#alien bean

Silver was getting used to being with Shadow and Eclipse.

Shadow was the one who decided where they went and what they did, for the most part. He was also the one who reminded Silver to eat. Silver ate a lot more now, which was nice. He thought asking for food was bad, but it wasn't bad with Shadow and Eclipse. It was nice.

Eclipse argued with Shadow a lot but also played a lot with Silver. And he also let Silver ride on his shoulder as much as he wanted! Silver hadn't been carried this much before, he was always told he had to be a big boy. But Eclipse never refused. He picked Silver up any time he reached up and any time he let out a soft whine from getting tired of walking. It was really nice.

Silver liked them a lot. A whole lot. He never thought arguing could be soft and that he could do things without the floaty energy making things difficult.

But now Eclipse wanted Silver to use the floaty energy... And he wasn't sure if he liked it.

"Just make that small stone float! Go on." Eclipse gestured to the stone by Silver's feet with a frown.

"I... I can't..." Silver shifted on his feet, just to make sure the heavy things around his legs were still there. As long as they were on, the floaty energy wouldn't appear... That's what Shadow had said. But he didn't want to take them off...

"You carried me and Shadow, of course you can." Eclipse huffed and grabbed Silvers head to make his eyes focus on the rock. "Now pick it up and crush it."

Silver shifted on his feet again and let out a soft sound of distress. "But-..." He started before Eclipse got annoyed by the whining. "But what if it gets too much...?"

"Nothing you can do would be enough to overpower ME." Eclipse let out a scoff and pressed his hand a little harsher on Silver's head. But not so it hurt, both of them were very nice with touches that never hurt. "So do it. Now. Before Shadow gets back. You-. uhh... You want to impress him, right? This would impress him. And crushing it would be good!"

Silver looked up at Eclipse, then gave him a timid nod. He... did want to impress Shadow. Or make Shadow smile. Shadow smiled when Silver did good things, so if destroying it was good, then...

Silver looked at the Stone. Then bent down to carefully remove the things around his legs. Silver shivered when he felt his floaty energy a lot more with them gone, but he tried to focus on the little rock. He held out his hands and focused on the floaty energy inside him...

Only to end up floating himself. Silver barely got time to flail and start to panic before Eclipse grabbed him, forced the floaty energy down and put Silver on the ground.

"No. Your chaos energy was only on you that time. Put it on the rock." Eclipse pointed at the rock with his eyes narrowed. "Again."

Silver nodded, a little more nervous but... But Eclipse had caught him. And he'd done what Shadow had done. So he could take away the floaty energy too... Silver took another deep breath, held his hands towards the rock and focused... repeating "float, float, float" in his mind to try and make the rock listen-.

It started to glow slightly cyan and wiggled. Silver perked up when he saw it, but then the glow faded. Eclipse let out a snort and a cackle, his hand still on top of Silver's head.

"What kind of pathetic thing was THAT!? You're so weak!" Eclipse's grin was wide as he looked at Silver. And even if Eclipse called Silver weak, that was okay. Seeing Eclipse grinning made Silver feel happy.

"What are you doing?"

Eclipse twitched when they heard Shadow's voice and Silver turned towards the other brother with a smile and a wave. Eclipse let out a soft huff and bent down to put Silver's anklet things back on.

"Just seeing if it can cause destruction yet."

Shadow's eyes narrowed on Eclipse as he set down the bag of supplies he'd gotten. Silver ran over towards the bag to take a peek inside. There were all sorts of wrapped things in there...

"He's still a CHILD. Do you even know how to teach someone to use chaos energy?"

"Well, at least someone have to. Especially since SOMEONE is too much of a 'worryheart' to do it. It can't be too difficult."

Silver looked up to see both brothers looking at each other with their arms crossed.

"He's scared of his power. You can't force him to use it before he's ready." Shadow argued back with his eyes narrowed.

"I wasn't forcing anything! I just told it to make the stone float. It was pathetic, it barely moved." Eclipse let out a soft scoff.

"It will take years before he can do whatever it is you're expecting of him."

"Then even better to learn earlier! Then I would've wasted less time."

"As if you have anything productive to do with your time."

Silver's eyes widened when their arguing became less soft. More serious and tense, both of them starting to growl and it made Silver feel scared. He didn't want them to fight like that, that's what made his parents not like him, Silver didn't want the brothers to stop liking him!

"Shadow!" Silver shouted as he quickly pulled on the fur on Shadow's hip. He shrunk back when Shadow looked down at him and quickly let go of the fur. "Don't fight... I-I just wanted to impress you..."

Shadow eyes softened a little when Silver said that. Eclipse let out a loud 'Ha!' as he pointed towards Silver. "See!? I didn't force it to do anything!"

Shadow sent another glare towards Eclipse, then crouched to be more level with Silver to talk with him instead. "So you want to learn how to use your power? Are you sure? You still seem scared whenever it's mentioned."

Shadow was right... Even now when he mentioned it, Silver could feel himself tense up at the thought of that floaty energy. It was scary... And Silver couldn't control it. But...

"Y-You and Eclipse can stop it... So I'm okay and I don't hurt anyone." Silver nodded and clenched his hands in front of him. Like someone does to show they are super determined. "I wanna do good things with it. And not be floaty every time."

Shadow let out a soft hum as he looked at Silver for a few moments longer. He then nodded. "Alright. We'll teach you."

"We? What we?" Eclipse asked with a scoff, his arguing tone turning soft again. "I'm a better at chaos energy than you are."

"So you think you have the patience to teach him yourself?" Shadow looked at Eclipse with a raised eyebrow. "Even those small, boring but useful things?"

"I have patience! And lots of it!" Eclipse walked over to pick up Silver and settled Silver on his shoulder. The little hedgehog reflexively grabbed hold of Eclipse's quills to hold on while Eclipse pointed at his brother.

"I'll make this one better than any other mortal YOU have ever taught before! I can teach things just fine!"

Shadow's mouth twitched into a small smirk as he looked between Silver and Eclipse. "I'll give you a week before you give up and beg me for help."

"Won't happen." Eclipse growled, still soft arguing, then turned towards the surrounding trees. "We'll just start with something lighter! You'll be on MY level of chaos mastery by the time I'm done with you, little thing."

Silver let out a soft giggle when Eclipse poked his stomach in a place that tickled. His tail started to wag as he hugged himself close to Eclipse. "Okay! I'll do my best!"

Shadow had a headache and it was entirely Eclipse's fault... This was the reason he doesn't stay with Eclipse for too long. These months are the longest they've stuck together in over two decades and Shadow felt ready for their 'quality time' to be over.

Not only was his brother prone to destroy the things he touched, but he was utterly unhelpful in information gathering. He was dismissive of Shadow's goal and only helped when there was a trail of chaos energy to follow or goons to fight. He'd killed when Shadow had told him not to, with Eclipse's excuse being that they were completely alone and annoyed him. Silver adored Eclipse for reasons Shadow couldn't understand, because that stupid hedgehog had left Silver unattended three times! Nothing had happened, but Shadow could not handle seeing Silver on his own where he could be a clear target for being taken by those they were hunting for.

Eclipse's senses for Chaos energy was useful for his search to weed out the rest of these traffickers. But now that the, what he assumes to be, main base has been taken care of he'd rather just take care of the stragglers on his own. The problem was Silver...

"I-I don't wanna choose!" Silvers eyes were filled with tears as he looked at Shadow while holding onto Eclipse's hand in a tight grip. "I wanna stay with both!"

"It's how we've always travelled. We travel alone and only come back together when we need to." Shadow said with an worried frown. If Silver got any more upset, there was a risk that the inhibitor rings couldn't hold his powers back... Shadow needed to find a way to calm Silver down.

"But you said you'd keep me..." Silver held tighter onto Eclipse, something that just made the other hedgehog look amused. But when Silver let out a low and long whine, Eclipse started to frown too.

"And we are keeping you, even if we're travelling separately." Shadow was quick to add before Eclipse started to say something insensitive. "We just... aren't used to travelling together. And it's time for me and Eclipse to go on our own paths. Because we want to do different things."

Silver sniffed and let out a whimper. A sound that made Eclipse bend down to pick Silver up by the fluff surrounding his neck, holding the hedgehog child in front of him.

"Those creatures won't go after you any more. You're ours, completely, and that contract they had is gone. And we'll still get together because neither me or Shadow want to give you up, little thing."

Hearing this made Shadow's ears perk up. Contract...? Shadow hadn't seen or heard of any contract.

