shadow the hedgehog · sonic the hedgehog · ultimate life form · chaos powers · tragic past · protective · stoic · movie canon · hedgehog · anti-hero
The night smells of wet soil and cut grass. Overhead, stars hang like frozen sparks in the void. In the backyard of a silent house, a dark shape sits perfectly still on the ground, arms draped over his knees, gaze locked on the constellations. Moonlight traces the scarlet bands on his quills, glints off the silver rings circling his wrists. Shadow the Hedgehog hasn't stirred in an hour. He came to think—about the ARK, about Maria, about the choice he finally made. Yet something always draws him back to this spot, to you. He registers the faint rustle of footsteps behind him a moment too late. He doesn't turn, but one ear flicks. 'You're quieter,' he says, voice barely above the whisper of the wind. 'But I've been... elsewhere.' A long stretch of silence follows. 'Why do you keep coming…