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Silver isn’t really sure what he was expecting when he finally said his goodbyes to Sonic and his friends and went back to his future. Was he expecting his future to be fixed? Maybe a few timelines ago, he’d say yes. But right now, Silver was just hoping his future wasn’t a fiery hell hole. He hates those apocalypses, the ones filled with hell fires and raging blazes. It’s hot, the smoke makes it hard to breathe, and everything is always totally, completely destroyed. Plus, the sight of a future so devastated by fire causes chills down his spine, reminds him of something he can’t quite remember. Either way, it’s totally bad news.
And yet here he is, back in the future, and everything is on fire.
Silver runs a hand through his quills, surprised to find it already covered in soot. After helping with the Restoration for a few weeks, Silver decided his work in the past was done. He’s helped slow down Eggman’s reign of terror long enough for Sonic to get rescued and helped Sonic and some rookie kid save the day. And then he helped rebuild buildings and get rid of all the pollution and fixed the land Eggman had begun to industrialize. It was a small step towards fixing all that had gone wrong, but it was a promising step towards a brighter future.
Well, so Silver thought. He peers at the fires around him, at the dilapidated buildings swallowed by ravenous fires. The ground is covered in white ashes and the sky is a bright red, black clouds blocking out the sun. What happened this time?
This was always the worst part- the research.
Trying to figure out what caused his apocalyptic future was always hell in itself. The rare few people he found were often skittish and equally as rarely knew anything about what happened. Most historical documentation was burnt and most technological archives were destroyed.
Usually Silver just rolled up to Sonic’s timeline hoping he’d get roped up in the middle of a crisis, help them fix it, and that would be the event that saves the day. Other times he gets a lucky clue and travels back to a specific day, like with the Eggman empire having destroyed his last future, causing him to go back in time to help the Resistance this time.
Unfortunately, it looks like time travel isn’t an option. Sonic used a Chaos emerald to get him back to his future this time, but the Chaos Emeralds were usually destroyed in every future he was in, and the reason why was always constant; constant, in the answer that no one actually knows why. Either way, they aren’t available for him to use.
The only other magical artifact was the Time Stones.
Silver had first discovered them during an encounter with Eggman Nega, in one of his first futures, a little before he travelled back in time and met Sonic for the first time. He had been researching ways to go back to the past and fix everything, and since the Chaos emeralds were out of the question, he had to find something else. It seemed Nega had a similar idea and used the Time Stones to warp back to the past, having also been researching Little Planet.
Silver cracks his knuckles, peering at the sky. Little Planet was back in orbit, and by Silver’s calculations, it would be about four months before it returned back to Never Lake. He’s studied that planet several times in countless timelines, and could probably approximate the exact day it’d be back close enough to the planet’s surface that Silver could board and reach those time stones.
Until then, Silver had to wait.
Well, it’s not the first time he’s made his home in apocalyptic ruins.
He surrounds himself in telekinetic energy and begins to fly, peering over the city, searching for a good home. It has to be something structurally stable, that will help keep out most of the elements and provide him relief from the harsh heat of the fires around him. In addition, he needs to search for a water source and a food source, and hopefully a nice home will be situated nearby.
There’s a flash of blue on his left side and Silver immediately spins around, trying to figure out the movement he saw. The ground below him is still, but the fires raging moments ago seemed to have been blown out like the flames of a candle. Silver frowns and peers across the entire stretch of land before slowly lowering himself back towards the ground.
Another flash of blue and-
Sonic the Hedgehog is standing atop a charred building, peering off into the distance. The structure creaks and groans under his weight, though Sonic pays no mind to it, scanning his surroundings, a curious expression on his face.
“Sonic?!”
Sonic glances at Silver, looking equally surprised. His black eyes are widened comically and he takes a step back at the call of his name. Wait, black eyes?
Shorter spines, lighter fur color, rounder build… it’s not the Sonic Silver’s most acquainted with. It’s the little one, the baby Sonic he first met back at that botched birthday party that got crashed by a time eating god.
Silver flies straight towards him, as fast as he can manage. The two stare at each other for a few moments in surprise, clearly bewildered by the sight of each other. It had been months since Silver last saw him, though Silver had no idea how long it’s been for the little guy.
“Woah, Sonic, how’d you end up here?”
Sonic moves his hands in a flurry. If Silver had known sign language, he probably still wouldn’t have been able to understand what Sonic was trying to convey. Silver watched him for a few moments, a bit curiously as Sonic made all sorts of motions and expressions, having kind of forgotten the little kid version couldn’t properly talk, and he eventually, hesitantly butted in with, “I, uh… Sorry, I don’t really know sign language…”
Sonic pauses mid-sentence at his words. He let out an inaudible groan and kicked at the ground. The action caused the building to squeak, metal on metal grating against each other and Sonic peered down at the building, exasperation momentarily forgotten. He grabbed Silver by the arm and seconds later Silver found himself roughly a block away from where the building was, now firmly on the surface.
He could see the building quiver and shake like a leaf, before it finally collapsed in a heap of ash and dust. The remains of the building billowed into a faint smoke.
