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Chapter Text

“We can fly with our spirit.” 

- Kiki, Kiki's Delivery Service

Stone's never had much in life.
Be an orphan and that'll just happen to you, he's always been focused on surviving, and after that he's always been too busy for much else.

He's 32 now, doesn't have many friends and works long hours in an office. He never really wanted to work in an office, but it's just something stable enough to keep a small apartment that he's never gotten around to decorating. He'll tell himself he'll do it tomorrow, and after tomorrow it's always his next free day, then it's something he'll get to in the weekend and that's been going on for years.

Initially, the job was supposed to be temporary. Something to give him time to figure out what to do after flunking out of college. 21 year-old Stone had a lot more optimism than Stone now.

Stone now, was struggling with his apartment keys. The damn door had been jamming for two years now and the landlord had boarded up his letterbox after the first six months of his complaints. Throwing his entire weight against the door, Stone finally managed to cram himself through. Letting out a sigh he turned back to grab his bag of groceries. When he pulled them through the door the bag got stuck on the side and before Stone knew it, it ripped.

With groceries strewn across his apartment and the hallway Stone just let out a long suffering sigh. Kicking the door shut he left the hallway alone, not even bothering to lock the stuck door and abandoning his groceries for tomorrow-Stone to solve.

Picking up what had fallen into his apartment, he stowed it all away in his cupboards and mini fridge. Looking through his small kitchen his eyes stuck to the yellowing wall tiles, he noted to himself to either replace or repaint them over the weekend. There wasn't much else, a coffee machine on the mini-fridge surrounded by trash, a full trashcan next to the fridge and a few cupboards.

It wasn't a lot but it was his, Stone thought as he spread his arms out as far as he could and fell backwards. The old springs of his mattress creaked as he deposited himself onto his bed. The apartment was really cramped, other than the kitchen it just had his bed - a generous description for his mattress on the floor - a tiny bathroom and a closet for clothes.

Not a lot, but his.
Work had been exhausting. Without even bothering to put on pyjamas, Stone closed his eyes and went to sleep; he had the same day ahead of him tomorrow.

He woke up when the door slammed into his mattress.
It was dark out, the window above his head cast an orange glow over the ceiling as Stone groaned. Cold air seeped into the room and in his half-awake state all that Stone did was hide under the covers.
Whatever slammed open the door didn't do anything for the next 15 seconds. At that point Stone began to think he'd imagined it, but that thought was quickly cut down when the person stepped inside and loudly slammed the door shut.
Now Stone felt very awake.

Under the covers, he froze. Has someone broken in to rob him? To pilfer his coat closet and kitchen room? Stone wished them luck with finding anything and that they would please not stab him in the process. Careful not to make any suspicious movements Stone stealthily peeked from under the covers. Red eyes stared back at him.

Red eyes placed in a body covered in black quills - with really nice red highlights, Stone thought briefly.
The two stared at each other in silence. Stone hiding under his covers still wearing his suit, the hedgehog looming over his bed, looking down on him.

He looked a little menacing like this, or maybe it was sometime after midnight and Stone got hit in the head at some point.
The dark hedgehog's gaze turned to a glare and nope, this little guy was menacing, Stone had not been hit in the head unfortunately.

"Soooooo…" Stone began hesitantly, not sure if he should move to sit up slowly or pretend he hadn't been spotted. Third option, he's freezing.

"If you're here to rob me then good luck." The hedgehog was struck by a look of bewilderment, "I'm already inside your house?"
"Good luck finding anything worth stealing." Stone clarified, deciding in that moment that yeah, freezing up is not his forté and tucks himself back into his bedding comfortably to the stunned hedgehogs disbelief.

It turns out the hedgehog was not here to rob him.
After staring at him for, Gaia knows how long, the dark hedgehog nudges Stone's body with his shoe. Stone ignores him at first, really determined to go back to sleep and just hope the hedgehog leaves on his own, but the nudging gets more persistent as Stone 'slept' on.

After a while, the hedgehog grows agitated and the nudging stops.

Stone smirks to himself in victory, finally he can go back to sleep. He's dozing off until a kick to his ribs shocks him wide open. Hitting the wall, Stone coughs, hands grasping his ribs as he blearily looks up at the dark hedgehog.

The mobian looks down at him with derision, "tch," he nearly sneers, eyes roaming over Stone's form as if he's looking for something in particular. "I can't believe you call yourself a witch."

Confusion strikes Stone almost as hard as the leg had. Looking up at the hedgehog confused he just freezes all over again. The hedgehog in turn goes from derision to confusion at the sight of his confusion.
"I'm not a witch." Stone coughs out.

A moment passes as the dark hedgehog processes what Stone just said.
"No, you are." The mobian retorts. Stone, still confused, shakes his head.

"No?"

"I'm fairly sure I'm not." Stone repeats.

The hedgehog blanks at him, "well," eyes roaming over Stone's still crumpled-against-the-wall form as if he's seeing something that's not there, "you are."

Stone just sighs, pushing himself off from the wall as he stands up and steps into the kitchen. He needed a cup of coffee.

The hedgehog - Shadow, as he'd introduced himself - looked around from his perched seat atop the counter, all of a sudden Stone felt a little self-conscious about the state of his apartment. It wasn't often that he'd get visitors and especially not ones out of the blue like this, but he guessed that maybe he should put a little more effort in tidying the cramped space.

The coffee maker he had was one that brewed an entire pot of coffee, it'd wreak havoc on his sleep later - if he was going to get any more sleep tonight - but Stone set up the machine to brew a whole pot anyway. He had a feeling he was going to need it.

While waiting for the coffee, Stone turned around to face Shadow again. The hedgehog was staring at him intently, as if drilling a hole into his skull. The two remained in silence, the only noise filling the apartment was that of the coffee machine, every time that Stone built up the nerve to say something, anything, one look from Shadow made all of that disappear.
The coffee machine beeped.

Without breaking eye contact, Stone grabbed his coffee mug out of the sink and filled it with new coffee. Taking a sip, Shadow's stare turned into a stare of judgement. Nothing about the hedgehog's face or stance changed in any way but Stone felt it in his bones. Sipping coffee, Shadow was judging him.

"…So," he finally started after another tense moment, "what's this about me being a witch?" Shadow eyes raked over Stone, up and down, very obviously judging him now. Stone just waited for him to respond.

"You…" Shadow began, pausing to reach for words, "radiate magic." He finished.

Stone looked at him astounded. He? Him radiating magic? He barely radiated 'being alive' on a good day, plus he and everyone else knew what witches looked like. He thought back to the last time he'd seen himself in a mirror, that would've been two days ago now.
Black hair, brown eyes, eye bags.
His skin wasn't sagging off his bones enough to be a bad witch and Stone certainly wasn't beautiful enough to be a good witch.

"Right…" Stone began after a while, "and how do you know this?" It was his turn to look Shadow up and down, the hedgehog didn't look like he'd hit his head, but maybe the loopy behaviour and eye problems emblematic of a concussion was a human thing.

"I'm your familiar." Shadow stated.

Stone's mind blanked. "My familiar…"

'Oh god,' Stone thought, 'he's mad.' Shadow looked at him like he wasn't mad, fully expected to be believed. Stone looked at him. Shadow looked at stone. Shadow's face scrunched, "you don't believe me, do you?"
Stone just shook his head no.

Shadow let out an irritated sigh, pushing himself off the counter he moved to the cabinet beneath, Stone just watching as he did.

Crouching down, Shadow opened the cabinet and crawled through, letting the door fall shut behind him. Perplexed Stone watched him go before realising that maybe he shouldn't let concussed hedgehogs crawl through his cupboard. Shooting after him, Stone threw the cabinet door open but all he was met with was cobwebs, no Shadow.

Suddenly, something hit Stone in the back of his head. Looking down he saw he'd been targeted by a coffee pad. One of the round, flat, white ones he keeps around for his coffee machine. Looking up he saw where it had come from.
Shadow sat opposite him, another coffee pad in hand and studying it with interest, yet still ready to throw. He sat in the upper cabinet, one leg dangling out as if he'd crawled up there instead of the cabinet Stone was crouched before.

"Wha- how?!" Stone shot after Shadow, the dark hedgehog threw himself backwards pulling the door closed behind him. Stone threw the door open, this time he was met with crumbs and a box of crackers. Another coffee pad hit him in the side of his head, Stone turned to Shadow sticking out of his mini-fridge. How? He didn't even fit there??

Stone shot after Shadow again, Shadow would disappear, reappear and snipe him with a coffee pad. It became a game of cat and mouse and Stone wasn't sure whether he was the cat or the mouse.

After a while, Stone gave up. Exhausted and drenched with sweat, he dropped himself to the floor. Leaning back against a cabinet he saw Shadow push the cabinet opposite of him open and walk out.

"Do you believe me now?" Shadow crossed his arms, He'd just crawled through every single cabinet in Stone's apartment and even his fridge without walking to and from, like he'd been teleporting right before Stone's eyes.
Stone was still gasping for air but yeah, he believed Shadow.

Nodding yes, Shadows face grew smug, "great."

"You know-" Stone took another moment to catch his breath, Shadow patiently waited opposite of him twirling a pad of coffee between his fingers. "This makes no sense."
Shadow being a familiar? Sure that checks out with how he just did magic all throughout Stone's kitchen. Shadow being his familiar and him being a witch however? That did not make any sense.
Witches usually knew they were witches, everybody knew that they'd leave home at a young age to venture into the wide world to find a place to settle for themselves. Practising the magic they were taught while also researching more themselves. It was generally considered good luck having a witch in your village or town, with either of those being a preference for young witches to settle, but even just having a witch in your woods was seen as a positive. Even with bad witches out there, everyone would rather have a good witch around than none.
If Stone was a witch, then how did he never know until now? Wouldn't there have been signs of magic, even when he was a child? A million questions slugged through Stone's mind as fast as he could think. Looking at Shadow, the hedgehog provided no answers. Even worse, he wasn't even paying attention to Stone's mental freak-out.

Shadow had started biting the coffee pad as if it was a cookie. Stone wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, this whole situation was absurd. He's sitting on his dirty kitchen floor sometime after midnight, having been woken up by a strange hedgehog who had broken into his house, introduced himself as Shadow, telling him he's a witch and that he is his familiar.

Most witches left the house at 13, Stone was 32.

Stone was also certain that he'd never done magic or that his parents had been in any way magical. "Are you sure, that I'm…" Stone looked for the words, maybe he was going crazy? What with all the sleep deprivation he'd racked up over the years it was about time that he'd started to get vivid hallucinations. "your witch?"

Shadow chewed on. Taking another bite from the coffee pad, he gave Stone another look over. Nodding, he swallowed for a moment and then spoke: "Yeah, pretty sure." and that was it.

That was it?
"Really? I feel like I would know if I was a witch."

"Well you are a witch." Shadow said resolutely. "I mean you are a little old to be starting out, but… sorry what was your name again?" Shadow took another bite as he waited for Stone to respond.

"It's Stone." Stone said, unsurprised and not impressed that his name had been forgone until now.

"Right, Stone." Shadow continued, "I'm assuming you haven't gone on your voyage yet?" Is that what they called the coming-of-age thing that young witches did? Stone just nodded yes, he definitely didn't leave the orphanage at thirteen.
"Right, you haven't." Shadow took the last bite of his coffee snack, face a little scrunched as if he was unsure about something. "How old are you?"

Rude, "32."

Shadow's face scrunched a little more. "Right…" Stone was getting sick of this.

"Look, are you actually sure that I'm a witch?" Stone questioned with all the energy of a rock. "If I were your witch, then wouldn't I be able to do magic?"

"Have you tried?" Shadow asked, and the answer to that was 'well, no.' but how hard would it be to even give off a sign of magic? Magic children must be very hard to raise, what with the telekinesis and spells that would randomly fire off. Stone didn't even know how to go about casting a spell, but he'd certainly yelled out an abracadabra or two with the other children at the orphanage when he was that age. "…no." He still answered truthfully.

"Ok, well try." Shadow stated.

Just like that? Stone looked at Shadow confused, "just like that?"

"Well it would be easier if you had a broom." He answered.

What spell requires a broom? Stone just looked as Shadow started looking through his apartment for what he believed to be a broom. Turning every cupboard inside out and even diving into his closet for a good ten minutes, the hedgehog returned with a bewildered expression.

"You don't have a broom."
Stone didn't have the guts to answer other than a head shake, no.
"What the fuck."

Stone held up a finger Shadow, he didn't have a broom but something else jumped to mind. Leaping up from his spot, he walked over to one particular cabinet. Shadow had skimmed over this one since it wasn't exactly big enough for a broom. The hedgehog half expected him to come back with a dustpan but the 32-year old man pulled out a sleek black object from behind the small door.

Shadow looked at him confused. Looking at Stone and back to what he was holding in his hands, Stone looked at him expectantly.

"What is that?" Shadow asked eventually.

"This, Shadow," Stone said proudly, "is a roomba."

"What is a roomba?" Shadow asked, utterly confused.

"This is a roomba." Stone deadpanned.

"…what does it do?" Shadow asked, still utterly confused. Had this guy never seen a roomba before?
"It sweeps your floor." Stone just answered.
"Oooooooh," Shadow said, a little more impressed. "Yeah that should work then."

Stone was a little confused on what the connection was between a thing used to sweep floors and casting spells, but if Shadow said that it was fine then surely it was, right?

"Alright," Stone said, he straightened up a little as a bit of determination trickled into him. He gave the roomba in his hands another look over, he'd won it in a gift lottery at his workplaces Christmas party a few years back, but he hadn't really used it at all since then so the roomba was still as shiny as the day he'd unpacked it and threw it under his sink. "What do I do with this?" He looked from the roomba to Shadow.

"Well," Shadow motioned, "you get on it."

A little more confused, Stone thought to ask: "what kind of spell am I casting with this?"

"You're not casting a spell," Stone felt very confused, "you're flying with it." Shadow finished.

"Oh, oh." the realisation struck Stone. Well if he was flying with it then he knew the perfect place to start out.

Stone peered out over the lake, regret creeping up on him as he did. Shadow stood next to him waiting for him to move or say anything.
Call him an idiot, he certainly felt more and more like an idiot the longer he stood there.

Holding the roomba in his hands he looked out over the lake, it was surprisingly big for it to be in the city, but not at all close to where he lived. He'd dragged Shadow through the city for an hour at two in the morning - which was less than pleasant - to get here.

Stone digresses.
Looking down at the roomba, he goes right back to stalling, Shadow can wait another hour.
What was he thinking? He knows he's not a witch, no matter what Shadow says. Witches are great people, maybe not always good but they're… so much more than Stone is.
Witches live in magical houses, cast spells greater than anything Stone could achieve and people always sought them out, a witch was never truly alone. Stone was nothing like that.

But, what if?
Gripping the roomba in his hands, Stone gazed out over the lake. He stepped back, took another as Shadow noticed he'd moved. He opened his mouth to say something but fell silent as he saw Stone's expression.

Stone gripped the roomba as tight as he could, he took a breath - the air was cold, the only lighting cast over the lake was the pale moonlight and the distant city lights and Stone briefly thought he could taste cinnamon in the air.

Stone - for once in his life - took a running leap.

The roomba wasn't exactly big enough to comfortably stand on, he wasn't sure why Shadow had agreed that it would work as a broom replacement, but Stone decided to have a little faith in the dark hedgehog. Holding the roomba under his arms, Stone held onto one side for dear life and leapt.

Stone skidded over the water surface. His lower front was instantly soaked and Stone's stomach dropped. Choking on shock, Stone mentally screamed at himself. How could he be so stupid? Nothing good ever comes from strange hedgehogs that break into your apartment-

Stone paused.
Wait.
He'd skidded over the water.

Stone hitting the water and mental-beration took less than a second. After that second however, Stone shot forward.

Hurtling over the water surface, he hit the water again and a third time. 40 meters further, Stone was cold, soaked from the chest down and skidding over the water like his namesake.

Stunned, Stone somehow managed to change direction, pulling the roomba into a vertical trajectory, 90 degrees up.
Stone shot into the sky; now he was screaming.

Losing his grip on the roomba, Stone reached the sky and floated.
For mere moments gravity lost its hold on him. High above the lake, Stone found himself in what must've been the quietest part of the city. Distant lights formed the cities skyline, but in that silent ambience he could only stare at the night sky.

Deaf colours were blotched across the sky, this high up he caught what must've been a glimpse of the true night sky. Brightest of all was no star, clusters of twinkles or colour, but the moon.

As if consumed Stone could not take his eyes off of it. Despite the sight of the city, the colours in the sky, or the cold. Stone could only look at the moon.

Stone barely registered when gravity took hold of him again, dazed he fell into a free fall until his attention was caught by someone calling his name.

"Stone?!" Snapping out of his stupor, Stone looked over to a flailing Shadow, huh, he must've managed to cling to him as Stone clung to the roomba.

Looking down at the dark lake, Stone fully realised that they was falling.

Nothing good ever comes from a hedgehog who breaks into your apartment past midnight. Stone screamed.

Throwing his arms around wildly, Stone plummeted towards the lake. "Stone! Stone, you idiot the roomba!" Shadow shouted. Still flailing, Stone's eyes shot around, the roomba was fully black and the moment he'd let it go it'd fully slipped from both his hands and mind. He was cursing that fact now that he and Shadow were plummeting to their deaths.

Suddenly he caught a glimpse of something on his left. Gleaming briefly, as if reflecting moonlight. Without thinking Stone stretched as far as he could, his fingers grazed smooth plastic, snatching the roomba mid-air Stone held on for dear life. Shadow grabbed onto Stone's jacket as the two plummeted with the roomba, how had he flown with it again?

The two were getting closer and closer to the lake, still plummeting to their deaths and Stone was waving around a roomba like that would help.

Briefly, Stone felt a little silly, then he looked down at the barely visible lake and he didn't feel so silly anymore.

"Stone the lake!" Shadow cried distantly. Still falling, the hedgehog clung hard to so hard to Stone's jacket; he was surprised that the fabric hadn't started ripping.

Holding the roomba under his arms again, Stone put all his focus onto the damn thing.
Work.
The dark lake was getting closer and closer.
Fly.
The roomba did not fly.
Zoom.
They were going to die from surface tension.

Stone started screaming all over again. It wasn't very comforting that Shadow started screaming with him as the two fell like a brick. Stone started reminiscing about his life, it wasn't short but it wasn't long either and man, was he realising now that he'd wasted it. How long had he'd sat behind a desk fooling himself into believing that everything would be different the next day? Why hadn't he tried to keep in contact with his college friends after he'd dropped out? He'd never wanted to clean his apartment before, sure he told himself that he did and that he would, but now he certainly felt like doing his dishes, anything was better than dying because you're an idiot.

It was a cold night tonight, some time before 3 in the morning and Stone thought it was the worst time to die. Practically alone, no warm bed surrounded by loved ones and certainly no slipping away. All he'd have was one harsh hit and he'd probably be gone.

Stone didn't know what was worse.
That he'd die so pathetically alone or that he was taking Shadow with him too.

Tears were falling from his eyes, disappearing with the wind that pulled at his face as Stone gripped the roomba a little less, the round device still in his hands but he wasn't clutching it anymore and the lake grew all too much closer.

Wow. This was it.
Stone had hoped, just a tiny bit, that when Shadow told him he was a witch and he'd started believing it too, that things would be different. Maybe with a spell, or just leaving his old boring life behind.
That small hope, the little idea that life could be good, flickered it's last flame.

All too suddenly, the roomba shot forward.
Stone managed to grip onto the item as it skimmed over the lake like a bullet.
Air pulled harshly at his face and hair and before he realised it, him and Shadow crashed into the lakeside.

Stone breathed carefully, as if every breath he took was actually a mistake and whatever being in charge of death would notice it as soon as he breathed too loudly and decided to correct it. He felt numb all over, all the blood that had rushed to or away from his head was running back to where it needed to be and he felt light headed, somewhere there was an annoying ringing too.
After a minute or ten he slowly pushed himself up.

He could see Shadow's figure dusting himself off from where he stood, the hedgehog was more than just displeased at the near death experience the two had just gone through. The two locked eyes for a moment and maybe like a madman, Stone couldn't help but laugh.

It started small, just a giggle that left his mouth but soon it grew to full bellied laughter. If anyone could hear him they'd think he'd lost it. Shadow certainly looked at him as if he did, but Stone didn't care, not right now.
He wasn't sure whether he was laughing out of pure disbelief or astonishment or whether he was just happy to be alive.
Stone didn't know, he didn't care.
He laughed.

Somehow he flew.
Granted, he'd also crashed himself and Shadow into the lake but he'd flown. For a mere moment Stone had soared, illuminated by the moonlight where even gravity had lost him.
He had never experienced something greater.

Stone was in a daze afterwards.
After collecting the roomba the two made their way back to his apartment, it was cold and the both of them were soaked through, they must've made a really strange sight to the people they came across. A mobian, a human, and a roomba, soaked to the bone.
Stone didn't know how Shadow was walking, but he was out of it the entire walk back . When they got to his front door he collected all his left out groceries from the day before and locked the door behind Shadow. He wasn't sure why he bothered but it felt right.

Putting the roomba down Stone just stood in his small room, the walk must've been an hour or longer but it had felt like minutes to him. It could've been the lingering adrenaline or the coffee, but Stone still felt sleeplessly awake.

Shadow looked at him with an expression he couldn't decipher, he'd opened his mouth to say something but the hedgehog thought the better of it and stopped himself before he did.
"You can take the bed." Stone replied anyway, unsure if that was what Shadow wanted to ask but informing him nonetheless. He had a feeling that he wasn't going to be sleeping much anyway.

Shadow just silently nodded after a moment, without further ado the hedgehog got comfortable in Stone's bed and fell asleep. The apartment was left in silence as Stone slowly processed the events of that night, still just standing there.

He wasn't sure what to do now, a lot of emotions were going through his head. He wasn't sure what he wanted. Was this going to change things and how? He'd done magic, sort of. He was a witch, an actual witch.

Stone just felt lightheaded at that thought. He was a witch. How he'd never known until now, he wasn't sure, but it was definitely confirmed at this point. He wouldn't have almost died earlier if rfhe wasn't.

Taking a deep breath, Stone gathered his thoughts. The apartment felt strangely silent, a feeling it never truly had before but now it did. Looking at the time it read 5:04. Definitely too late to get some good sleep and too early to do anything for work. Stone sighed. Looking around his apartment his eyes fell to the only place it really could, his kitchen.

Without much thought, Stone stepped into his kitchen. Standing in front of his sink, he looked down into the mess of cups, plates and cutlery that had started growing mold ages ago. Putting on some gloves. Stone, for the first time in forever, started washing dishes.

The following days pass by in a blur, Stone barely has his head on his shoulders before it's the weekend already. Work has been going… steady, nothing new on that front. His home life however has been turned on it's head.

Shadow definitely has some unique habits. Stone's not sure if the dark hedgehog has ever lived with someone else before - actually he's not even really sure where Shadow came from. He doesn't know what a TV is, something Stone only found out when they walked past a display window since he doesn't own a TV himself, and that seems to count for most modern appliances. He does know what a toaster is however and has been moping about Stone not having one.
Either way, Stone has no idea if Shadow's ever lived with anyone before, let alone where he came from.

He's… rude to say the least.
When Stone woke up the first morning after meeting Shadow, he groaned and moaned for a minute straight until finally pushing himself to sit up. The first thing Stone was met with that morning was a Shadow sitting on his counter, eating his coffee pads.

Stone couldn't process the sight at first, needing a minute to remember the events of earlier that morning before gathering his wits and calling in sick to work.

He hadn't done much for the rest of the day.
Shadow's unique habits however, persisted over the week. Making a mess of the bathroom and not cleaning it up, leaving spilled coffee grounds lying throughout the apartment, it's a nightmare. Stone's never been the cleanest himself, but this is a nightmare.
So Stone's fairly sure that Shadow lived alone before invading his apartment and with that notion, Stone's life drags on til the weekend before getting another rude awakening.

The little shop in front of him had nothing remarkable about it.
Brick walls and ivy, those were the only noticeable traits for the little hole in the wall that Stone stood in front of. If it weren't for the little yellowed awning and the two little round tables outside then Stone would have walked right past it, never even considering that the store could be open; but it was and google maps oh so helpfully informed him that he'd arrived at his location for the only coffee shop that remained open at this hour.

Who keeps a coffee shop open at two in the morning?
Turning to his right, Stone sent a pleading look towards Shadow. His familiar just stared expectantly at him back. Right, they were here because Stone had run out of coffee ground for Shadow to munch on. How many coffee grounds the dark hedgehog had eaten through in the last four days alone was astounding, it felt even more astounding when Stone was shaken awake by a hangry familiar dangling an empty coffee filter in front of his face, demanding another one.

Stone had grumbled and turned around at first, fully intending on going back to sleep but Shadow was nothing if not persistent; persistent and persuasive. Stone's ankle was still throbbing from how the familiar had very persuasively grabbed him by the ankle and then very persistently dragged him down the stairs of his apartment building.

Luckily it was another one of those days where he hadn't changed before bed, fortune also found it that his phone was in his pocket and at seventeen percent!

One very sobering staircase experience and ten minutes later led them to now.
The only open coffee shop at two in the morning, why did Shadow have to be addicted to eating coffee grounds like a heathen? Stone felt sorry for himself all over again until Shadow began to push him towards the door.
Almost buckling in his knees, Stone stumbled forwards in order to not fall on top of the hedgehog.
Unfortunately, this found him falling face first into the shop's tiled floor.

It was a nice floor, Stone thought briefly, but it would be nicer without him on it.

Pushing himself off the floor, Stone was pushed back into the flooring by a foot on his back. Shadow stepped on and over Stone to enter the cafe, breathing out an agitated sigh Stone pushed himself off the ground while sending his familiar an unimpressed glare.

So far being a witch added nothing to his life other than annoying familiars.

"Are… you alright?" A voice caught Stone's attention. Heart shooting into his throat, Stone looked up from Shadow, his eyes falling on the barista of the coffee shop. Shortish stout stature, short bobbed hair, accessorised with a bandana and strangely oval glasses. Stark red, oval glasses. Their name tag read 'the Barista' and the Barista looked at him confused. "I'm fine thank you." Shadow's voice answered, Stone couldn't help but glare at the hedgehog's back again, not that he noticed, or cared to notice.

"Okayyyy," the Barista's eyes were shooting between Shadow and Stone. Stone just nodded that he was fine. Seeming a bit reassured, the Barista went on, "is there anything I can do for you gentlemen?" Right, they were here for something.

"Uh, do you sell X coffee pads?" Stone dusted himself off before walking up to the bar, the Barista's face fell from pleasant customer service to astounded.

"I'm sorry?"

"X coffee pads? Your website says you sell them." Stone repeated, a little unsure from their reaction.

"You cannot be serious." the Barista said dryly.
Stone just nodded yes, confused, he was being serious. The Barista shook no, they could not be serious. Stone felt a little unsure of himself, was that a 'no, we don't sell this.' head-shake or a 'no, you're not serious' head-shake.
Shadow just watched the interaction wordlessly as a sort of head-shaking-and-staring competition broke out between Stone and the Barista.

"Dude," The Barista broke their silence, "you're in a coffee shop and you want to buy this crap?" The disbelief was very apparent in their voice. "We have so many better things." They moved their arms to gesture at everything behind them. Looking behind the Barista, Stone's eyes fell on the shelves lined with coffee beans behind them. Rows and rows of bags, cans and glass jars were filled with different kinds of beans, it did kind of feel ridiculous to ask for coffee pads when you had literal caffeine addiction heaven right in front of you. Still, this was bad customer service,

"Do you usually question your customers like this?" Stone looked back at the Barista,

"Oh absolutely," they said, so assured that it stunned Stone for a minute.
Turning around, the Barista grabbed one of the jars and started grinding beans, "especially when they come in and ask for the worst coffee brand we have."

Talking as they worked, Stone watched silently as the Barista brewed a cup of coffee, expert hands grabbed a mug from somewhere and before he knew it a steaming, freshly brewed, cup of coffee sat in front of him at the bar. Looking up at the Barista confused, they gestured for Stone to sit down. Hesitantly he took a seat at the bar, a reluctant Shadow following his lead.

"So, what brings you into a coffee shop at two in the morning?" As if this was a bar, the Barista grabs another mug from somewhere and starts cleaning it with a cleaning rag. Completely out of his element, Stone just stared at them for a minute, taking the silence in stride the Barista turns to Shadow and without saying anything fills a bowl with coffee beans and slides it in front of the dark hedgehog with a nod.
Shadow, in turn, is fully in on this act of kindness and starts going through his beans curiously. Guess Stone's stuck here for a while by the look of amazement on Shadow's face the moment he tries his first coffee bean.

The mug he's gotten read 'Have a brew-tiful day'. Stone chuckles before taking a sip. "This guy," he finally answers the Barista's question with a gesture at Shadow.

"What? Did he break into your house and demand you get him coffee pads or something?" The Barista asked with a laugh. An uncomfortable silence fell in the coffee shop, the Barista's laughter died out as they sent a slightly concerned look between Stone and Shadow that Stone was trying to ignore using the mug.

"You can't be serious."

Stone shrugged, "well he broke in Monday-"

"Tuesday."

"He broke in Tuesday," Stone corrected himself at Shadows digression and to the Baristas gaping expression, they looked like a goldfish.
"And now he's finally worked his way through my coffee pad supply."

"It was a rather sad supply to begin with," Shadow added as if to defend himself, the asshole, "I had to ration since day one."

The Barista just sent a dumbfounded look between the two while nodding along. "Why not just get him arrested?" They put the now dry mug on a shelf and reached for the next as they asked Stone directly.
"He's my familiar." Stone answered forlornly.

The mug shattered on the floor. Stone choked on his coffee as Shadow jumped in his seat, quills on end. Looking up, Stone saw the Barista staring at him in full shock.
"What?" they asked dumbfounded.

"Huh?" Stone replied stupidly.

"You're a witch?" The Barista ignored Stone's reply. Crashing against the bar they leaned so far over that Stone had to lean a little back. "That's your familiar?" They pointed at Shadow.
Stone, a little perplexed, just nodded.

"Can you do magic?" The Barista pointed a finger that practically touched his nose. Stone looked at the painted nail in his face until his eyes started to hurt, looking up at the Barista, they were still watching him intently.

"Uh…" Stone began, Shadow was just munching away next to him. Not even bothered in the slightest, Stone didn't dare to look away from the Barista however to check.
"… It's complicated." Stone finished.

The Barista's face morphed into bewilderment, "what?"

"what?"

"what do you mean 'it's complicated'? You're a witch right?" Stone nodded, as far as he knew he was a witch now. "Then you can do magic!" The Barista burst out, waving her arms around in a frenzy.
"Magic! Spells, potions, the whole lot!" Stone felt a little self-conscious, all that he knew was that Shadow had broken into his apartment and just made himself at home there, he hadn't done anything like a spell or a potion and the only real proof he had was a roomba that flew somehow.

"Well, I can't do anything like that." Stone began, the Barista paused mid monologue, staring at him blankly.

"What?"

"You know, you've been asking me that a lot."

Ignoring his comment they went on, "What do you mean you can't do spells? You just said you're a witch!"

"Being a witch and doing magic aren't synonymous." Stone defended himself unsure, "yes they are! Magic is what makes you a witch." The Barista waved their hands around again, as if they were magic and casting a spell themselves. "Would I be a barista if I didn't make coffee for a living?" Stone wasn't sure how to respond to that, but he moved on.

The two talked back and forth for a while.
"Have you even tried to cast a spell?!" The Barista yelled annoyed, Stone froze. Thinking on it now, he really hadn't. A smug smile grew on the Barista's face, seemingly convinced that they had won the argument.
Refusing to let that stand, Stone held out both his hands in the air. Palms open and fingers spread, it was now the Barista's turn to lean back in confusion.

Wracking his brain for a spell, Stone realised he really didn't know a single one so he yelled out the first thing that came to his mind.
"THOUSAND FROGS!"

A moment of silence stretched through the coffee shop.
Even Shadow fell silent.

"HEY DON'T CAST A THOUSAND FROGS INSIDE!" The Barista threw a washcloth in his face, mortified Stone silently lowered his hands to the bar. Shadow, helpful for once, tugged the rag off of his face as Stone turned to stare at his empty mug.

Looking at Stone, the Barista sighed. Taking the empty mug from him they grabbed another and made another cup of coffee. Sliding it over to him they leaned themselves on the bar opposite to him. "This ones on the house."

"The first one wasn't?", ignoring him, the Barista offered something that Stone wasn't expecting.

"Do you want to talk about it?", this time it was his turn to ask 'What?' first.

"Being a witch, or figuring out you're a witch this week."
"I don't know, it kind of seems to…weigh on you." Stone seemed to consider it for a moment. Not even picking up the mug of coffee, he dropped his head on the bar and talked.
And how Stone could complain.

"This guy breaks into my house," Stone points at Shadow, "No offence Shadow, but that was heart attack inducing." Shadow just shrugs and carries on. "And he's all 'you are a witch, you literally radiate magic' and I tell him, 'oh yeah? where is my magic?' and then he kind of proves it by proving he can do magic and then he gets me believing and then I almost killed us both!"

"Wait wait wait," the Barista waves their hand for Stone to stop, "you almost killed both of you?"

Stone just nodded. "yeah, but I didn't!" he quickly pointed out, "don't tell me you casted like an explosion spell that misfired."

Stone shook his head, "actually I almost killed us flying on my roomba."

The Barista stared at him, Stone wasn't sure what to do so he just stared back. Suddenly the Barista started breaking down in laughter. "A roomba?" they asked between tears on the ground. Stone had to stand in his seat and lean over the bar to see them.
"You almost killed yourself with a roomba?" Okay hearing it out loud it did sound a little ridiculous but thinking back to the night where he'd almost crashed into the lake, the falling part was a lot less fun. Didn't make the roomba bit unfunny though.

Stone couldn't help but laugh a little too. It truly did sound ridiculous but what about his life this last week hadn't been?
The Barista stood up wobbly and practically threw themselves on the bar in front of Shadow. "And you!" they said, still laughing contagiously, "you poor thing." words broken up by snickers, but all that Shadow did was pull his nearly empty bowl of coffee beans closer to himself.

"My name is Shadow." He said too seriously for the atmosphere that lingered in the coffee shop. "That's Stone." He added.
Pulling themselves back to their feet, the Barista's laughter finally began to die down. Their shoulders still shaking as they grabbed a bag and refilled Shadow's beans.

"That's certainly one way to figure out you're a witch!" They said with glee. "Wait, did you do this above the lake?" Surprised that they guessed right, Stone said yes. "Oh wow," their voice took on a tone of surprise, "that was you? Someone took a video of that. You're kind of a cryptid online right now." That was news for Stone, him? A cryptid? That idea was almost as mortifying as someone having seen him and his first flight.

Ignoring his internal dilemma, "Ok." was the only thing he said.

"So how did that work? Mister 'I cannot do magic' That's magic you know?"
Stone wanted to reply but didn't know how for a moment. Sending the Barista a glare, he took a sip to stall for time. Still wordless after taking a comically large sip that he struggles to swallow the three sit in silence for a hot minute.
"I don't know how I did it…" He finally admits.

"Yeah, no shit." Shadow pipes up.
Sending a glare at Shadow, Stone hopes that he suddenly does develop the ability for spells again. Maybe not explosion like the Barista thought but telekinesis would be funny.
"Don't explode him with your mind please." The Barista piped up after a minute, "no wait," Shadow cut them off, "I wanna see him do it."
"I'm not exploding him with my mind." Stone gritted at the both of them. "I'm just glaring. I'm allowed to glare."

Stone glared for a full minute, but nothing happened. Eventually the Barista let out a sigh that Stone hadn't noticed they were holding, Shadow went back to eating his beans when he too deemed that Stone would not be casting any form of magic tonight. Eventually even Stone turned to mope into coffee.
"Well, if you can't do magic yet then how did you fly last Tuesday?"

Stone just shrugged, looking up at the Barista before answering. "Again, really not sure how I did it. Maybe it was a fluke?"
The Barista looked at him doubtfully. "I don't want to burst your bubble Stone," they said looking like a liar, "but if I held a roomba I certainly wouldn't fly with it."

It was Stone's turn to give them a look, "have you tried?" he parroted back at them. That got him another washcloth in the face, but at least this one was dry.
"Haha." was the driest laugh the Barista bothered with.
"But for real though, have you tried practising after that?"

