Sonic Wild

The Truth Comes Out

Shadow's POV

I skated as far away as I could. Now that I think about it, that could've gone a lot better. Obviously. I lost my cool and allowed my anger to get the best of me, but I'll make sure that never happens again. I will search for the remaining five hearts alone, and Sonic can continue searching for the emeralds without any more of my useless help; he's better off without it anyways. The way he looked at me once I confessed, it ripped my heart out, which I am still having trouble believing. He looked disbelieving at first, like he thought it was a joke, but then it turned to anger, hurt, pain... I never thought I'd see the day when he of all people would show those kind of negative emotions. It's my own fault, I guess, keeping such a huge secret from him. I had honestly meant to tell him, just not the way I had. I wanted to break it to him gently, maybe when we were alone. But of course I had to mess everything up with my temper.

I stopped after who knows how long. The sun was on the verge of setting, and I didn't recognize my surroundings at all. What I did know was that I was still in the savannah, which meant I must've been going in circles. There was a small ring of trees that surrounded me, and I slumped against one of them.

Sonic's POV

I have to find Shadow. Fast. I've been searching for him for hours, which is weird, because I can usually find him in a few minutes. Maybe he chaos controlled somewhere? I don't know; all I do know is that he needs to explain himself. Why would he keep such a huge thing hidden from me? There must have been something serious that happened in order for him to keep it a secret. And what did he mean that he couldn't lose me again? I'll make sure to get the whole story as soon as I find him, speaking of which. How can I find him? Shads can be a real stubborn recluse when he wants to be.

"Stupid!" I said to myself and slapped my forehead, "the creature pods!"

I paused momentarily and scrolled through the settings on the odd device strapped to my wrist until I found one labelled group tracker. After pressing it, a screen showing seven dots appeared. The five close together were the Wild Kratts, and I was the dark blue one a couple hundred miles off. I smirked once I saw the red dot, symbolizing Shadow, not too far away from right where I was standing. He seems to have stopped moving, which is good news, I guess. With a destination in mind, I set off at a run once again.

Third Person POV

It didn't take Sonic long to spot the black and red form of Shadow staring off into the distance, the setting sun giving him a fiery glow. He waited a few seconds, contemplating what he should say. After a moment, he decided on the direct approach.

"Hey, Shadow."

The dark hedgehog took one glance at him before he skated off in a red blur. Surprised, Sonic gave chase, catching up to him in only a moment.

"Shadow, stop," he tried to tell him. The jet hybrid only growled and picked up the pace. Sonic frowned and ran faster until he was slightly ahead of his rival. He held out his hands and stopped, causing Shadow to collide into him. The two hedgehogs wrestled in the savannah, Sonic holding Shadow's arms to keep him from leaving.

"Let me go, Sonic!" the older of the two ordered. The blue speedster grunted against the force of his older brother's strength but remained firm.

"No. Not until you tell me what really happened!"

"It doesn't matter!"

"That's a lie, and you know it!"

"Why do you want to know?! You already have everything! You don't need me!"

"Because if it's true, you're the only real family I have left!" Sonic exploded, the truth from his side finally coming out. Shadow stopped struggling.

"What?" he breathed. Sonic stopped fighting, and his hands fell to his sides.

"I never had a family until I met Tails. One day I just woke up in Green Hill Zone alone. I couldn't remember where I came from or how I got there, and I was too young to care then. The only two things I knew was that my name was Sonic and I could run fast. After six years of running and fighting Eggman, I found Tails. He was an orphan, like me, so we stuck it out together. At least you had Maria to grow up with; I had nobody..."

Shadow's ears folded against his head, and his normally hard features softened. His absence had a greater effect on the blue hero than he thought possible. All previous plans of abandoning his little brother now were tossed to the wind. Sonic hung his head, mistaking his silence as simply not caring.

"You can go now, if you want. I won't stop you," he surrendered.

With a new resolve, Shadow responded, "No. You should never have had to go through something like that. And even if everything they said was a lie, I'll stick by you. We're brothers by blood or bond or both, and I'm not giving up on you, because a particular blue idiot never gave up on me."

Sonic chuckled half-heartedly, "You really have a way with words, Shads."

The ebony hedgehog smirked, "And I mean every one of them."

Sonic stuck his hand out, "Brothers?"

Shadow took it, "Brothers."

Suddenly a green light enveloped the two hedgehogs, and with startled gasps, they vanished from the savannah.

I know this was short, but things have gotten really busy around here. Next chap should be up soon though.