Chapter Text
Despite telling himself repeatedly that it wouldn’t last forever, he hadn’t expected it to go downhill so soon.
Maria flicked his ear, Shadow growling and curling up closer to the sick girl, trying to press them together as close as possible. An old habit born from their youth as she told him once that she always felt better when he was near. Now, Maria was actively trying to get him to get up, which he did not appreciate.
The sun was streaming in through the window, showing off the sparkling beach as the sun peaked up from the water. Maria had been up since late last night, the trip to the altar having completely worn her down to the point of peak exhaustion. It left her bed ridden and sick, a steady IV drip flowing into her hand and a heart monitor beeping quietly next to the bed. A steady metronome, lulling Shadow in and out of sleep until Maria had woken him. She did not fare as well during the night, sleep never taking her despite her clear exhaustion. He would have felt bad for sleeping so soundly next to her if he didn’t know any better. Maria had said over and over that she liked him there, so there he would stay. Except for now, that is, the girl flicking his ear once again.
“Stop it.” He grumbled, tilting his ear down to try and avoid the abuse. She giggled and did it again before gracelessly sticking her finger in his ear, tickling the sensitive inner flesh. Shadow jolted, startling and accidentally rolled off the bed in shock. He hit the ground with a dull thud, his quills leaving shallow scratch marks in the hard wood.
He shook the shock off, looking up to find Maria chuckling quietly, the sunrise like a halo around her head. All the irritation quickly melted away as he took in how she looked, the night having not treated her well. Her eyes were tired, dark circles marring soft, freckled skin. Her hair was a mess of tangled blond, waves now scraggly and straight from where she’d rolled on them. Her hair was getting long again, she’d need to start braiding it before bed. Maybe she’d let Shadow do it, just like when they were kids.
Shadow rubbed the sleep from his eyes with a bare fist, blinking tiredly. “Happy?” He sighed, enjoying the soft smile she gave him that proceeded a firm nod.
“Yup. It’s time for you to get up, grumpy boy.” She teased, teasingly shooing him off with her free hand. “You’ve got a long day ahead of you.”
Shadow’s head tilted in confusion, “What?” Maybe sleep was still fogging his brain, but he’d made no plans for today. He was going to stay with Maria and help with her care. That was what he always did. He told her as much, but she just shook her head firmly.
“Nope. You’re not staying here.” She told him, with the same confidence as a child exclaiming that the sky was blue. “We’re on a magical tropical island. I’m not going to let you waste away with me in here.”
Shadow’s eyes narrowed, “It’s not a waste. I’m helping you.”
She threw up her arms, “Nuh uh, you’re making me sad!” She frowned, “It’s different back at home, but here, there’s hundreds of things to do! You deserve this vacation as much as me, you should be able to enjoy it.”
“But…” He started, only to trail off at Maria’s firm expression. He wasn’t sure how to tell her that he only really wanted to do things with her. She gave this island its wonder. She made everything interesting. She had the knowledge and spirit to make staring at a pile of rocks for thirty minutes worth anyone’s time. But he knew that if he tried to explain that she’d only get more upset with him. “What am I supposed to do?” He asked instead, his tone noticeably more disappointed.
Maria shrugged, “I don’t know – take the boat out! There are cliffs over on the, um, left side I think! I wanted to go explore them yesterday, but we ran out of time.”
“We can do that together when you get better.” Shadow replied, not even thinking about his choice of words before noticing her frown grow deeper.
“Or you can go check it out and show me all your favorite spots later.” She countered, watching Shadow’s ears flick back in embarrassment. “I’ll be fine, trust me. Grandpa is staying here to watch me, and I’m not even that sick! Just tired. You know how I get after a long day; I just need to sleep it off.” Her little smile did little to placate Shadow’s worry. He felt bad. The last thing he wanted was to go outside in the miserable heat and pretend to be happy while his family was stuck inside suffering. He should be helping too. He needed help, otherwise, what was the point?