Stone could not say that he had. Hadn't even tried to fly after last Tuesday to be honest. But he could get what the Barista was getting at.
Eventually he shook his head no.

The Barista just nodded sagely, that really seemed to be a thing they just did. "well. PRACTICE!" They yelled.
Collecting their washcloths they turned to do more work behind the bar.

"Anything else you want to talk about?" They turned to ask eventually and boy did Stone take that bait.

"My coworkers suck, my landlord sucks. I'm reconsidering all my life choices up until this point. Like really, why did I ever drop out? My friends sucked and they said I should? WHY?!" Stone went on. He couldn't remember the last time he had anyone to talk to that actually seemed to listen but the Barista did and so Stone talked. A lot. He felt bad about how much he complained to them, but at the same time he was probably never coming here again so why not take the opportunity to vent while he could.

"And that old man is still avoiding me, I just know it! His wife is a sweetheart though." Stone finished, actually out of breath for how long he talked.
"…Sorry."

"Oh don't be, it's better to let it out honestly." the Barista waved off his apology, sitting up from where they were leaning. "So, does your landlord not have an email?" Stone was stunned for a moment, surprised that they actually listened.

"Uh… I think he doesn't, I tried calling him though."

The Barista nodded, "no answer?"

"No answer." Stone lamented.

"Why not just go to his house? He lives down the hall." Shadow piped up. Stone had almost forgotten that the hedgehog was sitting right next to him, but at this point he had gotten used to that and didn't jump up like the first time the hedgehog had done so.

Stone lets out an annoyed groan, "he pretends that he isn't home." Shadow raised an eyebrow at Stone "Even when it's really obvious that he is." He added. Confusion diffused, Shadow went back to eating. "Wow, sounds like an asshole." the Barista added, Stone just nodded.

It was a long night, Stone did end up buying the coffee pads that he had come to buy. Turns out that the first coffee really wasn't on the house. Grumbling but still paying. Stone took the bag and gave it to Shadow; slightly surprised the hedgehog took it from his hands. If he was going to draw Stone out of his apartment at two in the morning then he could at least carry his trophy by himself.
"Oh hey Stone!" Stone turned back to the Barista, had he left something behind?
"My name is Corey!" They offered with a smile.

Stone took a moment to realise what they said but when it did hit him he couldn't help but smile. "See you next time Corey!" he waved them goodbye as Stone and Shadow left the store and went back to the apartment.

Stone was struggling with his apartment keys while holding a certain hedgehog like a baby. Ever since Stone met Corey, he'd taken up their advice… just a little.
Every now and then when he had some free time he'd go with Shadow to the lake and practice flying. The first time he went after Corey had gone almost as bad as his first flight, but he was slowly getting better. Today he hadn't even cashed once! But they had stayed out longer than usual today and it was already dark outside and to Stone's surprise when he returned to the lakes shore he found Shadow asleep in his spot.

He'd looked peaceful, Stone thought, the usually frowning face was smoothed over and Shadow's chest gently rose with every soft breath he took. Stone had never seen Shadow so relaxed, he'd rarely even seen Shadow sleep and when he did the dark hedgehog usually woke up right at that moment. Stone wasn't sure if that was a familiar thing or just a Shadow thing, but what he did know was that he didn't want to wake Shadow up. Which led him to know, hedgehog in one arm, keys in the other - roomba on the floor - and struggling to open his still jamming door. He really should get his landlord to fix it, he couldn't afford the handyman himself, but his landlord got a monthly maintenance fee from him so he should be able to afford it and whatnot.

Speak of doom and he shall appear. Stone looked up from his door at the sound of another opening. Looking down the hall he saw the door of his landlord open and the old man stepped out.
Grey moustache, grey mutton chops, mostly bald and with a large beer belly. Stone recognised his landlord in an instant. The man himself closed his door behind him and turned down the hall only to freeze at the sight of Stone.

Staring at his landlord, Stone froze for a moment. Excited to see him Stone opened his mouth to greet the man but the landlord cut him off before he even uttered a word. "We don't allow pets in here."

Immediately put off, Stone frowned, "he's not a pet, he's a mobian." he corrects but the man just scoffs and rolls his eyes.

"He sheds is what I'm getting at," the man argues back, "really Stone, I didn't take you for the type to take in strays but maybe I should have known better."

That hits Stone like a brick. Where did that sentiment come from? Mobians aren't animals despite their similarities and that backhanded comment about types like him, what was that supposed to mean?
Straightening up, Stone looked at the man with pure disapproval. "Sir, nothing in my lease says anything against Mobians and-"

"Yeah yeah, 'nothing on paper' but you really shouldn't have them in the building Stone. I thought you were smart enough to read between the lines." The man waved Stone off. Grabbing his keys to walk back to his apartment.

"Wait!" Stone took a step towards his landlord, "could I at least talk with you about something, my doors been-"

"Sorry Stone, but I'm a busy man. Lots to do, I'm sure you understand." The man sent him a smile as he twisted the keys.

Stone froze at the sight, he knew that smile. People thought of it as reassuring but for Stone it meant disappointment. The orphanage workers smiled at him like that whenever he got skipped over for an adoption, his teachers smiled at him like that when he flunked another test, his friends smiled like that before apologising and cancelling on him or making up an excuse for missing out on plans. Countless people smiled like that at Stone, he knew that smile - maybe more intimately than others and maybe that's what the man had meant with 'types like him'. Stone froze at that smile, but for the first time in a long time he felt something burn in his chest.

Anger, sadness, that little voice in him said 'that's not right' echoes through his mind and for the first time in - Gaia knows how long - Stone listened. The man was about to close his door behind him but the door was stopped by a shoe, Stone's shoe.

"Sir. I think you do have a minute." The man looked surprised at Stone, seemingly not expecting this from the usually meek man.

"And while we're talking, do you think you could explain what you meant with 'my type'?" If the landlord was surprised then now he was struck stupid. The old man turned red, opening his mouth to say something - maybe to berate Stone like he'd done for less - but the man came up empty. Stone glared down the man down, something he had never done before. If the landlord had said nothing about Shadow then maybe Stone wouldn't act like this, but he had and that was something Stone refused to take. Apparently that was all it took to render his landlord speechless.

"My door has been jamming for years, I can barely get it open. I hope you can send someone to fix it." Stone said coldly. Without wishing the man a good night he walked back to his apartment, turned the key and kicked the door open in one move. Stepping inside he nudged the roomba in with him and slammed the door shut with another kick.

Shadow stirred in his arms, finally waking up despite everything that he'd just slept through. Blearily rubbing his eyes the hedgehog looked up at Stone. "Just go back to sleep, Shadow." Stone reassured as he put Shadow on the ground. Nodding wordlessly Shadow crawled onto the bed and fell asleep instantly. Stone watched him as he went back to sleep. Only daring to move when the hedgehog was snoring.

Stone dropped against his door, sliding down to the floor the man gripped his face in frustration, maybe with some lingering anger or a type of sadness he didn't want to name, but Stone was struck with one thought to which he held onto for the rest of the night.
He had to get out of this city.

Stone did not storm into the coffee shop and throw himself at the bar without a word, no matter what Corey the Barista would be tell their manager in the morning.

"Wow…" Corey began unsure, "rough day?"

Stone took a deep breath, face still smashed on the counter he took a moment to gather himself before lifting his head to face Corey.
"You could say that." He said as collected as a thousand frogs.

Corey stared him down for a moment, sighing themselves they grabbed a mug and started steaming up milk for a latte.

A few minutes later Stone was nursing a hot mug that read 'just hang in there' with a hanging kitty that looked as pathetic as he felt. "So, anything you want to get off your chest? Where is Shadow by the way?" Corey asked sagely. Stone took a sip from the latte, he seriously needed to learn how to make these.

"He's sleeping right now. I've been thinking." Stone was fiddling with the handle of his kitty mug. Corey just nodded for him to go on, nursing a cup of tea instead of busying themselves with anything else. "I think I want to leave the city." Stone admitted.

There was a moment of silence, looking up from his mug Stone saw Corey think on what he said for a moment.
"Alright," they said eventually. Stone was stunned, Corey took a sip not noticing his shock.

"I'm serious." Stone said

Corey nodded "Yeah, I think you are. Do you know where you want to go?" they answered and asked.

Stone didn't know how to reply so he ended up not answering, Corey just nodded. "Alright, have you looked at houses?" Stone hadn't done that either, he just shook his head no. Corey nodded their head again. Taking a sip, Stone just did the same.

"Why do you want to live the city, Stone?" Corey asked eventually.

Stone didn't look up at them from his coffee, why did he want to leave the city? Just because he felt like no one liked him here? It held a lot of negative memories, it's where his life hit rock bottom again and again without any real high point in years. Was not feeling happy here truly a reason to leave? Why not work harder, find a new job or go to college again and actually finish his education. Stone had a lot of options so why this one?

"It just… doesn't feel like home." He admitted softly, it felt stupid, he was stupid. That's no real reason to pack up everything and move.

Corey just nodded, "Ok," they took a sip, "when did you want to leave?"
In all honesty, Stone wanted to pick up all his stuff and leave now. But tonight was too fast, he had to admit that.

"Tomorrow." Stone said.
Corey looked at him with surprise for the first time that night.

"Wow, you really want to get out of here huh?" they answered with a slight giggle in their tone. "Is this place really that bad?" they asked, it probably wasn't meant as serious but Stone took it at face value. He wanted to.

"Yeah… I guess you could say that." Corey didn't reply, motioning for him to go on when he looked at them for an answer. "It's just-" Stone had thought this for years, felt it for longer; but putting it into words and just stewing in frustration are two very separate things.

"This place has never really felt like home because… well, I'm not sure." Corey looked at him sympathetically, for once in his life it felt like someone wasn't giving him that little smile of disappointment, this felt like sympathy.

"That's ok, we have time." They said reassuringly. "Is this like a person? Is it your landlord?" Stone thought about it for a moment.
"It's not… one person." He began, the brief pause wavering "I think it's just everyone."

"Not you of course!" He quickly corrected but Corey just waved him off. "I just, can't think of anyone in the city who'd miss me if I left." Corey - infamously - nodded.

"Work?"
"Replaceable." Stone answered, "very replaceable." He added.
"Your home?"
"Landlord, remember?"
"Friends!"
"Have none!"
"What about your family?" Corey asked, "surely they'll miss you?"
"I'm an orphan." Stone replied flatly.

"Oh…" Corey answered awkwardly. Stone just nodded. "I don't exactly have a lot of people."
'To rely on' went unsaid, but Stone had the oddest feeling that Corey had heard him say it anyway.

"Leaving actually makes sense then."
Corey clarified what they meant with that when they saw Stone's absolute confusion at their statement.
"Find somewhere to put your roots down, if they didn't take here then find new soil."

Stone took that in for a moment. "That… sounds very philosophical." he said eventually.
"Thank you, my therapist told me that." Corey stated proudly. The two of them burst out laughing. Stone missed this, being able to hang out with someone even if he was just hanging out with Corey at their place of work.

The two talked for hours, sometimes Corey had to help a customer here or there but for the most part the two just made time. If Stone really did leave tomorrow then this was the last time he'd see Corey. It's best to take your time in that case.

Eventually however the clock neared 4 A.M. and even Stone had to admit that he would need to get sleep at some point. Seeing him nearly nod off, Corey wiped down the bar, the shop's closing time nearing as it did.

"I think I'm going to head back." Stone stood up and went to pay. Corey just waved him off as he waited by the cash register. "It's on the house this time." They said as they walked up to the the coffee wall. Curiously Stone looked at them as they looked over the merchandise attentively, calculating eyes scanning over dozens and dozens of bean bags before eventually picking out a single one.

Putting it down on the bar they slid it over to Stone.
Stone felt confused, looking between the bag and Corey he waited for them to explain. Rolling their eyes Corey eventually did just that. "It's a gift. You can keep this."

"Corey I can't-" "No Stone, you're taking this." Corey cut him off sternly. Stone was surprised by their voice but it did make him take the bag from the counter. Looking at the small bag in his hands he felt the paper texture that it was made of, coloured in a warm brown with purple and gold highlights it said the brand name and type in a fancy font that he could barely read. "I'm not letting you torture poor Shadow with coffee pads when you move." Corey piped up eventually, Stone looked back up at them and smiled, not believing a word they just said.

"Alright, I guess… if it's for Shadow." He said, saying goodbye and walking up to the door to leave with a lighter heart than before.

"Oh and Stone," Corey piped up again, Stone turned in the door to look at them. A near cathartic smile sat on their face as they asked, "keep in touch will you?"

"How?" Pulling up their shoulders, Corey just threw out the first thought they got, "send letters to this place? The address is online and I'll still be working here for a while." Stone smiled at that, thanking Corey again - probably for more than just the bag - and let the door fall closed behind him.

The day that Stone and Shadow left felt bleak to say the least. The weather was cloudy, winds not strong enough to blow them away as Stone handed his keys over to his landlady.
The older woman gave him a rueful smile as she took them from his hands. Rubbing Shadow's quills as the dark hedgehog swatted away her hand, she was the only one to wave Stone and Shadow off as they got on the roomba.

Deciding what to take with them was an entire thing on its own. Stone realised as he was going through his things that he really didn't have much of value, so most of what he just took was clothes and Corey's gift. Shadow was very happy to see the bag when he woke up and Stone wasn't sure how, but so far he's managed to keep the dark hedgehog's hand out of the bag. Leaving the apartment was easier than he thought. He thought that when it came to it, he'd at least feel connected to the place he'd been living in since he was 21, but nothing of the sorts came up in the now 32 year old.

Quitting work had been… an experience and Stone was very happy to leave it at that.

Stone was very happy that he'd followed Corey's advice to practice flying. It had given him another few close calls but he'd gotten a lot more steadier on the roomba. It was a less fun experience figuring out he could make the roomba slightly bigger. Shadow was still giving him shit for not figuring it out sooner, but getting to use that extra space for his bags was great!
It definitely got them a few looks - an understatement if he looked down at the frozen streets right now. To fly around on what is essentially a comically large roomba, but Stone didn't let the first hand embarrassment keep him down. He had a place to find.

Him and Shadow were out of the city in minutes, after half an hour he couldn't even see the familiar skyline anymore so Stone stopped looking back.
They travelled the whole day like that, stopping in a small town for lunch before going back on the roomba and taking off again.

They were over a forest by the time the sun started setting. Stone was starting to regret not stopping in that village after lunch to stay the night, but he wasn't sure whether that would have been a good idea either considering he didn't have the money for a room.

Regretting it and strongly considering the chances of sleeping in a tree Shadow yelled "There!" as he pointed to somewhere in the trees.
Stone was startled for a moment before steering the roomba to where Shadow was pointing to. Landing on the forest floor, Stone could see what seemed to be an overgrown cottage painted orange by the dying sun.

It didn't seem very lived in or structurally sound, but it was perfect. Other than looking like it would cave in at any moment it would safe Stone and Shadow from having to sleep in trees for the night.

With Shadow's help, Stone managed to open the door enough for him to step through. Dragging his bag and roomba with him inside he looked through the small cottage.
It was definitely bigger than his previous room, the whole place was coated in layers of dust and cobwebs, but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. There was a small kitchen area in the corner, a big window sat above the sink that let in the last rays of sunlight that painted the rest of the cottage in reds. A big dining table surrounded by chairs sat in what he thought was the living room as empty racks, drawers, and a fireplace lined the walls. A small staircase curled around the corner opposite of the kitchen.

Shadow booked it up the stairs while Stone dropped off his bag and roomba on the table. Following after Shadow, Stone saw that the second floor had three rooms, the biggest one he assumed was the master bedroom. Walking up to the door, Stone was very ready to drop on a bed and instantly fall asleep, he didn't know he could feel sore from flying but he did. However, just as he was about to open the door and enter it was opened from the inside and Shadow barred his way into the bedroom.

"Mine." The hedgehog stated whilst glaring him down.

Stone looked at him incredulously. "You can't be serious." But the hedgehog was and slammed the door in his face. Stone stood there for a hot minute going through the five stages of grief faster than he knew he could as he hopelessly waited for Shadow to open the door and let him in anyway.

Shadow didn't and after a good while Stone relented.
Making his way to the other two doors, the closest one turned out to be a small bathroom but the second and furthest was big enough for him to fit in. Stone was fairly sure it was originally intended to be a closet, seeing as the smaller room was a third the size of the master bedroom and didn't have any windows but for tonight it would have to be the main bedroom for Stone.

A quick run back to Shadow got him some bedding that Stone used to pad the floor with and the grown man laid down in the cramped makeshift bed.

It wasn't the most comfortable, from what he'd been able to peek into Shadow's claimed room for the night the hedgehog had an actual bed and blankets left over.

Hoping that he suddenly developed the ability to cast spells, Stone cast a thousand frogs in Shadows room as he glared at the dark ceiling. After hearing nothing for a while the man relented and closed his eyes as he went to sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day after all.

Written by a human in Ellipsus.

Chapter Text

"We each need to find our own inspiration. Sometimes it's not easy.
- Ursula, Kiki's delivery service.

Stone woke up slowly, opening his eyes he was slightly confused as to why his entire room was dark until he remembered the day before. A smile fell across his face as he sat up and stretched. It's been a while since he's been excited to start his day.

He wasn't sure what time it was but when he finally found the door he opened it to be met with early sunlight streaming through the small window above the stairs. Good, an early morning would give him and Shadow some time to eat breakfast and head out again. His plan for the day was to get on the roomba before noon and set out, maybe they could find a town to sleep in for the night.
Stone was thinking of heading westwards. 'Somewhere along the coast' he thought to himself as he climbed down the stairs, yawning as he went.

Rubbing some sleep from his eyes, Stone reached the bottom of the stair. The first thing he noticed was that the floor seemed a lot less dusty than it had last night. The second thing Stone noticed was that there was no dust at all.

Suddenly feeling very awake, Stone rubbed his eyes hard. Looking around the ground floor of the cottage, the whole area was lit up orange, almost like it had been last night but unlike then the whole place was spotless. Not a speck of dust or any cobwebs where Stone swore there had been just a day before. Wiping his hand over the banister, it came back clean. 'Huh,' Stone thought briefly. 'Shadow must have cleaned up.'

Stone hadn't taken the dark hedgehog for much of a cleaner, considering how he hadn't lifted a finger back in the apartment, but no one else could've cleaned up. 'Weird', Stone noted. It wasn't like they were going to stay in the cottage for very long, but maybe this was how the hedgehog wanted to repay the actual owner for their stay. Stone shrugged his shoulders, no harm and no foul, even if it meant that Shadow would help others clean and never him.

Looking up, Stone saw Shadow holding himself up by the kitchen sink to stare out the window. The familiar hadn't even noticed that he'd come downstairs. "Hey Shadow, thanks for cleaning up! This place looks spotle-" Stone walked up to where Shadow was looking and froze. Shadow didn't say anything as the two stared dumbfounded out the window.

However long they stood there, Stone quickly broke away from Shadow and he ran towards the door. Throwing it open, the door hit the wall with a hard THUD as Stone stared with his own eyes at the sight.

The forest is gone, even worse-

"Uhhh…" A voice caught Stone's attention, mouth still gaping he looked down to where it came from. Stone's mind was struggling to keep up with what he was seeing but the two figures in front of him looked just at confused - if not slightly scared - up at him.

Two mobians stood in front of the door, a blue hedgehog with his arm still outstretched to knock and a shorter yellow fox behind him. "Hi?" The blue hedgehog greeted him.

The three just stood there and blinked at each other for a minute. Stone looked up again before looking back down at the two mobians. Oh Gaia- they must be kids, there was no way these two were grown adults. It was at that moment that it hit Stone that Shadow must've been a teen himself, about the same age as the blue hedgehog in front of him.

"Hello?" he finally asked, sounding much more collected than he currently felt.

"Uh, hi!" The yellow fox piped up going from unsure to something more akin to excited. The fox was beaming, the hedgehog was more cautious, looking Stone up and down with suspicion and Stone wasn't exactly sure what he was feeling himself, but for some chaos-driven reason he found himself asking before thinking: "would you two like to come in?"

It was early, slightly cold and Stone needed to sit down. However he didn't want to be rude. Looking at the teen and the kid in front of him, he really didn't think they'd be dangerous, even with the glare aimed at his head he could feel form Shadow.

Looking around Stone for a moment, the blue hedgehog looked around the cottage confused before his eyes fell on something. Probably Shadow. Looking back up at Stone he wanted to say something but the fox beat him to it.

"Sure! Come on Sonic." And without prompting started pushing the blue hedgehog into the cottage, practically jumping with each step.

Stone let the two enter past him, taking one last look outside before following after them. Just to make sure he wasn't going crazy, but the view remained unchanged.

The forest was gone. Or rather, the cottage wasn't in the forest anymore.
Outside, by the sunrise, Stone was met with the ocean.

Shadow is glaring around the table, has been for the last ten minutes. Stone is pretending not to notice in the hopes that he knocks it off, Tails is sweating bullets and Sonic is, obliviously, enjoying his meal.

Stone had proposed breakfast after the fox and the hedgehog introduced themselves as Tails and Sonic and now he was slightly regretting that too. All the food that he had in the house - other than some travel snacks - were the leftovers he and Shadow had taken with them the day before from lunch. It wasn't anything glamorous but the two kids didn't seem to mind their small portion of cold pasta and water. At this point Stone should just be glad that the table had enough chairs.

He wasn't sure why he'd invite them inside but he had and now they were eating in silence around the large dining table in the living room. "So…" Stone started up eventually, "more water?" he held up the water canister. Luckily the kitchen sink still worked and had clean - Stone hoped - running water. Tails nodded yes and help out his little cup, happy for any distraction from Shadow's glare.

The table fell into another awkward silence, Stone wasn't sure how much more of this he could take when the blue hedgehog kicked the fox under the table. Sending a glare at him, the two broke out into whispers that Stone barely caught a word of.

"Fine! Fine, I'll ask." Tails yelled out eventually. Looking awkwardly around the table, he didn't seem to have that excitement that he'd had earlier, or in the very least it was visibly drowned out of him by nerves alone. "Uhhhh-"

"Get it out with fox." Shadow snapped.
"Shadow!" Stone reprimanded him, "give him a moment, he's clearly nervous!"
"Well, he's never getting it out with at this rate!" Shadow argued and without any extra thought Stone and Shadow fell into an argument. Stone fervently arguing for Tails and Shadow adamantly against him. Tails, in the mean time, did not in fact get a word in. Leaving both him and Sonic waiting until the two quieted down and embarrassed to admit it, Stone didn't for a good while.

"By Gaia, do you guys always fight like this?" Sonic's voice eventually cut through their bickering. Falling quiet, Stone and Shadow looked at him in surprise. The blue hedgehog had his arms crossed in front of him, sending the both of them unimpressed stares.

Leaning back in his seat, Stone scratched his head. "No, not really. Uh- Sorry about that Tails." He gestured for Tails to go on with what little fox had wanted to ask.

Gulping, Tails slowly stoop up in his chair. Leaning his arms on the table for support as he did, he looked down at the table.
"Uh- right." He began quietly, Shadow caught Stone's eye for a moment when the dark hedgehog gave him a look of 'look at this guy', Stone just glared at him to say 'cut it out' and turned his attention fully back to Tails.

"You two probably should know that I'm a witch." Tails said and suddenly everything hit Stone at once.

"You're a what?!" Stone shot up in his seat, Tails stumbled backwards in surprise, almost falling off his chair before Sonic caught him and pushed Tails back. "Sorry…" Stone apologised, he quickly sat back down trying to pretend he hadn't just reacted like that. Shadow just snorted next to him.

"I'm a witch," Tails started up again and still the statement felt insane to Stone, he'd never met a witch before, well other than himself, but what he meant was that he'd never met a proper witch before. Tails just stood right in front of him.

"Wait, so is Sonic your familiar?" Stone asked.
Tails nodded, "he is, he's also my brother!" he answered excitedly and Stone couldn't help but start to get wound up too.

"That's awesome. I've got Shadow here," looking to Shadow, the dark hedgehog had a blank look, but Stone ignored that. Throwing his arm over his shoulder he pulled the dazed hedgehog towards him in a sort of sideways hug. Shadow hated it and Stone felt very happy at that. "He's my familiar." The words still felt a little strange on his tongue, but Stone wanted to get used to saying it.

Tails nodded energetically, "right! And you're a witch too right?" Stone nodded happily, "that's great! You see, me and Sonic were in that city you were in yesterday when we saw you fly over." Tails leapt over the table, Stone shot forward thinking the fox had tripped somehow but instead Tails just grabbed his roomba that he'd put to the side to make room for breakfast. "On this!"He held the roomba out in front of him as if it was a miracle device, which it kind of was now that Stone thought about it.

"And I just had to know, how?"
"How what?" Stone asked confused.
"How did you combine magic and technology? The two are vertically impossible to combine and I-" Tails trailed off but Stone's attention was gone. It felt as if an ice bucket had been thrown over him as Tails chattered on excitably, asking questions Stone didn't hear but moving on anyway before he could answer them. Explaining that Sonic, as his familiar, was really fast and that he himself knew how to fly but they wanted to travel the world - see everything, find their perfect place - and if Tails knew how to combine magic and tech, they wouldn't have any trouble doing so.

"Tails, Tails!" Sonic chuckled happily, "slow down buddy, give him a chance to answer at least." The blue hedgehog finally tugged Tails down to sit in his chair again. Tails was practically vibrating as he finally sat back down, still holding onto the roomba looking at Stone with a type of look he wasn't used to. Tails looked at him with hope and Stone didn't have the heart to tell him the truth now.

He didn't know how, he didn't know how he flew on his roomba, he didn't even know that magic and technology were hard to mix. He just did and that was the only thing he knew.

It must've shown on his face, Tails' expression fell when he saw Stone's. He felt his heart break a little, all that excitement drained in mere seconds, all because of him. He hated himself at that moment.
Yet Stone couldn't find it in himself to lie to the fox.

Opening his mouth, Stone was looking for the words to let Tails down. Shadow beat him to it though, "Stone just started his voyage." He said almost bored.

Stone shot him a glare as Tails looked at him in confusion. "What?"
"Stone just started his voyage." Shadow repeated, Tails looked confused between him and Shadow and Stone wasn't even really sure where to begin now.

"But you're like 30?" Tails asked eventually.
"And you're like 7?" Shadow shot back.

It was an understatement to say that Tails was young to start his voyage. Typically a witch was 13 when they left to find their place and Tails really didn't look any older than 7.
"I'm 8." Tails corrected Shadow annoyed.

Stone just sighed, rubbing his face with his hands before taking a deep breath. Facing Tails and Sonic again, he tried to explain. "It's a bit odd, but I learned I was a witch maybe a week or two ago?"

Tails and Sonic stared at him speechless and yeah, that was probably the correct response to hearing that statement.
"How?"
"What?!"

Both shouted at the same time, Stone sighed again as he realised that he was going to have to explain the whole thing, but first.
"Can I ask if you're on your voyage right now?" He looked at Tails, the fox took a moment of mouth gaping like a goldfish before his brain caught up to Stone's question and answered.
"Yeah, I am. We've been voyaging for some two years now?" Now it was Stone's turn to be surprised, that was really young to start a voyage.

"Wow, you're an early started aren't you?" - Stone
"Yup, you're a late one aren't you?" - Tails

The two chuckled. "Alright well," Stone began, "it's a bit confusing but I did learn I was a witch just a short while ago thanks to this guy." Gesturing at Shadow, the dark hedgehog just scoffed, but didn't say anything. "And I'm really sorry Tails, but I can't tell you how I fly with the roomba…" As he spoke, Tails expression fell again, Stone couldn't help but feel bad, "to be completely honest, I can't even do magic properly." That struck a new confused expression on Sonic and Tails' faces.

"But you can fly?" Sonic asked, Stone just nodded.
"And that's it." Stone answered. "I can't cast spells, can't levitate-"

"Wait, you can't?" Tails interrupted him in surprise, "not even this?" With the flick of his hand, Tails flicked a piece of pasta up in the air without even touching it. It hit Stone in the face before it fell to the ground.

Unimpressed, Stone just watched it drop silently. "Yeah no, can't do that." he answered drily. Tails at least had the gall to look a little guilty.
"okay…" he sat back down in his chair. Shadow and Sonic snorted in unison.

Wiping a little bit of sauce off his face, Stone thought to himself for a moment. "Well, that sort of proves that you know a lot more about magic than I do." Tails nodded, "but you don't know how to combine magic and tech…" Tails shook his head no, not sure where Stone was going with this and in all honesty, Stone was completely spit balling too. But the way he saw it, Tails and Sonic didn't exactly have anywhere to go and he really didn't know if he had the heart to put the kid out on the streets so hopelessly.

An idea struck Stone as he spoke, Shadow was going to hate him for this but frankly, he'll be fine. "Alright." Stone nodded thoughtfully.

"How about you and Sonic stay with us for a while?" Sonic and Tails were surprised by the offer, Shadow yelled out "WHAT?!"

Rubbing his ear, Stone ignored Shadow as the dark hedgehog slammed his hands on the table, leaning forward to stare incredulously at Stone.
Yup, he was doing this now. The look on Shadow's face was all the confirmation he needed.

"Are you sure?" Tails asked after a moment, looking between a visibly unbothered Stone and a very bothered Shadow.
"Oh, absolutely." Stone said as sweetly as he could, just to rub it in for Shadow. "Shadow and I could stay in the cottage for a while, you could maybe learn how to work out magic and tech and maybe I'll pick up a thing about magic from you two." Stone explained his offer. Sonic seemed to seriously consider it while Tails still seemed a bit on the fence.

"Well… Staying for a few days wouldn't hurt, right Tails?" Sonic asked, probably with less survival instinct than a teen should have, but Stone would think about that later.

"Wait, 'stay in the cottage for a while.' Isn't this your house?" Tails asked.
Stone sucked in a breath, "yeah…. it kind of isn't-" Sonic and Tails shared an uncertain look between the two of them.
Turning to look out the window, Stone looked back out at the beach. There definitely wasn't a beach there last night and Stone really was putting off thinking too much about it.

Turning back to Tails and Sonic, he finished what he was saying while gesturing to the window. "But I don't think that the- previous owner is going to miss this place much."

Sonic and Tails shared another look, looking between the window, Stone and each other, the two eventually seemed to reach a silent agreement, whether that was a telepathy thing or just a brothers thing, Stone wasn't sure but Sonic answered for the both of them.

"Alright, we'll stick around for a bit."

The three and Shadow talked for a bit till lunch. Tails had always known he was a witch, showed off a spell or two and asked Stone again if he really didn't know how to cast any spells.

"Nope," Stone said, a little meek, "not even a little."
"Not even telekinesis?" Tails asked astounded. Stone just shook his head no.

Tails explained a little, telekinesis was the most common accidental magic for witch children. Frog spells being the second most common, so the fact that Stone had never done either was "astounding".

"Is it really though?" Stone asked.
"Yes." Tails replied without a thought. He'd had his own fair amount of accidents when he was a kit. Stone didn't feel a little sour, not at all, but he did ask: "That must've been pretty hectic for your parents, right?"

"Actually, I never knew my parents. It's been me and Sonic for as long as I could remember." Tails answered honestly. Stone nodded along, so they were orphans, a little like him. Stone turned to Sonic and asked him how it was raising Tails. He didn't see it, but Tails lit up a little as he asked Sonic. He did notice, however, the faintest scent of mahogany.

"Oh, you have no idea." Sonic said, absolutely withering into his seat. Shadow looked around the table, piping up for the first time in a while: "Why are all of you orphans?"

Slightly stunned, Sonic, Tails, and Stone stared at him in silence. Sonic was the first to break it, breaking out into laughter at the dark hedgehogs abrasive question. Tails followed and even Stone couldn't help but chuckle a little at Shadow's stumped expression.

By the time that lunch had rolled around, Stone had fully run out of food.
"How about we go look around for a town? We can do some extra shopping while we're there." He offered, mentally going through a list of things he'd need and counting his money. Maybe he could do some chores for money?

"Oh there's a town just down the coast." Sonic said mindlessly.

Stone mind felt a little like a goldfish that suddenly found itself suffocating in the middle of a desert, but the four of them did find a little harbour town some ten minute flight down the coast. Stumped, Stone thanked Sonic and Tails.

"Didn't you know about the town when you settled here?" Tails asked, Stone just stared at Tails until he thought about what he just said. It took him a good minute until the fox realised, "you didn't walk the house here intentionally, did you?"

"The house walked?!" Stone asked bewildered.

Tails and Sonic shared a pained look, "you didn't know?"
"…Well, I didn't know if it teleported or something." Stone admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. Sonic looked a little like he did back at the table, one moment just fine and the next withering alive where he stood. "All that chasing…" he muttered.

"Eh, what Sonic is trying to say is that we definitely had a time keeping up with the house… the whole night." Tails patted Sonic reassuringly. Stone thought about that for a moment.
"Wait, if the house was… 'walking', then how did you two keep up?"

"It might just be easier to show you." Tails said before he waved his hand over himself. Suddenly, as if something had snapped in the universe, Tails' feet left the ground. The fox pulled off the ground as if it was second nature and reached out to hold onto Sonic.
Sonic in turn held out a hand for Tails to hang on to. Now certainly floating, he balanced himself using his tails. Out of his stupor, Sonic smirked and turned to Stone.

"The village is that way, just stick to the beach and we'll reach it. Wanna race?" He asked, something in his voice betraying excitement. For what? Stone had no idea, but just as he was about to ask Sonic blurred.

Later he'd arrive at the village, ask Sonic and learn that each familiar has a magical thing that makes them unique, a thing with magic that just comes to them naturally; they weren't limited to it but it was a core part of them in some way. For Shadow that was teleporting, but for Sonic, well for Sonic it was speed.
So that was what Tails had meant earlier with claiming that Sonic was fast.

Instantly, Stone was almost knocked off his feet as one moment Sonic was standing there and holding onto a floating Tails and the next he was gone. Wind pulled after him as the two cheered and ran for the village, racing towards it with their unfair start.

The moment that Stone realised what was happening he yelped, threw down the roomba, grabbed Shadow - who squawked - and raced after them.

Reaching the village, Sonic and Tails had them beat. Looking at an imaginary watch while tapping his feet, Sonic welcomed them to the little harbour town, Tails was happily distracted with a flower patch as him and Shadow finally caught up.

The four talked as they went into the village, Shadow who hadn't spoken much at all that morning even piped up here or there. Mostly at Sonic's pestering, but Stone felt himself relax a bit when he saw Shadow and Sonic interact. He wasn't even aware that he worried about it but that little piece inside his chest still felt relief knowing Shadow at least got along with people.

It would be a late lunch by the time that Stone had gotten groceries, but that would be fine. "Anything else we want to get while we're here?" He asked the group, clutching a large bag of groceries to his chest. The little market was a joy and he might've gone a little overboard, but it was fine. Sonic shook his head no, Tails was deeply in thought and Shadow opened his mouth, about to ask to buy coffee beans, when a sudden shout rang through the air.

A wave of confusion rolled through the group when a group of villagers gathered on the beach, yelling in a panic as they looked out over the ocean. Sending a confused look to Shadow, the dark hedgehog just pulled up his shoulders. Making their way over, Stone put a little speed in his step. Reaching the group he turned to ask a woman what was going on.

"Someone's boat capsized!" She yelled, the group paled instantly. Stone jumped to look over the crowd and surely far in the distance there was the hull of a small fisher boat, reaching into the sky and no sailor in sight of it.

Stone jumped into action without a thought Stone threw the groceries in Shadow's arms, barking at him to wait there. He pulled out the roomba, ignoring the confused look from the woman, he grew it in his hands.
"Let me go with you!" Tails yelled, scrambling to climb on after Stone, Stone let him without a thought and before he could think too much about it, dodged around the group and raced over the ocean towards the boat.

They were there in less than a minute. Flying higher to catch a wider view, Stone looked around desperately, praying to any higher being he knew that the sailor wasn't trapped inside or worse.

"THERE!" Tails yelled suddenly, shooting off to where the fox was pointing Stone's eyes landed on the floating form of a man. Drifting aimlessly and unconsciously in the water Without talking, the two got to work, Stone held onto Tails as the young witch floated, reaching down to the man. His hand passed over the fisher and slowly but surely the man started to float above the sea, small trails of water following his form as Stone pulled Tails back and up.

Carefully, the two flew the unconscious man back to land.

