After hearing the news report, you shut off the TV in disbelief. No. It couldn't be true! At least, not unless if there was some reason that was very important to Shadow. More important than that city. More important than the innocent lives he may have hurt. What could possibly be that special for him to go on a complete rampage in the city?

The stress from this discovery caused you to get a sudden dizzy spell. Sitting back down on the bed, you gazed out at the now rising moon. Dark the sky became and stars began to poke out from the black. Such colors from the sunset still amazed you. "Shadow...? What's going through your mind right now for you to do this...?"

Closing your eyes tightly, you tried to think of a reason.

Maria? Do you know the reason?

...

Only blanks came up. No answers made themselves known to you. In frustration, you punched your pillow angrily. "Why did he have to leave me here like this?! He was supposed to keep me from worrying, but now look at what he's done!"

(Y/N)... That's not helping anything.

Your thought got you calmed down a little. Rather than being annoyed with Shadow more, you dug through the drawers of the nightstand. Inside you found a hotel Bible, a bunch of sticky notes for some reason, and a few pens. Pens! Happiness jolted through you at the sight of an art utensil you recognized. Snatching the sticky notes and a pen, you began to doodle on them.

After letting your hand sort of wander, you found yourself feeling less upset than before and you found your hand drawing an image of Shadow. It was always Shadow. You had drawn him holding a flower in his left hand. The flower was from one of the roleplays you had done with him in the past where the flower could cure any illness and restore any soul.

If only that flower really did exist with those desired effects...

Barely an hour went by when a faint knock came at the door. You jumped still not used to the sound. 'It's obviously Shadow.' you thought to yourself getting up to get to the door. Suddenly, you remembered a very important detail. Shadow doesn't knock on the door except in dreams...

"Wait... Then what is-?"

The light knock became a loud banging noise. Whatever was making the banging noise outside was shaking the whole floor. Someone was trying to get in! But who? And why? A voice sounded loudly from outside the door. "OPEN UP! We have detected that a black hedgehog by the name of Shadow has been residing here!"

It's the men in the black uniforms again!

Your frantic thought jolted you to your feet. The window was too high above the ground to jump and survive the fall. In the entire room, there was no way to escape except through the door. To stall for time, you shoved a large piece of furniture in front of the door. While this did hold them off, you knew them getting in eventually was inevitable. Hiding as far away from the door as possible, you prayed for a miracle. "I don't want it to end like this... They'll shoot me... like they did Maria..."

"I SAID OPEN THIS DOOR IMMEDIATELY!" the man outside bellowed.

When the person outside said that, a bright flash lit up in the middle of the room. At first, you thought you had imagined it. Some sort of savior your brain made up to provide false hope was what you thought it was. This was not the case. In fact, he was very real. Shadow appeared holding a large gem the size of his fist. It was glowing brightly and it illuminated the room.

"(Y/N)! Take my hand and don't let go! We're not safe here!" Shadow yelled taking the situation into his full control.

Knowing he was your only hope of escape, you obeyed his command. You reached for his extended hand and once your fingers interlocked with his, he yanked you close to him and held up the glowing gem. "CHAOS CONTROL!" he shouted.

You saw the men break into the room, but only for a second. A bright light blurred your vision and you knew that wherever you were, it wasn't in the hotel room anymore. It was eerily quiet. Though it lasted a moment, you felt safe in the void of light. As quickly as what took you there, you were pulled back into the real world. This time, you were in an open field. An occasional tree dotted the landscape, but besides that, there was absolutely nothing.

"What just happened...? Was it... magic? Did we teleport?" you asked. Upon realizing you were still holding his hand, you tried to let go, but he didn't seem to let you.

Shadow got out the gem again. It was bright green. An emerald. He held it up and gazed at it thoughtfully. "This is a chaos emerald. Gerald told me stories about these. I was told that there are seven of these, each with immense power. When all seven come together, a miracle is supposed to happen. It's true that they have immense power. The emerald saved us. But what kind of miracle will happen if I unite all seven?" he asked more to himself than to you. He still wouldn't release your hand.

