Chapter Text
It had been early in the morning when an alarm had gone off at Restoration HQ. Silver had been called out to deal with the threat while Sonic and company were away with bigger stakes to deal with. The psychic had made quick work of the first round
of Eggpawns, but found himself slowly becoming overpowered as the second wave fell from the sky. That was, however, until a rain of pulsating spears of light crashed their party. Silver let out a yelp as a chaos spear skewered the bot in front of him, and he looked over to find a familiar face currently clocking another Eggpawn into scrap. Shadow landed next to the white hedgehog, covering the other’s back from another attack. The pair easily took out the remainder of Eggman’s forces before his fleet retreated. The younger male let out a sigh of relief and turned to his companion.
“Thanks for the save, Shadow!” Silver said with a smile, floating over the ebony hedgehog, “How did you know there was a battle out here?”
“Omega picked up a distress beacon not far from this location,” Shadow explained as he fixed his cuffs, “I saw smoke from the village and ended up here. Are you all by yourself?”
“Yep!” He landed next to him; his light blue hue disappearing as soon as it came, “You didn’t miss much though.”
The wind blew through the surrounding pines causing the prickled needles to sway in nature’s breath. It was cool to the touch, and it had a bite worse than it had earlier in the day. Silver shivered, arms wrapping around his torso as his long quills whipped past his body. Shadow held his hand up to block the harsh wind from his eyes; his own much shorter quills flailing about. Honey eyes squeezed closed as another gust battered his poor standing bangs, and when he opened them, the world was weeping ash. His small ears perked, and a sense of panic washed over him as cold as the weather was turning.
Small speckles fell from the thick layers of nimbostratus clouds above; the sun now hidden by their curtain. The more that descended from the heavens only made the white hedgehog’s stomach twist harder. Had he been too late? Had it been Eggman’s retreat that doomed this timeline?! It was Shadow that hauled his thoughts.
“Looks like it’s snowing earlier than normal.” Ruby eyes watched the snowflakes flutter to the ground with a peaceful quiet, and Silver approached with curiosity.
“Snow?” Silver asked between chattering teeth, “What is that?”
“Ah, I forgot,” the Ultimate Lifeform raised up a hand, and the other watched as the tiny flakes touched the fabric and faded away, “It’s what happens when winter approaches. The rain freezes before it hits the ground, and turns into snowflakes.”
The psychic stared as the information sunk in, and for a moment he forgot about the cold that nipped at his tail. He took a few steps forward with his hand outstretched to touch his own snowflakes. This world was so wonderful, snow falling onto his matching quills as he watched the bits of frozen liquid melt upon his touch. It felt damp on his glove, and Silver pondered for a moment if the tiny things had feelings too. The air danced with so many, and the undisturbed light that peeked through the oppressive clouds made them sparkle.
His next step was more slanted than the previous and before he could voice his confusion everything faltered. His voice died in his throat and those bright eyes dulled with haze. Shadow’s head tilted for a brief second as he took note of the abrupt quiet, and a moment later he was racing forward with his rockets at full blast. The flames scorched the small accumulation that had gathered in the short time frame it snowed, and he barely caught the falling hedgehog. He skidded to a stop, careful to cradle the thick head of quills that bobbed against his shoulder. His gaze scanned over Silver for any sign of injury, but found no blood nor bruises. It was almost like he lost consciousness out of nowhere. A worry laced at the dead weight that now sat in his grasp, and he spent no time chaos controlling them out of the cold field.
Rouge, on the other hand, had not been expecting to be startled by a bright flash of light in the middle of their living room. It was her off day, and was desperately trying to enjoy her few hours of quiet time with a little bit of self care. She’d gone out of her way to get some nice face masks and even do her nails, but that would now have to wait because one of her boys was having a freak fest in front of her. The bat put her hand up to stop Shadow’s panic, and he cocked his head at the state she was in.
“Why do you have yogurt on your face?” He asked, hand still under the cadaver’s head, as to support it. She sighed and shook her head, reaching for a towel to wipe off her face.