The villagers were crowding around Stone the moment he and Tails reached the beach, gently landing on the sand, Stone helped Tails move the man to lie down on the beach. A sense of bewilderment passed through the crowd, whispers passed through the villagers as they stared at Stone and Tails. Suddenly, Stone felt very aware of what he'd just done and all of the adrenaline that had shot through his system started crashing now that he sat on the beach. The villagers weren't helping either, crowding closer and closer to the unconscious man, not just to check on him but to get a look at the two witches. Before he knew it Stone was bombarded with questions, like a pack of cats the villagers practically hounded him and Stone did not know how to feel.

"HEY, GIVE THEM SOME SPACE!" A shout tore through the crowd, villagers were pushed around until Shadow and Sonic burst through the crowd, Shadow sending one look at Stone and he wondered briefly if he looked as panicked as he felt. Shadow didn't say however as he turned back to the crowd and yelled at them to give them some space, Sonic helping him without second thought. Stone heard Tails take a breath next to him before he snapped out of it himself and checked on the man.

He was somewhere in his fifties and was dressed like your typical fisherman. A grey beard stuck to his face as well aged smile lines carved into his face. Stone would not have been able to pick him out of a crowd, other than maybe his round figure, but Stone's thoughts were interrupted as the man started coughing. The crowd gathered around them surged closer again, almost drowning out Shadow's shouting at them to get back.

Stone ignored them however, trusting (hoping) that Shadow had it handled. The man blinked his eyes open as he coughed, rolling sideways to spit out seawater. Stone tried to reassure the fisher, but he didn't exactly sound as confident as he would have liked even to himself, so he just tried to reassure the man while rubbing the man's back while he hacked it all up.

"Wha- what?" the man's voice wracked up between coughing fits, his voice rough from almost drowning and swallowing salt water. "Your boat capsized. You're alright now though, me and Tails got you out of the water." Stone explained, the man looked at his through squinting eyes before looking down to Tails who stood next to Stone, looking even more unsure than he did.

"Yo-" The man keeled over coughing, scaring Stone for a moment as he patted the mans back, trying to help him, "you did?" Nodding for an answer, Stone and Tails waited for the man to properly catch his breath.

One of the villagers had brought over a blanket and a towel which Sonic accepted and handed over to them. Shadow too preoccupied glaring down and chewing out the villagers that were still gathered around them.

Wrapping the man up, the group moved him a bit closer to the village. There was a bench at the edge of the beach where they sat him down. Slowly and bit by bit, the villagers started to go back to their daily activities when it became clear that the fisherman was going to be fine and that Stone and Tails weren't going to answer questions. Not that they could truly even ask when Shadow seemed like he'd be ready to snap at any moment.

The man turned out to live in the village, he'd been out fishing for the morning when a particular strong gust of wind knocked his boat over and he'd hit the water.
"One of the coastguards will tow your boat back to the harbour." One of the lingering villagers - the one who had lent them the blanket - said. The man nodded, from what Stone had gathered the coastguard had been called when someone had seen his boat capsize, but Stone and Tails had simply been faster.

"Welp, I guess I won't be doing much fishing anymore today." the fisher said jovially, Stone couldn't help but grin at him.
"With how long you were in the water for and with how much you swallowed, you shouldn't even be alone." Shadow walked up the the man, standing next to Stone who was still kneeling in front of him. Sonic sent the dark hedgehog a confused look, Shadow just sighed before explaining.
"He did drown for a bit and he could still face secondary drowning-" Shadow started monotonously, what he was saying wasn't cause for concern or uninteresting, but when Stone caught the fishers befuddled expression, he jumped in to shorten down Shadow's monologue. "I think what Shadow is trying to say is that it might be a good idea if we keep an eye on your sir, at least for a couple of hours."

The man laughed out a hearty laugh, briefly interrupted by a coughing fit that had everyone dive to pat the man on the back, but afterwards he went right back to laughing. "Sir? No need to call me sir, I'm not that old yet." he smiled brightly at the group. Stone couldn't help but silently disagree, jumping to put a hand over Shadow's mouth when the dark hedgehog was about to loudly disagree with the man.

"And alright, getting an extra set of hand to look over the Tsunami won't hurt." He continued as he stood up, folding the blanket. Raising an eyebrow, Stone rose to stand with the man, picking up the grocery bag as he and the rest began to walk with the man to his home.

"The Tsunami?" Sonic asked, using a little speed to run around the small group as if he was lounging.
"My boat." The fisher explained, Sonic nodded.

The group made their way over to a small house by the docks, it was just outside the village by the water edge, surrounded by small, metal, storage houses. One in particular caught Stone's eyes, it was a little bigger than the rest and situated closer to the forest than the rest, still close enough to clearly belong to the house but it still stood out to him. It looked more like a hangar than a storage house.
The door stood ajar and when Stone caught a glimpse of the inside he understood why it looked like a hanger. It was a hanger.

"Is that an airplane?!" Stone jumped in surprise, Tails looked at the hangar that Stone was looking at and before the man could reply the young fox took off.
Tails ran up to the hangar door and practically dragged it open to reveal a broken plane.

Instantly, he was all over the aircraft, asking questions, pointing out technical things like it's motor and model type. It was a bit disorientating until Stone took a step back and lost Tails completely as he dove somewhere inside the plane itself. Still talking, but now wholly inaudible.

The man laughed like a drain at his enthusiasm. "It is indeed, the old Tornado. Well I've had her since my teen years, but ah-" the man's tone fell a bit as he continued. "I haven't flown with her since she broke down some years ago, I never quite had the time to fix her." He lamented.

Stone could see it, the plane needed more than just a fresh coat of paint, but he could also see past that. When Tails popped up in the pilot seat, Stone could see the stars in his eyes, he clearly knew what he was talking about when he info-dumped about the plane and it didn't take a genius to see that he loved tech.
"He's always been a bit of a tech-nerd." Sonic eventually said, grinning at Tails' enthusiasm. The stars in Tails' eyes reminded Stone a little of that morning, when he'd asked how he'd flown, when he'd explained how he and Sonic dreamed of going around the world and then an idea struck Stone like a brick.

Throwing his arm around the man, he turned the two of them a little around and leaned in to whisper. Confused but curious, the man leaned in to hear him.
"Could we maybe take if off your hands?" The man, caught off-guard by his request, leaned back. A moment passed, Stone was starting to think that the man staring at him with eyes as wide as saucers was going to reject him right there and then only for him to suddenly and simply bursting out into a bellowing laugh that surprised Sonic, Shadow and Stone.

"Well, when you ask it like that. Sure, I don't see why not." He laughed, hitting Stone on his back, almost knocking him over without even noticing he did. "Take it as my token of thanks, for saving my life earlier."

Smiling brightly, Stone thanked the man as he turned back to the three Mobians. Tails was still absorbed by the plane, but Shadow and Sonic were looking at him puzzled.

"Hey Tails!" Stone yelled.
Walking up to the fox, Shadow and Sonic followed him confused. The fisher yelled something about setting up the kettle and to come find him in his house when they were done. Stone turned to thank him before yelling out to Tails again.

"Tails!" The trio entered the hangar as Tails finally jumped out from the Tornado, floating a little above the ground before setting himself down. "Yeah?" he asked as he looked up at them.

"Remember when you said earlier that you and Sonic wanted to travel the world together?" Stone heard a gasp behind him as Sonic realised what Stone was doing.
Tails send a confused look to his brother, but the man caught his attention again as he kneeled down before the yellow fox.

"How about we fix up that plane? You could certainly travel the world with a machine like that." Realisation dawned on Tails. Disbelief slowly turned to a sort of buzzing in the young witch.

Sonic looked over Stone's side, eyeing his younger brother as the fox was practically jumping with energy where he stood. "Uh, oh." Sonic said jokingly, putting his fingers up in a count down as he smiled at Tails.
When Sonic hit zero, Tails exploded.

Running between the Tornado, thanking Stone, and screaming Sonic's ears of as he seemingly tore the blue hedgehogs arm off. Stone jumped in surprise, his stupefaction quickly melting into a smile as he watched Tails run out of the hangar and straight through the front door of the fishers house to thank the man as well.

A scream rang out from the house that wiped the smile off Stone's face, sharing a worried glance with Sonic and Shadow, the three booked it to the house. Barging in, Stone was met with an oblivious Tails, wildly shaking the fisherman's arm as a woman around the same age stood in the kitchen, panting. A tray dropped to the floor as she glared at the fox while clutching her heart.

The man sent her apologetics looks as Tails talked a mile a minute, situational awareness completely gone. Stone, seeing as there wasn't anything wrong other than a frightened lady, sighed in relief. Sonic snickered behind him before yelping out a soft "ow". 'Shadow probably hit him', Stone thought as he apologised to the woman for the scare and went to help her clean up.
Later when the four were seated around the fisher's dining table, Stone poured the re-brewed tea and thanked them properly.

Stone wasn't kidding when he said that the plane could use more than just a new coat of paint. After drinking some tea with the fisherman and his wife, the group quietly left out the door when his wife had started chewing him out for almost dying at sea after Shadow told her of how they all had met. The man might have looked at Stone pleadingly when he slowly backed away, but that just meant that Stone felt bad about leaving him to face his wife alone.

Tails had dragged them out to the plane before they all headed back to the cottage, wanting to take one last look over it to make a list of repairs.
They'd stayed there for a bit, Shadow lounging around the hangar while Sonic and Stone tried to make suggestions, which was more of a guessing game between the two where the one with the better suggestions would supposedly win and Tails unknowingly became the judge of.

"I'm not too sure about the motor…" Tails admitted eventually, his tails sticking out from under the hull. Stone's faced scrunched at the idea of having to replace the whole thing, he wouldn't even know where to begin.

"Don't worry Tails, if anyone can figure it out it's you." Sonic assured him before quickly sticking out his tongue at Stone, he'd guessed the motor would need replacing and was now surely winning the game. A bolt hit him in the back of his head, making him bite on his tongue.
Glaring back at Shadow, the dark familiar just smirked at Sonic as he toyed with another bolt in his hand. Stone just sighed.

Tails climbed out from under the plane, he didn't look too confident about Sonic's words, completely blind to the glaring between the two familiars. The blue hedgehog turned back to his brother and squeezed his shoulder.
"I mean it pal." He said confidently. The fox's shoulders relaxed a bit at Sonic's reassurance, a smile overtaking his worried frown.

"Right, well for now we can focus on some other things." Tails began as Shadow walked over from wherever he'd been lounging. Sonic sat himself on the ground, ready to listen to Tails rant. Stone hesitated a moment before joining him and looking at Tails to start. Shadow just stood behind to the two instead of sitting down with them, seeming wholly uninterested in what Tails had to say, but Stone had a hunch that he was also listening in.

Tails stood in front of the plane as he started.
"I need to replace the wheels and the propeller, there's no way around it. The rubbers run through and with the rust build up on these," Tails held a small list in one hand that he didn't take his eyes off when he knocked against the propeller with his other hand. Surprise ran through him when instead knocking against thin steel, his hand knocked out a piece of the propeller. Jumping back, Sonic jumped up to pull him away form the plane.

"Uh… is the rest of the plane also like that?" He asked as everyone stared at the old propeller missing a Tails-fist-sized chunk. Tails shook his head no, yet didn't take his eyes away from the flimsy metal either.
"No, uh, the hull only has a slight layer of rust. Nothing so… extensive."

Stone nodded. Right, they were definitely going to need to replace the propeller.

"If you want to fix up the old girl, then I'd start from the bottom up." A voice rang through the hangar. Stone spun around to the door, standing in the entrance was the fisher's wife. She had greying hair that she wore in a bun and a rather poofy dress that she'd tied down with a roughly loved apron. "The town's got a small junkyard, you got probably get some good wheels from there." There was a sort of cheek in her tone that Stone expected more from an adventurer than from a lady in her sixties.

Walking into the hangar, she held out a hand to Shadow. Confused, he held out his hand too. She took it. Shook hard and moved on to Stone and the rest.
"I wanted to thank you four for saving my husband."

Rubbing his sore hand, Stone gave her a wry smile. Ow. "It's really no problem."

"You- uh- said something about a junkyard?" Tails asked hesitantly after a bit.
"Right, you're keen to fix up the old Tornado, aren't you foxie? There's a small junkyard, just a bit form here. An old coot runs the place, but you might get your mitts on a good pair of wheels." The fisherwoman pulls a face as if she's bitten into a particularly sour lemon at the mention of the junkyard owner. "Gaia knows I saw a few that I thought would fit the old girl last time I came over for tea."

They talked for a while, going over where to find the junkyard, asking about the village itself and whatnot. Stone - briefly - checked on Shadow to make sure the familiar wasn't being bored to death, but Stone was pleasantly surprised to see the dark hedgehog talking with Sonic.
It was more of a 'Sonic talks and Shadow glares' situation, but that was basically a win for Shadow's social skills.

After waving the old woman goodbye, the four of them made their way over to the junkyard. It's a little while away from the village, but Stone decided to walk anyway.
When they got to the junkyard, the group was already in high spirits from the short trip over. Sonic was telling some story about Tails that the younger fox was trying to smother him for.

The fisherwoman wasn't kidding when she said that the junkyard was small. They were met by a white two story house in the middle of a clearing, attached to the garden was a high-fenced off yard, an open gate sat as an entrance with a sign hanging from the top. 'JUNKYARD' was all it read and yes, it was a little on the nose, Stone thought, but it did fit perfectly. Even from where he stood, Stone could see the trash piled up high inside, old broken down cars, cartoonishly broken up furniture and much more.

Stone wasn't entirely sure how to go about getting the tires, but before he could even really think about it the door to the little house slammed open and out hobbled an old man.

"Hi?" Stone threw out unsure.
"Anything I can help you with?" The man yowled. Sharing a look with Shadow, Tails and Sonic before Tails asked hesitantly.
"Uhm, are you the man who runs the junkyard?"
"And what's it to you?" The man hobbled closer.
"Uh, we wanted to ask if we could- get some… tires…" Tails managed to get out before the man stood right in his personal space. The expression on his face changed however, from scorning to joyful.
"I might have a few of those, but I'm not running a charity here, I want something in return!"

Shadow and Stone shared a glance. Stone was at a slight loss while Shadow was looking at him in utter confusion, yet hiding it well under a stoic expression.

"Uh, sure…. anything we could help with?" Maybe Stone should not have implied that they didn't have money. He was fairly sure that they didn't have car tire money, but the old man smiled the moment those words left his mouth. Stone felt a shiver crawl up and down his spine and in the corner of his eye he thought he could see Shadow doing the same.

"Boy, do I have a list."

When the sun was setting, Stone, together with Shadow and Sonic laid heaving in the centre of the junkyard. Too tired for regret, Stone wondered how feasible it was to get Shadow to teleport them all back into the cottage instead of having to walk or fly. Not sure whether he could do either at the moment.

The old man hovered above them, Tails right at his side as he looked down at them with a concerned expression. Stone never wanted to go through that again.

"Well, you young people have certainly earned those tires, haven't you?" The man said grinning. Stone wished he had enough energy to turn over so he wouldn't have to see that face again after the day he'd had but alas, he didn't so he was stuck.

"I'll- uh- get them." Tails said hesitantly before running off, letting the others catch their breath and Stone was so grateful for the little fox.

"I can't feel my legs." Sonic groaned somewhere above him.
"Shut up." Shadow said from somewhere too.

Tails had been saved from the labour, but Stone - an adult - was not nearly so lucky. Sure, doing a few things for a good pair of car tires sounded nice when the man had proposed it. Now, Stone knew that evil existed in the world and it manifested itself in innocent-looking, old men. That innocent-looking old man had started telling a story about him in his younger years, probably the same one he'd been touting the entire day while Stone, Shadow and Sonic had been rearranging the junkyard.
This time, now that Stone laid down, the man's voice brought him to more of a lull than it had earlier and before Stone realised, he'd fallen into a shallow sleep.

Tails returned with a line of tires floating behind him. Walking up to the trio, Sonic, Shadow and Stone were still laying on the ground. Shadow and Sonic we're busy with a glaring contest while Stone was lightly snoring. The old man stood at their side, re-telling a story from earlier, commending the guys for being such great listeners.

Stifling a laughter, Tails took one look around the junkyard again, it had taken a while but the place certainly looked better after five rearrangements. That old man had been really indecisive, also incomprehensible half of the time but hey! Everyone survived. Tails' eyes caught onto something red at the edge of the junkyard. Dropping the tires next to Stone for a second, the young witch scurried up to the object. It turned out to be a red coffee machine, one of the fancier ones he'd seen in storefronts. Tails was surprised to find one such like this one in a junkyard, but giving the coffee maker a quick look over he noted that it was broken.

Glancing back at the group, Stone was still snoring on the ground. The old man still absorbed with telling his story and Sonic and Shadow still doing what they're doing. Tails had had a long day, not in a bad way but even he was feeling a bit tired despite not doing much heavy lifting like the others and Stone… The day had started off weird, weirder than usual at least. When the man had slammed open his door, Tails forgot all about what he and Sonic had chased that walking house down for. But when they'd been invited inside, ate some really good pasta and he got to ask what they'd come to ask, he'd been left disappointed. And yet, Stone hadn't given up. He'd offered them a place to sleep, probably upending his own plans if Shadow's reaction was anything to go by and Tails had to admit that he'd appreciated that more than Stone thought. Not a lot of people would open their walking doors to someone they don't know.

"Hey, old man!" Tails turned back to the group, the man halted mid sentence to yell back an acknowledging tone to Tails, not at all disturbed with the title. "Could I… maybe also get this?" Tails asked, tapping his hands on the red coffee maker.
The old coot looked at him for a moment, Tails almost thought that the man had fallen asleep, standing, with his eyes open, when he just shrugged. "Sure." He said, before turning back to Stone and starting over again, Stone let out a particularly loud snore as Tails picked up the coffee machine and happily skipped over to his pile of goods. Shadow and Sonic sending him a combined look of confusion.

When Stone woke up, he had half a mind to ask how he'd woken up in the cottage and why he was sitting in the chair at the dining table, however he thought better of it and got up to pour himself a cup of water from the kitchen. He should probably see if there was a plumber in the village to check his pipes, it'd be good to check just in case, but if it turned out that the water wasn't safe then Stone could kiss his wallet goodbye. Filling up a cup Stone looked around the barren kitchen, the cupboard were clean, Stone still wasn't sure whether Shadow was or wasn't the one who'd cleaned those, the red coffee machine was nice but it'd needed a new coat of paint, oh he should hang up some curtains for the window-

Stone turned back to the coffee machine, since when did he have a coffee machine?
It looked like an expensive model, one that'd use real ground coffee beans to makes coffee with and he had never seen it in his life. The one Corey had used looked a little like it but theirs was bigger and less red. Actually theirs was not red at all, but that was beside the point.
The point was: where the hell did this coffee machine come from?

"Oh Stone, you're awake!"
Stone turned - still astonished - to be met with Tails standing on the stairs. The young fox was rubbing some sleep from his eyes as he made his way down. Stone wasn't sure where Shadow or Sonic were but they were probably upstairs.
"Hey Tails, what is this?" He asked, slightly concerned as he pointed to the red coffee machine with both hands. Tails looked at him confused for a moment before his eyes lit up as he realised what Stone was asking.
"Oh! well…" Stone watched as the fox looked down at the floor, his whole frame shrinking a bit as he started fumbling with his gloves. He had a smudge of maybe motor oil streaked across his cheek and Stone questioned for how long he'd been out for.

"Well, I hope it's not a problem, I didn't ask whether you wanted one or even if you like coffee. I'm sorry I just put it down, I wasn't sure where you wanted it-" Tails started rambling a mile a minute. Stone felt a lot more awake, being hit with this nervous speech, but he quickly assured Tails when he managed to butt in.

"Hey, hey, Tails it's fine. Really, I'm not mad." He tried to placate the young witch. It didn't seem to be working much with how Tails was still looking at him with that same near-panicked look on his face.
"I'm more surprised if anything but- Thank you." Stone said earnestly, Tails shoulders dropped as he breathed out a relieved sigh. Stone, happy to see the fox relax, guided Tails to the chair as he abandoned the idea of getting himself some water and instead tried to figure out how to make himself a cup of coffee. Maybe even a latte if he figured out where the others had put the milk.

Some quick searching awarded him with one whole carton. After fiddling around with the machine he figured out how to heat up the milk and to his satisfaction managed to make not only a shoddy latte, but something for Tails too.

"Do you usually make coffee so late?" Tails piped up as Stone placed a steaming cup of milk in front of him. Stone looked out of the window to see the moon high in the sky, his mind immediately went to the first night he'd met Shadow, it would have been a night similar to this.
"Sort of," He answered absentmindedly, finishing his own latte before taking a seat across from Tails. "I'm kind of hoping it's not becoming a habit though." He really should think of his sleep schedule, Stone thought as he took a sip. Tails smiled as he drank his own warm cup of milk.

There was a moustache on his face next time he spoke. "I saw it in the junkyard, it wasn't too badly damaged so I asked the old man if I could have it."
Stone considered this, "and you didn't have to do more work for it?" Tails shook his head no.
"So that man does know mercy…" Stone muttered into his cup.

Tails didn't comment, the two fell into a simple silence as the night crept along. It was nice, Stone could faintly hear the forest outside and the scent of mahogany lingered in the room, mixed with warm milk and coffee. He felt warm, pleasantly so.

"Thank you, for the coffee machine, I was afraid that Shadow was just going to eat all the beans before I could try them myself." Stone broke the silence after a moment.
Tails head drooped down, he looked as if he could fall asleep where he sat, but he tried to stay awake anyway.
"You could always try eating the beans…" He said, forcing down a yawn so badly that Stone couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Ok, I think that's enough midnight talk for you. Finish your milk and let's put you to bed-" Stone and Tails jumped as a dull thud sounded from the stairs. Shooting up, Stone looked over Tails to where the sound had come from. Had Shado- No, had Sonic fallen down the stairs?

The stairs in the cottage had been a little odd when Stone had actually looked at them the first time. They crept along two walls and instead of offering some extra storage space underneath it was just a solid wall. That solid wall was now gone, having fallen over to reveal a bed. Under the stairs. Where there had only been a wall.

Tails and Stone just looked at each other for a moment before walking over to investigate. The wall hadn't broken or anything, no sign of splintered wood or- or anything, the wall that dropped open revealed a small room underneath the stairs, Stone imagined that somebody would be able to fit their stuff into the nook even if the bed was pushed back up. The bed itself seemed big enough for two people.

"Was this… always here?" Tails asked hesitantly.
"No…" Stone answered. Sure he hadn't done a proper rundown of the place, but he was certain that there hadn't been a pull-down bed under the stairs, until now.

He had no idea how, but it felt as if the room had created itself. Stone had slightly worried before how he was going to fit Tails and Sonic into the house with there being no couch and Shadow probably unwilling to share his room, but… well, that concern had fixed itself it seemed.

"Would you and Sonic like to room here for the time being?" Stone gestured to the bed. Tails just looked at it for a moment until he nodded, seemingly still a bit stunned.

The two had inspected the bed for a bit. Stone found some bed covers and pillows a bit further into the bed nook and with the help of Tails fixed the bed.
Tails went back up the stairs to get Sonic after they were finished and Stone couldn't help but wonder how the bed had gotten there for a final time. Eventually he decided to forgo the explanation, after the two days he'd just had, forgoing a logical explanation just seemed to become a bit of a theme so Stone waited for Sonic and Tails to climb down the stairs, bid adieu to a very sleepy Tails and a very confused Sonic and went up to his own closet bed.

It took a few days time, but Stone and Tails did manage to eventually track down a good replacement for the propeller.

In the mean time, the group of two witches and two familiars fell into a bit of a routine around the cottage. Stone would wake up first, go downstairs and make breakfast while Sonic and Tails stirred awake in their pull down bed. Shadow would come down to help him set up before either actually got up and the four would eat breakfast.
Sonic would accompany Tails as he went to the hangar and tinker away at the plane, Stone and Shadow in the mean time would go around town to help with small tasks. Running an errand here, babysitting a child there and delivering something small, all for a little cash or reward.
When they had free time, the four would go out and look for the replacement parts Tails needed for the Tornado and at the end of the day they'd all track back to the cottage, Stone would make dinner - cooking was something he'd first abhorred doing but started to enjoy as it became routine - and they'd all retire deep in the night.

At first the villagers were wary, but it didn't last long before they warmed up to the four of them. One time Stone sent Shadow to pick up something from the grocer for dinner and the dark hedgehog came teleporting back in the cottage carrying way more than just butter and a pan whilst covered in silly string and marker paint. Stone had not resoundingly laughed at him - he swears - as he'd helped the familiar wash up and listen to his horrors stories of old grannies and harassing toddlers, but he got pretty close.

Shadow had survived, is what Stone is getting at.

But back to the propeller. It had taken a few days to track one down. Replacing the propeller had been non-negotiable. The way it had snapped when Tails knocked on it had become a bit of an inside joke around the cottage now, one that Tails was probably never going to live down, but they really did need a new one. Or, according to the group of kids who had given them the poster, they needed an old one.

It had been a rainy day, Stone and Shadow were soaked through as they were delivering some groceries. The lady who opened the door took one long look at the mostly unbothered familiar and shivering witch before promptly herding them inside, taking no 'no' or 'but's' as answer.
Despite Stone's protests, she sat them against the heater and went to the kitchen to whip up something warm.

"You'll both catch a cold at this rate," she berated them as Shadow nudged him and pointed somewhere to the backdoor. "Honestly, you're almost as bad as my boys." Looking to where the familiar was pointing, Stone caught sight of two little heads sticking out from behind the door, the moment one of them noticed that he'd seen them there was a scuffle and both heads quickly disappeared, the door slamming closed.

Walking back from the kitchen, the woman handed Stone and Shadow both a mug of hot chocolate. Her tone as scowling as a mother's could be, but her face betraying her own amusement.
Sipping from his mug, Stone watched as Shadow stared at the marshmallows floating in his own cup.

"And you two can come in." The woman announced, straightening up.
Confused, Shadow and Stone looked at her and then where she was looking, back to the door as two kids shuffled in from outside. Nervousness was etched into the taller kids frame as the shorter hid behind him, the woman just smiled as she shook her head.

"I believe that these two have something they want to give you." The woman said to Stone, the tall kid looked devastatingly betrayed at his mom.
"Well don't go look at me like that, go get it." She encouraged, "he's not gonna read your mind about it." Stone watched as the two kids quickly unfreeze and scramble up the stairs, the shorter pausing for a moment before disappearing from sight.
"Can you read minds?" He asked in a little voice. Stone couldn't help but laugh, he really couldn't but saying that would take away half the fun.
Shrugging casually, Stone just took another sip. The kid glared at him for a moment, trying to tell if that was an answer or not. Giving up before Stone even finished his sip, he ran after his brother.

The sound of clattering rang out from upstairs, it sounded almost like a whirlwind was tearing through a bedroom. Stone and Shadow looked at each other confused, Stone sent another confused look to the woman but the boy's mother only shrugged herself. The two boys practically threw themselves down the stairs, it was a miracle that they didn't fall face flat on the floor but going by their mom's reaction, this was normal.

The older held out a piece of paper in Stone's face. Confused, he gave his hot chocolate to Shadow, taking the poster from the frazzled boy he saw it was a museum poster.

"There's a plane museum a town over, dad took us once." The younger explained as Stone read the text. Instantly, the gears in his mind clicked.
Word must have spread through the village of Tails fixing up the old Tornado, while there weren't a lot of plane parts in this small seaside village, living this far from any major city the villagers grew rather resourceful.
Shooting up from his seat he thanked the woman, the boys, and like a whirlwind himself, he ran out the front door towards the hangar. Shadow, watched him go quietly until the dark hedgehog realised that Stone left him behind, quickly downing his drink - and Stone's too - he handed both cups to the lady and took off after Stone. Pausing by the entrance to thank the lady and her kids again before following the witch into the pouring rain.

Tails and Sonic had been a little surprised to see Stone burst in from the pouring rain, soaked to the bone, holding a soggy piece of paper. However, after Tails had spelled off the water, the excitement in the room shot through the roof. Sonic had proposed that they'd get it right at that moment, but Shadow put a resounding halt to that plan when he'd arrived at the hanger, soggier and unamused.

Tails and Stone went the next day, Shadow and Sonic stayed behind, reason being that they had made plans with the fisherman for that day. Sonic proposed they post-pone, but Shadow had shot that idea down faster than Sonic could run, saying something along the lines of 'good manners' and 'fulfilling plans'.

The end result was that Stone and Tails had spent the morning flying to the next town over. It was a sunny day, the earth still smelt of petrichor from the day before and Stone took to putting his hard earned money to good use by treating Tails to lunch before heading down to the museum.

Another benefit of going the next day was that Stone had managed to email the museum with an explanation and pictures and all that, to his surprise the museum keeper emailed back. They'd agreed to meet at the museum entrance and when the two go there, a woman in a green coat and bead-adorned glasses met them in the entrance.

"Hi! You two must be Stone and Tails." She greeted the two. She kept the introductions short, Stone couldn't help but notice at second glance that she looked worn. Eye bags sat under her eyes and she looked a bit more frazzled up close.

"Walk with me," she said, leading them into the museum, straight past the ticket desk and right into the hull of the building.
The outside wasn't any different from the other buildings around the museum, but the inside had been remodelled to resemble a large airplane hanger, the type Stone has only seen in movie airports where the main character is in an abandoned military base in the amazon. The three kept walking past exhibits and information panels, Tails looked like he was walking amongst the stars themselves, sometimes stopping by an exhibit to tell Stone all about the model or pointing out mechanical things at a speed and with the vocabulary of an aerospace engineer that Stone couldn't follow. The museum keeper however, seemed to keep up just fine and even parted with a fact here and there in Tails' info dumps. But even as she did, her voice seemed tight like she'd been worrying about something. Tails didn't seem to notice, but Stone couldn't help the growing feeling of worry in the back of his mind.

Eventually they were led out of the exhibits and into more of a storage area. The planes here seemed less like the models out in the museum and more like the Tornado that Tails was fixing up.
Eventually the museum keeper stopped in front of a model that Stone didn't recognise.

"I read your email, you're looking for a propeller like this airplane has right?" Pointing towards the head of the plane, Stone didn't realise that it was the part they needed as much as he heard Tails squeal "YES!"

"That's great, you also mentioned that we could discuss the exchange right?" There was a slightly desperate undertone in her question that threw Stone for a loop.
"Uh, yes. I did-" Before he could even finish his sentence the woman threw herself on her knees, before he could even react she was in tears shaking Tails by his shoulders as she spoke.

"CAN YOU FIND MY CAT?! SHE'S BEEN MISSING FOR WEEKS AND I CAN'T FIND HER AND NOTHING IS WORKING AND-" Stone was stunned as he watched the woman shake Tails like a snow globe. He wasn't really sure if she realised she was shaking the fox. Tails however, was starting to look a little green.

"Uh, ma'am." Stone tried to interject, the woman didn't seem to hear him as she went on.
"Ma'am?" Stone tried again. Nothing. If it was possible then Stone thought that she was shaking Tails harder now.

"Ma'am, we'll gladly help you find your cat…" Stone said, placing a hand on her shoulder. His words finally seemed to get through to her as her head whipped to him, tears brimming in her eyes as she looked at him with pure hope.
"YOU WILL?!" She asked between sobs.

Tails tried to answer, but all that fell out of his mouth was scrambled words.
"Yes, we'll gladly help you find your cat." Stone answered in his stead, sure that the young witch was fine, hopefully.

After drying her tears and apologising to Tails for manhandling him a little in her distress, she explained that her cat had been missing for almost a month. She was a long haired, Maine cat, grey fur, eyes more green that yellow.
"And she loves snacks." The woman recounted, briefly blowing her nose on a handkerchief she's procured from thin air.
"Really, really loves snacks."

Tails and Stone nodded to her description. Setting out an hour later to go find the missing cat.

"So, how are we going to find that cat…" Stone asked, he'd told her that they'd help in her search, but that didn't exactly mean that he knew where to start, let alone actually find that cat.

"Actually, I might have something to help with that." Tails said pulling something from his pockets.

Stone gave Tails a look of confusion as the young witch revealed a handful of dried flowers. Tails however, showed them of pridefully.
"Uh, I like your flowers?" Stone tried, Tails just went from prideful to unimpressed.

"These," he palmed the petals between his hands as Stone watched him with abject curiosity. "Are going to help us find that cat." Opening his palms, all that Stone was met with was crushes petals.

"…Ok."
"You're just saying that 'cus you don't believe me, don't you?" Stone wasn't sure whether to say yes or no, but Tails beat him to it.
"Just watch."

Bringing his cupped hands to his mouth, Tails whispered something into his hands. Stone couldn't make out what, but the fox took a deep breath and blew the petals out of his hand. The petals whirled to the ground for a moment, when a sudden gust of wind blew them back up. Circling the two witches, the petals slowly moved through the air, slower than should be possible, before the wind carried them in a new direction.

"Well come on! We can't loose that spell, it should take us to the cat directly." Tails exclaimed, running after the spell. Stone stood there dumbfounded, quickly snapping out of it and running after Tails.

The two followed the petals as they led them through the city. Every time Stone thought they'd finally fall to the ground, a breeze or gust of wind that came from nowhere blew them a few feet ahead. It wasn't a flashy spell of any kind, but Stone couldn't help but feel mesmerised anyway. The people around them parted for the floating petals like the sea, but otherwise didn't do much else other than stare as he did. Tails on the other hand was acting as if he saw things like this everyday, he probably did when Stone thought about it.

"So, how- what's this petal spell?" Stone asked eventually. The two turned a corner when Tails looked up at him questioningly.
"Petal spell?" The young witch asked with mirth. "I learned it from a Find'o'Wisp, I think that makes it a wisp spell." Stone raised an eyebrow at Tails.
"A wisp spell?"
"yeah, a spell you learn from a wisp" Tails said, as if that explained much. Stone however, mulled over the words for a moment.

"I thought spells were passed down from parent to child?"

Tails laughed at that, Stone gave him an unimpressed look as the young witch turned his attention back to the spell.
"Oh no, if they were then I would've never learned any magic."
Still walking with a brisk pace to keep up with the flying petals, the two reached a square. Cars drove by as the two stopped in front of a red light. The sun peeked down at them from behind the scattered trees and spread out buildings. It wasn't exactly hot for a summer day, but a group of school children walked past them with ice creams in hand. They gave Stone and Tails a curious look as the two waited at the crossing before scurrying off when one of them noticed Stone was looking at them and yelled.
Stone watched them run off in the distance before Tails tugged on his sleeve, pointing that the light was green now and the two ran off to catch up to the petals. Once they'd found the trail again, Tails picked up where he'd left off.
"I mean, parents can pass on spells, but it's not the only way to learn magic."

The words rolled around in Stone's mind like, well, stones. He knew that Tails had practically been raised by Sonic from a young age. He'd asked Sonic about it once at dinner and the teen familiar had admitted openly that it had been more than rough, but they pulled through. Stone however, also knew that familiars didn't know much about spells. Shadow certainly didn't know anything and the dark hedgehog was also very happy that his thousand frog spell hadn't worked, even if he didn't know why it hadn't.
"A thousand frogs indoors is stupid Stone." Shadow berated him after. Sure Stone agreed, but he had still hoped a little that it would have work, just so he could do magic. But Stone seriously doubted that Sonic knew more about magic than Shadow did and certainly knew less about it that Tails, so how had Tails learned all the magic he had?

The only way to know was to ask: "How?

It was Tails' turn to mull over his words again, the two turned another corner and crossed another street before the young witch piped up again. "Well, magic is all around us." He started, "It's out there, in the world. Spells can be given or learned."
"I got that one from a Find'o'Wisp, but levitation came to me naturally- uh." The two made a sudden turn when the petals went down one street, but suddenly turned into a narrow alleyway. Tails yelped as he dove straight after them, Stone hot on his heels.

When the two emerged from the other side Tails looked around frantically until Stone spotted the petals and the two ran again to catch up.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, Tails took a moment to catch his breath before continuing once again.

"There's a few others, they're handy while on the road. Like washing up and starting a fire."

Stone gasped as he realised something, hitting his palm with a fist.
"That's why witches go on voyages!" Tails perked up at that.
"Yeah! You go out there and learn magic." He exclaimed.
Stone had always thought that witches went out on the road to find their own place in the world and to practice their magic. While that still remained a part of the voyage in his mind, the idea that witches also went out there to learn magic fit in like a missing puzzle piece. To Stone it was a missing piece that fit in a puzzle that missed half the board, a feeling of sadness surged up his chest. This was something that he was supposed to know, should have since he was a kid, but he was 32 now and just figuring this out. What would his life be like if he had known this from the very beginning? Frustration crawled along his skin, overwhelming that grief for a life he never had and never will. No use mourning nothing, as he always told himself.