"So you don't decide who you'll travel with. You're deciding what to learn first!" Eclipse's eyes burned with determination as he made Silver look towards Shadow. "With Shadow, you'll learn how to treat and watch over other mortals. How to make others feel happy and safe. How to gather money. Stuff like that."

The little hedgehog let out another soft sniff as he looked at Shadow. Still clearly upset by the thought of their group splitting in two. Eclipse turned Silver around to look towards himself.

"With ME, you'll learn how to sense chaos energy in a way no mortal can do. You'll learn how to read, defend yourself and how to take everything you want to have. You're ours. So stop CRYING and think about it. What do you want to learn first? You'll have 2 days until we reach my ship. Decide before then, little thing."

"B-But I don't want to-."

"Some things you can't have no matter how much you beg and whine for it." Eclipse cut Silver off. Surprisingly soft for being him. Shadow just watched this interaction in interest. He didn't think Eclipse had learned or even cared to interact with someone else this way.

Eclipse set Silver back to the ground with a huff. He then noticed Shadow's stare and frowned at him in return. "What?"

"Nothing. Just didn't expect to ever see you be... softer towards someone." Shadow gestured towards Silver. Where the little hedgehog had shifted to hug Eclipse's leg.

Eclipse's quills flared out as he hissed towards Shadow in a show of anger. "Just because I like to destroy things doesn't mean I can't take care of little things."

This made Shadow frown and tilt his head slightly to the side. "You have taken care of children before...?"

"Not MORTAL or weak children." Eclipse huffed as he looked away and absent-mindedly placed a hand on Silver's head. "The little thing just feels... familiar. That's all."

Weak children could be those not housing chaos energy. But mortal children...? Shadow was still trying to puzzle this out when Eclipse picked up Silver so they could continue walking. They could reach Eclipse's ship faster if they ran, but Eclipse now seemed determined to give Silver time to think over who to choose.

It was after dinner, when Silver was asleep, that Shadow came up with the answer. When Eclipse looked at Silver in a way that could almost be described as soft, only for his expression to briefly twist with pain as he looked away. So when Eclipse sat by the fire opposite to him, Shadow opened their mind connection.

"Those small creatures... Back when you were first hatched? Does Silver remind you of them?"

Eclipse twitched and looked away, willingly showing Shadow glimpses of those small creatures. 4 of them that he had named. All 4 who had died in his hands...

"The Little thing's chaos energy feels... different from other mortals. More integrated into its genetic makeup. More similar to us. And to them... I've saved other small creatures too. Just... if they had been similar. The smaller ones are easier..." Eclipse also, surprisingly, showed shadow other small children. Multiple scenes where he had saved children from being killed, only to roughly shove them away once the danger was over.

Shadow was quiet as he let these memories wash over him... and offered a few in return. Some of those Shadow had raised, those who were chaos users. Eclipse made a face of disgust as he closed their connection.

"Only having chaos energy doesn't mean I'd care."

"If you found someone else who felt similar to Silver. One that was an adult of their species. Would you be interested in helping them as well?" Shadow crossed his arms as he tried to figure out this new piece of information. 200 years... and this was a part of Eclipse that Shadow had never even considered existed.

"No. If anything, I'd kill them for irritating me with their presence." Eclipse scoffed and leaned back while casting a glance towards Silvers sleeping form. Huddled up in a blanket, peaceful... "It's... the potential for growth. I never got to see them grow."

The two were quiet for a while, a rare moment of camaraderie between them. They both let themselves be absorbed by the memories of the past, what they had gained and what they had lost. 200 years is a long time... And Shadow was certain that he would've forgotten a lot over his lifetime if he did not have Eclipse as a constant presence and reminder of it.

It's also what made this eternal existence that they shared painful...

"I created them. My little creatures..." Eclipse admitted in a soft voice, his gaze now focused on the fire between them. "I genetically modified them and hatched them with my own two hands... worked relentlessly to make sure they would be healthy... I've perfected it. I could make someone immortal if I wanted to, under the right conditions."

Shadow tensed up as Eclipse stared at him. As if he was asking for permission, as if their dynamic had gone back to servant and master rather than equals.

"Once the little thing get of age... we could have a third."

"No." Shadow was quick to shoot it down with an angry hiss. "You will not do that to him. Mortal minds aren't made to live forever. You and I are having trouble enough as it is."

Eclipse looked down at the flames again, his shoulders slumping slightly with his nod. "Understood..."

Shadow glanced between Eclipse and Silver, hesitating. "You... You have gotten this attached in such a short amount of time...? It's unlike you."

Eclipse's mouth twitched into a small smile. "It is. I hate it... But it feels so familiar that I just-... can't help it... the little thing is mine. I won't allow anyone who wants to hurt him stay alive..."

"Is that why you killed?" Shadow's eyes narrowed slightly as he started to put the pieces together.

"I did the same for you." Eclipse met his gaze again with his smile widening into a grin. "You're mine too. Any contract, any hit I heard of, I dealt with first. I dealt with a lot before they got to you."

"Stalker." Shadow scoffed. He'd suspected that, with how often he felt Eclipse close by when Shadow had done something especially risky. He was still attacked, sure, but less than what should be logical considering the circumstances.

"I protect what's mine. And it's effective." Eclipse shrugged. "One of the ones targeting the little thing had chaos energy. It became a good snack."

"Spare me the details of your eating habits." Shadow said with a groan and rubbed at his forehead. "If Silver chooses you, don't eat anyone at all. He isn't old enough to handle death, much less in your way."

"If he chooses you, don't let him get scared of his chaos energy. I didn't work so hard just for my effort to be wasted." Eclipse glanced between Shadow and Silver as he said this. "Just... tell me when you're ready to see me again. For the little thing's sake."

"For Silver's sake." Shadow agreed with a nod. "Take your rest first. I'll stay up."

Eclipse didn't protest and was about to go to his own section of the clearing to sleep. But then paused and looked at Silver for a few seconds. And Shadow watched as Eclipse let out a sigh and walked over towards Silver. He aimed a glare towards Shadow as if daring him to say anything before he laid down next to the little hedgehog to sleep.

After about an hour, he saw that Silver had shifted in his sleep to hold onto Eclipse's arm.

Shadow wasn't sure what to think about this... That Eclipse had experimented wiith and perfected creating immortal beings behind Shadow's back. How many were there? Where were they? And how exactly were they immortal? Since Shadow hadn't heard anyone in his mind, they weren't part of the hive mind. So it was possibly a partial mutation Eclipse had focused on...

And the fact that both Eclipse and Silver were so attached to each other. Was that a bad or a good thing? Shadow never imagined that Eclipse could care for children, much less someone as bright and curios like Silver. He was attached to the hedgehog because Silvers energy felt similar to the creatures in his far off past. All because he had created them himself and never got to see them grow...

Shadow lightly poked life into the fire as he stared into the flames. He decided to dismiss Eclipse's experiments for now, his brother's morality was grey at best but he rarely resorted to torture... From what he's heard at least. But the two of them would always be haunted in different ways. Eclipse by the little creatures he'd cared for and died in his arms... Shadow by Maria and Sonic who helped him love being alive...

Silver had been with Shadow for a little over two months now. He's started to learn how time worked and how to be respectful to people and Silver really enjoyed making people smile after he helped them with something. It was strange to be without Eclipse first... He hadn't been picked up at all except the very first day when Shadow comforted him because Eclipse had told him to go with Shadow when he couldn't choose himself. But he slowly got used to it, comfortable with the thought that he'd see Eclipse again eventually.

Silver was seeing a new side of Shadow that he hadn't known of before without Eclipse there... Shadow was really calm and cool. He wasn't frowning as much and if Silver was curious about a thing, he could spend a lot more time looking at it and asking questions than before. Shadow also made really yummy food and even started to teach Silver how to make his own food. It was really nice!

But Silver also missed Eclipse... He did his morning exercise like he'd promised, trying to lift something with his energy every morning. He could lift leaves now without breaking them and Shadow had given him a small pat in praise when he'd showed the older hedgehog. But Eclipse wasn't there to see it... And he missed being carried a lot. Shadow sometimes acted like touching others hurt him and it worried Silver. Because if touching others hurt him, why was he touching Silver? Silver didn't want Shadow to get hurt even if the pats and hand holding was really nice.

If Eclipse had still been with them, he would've been the one to hold Silver's hand...