“It doesn't matter,” she sighed, using the damp cloth to clean off her previous relaxation time, “What happened? I thought you were on that distress call with Omega? He got back a while ago, but you weren’t with him… Is that future boy?”
“He was there during the raid,” Shadow explained as he rested Silver on the empty part of their large L-shaped couch, “We defeated the doctor’s squadron, and after they retreated it started to snow. A few minutes later he collapsed out of nowhere. I couldn’t find any major injuries that could make him lose consciousness, and I’m at a loss. Could it be that he overworked his powers?”
Rouge looked over the white hedgehog with a puzzling expression, trained eyes taking in his mostly untouched state. His head looked fine, nothing wrong with his chest or stomach, and there was barely even a scratch on him. She listened to his breathing, and a twitch of her ear confirmed her theory.
“You said it started snowing, right?” She asked, and received a firm nod, “If I’m right, it sounds like he abruptly went into hibernation.”
“Hibernation?” Shadow nested himself on the couch armrest next to Silver’s head, watching the gentle rise and fall of his breathing.
“Right, I kinda forget it's not something you do,” She leaned back against the backrest, stretching her legs out to get comfy again, “Mobian hedgehogs go into a deep sleep for awhile during the colder months, usually between one to two weeks. I’m guessing that his body got its first touch of a cold climate and shut down. I mean, if I remember right he grew up in a hellscape, so he’s probably never gone into hibernation before. His body was definitely overdue for one, hence this.” She referred to the comatose state of their unwanted guest.
It made sense to the hybrid, many of the things she mentioned aligned with the basics he’d learned back on the ARK about colder climates. He personally had never gone through the slumber, but he did notice less species out during the beginning of the season. Silver had only been in their time since last spring, so he’d missed the last winter snow, and that lined up with everything else. The psychic was in the past now, and with proper food and shelter his body had finally felt safe enough to let itself rest. It was now that the housemates wished that a certain lilac princess was here to take care of her younger brother, but she was stuck in the Sol dimension with no real way to contact.
“Do you know where he’s currently staying?” Shadow asked as he glanced at the TV, a novella rerun playing quietly in the distance. He let out a sigh as she shook her head; how did she know everything about everyone except this one person?
“Well,” Her voice gained an ounce of mischief he didn’t much like, “either you have to take responsibility for him…..Or you could call a certain someone~”
“We are not calling that blue nuisance,” A growl rumbled in his throat at the mere mention of that faker, “If all he is going to do is sleep…then It shouldn’t be a problem.”
Rouge let out an amused hum as she watched her brooding roommate scoop up the corpse from their cushions and head down the hallway to his room. A mild clunk echoed from the passageway as the metal of Shadow’s shoes made contact with the wooden door. The room itself wasn’t anything fancy, nothing more than basic grey amenities bathed in the darkness of closed curtains. He didn’t much bother with the lights as his enhanced vision made up for the lack of lamp light. The addition of pressure to the heel of his air shoes released its latches and he was able to carefully slide each one off next to the door.
The entire time Silver had been peacefully curled up against his chest in his arms, barely more than a peep out of him. The ebony hedgehog shifted the weight of the smaller body into one hand while skillfully pulling the covers back with the other. Even with his increased strength he could feel just how light Silver was, with all those quills to no less. It wasn’t like malnutritionment was good for a growing child after all.
Shadow laid the sleeping guest in his bed before covering him with a set of black sheets and a matching comforter. It was an odd sight, seeing someone in his bed. He used to never really use the thing, but years of living with Rouge had changed his outlook on sleep. She said it was to help with his ‘caffeine addiction’, but he personally thought it was just so she didn’t have to fight over the living room after midnight. If he was honest; he wasn’t completely sure what to do now. All he did know was that Silver was down for the count, and he was going to be staying here for the time being. It would be fine, as Shadow would just sleep on their expansive couch. He’d slept on the thing so many nights before; how bad could a week be?