Red Rose, Black Thorns~ [Shadow]

[CrimsonHedgewolf]

Crimson tried to control her anger, but that anger was soon converted into sadness, despair... misery... all because of this damn hedgehog! No... because of herself... she slowly let herself fall to her knees, she let the red orbs fade as she just knelt there, gazing sadly into the abyss... her thoughts came back to her...

She was surprised and confused, but didn't show it as tears dripped onto the ground below her, she had never cried before, so this was new to her. What exactly was she? Who was she? She never thought that she was a Project, all she thought that there was something wrong with her... but she never expected it to be anything like this.

Project Crimson was an abomination, a failure... her emotions was to blame, they had made a creation with feelings, too many at that, but... thinking about it now, did they expect to create a heartless creature? Crimson had never felt such sadness, little did she know that it was going to get worst. She looked heartbroken as a memory flashed in her mind... that smile, Sophia's smile as she came skipping towards Crimson's experimentation capsule to let her out...

"Sophia... Justin... I'm... so sorry..." she murmured to herself, bowing her head in shame, when she thought about it... Crimson just couldn't believe it "they were... so young... and I... I..." she couldn't finish that sentence, she knew it was her fault, she knew what she was now... an abomination, a murderer...

"Shadow..." her voice sounded dead now, she was vulnerable, what she needed most was at least an ounce of reliability, comfort even, despite seeming too stubborn to accept "... would you feel... the pain and regret I feel... if you ever... hurt the ones who care about you, the ones... you love...?" saying that just hurt somewhere inside her chest, she placed her hand over it.

Now she knew why he was after her... because of all this, she hated to admit it, but he had every right to...

[nshansen]

While he watched her through the corner of the eye, the hedgehog noticed the hedgewolf fall to her knees. He was about to just continue walking, but then he saw her cry. The Ultimate Lifeform stopped in his tracks, but not turning around. He just kept watching her through the corner of his eye. He noticed that she said something, but he couldn't hear it.

The black wind turned around and just simply looked at her. He walked a little closer to the crying hedgewolf. Though, he still watched her with a cold stare. When she finished speaking to him, he walked a little closer. He had been there. Himself being alived hurt his good friend, Maria. If he wasn't there, Maria would've been able to escape.

"Shadow, I beg of you! Give them a chance to be happy!"

"Maria!"

It would his fault that she died. She could've been down here. She could've lived her full life instead of returning because of the Overlord. He walked over to Crimson, so that she was only a few feet away. He kneeled down as well to talk to her eye to eye. "I already have..." he told her.

[CrimsonHedgewolf]

Crimson sniffled slightly as she wiped under her now reddened eyes, her eyes narrowed at first as he got closer, she felt awkward acting like this around him. She then gasped silently as he spoke, she looked in his direction, though was unaware of how close he was, so she ended up looking at his eyes.

He had? Maybe... maybe that's why he let her go, maybe he understood in a way. "Just like... I lost Sophia and Justin, six and eight years old..." that only made it worst for her, her eyes began to tear up again, but she tried to not let them fall "...but... were you the one to actually take the life?" it was clear that Crimson looked ashamed, regretful... so miserable... this was not what she was expecting to happen today.

Looking back at Shadow, it was then she noticed something, despite his serious demeanor and cold voice, his eyes told a much different story, she looked at each eye for a while longer, making sure that she wasn't just seeing things...

It was clear... Shadow had been through something terrible, the eyes were always a good portal into the soul, what people feel most. "I guess that... we're different, but at the same time, so very alike..." she sighed, looking down at where his hand was. Dare she do it? She didn't have much to lose... except her own hand...

Silently, she stretched her arm forward and placed her gloved hand over his, she wasn't looking at him anymore, she just stared blankly at the ground, somewhat in a traumatized state. There was no stopping the tears right now.

[nshansen]

He nodded when she told him about Sophia and Justin. So they were the ones that were important to her. The ones that she killed. Then she began to cry more, asking him if he took Maria's life. He shook his head. No, he did not kill her. Though... "My existance did." And knowing the fact that him being alive killed Maria made it worse. The Ultimate Lifeform looked down at the ground, remembering Maria's last words before his best friend died.

He looked back at her and noticed that she was looking into his eyes. Then she spoke, telling him that they were different, yet very alike. Then, to his suprise, she placed her hand over his. He didn't get it. When she was actually holding his hand, she got pissed and hostile. He thought about pulling his hand away. But... The black hedgehog didn't.

There was no emotions showing or anything, he was just still. He didn't move. He simply just looked at the red hedgewolf. She had been through alot of pain... He felt guilty now that he realized that he brought it back to her mind.

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog."

He closed his eyes at the thought. But quickly opened them to forget it. He had gone a long way since then. He even attempted to forget his past... And it worked too, until... Damn the Overlord for bring back his memories and Maria... Well, he was glad Maria was back, though he was also pissed that Maria had brought his past back with her.

[CrimsonHedgewolf]

Crimson continued to stare blankly into the abyss, she couldn't stop thinking of Justin and Sophia, their words, their smiles... their lives... cut so short... she sighed again. She had nothing left now, no family, no friends... nobody...

Her gaze led to her hand that still remained over Shadow's, she stared at it for a long while until suddenly... she smiled, Crimson actually smiled. She was like a young child, learning of the world around her, she never had to the chance to experience or develope feelings, well, nothing other than anger, sadness was now new to her, not much was going on right now, nothing strong at least. But, Crimson felt something whilst being around this ebony hedgehog... a need? It had to be something...

Slowly, her hand slipped off of his as she looked up, trying to decipher her ownthoughts, her own needs, heh, she had never really thought of what she had ever wanted... she pretty much felt lost before today, something actually made her feel like everyone else, of course, she was still different, but she didn't want to be totally different. Ah ha, there was one thing that she wanted so far...

Wait... it wasn't something, it was someone...

Crimson took a deep breath as she looked over at Shadow, still smiling. What she did next would seem completely out of character for her, but she'd make sure it'd be just a one off. Silently, she wrapped her arms around Shadow in a hug, it was new to her, and it felt so weird, but it was a want.

"Shadow," she said softly yet a little seriously "thank you... this encounter today, I think it was needed..." the hug didn't last long, she pulled away as soon as she was done talking, she then stood up, dusting herself off before turning away. It would probably be best if she finally decided to make her leave, if he wanted her to stay, she'd consider it.

She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled lightly. She believed that she did have something now, she was sure that Shadow understood her, more than anyone else could. Just like Sophia and Justin before... but this time, she wouldn't destroy that.

[nshansen]

When she smiled, he knew that she wasn't sad anymore. Well, he thought, he didn't know what exactly was going through her mind. But, what was he supposed to do? Smile back? Happiness was a emotion that he barely ever had. And he wasn't feeling it. But he managed to get a smirk.

When her hand slipped off his, he stood up, knowing that she was okay. Was it right to leave? It wasn't that he wanted to go, or wanted to stay, but he knew it wasn't a good decision to stay there. G.U.N. would get suspicious and come there to look for him or foot prints of the "enemy". And if they did, they would see the Ultimate Lifeform talki- Hugging? It happened too fast, he couldn't stop it. But, he wasn't going to be rude and tell her to get off.

It felt weird though, to be hugged. Again, he wasn't used to this stuff. Thankfully it didn't last long. And when she spoke to him, he didn't know how to respond to that. But when she pulled away, he made sure that she saw him nod.

When she turned around, he knew it was time to leave. He turned around as well, and saw her smile through the corner of his eye. He returned a smirk, and then turning his attention to what was infront of him. Shadow the Hedgehog then decided to walk.

(So what next? Should we leave it there?)