G.U.N. Base. 7:35 am.

You had given up trying to escape a long time ago. An aching pain was vividly present in your shoulder. Everything was so different... Not just because this place was different from any other place you'd seen on this planet. The atmosphere felt dark and dreary... To breathe the air was more difficult than you could imagine. It felt as if there was a weight on your chest, and you desperately needed something to satisfy your hunger. None of the agents or guards could possibly care less. You were a hostage. The lure. Everything in you hoped that Shadow would, for once, not keep his promise on protecting you so he could just save himself.

Without me... he can find the chaos emeralds! Without me... he can bring Maria back. Without me... he'll be far safer...

Those thoughts haunted your mind as much as your hunger. You hadn't really known Shadow's 'friendly' side for very long. For the longest time, you were kept in the dark about his true self. Only earlier did you realize that Shadow... cared more than you thought he did.

But... even though I understand that he shouldn't come..., I still want him to...

Another while went by with you waiting. Time was strange in that place. It moved so slowly. Almost like on the Ark... Life back in space seemed like an eternity ago. It all seemed more like a dream now. Maybe it was. You stared up at the ceiling at the lightbulb overhead. Would they just keep you in here forever...?

It was hardly a moment after that thought when the alarms went off. Red lights bounced on and off of the walls begging for the attention of everyone in close eyesight. Blaring sirens wailed from the speakers in the ceiling! You covered your ears wondering why they could possibly be going off. Deep inside, you knew exactly why...

CRASH!! POW!!

You heard the sounds of explosions from outside. The guards turned to each other in fear and ran for their lives. You thought you heard a voice try to shout orders through the speakers, but it was pointless due to the loud sirens to know what exactly he was saying. You were alone in the containment unit waiting for the familiar face of Shadow to save you. The heavy, steel door was blasted off of its hinges and it went smashing to the cold, iron floor. Frantically, you tried to spot Shadow through the swirling dust.

BANG! BANG! BABABABANG!

You heard the same noises you did on the Ark. This time, the noises were louder than before. Quickly, you shielded your ears trying to remember what it was from. The thing that killed Maria... made that exact same noise. Fear flooded through you at the realization. What if they captured and/or killed Shadow!?

Before you could worry, like lightning, Shadow busted the cell you were trapped in open. You saw him quickly flash to your side. Before he could speak, you wrapped your arms around him tightly as if he would disappear if you loosened your embrace even a little. Shadow alertly noticed the G.U.N. agents flooding the room with their weapons and technology for catching him.

"Target spotted! Aim! Fire!"

Shadow didn't waste a moment. He held up his chaos emerald and teleported away just as swiftly as last time. You saw the agents fire, but it never came.

After the teleport, you found yourself on a flat plain of yellowish grass. Even still, you were clinging to Shadow for your life. He didn't respond. Shadow just let you for however long you needed. It took a few minutes for Shadow to finally break the silence. "Why... are you clinging to me...? After I failed you so soon...? How could you possibly find security in someone as unreliable as me?"

"Shadow... You saved me from that terrible place...," you told him. Your voice shook. The adrenaline from what happened finally seemed to be settling down.

"I got you taken to that terrible place... because I didn't protect you."

"Then make it up to me." You clung to him harder. When you did, you heard Shadow wince as if in pain. What? He shoved you away from him coldly. Bewildered and confused, you gave him a questioning glance. He hid his arm behind his back to keep it from your view. You looked down at your hand that had been resting on the arm he was hiding when you embraced him. You saw red.

This wasn't just red. It was a dark, sickly red that made your heart pound. It was warm and sticky. It was slathered over the palm of your hand threateningly. Alarmed, your eyes shot back up to Shadow. "Where... did this blood come from...?"

Shadow looked away from you reluctantly. "My problem and not yours."

His words validated your fears. You ran your hand gently over the grass to get the horrid color off. Then, you turned back to Shadow. "Why...?"

He sighed knowing that you weren't going to drop the subject until he explained. "One of those bullets from their guns grazed my arm. It's nothing serious, and it will eventually go away. Stop being so concerned."

"Let me see it," you commanded him.

He took a reluctant step away from you shaking his head. Perhaps he didn't want to show weakness or didn't want you to worry about it. You didn't care about what he thought. He shouldn't hide his wounds from his friend.

"If you don't do anything, it might get infected!" you pointed out to him.

"I'm the Ultimate Life Form! It can't get infected..."

"Why are you resisting exactly??"

"Because--!"

He didn't finish his sentence. You waited for him to, but he didn't. Rather than arguing more, he came to you begrudgingly. "I was supposed to be looking out for you. Not the other way around."

"Maria wouldn't want you going around with an untreated gun wound," you explained calmly.

He withdrew his arm from behind him, and you looked over his wound. "You said it grazed your arm! This doesn't quite look that minor, Shadow! I'm going to need some water... Is there a stream somewhere?"

