Project: Hedgehog

Chapter 6

Shadow appeared under the tree Sonic was in in a matter of a minute. He looked up at the blue hedgehog.

"What did you find?" he asked.

"It looks like a cabin," Sonic replied. "We should go check it out!"

"Are you crazy?"

"A little." Shadow rolled his eyes.

"What if someone is living or staying there?" Shadow tried to knock a bit of sense into the young hedgehog.

"Well, I guess we'll have to find out," Sonic jumped out of the tree and landed a few feet away from Shadow. He turned to the ebony hedgehog. "If you're too scared to come with me, then you can at least wait for me to come back."

"I'm not scared. I'm just being sensible," replied Shadow.

"Sure..." Sonic replied, stretching out the word mockingly.

"Says the hedgehog afraid of a bit of water." Sonic narrowed his eyes at Shadow.

"I'm not scared of water..." retorted the blue hedgehog.

"Sure," Shadow responded, mimicking Sonic as he started going towards the cabin. Sonic huffed as he watched the ebony hedgehog walk away, glaring at the hedgehog's back. He then followed, muttering under his breath.

When they got closer, they noticed that the cabin seemed old and like it was breaking apart. It had to be more than a decade old. It also seemed abandoned (no surprise there) as there was no sign of life. Sonic looked at Shadow, who stood beside him, without turning his head, a smug smile on his face.

"Do you still think someone would live here?" asked the blue hedgehog. Shadow's only response was a growl as he then walked to the cabin door, opening it. Sonic stepped in behind Shadow. It was dark in the cabin, with the windows and the open door being the only sources of light.

Something glinting in the sun under a window caught Sonic's eye. He went over and picked the object up, dusting it to make it clearer.

It was a picture frame. It seemed to be a picture of a family. A grandfather, grandson and granddaughter. And her small rodent pet as well. Sonic couldn't make out what animal it was, but as he examined them, he took in their details.

The grandfather had gray hair. He wore a familiar looking white coat, most likely a scientist. Sonic couldn't see his eye's as they were blocked with some type of weird looking sunglasses. The grandson was a young boy, but looked much like the grandfather. Only, he had light brown, maybe russet hair. He also wore the same sunglasses, a red and yellow shirt and a green baseball cap. Bright green. Sonic thought it was horrendous. The granddaughter had blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a blue and white dress with a blue headband to go with it. The family was smiling.

Sonic looked at the frame around it, made in oak. Engraved into the frame was;

"The Robotniks." Sonic jumped, startled as he saw Shadow peering over his shoulder at the picture as well. Sonic turned back to the picture.

"What do you think happened to them?" he asked.

"They could have moved away." Sonic turned to the ebony hedgehog, a questioning look on his face.

"And leave all of this stuff behind? I doubt it," replied Sonic. He moved to place the picture down, but Shadow grabbed his hand.

"Wait," he said. "That man is wearing a lab coat. Perhaps we can take it back to the ARK and see if maybe one of the elder scientists know them." Sonic smiled at him.

"That's a good idea," the blue hedgehog responded, taking the picture back and holding it in his hand. "They might also know what happened to them." Shadow felt a buzz at the back of his head and turned to the window.

"It's getting late. We can come back tomorrow to see the rest of this place. Let's take the picture back." Sonic nodded and got to his feet. The two then left and quickly got back to the ARK.

"Let's see if we can find any elders that are awake," muttered Sonic. Shadow hummed in agreement.

After walking for half an hour in search for someone, they see Dr. Henderson, one of the eldest scientists, walking around before going to bed. The young hedgehogs ran up to him, the picture in the younger one's hand.

"Dr. Henderson! Good evening," said Shadow. The scientist looked at them, a smile on his face.

"Hello, Shadow, Sonic. Back from your little adventure?" he asked. Sonic nodded.

"Yes, but we have a question," said the young hedgehog.

"What is it?" Henderson asked. Sonic handed the man the picture.

"Do you know these people? We found the picture out in the forest, and with the older man's labcoat, we guessed that maybe you might know him?" Henderson nodded as he stared at the picture.

"Yes. Robotnik worked here, fifty years ago when I was just a trainee myself. I haven't seen him since the day he went home with his grandchildren. I know what happened, but..." He glanced at Sonic, "I don't think a young one like you needs to know for now." Sonic sighed and nodded.

"Okay... Thanks, Henderson."

"You're welcome. You should both get some rest, I'm sure you'll want to go back into that forest with full energy." And with that, Henderson turned a corner and disappeared into his room. Both hedgehogs turned and left for their Habitation Room.