The Challenges of a Father

[sterlingmod]

The tiny ball of anxiety kept his eyes closed as he felt himself being hoisted up, and after a short pause, flung over. He skidded slightly on the ground as he hit, his quills digging into the grass and dirt. The hog shook his head as he rose from the ground, opening his eyes and waiting for the disorientation of being tossed to subside before attempting to get to his feet.

Upon standing up and stabilizing himself, he noticed that his hand still had something gripped in it. He unclenched his fist, showing that he was indeed still holding onto the same piece of root, realizing that the silly boy had neglected to actually let go of this lifeline. He stared at the root with wide eyes, and then readjusted his gaze to the cliffside they had just been dangling from. It took a few moments of thought before he burst out in a relieved laughter, soaking in what had just happened.

[Arthur]

Shadow watched Silver silently and oddly patiently with his arms crossed and his gaze set on him, his eyes narrowed before he looked in the direction of the city before he began to walk, almost ignoring Silver before he called out
"Are you coming or not?"
he asked as he continued his walk, waiting for his son to catch up before he planned to pick him up onto his back and take off back to Echidnaopolis.

[sterlingmod]

The laughter calmed itself when he realized that his way to the park was wandering off without him. Those short legs carried him as fast as they could to catch up as he called back, "Ah! Wait, hold on!" As he ran he still had hints of giggles mixed in with his breathing, but it was hard to tell if it was from the adrenaline rush, the excitement of going to the park, or if he was just plain delirious from shock. The expression on his face clearly showed that he was alright though, so it mustn't be the latter to worry about.

As the snowy colored, but still dirty from the ordeal, child caught up to the adult, he reach his hand out to the elder's hand. His carefree attitude implied that he had no idea how much he had worried his guardian, if even at all, as the stern hedgehog's hard to read emotions never gave away any such feelings.

[Arthur]

Shadow looked down at his son for a little bit, how was he going to make this kid strong? They hadn't even had a proper spar today, he's going to have to make him do an extra long running session tomorrow to make up for it.
But not today, Shadow went past Silvers hand and picked him up underneath his arms and placed him on his back, his arms wrapped around the youths legs to stabilise him on his back.
"Hang on" he simply said before he took off, his boots firing up and he skated on the flames , making his way back to Echidnaopolis, quickly gaining speed to a neck-break pace, the speed that rivalled the previous fastest thing alive.

[sterlingmod]

A grunt escaped him as he was tossed onto the large hedgehog's back as if he had been unprepared. As the littler one was secured he remembered that he actually was promised a hoggy-back ride. The hoglet nestled his face over his now-steed's shoulder, knowing exactly how to position himself on the spiny back without getting hurt.

To most others, this jagged blanket of spikes meant a world of hurt, but to him it meant security. His father may not be the most affectionate in the world, but this is all the affection the child had known, and he knew the ways his father shows affection. In a way, having to search so hard to understand the dark hedgehog's feelings has made him very perceptive on the feelings of others, because compared to this old man, anyone else can be read like a book.

Then his father started going on the move. The child felt close to falling off from the acceleration, having to nuzzle his face back into the shoulder after the recoil, holding tight. His own quills bristled from the surprise of the force, and although he had been carried often by this same hedgehog for his life, going so fast still takes more than a couple years of getting used to. Silver did not seem to have any innate talent for going fast, so to be fast enough not to be left in the dust of this speedster is no easy feat.

The breaths from his tiny nose can be felt on the older hedge's neck and shoulder from the offspring holding on so tight. "I know that we're going to a park, but what kind of park could there be here?" His tiny voice muffled from him not bothering to lift his head to speak.

[Arthur]

"I believe the echidnas here erected a memorial park in memory of Sonic the hedgehog...Bastard was a hero to these people" he said as he dodged and weaved through the jungle stepping on hidden springs and rocketing off into the sky and soaring before gravity began to pull them back towards the earth, the black hedgehog easily landing and grinding on a thick vine with his shoes, changing his footing for better balance

"Keep a strong grip Silver otherwise your walking the rest of the way back to the city if you fall off" he said as his eyes were constantly moving, keeping an eye out for obstacles and potential shorter paths, the hedgehog has gone through several 'zones' like this before often racing against a certain blue hedgehog and had to have a high perception of his surroundings to keep an eye out for obstacles and other such hazards that could harm himself or the bundle on his back.

[sterlingmod]

Stray leaves hit his face as he tried to listen to the dark hedgehog talk through all the wind whistling through his ears. Sonic? The child became interested at the sound of that name. It's been mentioned many times by his father, but he has never said anything more about this mystery figure that his father had apparently once known other than a couple nasty remarks against him.

The boy had thought about asking about the subject, but was pulled away from his train of thought by the black hedgehog's warning. It took a moment to realize what he had just been told, but he sure as heck held on for dear life when he did. He knew his dad always stuck to his word, he never made empty threats so he knew if he fell off it was a promise that he'd be trucking himself to the city.

He struggled against the G-forces of ricocheting of of what felt to be every wall in the darn place. There was a particularly rough jump that caused Silver to lose his grip with one of his hands, and in an effort to correct himself he quickly grabbed onto the first part of the black hog he could reach, that being a cluster of quills. He kept a tight hold onto the spines like a rein as they made their way through the jungle.

[Arthur]

"Hang on Silver I'm boosting" the air around them suddenly seemed to shift like a shockwave as a distant rumble could be heard from the sound barrier breaking, golden energy surrounding them as Shadow's feet were not even touching the ground anymore, and he seemed to by flying but in truth he was hovering to an extent with his shoes functioning as boosters to allow a low level flight.

