Aaaand here's a part 5. I'm having way too much fun with this. I can see the future where Shadow and Eclipse are brothers! It's super interesting to me! And little Silver! I adore the little guy!! He's such a cutie as a kid! And that cuteness will persist even as he gets older. :D
I'm absolutely developing some LORE for this stuff so it's not aaaall fluff and roses. But it's still just gonna be brief snippets of their time together. :3 This is so much fuuuuun~.
Sonic universe setting: Movie universe
Background: Black arms invasion happened and Eclipse was included as a vanguard. Black arms were defeated but Eclipse was spared. He changed his form to look like a hedgehog and stays with Shadow as a hedgehog rather than a Darkling.
Time period: About 200 years after canon. (Around three months after Shadow and Eclipse took Silver under their wing)
Part 1, Part 4, Part 6
Shadow had a headache and it was entirely Eclipse's fault... This was the reason he doesn't stay with Eclipse for too long. These months are the longest they've stuck together in over two decades and Shadow felt ready for their 'quality time' to be over.
Not only was his brother prone to destroy the things he touched, but he was utterly unhelpful in information gathering. He was dismissive of Shadow's goal and only helped when there was a trail of chaos energy to follow or goons to fight. He'd killed when Shadow had told him not to, with Eclipse's excuse being that they were completely alone and annoyed him. Silver adored Eclipse for reasons Shadow couldn't understand, because that stupid hedgehog had left Silver unattended three times! Nothing had happened, but Shadow could not handle seeing Silver on his own where he could be a clear target for being taken by those they were hunting for.
Eclipse's senses for Chaos energy was useful for his search to weed out the rest of these traffickers. But now that the, what he assumes to be, main base has been taken care of he'd rather just take care of the stragglers on his own. The problem was Silver...
"I-I don't wanna choose!" Silvers eyes were filled with tears as he looked at Shadow while holding onto Eclipse's hand in a tight grip. "I wanna stay with both!"
"It's how we've always travelled. We travel alone and only come back together when we need to." Shadow said with an worried frown. If Silver got any more upset, there was a risk that the inhibitor rings couldn't hold his powers back... Shadow needed to find a way to calm Silver down.
"But you said you'd keep me..." Silver held tighter onto Eclipse, something that just made the other hedgehog look amused. But when Silver let out a low and long whine, Eclipse started to frown too.
"And we are keeping you, even if we're travelling separately." Shadow was quick to add before Eclipse started to say something insensitive. "We just... aren't used to travelling together. And it's time for me and Eclipse to go on our own paths. Because we want to do different things."
Silver sniffed and let out a whimper. A sound that made Eclipse bend down to pick Silver up by the fluff surrounding his neck, holding the hedgehog child in front of him.
"Those creatures won't go after you any more. You're ours, completely, and that contract they had is gone. And we'll still get together because neither me or Shadow want to give you up, little thing."
Hearing this made Shadow's ears perk up. Contract...? Shadow hadn't seen or heard of any contract.
"So you don't decide who you'll travel with. You're deciding what to learn first!" Eclipse's eyes burned with determination as he made Silver look towards Shadow. "With Shadow, you'll learn how to treat and watch over other mortals. How to make others feel happy and safe. How to gather money. Stuff like that."
The little hedgehog let out another soft sniff as he looked at Shadow. Still clearly upset by the thought of their group splitting in two. Eclipse turned Silver around to look towards himself.
"With ME, you'll learn how to sense chaos energy in a way no mortal can do. You'll learn how to read, defend yourself and how to take everything you want to have. You're ours. So stop CRYING and think about it. What do you want to learn first? You'll have 2 days until we reach my ship. Decide before then, little thing."
"B-But I don't want to-."
"Some things you can't have no matter how much you beg and whine for it." Eclipse cut Silver off. Surprisingly soft for being him. Shadow just watched this interaction in interest. He didn't think Eclipse had learned or even cared to interact with someone else this way.
Eclipse set Silver back to the ground with a huff. He then noticed Shadow's stare and frowned at him in return. "What?"
"Nothing. Just didn't expect to ever see you be... softer towards someone." Shadow gestured towards Silver. Where the little hedgehog had shifted to hug Eclipse's leg.
Eclipse's quills flared out as he hissed towards Shadow in a show of anger. "Just because I like to destroy things doesn't mean I can't take care of little things."
This made Shadow frown and tilt his head slightly to the side. "You have taken care of children before...?"
"Not MORTAL or weak children." Eclipse huffed as he looked away and absent-mindedly placed a hand on Silver's head. "The little thing just feels... familiar. That's all."
Weak children could be those not housing chaos energy. But mortal children...? Shadow was still trying to puzzle this out when Eclipse picked up Silver so they could continue walking. They could reach Eclipse's ship faster if they ran, but Eclipse now seemed determined to give Silver time to think over who to choose.
It was after dinner, when Silver was asleep, that Shadow came up with the answer. When Eclipse looked at Silver in a way that could almost be described as soft, only for his expression to briefly twist with pain as he looked away. So when Eclipse sat by the fire opposite to him, Shadow opened their mind connection.
"Those small creatures... Back when you were first hatched? Does Silver remind you of them?"
Eclipse twitched and looked away, willingly showing Shadow glimpses of those small creatures. 4 of them that he had named. All 4 who had died in his hands...