Sonic crossed his arms, looking contemplative. He was probably trying to figure out how to communicate with Silver. Silver decides to try to ask a few yes or no questions. That should be easy. “Have you been here very long?”
He shakes his head.
“Did you come straight from the aftermath of the sun nearly destroying the world?”
A hesitant nod.
“Do you know where you are?”
A shake of his head.
“You’re in the future. My future.” He waves a hand, sweeping across the horizon. “Something to look forward to, huh? Did Sonic- Uh, the older you- ever give you much details about me?”
He shakes his head. Silver scoffs. “Go figure. I’m his coolest rival, by the way.”
Sonic appears contemplative, before pointing behind him, at the shadow he’s casting. It takes a moment before it clicks and Silver crosses his arms. “Hey! No, Shadow sucks. Trust me on that.”
Sonic gives him a deadpan expression and Silver decides to change the subject. “Anyway! I guess the Phantom Ruby or whatever brought you to the future accidentally dropped you here while trying to get you back to your correct time. Right now, you’re roughly two hundred years in the future, give or take, since I don’t really know how old you are.” Sonic’s eyes are wide at his statement while Silver thinks. “How old are you right now, huh?”
It takes Sonic a few moments to respond, as his attention shifts away from his surroundings to Silver’s question. Sonic holds up his fingers, flashing five, five, five. Silver does the math quickly, and then raises an eyebrow at Sonic. “You’re fifteen, huh?”
Sonic peers back at him, looking a bit disgruntled at Silver’s disbelieving tone. He nods, a bit mechanically, and Silver laughs. “You know, that birthday party you arrived at, with the time eater? Do you know how old your future self was there?”
Sonic frowns, thinking hard. He stares at his hands for a few minutes before holding up his fingers, five, five, five, five. Silver laughs at that and Sonic’s expression twists into embarrassment and confusion.
“You thought he was twenty?” Sonic nods, though he seems far less certain than he was a few moments ago. “He was fifteen.”
Sonic blinked a few more times, looking at him in disbelief. He starts to sign again, a bit rapidly, clearly trying to ask a question or two or three. Silver watches him for a few moments, until Sonic notices his blank expression and realises Silver isn’t understanding him. He deflates a bit, sighing, before pointing at himself. He then flashes his fingers again- five, five, one.
“You’re eleven, then?” That’s a lot more believable. “Then why’d you lie?”
Sonic huffs, kicking the ground. He makes a few signs before kicking the ground again. He’s frustrated by the communication barrier between them. Silver really wishes he had taken up Sonic’s offer a few disasters ago to learn sign language before he went back to his future.
“This must suck, huh?” Silver peers down at him, frowning. “I’m really sorry, Sonic. It’s gotta suck to be stuck in the future and find out it’s completely awful. And then the only person for miles is someone who can’t understand you. That’s gotta suck.”
Sonic shrugs and glances at the horizon. He brushes aside Silver’s words and makes a fist before slamming it into his palm. Silver can see determination gleaming in his eyes, and Silver wonders if he has a plan.
He glances back at Silver and makes a gesture with his hands. Silver blinks, and Sonic sighs before they begin to play a game of charades. Sonic makes an upside down triangle shape with his fingers before pushing his quills upwards, a look that mimicked his quills when he was super Sonic- OH.
“The Chaos emeralds?” Silver asks, and Sonic beams, so that means he got it right. “Are you asking where they are?”
Sonic nods, frantically, and Silver sighs. “Yeah, those things got destroyed like, a long time ago. Before I met Sonic- or, uh, you- I honestly didn’t even think they existed. Convenient of them to disappear once technology evolved enough for them to be studied.”
Sonic blinks at his words, carefully soaking in what Silver’s saying. He looks ready to start motioning with his hands, a thousand questions behind his eyes, but stops short, likely remembering the communication barrier. He taps his foot for a few seconds, thinking, before he makes another upside down triangle before he makes a motion of something blowing up. He tilts his head to the side, making the most confused expression he could probably muster.
Silver thinks he manages to pick up on the cues, and tentatively asks, “You want to know why they got destroyed?”
Sonic nods, almost cheerfully, his eyes keenly watching Silver, his hands clasped together. Silver bit his lip, trying to think of a way out of this conversation. Perhaps revealing future events to the little Sonic wasn’t a great idea; Chaos knows how this is gonna bite him in the butt later.
“I can’t really tell you,” Silver decides. “You know, don’t wanna mess up the timeline and all that by telling you too much about future events.”
Immediately, Silver winces. Sonic’s already been to the future twice- he literally already met his future self- and now this is technically the third time. Kind of a weak excuse. Still, Silver doesn't want to outright admit that he doesn't know why the emeralds are destroyed; that seems like a very important detail to not know, and he's not fond of the idea of being admonished by some little kid.
Sonic frowns at his words, looking ready to argue, before he lets out a frustrated sigh and kicks at the dirt. Silver doesn’t say anything this time, watching as Sonic tries to form a plan of some sort. He suddenly lights up, his eyes brightening, and he taps his wrist before pointing at a rock on the ground.