Shadow asked Silver to briefly sit and wait outside on a bench while he went inside to a shop to talk about something. So he sat there, lightly clinking his ankle rings together while he was looking over his hands to try and find the thing that felt irritating. The air was filled with the smell of wood and there were lots of tinking noises inside.

His hands were a lot different from Eclipse's hands. But when he'd asked to see Shadow's hands, his were similar to Shadow's. Because Shadow had round squishy bits on his palm and fingertips like Silver did and not completely flat like Eclipse. Shadow's tail was also short like Silver's, not long like Eclipse's. But they both looked the same and had the same chest fluff. And Silver had chest fluff too, aaaaall around his neck.

Silver liked it when other people called Shadow his dad... Silver would've liked Shadow to be his dad even if he wasn't. Could he have two dads? He had a mom and a dad already, but they hadn't wanted to keep him. But Shadow and Eclipse wanted to keep him. Did that make Shadow and Eclipse his dads? So did he have three dads?

Silver managed to find a small piece of grass stuck to the side of his palm squish. So Silver carefully used his claw to remove it. He then watched as a small group of people went past him, all of them wearing sacks and cloaks like he and Shadow did. They talked about finding a place to sleep for the night and it made Silver curious...

"Silver. Come here."

He perked up when he heard Shadow and quickly jumped off the bench to follow him inside the house. It was warm inside but not to the point it was uncomfortable like the metal forging place. Silver lightly tugged on his hood to make sure it was still covering his quills, just like Shadow's did.

Shadow gently pushed Silver's shoulder so he'd step up towards the stranger. A super tall person with a super long neck and fur that was yellow with brown spots. Silver couldn't help but stare up along their body because they were super tall!

"He's the one taking measurement. And keep his growth in mind."

Silver offered the person a smile and a wave. "Hello! It's nice to meet you."

"Aren't you a little cutie." The super tall person said with a light laugh and motioned for Silver to sit down on a chair, a chair that was taller than Silver. He climbed up on it like he was told and was extra comforted when Shadow stood close behind him.

"Oh dear, how long have you been wearing these for shoes? It's about time you got proper ones." The super tall person said with a frown as they looked over the cloth scraps Shadow had helped wrap around his feet.

"I'm getting shoes!?" Silver turned towards Shadow with a bright grin. Something that made Shadow nod and lightly pat his head behind his quills.

"We'll be doing more travelling soon."

The super tall person let out a soft chuckle and smiled at them. They seemed a lot more relaxed as they removed the cloth around his feet. It all came from Shadow's old cloak when he bought a new one, cause Silvers feet got sore a lot faster when he wasn't carried any more.

Silver didn't think he'd get shoes so soon! He thought that since he's still growing, he wouldn't get shoes until later. But now Shadow was getting some to him! The super tall person also talked to Silver, and Silver was always happy to talk with people.

They asked how old he was, but Silver didn't know. They also asked about cool things that he'd seen and Silver talked about Eclipse's space ship and the huuuuge beast he'd seen Shadow fight. And he also told the tall person something super cool that Eclipse had told him. That if someone was in outer space and didn't have energy, they'd pop and explode!

Silver didn't understand why the tall person got uncomfortable by the cool fact. Or why Shadow let out a heavy sigh and held his forehead. Because it was cool and interesting to know! Now they knew that they shouldn't go out in space or they would explode. Because the tall person didn't have energy! At least, Silver didn't think they had any.

Shadow had told him he shouldn't ask if people had energy, even if he was suuuuper curious. Cause those who had energy were seen as dangerous. And if he asked, it would also show others that HE had energy. And Shadow said it was better for people to think Silver didn't have any so he wouldn't be in any danger.

Silver couldn't see how he'd ever be in danger with Shadow around. Shadow could get anywhere super fast, if there was any type of trouble then Shadow would take care of it super quick.

The tall person said the shoes would take a few days and Shadow said they'd be back in tree days. Silver was careful as he climbed down the tall seat and tugged on Shadow's cloak.

"Can we get something sweet?"

Shadow stared at Silver for a few moments, then let out a soft snort. "Of course you'd get his sweet tooth even when he's not here... I'll show you how to make some."

"Yes!" Silver's tail wagged at the thought and waved goodbye to the super tall person. "Bye bye! Thank you! We'll see you later!"

Shadow followed along with Silver pulling him towards the exit and Silver felt so warm when he looked up to see Shadow smiling.

"Can we make apple sweets?"

"Sure." Shadow nodded slightly. "Under one condition. If you can lift one with your energy."

Silver hesitated at the mention of his powers. He... could try. He'd been doing the daily exercises Eclipse told him to do. So maybe he was strong enough! And Shadow would still be there. So Silver nodded with his hands clenched in front of him, because now he was gonna be super determined to do it!

Shadow led him through the city, like usual, and they eventually reached the place with loads of trees. And all of them had apples! Silver liked apples a lot, both the sour and the sweet ones. But he'd always prefer the sweet ones.

Silver let out a cheerful "hello!" at the person working there, a really nice man who'd given Silver apples before. Only the "bad ones" that couldn't be sold but those were still really good! Silver didn't understand why others wouldn't want to buy apples just cause they looked different.

Silver talked excitedly how he'll be getting shoes now and the nice man congratulated him for it. He also told Shadow that it would be picking season in a week and they could be hired to help. Shadow said they'd consider it and then they got five apples that looked weird and Silver thanked the man with a bright grin and another wave as they left.

He really liked making people smile. And he really liked that Shadow told him how to be polite! Because then, people smile even more! Or, at least most do. Sometimes, people are just grumpy.

Silver and Shadow went back into the forest again, back to their camp where they'd been living in for a while now. Shadow removed his cloak here and Silver removed his too. He removed his ankle rings and focused on a wonky apple, trying really hard to lift it without crushing it... It lifted into the air, but it was crushed so violently that it spewed apple juice everywhere.

Shadow still said he would teach Silver how to make apple sweets, since he still lifted the apple like he'd asked.

So Silver swung back and forth on a low branch as he watched Shadow set up a small fire rather than his cooking stove. He always used a fire when he taught Silver how to make stuff.

It also made Silver think about those people who wore cloaks and sacks like he and Shadow did.

"Shadow. Why are we sleeping out here and not in the town?" Silver landed on the ground and shifted to stand closer to the older hedgehog.

Shadow paused in his work and looked towards Silver. "Would you prefer staying in town?"

"No. I stay where you stay." Silver tilted his head slightly. "But other people with cloaks and sacks stay in town. So why don't we?"

Shadow let out a soft hum in thought as focused on the fire again. "It's a precaution more than anything. Why do you think we wear cloaks?"

"To hide our quills! So we don't hurt people!" Silver smiled, because that's something Shadow told him when Silver got his own cloak.

"Right. But it's also to help hide our identities." Shadow nodded as he picked up a few sticks and a knife. He told Silver to make the sticks into points and Silver did so. Shadow had already taught him how to do that and he was really careful to have the knife blade aimed away from him.

"I have been alive for a long time. And I have made many enemies." Shadow continued from before as he leaned back. "If we're going to stay in the same place for a while, it would both be expensive and dangerous to stay in civilisation. If others knew where I am and where I will be... it would put those living there in danger."

"Cause bad guys would come after you...?" Silver paused with making the sticks pointy. "Why do bad guys want to hurt you and Eclipse...? You beat so many of them before, they should know they can't beat you, right?"

"It's because we can't be beaten or controlled that they try to subdue us." Shadow said this with a casual shrug while looking out towards the trees around them. "As their understanding of chaos energy expand, they believe the next version of their technology will defeat us. And if we're defeated, we could be under their control... It's what those people wanted to do to you too, Silver. They wanted to use you as a weapon. It's something all chaos users need to be careful of."

Silver frowned and looked down at the carved stick as he thought about it. A weapon... like a knife... Silver looked at the knife he was holding and tilted it slightly so the metal would reflect his eyes back at him.

"But-... That doesn't feel right... even if we have energy, we're still people. We're not knives..."

"It's not right. And it's a horrible part of society." Shadow nodded slightly as he closed his eyes. "The lengths they would go to get that powerful of a weapon... civilians have been killed in the crossfire before. So we can't stay in one town for too long."

Silver nodded slightly. He didn't like that... he didn't like that people could be hurt just cause bad guys wanted Eclipse, Shadow and Silver to be weapons. He hadn't wondered why they walked and ran so much before. But that made sense...

"Then... where are we going after I've gotten shoes?" Silver looked at Shadow. "We won't help with the apple picking, will we?"