"I wish I could cast spells." He threw out there, not really thinking about it.

"Well, spells aren't the only form of magic you know?" Tails answered, not noticing Stone's inner turmoil. " I mean there's your house-"
"That's not really my magic Tails," Stone cut him off, "the house is just magical on it's own."
"…right," Tails said slowly. "Well what about botany?"
"Botany?"
"Right, botany. There are magical plants everywhere and you could make them into potions. Sonic and I never really tried it - not really that interesting to me to be honest - but we do have a few things somewhere, probably some seeds too. You could have them if you like." Tails said as the two passed by a large gate.

Stone took Tails' offer into consideration. Botany… did he mean alchemy? Thinking to what he already knew about witches, Stone knew that they also made potions in cauldrons and while he never really saw himself standing in front of one, how hard could that be? It sure as hell sounded a lot better than shouting random words while waving his hands around to no effect. In addition, he already knew how to cook a little, he was no chef by any means, but a few of the villagers had taken to sharing recipes with him that he's been trying out and by now he only burned half of the things he tried to make! Looking out at the petals in front of him, they drifted a little to left, he still wasn't sure what a Wisp spell or even a Find'o'Wisp was but the crushed petals seemed a vital part of the spell. Maybe this could even be a step up to what he wanted.

Like a weight lifted of his shoulders, Stone felt assured by the younger witches words. He'd started walking a bit slower when lost in thought, but when Stone noticed he quickened his pace to catch up. He frowned for a moment when he couldn't spot the petals in front of Tails anymore but that's when Stone bumped into the young witch himself.
Confused, Stone looked down at Tails. The yellow fox didn't even acknowledge that Stone had almost mowed him over, his attention captured by something to the side.

"Uhh… I think I found the cat."

Looking up from Tails, Stone noticed the gate he hadn't given much thought to. It led into the parking lot of a retirement home and that's when Stone noticed the petal spell floating towards the door of the building.
Looking at the building, it seemed simple. Square, three story building with big windows for the residents and apparently cats to enjoy the sun. The porched entrance had an overhang that-

Stone spun back to the big windows. There, in the windowsill of the retirement home sat a Maine Coon - with long, grey hair and yellowy green eyes - sunbathing peacefully.

The two witches looked at each other for a moment before stepping in to the retirement home. Five minutes later, they stepped out again with Tails' arms full of cat.

According to her owner, the cat had been missing for weeks. Stone had expected to find the cat hungry, dirtied or hurt even. But what he hadn't expected was for the - scratched up - retirement home worker they'd talked to to burst into tears while thanking them.
The Maine Coon that was purring in Tails' arms was a 'master manipulator' according to the worker, somehow winning all the hearts of the residents while terrorising the staff. She wasn't even sure how the cat did it, but it was painfully obvious that the old people of the home had a weak spot for cute cats and those weak spots came with treats. The cat was fat, not starved.

When they'd showed the cat to her owner, the museum curator burst into tears herself. Her joy garnered a lot of weird look from the visitors, but Stone didn't pay them much mind. He's had enough weird looks for himself the last couple of weeks. Stone and Tails had earned that propeller fair and square. Taking them back to the storage unit, the curator helped Tails unscrew the propeller and put it in a wooden box for save keeping.
"How are you going to bring this with you actually?" She asked as she finished tying a rope around the crate, a small request that Tails had made and that had she simply shrugged to and complied with. Grinning Tails tapped the box, taking the end of the rope in his hand as the three of them watched the box start floating in the sky.
"Woah…"

Taking the propeller back to the village was easy. Stone and Tails hopped onto his roomba, Tails held on to the rope and Stone flew them back to the coastal town. The propeller dragging after them through the air.

The two arrived in the village near sun down. Landing near the grocer, Stone picked up some final things for dinner that night and the two made their way over to the hangar so Tails could store the propeller for the night. They were locked in conversation as they walked when Tails suddenly fell silent, his eyes locking on something in the distance.
Stone was about to ask him what was wrong when the young witch suddenly dropped the box and took off in the direction of the beach.

Stone was stunned before he noticed three figures on the beach. Fear spiked through him as he took off after Tails, remembering he had groceries in his hand he propped them against the crate before running after Tails.

On the beach sat Shadow and the fisherman huddled around the form of one blue hedgehog. Sonic was laying on the ground hacking up water while Shadow and the fisherman were trying to help.

"SONIC!" Tails scream rang out over the beach, the young witch slid to his knees in front of the blue hedgehog. Shadow and the fisherman giving them some space while Stone finally caught up. Grabbing his hand, Tails looked frantically over his familiar, his brother. Sonic's eyes were unfocused, but Stone saw the blue hedgehog squeeze Tails' hand, still hacking up sea water.

"What happened?!" Tails asked, looking at Shadow and the fisherman, not letting go of Sonic.
"He fell into the water, I didn't know he couldn't swim!" The man frantically explained and started apologised. Shadow seemed to keep it together, but Stone noted that the dark hedgehog was also shook.
"Shadow here, got him out in time, but he inhaled a lot of water." The man finished.

Stone sent the familiar a grateful glance. Shadow didn't acknowledge it in favour of focusing on Sonic.
"It was nothing." He gruffed out. Stone had to hold himself back from shaking his head, this wasn't just nothing, Sonic clearly meant a lot to Shadow if he was this concerned.

Sonic finally seemed to catch his breath, the blue hedgehog seemed completely different from how he usually was - soaked through, quills a mess and clearly shaken - but when his eyes landed on Tails again he put on a smile, it looked more like a grimace.
"Hey buddy, I'm all good-" Breaking out into another brief coughing fit, Sonic waved Tails concern off trying to catch his breath, "I'm alright, all good see?" He said, smiling again. Tails looked at him with relief, yet clearly not fully convinced that Sonic was completely okay. Stone didn't believe it either.

"Come on, lets get you back to the house." Tails joked as he and Tails stood up. Sonic staggered for a moment, but before he could fall Shadow surged forward, catching him before he could fall.
Tails let out a squeak that Sonic was quick to wave off.
"I'm still good! Just-" Sonic took a moment to catch his breath. "Sea legs."

Stone, Tails and Shadow stared Sonic down, all unimpressed. The fisherman, on the other hand, found it in himself to laugh at the blue hedgehogs terrible pun.

It didn't take long before Tails broke out in laughter too, Stone soon following suit and even Shadow cracked a smile.

The four said their goodbyes to the fisherman, promising to make sure Sonic was okay and made their way back to the house. Shadow lugging Sonic all the way despite Tails' offers of floating him.

It had been a long day, hectic even.
Stone and Tails had gone out of town to be sent on a wild goose chase to find a cat in exchange for a propeller, they discovered that that cat had taken a retirement home hostage for treats and then when they finally got back they found Sonic nearly drowned. Luckily he got saved by Shadow, but the adrenaline of it all certainly made a heavy weight linger in his bones. The two witches and familiars decided to leave the box where Tails had dropped it for the night and just picked up the groceries on the way to the house.

The last sun rays were creeping over the horizon, the moon already peeking out into the sky. The dusk was colder than usual, shivers wracking over Stone's body, they should get back to the cottage soon or Sonic would catch a cold, as wet as he still was. Luckily there weren't many people still roaming around, so the four weren't stopped on their way back.

The plan was simple.
Get to the cottage, eat dinner, go to bed and sleep in tomorrow.
Stone couldn't wait for tomorrow.

The final part they need for the plane is also the most important one. the engine.
It, weirdly enough, also comes easier than the rest.

One day the fisherman walks up to the group with good news, he has a brother who's willing to give them his old engine! The bad news is that his brother lives very far away.
So they have an engine, sort of. It's just a matter of getting it to the village.

"I don't think we could get there in one day and back." Stone admitted to the group.
"Couldn't Shadow teleport us there and back?" Asked Sonic. Shadow shook his head, it wouldn't work, he's never been there so he wouldn't know where to go.
He said as such and the group went back to the drawing board.

The plan they'd settled on eventually was one Shadow wasn't really happy with.
Tails and Stone would fly over, stay a night, then fly back with the engine. He'd be alone for the night, or well, alone with Sonic.

The dark hedgehog wasn't exactly sure how he felt about the other familiar. He was loud, abrasive and especially reckless and he didn't even seem to notice. Who goes on a boat out on the ocean when they can't swim?
Sonic, that's who.

Shadow could remember that day vividly, the memory of it replaying again and again in his mind. The way Sonic had seemed so nervous but kept waving it off, the way he'd been joking around and then the splash.

The fisherman had laughed at Sonic's antics, even Shadow cracked a smile. The sea was calm that day, with not even a cloud in the sky, they'd throw him a lifebuoy when he came up. Except, Sonic didn't.

Thinking back, it disturbed Shadow. Sonic hadn't even screamed. It had taken Shadow and the fisherman too long to realise, too long for Shadows liking.
The realisation struck him first, before the fisherman could even ask where Sonic was, Shadow dove into the water.

He's spotted Sonic sinking and the rest is history.

Sonic was an idiot, still is one now even.
He was reckless, loud, abrasive, and not someone that Shadow wanted to see drowned. He could've gotten hurt, when Shadow was right there.
It struck a cord.
Shadow could use some air.

Most of the day was already gone, Stone and Tails had left that morning so it was just Shadow and Sonic in the house, not that Shadow had seen much of the blue hedgehog that day, having holed himself up in his room for most of it.

Shadow let the door fall closed behind him, deciding to walk instead of teleporting. He's not sure why he's taking Stone's advice of going out more - 'even if it is just for a walk' the witch had said once before dinner - but maybe he just needed to feel as if he'd done something that day.

Walking alongside the beach, he was met with the salty sea breeze and the lingering warmth of the day before. It was a nice break from the cinnamon-mahogany scent that always lingered in the cottage. Finding himself a spot in the sand, Shadow settled in to watch the sunset. The sun lazily crawled towards the horizon, painting the sky in hues of orange and reds as Shadow pulled off one glove to run his hand through the sand. The texture still felt weird on his bare skin and it was a pain when the grit got stuck in his quills , but at the same time it was mesmerising in a way, just as mesmerising as the first time he touched sand.

There is a 'zip' from somewhere behind him, but Shadow doesn't bother to look around.
"Why have you been avoiding me?" Shadow perked up at the question.
Sonic sat down next to Shadow as the dark hedgehog pulled his glove back on.
"You've been avoiding me," Sonic repeated, "ever since the boat accident." Shadow hummed.
"I haven't been avoiding you." Sonic raised an eyebrow at Shadows statement.
"Yes, you have!"
"No I haven't."

"So you holing up in your room all day is because Stone isn't here and not because you're avoiding me?"
"…" They both knew that Shadow would love to have the house to himself.
Sonic broke out into laughter, Shadow levelling him with a glare until his laughter slowly petered out.

The two fell into a silence on the beach. Shadow turned back to the ocean, back to the sun and to the sight that was still so new to him.

"Was it because of the boat incident?" Sonic's voice broke through the silence. Shadow hesitated, Sonic continued when he didn't answer, the light tone dropping from his voice.

"Why?"

Shadow took a deep breath before he answered Sonic.
"I was… scared."
"Being scared doesn't mean avoiding people Shadow."
Sonic wasn't angry, he was concerned. When he first met the other familiar, Shadow wouldn't have cared what Sonic thought, but that's changed now. After spending weeks together, eating meals, meeting the villagers, helping Tails and bullying Stone, Shadow could definitely say that the blue hedgehog wasn't a stranger anymore.
He wasn't sure where they stood.

"I… it reminded me of something, someone." Shadow began, Sonic looked at him, scooting from where he sat so he could see Shadow's face clearly.
"Someone that I couldn't save." Sonic took a sharp breath.
Shadow sometimes couldn't believe it himself, that she was gone.

"Who was it?" Shadow turned to face Sonic. The blue hedgehog met his gaze head on, The setting sun painted him in it's oranges and reds and Shadow didn't hesitate to answer.

"Her name was Maria," he slowly started, "she was my sister and first witch." The two were plunged into another silence. Shadow wasn't sure whether it was borne from surprise or shock, but he waited for Sonic to respond as a multitude of feelings flashed across his face.

Shadow was expecting something witty, Sonic was more the type to crack a joke and laugh something off if things got too awkward or touched a subject he didn't want to talk about. Shadow didn't have the best situational awareness, emotionally, but even he wasn't blind to how Sonic worked. He wasn't even sure why he was telling Sonic. Maria… her death was something he'd been pushing to the back of his mind for months now. He felt guilty for it, but he didn't want to think about it. Avoiding the pain that came with the truth. But to Sonic, he hadn't lied or averted, even knowing that the dark hedgehog would take any change of subject and run with it. Maybe he did want to talk about it, he didn't think so, but what did Shadow know for sure at this point anymore.
He had saved Sonic. He hadn't saved Maria.
It hurt.

It came as a complete surprise to Shadow when Sonic did not change the subject.
"I'm sorry." What could he be sorry for?

"I can't imagine what that's like, but if I'd lost Tails then…" Shadow looked at Sonic as if he'd never seen the familiar before.
He was right, Shadow didn't think anyone could imagine what it's like. Loosing someone so close to you, more than just a sister- realistically Shadow knew that plenty of people knew, he was not the only one in the world who'd lost someone, but it didn't feel like it. He felt alone.

"Does Stone know?" Sonic asked eventually.
"No… I- I haven't told him." Shadows feelings about Stone were complicated to say the least, he wasn't sure why him of all people had turned out to be his new witch - he wasn't even sure how it worked - but when Shadow had woke up to a world he didn't recognise, least of all been to, Stone had still let him stay and maybe, if he'd been given the chance, Stone would have let him in on his own.
"I think you should, if you're comfortable with it I mean." Sonic quickly added.
Shadow mulled the idea over in his mind, maybe telling Stone would help? In some odd way or form at least.

The two talked on the beach for a bit longer, the sun slowly climbing behind the horizon, casting its last rays over the edge before the two got up and headed back.

Shadow felt a little lighter in that slow walk. Sonic was telling him how one of the village kids tried to race him just the day before, every once in a while he'd add a comment or simply scoffed at Sonic, but the blue hedgehog continued telling his story unbothered. He was fully back to his care free personality, but Shadow wasn't put off by it as he'd been before.
Shadow didn't think anyone could understand what it's like, but maybe, Sonic could start.

Stone and Tails arrived back in the village at sundown the next day. Both witches were exhausted from the long days travel, even with the breaks they'd taken. Dropping off the engine at the hangar, they headed back to the cottage.
When Stone entered, he was slightly surprised to see the floor empty of both Shadow and Sonic. He was sure that nothing happened to them while the two witches were gone, but Shadow… Shadow wouldn't throttle Sonic for annoying him, right?

Just to be sure, that nothing had gone down, Stone decided to check the house.
"Maybe they left a note?" Tails asked unsure, he'd probably come to the same conclusion as Stone had.
The possibility that the two familiars had simply been invited for dinner somewhere was very real and hopefully true. They knew that Stone and Tails would be home late, too late for dinner, it's a possibility.

Sweeping through the living room and kitchen, the witches came up with empty hands. No note either, Stone was slowly beginning to feel a sense of dread when Tails climbed out of the nook behind the foldable bed under the stairs, he'd found nothing.

Climbing the stairs, the two found Stone's room - unsurprisingly - empty and no one was in the bathroom either. That left only one room in the house.

The two stood in front of Shadow's door, sharing concerned looks for a moment. Slowly gathering the courage, Stone reached out for the door handle, pressing it down, the door opened without a creak.

Peaking inside, the room was dark, he could just about make out a lump on the bed. Leaning further into the room, Stone was surprised by what he saw.
Tails peeked from beside Stone's leg to catch a glimpse into the room, Stone could feel the confusion radiate from him without so much as a look.
"Is that… Sonic and Shadow?" Shadows head was resting on top of Sonics, the blue hedgehogs face resting in the dark hedgehogs chest, the two familiars cuddling as they slept. And Tails' question felt like their que to leave.

Pulling Tails gently away by his shoulder, the older witch closed the door behind him as soft as he could. Letting the two sleepers rest.

"I think those two made it just fine without us." Stone said as he and Tails descended down the stairs. Moving to the kitchen to fix him and Tails something to eat before heading to bed.
"I wonder what happened." Tails asked almost dazed as he sat himself at the table.
"Hmm," Stone responded, "well, whatever it is. I'm just glad they got along." Putting a mug down in front of Tails, he couldn't stop a smile from forming on his face.
"Getting along might be an understatement." Tails laughed before taking a sip.

After a month or so of tinkering day in and out, Tails finally declared the plane finished. Sonic and Stone cheered with the news as Shadow gave the fox an acknowledging nod. Tails himself couldn't stop beaming, dragging Sonic by the arm as Stone and Shadow followed them around, he started pointed and explaining parts of the plane and how he'd fixed it faster than anyone could hear him. Sonic just nodded along as Tails pulled him all over.

Stone couldn't help but stop and laugh at the sight. Even if he was a genius, Tails was still a little kid.

Looking at the plane, Stone definitely saw the results of Tails' hard work for the past month. It might still need some finishing touches and that fresh coat of paint Stone had been looking at since the beginning, but other than that it looked sturdier than ever. The propeller gleamed as if new, collecting rust had been scraped off and no bolts were sticking out or seemed loose. Everything looked in order for a test flight.

After Tails managed to tire himself out enough, the four of them began pushing the plane outside. Tails groaned when he saw that the sun had already set a while ago, a dim light still streaking across the sky but nothing that would bode well for him to still squeeze in a short take off and landing.

Sonic patted him sympathetically, "first thing tomorrow, alright buddy?" Tails looked like he wanted to argue with Sonic, but the words caught in Tails' throat as he started to look a little misty eyed out of pure disappointment.

"I guess…" he said relenting, eventually giving up on pushing for a test flight anyway.
Stone hummed, it had been pretty good weather the last couple of days, it was early summer but the nights had been warm and Stone didn't see a cloud in the sky at the moment.

"What if we camped out on the beach tonight?" He proposed. Tails looked at him in surprise before the idea registered with him. Instantly he was back to jumping in excited, pulling on Sonic's arm as he asked. "Can we, can we?"

"Well, I mean. Why not?" Sonic crumbled from just one pleading look. Tails laughed as he ran to the plane's cockpit, jumping in as the other three walked to behind the plane and started pushing it towards the beach, letting Tails steer them to a good spot on the beach.

"Hey!" A voice caught their attention, Stone turned to look at one of the villagers, a lady he'd seen around a few times and even helped once or twice. She gave their little group a discerning look as she ran to catch up to them. "I hope you're not planning on flying right now, the sun already went down, that's just asking for trouble."

"Oh, we're not ma'am," Stone reassured her. Stopping for a moment to talk with her proper. "Someone here," he said as he tapped the plane, "is very eager to get off the ground as soon as the sun is up, so we're camping on the beach tonight."

The woman's face lit up the moment she'd heard their plan, "oh that sounds wonderful, makes me think of when I was a kid." She laughed, she even offered to lend them some items so they wouldn't have to go all the way back to the cottage. Stone happily thanked her and accepted, waving her goodbye as she left to grab her things. They continued pushing on towards the beach without another interruption.

Once Tails deemed that they'd reached a good spot, he hopped out of the cockpit and everyone started to work. Stone dug a pit under Tails' careful eye while Sonic and Shadow went to find some firewood and before he knew it they had a small campfire going.

Sitting around in a circle, Stone gazed out towards the ocean. The last colours faded from the sky as the ocean became a pitch dark and vast expanse. The smell of salt and sand permeated the air as Stone took a deep breath, the campfire in front of him added that little hint of smoke as it also gave off a warm glow that painted Shadow, Sonic and Tails in an orange light. It was a perfect night.

Tuning back into the conversation, Sonic was saying something about ghost stories when the woman from earlier shouted for their attention. Turning to look behind them, Stone was about to greet the villager when his mouth fell open.

The woman was walking next to the Fishers and behind them what seemingly was the entire village. "Holy shit."He muttered as the others caught sight of the mob too. There was an air of excitement in the crowd as they made their way over, some were carrying sleeping bags or large beach towels while others brought food and drinks, the stranger thing that people seemed to be carrying with them however were a large amount of buckets.

A confused look went around the small group before Stone stood up. The others following him as the crowd finally reached their fireplace.

"There you are," the woman from earlier piped up, "I hope it's not any trouble, but I might've told a few people that you were camping out here tonight and-" She gestured behind her, at the whole crowd, instead of finishing her sentence. The fisherman picked up where she left off.

"We heard that young Tails had finished fixing up the plane! But, oh, it was still missing some, eh-"
"Finishing touches." His wife finished with a smirk as she hoisted the bucket she'd carried up in the air. The people in the crowd behind her who also carried buckets did the same and it was at that moment that Stone realised they weren't carrying buckets at all. They were paint cans.

"Wait, did you?" Tails started, his voice catching in his throat. Stone's eyes shot to the small fox, his heart suspended in his chest for a moment until he saw the elation in Tails' eyes. Relief flooded his system as the fisherman stepped forward and knelt in front of Tails.

"If you'd allow it buddy, we'd like to help you finish the Tornado."

Tails squealed in barely contained excitement as he flung himself into the man, hugging him as he laughed and the man laughed in kind. Relief flooded Stone's chest as people were cheering.
Quickly people started setting up spots around the Tornado, leaving the front open for the coming morning. It felt as if he just blinked and suddenly Stone could see multiple fires going on, two people even dragged an entire grill onto the beach and soon someone had pushed meat skewers into his hands that he happily accepted.

It was a night of fun, Stone talked with people he'd met and helped over the last couple of weeks, the beach was filled with food, music, good stories, people were dancing and laughing around campfires as kids weaved through the place. Tails led the painting efforts, somehow managing to corral all the hands on deck to paint the Tornado in a coat of red with yellow accents. By the time they were done, Stone wasn't sure he'd ever seen Tails so happy.

The sun had long set when the festivities started to die down, some people went back to sleep in their houses, but a good portion decided to sleep through the night with them on the beach.
Stone had been lent a sleeping bag by the lady before she went back to her own bed. He and Shadow were sat next to each other, staring out to the open ocean. The dark expanse only illuminated by the moon and the stars. Stone could barely contain his excitement for the morning even if he felt exhaustion creep up his bones.

"Do you think Tails' test flight will be a success?" Stone jostled a little when Shadow asked.
"I sure hope so," he yawned in his answer, "he's been working so hard on the Tornado." Stone could fall asleep like this, the ocean breeze caressing his face and the lingering campfire warmth behind him.
"If it is a success, do you think him and Sonic would take off immediately?"
Stone couldn't help but smirk. Straightening up, he feels a lot more awake now.
"Is someone going to miss a certain blue hedgehog?" he teased.
Shadow sent him a look that screamed that he was about to wither.
"It's a logical question."
"It is," Stone nodded sagely, "say, where do you think they're going to go first?" Shadow thought about it for a moment, Stone almost burst out laughing seeing that iconic, serious, frown fall over his face.
"Home."
"Home?" Stone questioned surprised.
"Home." Shadow affirmed, nodding.
Stone thought about his answer for a moment before asking.
"If you got the choice Shadow, would you like to visit your home?"

Shadow thought about Stone's question for a moment, he wasn't sure but Stone thought he saw a pained expression flash across his face before Shadow frowned.

"I can't."
"What?" He'd almost missed what Shadow had said, the hedgehog readjusted himself, still looking out at the ocean just a little more pointed to Stone.
"I can't go home." He admitted.

"Why, is there something stopping you?"
Shadow took in a breath, Stone had crossed a line he realised. This wasn't something that Shadow was probably comfortable talking about, he should drop it. Shadow was never an expressive person, but Stone liked to think that he'd learned to read the dark hedgehog a little over the time they've known each other, when he saw the discomfort crawl up his figure he panicked.
But to Stone's surprise, Shadow pushed on.

"It's- complicated." He began.
"But, I can't go home, because my home is gone." The words stunned Stone a little, his home was gone? How is that possible? Was it destroyed in an earthquake, or some other natural disaster? But that couldn't be right, Stone fell into a line of thinking. There were no nearby disasters the week or weeks before he met Shadow. How could his home be gone? Unless…

"Was your home a person?" Stone couldn't help but ask.

Shadow froze up before, hesitantly, nodding.
"Her name was Maria," he said, the words almost fragile on his tongue, "she was… my first witch." Surprise hit Stone like a brick. His first witch?

"But she was more than just my witch," Shadow's voice wavered, anger lacing his tone in the same way that pain did. "She was my sister."

Was.
Maria was his sister and his witch.

A few things clicked in Stone's mind, Shadows jagged demeanour, his locking himself up in his room whenever Stone didn't drag him out. Shadow in general, screamed grief. Not everything of course, but Stone couldn't help but see Shadow through a new lens, one where he had to question what he knew of his familiar at all. How could he have been so blind to the signs? Thinking back, everything felt like a glaring sign or something that screamed alarm and everything had flown directly over his head.

"Stone?"

He could've done anything to help Shadow, if only he had noticed. How many times had Stone been that kid? In need of help and yet no one saw him, no one helped. How long ago did this happen? Shadow had been hurting this entire time and he. Never. Noticed. Did he truly know Shadow? Was he jaded before, was he actually the type to push off chores onto others, or was this him at his worst?

"Stone??"

Oh, by Gaia. Everything Stone had right now he had to thank the death of a little girl for.

"Stone!"

Stone snapped out of his train of thought by Shadow. The panic that had been slowly climbing up his throat seemed to snap as Stone looked at him. He had never seen the familiar look so uncertain, opening his mouth Stone took a moment to form words. "Sorry, uh. I shouldn't have reacted like that." He tried to assure Shadow, but it didn't take.

Turning away from Stone, Shadow rubbed his hands over his arms as he started to get up. "No, I shouldn't have told you, just forget about it."
No. No, that wasn't an option for Stone, not right now and not ever.
"Wait, Shadow." He held the familiar back by his shoulder, careful not to jostle the teen. "Thank you."

Shadow looked at him with no lack of confusion, startled he asked "huh?"

"Thank you for telling me about Maria." Stone continued determined.

Shadow stood there for a moment, eventually sitting back down as the two fell into another silence. Neither really willing to face each other to face what had just been said, but Shadow was still sitting next to him. Shadow had at least given Stone that.

"Do you want to tell me about her?" Stone eventually broke the silence.
Shadow made a confused sound, Stone turned to look at him. "Maria, do you want to tell me more about her? After all, she is your sister." Stone had said it so casually, he even stunned himself a little.

Shadow stared at him for a moment until a small smile cracked on his face and he turned back to the ocean and he started to talk. Stone didn't think he'd ever heard Shadow talk as much as he did right now, the two of them sat under a perfect summer night, the fire behind them smouldering, the ocean breeze greeting them head on and for hours, Shadow talked and Stone listened.

Stone woke up to Tails and Sonic shaking him awake, Tails practically shouting for him to get up as the fox shot to the Tornado the moment Stone was hauled upright.
Sonic hot on his tail.

Turning, Stone was met with Shadow who held out a steaming cup of coffee out to him. The two shared a meaningful look between them as Stone accepted the cup and got of the sand so the two could join Sonic.

Some of the villagers were up too, they and Sonic formed a small crowd a safe distance away from the Tornado as Tails jumped in the cockpit.

Joining the crowd, Stone rubbed the sleep from his eyes when he spotted the fisher couple.
"Good morning Stone." The woman grinned.
"Good morning…" Stone grumbled out in the appropriate tone for the early morning. The man laughed at his state and Stone thinks the feeling he's experiencing at that moment is despair.
"I see someone's regretting staying up late."
At that moment, Stone caught Shadow's eyes, the familiar stood a bit away with Sonic and Stone can't help but think out loud, "no, not really."
"Ah, just not a morning person then." Stone nods as he sipped his coffee.

The Tornado's engine roared to life and a cheer rose through the crowd. Tails is sitting in the cockpit wearing a pair of goggles that Stone hasn't seen before. Actually, now that he's looking, Stone notices a lot of things he hadn't noticed the night before. It wasn't a dark night by any means, but very little holds up to the morning sun.
The Tornado was a bright red, the yellow accents were painted on all of it's wings and tail wings in thick, perpendicular, lines. Stone, to his delight, saw Tails painted on as a logo on the plane too.
The young witch himself gave a thumbs up to the crowd, signalling he was ready for the test flight. Stone felt the last dredges on sleep leave his mind as the crowd held their breath. At that moment, he couldn't help that little nagging feeling in the back of his mind, sure Tails was smart, but did he really know enough about tech to have fixed the plane? Stone tried to push the thought away, but it stick to him like mud. Could Tails truly fly the plane with magic?

The Tornado lurched forwards, his heart shot into his throat as the engine sputtered.
"All good!" Tails shouted as the engine started up again and the Tornado began to roll forwards. Stone shuddered a breath as Tails started picking up speed, moving with the crowd as people moved to get a better view of the plane.

Tails sped up, gripping the steering wheel. The Tornado started slipping from the ground.

Lifting off for a final time, Tails made off into the sky. Stone held his breath as he watched. Tails was airborne, the plane made a steady incline when all of a sudden in it dipped.
Someone screamed, Stone's heart spiked when suddenly, as if catching the wind, Tails stabilised and pulled up.
Climbing fast, Stone looked up hopelessly.
When Tails stopped climbing, it was as if not only Stone, but the entire world held its breath. The Tornado turned, going over the crowd. Tails waved.
He was flying.

The townspeople burst out cheering, someone shook Stone by his shoulders as he cheered loudly with them. Hats were thrown, children ran out over the beech, all as Tails circled overhead, waving with his voice lost to the wind.

"He's done it! He's flying!" Stone yelled, the fisherman patted his shoulder, heartily laughing as his was was cheering next to him. Enamoured with the fox in the sky, she waved around a handkerchief in the air.
"Tails has come very far." The man said without taking his eyes from the sky, "but if I can ask, what's so magical about the plane?" Stone held his cup out to the man, letting him take it from his grasp, Stone pulled out his roomba. Tails and Stone had spent nights pouring over what they could use magic for with the plane, what would work best and theorising about how Stone's magic empowered his 'broom' to do what it did. One night, they'd come to a final decision.
"It doesn't need fuel." Stone explained simply as he dropped the roomba to the ground. The man looked surprised by the answer, Stone however didn't mind him, instead stepping on the roomba and taking off.

Flying up to Tails, he screamed his name and waved as the fox's eyes lit up when he spotted him.

"Stone!" Tails yelled excited.
"You did it Tails!" Stone yelled back.
Tails looked as if he could burst out of his seat at any moment, but before he did. "Could you get Sonic up here?" He managed to get out over the wind. Nodding, Stone shot back to the beach where the townsfolk stood. Sonic was saying something to Shadow with his back turned to Stone. Smiling, Stone caught Shadow's eyes, the dark familiar taking a step back before Stone swooped in and snatched Sonic.

Ignoring Sonic's screams, Stone hauled him up until they matched Tails' speed. The fox was laughing as Stone - very ceremoniously - dumped Sonic into the passengers seat. Saluting his fellow witch, Stone smiled as he let himself drop backwards, free falling for some 50 meters or so. Shifting mid-air, Stone sped along the crowd again, this time picking up Shadow and joining up with Sonic and Tails again.

Sonic and Tails looked baffled when he showed up on their other side. Sonic was the first to snap out of it however.
"Race ya?" he challenged grinning.
"You're on." Shadow replied. The sun catching them as it reached over the horizon. Stone just shook his head in amusement, mouthing something to Tails, the fox shrugged but smiled nonetheless, letting Sonic clamber out of the passenger seat and into the wing.
"Last one to that cloud is a rotten egg." Sonic yelled, pointing somewhere straight ahead.

It was a sunny summer day, perfect weather yet a little chilly this high up. The last time that Shadow had laughed out loud was when his familiar saw Stone fall on his face weeks ago, when he was still figuring out how to even stand on his roomba, Stone liked this laugh more however. Shadow laughed as he and Tails raced across the sky, Sonic cheering on the Tornado as they spent the day in the vast blue.

This was one hell of a successful test-flight.

Sonic and Tails set off the very next day. No time to waste realising their dream, they said. Stone and Shadow helped them gather some supplies before waving them off together with the rest of the village.

Tails had given Stone a little pouch before climbing into the Tornado, giving Stone a wink when he looked at him confused.
"From me and Sonic." He said with no further explanation.

Sonic and Shadow said their goodbyes, Sonic pouncing on Shadow with a hug that the dark hedgehog reluctantly returned. Dashing into the back seat, Tails started up the plane, waving goodbye to Stone, Shadow and the villagers.
"We'll keep in touch!" Sonic shouted over the side of the plane.

Taking off, the two flew off into the distance. The plane slowly getting smaller and smaller before disappearing out of view. Stone and Shadow stood there until Sonic and Tails couldn't be spotted anymore.

"What'd Tails give you?" Shadow asked when he saw the pouch in Stone's hand. Shrugging his shoulders, Stone crouched down and opened the pouch for him and Shadow. Pouring the contents into his hand carefully, Stone realised that the bag was filled with seeds. Shadow looked confused at the sight while Stone lit up.

"Why would Tails give you seeds?"
"I'll tell you on the walk back." Stone promised.

Catching him up on what he and Tails had talked about before, Shadow listening attentively.
"So, you're going to grow these in the hopes they'll help you with magic?" Stone nodded.
"That's the idea, yeah!" Seeing the cottage up ahead, the two chatted until Shadow suddenly stopped.

"Did Tails install planters before he left?" Confused, Stone looked up at the cottage. It wasn't hard to spot what Shadow was talking about, along the windows of the small house were planter boxes now. Simple but brightly painted. When did Tails have the time to put those there? Stone looked at them confused, maybe Sonic had installed them using his speed while Tails distracted them, but he couldn't think of any time that morning or the day before where either witch or familiar could have found both the time and the planters from.

"Well it's… thoughtful?" Stone stated unsure.
"This reminds me of the first night, when you stayed up all night to clean the house." Shadow added. Stone looked at him with utter confusion, Shadow looking back at him confused by his reaction.
"That wasn't you?"

The two were plunged into an uncomfortable silence. Shadow shook his head 'no' after a beat.

Huh.

Confused, the two entered the house. Going about their day while not trying to think about the strange occurrences. Stone decided to make use of the planters and plant the seeds, watering them using a cup he quite liked.

The day passed like that, the cottage quieter than usual now that Sonic and Tails had left. Stone was cleaning his roomba as he thought about what his and Shadow's next move would be. He wasn't sure, but he'd ask what Shadow wanted to do the next morning. Putting his roomba down, he and Shadow made dinner and went to bed.

Breakfast was a similar affair. Don't get Stone wrong, he quite liked the peace and quiet, but after a month or so of living with people you get used to a certain amount of noise and Shadow was nothing if not quiet at most times.

"Morning." Stone said greeting the dark hedgehog as he came downstairs. Shadow simply hummed in response and went to sit at the table. Stone grinned at his familiars morning grumpiness. Taking a sip of his latte, he went to grab some coffee beans from the cupboard for Shadow when the house suddenly shook.

Grabbing onto the counter, Stone steadied himself as something behind him fell to the ground. Shadow shouted when the house shook again, harder this time, but Stone couldn't hear what he'd said. All his focus zeroing in on the window in front of him. Spitting out his coffee at the sight, Stone was left speechless.

Slowly the shaking got less, for a moment everything was still. Stone held his breath as Shadow was frozen somewhere behind him. Perplexed on what could have caught Stone's attention.

The house shook again, gently compared to what had just rattled the house so completely and thoroughly. A second minor shake followed and then a third. Stone still stood frozen at the window and Shadow was growing more and more concerned by the minute.

Eventually deciding he'd had enough, Shadow ran to the door and threw it open. Suddenly realising what Stone was seeing.

The house is moving.
No, it isn't just moving. The house is walking.

"I- uh…" Shadow turned to look at Stone who'd finally moved from his spot to stand next to Shadow look at the sight of passing trees from the door.
"I think I get how we ended up at the beach in the first place."

The house, at an almost leisurely pace, walked.
Each dull thud that sounded through the place was a step and with each step Stone's disbelief grew, bit by bit. He wondered how he was going to explain this to the Fisher couple.