Silver frowns, not understanding the motions this time. Sonic repeats the action twice before realizing Silver wasn’t getting it. He tapped his foot impatiently, looking around him, before pretending to check a watch on his wrist. He then pointed at the rock again.
“Wrist rock? Wrist dirt? Hand rock-“ Sonic continues to give him a flat stare and Silver tosses his hands up- “Look, I’m trying, all right?”
Sonic repeats the action again. “Tap rock… wrist…” Something suddenly clicked, memories of watching old movies with Amy and Shadow catching. “Oh! Wristwatch! That’s why you’re pointing to your wrist! Right?”
Sonic pauses, then holds up his hand, tilting it back and forth. Kind of. So he’s close, but not quite. Silver frowns, trying to concentrate, and Sonic does the motion once more, tapping his wrist before pointing at a stone.
Wait. Stone.
“Time stone!” Silver blurts, and Sonic jumps in the air, silently cheering. “Like the ones on Little Planet, right?” Sonic nods, vigorously, and Silver suddenly pauses. “Wait, how do you know about the Time Stones?”
Sonic rolls his eyes, then points back to Silver, almost accusingly. “Are you asking why I know about the Time Stones?” Sonic nods. “Oh, well, a big part of my schtick is that I’m a time traveler. I go back in time and help you and your friends when you need it, since it’s sometimes the reason why my future ends up like this. I learned about the Time Stones trying to figure out how to time travel to the past to save my future, after I realized the Chaos Emeralds were destroyed.”
Sonic appeared contemplative, mulling over Silver’s words. “Well, Sonic, how did you learn about the Time Stones? I didn’t think your society had studied them yet.”
Sonic starts to make motions with his hands before he aborts it. He peers at the soot before squatting, poking his finger in the dust and begins to draw. Silver peers over his shoulder as he works and watches as Sonic draws Little Planet over Never Lake, a strange man with a mustache, and what looks like another hedgehog.
Now that Silver thinks about it, the story sounds familiar. Amy told him this before, he thinks, when she invited him over for a baking lesson. “Oh! You met Amy here, didn’t you? Eggman tried to mess up Little Planet and you met Amy here after she got kidnapped, right?”
Sonic nods. “Yeah, Amy told me about this. I’ve got a feeling she romanticized a bit of it, but it’s roughly the same. That’s how you know about the Time Stones.”
Sonic points at the drawing of Little Planet. Right, back to the subject. “I don’t think we’ll be able to use those anytime soon. Little Planet isn’t set to come back until about another four months from now.”
Sonic’s eyes widened at his statement. Sonic’s expression falters before completely shattering. Silver feels pretty terrible, seeing that disappointed, dejected look on Sonic’s face.
He placed his head in his hands and Silver really, really wishes he could understand him more. Silver opts to crouch down beside him and place a hand on his back, trying to be comforting. How does Sonic cheer up Tails? “Hey, hey now! Cheer up, little guy! It’s only four more months, and then you can get back to your friends! And you’ve got me for company!”
Sonic peers up at Silver, his expression flattening, before he places his head back in his hands. “Rude! Well, alright, but I’m an expert at surviving in the apocalypse! So at least there’s that. You don’t have to do this alone.”
Sonic uncurls from himself and properly sits on the ground. He peers up at the sky, red from blazing fires and hazy with endless smoke. There’s not a star in the sky, not even the sun visible in all the haze.
He sits up straight and smacks a fist in his palm. He glances at Silver and gives him a quiet smile. “Feeling better? This is the Sonic I know! Now come on, we’ve got a few things to do, since you’re sticking around for a little while. We have to find a source of shelter… wanna help?”
Sonic’s on his feet, gone in a split second. A blue streak disappears across the horizon and Silver waits in place, curious. If Sonic can find one fast, then perhaps Silver should get trapped in a future with him more often. Then again, he’s not sure how much Sonic knows about survival. He’s lived in that cushy time period full of still standing houses and civilizations, he’s probably not gonna find a very good home near a source of water and food-
Sonic reappears in a blink, grabbing Silver’s wrist and pulling him towards a new direction. Silver’s been friends with Sonic for who knows how long now, after you’ve accounted for all the timeline shenanigans and ironed out the current timeline, and yet he’s still never quite used to the sensation of super speed.
They arrive a few seconds later and Silver spies the Never Lake not far away. He peers at the structure Sonic’s brought them to, an ancient barn that’s seen better days. It’s not exactly a home, but it looks sound enough, and it even has a pretty sound roof, too.
“This… isn’t a bad find.” A water source and a good place to hide from the elements. “But we need a food source nearby too-“
Sonic disappears and reappears, an apple in his hand. Silver glances to where his streak of blue headed towards and found an orchid not far off. Two hundred years of pure raging fires can eventually lead to the revitalization of crops, given enough time and soil and sun. With Never Lake not far, Silver can picture those crops are probably in a pretty fertile zone.