"No. We won't." Shadow reached out to settle a hand on Silver's head. "We'll be going to a different planet entirely. No need to worry. I'll make sure that you'll stay safe. The fire is ready. Let's make baked apples."

Silver immediately perked up at the thought of sweets and listened closely to Shadow's instructions. The lessons of how bad guys were after them stayed with Silver even after that evening. And he understood a lot better why they were doing so much to hide their energy powers.

Silver got to hold Shadows hand as they explored the largest floating island on this planet. It was warm and comfortable and Silver was really glad that he got to hold Shadows hand. It didn't happen often and Silver cherished it any time he got to hold it.

He'd gone outside with Shadow a lot more after the weeds in Eclipse's crew tried to take him. Silver was excited to explore and see more on this planet, but that also meant he didn't get time to learn how to read or use his energy. That was okay, Eclipse got even busier and Silver would get time to learn more after the heist thing was finished. And he would still stay with Eclipse later, he'd promised to take Silver with him on his spaceship! So Silver was very excited for that.

He got to see a parade with Shadow, a little away from the mass of people but it was a lot of fun. It was so colourful and loud and exciting! It was something they did for the people who were entering a vote competition to see who would decide what would happen to the city.

The voting competition wasn't something Shadow and Silver could participate in. But they could still be here and see who was chosen, which is what Shadow wanted to do. So Silver hoped it would be someone nice that decided things and not someone who was mean and only wanted money. Because those who wanted money were those who only made choices for themselves. Like Eclipse!

"Shadow, what's that?" Silver tugged on Shadow's hand, then pointed up with his other hand to the colourful floating shapes that had strings tied to the bottom.

"Those are balloons. They are a type of toy or children decoration. It's similar to a kite in the type of joy they bring."

Silver let out a soft hum, watching the balloons and their different shapes. There were a lot of children around the person handing them out and they all seemed super happy to get one.

"Would... you like one as well?" Shadow tilted his head slightly as he looked at Silver, his quills and head covered by his cloak hood like he usually did around people. Silver had his own cloak on too, since it was polite for hedgehogs to cover their quills.

"No. I'm just thinking that they seem to really like things that float..." Silver glanced back towards the children, a little confused. "Why is it so much fun for them?"

"Because it feels magical to them." Shadow had stopped so Silver could continue to watch. And he was still holding Silvers hand. "When it comes to things that float, the children across all planets are used to it being tied to technology in some way. Either through mechanical propulsion or chaos energy. So when they see and interact with something that floats that isn't made through either of those things, it brings them a sense of awe."

Silver let out a soft hum as he looked at the balloon. He didn't feel that same type of awe Shadow was describing... Seeing something float was just something that felt normal. He looked back towards Shadow.

"Am I... weird for not thinking it's impressive?"

"No. You're not." Shadow let go of Silvers hand to crouch down beside him. "You have experienced things differently from other children. And it makes you feel value and awe over different things. You find juggling impressive. Why?"

"Because it has to be super hard to follow the things you throw and then throw it again." Silver started to smile as he remembered the juggling he's seen, his tail starting to wag with it. "I can't catch stuff like that!"

"I've seen your attempts, yes." Shadow's mouth curled into a small smile. "You don't feel impressed with things that float because you can make things float yourself. It's that simple. And you aren't any stranger from others only because of that."

Silver felt a little better hearing that and looked towards the happy children again. Shadow was right, he found other things amazing than just things that float. He started to smile as he looked at Shadow.

"Is that the same like you not being impressed when people pick up heavy things?"

"Yes. It's similar." Shadow nodded as he stood up again. "Let's continue."

Silver nodded and grabbed hold of Shadow's cloak to get pulled along. Only for Shadow to reach out and grab a gentle hold of Silver's hand again.

His tail wagged happily as he followed along, sticking close to Shadow as he did. There was this huuuuge and pretty picture on a wall that Silver watched for a while. So Shadow explained what graffiti was and how it was illegal in most developed places. Then they started to talk how pretty things and things that were fun to do could still be illegal and get you in trouble. Eclipse had said that things were illegal only if you were caught, but Shadow thought it was reckless to think like that.

Eventually, they stopped to buy some food. Meat and vegetables rolled up in a large piece of bread. They sat side by side on a bench as they ate with Silver clinking together his ankle rings. They sat in another park, a type of greenery these cities made that didn't smell as much as the wilds. Silver wondered where they would have stayed if Eclipse hadn't been here... would they have stayed in a park? Or in one of those hotel houses? Or would they have gone a long way to reach a forest to stay in? Cause Silver hadn't seen a forest at all. And from way up here, he could see a lot. It was just rocks outside the city.

"How are these islands floating?" He asked Shadow between bites of his food, still clinking his ankle rings. "Do they have forests here or just these park things?"

Shadow glanced down at Silver briefly, then looked out over the people again. He let out a soft hum in thought.

"This planet's resources have mostly been drained... There isn't much life outside this large city. The islands float through both natural and constructed magnetic force between the planets core and the core of the island using chaos energy. Remember how a moon can circulate around a planet? It's a similar principle with these floating islands but they circulate the central tower instead of the planet as a whole."

Silver looked over towards the huge tower that was taller than every other building in this city. One that looked like a spike with a ball in the middle of it. He then looked down at the ground with a slight tilt of his head. There was chaos energy here too...? Shadow gently shifted Silvers hand when he looked down.

"But if chaos energy is used so much in things and to make islands float... how come it's not normal for it to be in people?" Silver looked back at Shadow again and took back his food from Shadow's grasp. "And why do bad guys wanna take people with chaos energy if there's a lot all around them?"

Shadow frowned slightly as he looked down at the ground. "That is... difficult to answer. Finish your food."

Silver nodded and ate his meat vegetable with bread thing in large bites. Sometimes, Shadow needed to think of the question for a long time before he answered it, because it was a question that didn't have a good answer to it. Silver could wait, he didn't need to know right now. He was just curious!

When Silver finished his food, Shadow still hadn't thought of a good answer. So they continued to walk through the garden. When Shadow spotted a playground for kids, he asked Silver if he wanted to play with those who were there.

Thinking about playing with other kids made Silver nervous... Last time, it had gone okay. And it had been fun, even, to play tag with some town kids with Shadow close by. But there was still this feeling that Silver might slip up with his energy and make a mistake again... and hurt others again... and get found out and taken by bad guys again... There were a lot more kids at the playground than in a town he'd visited with Shadow... and it didn't feel entirely safe...

Silver grabbed Shadows cloak and pulled him away, looking away from the playing kids. It didn't feel right for Silver to be there with them...

"Alright. Don't hesitate to ask to play if you want to. With both me and Eclipse." Shadow's voice was gentle as he settled a hand on hop of Silver's hood then continued to walk a little slower than before. "Knowing how to interact with your peers is just as important as knowing how to interact with adults."

Silver nodded slightly as ge hid closer to Shadows cloak. It felt like people were staring at him... thinking that he was weird or scary... Or that they knew that he had floaty energy that could hurt people.

The weight of the ankle rings and having Shadow close helped a little... his floaty energy wouldn't hurt people as long as he had his dads who weren't his dads.

"Shadow...? Am I dangerous?" He looked up at the older hedgehog and lightly tugged on a section of his forehead quills. They were soft quills... but Shadow still said covering them was important... they hadn't helped Silver at all when he tried to get away from the mouse person.

But his energy was dangerous... that made Silver dangerous... right?

"Hm. Let me ask you this. Would you say that I am dangerous?" Shadow's head tilted slightly as he looked at Silver.

Silver thought about it for a few seconds, then shook his head. "No..."

"Why not? I'm capable of many things that normal people can't do."

"Because you always try to help people. And you'd never wanna hurt someone who doesn't deserve it." Silver continued to get dragged along by Shadow's cloak. Woah, that was a super red bush.... That wasn't a shape the bush grew in naturally.

"Then why should you be seen as dangerous when I am not? I have honed my skills for many years. But you have barely started. I am a lot more dangerous than you are."

"But... you don't burst suddenly. Or make others float... or hurt them without meaning to." Silver fiddled with Shadow's cloak nervously.

"You didn't have the tools or training you needed to handle the power within you. It was bound to cause accidents... You will learn how to control it better. And you will continue to improve."

Silver nodded slightly and briefly glanced back towards the playground. Then back up towards Shadow. "Once I get really good... will it be safe for me to play then?"