"The Little thing's chaos energy feels... different from other mortals. More integrated into its genetic makeup. More similar to us. And to them... I've saved other small creatures too. Just... if they had been similar. The smaller ones are easier..." Eclipse also, surprisingly, showed shadow other small children. Multiple scenes where he had saved children from being killed, only to roughly shove them away once the danger was over.
Shadow was quiet as he let these memories wash over him... and offered a few in return. Some of those Shadow had raised, those who were chaos users. Eclipse made a face of disgust as he closed their connection.
"Only having chaos energy doesn't mean I'd care."
"If you found someone else who felt similar to Silver. One that was an adult of their species. Would you be interested in helping them as well?" Shadow crossed his arms as he tried to figure out this new piece of information. 200 years... and this was a part of Eclipse that Shadow had never even considered existed.
"No. If anything, I'd kill them for irritating me with their presence." Eclipse scoffed and leaned back while casting a glance towards Silvers sleeping form. Huddled up in a blanket, peaceful... "It's... the potential for growth. I never got to see them grow."
The two were quiet for a while, a rare moment of camaraderie between them. They both let themselves be absorbed by the memories of the past, what they had gained and what they had lost. 200 years is a long time... And Shadow was certain that he would've forgotten a lot over his lifetime if he did not have Eclipse as a constant presence and reminder of it.
It's also what made this eternal existence that they shared painful...
"I created them. My little creatures..." Eclipse admitted in a soft voice, his gaze now focused on the fire between them. "I genetically modified them and hatched them with my own two hands... worked relentlessly to make sure they would be healthy... I've perfected it. I could make someone immortal if I wanted to, under the right conditions."
Shadow tensed up as Eclipse stared at him. As if he was asking for permission, as if their dynamic had gone back to servant and master rather than equals.
"Once the little thing get of age... we could have a third."
"No." Shadow was quick to shoot it down with an angry hiss. "You will not do that to him. Mortal minds aren't made to live forever. You and I are having trouble enough as it is."
Eclipse looked down at the flames again, his shoulders slumping slightly with his nod. "Understood..."
Shadow glanced between Eclipse and Silver, hesitating. "You... You have gotten this attached in such a short amount of time...? It's unlike you."
Eclipse's mouth twitched into a small smile. "It is. I hate it... But it feels so familiar that I just-... can't help it... the little thing is mine. I won't allow anyone who wants to hurt him stay alive..."
"Is that why you killed?" Shadow's eyes narrowed slightly as he started to put the pieces together.
"I did the same for you." Eclipse met his gaze again with his smile widening into a grin. "You're mine too. Any contract, any hit I heard of, I dealt with first. I dealt with a lot before they got to you."
"Stalker." Shadow scoffed. He'd suspected that, with how often he felt Eclipse close by when Shadow had done something especially risky. He was still attacked, sure, but less than what should be logical considering the circumstances.
"I protect what's mine. And it's effective." Eclipse shrugged. "One of the ones targeting the little thing had chaos energy. It became a good snack."
"Spare me the details of your eating habits." Shadow said with a groan and rubbed at his forehead. "If Silver chooses you, don't eat anyone at all. He isn't old enough to handle death, much less in your way."
"If he chooses you, don't let him get scared of his chaos energy. I didn't work so hard just for my effort to be wasted." Eclipse glanced between Shadow and Silver as he said this. "Just... tell me when you're ready to see me again. For the little thing's sake."
"For Silver's sake." Shadow agreed with a nod. "Take your rest first. I'll stay up."
Eclipse didn't protest and was about to go to his own section of the clearing to sleep. But then paused and looked at Silver for a few seconds. And Shadow watched as Eclipse let out a sigh and walked over towards Silver. He aimed a glare towards Shadow as if daring him to say anything before he laid down next to the little hedgehog to sleep.
After about an hour, he saw that Silver had shifted in his sleep to hold onto Eclipse's arm.
Shadow wasn't sure what to think about this... That Eclipse had experimented wiith and perfected creating immortal beings behind Shadow's back. How many were there? Where were they? And how exactly were they immortal? Since Shadow hadn't heard anyone in his mind, they weren't part of the hive mind. So it was possibly a partial mutation Eclipse had focused on...
And the fact that both Eclipse and Silver were so attached to each other. Was that a bad or a good thing? Shadow never imagined that Eclipse could care for children, much less someone as bright and curios like Silver. He was attached to the hedgehog because Silvers energy felt similar to the creatures in his far off past. All because he had created them himself and never got to see them grow...
Shadow lightly poked life into the fire as he stared into the flames. He decided to dismiss Eclipse's experiments for now, his brother's morality was grey at best but he rarely resorted to torture... From what he's heard at least. But the two of them would always be haunted in different ways. Eclipse by the little creatures he'd cared for and died in his arms... Shadow by Maria and Sonic who helped him love being alive...
It made Shadow wonder if taking in Silver, if letting this child be something else that bound them together, was a wise choice. If it would make them too attached and fall apart when they lost Silver... like they both did when they lost their father. That had been messy for both of them... Shadow let out a heavy sigh at the thought. That was for the future. Now, he should focus on the present. And the present meant taking care of these traffickers... and ensuring Silver could have a fulfilling life together with them, no matter which he chose to travel with first.