“Huh, alright, you know your stuff, kid.” Sonic takes a big bite out of the apple and gives Silver a charming yet mischievous smile. “Gotta say, you come from such a nice time period, I can’t imagine why you’d know so much about survival.”
Sonic’s expression falters ever so slightly. Silver doesn’t actually know a whole lot about him, the more Silver thinks. He’s got a bunch of weird friends and he fights Eggman a lot, but how long ago did Sonic start this fight? Why? When? How?
Sonic shrugs and glances away. Silver decides to try again. “But you did a great job! You’re doing great, kid.”
Sonic does perk a bit at that and offers Silver an apple. Silver hadn’t even noticed Sonic holding two, and wonders if Sonic had sped away when Silver wasn’t looking. He takes it out of Sonic’s hand and hesitantly bites into it. It’s sticky sweet, something Silver isn’t super used to, nor fond of. He’s had a few bad experiences with sweets, like that time with the Twinkie in the timeline where it was a nuclear winter that haunted the future.
“Well, let’s settle in!”
-
Two weeks into their exploits together, and Silver can tell that Sonic is growing extremely restless.
It’s not surprising, really. Silver knows Sonic is nomadic by nature- every past he travels to, he always has to go to Tails to try to find him, and Sonic always rushes off the site of an adventure to find a new one. He can’t stand staying in one place for two long, and two weeks is probably more than enough time for him to begin to develop an itch to travel.
And Sonic does travel. Silver will be out tending to the orchard while Sonic disappears for hours on end, searching over the planet for fun and for supplies. Sometimes Sonic comes back and guides Silver in the direction of other survivors and they’ll trade supplies for other things.
But it’s the fact that he’s still tied down, in a sense, to Silver and that barn. Silver doesn’t want to move when they’re stationed right next to Little Planet’s potential resurface point, and next to a secure house and food and water supply. Sonic understands that, but he wants to run.
And he’s getting more and more reckless.
Silver watches as Sonic jumps from rooftop to rooftop of each crumbling building. Sonic said that he had something to show Silver (well, that’s what Silver gleaned from the conversation of exaggerated pointing and vague sign language gestures Silver couldn’t properly decipher due to his very, very limited vocabulary as of then). Silver has no idea what he’s trying to show him.
Sonic jumps off the roof of a building to his left and Silver has to dodge some of the debris as it begins to fall. The building crumples, imploding upon itself, creaking loudly. In the deathly still air, it’s the only sound for miles, and it grates on his ears.
Sonic continues to jump, again and again. Silver pauses, feeling out of breath. Using his telekinesis is draining and Silver’s never been able to develop much of a stamina even after all this time. He stands back, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. As he does, he watches Sonic, frowning a bit. “Sonic, I don’t think you should jump from those other buildings. They’re not stable enough.”
Sonic continues to jump, ignoring Silver’s words. He does glance back at Silver and almost appears exasperated at seeing Silver so far behind him. Still, he continues to jump roof from roof. Silver tries again. “Sonic, hey, seriously, those things are ancient and only barely withstood the wrath of whatever destroyed the world. Be easy on them.”
Sonic stops on the roof of the building he was on and sticks his tongue out at Silver. Silver huffs, until he watches as the building's foundation cracks. The crack spreads up the walls of what used to be a skyscraper in a busy city before the bottom suddenly gave out, and the building began to collapse.
Sonic noticed the structure became wobbly and began to accrue enough speed to jump off. Silver watches as he runs, little more than a blur, until something manages to trip him- the roof had begun to collapse, and Sonic went teetering off the top of the building.
“Sonic!”
A blue aura catches Sonic a few meters before he hits the ground. Sonic peers at the energy surrounding him with something similar to wonder and attempts to prod at it. Silver rushes over to him before setting him back on the ground and Sonic immediately moves to dart away, but Silver catches his wrist before he takes off. Or maybe Sonic let him catch him.
“Sonic, hey, what’s gotten into you?”
Sonic narrows his eyes at him before looking away. He crosses his arms and taps his foot, peering off towards the horizon.
“That was dangerous, you know. You should have listened to me.”
Still looking away, Sonic uncrosses one of his arms and uses his hand to mimick Silver’s words. Silver lets Sonic go, who crosses his arms back together, more comfortable this time.
“A thanks for saving your life would be nice, you know.”
Sonic stares him directly in the eyes as he gives him the middle finger. It’s the first thing Sonic had taught him in sign language. “Hey! What’s the matter with you, huh?”
Sonic stomps his foot and points towards the horizon. Silver rolls his eyes. “What’s so important that you’re trying to show me?”
Sonic points again, more urgent this time. Silver puts his hands on his hips before letting out a tired sigh. “Fine, fine, let’s get a move on.”
Sonic straightens for a split second before he darts ahead. Silver’s eyes widened as Sonic disappears and he frantically tries to chase after him. “Hey, wait up!”
Sonic continues to move fast, even though Silver knows he’s going far slower than normal just for Silver. Instead of jumping from roof to roof, though, he jumps from the side of buildings on to piles of debris before shooting off of the debris and onto the sides of buildings, like a slingshot.