"It's already safe for you to play, Silver. You shouldn't avoid doing what you want out of fear for your powers. I'm here. And I'll keep you and everyone else safe for as long as I can."

"So... eternity?" Silver smiled up at Shadow with his tail wagging slightly.

"Yes." Shadow smiled and lightly settled a hand on Silvers head to make sure the hood of his cloak was secure. "Go ahead and play. I'll be watching over you."

So with Shadow's encouragement and feeling the weight of his ankle rings, Silver went back to the playground where the other kids were. He approached some who were sitting in a sand pit, building stuff, and asked if he could join. And they immediately agreed with wide smiles.

He was given a small spade and helped them pack in sand into buckets so they could build their castle. And there was another hedgehog too! She had a scarf tied around her quills and Silver showed off his cloak. Silver didn't see many hedgehogs at all in all the different places he's been in.

The other hedgehog, Tina, told him all about quill fashion, how there were a bunch of pretty things hedgehogs could tie around their quills to cover them and look nice. Silvers mom had used something like that and he told Tina about it. She had tied her quills up in cloth for each quill section before she went outside and left Silver.

Tina didn't know many hedgehogs either, so she was as excited to see Silver as Silver was to see her! Tina became his friend, but Silver also knew that he couldn't keep her as a friend. He wanted to stay with Shadow and Eclipse and he didn't think he'd get to find Tina again after today.

Meeting Tina made Silver think of something that he hadn't thought too much on before. Why were there so few hedgehogs around? And how come hedgehogs needed to cover their quills?

When it was time for Tina to go, Silver went over to Shadow. The older hedgehog had stayed in eyesight so it was super easy for Silver to check that he had still been there while playing with Tina.

"I met another hedgehog! Did you see her, Shadow?" Silver told Shadow with a bright grin as he stopped by Shadows feet. "She was super nice!"

"I did." Shadow nodded slightly, glancing to where Tina had gone to her mom. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah! Thank you Shadow!" He grabbed onto Shadow's cloak again as the older hedgehog started to walk. "She's the first hedgehog I've met. Why haven't we met others before?"

Shadow looked down at Silver, then at the road ahead of them. He walked over towards a side street, then towards a darker space where there was only stinky smelling trash. This is where Shadow grabbed Silvers hand and teleported them away.

Shadow helped steady Silver from the sudden teleport. It smelled familiar, so they'd gone back to Eclipse's house again. Silver thought they would walk around and not be in the house-.

"There are some things you are better off knowing when you are older." Shadow's voice was gentle as he removed Silver's cloak. "How chaos energy is used as a resource and the lack of hedgehogs... Those are not answers you are ready for yet."

Silver blinked, now even more curious about it. But he also knew he shouldn't argue with Shadow about it, if it was something that would make Silver sad.

"Okay. You'll tell me when I'm ready, right?"

"I will." Shadow nodded and carefully picked out a few quills that had gotten stuck to Silvers hood. They were sparkling light blue with Silvers chaos energy and Shadow was careful as he placed them in the small container he put all of their stray quills in. There weren't as many quills in there like there were before, so Shadow must've tossed some away. Silver found a quill stuck to Shadow's cloak and carefully removed it to give the glowing black-orange quill to the older hedgehog.

Silver didn't know why Shadow collected their quills or what he did with them. But since Shadow was so careful, it must be an important reason. Silver didn't need to know everything. He trusted Shadow. And if Shadow said it was better for Silver to not know yet, he wouldn't ask again.

Silver thought that Eclipse's place was a lot like Eclipse himself. Not good, but not bad either. Loud, energetic and violent. It suited Eclipse, that this was his place.

Silver liked it.

The people here didn't seem too bad either, even if Shadow had warned him they weren't good. They just seemed like people. Maybe the shops here sold things that were dangerous to handle, but they still had food and water and all the good things a town should have.

The people seemed very nervous when they interacted with Eclipse and Silver couldn't really understand why. Eclipse wasn't doing anything bad, he just showed him and Shadow around. And the two older hedgehogs were arguing softly sometimes, just as usual, with Silver holding onto Eclipse's hand.

Silver had missed holding hands a lot. He hadn't wanted to let go of Eclipse for even a second when they looked around! Since he wasn't hurting Eclipse when touching him like he did with Shadow, Silver could hold onto him for as long as he wanted. Silver also got to show off his shoes to Eclipse and tell him Silver could walk a lot longer on his own now. Eclipse said he'd still carry Silver even if Silver could walk longer and that made him very, very happy. He liked that Eclipse liked to carry him.

"So, uh... You... are boss's kid?" A large person asked Silver, someone Eclipse had called wolf.

Eclipse had led their group to the house he stayed in, (the largest house in the whole town!) set Silver on a high chair and told the people present to give Silver food. Shadow had walked off somewhere and Eclipse had told wolf to keep an eye on Silver while he went after Shadow.

Or, well, he told wolf that he should make sure no one touched Silver or they were dead. It was the same thing.

"I'm Silver!" Silver greeted with a nod and a smile, his legs dangling off the high stool he's been placed on. He really liked it when people called the two older hedgehogs his dads. He wanted them to be his dads too!

"Well, it's nice to meet ya, Silver. I'm Brutus." The wolf said with a nod and they started to relax a bit. This person was really large, at least two Eclipse's tall. "How long are ya gonna be here for?"

"I donno. I stayed with Shadow for 6 months." Silver looked at the plate of food that was put in front of him. It smelled really good. And it looked like mashed potatoes with bits of brown in it. He thanked the person who gave it to him, then picked up the spoon to eat with. He had learned to eat well with cutlery thanks to Shadow.

"Shadow...? Ya mean the guy who boss went after?"

Silver let out a soft sound in agreement, because his mouth was busy eating. It tasted a little weird, but it was still good. And there was no strange tingling feeling either. So it was good food!

"How do you like it, kid?" The person who gave him the food asked with a small smile. They had a large line over their eye and a strange, flat nose Silver never seen before.

"It's good! Thank you." Silver thanked them again, because it was the good polite thing to do.

"Ya sure are polite, kid. Ya got it from your mom?" The wolf, Brutus, asked as he watched Silver.

"Shadow taught me! My mom didn't want me." Silver tried to not feel sad about it, that his mom and dad hadn't wanted him... "But Eclipse want me! And Shadow too. But Eclipse chose me first!" His tail wagged as he remembered that day when he was rescued. Eclipse had been the one to say they should keep him. And Silver was really glad he did.

"Boss chose you?" Brutus and the flat nose person looked at each other, then back at Silver. "So would you say you're one of boss's treasures?"

Silver blinked and tilted his head slightly. "What does that mean?"

"Its something Boss would get violent over to protect." The one with a flat nose said as it leaned up against the counter.

"Oh, yeah! He beat up a bunch to save me!" Silver nodded with a bright grin. "Shadow too! They're super strong. I'm gonna be strong like them someday!"

Brutus let out a snort, then coughed with a wide grin on their face. "Sure, kid. I'm sure ya can manage that."

The flat nosed one rubbed his forehead. "How can a kid be a treasure to that guy?"

"What other treasures does he have?" Silver leaned forward and pushed the empty plate back to the flat nosed person.

"All kinds of things, whatever finds his fancy." The flat nosed person said as they picked up the empty plate. "Money, tech and valuables, for the most part."

"Boss also has stuff that are older than my mom." Brutus said with a huff. "Do ya know how old he is, Silver?"

"No." Silver shook his head. Then, there was a soft 'blip' sound that Silver immediately recognised and he turned to see Eclipse there. He was glaring at Brutus and the flat nosed person, but then his eyes softened when he looked at Silver. His nose twitched briefly.

"Good, you had food. Do you need liquids too?"

"Yes please! Can I have juice?" Silver smiled at Eclipse. But then, his smile dimmed when Eclipse let out a soft groan.

"Don't do that stupid polite stuff with me. You TELL ME what you want." Eclipse then poked Silver on his chest. "Don't answer a question with a question. Do you need liquids?"

Silver started to smile again and he felt his tail start to wag. "Yes! I want juice!"

"You heard it." Eclipse glared at the flat nosed person. "Give it juice."

The flat nosed person said 'right away' as they walked away a bit. Silver reached out to lightly tug at his fur to get Eclipse's attention.

"Eclipse. How old are you?"

Eclipse let out a short laugh and grinned wide. The type of grin he always had when Silver asked something he knew he'd get a confusing answer for.

"You can't measure eternity in mortal years, little thing."