The house moved for the whole day. Around noon, Stone had taken Shadow out on the roomba to fly around the house. It had legs, of some kind, after getting back inside Stone had made a decision right there and then. This was going solidly into the 'I am not going to think about this' box of his brain that had been growing in leaps and bounds after Shadow had first busted into his life.
Lunch tasted fine.

By the time that the house settled again, it was already dark outside. The house shook in the same way it had when it had first gotten up, Stone briefly wondered how he'd slept through the first time this must have happened before shaking his head and compartmentalising this using his handy box.

The rest of the week wasn't as eventful. Stone and Shadow fell into a new routine of exploring their surroundings, foraging and gardening. The plants hadn't shown any signs of growing yet, but Stone also had no real idea how gardening went, or botany for that matter. He hadn't lost hope yet though, so he gardened on.

It was during one such gardening sessions that Stone thought back on the week, his mind hooking onto the last thing Sonic had yelled to them before he and Tails took off and disappeared over the horizon.

"Hey Shadow?" He yelled into the house.
Shadow yelled back non-committed, probably going through a book he'd gotten from somewhere. Putting down his gardening things, Stone wiped his hands to his pants as he walked over to the living room where he found Shadow indeed reading.
"How do you think Sonic and Tails would keep in contact?"

Shadow looked up from his book, thinking on the question for a moment before answering.
"Probably by sending a letter, why do you ask?"
"How?"

Staring at Stone for a moment, Shadow seemed to finally realise something. Slamming his book shut, Shadow got up.
"Go grab something to write with." Confused, but doing as Shadow said. The two ended up at the dining table, writing a letter to Sonic and Tails. Confused on what was going on, Stone handed the finished letter to Shadow. Reading it over for a moment, Shadow nodded with satisfaction. Stuffing it in an envelope, he took the pen and wrote Sonic and Tails' name on the front.

"How is that going to help?" Stone asked utterly confused.
Shadow ignored his question, instead walking over to the unlit fireplace. Throwing the letter in dramatically with one hand.
Stone expected to see the letter just fall on the left over ashes, but instead of following the rules of gravity, the letter shot up in the chimney.

Speechless, Stone stared as Shadow just dusted his hands in a job well done. He turned around and froze at Stone's expression.

"What?"
"What just happened?" Stone asked in utter disbelief.
"I just sent the letter to Sonic and Tails." Shadow answered. "What do you think the fireplace is for?"

Stone stared at Shadow incredulously.
"FIRE?!"

Shadow shrugged.
"Ok, also for that, but witches send letters by chimney."

Least to say that Stone felt very surprised by the news.
"Can anyone just do that?" He asked eventually. Shadow just nodded and Stone reached for another piece of paper, wrote on it in big letters: 'TEST LETTER, RESPOND IF YOU GET THIS. -Stone.' and copied what Shadow had just done. He wrote so fast that his writing felt ineligible, but it was probably fine.

Throwing the letter into the chimney, the envelope shot up into the chimney right in front of his eyes.

There was a beat of silence. Stone's hands felt light, looking down they were shaking. Turning to Shadow, his familiar smirked at him. The expression instantly wiped from his face as Stone surged forward. Picking him up, Shadow shouted as Stone spun him around. Laughing, almost like the first time he'd flown.

Shadow let himself be spun around, the shock wearing off as soon as it'd come. After a moment, Stone knelt down to the ground, letting Shadow stand on his own two feet again. However, he didn't let go. Wordlessly, Stone held Shadow in a crushing hug. Shadow was struck by surprise as the witch held him. It lasted a mere moment, but when Stone pulled back, he whipped his face with his sleeve. A wet sound sounding from his throat before he turned to Shadow with a smile. Shadow didn't comment on it, instead snorting back at Stone.

Sonic and Tails replied in a few hours, their letter a response to Stone and Shadow's letter. The two went through it together and decided to respond to it the next day as it was late.

Lighting the fire, the two hung out in the room, Shadow reading a book as Stone was busy with dishes. Humming while he whipped down a plate, he heard a 'flop' from somewhere behind him. Confused, Stone turned around. Shadow looked up from his book at the same moment, both their eyes landing on something in front of the chimney. Something that was on fire.

There was a beat where both witch and familiar just looked at the thing burning on their living room floor before Stone fully realised that it as burning on their living room floor and jumped forward. hitting it with the wet tea towel in his hand.
Shadow rushed forward a second later, trying to stomp out the fire.

One minor heart attack later, the two were met with a half burned letter.
Shadow picked it up, eyes scanning over the front.
"Who's I.G.R. ?" He asked, handing the letter to Stone.

Confused, Stone took the letter from Shadow. Letting his eyes scan over the words, it read "To Stone, from I.G.R-" The name went on, but the fire had burned it off.
"Huh," he said eventually. "No idea. " Opening the letter, Stone went to read it, curious to see what was in it.

It was a short letter, even shorter by the fact that half of it was burned, but from what Stone could read the writer had a lot of questions. Mainly on how the letter had appeared, but also who 'Stone' was. Oh, this person must have received Stone's test letter. The witch smiled as he noted to himself to write the address clearer from now on. His eyes roamed the letter again, an idea already forming in his mind of how to respond.

He couldn't help but wonder, who was I.G.R. ?

Chapter Text

"It's funny how you wake up each day and never really know if it will be the one that will change your life forever."
- Shawn, the secret world of Arrietty.

Stone wakes up and immediately knows that today is wrong. There are no words in his mouth to really describe it.

It's like, every once in a while he loses a piece of himself. As if he's been hollowed out and can't function without all those missing pieces.
This is not the first time he's felt like this, but he'd slightly hoped that last time had been the last time, but here he is, finding out that it isn't.

The house is moving, creaking gently as it sways ever so little from side to side.

It's probably morning, he should go make breakfast.
Stone does not.

If he's hungry then Stone doesn't notice, the same goes for thirst.

All that Stone feels is tired.
Hollow and tired.

Stone doesn't have the energy for anything.
It's just not in him right now, so he stays there, in his bed.

It's warm, his mind registers somewhere and he stays. In his dark closet room.

"Stone?" Shadow at some point peeks into his room.

His familiar looks at him confused, seeing him still in bed instead of downstairs like he usually is.

"Are you feeling okay?"
Stone doesn't have an answer for that. He'd like to say yes, but the words catch in his throat.

He shakes his head no after a moment.

Frowning, Shadow toes off his shoes, crawling over he holds his wrist against Stone's forehead.
Stone doesn't bother to move closer or pull away.

Shadow pulls off his glove, touching Stone's forehead with his finger pads. Stone doesn't think he's ever seen Stone without his gloves before.

"Open your mouth." He asked, Stone complied.

Shadow frowned in confusion.

"Hm." Shadow says as he looks. Pulling his glove back on, he scooted back to the door.

"Well, you don't have fever." Shadow fixed his shoes back on his feet as Stone just watched.

"Is something else going on?" Stone didn't have an answer. Shadow looked at him, waiting, and Stone just didn't have one. So he didn't answer Shadow.

Eventually realising that he wasn't getting a reply, Shadow called out Stone's name again.
Nothing.

Getting up from his spot, Shadow walked down the stairs and out of view.
Stone watched him leave, feeling nothing but hollow inside.

He turned around, facing the wall was easier.
Maybe he could sleep the feeling off, hoping so while knowing he couldn't.

Stone doesn't sleep, but that also means he's aware when Shadow knocks on the door to let him know he's back.

The dark hedgehog sits in the entrance again, nudging him with something in his hand.

Slowly rolling over, Stone can see that it's a mug. In Shadow's other hand is a bowl.

"I- uh, I'm not sure how to work the coffee machine. This is just water." Shadow explains.

Stone should teach Shadow how to make coffee.

It what first comes to his mind when what Shadow says actually comes into his head.
There is no second thing that comes to mind.

With all the energy he has, Stone slowly sits up. Shadow hands him the mug, taking it from his hand, he sips.
It's lukewarm water.

Still, Stone sips.

By the time that the mug is empty and the bowl is half empty, his stomach churns.
Shadow tries to get him to eat some more, or at least drink a second mug, but Stone doesn't get up again.

Opting to stay curled up under his duvet. This time however, he's facing the wall with the door.

Shadow is standing in front of him, hesitating on what to do now. He's certainly not getting Stone to eat another bite, not for a while at least and he made sure to eat earlier.

There isn't much more he could do now.
Yet Shadow takes a step forward, seating himself back into the spot earlier. In the entrance, on the edge of his bed.

Stone's eyes aren't focused on him, they're not focused on anything right now, but he's awake.

The two sit in silence for a while, Shadow unsure of what to do and Stone still… wrong.

What could he do? Nothing.
He was useless like that.

"Did you know that Maria loved flowers?"
When the silence had stretched on for so long, when the air began to feel hung, Shadow started to talk.

"She adored them. There were none where we lived - in a place called the Ark - but she would show me almanacs-" And Shadow talked.

He'd told Stone stories, of him and Maria, mostly about Maria.
At first Shadow stumbled through his words, his phrases jumbled and more strung together like thoughts rather than a coherent story, but Stone listened.

Zoned out, zoned in, listened. That's how days went by.
Shadow would get him some food and water, Stone would eat what he can and the two would sit together in silence. After a while, Shadow would break the silence with a small story, Stone would laugh melancholy or Shadow wouldn't face him for ten minutes and the two were plunged into another silence, one that Shadow would break again, and again, and again.

The house swayed for days.

On days where it stopped, Shadow would head outside and Stone would be alone for a few hours, but his familiar always came back. With each new trip outside, Shadow made sure to tell Stone what each town was like.

The one in the forest had a lovely bakery, there was a city surrounded by endless seas of wheat, they passed through a village with a very fun playground.

It sounded lovely.
Stone wished he could get up.

On swaying days, Shadow would sit by his side till after sundown. Till only moon and starlight shone through the window above the stairs. Some stories he would only tell late at night, though they were rare.

"She was sick, you know." Was how one of them started.
Stone rustled under the fabric, angling his head to look at Shadow.

The dark hedgehog was looking out of the entrance, where Stone couldn't see his face.
"I- I was supposed to help make her better, but I never got the chance." His voice sounded frail, frailer than Stone had ever heard.

"Why?"

Shadow whipped around to look at him, surprise etched on his face. That was the first time that Stone had spoken in maybe a week, he wasn't counting the days.

Quickly turning his back to Stone again, Shadow quickly rubbed his arm over his eyes. There was no real point to it, Stone had seen and he wouldn't mention it now, but Shadow did anyway.

Taking a deep breath, Shadow answered.
"The Ark… wasn't a regular home. It was a station."
"…For the military?" Stone's voice was hoarse from disuse, he wasn't loud either, but Shadow heard him.
"Of sorts, it was mainly a research facility."
"But you called it a station?" Shadow hesitated at Stone's question. Seemingly unsure of how to explain it to Stone.
"…It was a space station." He uttered hesitantly.

Oh.
Stone took that in for a moment… Ok.

That definitely is one of the more bizarre things in Stone's life at the moment, but it's still going solidly onto his 'do not question' list.

Shadow looked at Stone uncertain, it was a tall order to believe. Luckily for Shadow, Stone is a tall witch.

"Why didn't you get to heal her?" Shadows eyes roamed over Stone's face, trying to find whether Stone actually believed him or was just pretending to. He didn't get his answer, but he did give Stone his.

"There… was a raid. Men with guns, dressed as the guards we had on board." He said slowly. Turning back around to hide his face from Stone's view.
Stone let him.

"One of them shot her."

The revelation would have doused Stone in buckets of ice.
Knowing that Shadow's sister was murdered, that the life he had now is all because of a murdered little girl, would have sent him spiralling.

But there isn't much spiralling to do at rock bottom. Stone couldn't put his own feelings into words, if he had them or what they were, but Stone knows - logically - what he would have felt in the moment.

Grasping for the feeling, he knows he should feel in his guts, tearing at his lungs and throat.
There are tears, collecting in his eyes, threatening to fall. He puts a hand over Shadow's, squeezing his familiars. Nothing about him screams 'reassuring' but he hopes that it comes that way anyway.

Shadow doesn't turn to look at him, Stone is fairly sure for why, but with the dark hedgehogs face out of view he can't exactly be sure. It doesn't matter.

He's just glad that Shadow has told him. Even through his silent tears.

Time has passed since that night, forever marching on while Stone lays in bed, but at some point in the swaying days Stone starts sitting up more and more.

Recovery starts small. Stone's not sure if he gets to call it 'recovery' if he's not even hurt, but there isn't exactly any other term that comes to mind and on the days that he isn't suffering from this, he calls these days recovery too.

Recovery starts small, day in and out he's talking more. Sitting up straight outside of meals and trying to catch glimpses of the outside world through the window above the stairs. Stone feels slightly guilty when he notices the stress leave Shadow's frame bit by bit with every day that goes better, but the dark hedgehog pretends he's never experienced any ounce of anxiety in his life.

By the end of that week, Stone is out of bed.

It's not the first time he's gotten out of bed, but this time is different from the short bathroom runs and his other attempts.

As if his head has been cleared or as if he's just woken up from a barely lucid dream, Stone gets up. Life is the same as it's always been, but today it doesn't seem as crushing.

Stepping out into the hallway, it's somewhere around noon he believes. Nowhere near a good time to wake up, but anything is better than nothing.
The light shines in through the window, the only thing visible from where he's standing is the sky, but Stone knows that the house in on the move. Shadow told him of the mountain village they stopped by for a day or three and while Stone wishes he could've seen it with his own eyes, his mind was soon caught by a different dilemma.

What will he do first: wash up or breakfast?

The dilemma is rather short, the bathroom is literally right next to his bedroom door. Stone, takes one step right and he's there. Taking a short shower and a moment to shave, Stone makes his way down in new clothes.

When he still lived in the city, most of what he wore was a suit. Nothing fancy, but just something he could wear to the office and look as if he had his life together. After years of just wearing suits, they became the only clothing he really owned, all his other things wearing down and being thrown out or simply lost (somehow). After he'd left with Shadow, he still wore his office clothes - he didn't exactly own much else - but he could wear them however he liked. He must have looked very odd, but frazzled office clothes were surprisingly comfortable and well, no one in the coastal village seemed to care and Sonic and Tails barely wore clothes of their own. They had very little to judge him for. However, his and Shadow's stay in the coastal village had given him an opportunity to expand a little. Nothing much, but the white linen shirt he wore now was definitely one of his favourite finds. The sleeves were lined with a rim of embroidered fish and nautiluses that Stone adored more than he dared admit. He paired them with simple, wide leg pants.

Freshened up and armoured with clean clothes, Stone faced breakfast head on.

Stepping into the living room felt like stepping into a time capsule.
Barely anything had changed. One of the dining table chairs had been moved to the kitchen by Shadow so he could reach around, but other than that, nothing.

Messy blankets were still propped up in the corner, Tails and Sonic's pull down bed under the stairs was still pulled up and the letter Stone had read some week or two before still laid open on the kitchen counter.

Walking up to the burned paper, Stone's eyes fell over the remaining eligible letters. Half the letter had been swallowed by flames, but what had survived showed a very confused person and the letter that had flown in through their window. Stone had no idea who I.G.R. was, but picking up the letter again he couldn't help but smile, he wondered whether he should still respond. It might be weird to receive a message now though, he had basically remained quiet for two whole weeks.

Putting the letter back down, Stone started on breakfast, or brunch in this case. There wasn't much in the house at the moment, but after rustling through the cabinets he found some oats he decided to put on the stove. Simple, but with a bit of sugar, sweet.

That was if Stone could find the sugar. Rustling through the cabinets, he couldn't find the little bag that he knew they had. Frowning, Stone dug a little deeper, he could've sworn that they still had some somewhere. Pushing jars and small bags aside, Stone went through the cabinet and then the next. The cabinets were a mess, he should organise them sometimes but that was for later. Right now the only thing that Stone really wanted was a bit of sugar, he didn't exactly have a neighbour he could borrow a cup from.

His mind briefly went back to what Shadow had said about their last neighbours, the little mountain village hadn't been very welcoming according to his familiar. 'Rude people and only cold shoulders' Shadow had said. That attitude confused Stone a little, the city where he'd grown up in would have welcomed a witch with open arms and the people of the coastal village had warmed up to him and Shadow rather quickly, but maybe that was because they had saved the fisherman.
The other towns, however, were another story.

Catching something moving in the corner of his eye, Stone shot forward. Grasping something in his hand he pulled it out of the cabinet and held it in front of his face. Confusion struck him at the little object in his hand. When he saw something move his first thought was that maybe there was a mouse or a bug, but in his hand he held a little hammer.
The hammer itself wasn't bigger than his hand, it seemed sturdy, but at the same time it didn't look like a toy despite it's size.

A scream came from the cupboard. Looking up in shock, Stone caught sight of a pink blur hitting him square in the chest, knocking the air right out of his lungs. Before he could even react or dodge, Stone flew backwards, hitting the pile of blankets.
Gasping for air, he clutched his chest where he got hit. This was worse than when Shadow had kicked him.

Looking up, Stone saw what hit him this time, or rather, who.

Dusting herself off, the person who'd jumped out the cupboard and kicked him stood up right. Picking up her small hammer off the floor, she gave it a quick look over, nodding to herself satisfied before falling in a defensive stance and glaring Stone down.

She was dressed in cobbled together clothes, her dress looked like it was made from a handkerchief but her shoes seemed fashioned from something rougher, maybe twine, but Stone didn't pay attention to that.
She was a mobian, pink hedgehog, but that also went over Stone's head.

Stone stared, his hand still clutching his aching chest, at the girl - woman? - who couldn't have been taller than five inches. She could fit in the palm of his hand and then some, briefly Stone realised that this tiny girl had flung him across the room with just one hit. She took one step forward and all his attention snapped back to her.

"Who- what are you?" Stone choked out as he pressed himself into the wall.
The girl didn't answer as she kept walking forward, it freaked Stone out even if she was the size of a pencil except way smaller.

"Wait! Wait!" Stone scrambled backwards, which was hard to do since he was already against the wall. The girl was still walking towards him, hammer ready to strike, it was taking her a while because the space between them was quite a distance for such a small person such as herself. However, that didn't mean that Stone wasn't freaking out.

His heart shot into his throat as Stone tried to break through the wall, he might have been screaming or not, the sound didn't reach his ears as he tried to disappear between the cracks in the wood to get away from her.

Suddenly a familiar figure appeared behind the tiny woman. Sending Stone a confused look, Shadow just picked up the pink girl by the back of her dress. Looking at the weightless angry mass in his hands, he turned to ask Stone what was happening but before he could even utter a sound, the girl in his hand yelled in effort. Slipping from Shadows grip and launching at him.

Stone watched in pure disbelief as his familiar was hit back with the hammer, Shadow sailed through the room, slamming against and falling through the door.

It was quiet for a moment as the pink girl landed on her feet. The two stared at where Shadow had been thrown out. It was like she had the super strength of a regular sized person…

The girl turned back to Stone and for a moment the world froze as the two crossed eyes, her eyes were narrowed, not scornfully so but distrusting, the grip on her hammer tightened, convinced that Shadow wasn't coming back anytime soon, she began her trek to Stone again.
Stone went right back to screaming.

Reaching the edge of Stone's pile of blankets, the girl - slightly out of breath - raised her hammer to point at him. Glaring him down, Stone's shouting simmered down. When he was quiet she decided to make her declaration.

"My name is Amy Rose," she shouted, raising her voice to be heard from the floor. "and yo-"
"Please don't hurt me!" Stone cut her off quickly.
"…wow, you gave up quickly." Amy said stunned.

Stone looked at her confused. Her eyes roamed over his face, a slight frown forming on her own as little puzzle pieces seemed to fall together in her mind.

Lowering her hammer a little, Amy asked him another question.
"You weren't trying to hurt me, were you?"

Stone tried to form words, felt too confused to and then relented to just shake his head.

"You didn't actually know I was in there, did you?" She continued her questioning, Stone answered with another shake of his head.

Instantly, her expression flipped from that glare that screamed 'I am going to filet you' to 'whoopsies!' in less than a second, Amy dropped her hammer to the floor, using the handle as a support to lean on leisurely.

"Oh wow," relief laced her voice now as she spoke, "I thought you were hunting me!" A small giggle escaped her as she continued.
"You certainly grabbed around like you were."

"Uh- I'm sorry?" Stone apologised unsure.
"Oh, you've got nothing to apologise for." Amy waved him off, "Unless you were trying to hurt me?" Stone quickly shook his head 'no' before Amy could go back to glaring.
"Well in that case, we're good!" She announced, lifting her hammer off the ground she slung it over her shoulders, letting both hands hang over the handle.

Stone's mind was trying to process what had just happened, he'd tried to make breakfast and while searching for the sugar had been attacked by a tiny person, a tiny person strong enough to throw Shadow out of the house and just as fast as he'd been attacked they'd made up.

"Say, I love your shirt! The rims on your sleeves are so cute!" Amy piped up again, breaking Stone out of his train of thought.
"Oh, uh- thank you! I like your dress too." He was quick to compliment her back and truthfully, it was a cute dress.
"Thanks!" Amy said as she twirled in her dress, "I made it myself and it has pockets!" She added, making sure to show off the pockets in her dress.

"Oh, I should properly introduce myself!" Amy snapped out of her twirl, walking up to Stone she held her hand up in a handshake.

"Hi, I'm Amy Rose and I'm a borrower!" She said cheerfully.
Still in a slight shock, Stone extended his hand, holding out his pinky and he shook Amy's hand as best as he could.
"I'm Stone, I'm a witch."

At that moment Shadow appeared in the doorway. Ready to fight, he leered around the room, eyes quickly landing on Stone and Amy's handshake.
"And that's Shadow, my familiar." Stone said as he pointed. Shadow grumbled, very much disliking that he clearly got thrown out the door for nothing.

"Are those your full names?" Stone's mind was pulled back to Amy as she looked up at him curiously.
"Oh no, it's Kiki" He answered.
"…Your name is Stone Kiki?" Shadow asks perplexed as he walked up to the two. Stone flailed around for words for a moment before answering.
"No. It's Kiki Stone- Just call me Stone." Hoping to change the subject, Stone's eyes shot around the room looking for anything to get off the topic.

His eyes landed on the open cupboards and the half made oats he'd left on the counter. His… willingness to cook had pretty much evaporated the moment he'd been kicked against the wall, but he was still hungry.

"Hey Shadow, aren't we near a town right now?" Shadow looked at him confused by the sudden change in topic.
"Uh yeah, why?" Instead of answering his familiar, Stone turned to Amy.
"Miss Amy, how would you feel about joining us for breakfast?"

The town turned out to be called Nouvion, it was on the bigger side of what Stone was expecting but it didn't take the three long before they found a cafe.
When Stone had shown Amy to the waitress, she had first stared in wonder at the borrower, but after that she did get them some things to help them. The staff had made an entire set up for the borrower to sit comfortably on the table. A handkerchief to mark out her space on the tabletop, a matchbox for a chair, a stack of loyalty cards for a table - taped together so they wouldn't slide - Stone wasn't sure where they'd found cups and plates small enough to fit Amy's size, but he was assuming they'd robbed a dollhouse somewhere and left a very sad child behind. However the strangest thing yet might have been the pipet the waitress happily pulled out to serve Amy some tea. Leaving it on the handkerchief and sending Stone such a glare that he understood that he was the one to pour the tiny, pink, hedgehog her tea.

Amy happily sat down on her improvised set up, sipping some tea before Stone even sat down himself. Slightly impressed with the waitress, the three ordered breakfast as he wondered if they'd ever have a borrower in before. Getting a platter of tea, Stone poured a cup for him and Shadow and then the three sat there, sipping tea.

Stone… hadn't thought this far ahead. Sure, when he'd sat in that pile of blankets going out and getting breakfast sounded wonderful - because it was - but now that the three of them were sitting at the table, all they could do was sit in silence and sip tea. Even Shadow started to look more and more uncomfortable by the minute.

As the awkward moment stretched on, Stone's mind began to wonder, they must've made a really weird sight. A human, a hedgehog and a hedgehog borrower walk into a french town and sit down for breakfast.
It's not the worst opening line for a pun that he's ever lived, seeing as Shadow was right next to him, but it was up there in absurd.

The waitress had sat them outside on the patio, it was an early day in autumn so the chill hadn't set in yet, Stone was grateful for it. There weren't many people outside with them, but the few that were, sent them looks every once in a while. They truly made for an odd sight he guessed.
The few towns people that walked past the cafe didn't really seem to notice them, all except for the odd onlooker. One such onlooker was a young girl around twelve who walked by with an elderly lady who must've been her grandmother. Stone and the girl locked eyes and before he realised it, the girl stilled, pulling her grandma to a stop with her.

"Are you a witch?" The question surprised Stone, at the same time it caught the attention of Shadow, Amy and who knows who.
"Dear, you can't ask that-" Her grandmother began to scold her, but Stone quickly told the woman it was quite alright.
"I am actually, sort of…" He added the last part quietly. The girl and grandmother looked at him in surprise, still not wanting to linger the grandmother tugged the girl forward, bid him, Shadow and Amy farewell and walked away.

"I guess you're the first witch these people have seen." Stone turned his attention back to Amy when the borrower spoke. Holding out her empty cup, Stone quickly picked up the pipet and refilled her tiny mug.
"You're not from around here, are you?" Stone shot a quick look to Shadow at her question, Stone wasn't from the area, but Shadow wasn't even from the earth.

"You could say that." Shadow answered. Ok, so they're not sharing the Ark story, good to know.

"I've got to say, you're also the first witches I've ever seen."
"Really?" Amy nodded as she took a bite of her food.
"Really. Witches aren't as common around these parts, it's mostly just borrower households and colonies."
Stone mulled over that information in his head, that could explain why people in the last few villages tended to be more hostile or just cold to Shadow and him. Stone hadn't really left the house in the last few weeks, but Shadow had told him plenty of the people they'd passed by. Then on the other side, witches weren't that uncommon in the region where Stone had lived, they didn't live in cities but they weren't rare in the surrounding villages. The people there would have known more about witches than the people here and vice versa, Stone had never even heard of a borrower before Amy.
Maybe that's why the cafe workers were armed with doll sized cups and plates.

"So, Stone." Amy spoke up, breaking his train of thought. "When will you be bringing me back?" A relaxed smile formed on her face with the question, Stone gulped. He was afraid that this might happen.
"I'm sorry."
"Your home. It walks," Amy started to clarify, "so when will you bri-" Stone piped up again "Oh no, that wasn't a question. I'm sorry."

Amy looked at him perplexed, now would be a really good time for Shadow to say something, but the waitress had come and brought their breakfast items and Shadow was wholly absorbed in his sandwich; almost fully ignoring the conversation in order to eat peacefully. If Stone could suddenly do magic, then he was sending a thousand frogs at the dark hedgehog right this second.
"I'm sorry I can't bring you back…" Stone spoke carefully.

Amy stared at him for a moment. Eventually, the pink borrower took a sip of her tea, put down the tiny plastic cup and stood up serenely.
"WHAT?!" despite Amy's screaming not being very loud Stone flinched. Hunching over trying to placate the borrower, but Amy's rant was an unstoppable warpath and the pink hedgehog screamed on undeterred.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T BRING ME HOME?!?" Stone was hunched over now, feeling worse and worse as Amy went on. She went on for an impressively long time, Stone wanted to cut in at some point but she'd shoot him right down, Shadow however did manage to get a word in, eventually.
"He can't steer the house." The dark hedgehog mentioned oh so helpfully. Amy paused, Stone could cry, thanking Shadow mentally, the gears in the borrowers head turned. "So it's not that you won't bring me home…" Amy began, "you literally can't bring me home." Staring at Stone's, the witch felt his throat close up, nodding yes to her question eventually instead of trying his luck and voice cracking his way through an answer.

"Huh… So I guess I'm stuck with you then." Amy stated blankly. "I guess you are Amy." Shadow helpfully provided as he took a sip of tea. Stone sent him a glare, Amy might have borderline cussed him out the last twenty minutes but Stone still felt bad for her. She had every right to be mad, sure she'd broken into their home, but Amy had explained that that's what a borrower does. Stone had asked her when they'd made their way over to the village, borrowers don't hurt people, they borrow. That's what Amy had come to do, the night she'd snuck into the cottage and now, the next day as it turns out, she was miles away from home. The journey back was one she could never make herself, so she was stuck. That's not something Stone would wish on anyone, it just felt cruel.

"I'm really sorry Amy," He tried to comfort the pink borrower as she sat down wordlessly, "you can stay as long as you want with us, really! I'll uh-" Stone wracked his brain for anything to say but when his attention was pulled by a soft sniffing sound he saw Amy on the verge of tears.
Panicking he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I'll uh- I'll learn how to steer the house!" Looking up from where she'd dropped herself on her matchbox seat, Amy looked at him with tearfully hopeful eyes. "Really? You can do that?"
Stone nodded carefully, "I'm sure I could. Somehow."

Amy looked at him for a moment, Stone didn't even need to look at Shadow to know that he was staring at Stone too. The offer seemed impossible but Stone was honest. If Amy wanted to go home, he would do whatever he could to figure out how to get her there. "Alright," the pink hedgehog said eventually, whipping away her tears she stood up, a smile now seated on her face. "then I hope you guys will have me until I can get home." The hope in her voice was carefully, but for Stone it bolstered his resolve. No matter what, he would get Amy home.

Holding out a finger, Amy took it with both hands and the two shook on their promise.

Learning to steer the house was not going well.
For starters, Stone had no idea where to start. Yeah sure, he knew how the house moved, legs, but there wasn't exactly a steering wheel in the kitchen that he could move around to change directions. Furthermore, the moment that he, Shadow and Amy had gotten back to the cottage, Amy had resoundingly holed up in one of the cupboards. The mug cupboard.
Stone had been leaving her food and drinks in the cupboard next to it, but Amy hadn't come out in three days and wanting to respect her personal space, Stone hadn't been able to get a mug for three days now.

Limited mugs aside, Amy had come out the morning of her third day. Joining them for breakfast, Stone nor Shadow mentioned her red eyes or dishevelled clothes.

The house still hadn't moved from Nouvion, Stone wasn't sure whether that was a good or a bad thing, particularly because he had no idea at all.
He was even doing research! He'd gone down to the library and went through as many books as he could before going cross-eyed . He'd spent hours scouring random reddit forums and weird websites online only to be left with more frustrations than he started with.
He wasn't expecting a how-to-guide for steering a walking house, but nothing could even agree on how magic worked.

All in all, Stone was facing his whits end.

The morning that Amy came out, Stone made sure to fix her something sweet before getting his hands on a mug and finally being able to fix himself a good cup of coffee.

A wave of relief went through him as he took a sip, taking a seat at the table he decided to go through his small pile of letters while he drank. He had one from Sonic and Tails, the other witch and familiar duo send updates of their travels every now and then, Stone really hoped they had added another picture of the place they visited last, further he had a letter from Corey back in his old city. He'd sent them a letter asking how they were holding up and given them instructions of how to respond, lest to say he was excited to see their reaction to his surprise letter and last but not least was the letter that Stone might have been the most excited for. After receiving the mysterious letter from that I.G.R. he'd sent a letter back, talking about how the letter accidentally got burned but explaining what he could and responding to what remained of the letter. Surprisingly, he'd gotten another letter not long after, he'd responded to that one and gotten a response again in return. Stone was shy to admit it, but it felt like having a pen pal of sorts and from what he already knew of I.G.R. they were fun to talk to. Maybe it was the fact that he didn't know who I.G.R. was and vice versa, but it felt nice to have someone new to talk to, or write to in this case.

Opening the first letter, Stone first admired the picture that Sonic and Tails had taken of a ruin somewhere in the jungle.
Shadow was eating silently and Amy didn't really seem up for a conversation as she picked at her food on the plate she sat on.

Reading through the letter itself, Stone's mind began to wander.
Why did he always end up with a Mobian? It wasnt a bad thing, but it was starting to feel like a pattern. He took a sip from his coffee, it was as if the universe had an author, one who certainly liked to laugh.
He mentally laughed at the idea, smiling into his drink, that idea was just crazy and the Mobian thing was just a coincidence.

And that's exactly how Stone jinxed himself.

There was a pounding knock on the door.
Stone looked up from the letter in his hand, sharing a worried glance with Shadow before the dark hedgehog slowly rose from the table.

Amy looked between Stone, Shadow and the door before landing on Stone again with a questioning look. Stone just raised his shoulders, he had no idea what was going on.
The person on the other side was still pounding on the door as Shadow reached it. Stone leaned over the table to get a better view of the door, Amy climbed off her plate, quickly rushed to put her shoes on before walking over to join Stone in peeking.

Holding his breath, Stone watched Shadow reach for the door handle. His familiar held the handle for a moment, the pounding growing more and more frantic as Shadows hand silently laid in wait.

In a second, Shadow ripped the door open. Missing the door, a little girl stumbled into the room. Shadow sidestepped her, letting her stumble straight into the living room.
The three watched as the girl took the room in, slowly collecting herself. Her eyes soon landing on Stone.

Without so much as saying a word, she walked up to Stone and grabbed him by the arm. Before Stone could realise what was happening, the little girl pulled him out the door.

"STONE!" Shadow yelled out behind him as Stone left the cottage behind. The kid had an iron grip on his arm as she ran towards the town. Stone could have easily put his feet down, resist going wherever she wanted to take him, but something kept him from doing that. Maybe it was because she was pulling him along so desperately or it was the fact that tears were streaming down her face as they ran.

It was obvious that she needed help desperately and while Stone had no idea why she'd come to him, he couldn't let someone down.
So she ran, pulling him along, and Stone let her.

The two reached Nouvion, racing through the town they eventually ended up in front of an apartment complex that the girl didn't hesitate to enter. Skipping the elevator, she shot for the staircase. Stone was already out of breath when they got there, but with her pulling him as hard as she could and him trying to give his all for the last stretch, the two finally broke out of the stairwell onto one of the floors.

There was a small crowd of people gathered at an open door, but the girl ignored them, instead pushing them aside as she yelled to let them through. When the people laid eyes on her they quickly scrambled to let her through and the girl pulled him into the open apartment.

Stone couldn't even get his bearings when the girl pulled him to another open door, hopefully the last one. The room inside was decorated with old trinkets, memorabilia's Stone's mind supplied him. Covering every inch of the walls, shelves and tabletops were pictures or other items that had aged over the years, but Stone's eyes didn't linger on any of them. His eyes shot to the bed under the window and specifically the woman that laid there.

Suddenly he realised that he'd seen the girl and this lady before, three days ago when Stone, Shadow and Amy had gone to that cafe for breakfast she was the little girl that had asked him whether he was a witch.

The old lady on the bed doesn't look well. She's gaunt, looking a lot worse than she had just three days prior.

"Heal her." The little girl begs him, gasping for air. Stone doesn't turn to look at her, unable to take his eyes off the old lady.

Suddenly, and with startling clarity, everything makes sense now.

The lady is rasping for air, her eyes are closed and Stone isn't sure if she can hear her granddaughters pleas for him to save her.

"You're a witch aren't you?" She stands in front of him now, red eyes and tear-stained cheeks glaring at him. "Heal her!" She motions to her grandmother.

Stone isn't sure what to say at first. He can hear the people in the front entrance murmur as they hesitate whether to go in or not. The little girl is staring at him intently, fresh tears making their way down her face, but she stares at him determined. And he doesn't know what to tell her, this is not a problem he can fix.

"I'm sorry." He says the words that he knows will break her heart.
"I can't heal death."

Stone isn't sure what expression he wears on his face as the child searches it. She opens her mouth as if to scream, but the only noise that comes out of her is a tiny whimper. Stone watches as a dam breaks, tears fully start flooding from her eyes as she slowly begins to move, first to wipe her face, then to break down in sobs.

Stone doesn't try to stop her as she runs past him and out the room, he can hear people yell for her in the hallway as she rushes past hem, but Stone doesn't follow her.

His eyes fall back to the old lady in the bed. Her eyes are open now, staring straight up, unfocused but aware.
"Genieva?" She rasps out.

Stone takes a deep breath as he slowly takes a step towards her, there's a chair next to her bed that he pulls up to sit next to her.
"I'm sorry, she isn't here right now." He says assuming that that's her granddaughters name.

The woman weakly nods to herself.
"Good, I don't want her to see me go." She raises her hand up and without hesitation, Stone gently takes the cold, old hand in his own. Hoping it'll give her some warmth that she doesn't have of her own.
"She's so young…" She rasps out before her eyes fall to him.
"Oh," she says in muted surprise, "you're the witch." Stone could help but smile, although it felt more like a grimace in the moment.