It’s about ten more minutes before they land in the center of some city Silver doesn’t recognize. Then again, maybe if it wasn’t in ruins, he’d be able to recognize it. He’s not really sure.
Sonic sprints straight ahead before stopping abruptly. Silver chases after him, curious about what Sonic was so impatient for him to see. Running isn’t his forte, though, and so when he finally catches up, he’s completely breathless again, trying to recover.
Sonic impatiently taps his foot, waiting for Silver to get his breath back. Finally, Silver huffs in enough oxygen for his muscles and glances up, finding four statues peering down at him. He can recognize them instantly, even if they’ve aged a bit since the last time he’s seen them.
Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy all stare down at them. It’s a bronze statue that’s been slightly melted- Sonic’s quills are lopsided, Tails’s arm is missing, Amy’s hammer has melted into the ground, and Knuckles is missing a leg. But it’s obvious who they are despite the weathering of the elements, despite the apocalyptic hellfire they’ve been through, despite time and age.
They’re a little older than he last saw them. Amy’s in a different outfit with longer quills. Tails is wearing goggles, a fanny pack, and a lot of sports tape. Knuckles is wearing more echidna wear and looks a little taller. Sonic looks about the same as the fifteen year old he last saw, except with some new shoes. Silver peers at the inscription on the base: Five Year Anniversary of the Station Square Flooding.
“Oh, I remember that.” Espio had told him about that- apparently he was there when that happened. Sonic had saved his life that day, without even knowing it. It was definitely before Silver had entered the picture, but he sometimes read about it in scraps of textbooks and old biographies he read. It was one of Sonic’s most famous adventures, after all.
He peers at the statue a bit, curiously. Knuckles must have come in contact with the Nocturnus Clan. It does kind of pain Silver to not tell Knuckles there’s more of his people out there, but it’ll just be about another year before he comes in contact with them. Silver knows what it’s like, to think you’re the last survivor.
He glances away from the statue to look at Sonic. He’s peering up not at his future self but at his friends, a hand quietly settled on Tails’s foot. There’s an unreadable expression on his face, but if Silver has to guess, he’d estimate it was longing. “You miss your friends, huh?”
Sonic nods, quietly. He peers over at Amy before looking at Knuckles. His gaze stays on the two for a while before he looks up at his future self. Sonic glances over at Silver and points at his future self. Silver frowns, watching as Sonic clearly tries to ask him a question. His hands shake as he signs, and as seconds pass they grow more frantic. Silver can’t understand anything he says, and it makes Sonic stop, mid sign, before he lets out a tired sigh.
Silver places a hand on his shoulder and Sonic peers up at him this time. They’re quiet for a few moments, before Silver says, “You’ll get back to them, you know? I promise.”
Sonic scoffs and wags a finger at Silver. He already knew that, he seemed to be saying, though Silver thinks he still needed to hear it.
“They live good lives,” Silver adds, cautiously. “And so do you.”
Something in Sonic seems to be placated at that. Tension Silver hadn’t noticed before leaves his body as his eyes sweep back towards the statue. He smiles, ever so slightly before poking Silver’s rib cage and dashing away. Silver finds him in the ruins of an old bakery shop down the street, and Sonic pulls down an eyelid before sticking out his tongue. He then dashes away, and Silver’s gears turn until they click.
“You want a chase?” Silver asks, and Sonic grins down at him from the building he had clambered up. “I’ll get you! I bet we can get to Central City- it's not far from here! But I’ll get you before that!”
Sonic gives him a sharp toothed grin and disappears. Silver uses his telekinesis to float and shoots off after him.
-
Silver’s apocalypse days are usually… well, gloom and doom. It’s not exactly a time period Silver enjoys, those weeks or months after he gets back from his joyride in the past and has to muck around in the future for a bit before he can time travel again. It’s kind of miserable, if he’s completely honest, toiling around in an apocalypse, trying to survive.
After all, it is the apocalypse. It’s not really supposed to be fun, or else why would Silver bother trying to change the future?
It turns out having company does make it a bit less gloom and doom, though.
The little Sonic is different from the one Silver first met. He’s a little more shy, definitely quieter, and a lot more curious, but he’s still Sonic at heart, that’s for sure. He’s reckless and impatient and energetic and optimistic. It’s that optimism that’s been really helpful this apocalypse- seeing ruined future after ruined future can be pretty disheartening, but if there’s one thing Silver’s understood about Sonic’s character, it’s that he’s determined. And when he’s determined to do something, it gets done.
They’re lying on their backs making a couple of “snow angels” out of the soot of the fires. Sonic’s already made ten of them, and it looks like he’s going to try to make a snowman. Silver thinks about the first time he saw snow, a while back, amazed at how it stuck together. Sonic threw snowballs at him but eventually taught him all sorts of things a person could do in the snow- how to make a snowball, a snow angel, a snowman, a fort.
Silver doesn’t bother telling Sonic it won’t work. He doubts Sonic even cares. And telling Sonic it won’t work doesn’t usually stop him, either. Silver’s known Sonic long enough to know that his stubborn streak can be a double ended sword.