Silver's eyes widened slightly. "Woah... So you've lived for super long...?!"

"Something like that." Eclipse picked Silver up under his arms and held him close. Silver didn't hesitate to nuzzle into Eclipse's soft fluff and hug him around his neck. "Did anyone touch you?"

"No. They were really nice!" Silver leaned back from hugging Eclipse to accept the juice bottle Eclipse gave to him. "Brutus called me your treasure."

Eclipse muttered out a soft 'Brutus...?' As his eyes shifted between the wolf and the flat nosed person. The two of them seemed to get nervous when they were watched by Eclipse, just like everyone else in this place.

"You are. You're mine." Eclipse said, a little louder than usual as he settled his free hand on Silver's quills. "And any FUCKER who touches what's mine will get disembowelled!!"

Eclipse turned to snarl at the room where other people were. And the people in it quickly replied with a 'yes boss!'. This made Silver a bit confused as he tugged Eclipse's chest fur.

"What's disem...bow...?"

"It's when your stomach gets clawed out." Eclipse answered as he started to walk with Silver to the opening that led deeper into the house.

"Would that kill them?"

"It could." When Eclipse and Silver left the room, the noises in that room grew a lot louder than before. But Eclipse didn't seem as interested in that as Silver.

"But why would you wanna kill them for touching me? They wouldn't hurt me, right? And they seem nice."

Eclipse's nose wrinkled as he looked at Silver. "You care too much about other creatures."

"I know. But I like it." Silver started to smile. Because he really liked talking with people, caring about them and making others feel safe and happy. "You could like others too."

"They're tools to be used who die way too easily." Eclipse waved off to the side, then turned down a corridor to the left. "They'll do anything you tell them or ask them to. And you don't need to do that polite stuff Shadow taught you with me or those creatures."

"Am I your first treasure who's a kid?" Silver tilted his head slightly to show his curiosity.

"There's no one like you, little thing. Now drink your juice." Eclipse lightly flicked Silvers ear, then stepped into another room where the door opened without touching it. "See? The creatures here listen to me. No one even touched it."

Shadow was there with another person. The other person was short, but probably because they leaned forward so much. And they had a really large, green bowl on their back. Shadow glared at Eclipse and crossed his arms. Shadow hadn't put his hood back on since they left the sweet treat place and Silver was really happy that Shadow seemed to be a little more relaxed at Eclipse's place. Even if he didn't like the people here.

Silver took of the cap of his juice bottle and drank some while he was watching them all talk. He'd just listen for now.

"You still left him alone with a criminal. It doesn't set a good example for your capability to take responsibility."

"It needed to eat something. And you just went off without knowing we moved stuff." Eclipse huffed and turned to the other person in the room. "Turtle, this thing is mine. You won't touch it."

"Roger that, boss." The other person, turtle, said in a raspy voice and nodded.

"At least be bothered to learn their names..." Shadow sighed and pinched the space between his eyes.

"Ah, it's fine Mr. Shadow. It's just how our boss is." The turtle smiled towards Shadow this time. "But I'm glad to speak with you again before the years caught up with me... Do you need help fine tuning your skates once more?"

"No, just materials and the space. I'll handle the rest myself."

"Don't die before you finish training that weasel." Eclipse pointed at the turtle. "If its training isn't complete before you do, I'll toss it out."

"Not to worry, I still have time left in these old bones. He won't disappoint. And he'll pass your test." The turtle smiled wide towards Eclipse. "Would you like to try my new prototype?"

"Hah! Still making things to kill me?" Eclipse's grin was wide when he said this. Silver tensed up and looked between Eclipse and the turtle. He didn't want Eclipse to die...!

"Not at all. I am past that stage." The turtle let out a raspy chuckle in return, then started to cough.

"Later. I want to take care of the little thing." Eclipse waved off turtle, then turned to Shadow. "I'll be back. Make yourself at home."

Shadow nodded in return, then Eclipse walked off. And Silver was still held close to Eclipse's chest. But that exchange still worried Silver.

"Do... Do they want to kill you, Eclipse...? Those who are here?"

"Sure. Every single one. But they know they can't." Eclipse said this so casually and dismissively that it helped Silver relax. They couldn't kill Eclipse even if they wanted to...

Did Brutus and flat nosed person want to kill Eclipse too...? Was that why Shadow told him to be careful of the people around Eclipse?

"The turtle tried to make a bunch of machines to take me down. It just made me stronger." Eclipse let out a soft snort as he smiled. "That thing is brilliant. It'll be a shame once it dies. That weasel better live up to its teacher."

"Why will they die...?" Silver glanced back to the place they came from.

"Mortals don't live long. Their body deteriorates from within until they can't function any more..."

Eclipse stopped walking suddenly. And when Silver looked back at Eclipse, the older hedgehog was looking at Silver. And something in Eclipse's eyes made Silver's chest feel weird... like Eclipse was sad. But he was never sad. Not like Shadow was sometimes when Shadow looked up towards the stars.

"Eclipse...?" Silver reached out to gently settle his hand against Eclipse's cheek.

Eclipse closed his eyes with a sigh. "Forget it. Let's start teaching you how to read." Eclipse then teleported holding Silver and they were now in a completely new room. Silver grew a bit nauseous from the sudden shift, but it passed rather quickly. They were in a room with tons of sparkling things and interesting looking machines set up all around. Silver let out a soft sound of awe as he looked around while Eclipse walked over to a tall layered shelf.

Books! Those were all books! Silver hasn't seen this many books in one place except in a book shop! Eclipse picked one out, then sat down at a desk in the room. Silver giggled when Eclipse spun around in it, holding onto the older hedgehog's fur so he wouldn't fall off.

"Right! Let's start with letters." Eclipse said as they stopped spinning, with Silver still giggling from the dizzy feeling. "When you learn letters, you'll know how to put words together. We'll start with Council language."

"I also wanna show you how good I'm with my energy!" Silver grinned up at Eclipse and he could feel his tail wagging in excitement. "I can lift things without crushing them!"

"Good. We'll do that later." Eclipse settled his hand on Silvers head and gently rubbed back and forth. "First, letters. You'll be the best little thing in the universe when I'm done with you."

Silvers first lesson in reading didn't go super well. He forgot what the letters sounded like sometimes, but he kept on trying until he got it right. Eclipse then demonstrated how the letters could make words by reading to Silver, just to show how it worked.

Then, he got to show Eclipse how good he'd gotten with his energy in his personal training room! It was a place Silver could use as much energy as he wanted. They fetched Shadow too so he could see and both hedgehogs praised him for his progress!

Eclipse said Silver could do better and he was right, Silver COULD do better. Eclipse gently covered Silvers hands with his energy, explained how he should draw out the power and mimicked doing it against Silvers hands. Silver had forgotten that Eclipse could do that and with the explanation, it made sense.

So after listening to Eclipse's advice and trying a few times, Silver could pick up something as large as himself! It dropped almost immediately after, but he did it! He picked it up!

Silver had his hands pressed up against the window of Eclipse's ship, looking down at the hangar space with a wide smile. He saw Shadow down there and he gave the older hedgehog an excited wave.

He'd already said goodbye to Shadow and those who had cared for him when Silver had been here. He got a nice, warm hug from Shadow and promised to be careful and not take too much of what Eclipse did to heart. And now, Eclipse and Silver were about to fly away in his spaceship!

"Alright." Eclipse appeared behind Silver with a teleport and looked over the top room. There was one chair facing the window and a second chair in the back of the room. There were also a few boxes up here. "These should be enough. And the training weights are down in the living space. Anything you're missing, little thing?"

"No." Silver shook his head, his entire body buzzing with excitement. He'd get to still learn how to read and they'd get to train his powers more and he get to stay with Eclipse this time! There wasn't anything else he needed.

"Good. We'll be going to 104 first to drop off my new treasures." Eclipse lightly patted the top of Silvers head, then sat down in the large chair in front of the huuuuge half circle window that covered most of the front and some of the roof. Silver was picked up by his neck fluff and set on Eclipse's lap. "You can start it."

"Can I!?" Silver grinned wide and bright towards Eclipse, something that made him let out a soft huff.

"I just told you to. Press this button here." Eclipse gestured to a button on the side of his chair. One that Silver quickly pressed down with his hand. It made a large screen appear over both sides of the chair. One side showing a picture of Eclipse's ship and the other having some lines that Silver didn't understand.

