" and "jungles". Based on what I see, I'm guessing that this is a small forest rather than a jungle," Shadow explained thinking back to the books and photos Gerald would show Maria.

"A forest! It's so pretty, isn't it?" you asked trying to take your mind off of the bad things to appreciate the fact that you were now on the planet you admired so much.

The dark hedgehog looked around as if looking for something in the distance. When he couldn't see beyond a few trees, he jumped up onto a tree branch which was far firmer than you anticipated it to be. Once he was high enough to get a good view, he seemed pleased with himself and what he saw. "I know where we're going from here."

"Where?" you asked looking up at him.

"There's a small city just beyond this forest. If we go there, we should be able to find someone or something who can help us." He jumped down from the tree and began walking away without you. At least he didn't run off in a dead sprint, but you couldn't help but be annoyed at the fact that he didn't really care whether if you approved of his decision or not. Reluctantly, you followed him.

This city was a very different place from the forest. Tall, solid structures reached up towards the sky and the sun's blinding light reflected off of them. An acrid smell flooded into your nose and you coughed uncontrollably. Shadow flattened his ears with annoyance but seemed to expect it. Large metal vehicles sped down the wide road. You heard Maria talk about them. She said they were called "cars". Seemingly thousands of them went by at a time. The only time people could cross the street was when a strange light over the street turned red. When it became green again, the cars could continue down the road. Humans were everywhere on the streets and despite all of the foul emissions, the sky was still as blue as it was. This city wasn't nearly as organic as the forest had been.

"What kind of place is this...?" you asked Shadow. He ignored your comment deeming it 'unworthy' of answering apparently. The more he ignored you and gave you the silent treatment, the more annoyed you became. "So am I going to have no say on what we do here then?" you tried asking to see if he'd answer you. As suspected, he did not. "Shadow!"

He began walking off again down the hard rock-like ground. With nowhere else to go, you followed close behind him. Shadow glanced up at the sky. "Based on the location of the sun, I'd say it's around 4 in the afternoon. I'd prefer not to get caught out after dark in this place, but because I need someplace for you, we need to find manageable living arrangements. Which is one reason why we're here. The other reason is to figure out where on this planet we are. I'd suggest you just leave everything to me. You just follow close and be quiet. If I lose you in the crowd, you know for sure that I won't come back to look for you." Shadow began walking off again.

Huffing at the fact you were saved to be stuck with him, you tore after him. He seemed to have a plan already as if he were planning his strategy for what he'd do once he reached the planet for a long time now. This you were thankful for, but you weren't about to tell him that. "Can't you show a little bit of positive sentiment for once in your life?!"

"Positivity is irrelevant," Shadow stated plainly and robot-like.

"Positivity is all that kept me alive all my life on that Ark without driving me insane!" you retorted harshly.

Shadow refused to speak to you at all after that. The first place you went to was to the bank. Shadow tried his best to explain it in simple terms that you could understand. Or, at least, that's what he said. What was so difficult was that you had to extract the money from an international account that Gerald created so he could remove money from his bank account from any country or bank. Somehow, Shadow got the information required to remove money from it. Gerald had a lot of money and Shadow assumed that he was dead, so he requested to change the account to his rather than Gerald's. That process took a grand total of an hour and twenty minutes. You decided that from that point on, you would never go willingly into a bank again.

After the whole bank fiasco, Shadow rented out an apartment that you could use. That process took a total of another hour and ten minutes. Plus, it took forever to get there. By the time you made it that far, it was sunset. Your stomach complained about being neglected for so long and judging by Shadow's expression, you dared not ask to get something to eat. You could get water at the apartment, but the food was just going to have to wait.

Shadow stopped just outside of the apartment building and thrust the card key into your hands. "This is yours for the time being. I have other things to attend to on my own. Find the apartment and get situated," he told you.

"But where are you going? Will you ever come back to the apartment or are you abandoning me there?" you asked unsure of his true motives.

"That is up to you to figure out. However, I'd suggest you stay in the apartment considering that being out here for too long might cause some negative things to happen," he replied starting to walk off.

"Yeah?! Like what?!" you demanded.