But the more Silver thinks about it, the more he realizes that despite all this time, he still doesn’t know a lot about Sonic. As soon as the fight’s over, Sonic likes to disappear, continuing his nomadic pace, following the west wind. Their only interactions often come from battlefields; and while fighting side by side with someone is certainly enlightening, it’s not quite the same as having picnics together or going to the movies. You learn about much, much different things in the heat of a battle, like how to fight together, how to become each other’s eyes and ears, how to time your attacks together just right, what a silent plea for help sounds like, how much blood it takes for your friend to go unconscious, what sort of a pain tolerance they have, what it looks like to watch them fight through that pain-
Silver closes his eyes, lying flat on the ground, no longer swinging his arms to make the snow angel. It does no good to think about that sort of stuff, when it’s all in the past, when there’s nothing more to be done with them.
No, he’s got to focus on the present (for once). He can try to mend his relationship with the current Sonic once he travels back in time again, he can talk to him more and actively seek him out. But right now, Sonic is still here beside him, and he might as well take advantage of it.
“Hey Sonic,” Silver calls. He cracks an eye back open and watches as Sonic goes sliding down a shoddily crafted ramp of debris into a giant pile of ash. Sonic disappears for a moment, completely submerged in the ash, before his head pokes up from under it. When Silver looks at ash, all he can think of is the inevitable demise of his people and planet, the inevitable ruins of society and his future. Sonic looks at it and uses it as a play thing.
Silver sits back up as Sonic manages to get out of the pile of ash. In less than a split second, Sonic reappears beside Silver, causing mini dust storms of ash to scatter on the wind. Silver waves a hand, blocking the ash from getting into his eyes, and Sonic offers him a sheepish grin in return.
“I was just thinking,” Silver began, watching as Sonic plopped down beside him. “You know, I don’t feel like I know you very well, even the older you. We never get to hang out much. So I was thinking, I’d like to change that.”
Sonic raised a brow, appearing curious, albeit hesitant.
“You wanna share some things about yourself?” Silver never said he was the best at social interactions. “The juicer the better!”
The last part was a tease. Sonic rolled his eyes and shook his head. Then, pensively, he pointed at Silver.
“What, you want me to share my secrets?”
Sonic’s eyes light up a little. Silver huffs.
“How about this? I’ll tell you a secret if you tell me one! I’ll even go first!”
Sonic tilts his head curiously. Silver almost immediately regrets this proposition; not because he has these huge, burdensome secrets he would never want to share- it’s actually quite the opposite. Silver doesn’t really have any interesting secrets. Sure, he’s a time traveler, but he’s also kind of boring.
Silver wracks his brain for a bit, placing an elbow on his knee and his chin on his fist. “Hm, I don’t have very many good secrets. Um- my name isn’t actually Silver.” Sonic cocks a brow. Silver bashfully rubs the back of his neck. “My names Venice, actually. It’s where my parents had their first kiss.”
Sonic cooed, though Silver could tell it was a little sarcastic. Silver crossed his arms and glances away. “What about you, huh? How’d you get the name Sonic?”
At this, Sonic appears contemplative. He wrings his hands a bit, and Silver watches him as he considers Silver’s question. Surely, asking about his name isn’t too personal, now…?
Sonic makes a couple of motions, expression hesitant. It’s been a handful of weeks now, and Sonic’s been trying to teach Silver as much sign language as he can. Silver can still only pick up on bits and pieces from Sonic’s sentences, but he feels like he’s come pretty far. He’s better at recognizing the signs than replicating it.
It’s a bit broken, since Silver can’t translate well, but Silver gets the gist when Sonic starts signing. “Eggman.”
“How’d he give you a name?”
“Alone. Island. Eggman…” Sonic freezes his hands in place, expression searching. “… friend. Name. Eggman… Not friend. Fight. A lot.”
Silver frowns, trying to understand. He gets the basics of the idea- Sonic lived alone on an island, Eggman found him and gave him a name, but ended up betraying him, and that’s how they began their never ending fight. Silver wishes he could learn more about this, but he doubts Sonic would want to tell him of all people about those early days of fighting Eggman. From the little Sonic’s expression, it seemed the betrayal was quite bitter; it might have been still recent, too, since it seems Sonic's only come across Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. There's still many long years ahead of him before he becomes the Sonic Silver knows.
“Is that why you can’t talk, too?” Silver asks, suddenly realizing something. In his years of travel, he’s come across feral children before; children who had been raised completely isolated from others. They didn’t have a grasp of language, speaking it or understanding it. If Sonic was alone on the island, then that means he probably was never spoken to, and never learned to talk. Huh. That makes sense, actually- Silver’s always thought Sonic had a weird accent and a weird way of talking in general, even compared to other people in his timeline.
Sonic nods, tentatively. He then narrows his eyes and points at Silver. Your turn.
Ugh, Silver doesn’t know any interesting facts about himself. “Hm… I learned about the time stones and time travel theory from books published by Tails. He grows into a very, very important scientist in just about every timeline I’m in.”