Eclipse's ship was large on the outside but smaller on the inside. It was sort of shaped like an arrow, thin at the front and getting wider at the back. But the middle of it still went in towards the middle a bit before it flared out at the end. The front was for weapon and storage space while the back was their living space.

Eclipse then instructed Silver to touch more buttons that weren't buttons. His ears twitched when he heard the ship respond to what Silver was doing and it made a large smile spread on his face. This was so cool!!

The whole ship started to move when Eclipse reached forward to pull the steering wheel closer to them, then told Silver to press a button on it. Silver jumped and his fur poofed out at the loud blaring sound the ship let out and Eclipse laughed loudly over it. He then told Silver to sit still and shifted the steering wheel forward.

The whole ship moved! Silver tried to lean up and spot Shadow again, but he could only see the hangar room now when they were moving. The path ahead of them was open and when Eclipse got the ship outside, he made it turn sharply to the left. The older hedgehog moved a few cubes along the lines, the ship started to buzz loudly. Then Silver was thrown back against Eclipse's chest when the whole ship moved forward super fast. Silver could barely see what they were passing they were moving so fast, but Eclipse was turning the ship this way and that.

Blue streaks passed the window and it made something orange shimmer over the glass. Eclipse let out a soft huff.

"And again, stupid mortals continue to be stupid." Eclipse scoffed and leaned over to pull a lever beside the chair. "They'll live, this time... Stick close, little thing. We're speeding up."

Silver cuddled close to Eclipse's chest and watched wide eyed as the orange shimmering thing continued to appear around them to not let the blue streaks touch them. And there were other ships too, they were all getting closer to Eclipse's ship.

"Are those bad guys?" He asked, because they seemed to be attacking Eclipse.

"Some of them are. They're the ones controlling the stupid rules on this planet." Eclipse shrugged, then did something to the lever he'd pulled up with his arm sparkling black. The ship started to let out a humming sound all around them. "They just want to kill me when I get to and from my place. They can't touch me in it."

Silver didn't manage to say anything more as he was suddenly pressed hard against Eclipse and the breath left his lungs. It felt like something was pressing against him and crushing him. The outside was just a mess of colours that Silver couldn't understand but Eclipse was completely calm. After a few more moments, the whole space around them warped as if they were teleporting and Silver took in a deep breath of air when the pressure disappeared. He was dizzy and his chest hurt. He let out a soft whine as he rubbed at his chest.

"You got hurt from that...? You should learn how to protect your body better." Eclipse said and a hand settled on Silver's head to gently stroke through his quills. "We're out of their solar system. You're fine."

"W-What happened...?" Silver looked up at Eclipse, still taking deep breaths to make sure his lungs hadn't been crushed.

"We engaged a chaos surge then a warp." Eclipse shrugged slightly as he pushed away the steering wheel. "Look outside."

Silver turned around and let out a soft gasp in awe. There was no ground or sky. Just a mass of black that seemed to go on forever. But there were still lights absolutely everywhere, but they were so small and so far away. There were also floating stones around them in different sizes, all of them slowly turning like things did when Silver made them float.

"Where are we?" Silver quickly got down from Eclipse's lap to stand by the window, his tail wagging as he tried to look at everything at once. This was amazing!

"Between galaxies in an asteroid belt no mortal dares to drive through." Eclipse stood up and stretched out his limbs, then flipped a few buttons on the roof. "We'll stay here a while. Let's continue with your reading."

Silver nodded and followed Eclipse to the only door in this top room. A lift that took them down to the lower floor. Silver got out and jumped up on the bed to the right of the lift, shifting on top of the soft surface with a wide smile. Eclipse went to a large machine on the left, not something Silver recognised. And after Eclipse pressed a few buttons, he took out something from inside his quills. Then, music started to come out from that large machine.

"That's a music player? It's huge!" Silver leaned forward to look at it, now trying to spot where the music was playing from.

"It's an old one, but I know how to build all its parts. It's easier to repair." Eclipse shrugged, took a bottle from a cupboard from the kitchen area that covered the whole other side of the room, three books and a pen. Once he had that, Eclipse jumped down onto the bed, making Silver bounce up with a loud giggle.

"Let's see if you remembered what you learned and your time with that 'worry heart' didn't make you worse." Eclipse grinned when he said this and Silver crawled into Eclipse's lap to sit in the middle of his crossed legs.

"What letter is that?" Eclipse pointed to a letter on the page.

"That's E!" Silver got silently praised for getting it right when Eclipse patted him on the head, then Eclipse pointed to another letter.

"That's a S!"

"Right. Point at the letters that would spell your name."

Silver did as told, pointing to the S first. Then an I. Then an L. Then W and E and R! Eclipse lightly tugged on Silvers ear as he pointed at the W.

"You don't have this one in your name. Again."

Not W...? Then another letter that made the sound... Silver let out a gasp, then quickly pointed at S, I, L, V, E then R! Eclipse patted Silvers head as silent praise.

"So you haven't forgotten everything. Sound them out too."

"Ss, ii, ll, vv, ee, rr, Silver!"

"Good. If you'd forgotten that, you'd have been hopeless. Let's work on making a sentence."

Eclipse and Silver went over the alphabet again, to see that Silver remembered, then Silver got to learn how to make the words he'd been taught into sentences. Like 'Ball is red" or "Silver is tired". He isn't as good at writing them, his letters get a bit wonky. But he still remembered what he was taught about reading so that was good!

The music in the background was nice. Not too loud so it would distract him but still there to fill the silence and helping him think. He didn't know what that music was or where it came from, but Eclipse knew a lot of things and had been living for a long time. It must be some super old music.

Eclipse paused in the middle of the lesson to focus more on the music, his whole body relaxing as he listened to it. When Silver asked what music it was, Eclipse pulled out that square thing from his quills to show it to Silver.

There were letters there... L, E, V, E, L, S... A, V, I, C, I, I... Silver sounded out the letters slowly, then looked up at Eclipse. "What does it say?"

"Levels. Avicii." Eclipse had a small smile on his face as he said it, a strange far away look in his eyes that Silver usually only saw on Shadow. "That Avicii made a lot of good music despite the short time it was alive for..."

"Did they die a long time ago?" Silver looked back towards the letters, trying to remember what that sounded like. "Was avishi nice?"

"Avicii. And I can't say. I never met that human. It was dead before I found its music. It's been dead for hundreds of years." Eclipse's thumb gently stroked over the letters.

"What's a human?" Silver looked at the older hedgehog with a slight tilt of his head.

Eclipse let out a scoff and started to grin. "The most annoying, infuriating species with how contradicting they were. Insignificant and fragile with a short lifespan. But creative with its inventions and weaponised segregation."

"Do you like them? Can I meet them too?" Silvers tail started to wag at the thought of meeting new people.

Eclipse let out a soft chuckle and flicked Silvers ear. "You like meeting new creatures too much, little thing."

"People are interesting!" The music changed and so did the text on the small square Eclipse was holding. But he put it away in his quills before Silver could try and read it.

"Humans are extinct. The planet they lived on is inhabitable."

"Oh..." Silver frowned slightly when he heard this and looked a little closer at Eclipse. "Does that make you... sad?"

"No." Eclipse said with a small smile and flipped Silvers ear inside out. Silver shook his head with a giggle to put it right again. "They're just one of the many species that have gone extinct. It's nothing new."

"What's a species?" Silvers tail wagged slightly, excited to learn about new words.

"A group of creatures that have similar characteristics and can reproduce with one another." Eclipse shrugged slightly. "There are plant species too. Anything alive is part of a species."

"So... are you, me and Shadow the same species? With charaterissic?" Silver tilted his head slightly when he asked this, trying to understand the new words. Eclipse talked with new words a lot.

"Characteristic. How something looks or behaves." Eclipse flipped Silvers ear again and Silver shook it back into place. "We're not the same species."

"But we look the same." Silver countered as he settled a hand on Eclipse's fluff. "We got the same char... character..issic."

Eclipse let out a soft sigh and removed Silvers hand from his chest fluff. Then settled it on top of Eclipse's other hand. "Sure, we look similar. But we're not the same species."

Silver felt something against his hand move. And he watched with wide eyes as a patch of fur on the back of Eclipse's hand slowly fell off to show scales underneath. Then it shifting into skin and fur growing out of it again. Silver let out a sound of awe as he stroked his hand over the patch that had changed. It felt completely normal!