"Yeah, I'm the witch."

"I'm sorry, you came all this way-" A cough wracked her body. Stone quickly squeezed her hand, telling her to save her strength. The woman ignored him,
"Just to see an old woman die."

The two fell into an acquiescent silence.
"is there anything I can do for you?" Stone eventually asked, hoping he could at the very least, ease her final moments.
"just- hold my hand will you?" She asked, closing her eyes for a moment and just breathed. Stone nodded, not replying as he and the woman just sat there for a moment. Nothing more than strangers to each other, but human all the same."You're warm…" She whispered after a while.

Stone's grimace melted into a soft smile, his attention snapping back to the lady as she spoke up again.
"Actually, there is one thing." Stone listened intently to her as she spoke.
"Once I'm gone, Genieva won't have anyone here. I know I'm asking a lot, but could you take her to her family in Paris?"

Stone opened his mouth, but no words came out. He didn't know what to say. Paris was a long way north, this was another request that he couldn't possibly fulfil. He wanted to apologise to her again, search for the easiest words to tell her he couldn't, but when Stone looked down - she was gone.

Her hand cold, her smile lined wrinkling for a final time in what would be her death mask. Her now unseeing eyes still gazing up at him.

Stone's still holding her hand when he turns around, standing in the door frame is a wide eyed Shadow, his hands cupped to hold up Amy. They probably came after him when the kid grabbed him and ran, Stone wasn't sure how much they'd seen or heard, but all it took was a pleading look to Shadow for his familiar to understand. Taking Amy with him, Shadow goes to look for Genieva.

Everything after that point is a bit of a blur. Stone isn't sure whether it's from shock or disbelief, but a lot happens in quick succession. Stone sits there, at the old ladies side, until some people from the hallway have grown brave enough to trickle in. He talks with the doctor that was called in, he talks with the coroner, with the neighbours and other stragglers. All of it feels like white noise in his memories now.

By nightfall, Stone is back in the cottage. Genieva is there at the table, face blank as if she's out of tears. Shadow and Amy are huddled near the burning fire place as Stone gently closes the door behind him, unsure of what to say or do or even think. He isn't even sure what he has the energy for right now.

Everyone's tired, the feeling lingers in the air, even deaf and blind Stone could feel it. Automatically, without much thought, Stone moved to the kitchen. It was too late for coffee, but Stone warmed some milk in a pan and added some honey. Placing the mug in front of Genieva, the young girl didn't seem to realise or acknowledge the drink. Stone didn't mind as he went through the room and set up the pull down bed for her.

Stone had a lot to mull over tonight, catching the worried glance of Amy, he knew they were in hot water now. Shadow hadn't taken his eyes off Genieva since Stone had entered the cottage, the witch couldn't help but wonder how his familiar was feeling.

Stone couldn't steer the house. He couldn't steer it for Amy or Genieva or himself. He wasn't sure how to help someone grieve or how to even do it himself. Looking back to Genieva, the girl was holding the mug in her hand, but otherwise she remained unmoving.

Carding a hand through his hair, Stone couldn't help the growing lump in his throat.
He couldn't steer the house, but he has to get her home.

The first few days with Genieva were rough, to put it lightly.

Stone knew that the - apparently twelve year old - girl was going through a lot, but if he had to go through another screaming meltdown or mug thrown at him then he might scream himself.

Shadow isn't faring much better, having decided to hole himself up in his room after day two to avoid her. At least Amy seems like she has an idea of what she's doing, usually being the one to talk Genieva into calming down and even once saving a mug from the shattering fate when she caught it and sent Genieva into a time out. Something the twelve year old hadn't taken well, deciding instead to curl into the space under the stairs and slamming the pull down bed up as hard as she could.

The house had moved the day after Genieva's grandmother passed. Leaving the four of them cooped up in the cottage as it moved, everyone felt as if they were running thin right now, Stone included.

All in all, they were out of their depths.

"This isn't going well." Amy whispered at breakfast one morning. Genieva was still laying in her bed, her back turned to them as she refused to get up. Stone would fix her a bowl of oats and fruits later, he hopes she'll eat it but only time would tell.

"I have to agree with Amy on this one." Shadow said in his regular volume, Amy and Stone quickly shushing him before peaking over to Genieva. She hadn't moved or made any sign that she was listening to their conversation, but Stone was certain that the twelve year old was awake.

"Well…" Stone started, "what do we do? Because I'll be honest, whatever I'm doing isn't going to help." And it was true, Genieva seemed to talk with Amy, to Shadow she was tolerant, but she had a loathing hatred for him. Maybe that was the reason for why half his mugs had been shattered in less than a week.

Amy thought for a moment, sitting criss cross on her breakfast plate, she frowned to herself as Stone and Shadow stared intently. Willing for the tiny borrower to think if a way they could help, or at least do something.

Eventually sighing, Amy just raised her shoulders.

"How's steering the house going?" Amy asked and Stone couldn't help dropping his head on the table like a sack. Amy let out a small scream as the force of his head hitting the table was strong enough to throw her plate up for a moment, the dull thud was even loud enough to grab Genieva's attention for a moment; the almost teen however, rolled back to stare at the wall.

"Wow…" Amy said as she carefully climbed to the edge of her plate, letting her feet rest on the table, "that bad huh?"
"I think this is worse than the time he tried to cast a thousand frogs spell." Shadow piped up, Amy shot him a confused look to which he just replied: "The barista asked him to." As if that explained anything. Amy didn't ask further.

"I think the best we can do right now is to give her some space." Amy slowly started again. Stone laid his head sideways on the table to show that he was, in fact, listening to her. He was slightly regretting hitting the table as hard as he did, a slow and painful throbbing on his forehead making him very aware of his dumb decision.

"She's…" Amy's voice wavered for a moment, Stone looked up to her to see her wringing her hands together. Taking a deep breath, Amy held it for a moment before breathing out, making sure to keep her voice low enough so that only Stone and Shadow could hear, she picked up again. "She's going through a lot right now, I'm not sure how close she was with her grandmother, but if it's even a fraction of what I'm assuming then she must be going through the unimaginable."

"I think the best we can do right now is to give her some space, she'll be ready to talk about things when she is, we can't force that. Maybe once the house settles somewhere we could look around for something to do? A distraction; something physical."

Stone nodded as Amy spoke, it might not have been a solid plan, but it was the best they had. Stone… admittedly wasn't very good with things like this, neither at comforting or being comforted. Two sides of a coin he's never had. Stealing a glance at Shadow, the dark hedgehog was staring blankly at the table.
Stone feels that he's gotten pretty good at understanding him, when he's feeling up or down, whether he doesn't like a particular situation or when he's uncomfortable. However, Stone couldn't even begin to guess what Shadow was feeling right now. His familiar wasn't exactly good at dealing with his emotions, there was no argument against that, but just because he was bad at it doesn't mean Shadow doesn't feel. Stone remembers the feeling of being treated like that, but that was a long time ago and now isn't about him.

Whatever Shadow was feeling, Stone had no idea. He could only hope that Shadow would be willing to tell him directly; maybe later.
Nodding to Amy, they agreed then and there that they'd give Genieva as much space as they could and when the house settled they'd take her out for a distraction, something simple. Stone could do simple.
Collecting the dishes from the table, Stone put them in the kitchen sink and went about fixing Genieva something too.
She didn't eat it.

The first time the house settled after Amy, Shadow and Stone had formed the plan was two days later. Stone hadn't made any progress in learning to steer and he was getting desperate, but all he could do was hope that Genieva didn't notice. Amy and Shadow had gone out together to check out the area, Stone staying behind to babysit the cottage. Guessing from what he'd seen out of the windows, he didn't think they were near any villages, the house finding a small clearing deep in the forest before settling down. It reminded him of sorts of when he'd first found the house, a lot had changed since then. Looking through the living room, there wasn't a cobweb in sight, the place was still sparsely furnished, but it had it's own charm to it. There wasn't much in terms of furniture - Stone would love to get his hands on a small couch, or at least a love seat for the fireplace - but what he had now was a lot more than at first. The kitchen was overflowing with mismatching mugs, cups, plates and whatnot, most of it being given to him by people from the coastal village. The red coffee machine stood on a step stool, now also accessible to Shadow even if he barely ever touched it. There was a rug in the living room, bought from a flea-market. The drawers had clothes and the racks had a few herbs drying. There were drawings tacked onto one wall and even a few pictures hung here and there. Memories from the people he had met. It wasn't much, but to Stone it meant a lot.

Genieva sat curled up with a blanket on the carpet. The fireplace was unlit, but that didn't stop her from staring at it as if it was. Stone couldn't help the feeling of worry from blooming in his chest, he felt helpless and he hated it. Maybe it was just human to want to help someone who's going through so much pain, but he felt desperate to do anything, but despite that desperation it didn't help him with figuring out the house.

"What?" Stone broke out of his train of thought, Genieva was glaring at him and he realised that he'd been staring at her for a while.
"Uhm- sorry, I didn't mean to stare." He quickly apologised.
"Just-" agitated, Genieva turned back to the fireplace, "cut it out." she bit.

A heavy silence fell in the living room. That tended to happen a lot this week and admittedly, Stone felt at fault. It didn't make sense if he thought about it, but sometimes feelings aren't about making sense, they're just feelings; feelings with impact.

Licking his lips, Stone threw out the first question that came to mind to fill the silence.
"How are you feeling?"

"Like shit." If she had been anyone else then Stone would have chewed her out for using foul language, but he didn't say anything of it.
"Is there anything I could do to help you feel better?"
"There was something," that piqued Stone's attention, listening intently he smiled at Genieva, glad that maybe he could help in some way.
"You could have healed my grandma."

Stone's smile fell at those words.
Genieva practically sneered them at him as she refused to turn back or face him. Taking a deep breath he took one of the dining table chairs, moving it so he could sit down while facing her.

"I'm…not exactly good with magic." Stone started, only to be cut of when Genieva whipped around to stare at him in disbelief.
"What do you mean you're not good with magic?"

"Well it's a long story…"
"Short version?"
"…I can't do magic."

Genieva's brain halted. Stone saw the words turns gears in her head.

"So you lied? You aren't a witch." Genieva spoke slowly, like a realisation dawned on her.
"No, no I am…" Stone's words faltered in his own defence. He's been saying the same thing as her for months. Everyone's told him he was but- but here is the first person agreeing with him, and it's someone who's growing red, tears threatening to fall from her face. Stone could feel the anger burning behind her words as she pressed on.

"What makes you a witch then?! What? You own a house, you've got yourself a special little pet."

Stone expected her anger, Genieva has been angry and was an angry griever, but that made her words not hurt any less. She was twelve and yet those words were like a dagger to the heart. To call his house nothing, to imply Shadow was a pet and not his own, mysterious, person. It burns in his chest, he wants to say something, but when he reaches for the well of words, he comes up empty.

Genieva looks- Stone can't tell what she feels at his silence, not satisfied nor comforted by it. Stone's not sure what his own feelings are right now. All that he feels from the buzz in the air is a drain.
Stone doesn't have to worry about replying to Genieva's statement for long. The door behind him opens up as Amy's voice pipes up excitedly, Shadow carrying her in one hand as he closes the door behind him.

"You guys are not going to believe what we found! There's a waterfall not too-" Amy's voice falters as she notices the tension in the air. Stone doesn't wait for her to ask if something happened when he stands up from the chair, pushing it back in place under the table.
"I'm going to take a nap." Now that Shadow and Amy are here, they can babysit Genieva.

"But wait! what about-"
"We can do it tomorrow." Stone says cutting Amy off. Walking up the stairs, he doesn't glance back to see their worried faces or Genieva's slow frown.

The next day Stone feels a little better. Sleep does surprising wonders for the mind, maybe there was a form of sleep magic he could learn. He waters the plants and writes a letter that he sends to the fisher couple back in the coastal village before getting started on breakfast. For once, everyone sits at the table without complaint, Amy's excitement is through the roof as she walks up and down the table explaining the plan for today while weaving past cups, cutlery and bread.

"There's this beautiful waterfall nearby, what do you think about going swimming Genieva?" Genieva's surprised by the proposal, but she still stammers out a 'yes' and the group pack some towels and extra clothes before heading out.

Amy was right about the waterfall being beautiful, following a river they end up at a sort of spot that Stone had only ever seen in vacation ads. A large waterfall dropping into a basin of water that slowly funnelled out into the river they walked by. The lake was as clear as crystal and little stones and pebbles lined the lake shore. It was beautiful, to put it into less words.

Stone and Shadow set up a spot on the rocks, not the most comfortable to lie on but they were here to swim anyway. Stone felt a little excited for it, it'd been ages since he went swimming.

Looking out over the lake, it was pristine, Shadow dusted his hands when he was finished with his own towel. The two had made a set up for Amy to lounge in, the borrower not exactly being able to swim in the lake safely so Stone had brought with them the largest bowl they had, Amy could stand on the bottom and her head would be above water, she said she liked jacuzzi's more anyway.

Genieva just looked at them as they worked setting up their little spot. When everything was finished she sat down on her own towel and stared out over the lake.
"Do… you want to join us?" Stone asked after a moment. Genieva didn't look him in the eyes as she shook her head no.
"Alright." Stone replied. Not taking it to heart, looking at Shadow next to him, his familiar looked up at him when he noticed the witch staring.

A grin split over Stone's face, Shadow face turning from blank to blank and leaning back. Shooting forwards, Stone grabbed Shadow by the waist. Lifting the protesting dark hedgehog in his arms, he waddled over to the lake, walking until the water was up to his thighs. Ignoring the screams and protests from Shadow, Stone held onto him with an iron grip, turning around to face Genieva and Amy again he grinned as he leaned backwards.

"STONE DON'T-" Shadow's final plea was cut off by the water as Stone dunked the both of them. With glee, Stone held onto Shadow for a second underwater before letting his familiar go, Shadow shot up and climbed back to shore, out of the water. The familiar quickly shaking off as much water as if he could, spraying a good amount on Amy and Genieva. Coming up himself, Stone couldn't help but laugh as Shadow chewed him out. Amy eventually joined in.

"This is stupid." The groups laughter fell as Genieva muttered those words.
"Sorry?" Amy looked up at her confused from her water bowl.
"I said, this is stupid." Genieva spoke up.
"Just- what are we doing here? Just, swimming? Why…"

Stone slowly walked out of the water, joining Shadow on the shore.
"Well, we wanted to take you out when the house settled." Amy explained.
"Why?!" Genieva shouted, Stone put a hand on Shadow's shoulder as Genieva went on. "So we can just all forget what happened?" She glowered around, daring anyone to disagree with her, "this whole thing is stupid, Amy can't even swim!"

No one said anything for a while, Genieva panted, blinking away tears.

"We're here for you-." Shadow started but was cut off.
"Me?" Genieva huffed, "oh what, the pets here for me?" Stone didn't catch the emotion that flashed across Shadow's face, but he did see the glare he aimed at Genieva.
"I am NOT a pet." Shadow bit back, that didn't seem to put Genieva off as the two started yelling at each other.

Stone had no idea what to do, one moment he thought they were having a good time and now Shadow and Genieva are at each others throats. Shadow shook his hand off his shoulder when he stepped forward and their yelling intensified. Stone felt frozen, wanting to speak or break this up, but he couldn't. He was the adult in this situation, but he felt like nothing more than a young child right now.

"OK YOU TWO THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Amy's shout seemed to startle the two for a moment, their shouting stopped as they turned to the pink borrower.
"Shadow take a moment to cool off and Genieva, I can't believe you called him a pet." Amy had climbed out of the bowl and made herself present on the flat topped water bottle Stone had brought along.
"What's it to you?" Genieva sneered back.

Amy's expression dropped, from anger to worse.
Turning to Genieva, the twelve year old leaned back, her shoulders raised. Stone did the same.
"Does it make you feel better? Being mean. Does that help you, hurting others because you're hurt?" Her voice washed over him like ice and it wasn't even aimed at him.

"I know losing your grandmother is hard Genieva," the young girl shrunk at her words, as if she felt the shame of her actions crash against her with Amy's words. "But biting at everyone around you isn't going to make that pain go away. You're hurting, I know you are, we all do. So please, let us help." As Amy spoke, her voice mellowed out little by little and Genieva listened. Everyone did.
"You don't even know me. You don't care…" Her voice was nothing more than a whisper that Stone almost didn't catch.
"That's not true," Amy's voice was softer, climbing off the water bottle she made her way over to Genieva, putting her hands against the twelve year old as a comfort.
"We care, we really do."

Tears had started falling down Genieva's cheeks in earnest. Stone wanted to say something, do what Amy was doing, offer comfort, but he was still stuck where he stood. As if his feet were glued to the ground and his mouth was nailed shut. He tried and failed, again and again, with every word he tried to bring out. He felt like he was choking, yet breathing. Hyper-focused on what was happening in front of him, yet drowning in it all the same. He couldn't help, couldn't make himself useful.

In all that hyper-focus, Stone didn't realise that he couldn't feel Shadow tugging his wet shirt, he couldn't hear his heavy breathing either.

"You're grieving right now, everyone who's going through what you're going through would feel alone," Stone didn't know what it was, but maybe these were words that he wished someone had ever told him. He felt pathetic clinging to them now when they weren't even for him, but he also thought it was pathetic that he felt this hollowed by losing people he'd never met.
"You need to remember that you're not though. You aren't alone."

Genieva was softly sobbing now, trying to choke them back and failing, she kept opening and closing her mouth without a word. Amy rubbed circled along her leg as even Stone's eyes started to well up. Genieva pulled her leg back, her sobs growing heavier as she tried to rub them away to no avail.

Amy opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut of as Genieva shot up. Stumbling, the pink borrower let out a yelp before catching herself on her hands. Genieva didn't pay attention to her as she darted away.
Running past the tree line, Genieva disappeared into the forest.

The three were stunned, it didn't register at first, but when Shadow piped up breaking the silence, all hell broke loose.
"Did she just run off?"

The three panicked, Stone thought that that was an understatement, but he's trying to keep some dignity here, he was a refined witch please and thank you and this was the day that he learned that refined witches could have a nervous breakdown.

Pushing that into the not-thinking-about-it box, Shadow picked up Amy and booked it after Genieva. Pulling off his wet clothes, Stone changed as fast as he could before running off after them, Genieva's dry clothing in hand.
The three searched high and low for the teen. She couldn't have gotten far with the maybe ten second head start, but it was as if she'd disappeared into thin air.
There wasn't a trace of Genieva, for hours they searched, the early autumn air growing colder and colder as night set in.

Stone was by far the most freaked out, he wasn't proud to admit it, but he hadn't kept his cool at all in the situation. Shadow seemed more collected, but he was panicking internally too. Amy was the only one to still have her head on her shoulders, but even her concern and worry began to outgrow her rationale as night set in.

The sun had set when the three stopped at the edge of the woods. Stone was gulping down air, trying to catch his breath while Amy and Shadow were wondering where they hadn't looked yet. They had searched through what had to have been the entire forest, even going back to the cottage at some point they'd taken an hour to go through the air and search from a higher vantage point. Nothing.

No sign, no Genieva, nowhere.

Genieva was just gone and they weren't sure they could find her in the dark.
"This isn't good." Amy told Stone when the witch finally managed to get his breathing under control.
"What if we split up? We could try that again." Stone suggested, but Amy just shook her head no.
"That wouldn't do us any good, the suns gone down an hour ago Stone, I don't think we can find her like this."

"What's that?" Shadow piped up.
Stone and Amy looked at him for a moment as Shadow to something up in the sky and ahead.

"What's what?" Stone asked, squinting to try and see what Shadow was pointing at, it was a cloudy night, the moon and the stars were partially covered but as the moon slipped past the clouds Stone thought he could see what Shadow meant.

There was a hill outside of the woods in front of them, there at the very top Stone thought he could catch a glimpse of something, or rather, someone.

The three didn't hesitate to leave the woods behind them as they trekked up the hill.
"Dude, how did you spot that?" Stone turned to Shadow as he took Amy, curiosity lacing his voice.
"Night vision." Shadow stated.
"… I can't tell if you're joking or not."

When the three reached the top of the hill, Stone still couldn't fully see her, but he was certain that the figure sometimes revealed by the moon and stars peaking past the clouds was the twelve year old girl they'd been looking for for the past few hours.

Relief hit Stone's system so hard, he could sway of his feet, hit the grass and fall asleep right there; he did two of those three things.

Amy let out a small scream as Stone dropped himself next to Genieva in the grass. The blades were tickling his face more than the cold air did.
"Oh thank fuck you're okay." He groaned, any anger that he had imagined himself throwing at her in the last few hours immediately went out the window as he threw the clothes he'd held onto for hours next to him.
"Are your clothes still wet?"

Genieva didn't respond, instead staring up at the sky. Shadow stood over the three, sending glances at Stone, quietly asking what he was supposed to do.
Just patting the grass next to him, Shadow rolled his eyes, yet eventually made his was over and laid down.

The three laid there in silence, Genieva hadn't moved or said anything from where she sat looking up at the sky, but Stone had the feeling that she was exhausted. He couldn't see her face right now, but if he could then he would probably be met with red and puffy eyes.

"She loved the night sky you know?" Genieva's voice cracked softly through the dark air. It came out rough, no one commented on it.
"When I was little," she started again, " she'd secretly let me stay up late whenever I stayed over, so we could watch the stars together."

There was something soft about the way she said it, like a confession.

Star gazing seemed like a fun hobby, Stone admitted. Although it didn't seem much like something Stone would enjoy, he'd looked at the twinkling stars for hours from his apartment and after a while you've seen it all.

The sky was covered in patches of clouds, a strong gust of wind blew over the hill and Stone couldn't help close his eyes in surprise. The autumn air carried the scent of old grass and cinnamon with it.

"She told me it looked like this." Confused, Stone opened his eyes.

The first thing he was met with was an open sky. The gust having moved the clouds to show the starry sky beyond it and it stole Stone's breath away.

"Wow, I've never seen it this bright." Amy piped up. Stone agreed, he had never seen the night sky like this.

Billions of stars lit up the atmosphere, each one trailing colour across the sky to form galaxies. Before him splayed an excellent night sky, one he'd never seen before, but all the same he suddenly found himself understanding how people believed in a heaven and that heaven laid above them.

"My grandmother grew up in a rural village, she said it always looked like this at night." Genieva added. If Stone could see this as a child then he also would have loved star gazing.
"She was always upset that the stars weren't as bright in the town. Hated light pollution with all her heart." Genieva chuckled, that little laugh was more than she'd laughed all week.

"I- I'm sorry for how I've been acting." The three tore their eyes from the night sky to look at Genieva with surprise, "I know that there's no excuse for the things I said, but I'd still like to apologise. It's just- a lot." Her voice cracked, a sob tore through the night air. Genieva took a moment to recollect herself, pulling her face down in her hands to rub her eyes dry. Stone moved to sit up with her, rubbing comforting circles on her back as her sobs turned to sniffles.

"Her health was getting worse for a while, I- I knew it could happen, but it didn't feel like it would. Didn't feel real. And- and then you came." She whipped around to Stone, he just looked at her confused "We'd- I'd seen videos about you, you know!"
"You have?" Shadow asked surprised.
"Yeah, you're like a cryptid on the internet." she affirmed, "I thought, 'hey, he's that witch! Maybe he could heal my grandma' but you-" she left the words unsaid, he couldn't. Maybe a proper witch could, but Stone was anything but.

A heavy silence hung in the air, clouds trekked across the night sky again, covering the stars. Genieva was the one to break it again.

"I don't want to go back to my family." Her confession came out in a whisper. One that set off immediate alarm bells in Stone's head. Stone and Amy shared silently horrified looks, was something wrong with Genieva's family? Her grandmother wouldn't knowingly send her to a bad situation, right?

Shadow, completely missing their concerns, snorted.
"That's stupid, why wouldn't you want to go to your family?"

"Well," Genieva began, also completely oblivious to Stone and Amy, "it just- it would just finally make her death feel real."

"I've been living in your home for what? Two weeks, tops. We knew it could happen but- It was so sudden." Genieva's voice was sullen, bordering on disconnection as she spoke. Stone felt bad for feeling some relief for his own misjudgement.

"I wake up and I'm not home, I get to live in a world where she's not gone, just back home and when I'm with my parents again. Well, it means she's truly gone."

"Sometimes I forget that she already is." The words lingered in the air. Solemn, but not as shattering as could have been.

"That must be hard." Amy queried.
"Forgetting and remembering, again and again, that she's gone? Yeah, it is." Genieva agreed. Walking up to the edge of Stone's hand, Amy sat herself down, legs dangling off the side like a ledge, as she faced Genieva.
"So, how would we help you?"

"I don't want to move on." Genieva frowned.
"No, not moving on, mourning." Amy clarified.

Genieva thought about Amy's words for a moment, the words mulling around in her head like gears turning.
"How… If you don't mind me asking, but how do you guys deal with this?"
"How do you mean?" asked Stone.
"This, feeling of drowning, like I'm going under and will never see the sun again. That things won't be ok."

A heavy, loaded feeling sat in the air, Stone wasn't sure if he could answer that himself. Looking to Amy, Stone was surprised to hear her not be the first one to answer Genieva's question.
It was Shadow.

"Stone isn't my first witch." Stone turned to Shadow, shock coursing through every vein in his body. "I had a sister, her name was Maria. She died young and uhm, it's a process." Shadow told his story as he laid in the grass, hands folded over his stomach as Amy, Stone and Genieva paid him rapt attention.
"Some days it feels like nothing matters and on others I remember that she would have wanted me to be happy; it was her final wish."

Stone felt pride swell up in his chest, a month ago Shadow would never have even shared Maria's name. Hearing him talk about her, with other people no less, made him happy. It felt like he opened up when he talked about her.

Amy was the next to share her own story.
"I used to live in a borrower colony and well, lots of things happen in a big world when you're this little."
"Like what?" Genieva asked carefully.
"Well, winters, animals, failing to borrow or even discovery sometimes." Genieva stared at Amy, her mouth practically falling open and Stone couldn't say that he wasn't interested in hearing Amy's story himself.
"I've lost a lot of good people, but I agree with Shadow, remembering your best moments with them helps. It hurt too, but I'd rather have the memories than not. At least I've had them." She finished with a melancholy smile, and well, if we're already making a confessional night out of it.

"I grew up in an orphanage," Stone threw out there, with an ease that only comes with practice. "Never knew my parents. Don't know if they died or abandoned me but, well, I guess it's kind of silly missing people you never knew right?" After years and years of wanting, there came a day that Stone realised he was more attached to the concept of his parents than the actual people they must have been. "I don't miss them anymore, but as a kid I was desperate."
The kids back in the orphanage used to tease him that his parents hadn't even held him looked at him long enough to see whether he was a boy or a girl, just decided to guess when they named him Kiki and they guessed wrong.
Stone took a deep breath, in all honesty he never quite liked pulling up memories like this, but maybe he was feeling a little bit in the sharing mood tonight.

"Some wounds heal with time and some don't, but you learn to live with them and it gets easier, maybe not better, but easier." Stone had accepted long ago that he would probably never know who his parents were or why they threw him away. That would just be a scar he'd bear for the rest of his life, but he didn't want that to hold him back from enjoying what he had now.
He'd spent enough time being miserable, whether it was his time to be happy he wasn't sure, but sitting there while catching glimpses of the brightest night sky he's ever seen, would be a great start.

Life had put him down, and it would put him down in the future, but it's like breathing, Stone thought to himself.
Ups and downs, breathe out and have nothing, breathe in and have everything, in life you had both. The comfort in it was that neither were permanent. You'll breathe in again and you'll breathe out again and when you don't, well, Stone didn't exactly have to worry about it then.

The breeze sent another chill down his spine, the night just growing colder and colder the longer they sat out there on the hill, but no one got up to move.
Distantly, Stone could hear something of a creaking sound, or were they thuds?
Funny, it kind of reminded him of-

"Hey isn't that the house?" Shadow asked.

Turning around to face the side of the hill behind them, now that the sky was more or less open, Stone and everyone else could see the house emerge from the woods some 40 meters away. It casually walked into the open expanse before them, taking big steps he was all too familiar with.

The house was up and moving, leaving them behind.

"Shit."

Instantly shooting up, Stone made a wild dash for the house. Genieva let out a shriek as she and Shadow scrambled after Stone. Running desperately to catch up as the house walked off into the dark horizon, Genieva yelled ahead, Stone yelled back, Amy yelled tips and Shadow didn't yell, but he wasn't having a great time either.

The four made for an odd sight running to catch up with a walking house, Stone would probably think back on this and laugh, but right now he was a little busy trying to catch the cottage.

Stone's never had much in life.
So one of the things he enjoyed getting was mail. Post cards, long letters, short letters, it was an old medium and admittedly, just texting was faster, but there was something so charming about receiving and sending letters than lit up a light inside of him. Maybe it was just the idea of someone taking the time to write him up something, asking how his day was, etc.
Like a form of journaling but you're doing it with someone.

Which was why his day instantly brightened when he received another letter from I.G.R.
"Your boyfriend send you another letter?" Genieva asked as she made up her bed for the night.
"He isn't my boyfriend." Stone bit back snarkily, before smiling to himself as he sat down at the kitchen table and opened the letter.

"Right…" Genieva said judging him. "And we're throwing a party over here." she added just for sarcasm.
Waving her off without taking his nose out the letter, Amy couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't stay up too long reading again" she said before Genieva held her up to a padded teacup that hung over the guest bed from the stairs. It was one with a very cute design, cute enough that Genieva had deemed it the only right one to turn into Amy's bed.
Genieva had started getting into making Amy more and more furniture for the last month, it was crazy how creative the twelve year old girl could get, but Stone had to admit that he did like her design choices.

Shadow had already headed in for the night, returning to his master bedroom and the mysteries that laid within.

I.G.R. sent him another long letter, with glee Stone began to read, his mind coming up with ideas of how to respond to some bits of the letter as he read. The two of them have been going back and forth like this ever since the first accidental letter Stone sent. I.G.R. had replied and so did Stone. Back and forth and Stone was a little embarrassed to admit that he looked more and more forwards to the next letter he'd receive from the mystery man with every letter he sent himself.

He couldn't help it! I.G.R. was an interesting man and maybe he felt a little like I.G.R. was interested in him too.

Stone shook the thought from his head, deciding not to go down that road just off of letters alone.

The hours crept by as Stone's eyes scanned line after line, passage after passage, this might have been the longest letter he'd gotten yet. He read on and on until his eyes hooked onto one sentence somewhere near the bottom.

'It sounds like you're settling more and more into your home.'

It was a simple line, scribbled quickly as if the writer was fervent to get it down, but it reminded Stone of something he'd heard weeks ago, 'your home'.
When Stone had first met Amy she had also called the cottage his home. Up until now, Stone hadn't really thought of the cottage as his, but that's exactly what it was, wasn't it? His.

His house, his home.

It's a thought that he almost feels he isn't allowed to have, but Stone just chuckles at that notion. He's lived here with Shadow for months, he's cleaned the floors, beds, walls. The pictures were theirs, the cups and cutlery. This was theirs and therefore, his too.

"Huh…" Stone said to himself with the realisation, "I just wish you would take us to Genieva's parents" Stone whispered to the air of his house. It was more of a murmur, but it was picked up.

Suddenly the house lurched forwards, rougher than it had ever done before. Scrambling to hold on to the table, he heard Amy yell as her teacup bed swung around wildly. Genieva jumped awake with the second lurch. Mugs were rattling, some plates left on the counter from last night fell to the floor and shattered.

"What's going on?!" Shadow yelled as he came down the stairs, holding onto the banister for dear life. Panicked, Genieva rescued Amy from the danger teacup as Stone stood up, steadying himself using the table with one hand, the other still holding the letter.

It didn't take long before all eyes in the room focused in on him. Concern and confusion lacing their eyes, but Stone didn't pay attention as he felt realisation dawn on him.

Breaking out into a soft laugh, everyone's confusion grew until Stone finally answered.
"I think, we're finally bringing Genieva home."

Genieva had told them at dinner a few days ago that she thought she was ready to go to her parents, they'd made it a small celebration that night with her step forwards. The last piece of the puzzle was just simply getting her there.

Disbelief etched itself onto all of their faces.
"Really?" Genieva asked, to which Stone just responded with a nod.

It took them a few days to get to Paris, but when they got there the cottage settled just out of city limits.
With her bags packed, Amy, Shadow and Stone made sure to walk Genieva back to her parents house, it was a homely place on the outskirts of the city.

Standing outside the fence, Genieva turned back to the group. Her shoulders slightly shaking.
"Well, I guess this is it." She said, not sounding too sure of what to do next.
"Genie, if you need some extra time then you're more than welcome to stay another day." Amy offered seeing her hesitance. Shaking her head no, Genieva sniffled for a moment.

"No no, I'm sure about this. It's just…" Dropping her bags beside her she leapt forward, grabbing Stone, Shadow and Amy in one giant hug. Tears falling down her face as she hid them in Stone's shoulder. "I'm really going to miss you guys." Her voice came out higher than usual and even Stone couldn't keep a straight face now.

"Oh Genie." He hugged back, fighting back tears and losing. "We're going to miss you too. We'll write ok, you know how to do it right?" He asked as Genie nodded against his shoulders.

Shadow wasn't much of a hugger, but he let Genieva and Stone crush him while Amy joined in on the tears. The borrower hugging the side of Genieva's face as she'd climbed on her shoulders.

Unfortunately, all good moments come to an end. Genieva pulled out of the hug, still sniffling a little she let Amy step onto her hand.
"I'm going to miss you Amy." She told the little pink borrower. Amy was fighting back tears as she stepped from Genieva's hand onto Stone's for the last time.

Waving after her, Genieva walked up to the door. Knocking, she waited for mere moment until the door opened.

"Hi Maman, papa."

The girl was pulled into the house, Stone could hear the girls parents fawn over their daughter, how worried they'd been when she'd shown up so late. So happy to see her, so sorry for her loss.

The three stood for a moment longer by the fence, eventually they started to make their way back to the cottage. Getting there felt melancholic, different from when Stone and Shadow had said goodbye to Sonic and Tails, but at the same time they were happy for Genieva to be back with her family.

Getting inside, the little touches she'd left were still present. The borrower furniture, her dishes that she 'forgot' to clean this morning. Stone huffed with a smile. He was going to chew her out for that in his first letter to her.

"So Stone," Amy started as the group settled back into the home. Stone hummed in response, "do you really control the house now?" She asked the question with hope laced in her voice.

"Well, there's really only one way to find out." Stone replied before turning to his house, asking if it could please take them to Amy's village.
With a lurch, much smoother than when he'd first asked thankfully, the house began to walk.
When it walked past Genieva's house, Stone saw a figure waving in the window and he happily waved back.

"Wow," Amy said amazed, "how did you figure it out?" Stone didn't need to think about how to answer that question, there was only one answer after all.
Stupidly simple and luckily easy.

"Well, it is my house."

Chapter Text

"you cannot live without love"
-Sheeta, Castle in the sky.

It was a stormy night, the sun had gone down hours ago to harsh winds and beating rain. Stone wasn't sure whether it was usually like this on the mountain range or if it was just his luck.

Shadow and him were huddled around the lit fireplace. The howling winds outside forming an ambience that was drowned out by the crackling flames inside. He was sipping on a mug of hot chocolate that Shadow had made, it had been a slow day that day, having done not much other than clean, read and move the house. Currently they were settled on top of a snowy mountain peak, in the morning Stone would direct the house down the slope and pass the mountain, but for the night they rested here.

Taking another sip, Stone felt the warmth spread throughout his body, relaxing bit by bit. He'd made a stew for dinner, the warm chocolate mingled with the flavours he could still taste of it on his tongue as his eyes grew heavy. There was something else too, but in the haze of sleep it was hard to put down what. Slowly letting his eyes fall closed, Stone tried to figure out what that flavour was and as he slipped under, he had the faint realisation that it was cinnamon.

Stone isn't sure what to think, in fact he strongly considers going to bed and staying there until the house moves to a new place, but he gets the oddest feeling that that isn't an option.

Up until this point, the places that Stone's visited made sense - at least to him.
Move through a mountain range in a day and a half? Sure.
Be in one country, forget to check the maps app for a week and then suddenly find out you're in France? Ok, that's happened, he saw the house walk there first hand. Be in the forest one day and then wake up along the beach the next? That one didn't count, he didn't even know the house could walk at that point.
What Stone was getting at was, that while the house was magical and did the impossible regularly, it was an impossibility that made sense, there was some type of logic to it. The house moved by walking, it couldn't swim or fly, and yet.