But Maria remained firm in her resolve, and eventually Gerald also agreed that Shadow should leave the house after hearing the situation. Two against one, Shadow was kicked out.
It was still quite early, the breeze from the sea making it almost cold out. But Shadow’s fur provided the perfect cushioning, adding just enough warmth to be comfortable. He kicked off his shoes and dug his feet into the cool sand, kicking it up in soft clouds. Maybe he was moping, but who could really blame him.
As much as he’d been against the idea initially, now that he was out here the sea was calling to him in a way he couldn’t explain. Maybe it was how it sparkled in the light, or the promised crispness of the tide – either way, he found himself shoving the small boat out to the water, his shoes sitting innocently on the beach. He didn’t need them. He was too stuck in his own head to care about the chances of another mobian spotting him and getting upset about his lack of proper attire. They could deal with it.
Bordering on frigid water lapped at his feet as the boat took float, Shadow wading knee deep into the waves before boarding. The bottoms of his basketball shorts were wet, messing with his fur where they laid, but the chill was grounding against his skin. Paddling out farther, Shadow considered multiple times just stripping his clothes and diving into the water. Testing how long he could hold his breath until he was forced to resurface. The thought was tempting, but self-destructive. If Maria was here, then she’d certainly not approve of such thoughts.
His head felt floaty, everything on the borderline of not quite being real in the moment. Here he was in complete solitude on a rickety little boat in the middle of a sea that bordered a so-called “magical island”. It was easier to accept it when Maria was with him because then he could pretend that this reality was their new normal. Another time where Maria wasn’t sick, and they could be free to explore new places without the threat of hospitalization looming over their heads. But now that it was just him, it was simply lonely.
Shadow chewed at his bottom lip, looking out at how the blue of the sea disappeared in the horizon. There was nobody else here but him.
He was unsure how long he sat there, his boat bobbing up and down in the quiet waves, but never traveling too far out from the beach. Now, the sun was rising higher, the warmth of the morning creeping in and ruffling his fur. It would be getting too hot to stay out in the open much longer, last he checked the temperature was predicted to be grueling in a few hours. His attention drifted behind him, their rented home sitting quietly on the beach, overlooked by a large cliff side that bled into coves and caves on either side. Those were the destinations that Maria had hoped to visit; the ones that had been passed off to Shadow against his will. When Maria initially mentioned the caves, he’d been excited. Now they just felt like a chore as he picked up the oars and began to row towards the rocky cliff side. But he knew that she would be upset with him if he came back only to admit that he sat in the middle of the sea for two hours to mope.
It was a little difficult to get over to the caves, the waves battling him for the first time since he’d arrived on the island. They shoved the little boat around, threatening to send it bumping into the jagged rocks that peaked out from the water. Shadow steeled his focus and navigated carefully, using what he could of his strength to redirect himself once the waters got too rough. He had no idea why the tides decided to act up now when they’d been so calm all morning, but he wasn’t about to let something as silly as water deter him from his goal, even if it meant potentially wrecking his boat in the process. It wasn’t a very strong boat, especially not with how it creaked and groaned.
It took some maneuvering and a few choice curses before the boat bumped against the mouth of a rocky cave, Shadow using his oar to temporarily anchor the thing down. The wood scraped against the rock, but he managed to keep in contact, tumbling out of the boat and stumbling into the cave. Just as his luck would have it, there was a small post on the other side of the opening that Shadow walked over to with the boat’s lead. It was old, rusted with time and covered in barnacles and slimy algae, but it worked well enough to tie the boat up. He did have to plunge his paws back into the water to rinse the slimy residue off that stuck to his knuckles as he tied the knot, but his hands would dry soon enough.
Now that the boat was tied and his initial mission was complete, Shadow stood in the mouth of the cave cluelessly.
What exactly was he doing here?