"Me and Shadow are hedgehogs. But not the same species as you." Eclipse picked up the fur that had fallen off and held it in his fist for a while. But when he opened it again there was no fur there any more. "Our cells core properties are different. Our regenerative abilities keep pace, and when wounded outpaces, our deterioration rate. The duplication of our cells never change or lose information during the duplication process either. Our bodies look like this because we choose to. Not because we have to."

Silver blinked at Eclipse, very confused by all of these new words. He only understood the last part, that they choose to be hedgehogs.

"Then... Could I choose what to be too?" He pointed towards himself. It made Eclipse look at him for a long time. It got a bit weird looking at Eclipse's shifting pupil for too long, but it felt wrong to look away when Eclipse seemed to be thinking of something really hard.

"Not yet." Eclipse settled a hand on Silvers head and gently rubbed it back and forth. "Not yet, little thing. But maybe someday, we can convince him."

"Convince who?"

Eclipse ignored Silvers question and instead shoved the water bottle into Silvers chest and told him to drink. He then teleported away to the kitchen area and Silver fell over with a soft squeak of surprise when his support disappeared. Eclipse let out a soft laugh, calling Silver weak with that soft warmth in his voice that made Silver feel warm.

He drank some water like he was told, then watched Eclipse make some food for Silver by sitting on the counter. It wasn't as yummy as Shadow's food or flat nose person's food. But it was still good cause Eclipse made it especially for him. So he ate it without complain like a good boy should, listening to Eclipse's music.

He felt like there were so many things about his dads who weren't his dads that he still didn't know or understand. But as long as they took care of him and liked him and wanted to keep him, Silver didn't mind not knowing. Maybe he'd get to know more things as he got older, like Shadow often says. And once he learns more words, He'll understand more of what Eclipse is saying.

There wasn't a window to look outside in their living space, so when Silver asked if he could watch the outside, Eclipse gestured to the lift. So he went up and spent some break time just looking out into space and trying to see if he recognised any of the stars that he'd seen at night.

He did recognise one, a purple glow. It was what Silver called the "sadness star", cause it made people sad to look at. Some planets were closer to the sadness star than others. But here, it looked really far away. It made Silver wonder what it was and what it looked like. Shadow didn't want to talk about it when asked. But maybe Eclipse would talk a little more about it. Maybe, if Silver was good, they could go visit! Then Silver could help take away the sadness in the sadness star. Like in those theatre stories where a hero defeats evil!

Shadow led their group into a smaller town with the goal to gather some funds. While he and Eclipse were proficient hunters and foragers, Silver needed a diverse diet to get all nutrients he needed. And since they were short on money, Shadow made sure to keep a close eye on Eclipse.

If they had agreed to stay behind, this trip would have been easier... But with how curious and excited Silver was to go into the town, it was hard to refuse. And Eclipse went where Silver went, it seemed... As long as Eclipse doesn't try to steal anything, the trip shouldn't be too troublesome.

Silver had many questions, questions that showed he'd been a recluse during his childhood. But Eclipse wasn't the best at answering those questions...

"What's that floating thing?"

"Some form of toy the creatures like to run with."

"Why are they arguing...?"

"Because they're greedy."

"What's that sound?"

"High density energy propulsion."

Shadow let out a sigh at that last answer and stopped to turn towards Eclipse with a glare. "You are horrible at explaining the world around you."

Eclipse's nose wrinkled with Silver sitting on his shoulder, head twisting around to try and look at everything at once while holding onto Eclipse's quills.

"Learning through observation works just fine."

"When he's asking, answer him properly." Shadow let out a huff, then focused on Silver. The little hedgehog looked at Shadow when he called out Silver's name.

"That floating toy you saw is called a kite. It lifts up into the air through sailing on the wind pressure. It's why children run to lift it into the air and keep it afloat, by forcing more wind pressure against the kite. The two arguing were arguing over the price of wares, how much something is worth. And the sound was of an airship since there's a ship dock in the city a short distance away. They sound like that when they take off."

Silver's eyes were wide and he nodded multiple times. Eclipse let out a scoff and crossed his arms. "I still think my explanations were enough..."

"Your answers doesn't cultivate curiosity." Shadow rolled his eyes, then kept on walking. "Use the same wording as the books you've read to share your knowledge."

"But all of those things the little thing asks about are just obvious mundane things, not something that's important like in the books."

"You took up the role as his teacher. So act the part by teaching him." Shadow sent one last glare towards Eclipse over his shoulder, then walked into a building with the other two close behind. One that took care of deliveries and had recruited Shadow before. Shadow took advantage that Eclipse could move almost as fast as himself and set him on the task to deliver packages. All in an effort to keep Eclipse out of trouble.

Shadow helped them sort some packages, which left Silver to stay with him for the less physical task. The little hedgehog was eager to help with the smaller packages while Shadow took care of the larger ones.

"Shadow. How many things do you know?" Silver asked as he gently set down a smaller package on its designated shelf.

"More things than you'll learn in your lifetime." Shadow's ear twitched at Silver's gasp of awe and sent a small smile towards the little hedgehog.

"So you know more stuff than Eclipse? He know lots about energy!" Silver seemed excited over this. Knowing how harsh Eclipse could be, he thought Silver would take his straightforward teachings poorly. But it seems to be the opposite...

"We focus on different kinds of knowledge. Eclipse is more interested in development of progress. I am more interested in the development of people." Shadow picked up another heavy package from the unsorted pile and easily carried it over to a bottom rack. "I can't say we know more than the other. Only that we focus on different things."

"People... So, If I wanna know more about people, I ask you... But what do I wanna know if I ask Eclipse something?" The little hedgehog had a very serious frown on his face. Possibly trying to dissect the word "progress" on his own.

It made Shadow reminisce about those he had travelled with in the past... Those he had taught and those who were gone. He turned back to the packages.

"Development of progress is about how technology evolves. How chaos energy is used now that more chaos users are emerging. What strengths and weaknesses it has, but also what type of social systems are in place to ensure control is maintained among thousands of people. That is the type of knowledge Eclipse focuses on."

"Oh! So If I wanna know how a technoloji work or chaos energy, I ask Eclipse!"

Shadow looked at the small, excited hedgehog with a small smile and a nod. And then frowned. "Don't ask him questions about what's right or wrong, however... His view of morals is entirely different from how the rest of society do."

Silver blinked and tilted his head slightly. (He didn't do that before when Shadow and Eclipse had first picked him up... A habit he picked up from himself and Eclipse perhaps.) "What's morals...?"

"The easy explanation is what causes more or less emotional hurt to those around them." Shadow paused in his work to properly focus on this response. "You said that you wanted to use your powers to do good things. What would those good things be for you?"

"To beat bad guys! And help others with things they can't do themselves." Silver straightened slightly. And Shadow crouched down in front of the little hedgehog with a small nod.

"Those are good morals. That you want to do things to alleviate the emotional suffering of others, of everyone around you. I have those morals too." He reached out to gently settle a hand on top of Silver's head. The touch was warm, too warm, but he knew Silver enjoyed physical touch. It was needed sometimes. "Eclipse's view is entirely different from ours. He doesn't care how much emotional hurt he causes others as long as those he deem important get what they want. It's an entirely selfish view... And not something you should adapt yourself to if you don't want to."

Silver shrunk slightly and his shoulders were tense. "Is... Is Eclipse a bad guy...?"

"It's complicated." Shadow admitted with a sigh and shook his head while removing his hand from Silver's head. "Just know that if you are worried about others reaction to something you do... Consult with me instead of Eclipse. You and I have similar morals. Eclipse does not."

Silver nodded slightly and stayed quiet for a few moments while thinking this through. He looked down at the inhibitor rings around his ankles as he shifted back and forth. "Am-... Are you important to Eclipse...? Am I important too?"

Shadow nodded with a small smile. "You are. Eclipse gave you a nickname. That's a clear sign that he finds you important." Shadow stood up again to continue working. "And since both of us have good morals, Eclipse wouldn't do anything that would be 'bad' as long as he's travelling with us. He knows what's wrong and right even if he doesn't personally care for it. Since we want him to be good, he will be good."

That seemed to calm down Silver's worries as the little hedgehog let out a soft hum of acknowledgment. He then continued to work with Shadow, carrying the smaller packages. Silver talked how, if he could use his powers, he could sort all of these things within a few moments. Shadow also noted how the little hedgehog's frame seemed more healthy. More muscles, more energy.

Good. He was recovering. Shadow might've forgotten to give Silver two meals yesterday, but he wouldn't forget it again. He'll make sure that Silver would grow up to be as happy and healthy as he would in a warm household.