Standing in front of the open door, Stone is facing an impossible sight.
The notion almost feels nostalgic with how many times that happens.

Deftly, Stone can hear Shadow stir behind him. The dark hedgehog still huddled in a burrow of blankets and pillows in front of the burned out fireplace. Briefly, Stone thought of the memories of last night, the chocolate milk they'd been drinking while listening to the storm outside and the crackling fire place inside. How they'd planned to scale down the mountain- well, today.
On one hand, he didn't have to do that now.
On the other, how was he going to tell Shadow?

Shadow was sitting up in his pile of blankets, the sight of his grumpy face sticking out of a fluffy blanket prison would have made Stone laugh at any other time, but as the dark hedgehog rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned, Stone couldn't help but keep the same sour expression on his face. Eventually Shadow noticed.

Eyes landing on him, Shadow looked between Stone and the door. Expression falling from sleepy to annoyed.
"Don't tell me we're somewhere weird again." He caught on quicker than Stone would have.
"Shadow-"
"Kiki Stone, do not tell me we're somewhere weird again."

Wordlessly, Stone opened the door more. Climbing out from under his prison of blankets, Shadow briskly walked straight for the door, his steps faltering before the frame.
"How?"
"I don't know…"
"How do you not know?! You steer the house now!"
"Yeah well, I wasn't steering it here!"
"So the house flew itself into the sky?"
"…the house flew itself into the sky."

Beyond the patio and beyond the little patch of dirt that the house had started to carry with it, was bright blue. The type you'd only see if you looked directly up on a sunny, cloudless day.

Stone's mind was reeling, trying to come up with eligible thoughts before even having his morning latte.

Shadow stepped out on the patio, before Stone could pull him back inside, the familiar was holding onto a wooden beam with one hand and leaned over the bright blue abyss. Looking down and to the sides, Shadow called back.
"We're not flying."

Coming back inside, Stone let out a sigh of relief before realising what Shadow had said.
"What do you mean 'we're not flying'?"

Gesturing for him to go ahead, Shadow stepped aside from the open door.
Hesitating from where he stood, Stone paused before walking back for a moment, grabbing the roomba and returning to his spot, now standing prepared in front of the open door.

"Really?"
"Yes. Hush."

Carefully walking out onto the patio, Stone scrambled to hold onto the wooden beam like Shadow had. Slowly leaning out over the edge, Stone peered down. For hundreds of meters below there was nothing before his eyes met the ocean.

At first Stone had no idea why Shadow had said that they weren't flying, he was looking down and they very much seemed to be in the air and that's when he noticed something stretching beneath them. Confusion etched itself on Stone's face, fear completely forgotten, the witch let the door frame go to get a better look.
Clutching the roomba to his chest Stone hopped off the edge.

Shadow let out a surprised noise, shooting forward to peer over the edge. Panic clung to Shadow's frame when Stone's head popped into his vision, climbing steadily, the witch stood on the roomba with his hands on his hips, not really noticing his familiars shock.

"Huh you're right, we're not the ones flying."

Somehow, and Stone had no idea how, the house had landed on a flying island.

The cottage stood at the very edge, the front door facing the open air and the back of the house facing the rest of the island. Dirt and rocks hanging off the island itself as it almost gently drifted through the air, Shadow had spotted them when looking over the side and pieced together where they were, Stone had to have a better look with his own eyes to actually realise.

"This is crazy." Stone said in astonishment as he climbed up to look over the island from over his house.
"I can't believe we're here." Shadow yelled to be heard over the wind. The cold air lapped at Stone's shirt as the witch got a good look at the floating land. It was like a castle in the sky, walls encircled towers that reached impossibly high, a jungle that was both protected by and overtaking the ancient structure as Stone took it all in, slack-jawed. They stood at the very edge of it all, the treeline of the jungle coming a few hundred feet short of reaching the cottage.

"Wow," Stone mumbled to himself, slowly flying back down to where Shadow was, Stone hopped off the roomba back onto the patio. Taking it back into his arms, the witch turned to his familiar.
"You know this place Shadow?"

Nodding the dark hedgehog re-entered the house, "I do."
"It's called Laputa, the scientists on the ARK talked about it a-" Following Shadow inside, Stone frowned when the familiar suddenly stopped talking. Shadow was focused on something on the wall, looking up Stone saw what had him speechless.

"Did we always have a back door?"

Without looking away, Shadow shook his head no.
Stone wasn't sure how, or when it started, but something strange was amiss. He'd first noticed it with the plant boxes in front of every window, at first he had just brushed it off as something he hadn't noticed, but now it was inextricably clear that the house was just capable of change.

Maybe it had started before that, the first time he'd woken up here and found the entire house spic and span, something Shadow had definitely never done. Was the kitchen a little bigger? The fireplace wasn't burning letters anymore even if the fire was lit, did that change?

Somehow, and largely without notice, things had slowly changed. However, now faced with the new door, neither Stone or Shadow could help but notice how much had changed, Stone especially wasn't sure whether he was excited or scared by the prospect.

Taking a deep breath, Stone could practically taste the air on his tongue. Smoke from the fireplace, something hearty from last nights dinner and cinnamon lingered in the air.
As silent as the door appeared, Stone stepped forwards, taking the door by the handle he twisted it open and stepped through.

The first thing Stone did was wince, the sun was shining directly into his eyes and while he had just been outside, it was still never a really pleasant experience.
The second thing was to step aside.

A warrior cry rung through the air as something shot past Stone, Missing him and instead of flying into the house. The red blur hit something else instead, or rather someone, that someone being Shadow.

The familiar yelled in surprise before being cut off.
It was quiet for a moment until scuffling sounds broke out of the cottage. Rushing back inside, Stone was faced with Shadow struggling against a red form on the ground. Freezing in the door frame, he was completely unsure of what to do.

Slamming his fist down, the red attacker hit the floor. Missing Shadow's head by a hair. Gruffing, Shadow grabbed the arm, kicking the assailant off him and flipping him over. There was a scramble to get up, the two now facing each other with fists raised.
The attacker had his back to Stone, but the witch could still take in everything about him. Short, red, mobian, taller than Shadow still. He had quills but they seemed different from Shadows so probably not a hedgehog, what else had quills?

The attacker still hadn't spotted Stone behind him, instead he was saying something to Shadow, Something about 'island guardian' and 'thieves' and Stone wasn't really paying attention. He wasn't sure what possessed him in the moment - probably panic and a lack of caffeine - but Stone took his roomba in both hands, lifted it above his head and slammed it down on the guys head.

The guy dropped, hard.

There was a terse moment of silence, Stone looked down in shock at both the guy he'd knocked unconscious and the roomba in his hands. Shadow was looking in shock at Stone. Quickly shaking it off, he straightened up.

"I had that." His voice snapped Stone out of his own stupor, sending Shadow an incredulous look. "Sure you did," he said sarcastically, "help me put him on the chair."

With Shadow's help, they put their attacker in one of the dining chairs. They didn't exactly have anything to tie him down with so Stone was just hoping that standing on the other side of the table would mean that they couldn't be jumped immediately.

"So…" Stone said staring at the mobians unconscious figure. "Any idea why he tried to scalp you?" Stone got the eerie feeling that he'd just said something stupid. Maybe he'd developed a sixth sense for it after over thirty years or life or maybe it was the incredulous look Shadow was levelling him with.

"You're kidding me?" Stone shook his head confused. "Stone- Stone we're on Laputa." Shadow said as if that was supposed to mean something, the familiar must have noticed Stone's lack of recognition when the witch had no reaction.
"Laputa, the floating island?" Stone still had no idea, "From an ancient civilisation?" Shrugging his shoulders, Stone was starting to feel a little bad.

"How do you not know any of this?" Shadow seemed unsettled by Stone's lack of knowledge of Laputa, but at the same time, Stone felt more confused than panicked about it. He had truly never heard of anything by the name of 'Laputa', let alone a floating island.

Dragging a hand through his quills, Shadow took a deep breath in and out, seemingly reaching for patience the familiar went on to explain. "Laputa is the floating island we're on," pointing at their unconscious guest he added, "and THAT is the guardian. He probably thinks we're here to steal from the island, it really was made by an advanced ancient civilisation with technology no one has been able to recreate." His voice slowed saying the last part but Stone was more focused on the first piece of information.

"Ok well, that's not good."
"There is one thing that confuses me however," Shadow levelled an intense glare at the island guardian, "why is he alone?"

When Stone didn't answer him, Shadow continued. "Laputa is guarded by the remnants of the ancient civilisation that made it. The echidnas-" it finally clicked in Stone's mind which mobian the guardian was, echidna made sense with the quills and all, "- stayed behind to guard it after their decline."

"The echidnas are solitary, but they're not alone." Shadow finished.

Stone mulled the words over in his mind, Shadow's explanation did wipe away most of Stone's confusion, but there was something to it that bothered him. "How do you know all this?" Shadow faltered, finally taking his eyes off the echidna to turn to Stone like a deer in headlights, opening his mouth to answer but coming up short for words.

They were interrupted by a groan. Turning his attention back to the echidna, Stone saw him stir before finally peeling his eyes open. Maybe he'd overdone it with the roomba, but when the echidna saw them standing across from him he gave them such a glare that Stone suddenly felt a lot less bad.

"Uh, hi!" Stone's greeting did nothing other than make the echidna glare harder. Yet he didn't move from the chair.

"If you are trying to interrogate me then I warn you now that it is futile, I shall say nothing." Knuckles had a certain air to him as he spoke, maybe it was the accent that Stone couldn't place but sounded old, or the way he held himself on the chair. Shadow and Stone shared a look, Shadow raising an eyebrow as if to say 'I told you so'.

"We- uh- aren't here to interrogate you, Mr. Echidna?" Stone said ignoring Shadow.
"Really? 'Mr. Echidna'? " Shadow asked unimpressed.
"Shut. What else would I call him?" Stone hissed, really preferring not to argue in front of the guy that just tried to beat them up.

"My name is Knuckles." Knuckles stated, either oblivious or uncaring towards their bickering.
"Oh, well then, hi Knuckles." Stone parroted, surprised it was this easy to get his name.

"We were kind of wondering if you knew where we were." Moving on, Stone opted to ask more about things he was still unclear about. He knew that they were on Laputa thanks to Shadow - he trusted Shadow to be right - but where was Laputa right now?

Knuckles just glared at them for a moment, Stone thought that maybe he wasn't going to answer, but to his surprise the echidna answered carefully.

"You are on Angel Island, th-"
"Angel Island? This is Laputa." Shadow interrupted him. Sighing, Knuckles clarified. "This island has many names, Laputa is one of them but it's true name is Angel Island." Stone nodded along, but Shadow didn't seem convinced.

"That doesn't make sense."
"What doesn't make sense is that you believe you know the island better than I do." Knuckles bit back, Shadow genuinely seemed to be taken aback, wanting to say something before thinking better of it and backing down, albeit grumbling.

There was a pause as Shadow and Knuckles glared at each other. Knuckles daring Shadow to correct him again and Shadow glaring back not to make a big deal out of it. It took a moment for Stone to work up the nerve to break through the tension.

"Right, well. Laputa or Angel Island-"
"Angel Island."
"Laputa."
Knuckles and Shadow corrected him at the same time, the two just immediately snapping back to glare at each other and Stone felt like he was back to step one.

"Whatever the name of the island," he started carefully, "we're sorry for intruding on your home Knuckles, to be honest neither of us are really sure how we ended up here and if we figured out how then we'd be more than happy to get out your hair- quills."

Knuckles eyes raked over Stone for a moment, as if trying to see whether he was lying or not. "You truly do not know how you ended up on my island?"
Stone shook his head no as Shadow just crossed his arms, Knuckles' frown let up a little.

The question brought Stone back to the question of how they'd ended up here.
The question seemed present in Knuckles' mind too.

"There was a storm last night," The echidna begins to recal. Stone remembers what Knuckles is talking about, last night seems about a century ago now but it was only last night when him and Shadow were settled in front of the fire place while the cottage was sitting atop a mountain.
"You were not here before, but did appear after."

"Could the house have been lifted up by the winds?" Shadow turned to Stone with the question, but Stone silently shook his head no.
"It would make more sense if the house had jumped-" A stupid idea popped into Stone's mind. Stupid, but stupidly possible for a walking, possibly growing and definitely magic house. "You didn't happen to fly low over any mountains last night, did you?" He quickly enquired.

Stone didn't even need to hear Knuckles' answer, the guardians expression was all that it took for the answer to click into place. It was the type of 'oh yeah, that is right' face that had Stone groan into the palms of his own hand with the realisation that somehow, the house had jumped from the mountain top onto the island. Stone thought it was ridiculous, but still made more sense than flying.

"I've got one more question." Shadow's voice broke through Stone's disbelief. Turning the his familiar, Stone saw how Shadow was solely focused on Knuckles, his arms still crossed as the cogs visibly turned in his mind.
"Why are you alone?"

"I am not alone." Knuckles refuted.
"There aren't any other echidna here, we would have seen them. You're alone." Shadow argued back.

"Well if your mom is out of town, does that mean you're an orphan?" Knuckles asked with maieutics.
"I am an orphan." answered Stone, straight up.

There was a beat of silence. Stone and Shadow just waited for Knuckles to say anything while the red echidna was looking for the words.
"You two are the worst thieves I have ever met."
"We're not thieves?"
"So it would seem." There was a pregnant pause while Stone and Shadow weren't entirely sure how to proceed. After a while Knuckles just sighed.

"If you truly aren't thieves then I guess you can't be any harm. The island is following the upper drafts right now, we should reach a landmass you call 'Australia' within a few weeks - a month at most - you can descend there. But I warn you, if you so much as wonder the island I will kick you off whether we are over the ocean or not." Knuckles didn't offer the ultimatum more so as just instating it.

Stone's mind was reeling with the fact that they were already over the ocean and heading towards Australia, that was so far from where they'd settled last night.

"Now will you untie me?" The question brought him out of his stupor, the echidna looked at him almost daring him to reveal that they actually were thieves this entire time and wouldn't let him go free to instead loot the supposed ancient civilisation on Angel Island. There was just one minor problem with that.
"We never tied you up…"

Knuckles stormed out the house. Looking at Shadow, Stone could only shrug his shoulders.

With Knuckles warning them not to touch the island the two decided to stick near the house. Now that the front door had a bit of a fall, Stone and Shadow decided to use the new backdoor as their main entrance.

Stone knew that it really wasn't like that, but he liked that it felt like having a backyard. The space in the back wasn't used for much but on particularly warm days, Stone would hang out the laundry or him and Shadow would set up a fire pit and grill food. Shadow had looked at him weird when he proposed it the first time, but after trying it he never spoke ill of it again. Even going as far as to subtly suggest they do it more and leaving extra groceries lying around the house.

"If you want to barbecue more, you could just ask Shadow." Stone said with a laugh, Shadow scoffed.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Stone wasn't sure when, but at some point Knuckles had started joining them.

It had started out with the echidna watching from afar, some days he'd lounge on the roof while Stone was tending to the plant boxes, other days he just lingered by the jungle edge as the familiar and witch hung out laundry.
Knuckles flipped between watching Stone and Shadow like a hawk and lazily sunbathing and pretending they don't exist. Shadow doesn't like it one bit, but Stone doesn't really mind.

Knuckles is there when he's hanging laundry, reading a book, he's even catches on when Stone decides to have his morning coffee outside. Waiting on the roof or on the far off forest edge, he's there.

Stone doesn't mind at first, but after a few days even his nerves are starting to fray.

One morning, Stone makes a third plate of eggs and bacon, goes out and tries to whack Knuckles off the roof so he can join them for breakfast.
"Are you crazy?!" Shadow yells, running outside after him.
"Yes, now get down here so you can eat breakfast with us." Stone yells back, balancing on his roomba while still whacking.

Breakfast that day is shared between a witch, a hedgehog and a bruised echidna, but Knuckles does take it as his sign to start hanging around rather than on the roof.

Slowly, but surely, Knuckles starts walking into the house, sitting at the table rather than just watching them like a hawk.
'It's nice' Stone thinks, 'he is up to something' Shadow suspects.
Whether the echidna has a motive or not, every night without fail he retreats back to somewhere on the island and he's right back at Stone's backdoor the very next day.

Angel Island - Laputa, whoever calls it what - was a paradise. Always sunny, always warm, always windy too, but Stone got used to it. Shadow said the wind felt nice on his quills and Stone had to admit, it was great for flying.

Whipping around through the air, Stone did circles around the house, the wind whipping through his hair, the scent of grass lingered even this high up. After what must have been hours, Stone descended. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he happily dropped himself onto a patch of long grass right by his door; taking a moment to catch his breath.

A figure walked over to his side, standing over him, Stone opened his eyes to see that it was Knuckles. Surprised to see him instead of Shadow, Stone waved him hi.

"Your flying is atrocious." Knuckles said straight faced. It was such a sudden and startling statement that Stone couldn't help but laugh a little, despite how he felt.
"But," Knuckles continued, ignoring Stone's laughter, "adequate for such a strange broom."
Wiping sweat from his brow, Stone sat up, "thanks Knuckles." The echidna continued to stare at him as Stone thought better of getting up and laid back down in the grass, deciding that the cool grass sounded better than washing up right now.

"Are you going to keep standing there?" Stone asked eventually, but Knuckles made no attempt to move.

"Why do you fly?" The question startled Stone.
He didn't really have an answer for that.

"A friend once told me to just keep practising, I guess." Stone admitted eventually.

It felt like an odd question really, why did he fly? Why ask an author why they write or an artist why they draw? He's a witch, he just flies.

Knuckles didn't seem to notice Stone's deliberation, instead nodding to himself. Without much fanfare or other words, Knuckles trailed off. Stone's eyes trailing him till he walked out of view.
Shadow appeared at the edge of his view at the other side of his vision, looking at where Knuckles had walked off to.

"What'd he want?" Stone just pulled up his shoulders.
"Just wanted to know why I fly." Shadow just shot Stone a confused look as if to ask 'really?' and Stone had no reply.

Shadow eventually walked off to the cottage with a frown, Stone just sighed as he went back to enjoying the sunny day, or at least he tried to. There was something in the back of his mind - something small - that bothered him, he couldn't put his finger on what so Stone just tried to enjoy the moment. Yet the feeling lingered.

The next odd moment that Shadow and Knuckles shared was some days later.

Stone was weeding the plant box outside the kitchen window. Shadow doing the same for the one hanging from his window sill, still refusing to let Stone - or anyone else for that matter - enter his room.

"Why do you have plant boxes?"
Stone looked up at the question, Knuckles was hanging from the roof at Shadow's right. The familiars face scrunched when he saw the island guardian hanging there leisurely.

"Oh well, the plant boxes just kind of appeared one day." Stone said as a way of explanation. Knuckles looked down at him confused, "so you plant for no reason"
"Well no, Tails and Sonic gave us seeds as a present."
"So you plant because of circumstance?"
Stone shook his head but paused when he really thought about it. He'd started gardening because he'd thought that it'd help with his spells, but truthfully? He'd given up on that. He still wanted to do magic, but potions or plant spells just weren't working for him. The habit to tend to the plants just lingered surprisingly.

He took care of the flowers and herbs and thought of Tails and Sonic. There wasn't much to it other than that.
That little feeling that wiggled in the back of his mind returned, nibbling on his nerves.

Shadow was saying something to Knuckles, the echidna bit back and the two went back and forth, but Stone's mind was preoccupied.

Did he do this because he wanted to or because of others? Thinking back he realised that this was the same feeling he'd felt when Knuckles asked him about flying.

Did he do this for himself? And if not, then what did he do for himself?
There were things he wanted to do, like magic, but this wasn't exactly helping him anymore. Was it still worth doing then?

He was staring at the weed in his hand, the roots feeling course in his hand.
Somewhere above him, Shadow had had enough of Knuckles and swatted at him. Dropping from the roof, Knuckles grumbled something as he made his way in-island.

Stone was still staring at the weed when Shadow called out to him, Stone just hummed so Shadow knew he was listening.
"Are you okay?" Still looking at the weed in his hand, Stone responded.
"Yeah." The words feeling hollow in his mouth.

Ignoring Shadows worried glance, Stone dropped the weed and went back to the plant box. However his heart wasn't really into it as much as he was before. His thoughts preoccupied with a suppressed worry. He was grateful to have the plants, he really was, it was a thoughtful goodbye gift from Tails and Sonic, but the idea that he was doing it more because Stone felt that he had to, for them, rather than because he wanted to ate at him. Did it make sense to feel guilt for that?

Doing things for other people felt natural, doing it for himself didn't.
Did he really want to do this then? Or was this just the same as carrying out someone else's idea for the sake of it being their idea? It was his time and energy he was putting in and it wasn't exactly useful or anything, the plants and herbs weren't helping him do magic, they just ended up looking pretty in the windowsills, nothing more.

Stone still picked the weeds, still watered the plants, but whenever he did so he couldn't help but feel the heavy question hang on his mind. Was he doing this for himself or for others?

It was a rainy eve, a rare sight for Angel Island. It sort of fit with mood Stone currently felt. He sat at the dining table, the dishes from dinner left in the sink as he leaned on his crossed arms under him. The opened letter from I.G.R. sitting next to him.
In his last letter Stone had mentioned Angel Island and evidently the supposed mythical island he was on right now occupied much of I.G.R.'s mind, half the page filled with barely eligible questions about the island. It was odd that he'd heard of it but Stone brushed it off as him just being out of the know.

The rain was pelting the window as Stone just stared at the droplets travelling down the panes. It was quiet inside, Shadow had gone to bed a while ago and the fire had died some time ago too.
The letter needed responding, but Stone couldn't find it in himself to pick up a pen and write. So he stayed like that, sitting and unmoving while mentally nudging himself to get up.
It was just one of those lesser days.

The door behind him slammed open, someone stepped inside and closed the door behind them. Stone had a pretty good idea of who it could be.
Knuckles shook the water out before walking up to where Stone was sitting, stepping into his view, Stone looked at the echidna as his eyes fell over Stone, eventually landing on the letter beside him.

"What is this?" Knuckles asked as he reached out for the letter, his wet gloves dripping water over the table.
"Please don't touch it, you'll ruin the writing." Stone muttered as he watched Knuckles grab it anyway.

"Hey!" Quickly snatching the letter back from Knuckles, Stone rubbed over the wet spot left by Knuckles' glove, luckily there wasn't much staining, only a splotch of blurred letters.

Stone's agitation bled from his frame yet Knuckles looked at him in surprise, his hand still outstretched from where he'd held the letter.

"What is so special about the paper?" Knuckles asked eventually, dropping his hand to the table.
"It's not just paper it's-" Stone took a deep breath, trying to push his annoyance down, he didn't want to snap at Knuckles. "It's a letter. Your wet hands will smudge the writing." He finished more reeled in. Knuckles looked at him intently, almost contemplatively, it made a shiver crawl over Stone's skin.

"What's in it?" Stone wasn't sure whether Knuckles genuinely didn't know what a letter was or whether he just wanted to know what was written, that's how ambiguous he asked his question.

"…It's a response," Stone started carefully, eyes glued to Knuckles' face, searching for a sign that Knuckles was just messing with him. All Knuckles was, was focused on the letter in his hands. "From someone I know."

"Are they a friend?"

The thought of I.G.R. brought a warmth to Stone's chest, he'd made him laugh with words alone, I.G.R. listened to what Stone told him and responded in kind, if not more. Even if he turned out to be a horrible person, Stone felt that he would still like the man. He'd felt special to Stone - important, big - so to call him a friend? Stone would love to, even if at the same time he wished they could be more.

"Yeah," Stone replied. "I suppose he is."

There was a moment of silence, Stone couldn't help the small smile forming on his lips as his eyes caught onto one of the lines in the letter.

"Why do you write letters?" And there the moment was shattered. Stone's agitation snapped in his chest alongside something else, maybe his sanity.

"Why do you keep asking 'why'? I don't know 'why' okay, I just do!"

Stone practically shouted, any effort to not snap at Knuckles was thrown out the window. As soon as the words left his mouth, Stone felt bad; however Knuckles didn't seem put off by his sudden outburst, rather he seemed bemused.

"Don't you do these things because you like them?"

It hit Stone then why Knuckles' questions were putting him off so much. He thought Knuckles was judging him.
He wasn't.

Knuckles genuinely wasn't judging him, he just wanted to know whether Stone enjoyed the things he did. The assumption that he was just came first, where it came from he wasn't sure, could have been anywhere: the orphanage, school, work, it didn't matter.
He'd spent more time fitting in than doing what he liked, let alone discovering what that was. And here stood someone who genuinely wanted to know, no farce hiding judgement, just genuine curiosity.
That was rarer than you'd think.

Stone held the letter in his hands, but his mind was elsewhere. Knuckles walked off into the kitchen to grab a snack, oblivious to how Stone was reeling.

Knuckles' questions were genuine and Stone didn't feel that he had an answer for any of them, not in any way that he felt satisfied with.

It made him question why.
Why did he write to someone he didn't know? Why did he keep gardening when he'd already abandoned the idea of botany?

Why did Stone leave with Shadow?
Because the city didn't 'feel like home', because he didn't want to be stuck in an office job that he hated, because he had no friends?
It felt stupid now, he could've tried decorating his old apartment, he could just have switched jobs, there were other people in the city that he could have befriended like Corey.

At that moment Stone felt conflicted, yet he knew one thing for certain. He did not want to return to the city.
That feeling made itself glaringly obvious amongst all the others he felt.

"I don't know what I want to do…" Stone muttered as he realised it.
"What do you mean?" Knuckles walked back to the table with a glass of orange juice in hand.
"I don't know what to do with my life."

Knuckles looked at him confused, like it was an absurd thought to have in and of itself.

"Do whatever you want." He said as he took a sip.

Stone mulled over Knuckles' really blunt words for a moment. "…Is that what you do?"
Knuckles nodded as he took a sip of something only he knows. "Yes, guarding the island is my duty, one I take great pleasure in."

"I don't think a floating island in the sky is in much need of guarding-"
"Oh no, it is very necessary, thieves came not too long ago and managed to take their fill." Knuckles stated wisely, but Stone wasn't sure whether to fully believe him or not.

"It was 50 years ago, they took a great many things. It was a dark chapter in echidna history." Yeah, Knuckles' job was obsolete, Stone looked at Knuckles bemused.
"But this is what I want to be doing. That is enough for me."

Despite Knuckles seeming wholly unaware of Stone's revelations and inner turmoil - he was really invested in that orange juice - he seemed satisfied with his own answer. More confident and sure than Stone had probably ever felt in his life.

It was good advice, still Stone didn't feel like he was on the same level as Knuckles. Maybe he could be tomorrow but not today. That was fine by him, tomorrow was fine. It made the next day exciting.

"Thanks Knuckles." Stone said earnestly.
Knuckles just waved him off, uncaring as he took another drink of orange juice. 'Yeah' Stone thought to himself with a smile, 'that seems like a Knuckles thing.'

Time slips by and before Stone realises it, Australia is in view.

Him and Shadow are sitting on the porch as Stone excitedly chatters about everything he wants to do down there, Shadow sits next to him, legs dangling off the side as he listens intently.

The two have been talking with Knuckles. The island usually circles the south pole at this time of year before moving back over Australia and drifting back to the equator. So Australia is a bit of a vacation before Stone and Shadow can hitch another ride back to the rest of the world, maybe Knuckles would let them explore the island the second time around.

Speak of the devil that wants to convince you to do sin and Knuckles will appear.
The red island guardian walked out from the front door, Shadow scowled when he and Stone turned to him.

Stone didn't pay much mind to Shadows obvious disdain for the red echidna, opting to greet Knuckles with enthusiasm instead.

"We'll be over Australia soon," Knuckles informed them as he crossed his arms, "are you two ready to depart?" Stone nodded as he went on to explain his plans, a smile formed on Knuckles' face as he listened.
"That sounds very exciting, you must tell me about your adventures when you appear on the island again." Stone promised they would, giving Shadow a nudge when the familiar scoffed.

The last few weeks have been something, quiet in a way that Stone was grateful for. No near death experiences, no teens to help build an airplane, no accidentally kidnapped borrowers and no kids to ferry across a country. At the same time it's given Stone actual time to look back on his choices, whether reflection was something he really wanted to do was an easy question: no. But Stone had the time anyway and he's come to the answer that maybe he's not alright, but he thinks he will be.
Perhaps not today, but maybe tomorrow, or the day after.

He's got the distinct feeling that he'll land on his feet, he's not alone after all.

Sending a look at Shadow, the familiar got up. Following after him, Stone clambered up from where he sat and dusted himself off. The view was almost the same as the first day he'd seen it, if he didn't know any better Stone could say that no time had passed at all.

Far below was the deep blue ocean and high above lay the vast sky. The wind still playing with his hair as Stone stretched for a moment. It was sunny as it almost always was on Angel - Laputa - Island. Stone took a deep breath, this high up he couldn't smell the sea but Laputa/Angel Island smelled like any forest would.

As Stone turned away from the sight there was a sudden gust of wind. Stumbling over his own feet, Stone lost balance. Swinging his arms around wildly he tried to catch himself, but his body was already leaning over the edge. Suddenly Shadow shot forward grabbing Stone by his arm and hauled him back onto the porch.

With his heart beating in his throat, Stone tried to will the sudden lightheadedness down. Shadow was kneeling next to him as he dropped to the floorboard, happy to still be on solid ground rather than free falling to the ocean.

Shadow caught Stone's eye as he looked up in disbelief at his familiar. That fearful face quickly melted away as Stone broke out in a laugh.
"Thanks." He said as he slowly got up again, fingers still shaking, but dusting himself off for a second time.
"Not a problem." Shadow said unimpressed after making sure that Stone was okay.

Knuckles gave Stone a very disproving look but otherwise remained silent.

The three walked Knuckles to the back door. The echidna saying his final goodbye to Shadow and Stone before closing the door behind him. Stone waved until the echidna disappeared from sight.

"I still don't trust him." Shadow stated.
"Oh come on, he really isn't so bad." Stone waved off Shadows concern; leaving his familiar glowering at the door, the witch turned to the house.
"Are you going to keep glaring at that door or are you going to help me check that everything's secure?" Stone teased. Not waiting for a reply before going around to make sure everything was ready for their Aussie landing.
Shadow just sighed after a pause and turned to help his witch.

There wasn't much left to secure, so before long Stone and Shadow were standing in the middle of the living room, eyes raking over everything to make sure they hadn't missed anything.

"Well I guess that only leaves one thing right?" Stone said to Shadow. The familiar nodded all too eager to finally leave.

"You're not going to miss Angel Island even a little?" Stone teased.
"We're going to come back to Laputa in about two weeks." Shadow shot him down instantly.
Stone shrugged, "yeah that's fair."

"Alright, house?" Stone spoke up, putting his hands on his hips as he spoke to the house.

"Take us down under, if you please."

Shadow just rolled his eyes at Stone's little added flair. The witch just shot him a grin, sue him he's excited.

The house rumbled as it got up, another - rougher - grumble shot through the floorboards making Stone's smile falter.
The house jostled a final time as it teetered on the edge, shooting Shadow a concerned looked, the familiar looked worried back.

There was a moment of silence as the house passed the edge, a weightless, soundless moment that passed slower than it lasted.

And then everything went wrong.

Chapter Text

"I want to remind you that I'm grateful for every moment I've spent with you."
- the wind rises

And then everything went wrong.

Stone screamed as the house rolled over, slipping over the floor he fell hard. The carpet broke his fall a little, but it didn't stop Stone from sliding over the floor until he shot up into the air. Being thrown through the house like a lone sock in a washing machine.

"Stone!" Shadow yelled. Stone didn't know where Shadow was, being a little preoccupied slamming all around the room. The witch and familiar knocked around the living room and kitchen as the house hurdled for thousands of feet towards the ground.

Stone screamed all the way, fear clung to every fibre of his being as pain exploded wherever he hit the walls or table. When he hit something softer, Stone latched on for dear life.
Shadow did the same as the two flew by the window.
For a split second, Stone caught the view outside and his heart stopped. The view was beautiful, but his heart was beating in his throat at the sight of the ground.

Clenching his eyes shut, Stone held Shadow tighter. Fear, resignation, neither mattered.

Stone knew the moment the house hit the ground.
And then the house fell through Australia.

Stone woke up aching.
Someone was shaking him by the shoulders, his head was pounding and there was a high pitched ringing in his ear that slowly faded before he could realise that his name was being called. Opening his eyes, Stone was met with Shadow. Relief flooded the familiar as Stone groaned.

Pushing himself up, Stone looked over his own body and around the room before turning back to Shadow. Other than some bruises, Stone didn't seem hurt; the room was a wreck but nothing that couldn't be fixed and to his relief Shadow seemed fine.

Relief crashed over Stone's system like a wave over the shore. With Shadows help, he got up.

"What happened?" He asked giving the room another concerned look over.
"What happened is that we crashed. Hard."
"But we're not dead." Stone and Shadow shared a look, a very wary look. "Right?"

The two stared at each other for a moment, there… really wasn't an answer for that. Stone didn't feel dead, too much pain, nothing felt broken but he'd be feeling his bones ache for days, a week at most. Briefly Stone registered that neither he nor Shadow were in really hurt, a few scraped and bruises but nothing else. it made him relieved and at the same time pretty confused.

Climbing to his feet, Stone dusted himself off before taking a better look at the damage.
The room was as messy as he expected it, like a tornado or very exited Sonic had raged through the open space. The dining table was halfway up the stairs, chairs were strewn around, he was actively avoiding looking at the kitchen right now, pictures were strewn around and Stone wasn't even sure how one hanging rack had gotten stuck to the ceiling.
Turning away from the mess, Stone decided to put just even the thought of cleaning off for another time.

Shadow called out his name. Looking up to his familiar, Stone saw him impatiently waiting by the door barely keeping himself from tapping his foot on the ground. Feeling bemused, Stone stepped over to the door. Opening it with a swing, he froze in surprise.

The sight outside was nothing what Stone had expected, Shadow shot him a confused look before stepping around Stone and seeing for himself what had the witch so shocked.

The cottage had crashed into a field of flowers, a green pasture lay around them that stretched on into the distance and the flowers spread as far as the eyes could see. High above them arched not the sky but something that looked like a glass dome, painted in cloudy greys. There was a splotch of white piercing through the dome and Stone briefly wondered if that was the spot that they'd crashed through. However beautiful or strange the sight, Stone realised one thing when he'd opened the door. This was not Australia.

What? How?
"MY PEONIES!!"

The cry caught Stone and Shadows attention at the same time. Looking right, Stone couldn't see anyone there but he'd still clearly heard someones shouts. Shooting a look at Shadow, the familiar looked at him with raised shoulders.
More cries rang through the open field, Shadow turned around and walked to the backdoor. Curious, Stone followed him as the familiar yanked the door open.

There, a bit in the distance, Stone saw someone gawking at the house. He had near-white quills that stuck into the air and yellow eyes, wearing a gardening apron and a pair of gloves, Stone could even see from this far away how stained with dirt they were.
His eyes met the strangers from behind Shadow, as soon as his eyes landed on the two of them, he stormed up to the house.

"What do you think you're doing? Look at my peonies!" He said angrily as he gestured out into the flower field. Stone had to think a little of how peonies looked again, but gazing out at the flowers in front of him he didn't recognise any peonies.
"I… don't see any peonies." Shadow piped up, doing the same as Stone and trying to find the strangers peonies.
"Yeah, you crushed them all!" Angrily, the gardener shook a fist at them. Stone's eyes almost peeled out of his head when multiple gardening tools shot up and off of his apron and floated threateningly in the air around him.

Shadow reacted first. Raising his fists, he moved between him and Stone, quills bristling and ready to punch the daylight out of this guy.
Stone's hands shot out as he tried to placate the gardener.
"I'm really sorry about your peonies, we didn't mean to hit your garden, we crash landed here by accident."

The person paused for a moment, the gardening tools behind him freezing mid air as he did. "Oh," Slowly lowering his fist, the tools following, he looked at them owlishly. "Really?"

Stone, unsure of what else to do, just nodded.
"Aw man," the tools behind the gardener shot back into his apron, completely disappearing from sight as he straightened up. "I can't even blame you then." He said pouting, as if having people fall from the sky and crush your flowers was the same thing as having a cat that scratched up your door when it wanted to come inside.