"Is that why you tried to destroy the city? To get that gem...?" you asked finally figuring out what the fuss was about.

Shadow went silent for a moment. He then nodded. "I stole it from a museum. The police found out and tried to catch me, but they couldn't. I figured that if I collected all seven to make the miracle happen..., I could bring Maria back..."

His gaze became somber. His grip became tighter. His motives became clearer. He really would move mountains and destroy countries if Maria asked him to. Something about Shadow's desperation to bring her back intrigued you. There was one thing you still didn't understand. If he was so bent on saving Maria, why was he also protecting you?

"So... What do we do now then, Shadow? Find the rest of the emeralds?" you asked

"That's the plan," he replied.

You looked around the field awkwardly. Was there a reason why you were there? If there wasn't, then wouldn't you have been leaving by then? The mission was set and the danger was gone. What else could there possibly be? "Are we going or is there something else you wanted to tell me?"

Shadow sighed and you figured that what he was about to say, he'd usually just not say at all. "I wanted to explain... that note I left you... I'm sorry I was so mean to you when we came to this world. It was unfair of me to be like what I was and... Sorry for blaming you for what happened to Maria. What happened on the Ark wasn't because of you."

A chill ran down your spine. Ever since you came to this planet, everything pointed to Maria's death being all your fault. To hear that it wasn't almost seemed like a lie. Shadow wouldn't lie in a place or time like this... He meant what he said. "It's... not?"

He nodded and finally released your hand. "And I should probably make it up to you." Shadow glanced up towards the sky and then back to you. "Anything."

Your heart fluttered. Anything? That was broad. He also didn't have any idea what you would ask him for, so that was also a bold thing for him to say. Thinking hard, you wondered what made you happiest the most. The one thing you wanted on the Ark you couldn't have.

"Can you-"

"I want you to really consider my offer. Tell me your answer once night has fallen and you're sure of what you wish," Shadow replied. He directed his attention away from you and back to his chaos emerald. "Chaos emeralds also work as homing devices and can track the other emeralds. I think I know which way the next one is."

"You can tell? That's impressive! It just looks like it's doing nothing to me.," you pointed out. Shadow didn't reply to your comment.

"We should get going," he said walking away in the direction the emerald was leading him. Only this time, after he took a few steps, he turned back toward you. "Are you coming?"

You glanced off at the horizon and saw nothing but fields and grass and trees. "We're going to walk how far exactly? I don't really have super speed like you do... If you let me walk, who knows where we'll be by the time night falls," you pointed out.

Shadow seemed to ponder this a moment and nodded. "I suspected as much." He went back over to you and quite literally swept you off of your feet and into his arms. "Which is why you aren't going to be walking then."

"Whoa wait! You're just going to pick me up and run all the way there?!" you demanded looking at him in bewilderment.

"Yes."

"Well, for one, you didn't ask if you could pick me up. Two, you're so short and I'm so not compared to you! Three, can you even handle doing something like this?!" you demanded ignoring his confidence.

He blinked and contemplated your statements. Rather than answering, he simply shrugged and glanced down at the chaos emerald. "Don't suppose you could hold that until we get to where we're going?"

"Uh... Sure."

"And hold tight."

"To the emerald?"

Before you could get an answer, Shadow got sick of waiting around and launched forward at speeds that a jet would match. Wind gushed past your ears and you had to squeeze your eyes shut from the fast speeds. You finally realized what he meant by, 'And hold tight.' Shadow did not mean to hold onto the emerald tight, though you did do that a little too well. You held onto him like your life depended on it. In a way, it did. The landscape changed faster than you would have preferred. Tree's went by so fast, you barely knew they were there. Fields went to grasslands which went to a forest which went to... whatever. You lost track. After only a few minutes, you had gotten used to it. Which only made stopping... far worse than you anticipated.

Shadow came screeching to a halt and you felt all of your insides lurch from the sudden change. The universe spun and when he put you down, rather than standing, you were falling.