Sonic’s eyes light up at that. Tails was his little brother, of course he would be interested. Silver nods to himself, saying, “It’s because of him I figured out about Little Planet and could use the time stones. I still haven’t fixed the future yet, but I know I will. And I’ll give him a little credit for it- not too much, though.”
Sonic smiles at that, and begins to sign. “Age?”
It takes Silver a moment for the question to register. Silver grows a little uncomfortable, hesitating. “He lives a very long and fulfilling life.”
Sometimes, Silver becomes acutely aware that he fights side by side with people he’s seen in history books. In timelines where the future isn’t horrifically destroyed, where remnants of society lingers instead of washed away by purifying flames and saltwater hurricanes, Silver’s found biographies and textbook and ancient artifacts that document the lives of his peers. They’re shrouded in myth, often completely incorrect, and they often depict the children as older than they really are.
He had read Tails’s biography. He’s one of the few whose story doesn’t get shrouded between myth and fact. Tails was real, in the eyes of history, not elusive, not a being of great might who died young and recklessly. He lived a while, discovered a lot, and taught many.
The answer seemed to be enough for Sonic, who nodded contentedly. Tails was a lot younger than Sonic, so the Tails this Sonic knows is probably pretty young, at most five. They had plenty of time to spend together.
“How did you meet Tails, anyway?”
“West Side Island. Travel. Eggman. Invade.” Sonic hums, something scratchy. “Plane. Tails. Fix. Cool. Friend.”
Silver tries to decode the story. Chaos, he wishes he had more knowledge on sign language. “Eggman invaded West Side Island, where Tails is from, and you followed him but crashed, so Tails fixed your plane, and you befriended him?”
Sonic nodded and Silver silently cheered. He was getting better at this, he liked to think.
“Huh, so whose the last friend you’ve made before getting sent to the future? You obviously know Tails and Amy and Knuckles... who was the last person you met?”
He nods before he does a couple of signs that Silver doesn’t recognize. He pauses, noticing Silver’s blank expression, before he begins to finger spell. It’s a little tedious, but Silver begins to understand. “Knuckles,” he spells, before saying, “Last.”
“Knuckles is the last person you met?” Sonic shrugs, and clearly there’s more to the story, but Sonic doesn’t bother adding. He points to Silver.
“Oh, my turn? Um… hm, do you remember that purple cat?”
“Big?”
“Blaze, actually. The fire princess?”
“Yes.” He pauses, then smiles. “Pretty. Cool.”
“She totally is- she’s awesome. We first met at this amusement park Eggman made- it’s… a long story, don’t worry. Anyway, we met, but I can’t help but feel like I’ve met her before. I had dreams about her before, too, before we had ever even met.”
Sonic appears curious. Silver shrugs. “Just… us at the end of the world. Isn’t it weird, to have dreams of people you’ve never met? I don’t know, I don’t think it means anything. Maybe we just… crossed paths before, in another timeline. I don’t know how, though. Timelines are weird.”
Sonic firmly nods at that, and Silver laughs a little. He would know, after all- first with Amy, now with the mess that is the Time Eater and the Phantom Ruby. Whereas Silver actively seeks it out, Sonic just keeps accidentally stumbling into it.
“What’s it like, using the Chaos energy?” Silver’s always wondered this. He’s watched Shadow use it hundreds of times, Chaos controlling over and over. But Silver’s only ever seen Sonic use the power of the emeralds to turn ‘super’, to become this golden figure with ruby eyes and intense powers. He knows Shadow can do it, too, but he can’t help but wonder why it’s always Sonic that goes super and never Shadow.
Sonic ponders, mulling over his words. He lifts his hands before setting them back down. Silver can’t help but wonder if he’s ever been asked this before. Finally, he answers: “Home.”
“Home?”
Sonic nods, lifting his hands, before shrugging. He has more to say, Silver thinks, though even if they could communicate properly, he’s not sure Sonic would actually tell him. Sonic points at Silver and Silver frowns.
“I’ll be honest, kid, I don’t have anything else that’s interesting about me.” Silver shrugs, trying to do it loosely. “Can we just exchange some boring information?”
Sonic appears surprised at that. He tilts his head, a little confused.
“Like, what’s your favorite color? Flower? Time of day? Season? Food- ah, I know that one! Chili dogs, right?” Sonic nods enthusiastically. “I like apples, my favorite color is gold, I love cherry blossoms, the early morning is nice, and spring is beautiful. So what about you? Give me some more information!”
“Blue.” Sonic winks at that and Silver can’t find himself surprised. “Lilacs. Afternoon. Summer.”
Silver grins. “I can’t say I’m surprised by any of that.”
Sonic moves to stand up and offers Silver a hand. It’s not the first time Sonic’s done it (at least, for Silver; it is for Sonic) and he doubts it will be the last. Silver takes his hand this time, instead of slapping it away as he’s done before, and the kid pulls him up easily. Silver peers up at the sky and watches as clouds of smoke roll over them. There’s very little daylight in the apocalypse anyway, but when nightfall comes, it somehow manages to become pitch black.