"Well, my name is Silver." Stone was snapped back to the moment as Silver held his hand out to him. Quickly returning the handshake, Stone couldn't help but ask.
"Uh- does this happen a lot? People falling out of the sky and crushing your peonies."
"Sort of, well not the peony part, that's just unfortunate and something that was bound to happen considering my luck." Silver rattled off, almost too fast for Stone to follow. "Although I will say that the house is rather new. People drop in all the time - accidentally or on purpose - but I've never had someone bring their house into the garden."

Shadow was still had his fists raised when Silver began talking a mile a minute but as the gardener went on he slowly found himself growing confused instead of tenser. Looking up at Stone questioningly, Stone just raised his shoulders while Silver was still shaking his hand. Despite barely coming up to his hips, Silver had a surprisingly strong grip.

"Is the house special in some kind of way? I didn't even know you could move a house like this-" Stone got the distinct feeling that Silver didn't get a lot of visitors despite people 'dropping by all the time'.

Silver cut off, seemingly finally noticing Stone and Shadows confusion. The silver gardener blushed red. "Ah, I'm rambling aren't I? Sorry, I'm sure you have a lot of question right now." Stone felt relieved when Silver finally let go of his hand, grateful to not have it crushed anymore.

"How about you two come over to my place? I could answer any questions you have over tea." Thinking Silvers offer over for a moment, Stone accepted, Shadow protested at first but quickly relented after Silver pulled out the wettest, puppy-dog eyes that Stone had ever seen.

It turned out that Silver lived pretty close to where Shadow and Stone had crashed, Silver made small talk as he guided them along small stone paths through the garden and before he knew it, the group arrived at a small home. Stone couldn't help but admire the house, build out of red bricks, it had two floors. Roses and vines climbed up the side of the building as large windows let him peek into Silver's living room.
it was one of those buildings that could have walked straight out of a magazine about old, english, country houses. However, instead of leading Stone and Shadow inside, Silver led them around. Coming up at the rear of the house, Stone saw why. At the back there sat a small gazebo that Silver guided them to, Stone sat down as Shadow leaned against the fence, Silver popped inside to make the tea.

Stone took some time to take in the area. The gazebo itself wasn't big by any means but it was sizeable enough for him to sit down comfortably. The wooden structure was painted a brownish-red, it had plenty of overhang from which different flowers were hung in baskets and a bench that lined the inner wall, the middle being taken up by a large, round table. This place - wherever they were - was beautiful. Lush and green, there was a breeze in the air that kept everything temperate and despite there not exactly being a sun in the sky, it was bright.

Shadow stood tense by the gazebo entrance, only relenting and sitting down after Stone motioned for him to knock it off. If Silver wanted to hurt them then he probably could have done so with his floating shovels and other gardening tools. Shadow still kept a tense eye on the area, but Stone took it as a small win.

Footsteps sounded from the side of the house, sitting upright, Stone looked out of the gazebo expecting to see Silver pop up any moment. However, instead of the silver hedgehog coming out with tea, a purple cat mobian walked past the house, freezing when her eyes landed on him and Shadow.

"Uh, hello?" Surprise crossed her face as she tentatively waved.
"Hi?" Stone responded waving back unsure.

Shadow eyed the woman suspiciously as she looked at them curiously. "I haven't seen you two here before." She settled on eventually, making her way to the gazebo and holding out her hand.

"I'm-"
"BLAZE!" The three's attention was grabbed by Silver as he emerged from the house. Beaming at the sight of - apparently - Blaze, he hurriedly walked up to the gazebo, delicately balancing a tray of tea in his hands.
"I didn't know you'd drop by today, hold on I'll grab an extra cup." Silver pushed the trey in Blaze's hand, luckily she caught it in time before he sped back into the house, quickly emerging with another cup and saucer in hand.

After some better introduction, Blaze and Silver joined them in the gazebo and soon the four fell into a comfortable conversation. Everyone helped themselves, Silver poured some milk in his cup and then some tea as he loudly told Blaze what she'd missed since her last visit. Stone managed to discreetly put a hand over Shadow's mouth before the familiar could say something rude or snarky and that whole ordeal was luckily forgotten when Stone convinced him to tell them about the latest book he read, in detail.

The tea was nice, the biscuits that silver had brought out were too. Blaze turned out to be a uni student of sorts and at that point Stone was burning for answer.

Apparently his dying need for answers was picked up by Blaze when she asked him if there was something he'd wanted to ask as soon as Silver was done explaining the difference between petunias and begonias. Cutting off the gardener as he was about to go on a rant about said petunias and begonias.

Slamming his hands on the table, Stone was so ready for answers. Blaze and Silver jumped up in surprise as Shadow just sipped his tea. He was more of a coffee bean person but the tea seemed to agree with him too.
"What is this place?"

Blaze looked at him in bewilderment, as if he'd just asked her whether the sky was blue. Realisation crossed her eyes before she slowly turned to a rather nervous Silver who seemed rather eager to be anywhere but here.

"Silver?" Silver shrunk back with his own name, "please tell me that you did explain the garden to them before dragging Shadow and Stone out for tea."

When Silver didn't respond and looked rather guiltily into his tea, Blaze sighed. "Are you going to?" She asked encouragingly.

That seemed to perk Silver right up.
"Right," with a determined face, Silver turned to Shadow and Stone. "I really should have started with this but better late than never right?"

"Welcome to the garden of time," Silver's voice took on an air of sobriety, it sounded to far removed from how the hedgehog had previously acted that Stone felt taken aback for a moment.
"This is a place physically removed from every world and every time, yet connected all the same." As Silver continued on, Stone's disbelief grew more and more. Secret spot under Australia? Sure. Secret gateway under Australia that crashed them into a pocket-dimension between dimensions and time that was connected to everywhere and anytime through the flora? Stone was sitting back on the bench, dumbfounded, by the time Silver finished.

"I know it's a lot," Blaze said sympathetically as she caught onto his expression, taking the pot in her hand she refilled her and Stones cup, "I could hardly believe it myself, the first time I came here."

"How did you?" Stone asked before thinking, taking the cup with a small 'thank you' as Silver just looked on sheepishly.
"I didn't, and then he took me to another dimension." Blaze said casually, nodding to Silver.

Stone spit out the tea. Staring between Silver and Blaze in bewilderment, Shadow seemed unsurprised but Stone was half-sure he wasn't listening.

"Yeah, it was weird seeing a place without the Sol Empire." Blaze added as she took a sip.
"The Sol Empire?" Shadow asked before grabbing the final biscuit for himself, Silver got up to grab some more before disappearing inside again.
"Oh right you don't have that, I'm from the Sol dimension." She said it as if it explained everything. It occurred to Stone then, like a brick in his face, that Blaze was from another dimension.
"I go to uni there and really, the extra study time I get from this place is great. Just being able to stay here for hours and then returning to right after I left? Amazing." Blaze added brightly.

"Is that why you sleep here sometimes?" Silver teased, returning at that moment with a new trey in hand. Setting down a plate laden with biscuits, Blaze grabbed one before she replied jokingly: "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Silver chuckled as he turned back to Stone and Shadow, opening his mouth to say something, but to both their surprises Shadow cut him off.

"Wait!" worry laced his voice as if he'd just realized something, "the flowers we crushed with the house- did we just destroy dimensions?" The thought made Stone feel like a bucket of ice water was thrown over his head, Silver had explained that the flowers were what connected everything and was how he and other travelled from place to time.

Could the crash have- did he and Shadow… even by accident?

Silver quickly shook his head no, trying to reassure Stone and Shadow.
"No, no, it doesn't work like that. The flowers are just the connections, not the dimension itself. They act like passageways and really, those that you crushed will grow back."
Relief flooded through Stone, looking right of him he could see the same happening to Shadow.

Blaze looked at the confused for a moment until Shadow explained how they'd fallen through Australia and straight into Silver's petunias.

Blaze looked pensive for a moment, mulling the words over in her head before asking: "Wait, if you crashed here from the sky, then how are you getting home?"

Stone hadn't even thought about that yet and evidently, neither had Shadow. The group turned to Silver, the gardener paused mid sip under their combined gazes.
"Uhhhh-"
A new panic climbed up Stone's throat. We're they stuck here? Unable to find their way back to their own place? If the garden of time was connected to everywhere and anytime then how were they going back to their own where and when?!
"I could probably find their world, but it would take me a while." Silver sighed in annoyance, letting his cup clatter on the saucer.

A second wave of relief hit Stone, if things would go on like this then he'd start to develop stress ulcers before his next birthday.

"You guys could take a look around if you'd like." Silver added.
"Why not let them explore one of the flowers while they wait?" Blaze asked.
"Hm… I'm not sure blaze." Silver answered hesitantly, his eyes darting between Stone and Shadow to Blaze.
"Well just one should be fine, I'm sure they've had quite a fright after crashing into your garden and immediately being threatened right off the bat." Stone and Shadow hadn't told Blaze that they had been threatened by Silver, not even hinted, yet Blaze had hit that one particular nail on its head so hard that Stone questioned whether Silver threatening people he'd just met for the first was a regular thing. Silver turning red just felt like confirmation.
"That's not- I really wasn't-" Letting out a frustrated sigh, Silver relented. "Ok, you can guys can travel through one flower, just one while I go find your world."

Stone… wasn't sure he could believe what he'd just heard. The idea alone of being able to travel to other dimensions, let alone time, didn't register, yet Blaze had somehow convinced Silver to let him and Shadow travel to anywhere and anytime, even if just once.

It occurred to Stone that he could be dreaming, or hallucinating, but Blaze turned to him with an excited smile as Silver got up with another sigh. Shadow was sitting next to him, biscuit halfway raised to his mouth as he stared at Stone in disbelief, probably going through the same crashing revelation that he was.

Dumbfounded, Stone and Shadow followed Silver as he led them back to the cottage, Blaze happily tagged along. The silver hedgehog looked around, apparently satisfied with something that Stone didn't realise before turning back to the two.

"Right, just to lay down some ground rules. You can't break the timeline nor change it you hear me? Especially if you're going to your own dimension." Silver crossed his arms as he spoke, seeming more like a guardian than a gardener in Stone's opinion.
"Wait I thought you needed to find our dimension?" Shadow piped up.
"Sort of, finding your home dimension is easy, you guys could probably do it own your own. However, finding the right time is a bit more difficult."

Silver left the explanation at that as he went on to explain the actual travelling part. "Like I said earlier, the flowers are the actual gateways to different times and places, finding a specific one is a bit tricky but it's great for when you're exploring." He showed them how to hold a flower and how to gaze beyond it, how to open the gate and how to return to the garden after entering. Stone made sure to listen intently, yet the whole ordeal still felt surreal.

When Silver finished, he asked if Stone and Shadow had gotten all that. Stone felt like drowning but nodded anyway.

Satisfied he'd left on his own to search for their time. Blaze waited for a moment before turning to Shadow and Stone.
"I think I'm going to get a head start on studying, but one last thing."

"I'm not sure whether Silver knows, but the garden can have a mind of its own."
"How so?" Stone asked.
"Odd coincidences, strange occurrences, really if you'd asked me then this place is somewhat sentient."

"Wouldn't be too strange for a place connected to all time and space." With having that said, Blaze bid them farewell before walking back to Silvers house.
It had been a bit of an odd warning, but Stone was grateful for the heads up anyway. Steeling his nerves, Stone took a nervous breath as he turned to Shadow.
"You ready?" Shadow thought for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, I'm ready."

Looking around, Stone had no idea where to even begin. Stone and Shadow stood near the house, the field stretching farther than the eye could see and Stone had no idea where he even wanted to begin. He recognized a few of the flowers lingering around, but nothing that immediately pulled at his attention..

A breeze flowed through the endless meadow and Stone couldn't help but close his eyes for a moment, feel it tender on his face. There was the lingering scent of tall grass and wood in the air between all the flowers.
Shadow was behind him crouching to check on some, however none appeared to appeal to the dark hedgehog.

Pulling Stone along, the two went through the garden. The place looked more like a wild meadow in certain parts, but the little and large Stone paths that carved themselves through the place reminded Stone that it was indeed a garden. All paths lead to Silvers house and all paths stretched out infinitely; it didn't take long for Stone and Shadow to stray away.

He finally got what Silver meant with them easily being able to find their home dimension, Stone was crouched and looking through a bud onto a familiar scene from his history class, he briefly considered going to the fall of the roman empire before quickly deciding against visiting the fall of the roman empire. They'd even found themselves in a white rose, Stone and Shadow looked amazed at themselves on Angel Island, Stone was looping through the air while Shadow was lounging on the roof for once instead of Knuckles.
The two went on after Knuckles had walked away from view and like that they searched for hours, finding more moments in their timeline than not.

Finally, Stone stood up straight. Stretching his back, he felt his spine pop a few times from crouching so much. Shadow sent him a look of pure disgust before kneeling down to gaze into another flower. Stone was considering calling for a break when Shadow called out to him. He sounded perplexed which didn't put Stone off at first.

"Hey, 'Stone' was your last name right?"
Confused, he made his way over to Shadow.
"Yeah, why do you ask?"

Leaning back, Shadow let Stone get a clear view of one of the flowers in front of him. It was an odd pair, growing entwined under a tree - maybe that was why the image in front of him wasn't clear. Holding a solidago by the stem, Shadow showed him a distorted image in his other hand.

When Silver had first shown them how to peek into a flower, Stone had spent a whole minute just staring at the image in the gardeners hand rather than looked at what was happening in it. Nothing registered other than the fact that it was like a projection or hologram. The image was so clear and Stone was surprised to find that he could hear the sound behind the image too.
This was nothing like that.

The image was distorted, Stone could about make out the outline of a figure, a woman maybe, but there wasn't anything definable about her. With her face obscured and no detail of her visible gave the image an eerie feel, like she was a shadow of herself. However, the image and its distortion was soon pushed to the back of his mind as Stone listened to the scene.

"Breathe Ms. Stone, breathe. The doctor will be with you shortly."
Stone froze as he heard the line. The rest of the image was filled with the woman's harsh breathing and there beeping somewhere in the room with her, like a heart monitor. It was obvious she was in a hospital, despite Stone barely being able to see what was going on, it suddenly struck him that she was pregnant, the person calling her name being a nurse.

Was this his birth?
Was she his mother?

Stone felt like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs, his mind spinning as Shadow pulled his hand of the flower and the illusion broke. The sound fading as the nurse was saying something to the woman, again calling her 'Ms. Stone'.

This was his birth.

Stone didn't know anything about his parents.
They had left him to the orphanage that raised him, no letter or note, he never knew if they had any relatives or whether they were alive.
All he knew was that there had been no one waiting to adopt him and no one had. He'd just aged out.

Did he want to know? The option was right here, right in front of him. Silver had said that they could visit any universe, any time, just once.
Just once, Stone could meet them, did he want to?

"What's with the other flower?" He asked absentmindedly.
Shadow looked at him with concern, almost analysing his reaction, but relented after a moment to crouch down and view the other flower - a chrysanthemum.
Despite Stone's mind still reeling from the discovery, he didn't miss how Shadow froze. Looking down at his familiar, Stone couldn't see his face or whatever he was seeing, but whatever it was had Shadow reeling.

"Shadow?" Stone asked concerned.

"It's Maria…"

Oh.
OH.

Looking over his shoulder, the image in Shadow's hand wasn't any different from the previous flower, but Stone could hear it all the same. There was a voice from a young girl Stone didn't recognize, but finally catching a glimpse of Shadow's face, Stone knew.
It was Maria's.

What were the chances, these couldn't just be cruel odds.
Blaze's warning of the garden floated up in his mind and he couldn't help but agree. There was something to the garden, sentient, either giving or cruel.

Stone straightened up, Shadow whirled around to him, mouth gaping open yet no words forming. There was a desperate look in his eyes and he knew why.

Stone thought back to the time they'd spent together, less than a year.
Shadow had taken him out of a lot of bad places.
And Stone compared it to his whole life. Something he didn't like to do much but didn't stop just this once.
Where he'd come from, where he was now.

Stone looked at Shadow's expression and fully knew it wasn't necessary.
Would Stone like to know where he'd come from? Of course, anyone in his situation or not would like to know. But, for maybe the first time in his life, Stone felt alright not knowing. He'd remembered the night under the stars with Shadow, Amy and Genieva and how he'd told them that it didn't bother him - that he didn't miss his parents anymore - but Stone had never needed to be told he was a good liar. It always gnawed at him, somewhere in the back of his mind and this moment probably would gnaw at him forever too. However, Stone knew he wouldn't regret it.

"Hey Shadow," the words were felt careful, Shadow still looked at him with a sort of desperation as he bordered on tears. "How would you feel about seeing Maria one final time?"

Hope filled Shadow's eyes and Stone knew it was the right choice. Quickly wiping his eyes dry, Shadow nodded.

Stone wanted to see his parents, he would give anything in the universe to close that oldest wound, but looking at Shadow now he saw the raw pain that was his sisters death. The witch had lived his entire life without, it was something he knows well and had gotten used to. Shadow needed this more now than Stone did.

Giving the familiar a moment to collect himself. Stone took his place as Shadow stood up, taking the flower in his hand - careful to not pluck it from the ground - he opened the portal just as Silver had shown them.

As the portal formed before them, Stone couldn't take his eyes off of it. Colours from the chrysanthemum bled into a round portrait, surrounded by a frame that looked like a golden ring.
When the portal had fully formed, there was a small 'swoop' as air burst from its finish, the wind rustling his hair at most as Stone stood up.
He waited for Shadow to step in first, but the familiar hesitated. Standing in front of the portal rather than stepping through.

When Shadow just stood there, staring. Stone stepped forward, moving to stand next to Shadow and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Nervous?" He asked. Shadow just nodded.
"Take your time, I've got a feeling we have a lot of it." Stone said, an easing tone in his voice as he pointedly looked over to where they'd last seen Silver. Shadow chuckled thinking back on the gardeners frustrated look from earlier.

"Right…" Shadow said as he calmed down.
"Thank you." He added softly after another moment.

Stone just smiled. Eventually Shadow managed to gather his nerves and together the two stepped through the portal.

Stone wasn't sure what he expected once he stepped through the swirling mass. The portal alone was nothing like he'd expected, but thinking back on it, it made sense that it smelled of flowers.

The room they entered was grey, grey floor, grey walls, grey ceiling, but yellow lights. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust, once they did the room didn't look any better. Sterile, was the word his mind supplied.
"This is one of the labs." Shadow recognized. It seemed rather small for a lab, but Stone guessed that space wasn't much of a commodity in a space station.

So this was the A.R.K.

Stone turned to Shadow, the familiar wore a blank but tense expression and Stone could only guess what was going through his mind. Pulling the roomba in his hands, Stone grew it to it's regular size.
"You ready?" He said he motioned towards the closed door of the lab. Shadow took a deep breath, nodding the two silently moved towards the door.

Stepping out into the empty hall, Stone felt breathless as his eyes landed on the window. The hallway was almost creepily similar to the lab, grey everything with yellow lights, the big differences being the heightened ceiling and the glass lining the wall that revealed the earth. Stone felt as if the air had been punched out of his lungs as he stared at the planet. From where the station floated it seemed so large, taking up most of the view and at the same time, it looked so beautiful. The planet itself looked almost like it gave off light rather than reflecting it from the sun. Stone could see coastlines stretching across the planets surface and see mountains carve across it's skin. He even could point to a few places he'd been in the last few months.

So this was the A.R.K.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he noted that it looked a little different than how he knew it looked, it was probably just the difference between seeing it on a picture versus seeing it himself right at this moment.
Stone turned back to Shadow when he noticed the familiar was tugging his shirt.
"Are you done gawking?" He asked impatiently. Stone guessed that the sight made less of an impression on Shadow than it did on him, considering that this was the view the dark hedgehog grew up with.

Rolling his eyes, Stone hopped on the roomba. Crouching on the floating cleaner, he silently floated himself up until he was nearly touching the ceiling. Giving Shadow the go ahead, the familiar started to make his way down the hall as Stone silently followed him up in the air. Stone was a little disappointed that he couldn't sneak glances outside from this high up, but it was probably for the best that he didn't get distracted. Him and Shadow had agreed that since Shadow was known on the station that him walking around wouldn't rouse any suspicion, Stone on the other hand would not only raise the alarm, but would also get the guards sent after them and that wasn't a risk they could run until after Shadow had met Maria. So that was how they'd landed on the plan that Stone would tail Shadow from above, the familiar said that the ceilings would be high enough for him to follow Shadow quietly and luckily he was right.

Up ahead in the hallway stood two people in long, white, lab coats. Shadow didn't hesitate to walk towards them. The three talked for a moment before one of them pointed to further up ahead, Shadow nodded before continuing down the hall. As Stone flew what felt like far enough away from the two probably-scientist, he let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding.

Below him Shadow slowly came to a stop. The familiars whole frame freezing, Stone frowned and was about to ask if everything was alright when his eyes searched for what Shadow was looking at, falling silent when he did.

A bit ahead in the hallway stood a young girl by the window, staring out at the same sight that had mesmerised Stone moments before. She had blond hair and pale skin, unlike the blue dress that Shadow described, she wore a light pink scrub and in her left hand she held an iv that was attached to her arm.
Stone had never seen Maria before, but he knew that this had to be her.

Maria turned towards Shadow, Stone didn't miss the way her sunken eyes lit up as they landed on Shadow, her familiar and little brother.

Stone knew that she'd been sick, but just now it set in how sick. Maria's face looked near gaunt, eye bags carved into her face together with hollowed out cheeks. She tried to fully face Shadow, but stumbled mid shuffle. Shadow reacted instantly, rushing to her side as he chided her for being out of bed. The young witch just smiled at him cheekily, saying that she wanted to meet Shadow as soon as he got out of the lab.

Stone knew that Maria had been sick, but he didn't know that she'd been dying long before she was killed.

Shadow scowled. It was different from how the familiar usually scowled, this was tender. He held Maria's free arm as if to support her as the young girl turned back towards the earth.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She said. Shadow turned to the window, unlike Maria he could barely look over the windowsill, but he managed to and Shadow looked almost pensive as if he was looking at something for the first time again.
"It is." He answered after a while.

Maria turned to him in surprise, her eyes wide before a look of glee overtook them.
"What? no 'you always say that Maria' or 'how would I know'? Who are you and what have you done with my Shadow?" She said giggling as she nudged Shadow with her elbow. Stone froze as she said it, but Shadow just looked at her unimpressed and nudged back.

"I just… saw some new pictures in one of the books." He said in reply.
"Really?" Maria asked happily, "the pictures are great, but it doesn't hold a candle to the real thing." She gave Shadow one final nudge, pretending not to notice his disgruntled expression as she turned back to the sight beyond the window. Carefully she let go off the iv stand and pressed both hands on the window, pressing her forehead against the glass too for good measure.

"I can't wait to show you." She said. "I swear Shadow, once I get better and we go down there, I'm showing you the world."
"It will be so much better than the pictures." She added and Stone could only guess whether the words were comfort or agony to Shadow.
"What if you can't?" Shadow asked mournfully.

Stone's eyebrows rose into his hairline as the familiar spoke to her. Shadow hadn't taken his eyes off of her since she started talking, as if trying to commit every little detail of her to memory, yet when the words slipped from his mouth he seemed almost terrified that he'd said them.

"Well someone is having an odd day." Maria said playfully, peeling her head off of the glass to look at Shadow. Even with the mortification that settled in the familiar, he refused to look away from her.

"Sorry, I just-" Shadow started quickly, but Maria cut him off.
"it's fine Shadow, I know."
Shadow stood in shock as his sister continued.
" 'What if I never get better'? " Maria parroted nasally and in other circumstances, Stone would have snorted if not for the matter at hand. "I hear the doctors talk you know, grandfather doesn't want to hear it but I know it can happen." Maria spoke solemn, her eyes were tired in a way a child's never should be.

"If I die-"
"NO!" Shadow rushed to cut her off, "I'll heal you-" The promise slipped from Shadows mouth - maybe out of habit, maybe from denial - he'd said it so wholeheartedly, despite knowing he couldn't.
Despite knowing he wouldn't.

Maria smiled at him.
"Thank you Shadow," every fibre in her being screamed trust, she knew the odds, yet she had faith in Shadow and her grandfather.
"Truly…" She trailed off as her eyes slipped back to earth. Silently, she went back to her planet-gazing. A look Stone couldn't recognize sat in her eyes, it looked eerily similar to how Shadow looked at times.

Shadow continued to stare at Maria, still unwilling to take his eyes off of her. Maybe he was afraid she would disappear if he did. Eventually Maria took notice, but instead of commenting on it, she held out her hand without taking her eyes off earth. Silently, Shadow reached out, grasping her hand with his own before finally having the courage to look with her.

The two stood there for a while, silently planet-gazing together as scientists, doctors and security guards walked past. Stone floated a little closer to the ceiling, hoping no one felt like looking up.
So far so good.

"Just know," Maria rasped quietly, "I love you Shadow." Neither of them turned away from the window, neither letting go.
"I love you too, Maria." Shadow whispered back.

"Hey," Maria piped up again after another while, this time she spoke more energetically, clearing her throat to speak clearly. "Promise me something." Turning to Shadow, the familiar looked back at her curiously.
"Sure, anything." Maria looked at him with scrutiny before deciding.
"No. Pinky promise me." Without warning she struggled to her knees, Shadow let out an alarmed sound, trying to keep her standing by the shoulders while trying to convince her not to strain herself so much, but Maria was stubborn. She managed to get to her knees, now coming out to about the same height as her familiar. She held out her pinky finger to him as Shadow looked at her incredulously. Maria meanwhile was nothing but cheeky.
"Promise me - whatever happens - you'll go to earth, see everything."

Shadow took a moment before caving in, hooking his pinky around hers.
"I promise." He said hesitantly.
Before he could take back his hand, Maria gripping his pinky, not letting him go. She did not look quite so finished.

"Shadow," her voice sounded so grave that Shadow looked at her owlishly. "Can you promise me that even if I'm gone, you'll be happy?"

Shadow didn't respond for several seconds, he looked as if the breath had been punched out of his lungs and a large wave had pushed him deep into the sea. Maria kept looking at him determined while Shadow was wildly searching for words.
"…I can't-" He hesitated. "How can I be happy when you're gone?"

"Then promise me you'll try," Maria clasped Shadows hand with her free one, their pinky's still linked. Her eyes searching his red ones, her voice sounding stronger than she was.
"Despite everything, you have to try."

Maria didn't cry, nor did she waver. Stone felt tears well up in his eyes as he saw something in Shadow break. His mouth opening and closing a few times and still failing to find the words.

"Okay?" Maria asked him.
"Okay…" Shadow repeated carefully, his voice coming out wet, softer than Stone had ever heard it.
"I promise."

Maria smiled at that, a bright smile before she broke out into a coughing fit and Shadow was back to fussing over her. Discreetly wiping his eyes.

Stone was about to push off of the ceiling to prevent bumping into it- "HEY!"
Whipping around, Stone's heart dropped when he saw a scientist pointing directly up at him. He'd been spotted.

Looking back to Shadow, Maria was frowning as she looked up at him, his and Shadow's eyes crossed. The familiar's eyes were filled with horror as the realisation that the plan had gone wrong slammed into him.

A bullet hit the ceiling just a bit left of Stone, screaming he scrambled to regain balance on the roomba.
"Yeah, time to go." He yelled as he dove under another shot and raced down the hallway. Who shoots bullets inside a space ship?
Kneeling down and gripping onto the edge of the roomba, Stone braced himself as he flew wildly. Somewhere behind him he could hear Maria's voice call out to Shadow.

A deafening sound blared through the station as flashing red lights drowned out the regular fluorescents. Glancing back, Stone saw Shadow chasing after him. Multiple guards tailing close behind him as they tried to shoot him down.

Oh this was bad.
Stone briefly worried about Silvers warning about changing the timeline, but another bullet hit the ceiling above him and suddenly Stone wasn't so worried about that anymore.

Dipping down, Stone snatched Shadow off the ground. Not taking a moment to settle him on the roomba, Stone just held onto his wrist as he rushed them down the hallway, opting to drag Shadow through the air out of desperation.
Faster and faster, leaving their original pursuers behind, but new guards were rushing into the hall and shooting at them. Stone didn't dare slow down.

"You're going to the wrong way!" Shadow yelled over the alarm. Cursing under his breath, Stone panicked. He didn't think about anything other than not getting shot when he raced down this side of the hallway.
"Keep going straight, we'll circle around."
"What?!" Stone yelled back, barely catching Shadow over the blaring alarms.
"Keep going around." Shadow yelled.

Pushing harder, Stone did the best he could to weave through the halls, weaving around people and bullets when his eyes caught a glimpse of the outside. Eyes popped out of his skull before realisation hit him with clarity, so that's why Shadow told him to go straight.

Outside the window, the earth was gone, but he'd only gone straight.
The ship went in a loop.

With renewed vigour, Stone clenched his fist around Shadows wrist as he pushed them further down the hallway, too slow for his feeling the two were rushing to circle the station. Guards now waited for them in the hallway and aimed to shoot him down, screams to stop were ignored as he forced ahead.

Suddenly Stone realised he recognised the area ahead. The earth peeked around the corner through the window and he knew that this was the door they needed.

Without hesitation, Stone pulled Shadow against him, hugging Shadow desperately against him. Stone braced as he rammed the roomba through the door.

In the small lab, the portal whirled to live and Stone didn't hesitate.

Stone held Shadow tight as they rammed through the portal, feeling himself slip from the roomba, Stone tried to shield Shadow with his body as much as he could.

They crashed to the floor as the portal flung them out, the shouts of guards being cut off as the portal instantly closed behind them. Stone crashed into the ground, skidding over dirt and grass as the witch shielded his familiar as best he could. It hurt, but Stone grit his teeth against the pain, eventually rolling to a stop somewhere in the open grass.

Stone's heart was beating out of his chest. Gasping for air, he and Shadow laid there in the destroyed bed of grass. Neither of the two daring to move in the moment as if anything more than breathing would shatter it. They were laying there for less than a minute, but to Stone's reeling mind it felt like an eternity.

Did they mess up. Did he?
Would there be consequences to being seen, Stone couldn't help but question.

His train of worries was cut off when Shadow stirred in his arms. Immediately, all of Stone's attention focused on the familiar. Shadow wore an expression he couldn't recognise, he moved slowly, carefully getting up and off Stone as the witch moved with him. Hands on his arms, Stone's eyes roamed over the dark hedgehog checking for any injuries.

Shadow almost seemed out of it. His face blank as he just sat up on his heels and stared into the distance between him and Stone.
"Shadow?" Stone prodded softly. Scared of what was going through the familiars mind.

"Stone, Shadow!" Silvers voice rang out from where he and Blaze were running towards them. "Are you two okay?!" Stopping when they reached Stone and Shadow, Stone gave a small nod.

"Yeah, we made it out just fine." Relief flooded through Silver and Blaze, Silver asked him some more questions while Blaze inspected the damage around them. Stone answered Silver, but in the mean time he tried to look around for where his roomba went.

His eyes shot back to Shadow when the familiar stirred. Silver fell quiet in the middle of another question as the gardener frowned at him.
"Hey, is he alright?" he asked worried. Stone took a moment to take Shadow in again, he didn't seem hurt but he didn't seem to be responding to much at all.
"I- I'm not sure." Stone admitted.

Back on the ARK… a lot had happened in the span of such little time, so much had happened today already.

Saying goodbye to Knuckles, jumping down to Australia only to end up falling into the garden of time, Blaze emotionally blackmailing Silver to let them to go anywhere, anytime and then the decision to go to the ARK.
To see Maria.
All impossible things, now over.

Stone couldn't recognise the face Shadow wore. He seemed tired, cold, open, sad, happy. Shadow was a lot of things, but clear was never one of them.

Stone was startled when Shadow shot to his feet. He ran before Stone could even say his name. Stone got up and ran after him, he still ached from the crash but he ignored the pain as best he could to follow Shadow. Silver yelled after them, but Stone didn't care to hear what he said. His focus solely on the running hedgehog in front of him.

Shadow ran to the cottage, ignoring Stone calling out his name, he reached the front door. Stone hadn't bothered to close it when they stepped out, but instead of rushing inside, Shadow slammed the door closed.

Confusion shot through Stone's mind when the dark hedgehog threw the door open and ran inside. Without hesitation, Stone followed, only to stumble upon metal floors. Hit with disorientation, Stone looked around.
This was not the cottage.

Shadow stood in the middle of a familiar hall, one that he and Stone had just escaped with their lives.
It was the same hall where they'd seen Maria.
The young girl was gone, the place she stood was cracked, dust coated the floor as the light emanating from the earth fell through the window and into the room. It was bleak.
Shadow stood in the same spot he had just been in moments ago. Eyes wide the same way as then, but instead of looking at Maria, he was looking at the ghost of her.

Stone wasn't sure whether to say something or wait, eventually he decided to give Shadow some time. Standing awkwardly by the door he'd used to get here, Stone took in the hall. It was different from up above. The earth was still visible through the window, giant and bright, almost looming. It was darker than when they'd visited Maria, the lights were either shattered or de-powered and Stone didn't want to think too much on how he was breathing.

His attention was snapped back to Shadow when the dark hedgehog fell to his knees. Stone frowned sympathetically when he heard the muffles sniffles, he'd never realised that Shadow was a silent crier. Without hesitating, Stone walked up besides his familiar, crouching down to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He couldn't bring Maria back or erase the gaping wound she left in her wake, but he could be here. Not as her replacement, but as him.
All he had to do now was hope that it was enough.

Shadow shook under his hand as Stone carefully rubbed slow circles over his back, making sure not to impale his hand on his back quills.
His mind couldn't help but wander. Despite not being able to fix this, he still wanted to help.

Gazing out the window, Stone was faced with the earth. The sight was still as breathtaking now as it had been some ten minutes ago. Half the earth was covered in night, it's cloak falling over the ocean and beyond. He wondered how it looked like down there despite having been there just this morning. It would be night now on the continent they'd travelled and that's when it struck him, the memory of a single night. Months ago, Shadow had shared a fact when it was just the two of them, one that Stone hadn't forgotten even now.

Looking around the empty hall, he wasn't sure how to start, but now that he'd thought of it he was determined.

It didn't matter what kind, thinking of Silver's garden, Stone imagined hundreds of colours - but thinking of Maria, Stone imagined fields of white. Taking a deep breath, Stone stretched out his hand, hoping it would help, there weren't any words for what he wanted to do - he couldn't think of any - but Stone held out his hand and begged.

The space, himself, magic, the universe if it made sense. Stone reached out with every fibre of his being and begged to let him do this one thing, for Shadow.

And for the first time in his life, when Stone reached out, something answered.

Shadow froze when grass sprouted from under his feet. The small patch quickly growing in size around him, spreading over the metal floors and walls like wildfire, leaving the window and door alone. Flowers sprouted from the bed of grass, Shadow gasped when the first bud bloomed open, beds of white like in Stone's mind grew around them forming a sea of flowers. Flowers that Stone had seen out in Silver's garden crept in here and there as Stone slowly lowered his hand, their sudden growth and bloom slowly coming to a standstill. The air seemed charged with something heavy, tinged with the scent of fresh flowers and a hint of cinnamon. Shadow slowly turned to Stone, the witch looking on with amazement. It wasn't much, but it was his first spell. Euphoria bloomed in Stone's chest, it might not have been anything grand, but it was from him. An ocean of flowers just for her, white for a grave and colours for a girl who'd longed to see them again.

"Did- did you just cast a spell?" Shadow's voice was laced in disbelief. Stone turned to Shadow, his giddy smile was answer enough as the dark hedgehog launched himself at Stone. The familiar engulfing him in a hug hard enough to push him back.

Landing with an 'oomph' Stone sat huddled surrounded by the sea of mostly white flowers. Stone didn't dare move as Shadow crushed him in the hug. The witch suddenly felt very unsure, was this too much? Did he overstep, changing Maria's final resting place like this?

"Thank you."

Stone almost hadn't caught it. The words were muffled by his shirt as Shadow both hugged and hid in him. A smile fell over Stone's face, finally returning the hug, the two sat there for a while. The station's hum forming an ambience around them as Stone watched the earth crawl across the window.

Eventually Shadow pulled away to rub his eyes, Stone took the chance to check him over. His eyes were still red, but he'd stopped crying, breathing steady even with the odd sniffle here and there.

"Are you ready to go home?" Stone asked gently after a moment.
Shadow avoided looking at him out of embarrassment, but the familiar did nod yes.

Relief coursed through Stone's system with the realisation that they would be okay.