The cave mouth was wide and slowly tapered off, the end of the cave within eye shot. Golden light filtered in and bounced off the walls, highlighting stalagmites and puddles of water that collected on the floor. Curiously, Shadow approached them only to find that they weren’t puddles, but holes in the cave floor. Most of them were smaller, but others were several feet wide, about the size of a kiddy pool. The water in them was deep and dark, cool against Shadow’s hands when he stuck one in. Maybe people used to come here to swim when the heat became unbearable, the shaded cover of the cave keeping the water crisp and cold. All the holes were too irregular in size to have been manmade – or mobian made in this case, considering that humans were a rarity here now, there was no way they would have been more prominent hundreds of years ago.
“Especially not living in the sky…” Shadow mumbled to himself, rubbing his soft paw against the edge of the pool. Wear from the water constantly lapping at the sides had rendered them nice and smooth. He wondered how far the wall extended before it dropped off completely underneath the cave. He pulled his hand out with a heavy sigh, trying to banish all thoughts of magical floating islands away from his head. These caves were probably used as a fishing spot in the past, the post still standing a strong enough indication that this was a popular cave at some point…
Long forgotten now.
Shadow took a few steps back, letting a tired sigh leave his lips as his back hit the cool curve of the cave wall. He let himself slowly slide down, his quills leaving white scratches in the rock until his legs were stretched out and his butt hit the cold floor. He gazed out at the opposite wall, eyes following the large swimming holes. At least his earlier complaining had retained some merit – he really didn’t know what to do now that he was here. It was too much of a hassle to get back in his boat and try and navigate through those rocks again so soon, but he also had virtually no entertainment here. He was in a cave. It only went so far back, and that distance he could easily see with his eyes alone. The pools were too dark to check for any fish, and he was sure as hell wasn’t going to be going swimming in one of them. If he got caught under the rock and couldn’t get out, then he’d surely drown.
He let his eyes flutter shut, wracking his brain trying to think about what Maria would do if she was here. She’d find beauty in everything – she always found a way - and while Shadow could appreciate the nature of the cave, it wasn’t worth more than ten minutes of his attention. Honestly, even that was pushing it.
The wind whistled as it brushed past the mouth of the cave while sunshine finally creeped in, the sun high in the sky now. It warmed the rock just a few feet away from the shade of the cave Shadow was seated under. A huff left his lips. He was bored. The water splashing up on the rocks and in the pools was hardly entertaining to listen to and he doubted that would change the longer he sat there. It was probably time for him to leave anyways – never mind that he’d only been there a handful of minutes. If Maria wanted to force him to go outside then she better put a time quota on it next time.
His tipped his head against the wall, leaving a few more shallow scratches for good measure as he peeled open his eyes, gazing at the dark, stalagmite covered ceiling. Shadow felt something tug at his chest, causing his brow to furrow. It was a similar feeling to yesterday’s strange sensation. He’d have to check in with Gerald to make sure he wasn’t getting sick, lest he accidentally expose Maria to more illness.
With one last resentful sigh, Shadow posed to get up from his seat only for a feeling of ice-cold dread to wash through him. The hair on his neck stood up, his quills quickly following as his spine tingled with anticipation. Before he could even process it, his eyes locked onto one of the wide pools off to the side and an undignified yelp left his lips.
Someone was in the cave.
Someone was watching him.
Shadow’s heart rate was through the roof. His ears were tipped backwards, and his quills were puffed up, his natural defenses surfacing to protect him from the unexpected threat.
The once empty pool now held a singular mobian, posed as if they were going to pull themself out of the pool, but stopped upon seeing him. The stranger was a hedgehog, like him, but their fur was a stunning blue. Bright like the sea when the sun set, blue like Maria’s favorite dress. Thin peach fur covered their muzzle and arms, completely slicked down. Quietly, water dripped down from their fur to form a puddle near the edge of the pool as Shadow’s eyes locked with bright green ones.
The stranger looked mildly surprised, their expression giving away that they had not been expecting to run into someone else in this cave. That or they’d been expecting someone other than Shadow. The other raised a brow and quietly tilted their head, looking Shadow up and down before a mischievous smile overtook their face. They held none of the same signs of alarm that Shadow did, but Shadow couldn’t let his guard down even if he tried. There was something about this hedgehog that made his fur stand on end and his heart try and thump out of his chest. He found his fear to be well founded though, because one minute they were staring each other down and the next the hedgehog was pulling themself out of the water and lunging towards Shadow.