Keeping a straight line Shadow didn't seem to worry about the obstacles before them as any tree that they approached splintered and broke apart and the shot past before any of the debris could become harmful but the golden energy around them seemed to function like a shield and they were virtually untouchable.

[sterlingmod]

The force of this hedgehog moving was like taking off on a jet. Silver could no longer keep his eyes open to take in the surrounding. He clamped his eyes shut, his quills curtaining over his eyes to protect his face from the debris coming in on them at hyper-speed. His tiny arm wrapped around the neck of this hedgehog-turned-racecar as much as it could reach, while his other hand clenched onto the quills they had taken a hold of, pulling harder on them from trying to hang on.

After they had reached a more constant speed, the youngster's messed quills unfurled from his face to allow him to see everything whirring by them at breakneck speeds. The rush of going so fast got the hedgeling's blood pumping. A chuckle started to emerge from him before quickly escalating into excited laughter.

He moved his eyes to look at his father's as best he could. "How fast can you really go!?" he yelled over the noise of the wind that blasted them from the front.

[Arthur]

"Much faster" Shadow couldn't help but smirk but kept his current speed as they were quickly approaching the city, Shadow slowed down slightly as the golden energy dissipated around them and he skated once more as the smirk disappeared as fast as it had appeared.

The buildings of the city quickly surrounded them as Shadow braked slowly being some distance into the city already by the time he slowed down enough to turn off his boots and come to a stop, slowly lowering his son to the ground Shadow took notice of the locals staring at the unusual hedgehogs, especially with the entrance they made though it didn't cause too much concern.
"We will walk to the park from here."

[sterlingmod]

Silver's face melted from his wide smile to that of inquisitiveness. It was hard to imagine anyone going any faster than what he felt. It makes one wonder how much he was holding back, and for how long he's had to hold back. He saw the obvious pride his father held in his speed through the cocky smirk the small hedge caught a glimpse of. Does he hold back because I'm just not fast enough? Because I wouldn't be able to handle it?

The child snapped out of his thoughts as the city surroundings engulfed him. "Aaaahh~" he gasped in wonderment. Even though they traveled like nomads, the little hog was still not too hard to amaze. Being lifted of the back of the black hedge didn't seem to interrupt his sight seeing at all. As he looked around, though, he caught the stares of the locals that they seemed to attract.

You know, Silver couldn't recall seeing people that looked like this. Are these just some strange looking hedgehogs? In fact, Silver has not seen many of his own kind to compare with besides himself and his dad. The stares caused the small boy to scoot a bit closer to his father, almost hiding his way behind his guardian. The attention they got seemed to make him uncomfortable, but he didn't seem so much scared as he was just wondering why they got glares so often.

[Arthur]

Shadow narrowed his eyes at whoever stared at them, his gaze looked intimidating without trying and those who glared at them quickly ducked their heads and moved along albeit in a hurry.
Shadow looked around him for a while before he started walking towards the park
"Come along Silver" he said in his usual emotionless tone, his face giving off very little sign of his inner thoughts or feelings.

He hated moving around in public, he preferred to stick to small towns and villages and very short stays in cities, but thanks to Angel islands constant movement, himself and his son would be off of G.U.N's radar for a little while, he hoped that perhaps they could get some much needed rest and some comfort before going on the move again.

[sterlingmod]

Silver kept pace with his dad, keeping close to him and idly holding his hands up to waist height. He watched the effect a simple look from his dad could have on people, seeing them submit quickly. The fact that people were now looking away from them gave the hoglet a bit more confidence to move out from behind his shield, though while still keeping close.

Though, in a bout of hypocrisy, the little one could not help but stare at people as they passed. "Hey dad," he looked up to his father's face, "Do these hedgehogs not have ears?". From looking at the echidnas and seeing their spines, he concluded that these must be some strange sort of hedgehog, never seeing any other species with spines before, and thus he assumed that hedgehogs were the only ones who could have them.

[Arthur]

"These aren't Hedgehogs silver, they are Echidnas, this city is called Echidnaopolis for a reason, Angel Island is their home, and their version of 'royalty' is a Guardian, I used to know one many years ago." he explained as his usually emotionless expression seemed to soften at his son's question but he kept his usually stern expression.
"There are not many Hedgehogs on Mobius Silver, they don't live in a city together like the Echidnas but are rather spread out all over Mobius, travelling around is how I met your..." his voice trailed off for a moment as he lowered his head to look at the ground as he walked, his softened expression hardening once more, shutting himself up
"It was how I met you mother."
he finally said before he looked down at his son.

[sterlingmod]

Silver listened intently to the information, replying to a short "Huh..." after learning about a new species, culture, and hierarchy all at once. So Dad used to know royalty...? The little hog is aware that his dad had known many people, so the idea was more intriguing than surprising to him. He looked at the ground as he thought about this. Just how many people could a guy know that seem so important? He had no idea of his father's own importance of holding the title of 'Ultimate Lifeform'.

Silver looked up at the adult speaking when he mentioned his species. Silver was very curious of his kin, wondering why he had never seen any others. When his dad trailed off, the kid opened his mouth inquisitively, waiting for the end of the sentence. He watched the dark hedgehog lower his head and steel his expression. The little white one just tilted his head slightly at the mention of his mom. The thought affected his father much more than it did him as the boy was too young to remember ever having a mother.

He did notice from the posture that his father did not take it as well. As the elder's gaze met his, the young hedgehog's eyes widened a little bit in response, looking very attentive. It was not usually so easy to read his father to know if he was upset, even in the slightest, but he could tell that he was thinking about something as he gazed at the hedgeling.

Silver lowered his eyes for a moment in thought before looking back up again. "Well, what was she like?" It was hard to get the black hog to talk about anything personal, so he figured this was as good an opportunity as any to pry.