Split

CH. 1 A Race Lost

Sonic felt the fast tapping of his feet beneath him as he ran. He ran faster than his normal speed. He made a sharp left around the corner seeing Tails sitting in the spot that he and Shadow discussed would be the finish line.  Sonic smiled knowing that, this meant he won their little bet.

At the last second he felt a wave of heat brush past him with a line of bright red light.

"Shadow you cheated!" Sonic whined, referring to Shadow's skates. "Don't be mad that you lost." Shadow deactivated his skates and hovered down in front of Sonic.

~~~~

"Then Sonic started whining." Tails laughed recalling earlier. "I was not whining!" Sonic whined. "No you were whining." Shadow corrected him again.

"Who was whining?" Knuckles asked as he walked into the room, coming back in from what looked like training, due to the bandages wrapped around his gloveless hands. "Sonic and Shadow raced again today." Amy told him.

"Did Shadow win?" Knuckles asked, but it was more like a statement. "No, I won!" Sonic lied. "No Shadow definitely won." Tails corrected. "He cried right?" Knuckles asked. "He cried." Tails laughed. "No I didn't! I only whined!" Sonic defended himself. "Oh so you admit that you whined?" Shadow asked smugly.

Sonic sat there glaring knowing he was caught. "I'm going on a run." Sonic said quickly. And in the blink of an eye he was out the door.

He ran to his favorite spot in the world. A green hill that had the perfect view of both sunrise and sunset.

Sonic was used to being the fastest thing alive. He hated that Shadow could dust him so effortlessly, keep up with him so well.

At the same time, he also loved it.  He loved the mischievous glint in Shadow's enchanting scarlet eyes whenever would pass him. He loved the way his muscles would contract as he ran. He even loved the heat he felt from the skates that Shadow would activate on occasion. It reminded him of the burning feeling Shadow seemed to give him.

"I knew you'd be here." Shadow said, seemingly appearing out of thin air. Sonic briefly wondered how he could have gotten here so fast but it dawned on him that he could teleport and he was excruciatingly fast. Maybe even faster than him.

"Hey cutie! When did you get here?" Sonic asked excitedly. Shadow only rolled his eyes and walked over to sit next to Sonic. "What did I tell you about this?" Shadow said with a glare that was sent Sonic's way.

"How about sexy?"

"No."

"Hotty?"

"Disgusting."

"Sweetheart?"

"I'll kill you."

"Sorry sorry" Sonic laughed, returning his attention to the setting sun. It was tranquil there.

"Although, I am curious." Shadow started, "If you had won the race, what would you have asked me for?" Shadow asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Sonic straddled Shadow's waist faster than the eye could see. He pushed Shadow back, so that his head was now touching the lush green grass. "You know very well what I would have wanted." Sonic said, looking Shadow straight in his eyes.

Shadow looked surprised for a split second but then pushed Sonic off. "This again?"  Shadow sighed. "Even if I didn't win, my offer still stands for you." Sonic said sincerely. Shadow stared at Sonic in disbelief.

Sonic searched Shadows' eyes for emotion. Love, compassion, anger even. Just Anything.

The communicator on Sonic's wrist beeped, snapping them out of their trance. Sonic clicked a button on his.  A small projection of his two tailed friends appeared. "I'm only calling you  Sonic because I saw that Shadow was near you so can you make sure that this is within ear shot? I need you both to return to Gitan headquarters for a meeting." Tails said calmly.

"Sure. Already there." Sonic answers before cutting it off. Shadow stood up and brushed himself off. "You should really give up on that." Shadow said. He activated his skates once and disappeared at the base of the hill, leaving Sonic once again alone.