He hardly had a chance to respond before the wet body crashed into his own. They had moved so fast that Shadow only saw a flash of blue before his back was slammed against the cold floor, his head just narrowly missing ricocheting off the rock. His hands were locked next to his head in the other hedgehog’s grasp and his thighs were pressed down by wet knees. Water soaked into his shorts and keenly Shadow became aware of how embarrassing his state of dress was. He would have been more embarrassed if he hadn’t taken the split second to scan over his attacker’s body, his muzzle flushing hotly under his fur.
Shadow’s own choice of dress would be a scandal to any other mobian, but nothing had prepared him for the moment he realized that this mobian was wearing nothing. Like himself, there were no gloves or shoes in sight, but where Shadow had shorts and a shirt on, he was fully bare aside from wet fur. And they fully had Shadow caged underneath them, green eyes scrutinizing him with an odd look. The other leaned closer, black nose just nearly touching Shadow’s own as they took a few hesitant sniffs. Shadow stayed perfectly still, a chill running through his body despite the touch of the other overheating him.
He felt like he was hallucinating.
The hedgehog sat us in a quick motion, all their weight shifting to Shadow’s legs. They looked Shadow up and down carefully which gave Shadow the time to do the same. The stranger’s belly and chest were the same peach as their arms and weird tuffs of fur stuck up in unruly places. Shadow watched as fur slowly laid back down without any interference, settling back into place as if something under the tuffs had been removed. They looked like they could be male, muscles visible under fur, but still lean and soft. He felt mortified staring at the other hedgehog like this, his eyes unconsciously tracing the slight puff of his chest and the curve of his shoulders –
But the pressure on his wrists had lessened considerably which gave Shadow enough momentum to snap out of whatever daze he’d been in to twist his hands out of the hedgehog’s grasp and unceremoniously flip them. The stranger’s back hit the ground and a quiet ‘oof’ left their lips, more of a puff of air than an actual vocalization. Now Shadow was on top, his mind going blank as he held the other under his own weight. Much to his demise, this guys’ shock didn’t seem to last long. Their confused expression was quickly overtaken by that same mischievous smirk as before and the next thing he knew, Shadow was being rolled over once more.
It quickly delved into a game of wrestling, although Shadow thought it was much less of a game than the stranger did. Small fangs were highlighted every time the other smiled, peaking out just enough to make sure Shadow kept his limbs away from their mouth. He couldn’t imagine being bitten to be very pleasant, and while he had sharp canines of his own, he wasn’t really looking to bite anyone. Who knew what kind of disease this guy had – If Shadow were to contract a blood born pathogen, then his purpose with making a cure for Maria would be all for nought. But he still fought back. He wasn’t about to let some random stranger who jumped him get the upper hand again. Especially not when they kept smiling like a maniac. Shadow let out an angry growl, his breath leaving his lips in angry little huffs that only served to make the hedgehog under him smile wider.
Peach wrists managed to wiggle their way out of Shadow’s grip, their hands locking instead. Shadow’s brain stuttered, unable to process the sensation of paw pads on paw pads until he was being forced forward with a firm push. A noise of surprise slipped from his lips, quickly replaced with another shallow growl. It did little to deter the stranger, who just kept smiling.
“Who are you?” Shadow growled, pushing the other back again only to be flipped once more. His quills digging into the rock as he fought back - it was weirdly easy to overtake the hedgehog again, he was on top again, the illusion of having an upper hand.
Green eyes were rolled at him, it was an amused action, like the stranger was in on a joke that Shadow had missed. “What is wrong with you!?” Shadow barked, ripping a hand away to shove the guy’s face into the ground. He nearly felt bad about the smear of red that was left behind – emphasis on nearly because the stranger’s next move was to kick Shadow in the stomach. Hard.