Shadow got out the chaos emerald again with his other hand that was unscathed. "I could take us to one," he suggested.

"Doesn't it take a lot of power to use chaos control even once? Would it be too much for you to do it twice??" you questioned. You didn't know absolutely everything about chaos control. Just that it involved lots of power.

Shadow gave you a semi-annoyed look. "What happened to me means nothing and changes nothing. You're wasting your pity and concern."

"It sounds like you're in denial, Shadow. Are you trying to drag me into denial too? Your wound changes everything! Therefore, I have good reason to waste my concern on you!" you explained. Looking over, you saw a small creek. "Besides, there's some water over there."

Despite being exhausted, thirsty, and hungry, you began to trudge over to the water. Shadow simply followed behind you silently. When you finally were able to stoop down towards the water, you cupped your hands and scooped the water up to your lips. It wasn't very good, but you were desperate for anything at that point.

"I'm sure you haven't considered any of the potential consequences of just drinking whatever water you find on the ground," Shadow pointed out. His face showed no concern, but the fact that he said it was what tipped you off about what he was thinking.

You guzzled down another handful of water. "I haven't had anything in forever!! Do you think I'm gonna care?!"

He flattened his ears at your sudden yelling. You had never really seen him do that. In fact, you didn't know he could. Something about it was adorable, but it also conveyed the point he was trying to make well.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to yell at you like that," you explained to him as you lowered your voice.

"You had full right to."

He's blaming himself again...

You spent the next while trying to fix up his arm. In reality, the blood made it look worse than it was. Shadow was actually right about it being relatively minor. Just so long as it didn't get infected or didn't continue to bleed, then he would be completely fine. It was a relief, but it did make things more inconvenient for Shadow.

"You can't be doing too much to that arm! If you go running off doing crazy things, then the wound might open again! So, you will just have to wait for it to get better," you told him fiercely to make sure he listened to your words. That look of annoyance crossed his face again.

"I don't have time to recover! We have to find the chaos emeralds. Even if we decide to put that off, G.U.N. will find us again before long if we just stay in one spot," he concluded rationally.

You nodded as if you had already conjured up a solution. "We're not going to stay in one place just to let them find us! You can still use chaos control, can't you?"

Pulling out the two chaos emeralds he found, he got out another one as well. It was bright yellow, like rays of the sun. You looked up at him in wonderment. "Where'd you get the third one from??"

"The G.U.N. base. It makes sense why they would have one. They were helping Gerald with his research to create me before... they decided it was too dangerous... I was created through the power of the chaos emerald right here. That and... some foreign DNA," he explained. It explained how Shadow was able to wield the chaos emeralds with such ease. But foreign DNA? What did he mean by that?

Amazed that he was able to collect another one, you reached out to touch it. Like last time, Shadow drew it away from you. He put away the yellow and blue emeralds, but he kept the green one in his hand. "There is no further purpose for being here. Should we leave here and find another place that's safe?"

"If you're okay with doing that now... then it's fine. Let's go. But before we get there..., I have to ask. Where we're going?" you asked hoping that he'd tell you.

Shadow looked down at the chaos emerald. He smiled a little to himself. "You'll find out." With those words, he teleported.

Something about the mystery of seeing a new place made you both nervous and excited. Where would you appear? You knew hardly anything about the planet you had been living on for less than a week. The more places you went, the more you learned. When the colors faded from the teleportation, you noticed that it was completely black where you reappeared. Black as night. Wherever you were, it was night time. Looking up, you could see the moon and the stars. An unfamiliar scent filled the air. The caws of some organism you didn't know about echoed in the distance. When your eyes adjusted, you saw large leaves hanging above you. Underfoot, your feet easily scattered the dry, dusty substance. Above it all, you heard the sound of rushing water toppling over onto itself again and again.

Where am I...?

Shadow's unmistakable hand took yours and led you towards the rushing noise of water. You could see that a vast expanse of water was spread across the horizon with no end before you. The water seemed to throw itself out of the water in waves before falling back into the water and becoming calm once more. It was amazing.

"What is this place, Shadow...? How could there possibly be so much water here...?" you asked gazing out at the water in wonderment. You saw the cawing organisms fly out over your head and then over the ocean. Shadow looked out at the water. The way he did, it reminded you of how he used to gaze out of that window on the Ark down at the planet. You knew how much he wanted to come to the planet... with Maria. Sadly, that wish wasn't going to happen.

Unless if we-- Um... Unless if he finds all the chaos emeralds...

Gingerly, you took a step into the water. Immediately, your foot squished into the substance that was on the ground and you quickly retracted your foot. "What is that?! It feels weird!"

Shadow broke from his nostalgic trance and noticed you were talking about the ground. "That's sand. You've seen rocks before. Sand is basically rocks that are in tiny little pieces."

"Why would there be tiny, crushed rocks near so much water?" you asked.