“Yeah, let’s head back to the base. Race you there!” Silver shoots off with his telekinesis, leaving a shocked Sonic in the dust, though not for long.
(Suffice to say, Sonic beats him.)
-
Silver thinks a lot about the little things Sonic tells him. It kind of astounds him, honestly, how little he seems to know about him. Silver decides that the next time he goes back in time and the world isn’t in danger, he’ll force Sonic to hang out with him.
Three months take forever to pass, though as the days grow nearer and Little Planet slowly becomes more visible, Silver almost finds himself dreading the day he has to say goodbye. It was nice having a companion during the apocalypse, and Silver knows he won’t have one the next time the end of the world rears its ugly head (because Silver is naive, but he knows better than to expect the world to stay saved).
And he finally got to know and understand Sonic better. Sonic gave him the bits and pieces he dared to, to someone who was virtually a total stranger to him, and Silver… kind of cherishes everything he gave. He doesn’t know if Sonic will remember their time together, if this accidentally creates an entirely new timeline, but he kind of hopes he does. He kind of hopes this meant something to him, even if he’s itching to get back to his real friends.
Little Planet sinks further and further to the surface. Soon, Silver and Sonic make a little trek towards the planet, and soon, they find themselves in the midst of a charred planet. Silver can’t help but wonder what exactly caused the apocalypse this time, for it to have reached Little Planet.
They scour through the entire planet, searching for the magical gemstones Silver has relied on as the singular constant of the universe. Thankfully, the planet isn’t particularly large, and soon Sonic is whistling loudly to signify that he found them.
They’re circling around Sonic, not unlike the Chaos emeralds. He glances at Silver and gives him a cheerful smile and a bright wave. Silver gives him a quiet wave back.
“I’ll… miss you,” Silver admits, cautiously. It was kind of nice, to have a companion. He can’t help but wonder if this is what Sonic feels like with Tails.
Sonic gives him a quiet smile in return, something soft in his features. Silver almost wishes he had the courage to give him a better send off, to be a little softer, to tell him that he cares about him, but Silver doesn’t. Sonic’s always been good about picking up on non verbal cues, anyway, and Sonic lifts his hands, signing, “Adios, Silver the Hedgehog.”
“Sayonara, Sonic the Hedgehog,” Silver says, quietly, and Sonic gives him a two fingered salute. The gemstones grow brighter and brighter until a flash covers the entire world in a white veil, and Silver finds himself alone once more, stones dropped to the ground, an empty space in front of him.
Silver picks up two of the stones, watching as they shimmer in his hands. They don’t react to him as well as they do to Sonic, and he’ll admit, he’s a tad jealous. “Oh, so I find you in every single timeline, and this is how you treat me? Very inconsiderate, you know!”
Silver sighs. Speaking to inanimate objects isn’t a habit he wants to get back into. Instead, he clutches the stones tight in his fist and closes his eyes, letting the power bathe over him. He focuses on the year and date he wants to go to, he focuses on the time period he believes he’s needed in. He doesn’t know what this apocalypse was caused by, but if there was something Silver was, it was a little headstrong, brash even.
He lets the power wash over him before the world begins to shift.
-
“What’s with the sudden interest in me, huh? Not that I mind the attention, of course.”
Silver shrugged. “What? Can’t friends just hang out?”
“You got me there.” Sonic peers off the mountain they had climbed, watching as the sun settles high in the sky, reflecting off the still waters of Never Lake.
Silver appeared a couple of weeks after he had left, and wasn’t surprised to find that Sonic wasn’t helping with the Resistance. He would lend a hand when asked, of course, but Sonic wasn’t much to do something he found boring, and it turns out removing all of Eggman’s pollutants and machinery wasn’t high on his list of fun. But if a person was in need, he was happy to lend a hand, and continued to travel the world, searching for the next adventure.
Tails was able to help Silver find Sonic. After the war and Sonic’s disappearance, Tails still tried to respect Sonic’s need for distance, but demanded a few more “check ins” and a general estimation of where he was (Silver wouldn’t be surprised if he had installed a tracking device somewhere on Sonic, too). Silver had found Sonic here at Never Lake, rescuing a couple of animals from their Badnik shells.
“Man, I haven’t been back here in forever.”
“Since Amy?”
“A couple times after that, but not in a few years.”
Silver crushes the bit of hope. “It’s a pretty place. Even in my ruined future, it still somehow manages to remain picturesque.”
“It’s more than just pretty, though. There’s loads of fun things to do around here. All this terrain-“ Sonic waves a hand around the mountainous, rocky terrain- “makes for a pretty good game of catch me if you can.”
Silver’s eyes sparkle. “Is that a challenge?”
“Maybe it is.” Sonic glances off at the sunset before sending Silver a charming smile. “Catch me if you can, Venice!”
Sonic shoots off, landing on a boulder a few meters down before cannon balling in the air to hit another one even farther away. Silver stands there, processing the sentence Sonic shouted, before his telekinesis comes back to life and he bursts towards Sonic, who’s laughing loudly. “Hey, wait for me! Sonic!”