He wheezed, getting flipped on his back once more to stare up at that eternally gleeful expression. He was getting really sick of this repetitive song and dance.
The sun was shining on them now, the warmth making him more aware of how soaked through his pelt and clothes were because of this jack ass. But he could also feel the brush of the breeze and hear the waves lapping at the rocks. A quick glance to his side confirmed all his suspicions – they were right next to the mouth of the cave. The other seemed indifferent about this information, but Shadow was going to use it to his advantage. With one last push, he managed to flip them one last time. Only instead of flipping their positions, Shadow flipped the stranger straight into the sea.
He had no idea how gratifying it would be to watch that smirk turn into a look of shock.
The hedgehog flailed for a split second before diving under the waves, blue quills blending in effortlessly. The second they was gone from sight, panic shot up Shadow’s spine.
Oh god, had he just killed him?
He leaned over the side of the cave, thoughts rushing as he stared into the ripples and waves. Maybe they’d hit a rock when he flipped him into the water – there were sharp ones around the cave, there could be ones under the water too! But bodies floated, so they would have risen to the top, not sunk… or maybe they got trapped under neath the cave and was drowning as he watched and waited.
A sharp whistle shocked him out of his thoughts, the noise forcing him to whirl around to see the hedgehog completely unharmed and back in the pool that he’d come from. Peach fingers wiggled at him; a mocking waved before they dived back down in the water. The surface rippled, sharp quills breaking through before something shiny peeked out and flicked water at him. He was too far away to get hit, but the droplets splattered across the rock, joining the wet puddles their fight had left.
Shadow scrambled for the pool as soon as he was gone, fruitlessly searching for something in the dark water. He turned back around and looked out at the ocean just in time to catch a glimpse of blue quills submerging and a blue tail flicking before being concealed by the waves.
A tail.
Like a fish’s tail. Iridescent, almost like a suncatcher.
Shadow swiped a hand over his eyes, rubbing them fruitlessly. Maybe he was having a heat stroke (he wasn’t, he knew all the symptoms by heart) and that’s why he was seeing things. And feeling things apparently. The ache in his back where he’d been shoved down was still there.
Shadow crumbled to the floor, the adrenaline high coming down and leaving him both exhausted and jittery. Just who was that? What was their deal and why did they think pulling a stunt like that was appropriate in the slightest? Shadow could still see those bright green eyes, staring him down relentlessly without a hint of apprehension. They were confident, that’s for sure. Even when Shadow was ‘winning’, the stranger seemed perfectly content with everything going on. Was it merely a game to them? Did they make a habit of attacking random strangers for the sake of their own amusement? They must be a really good swimmer to be able to go under the cave like that, Shadow thought, tastefully ignoring whatever hallucination the water had tried to trick him with.
It was fine. He was fine. He’s just been jumped by some annoying hedgehog who was really good at swimming. That was all there was to it and nothing more.
Shadow shook his head, running his hands down his face one more time. Suddenly he was grateful for Maria not joining him – if she had ended up the target then she’d certainly would have gotten hurt. She wasn’t nearly as strong as Shadow was and probably would have ended up in the sea rather than the stranger. He shivered at the thought, unwilling to think about that idea any longer. He could never forgive himself if she got hurt under his watch.
Shadow continued to sit in the mouth of the cave for an embarrassing amount of time. His fingers twitched uselessly against the rock, his brain silently repeating the reminder to go back home. Untie the boat, get in, and paddle back to the beach. Yet his eyes stayed glued to the water, scanning the distance for a blob of blue. Quills cutting through the water, the flick of something shiny – anything at this point. Something to tell him that he wasn’t crazy. But when he turned around, all the puddles caused from their wrestling were gone, long dried up from the heat in the air.
Maybe he was just going crazy.
Shadow chewed his lip, finally getting up to stretch his tired muscles and untie his boat. He’d already been out longer than he’d planned on anyways.
Maria was probably wondering where he was.