"Erosion, tides, and currents," Shadow replied.

"What is with all of this water??"

"It's called the ocean."

"What are those flying things?"

"Seagulls."

"Those weird trees back there?"

"Palm trees."

"What about-- OW!!" you shouted when you stepped on something pointy underfoot. You fell to the ground in bewilderment. "WHAT WAS THAT?!"

From in the sand near the ocean, you saw a giant shell. A swirly shell. The pointy end was facing upwards and you stepped on it. Just as you were about to demand how it got there and what it was, it started to move slowly across the sand. You quickly got away from it. "It's... moving all by itself... Is it... MAGIC??"

Shadow picked up the shell and looked inside. Two claws popped out of the shell and started snapping at him. Shadow put it down. "It's just a crab."

"A crab?"

"A crab. Hermit crab actually. It lives in shells it finds on the beach. You just happened to step on it." He glanced at your feet curiously and noticed something. "What happened to your shoes?"

You glanced down at your feet as if only now realizing that they were gone. Thinking back to the day before, you remembered where you put them. "Well, I took them off while I was sleeping in the house in that village... And then I got kidnapped and didn't have the chance to put them back on. They probably got destroyed anyway from when the agents raided that room."

Shadow averted your gaze when you mentioned the agents kidnapping you. Once again, you could read his face like a book. "Not everything is your fault, Shadow! You don't have to blame yourself for my shoes, too!"

"I must be bad luck...," Shadow said more to himself than you. He seemed to be searching for some explanation for all of the negative occurrences that had been following the both of you. Surely, there had to be some explanation, right?

Playfully you splashed him to snap him out of it. Him being as distracted as he was, he didn't move out of the way and was splashed. You figured he wouldn't like that, but you didn't know what you didn't know. "Sheesh! Lighten up! You're the ultimate life form determined to save my sister! Why would you of all people be bad luck? Come on, Shadow!" you told him.

Glancing away from him for a second to look back at the ocean was a mistake. Why was it? It gave Shadow an opportunity. To get his revenge.

Splash!

You flipped back to him about to yell at him, but he spoke before you did. "Now we're both completely soaked." Something in his voice was different. It wasn't as serious as it was before. Instead of being annoyed, you giggled at the fact that you got splashed.

"Well, you got me, Shadow! I surrender!" you chirped. You let your hand drift in the ocean water.

"You might surrender..., but I'm not!" Shadow shouted moving out of the way as you tried to splash him again. He ran away from you on the beach.

That was when you figured out what was happening. It was a game. You hopped to your feet instantly with a large grin on your face. "Get back here, Shadow!" It was lucky for you he was running much slower than usual. Like he would for your games on the Ark. Before long, you were charging forward right behind him with your arm held out in front of you to catch him. You couldn't help but enjoy the exhilaration flooding through you. But then...

"I'm going to catch you, Shadow! One way or another!" you shouted.

"I doubt that!" he shouted back with a smirk.

You suddenly felt faint. Exhilaration faded to weariness. Little by little, you slowed to a stop and found the world spinning around you. All you felt was exhaustion. That was when the world faded black and the sandy shore was gone.

What is... happening...?

You thought you might have heard someone shout your name from the blackness, but who could really know for sure?

Once again, you were back on the Ark as Maria. You were starting to wonder in the waking world if these actually meant anything significant? Or maybe... the soul of Maria was trying to tell you something...? Was that even possible?

You were running down a hallway laughing as your golden hair swished back and forth. Guessing from your height, you were about six years old. In a flash, Shadow was there stopping you from proceeding.

"Maria, you really shouldn't be running around like this! You could collapse!" Shadow scolded trying to act menacing. You knew him well enough to know what he was actually thinking.

"Shaaaaadow..., I'm bored, and I want to run around!" you complained.

He sighed, but he refused to let you continue your running. "I can't let you. Gerald will kill me if anything happens to you! He's already considering banning you from leaving your room without special permission... And I don't want that to happen to you," he explained.

The sound of never leaving the room, made you tremble a little. What a harsh punishment... Your eyes fell to the floor. "I'll never be allowed to leave...?"

Shadow was silent. You knew what that meant, and you knew he wasn't kidding. Frightened of being alone in a room forever, you hugged Shadow. "Then... I guess I won't run anymore..."

An assuring hand rested on your head. Shadow's. He was going to make everything okay again... He was going to fix everything...

"Leave the running to me, Maria."

The dream went dark and shifted to another scene. It was silent. You couldn't hear anything. But you were falling. Pain was coursing through your body as if you were being hit by lightning. You couldn't move to save yourself. The dream became black. You could hear yourself crash to the floor as well as a voice. A voice you had never heard so terrified before. Once again, Shadow.

"MARIA!!"

...

(Y/N)... Please, help Shadow... He's scared... Like me...

...

I will..., Maria.