"Too fast?" he asked observing your momentary lapse in stability. He wasn't at all affected by the speeds he went.

You knew Shadow could run fast but not THAT fast. Still regaining your composure, you answered his question. "Geeeeeee... You think...?" Stumbling to your feet, Shadow tried to keep you from falling over again. It was thanks to him that you were successful. "Where are we anyway?"

You looked up to see a valley of greenery. Just beyond the valley was an endless sea of mountains which stretched upwards to the sky. Towards the tops of the mountains, you could see white glistening from the peaks. A warm breeze blew past you and relaxation flooded your senses. What a beautiful place Shadow had taken you to! Did he know that such a place was here?

"Where are we, Shadow? This place is so beautiful! Did you know about this place?" you asked the hedgehog in awe.

Shadow glanced over at you and shook his head. "I only went where the emerald led me. Truthfully, the emerald is still very far from this location. I stopped here because the emerald is up in those mountains. You may find them appealing now, but they are very dangerous," he explained to you.

"Why are they dangerous?" was the first thing you asked. Shadow seemed to already know you were going to say that.

Shadow, rather than explaining further, approached the valley. Gazing down at the scenery, you beheld the sight of a small village. You could see people there peacefully living their lives. It was so quiet there and so unlike the noisy city. In your amazed wonder, you almost didn't notice that Shadow was leaving without you. He was all the way down the slope into the valley and only turned back towards you when he reached the bottom. Alarm shot through your senses when you discovered the distance between you and him.

"You certainly are easily distracted!" shouted Shadow from within the valley.

"I've just never seen any of this! It's all so pretty! Better than what I imagined it would be!" you replied beaming brightly. "I'll be down there in just a moment!"

Running forward to meet him, your foot caught on a rock and you found yourself launching forward. A jolt of fear rocketed through your every muscle and you realized what was about to happen. Inertia and gravity. Truly a dynamic duo. As if landing on your face on the ground wasn't enough, there was an insult to injury which sent you rolling uncontrollably down the hill. The world spun only faster and faster and you wondered if it would ever end. Finally, at the bottom of the slope, you slowed to a stop and were lying on your back facing the sky. Your face portrayed your annoyance perfectly. Shadow stood just inches next to you with an unreadable expression. Was he surprised? Worried? Shocked? It didn't take long to figure out what he was feeling. His straight face for a split second... broke.

He smiled.

Your eyes locked with his and surprise at his sudden action filled you. You never saw him smile. Not once! Nothing could make Shadow happy except his beloved Maria! In an attempt to keep the mood going, you tried to add humorous dialogue to the situation. "Shadow! I was just sent rolling down a hill and all you're doing is smiling at my bad luck!"

"It's not my fault if you are a clutz," he replied grabbing your hand and lifting you to your feet. His smile vanished and he replaced it with his straight face once more. The playful gleam in his eyes didn't fade, though.

"What do you mean by that?! Are you calling me clumsy?!" you demanded.

"Of course not."

"Okay, I can hear your sarcasm from a mile away!"

It was probably the first time Shadow ever appreciated your presence. You wondered if he was forgiving you for what happened on the Ark. In the back your mind, you still knew he'd never let that go. Until he found the man who shot your sister, he'd always blame you.

Once at the bottom of the hill, the people living in the village seemed to know you were coming and someone ran to meet you. She had long brown hair and wore a long maid's dress and her skin was a light peach. Compared to your ghostly white skin, she had a tan. Shadow stopped and waited for her to reach the both of you.

It took a while for her to reach you, but once she did, she narrowed her eyes at you and Shadow. Foreigners. "Who are you...? And what are the two of you doing here?" she asked formally to you and Shadow.

Shadow barely wasted a second before replying. "We are in search of something. Our search brought us here to these mountains. It is our request that you let us stay here for a while until we find it. Our intentions are peaceful." To you, he sounded like a real negotiator.

The maid lady looked hardly convinced. She crossed her arms in suspicion. "What might you be here to have exactly?"