Shadow glanced back with a smirk. "Well, if you care to know, go find out for yourself." With that, he sped away.

You blinked realizing that you were now all alone in the city. Shadow was gone and you were going to have to figure out how to get to your apartment on your own. What a nightmare.

Slowly, you entered the door of the apartment building. With card key in hand, you approached the lady behind the counter. "Excuse me, can you direct me to my room? I've never been here before..."

The lady took a long glance at you and rolled her eyes a little. "A noob college student I'm guessing? We've had too many of your kind come through here asking how to find their rooms when it's really as simple as breathing," she said without enthusiasm.

Taken aback by how rude her statement was, you bit back a list of mean things to say and had to regain your composure. "Well, you could say I'm from... out of the country! I have no idea how life works around here and an... acquaintance of mine helped me rent an apartment to live in temporarily. However, he went home, and now I'm stuck having to figure out everything. I assure you that I'm not a student or anything!" you explained cheering yourself up by your own positivity.

After hearing your explanation, the lady took a second glance at you and shrugged a little as if supposing your story was true enough. "If that's the case, then I suppose I can show you to your room then. Can I see your card key?" she asked holding her hand out.

You placed the key in her hands and glanced outside. It was black. Due to there being so many lights outside, it was well enough lit to see, but it wasn't anything compared to the beautiful sun from earlier.

"You come from the cold regions then?" the lady asked you.

"Huh?"

"The cold regions. Up north where you don't get much sun and are always wrapped up in fur jackets. Are you from there?" she asked again.

"Oh! Um... Yes! How did you know?" you improvised trying to figure out what a cold region and a fur jacket were.

The lady pointed to your arm. "Your skin is ghostly white as if it had never felt the sun even once. I've met some outsiders from up north and they were almost as snowy white as you."

"Really now?" you asked not sure what to say.

"They kept talking about how their fishing industry crashed and so they moved to the city for something or another. It's not my job to keep track, but I do get interested when foreigners come around. Too many wackos in this city if you ask me," she told you.

Awkwardly, you glanced from one end of the room to the other. Where was Shadow to explain everything when you needed him?! You closed your eyes and thought a silent thought to your sister Maria. You would know what she was talking about...sister...

"Hey! I don't know if it's okay to phase out whenever where you come from, but this really isn't the time to be consumed in thought," the lady told you.

Coming back to reality, you tried to think up another excuse. "The light was in my eyes! Sorry!" When the lady presented your key card back, you gratefully took it back. She stood up and stretched.

"Well, if you want to know where to go, you'd better follow me."

You tried your best to memorize the twists and turns in the large building. There were so many hallways and too many floors. After a few minutes of navigating the labyrinth, you finally came to your room. The door that stood before you looked exactly like all the others making it harder for you to distinguish it from the others. You didn't understand why locating a specific door in this world was so hard. The lady turned back to you, took your card key, and then jammed it into the slot which made the door unlock. She opened the door, pulled the card out, and then handed it back to you.

"If you need help with anything just pick up the phone. I'd recommend only picking it up for emergencies, though. You can make long-distance calls, but your the one paying if you do that," she told you.

Because you didn't even know what a phone was, you just nodded and pretended to know what she was talking about. The lady took your nod as her cue to leave and a few seconds after, you were alone once more. Rather than just staying in the hallway of boring beige walls, you went into your dark apartment.

It was homier than the hallway for sure. The walls were white, the two beds in the room were drenched in blankets and pillows, and the wall window gave the most amazing view of the city you had ever seen. The window reminded you of the huge windows on the Ark where you could see the planet. More than anything, you wanted to go back in time to possibly save Maria. Shadow was someone, but he wasn't very nice to you... Especially since you could see in his eyes that he blamed you for everything that happened...

Maybe things would look up in the morning. You didn't care to close to curtain because you wanted to see the stars and the moon. For the first time, the lights which you had grown up with suddenly seemed so far away. In the dark of the room and in the light of the stars, it almost felt like you were back on the Ark. Before everything.

It was with this thought in your mind that you flopped onto the bed closest to the window and drifted off to sleep.

You gave up everything to get me here, Maria. I won't throw away what you gave me, sister.