"A rare gem that rests upon the mountains. Had I been alone, I would have already gone there, but I have another traveler with me. She needs a place to stay," he explained.

She raised a skeptical eyebrow at Shadow and seemed to be looking him over. "Are you some sort of cat? Or perhaps... a demon!" the lady shouted in terror. "You release the young miss this instant! Look how scared she must be for her skin to have turned such a shade!"

You had known Shadow all of your life and never really thought about how he would look to someone who had never seen a hedgehog quite like him. The ears would suggest that he was a cat. When you were little, you learned about hedgehogs before you knew what a cat was. Plus, Maria made sure you knew he was a hedgehog. To someone on the planet, they probably had never seen anyone quite like Shadow. A walking, talking hedgehog would definitely be even more of a shock. You wondered why nobody asked any questions in the city. Everyone should have at least been curious!

Shadow looked annoyed at the woman now. He shook his head no. "I'm not a demon. Nor am I holding (y/n) hostage. My name is Shadow the Hedgehog. I am on a quest to find the legendary chaos emeralds to revive a friend of mine who was taken all too soon from this cruel universe before she could even know it." His face was stone hard, but you knew he was experiencing a wave of emotions inside.

"And she is my sister! You simply have to let us find the chaos emerald!" you added hoping it would help persuade her.

The lady finally seemed to understand and allowed a look of sympathy to cross her face. "If that be the case..., you may come... But if you be a beast or demon...," she turned to Shadow with a scowl on her face. "You will regret ever coming to this place..."

"I understand. You will not be displeased. As soon as I find the chaos emerald, I will leave immediately," Shadow told her with a nod of agreement.

She guided the both of you into town once she was convinced. Since she allowed you to come, the other villagers seemed to be fine with it. It looked like an even cuter village up close with tiny houses in comparison to the giant buildings you had seen in the city. Some people grew flowers and plants on the ground outside of their dwellings. Children ran through the streets without a care in the world. Birds sang from the branches of trees in beautiful pitches. It reminded you of the forest you had seen when you beheld the world for the first time only about three days ago. You couldn't help but marvel at it.

"We have no hotels. The girl will just have to stay with me for the time being," the lady said to Shadow still with a look of suspicion.

At first, Shadow didn't seem to like this idea, but he didn't have any other options, so he relented his disapproval. His change of mind was apparent in his curt nod to her. You weren't sure how you felt about staying with her. Where will Shadow be? Searching for the chaos emerald probably. It suddenly made you feel slightly lonely thinking about being left alone again.

The lady guided you to a two-story cottage, and you were actually quite surprised that it had a second story unlike all of the other houses. She must have had a lot of money to afford to build it like that. She opened the door. "I will guide you to your room, miss."

As soon as you walked inside, Shadow tried to follow you, but the lady shoved him away. You looked in alarm at what she did. SHE PUSHED SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG! He wasn't just going to let her get away with that, was he?

"Hey! What's your problem?!" Shadow snapped at her.

"I never said I'd let you inside. I don't trust you, and you said nothing about staying with the maiden. You said you would be out looking for that thing you wanted to find. I'm not letting you into my home!" the lady retorted bitterly.

Shadow bit back a list of responses and clenched his fists in frustration. Rather than continuing to argue, he looked back to you. "Fine. But (y/n), I will come back to fulfill your wish tonight whatever that may be and whatever she does say. You can count on it." With those words said, he left for the distant mountains.

Huffing angrily, the lady went into her house and closed the large, wooden door. She turned to you looking like she got a large weight off of her chest. You wondered if she really did think Shadow was a demon or if it was something else. Maybe it was just the vibe he gave off or because he looked so different from the humans. She seemed much less stressed than before.

"Follow me. You will stay in the guest room," she told you.

She escorted you down a hallway and up some stairs. At the far end of the house, the guest room awaited. When she opened the door, you noted the walls that were painted a dark moss green. The bed was white like in the apartment and was next to a window which let light into the room. A light bulb hung from the ceiling which was turned on when you pulled a string. It wasn't as convenient as the light switch from the apartment, but it worked. There were some flowers in a vase which made the room smell nice. Comfy but confining at the same time.

"Is this where I am staying?" you asked looking around.

"Sorry that it isn't much, but you did come unexpectedly. If I had known, I would have prepared something!" she replied.

"It's okay... I'm used to being alone with nothing to do," you answered remembering your room on Space Colony Ark.

The lady stood taller. "Where do you come from then? I thought you always traveled with that... cat thing!" she said.

"He's a hedgehog and his name is Shadow. You could say that we've always known each other. The only reason we're together... was because of a terrible accident... Which we hope to reverse," you replied not wanting to think back to men in black uniforms.

"Which is why your searching for the... emerald? How is an emerald supposed to reverse a terrible accident? Is it a hostage situation or something?"

I sort of wish it was.

The lady seemed to shake her head knowing she was being too nosy. "Golly! I really need to stay out of your business! You obviously don't want to talk about it. How about you get yourself situated here while I go fix up some supper!"

At the mention of food, your belly growled. Food sounded really good. You nodded vigorously. The woman smiled and left back down the stairs leaving you alone. Tired, you flopped onto the bed.

As soon as you closed your eyes, your mind raced. Where was Shadow now? What would your stay be like? Did he really mean he would grant a wish? Why was the woman so mean to Shadow? Was there a reason why fate was toying with you?

The last question made you stop and think. Fate. The controller of everything in the end. It causes the plot twists in everyone's lives. Either love, or death, or anything else... Fate always picks its favorites and tortures those who it doesn't choose. Everyone to fate is only a toy. You thought back to what Shadow said only a few days ago.

"Why did fate think that it was better this way? Is this a cruel joke?!"

Maybe it all was just a cruel joke. The fact that it chose you to live and not your sister. The fact that it brought the men in black uniforms to the Space Colony in the first place. You shivered at the thought that everything that happened was planned. What was to gain out of all of this if it was?

All of the thoughts about fate made you tired. Before long, you dozed off. You didn't notice the window was left open.

The lady must have noticed that you were asleep and let you have your sleep rather than waking you up for food. You never noticed when he came back that night through the slightly cracked window. Unlike last time, rather than shouting and shaking you awake, he whispered your name in your ear hoping you'd wake up. Thankfully for him, you opened your eyes and blinked at him wearily. "Shadow...?"

"I kept my promise... That lady downstairs will murder me if she knows I'm here... Please don't give me away," he said to you. A glimmer of worry flashed through his face, but he purged that emotion and returned back the way he always was.

Still tired, you sat up in your bed. "Were you able to find the chaos emerald we were looking for?" you asked him.

Shadow held up a shining blue gem. It wasn't an emerald, but you could tell it had powers from beyond the world you now lived in. You were about to try to touch it, but Shadow drew it away from you and hid it again. "Did you expect anything less?"

"No...," you sighed feeling your eyelids get droopy again. "I'm guessing... You're here because you want to grant the wish..."

"I'd ask when the sun is up..., but I'm not exactly welcome here," he explained looking out the window from where he came.

In an attempt to make him feel better, you began to pet his arm. You really weren't sure why you chose to use that technique, but that was all you could come up with at that very moment. He seemed inquisitive about your action but decided not to put his questions into words.

"Well, have you yet decided? I could ask some other time if you don't have an answer," he told you.

You thought it over a few times in your head. Everything was a broad subject. Picking one thing from all of that? You could ask him to bring your sister back, but he was already on a mission to do that. Asking if he could undo everything that happened on the Ark would probably be impossible. Could you ask for the impossible? Would the chaos emeralds be able to do that? After a moment of thought, you decided on your answer and looked up at him.

Reader question! What is your one wish you want Shadow the Hedgehog to grant! Answer in the comments or as a review! If I don't get answers, I can write the answer myself. Thanks for reading this! The fact that anyone reads this amazes me.