The absolute pain that shot through the small family racked so many others. Silverblood, damn him to Hell, escaped with their baby. Their firstborn. Silver came over, along with Amy, to comfort the distressed couple. Sonic was having a mental breakdown while Shadow ranted incoherently, punching either the wall or kicking a piece of furniture. Alannah stood off to the side, biting her nails as she imagined what she would do to Silverblood as soon as she saw him. Her heart beat faster as her eyes narrowed.

Silver and Amy successfully calmed Sonic, Shadow proving more of a problem. Alannah noticed the struggle and propelled herself off of the wall, crashing into Shadow with a hug. Shadow froze and, slightly hesitant, slowly hugged Alannah back. The room was silent for a few seconds before the two pulled away from each other. "We need a plan. Does anyone have something in mind?" Nobody answered Shadow's question, his body deflating slightly. "We need something." He mumbled to himself. Alannah shrugged slightly. "Maybe there's something on the floating islands? You know, where you first met Alaric and Silverblood? Something may come up from there."

Shadow shook his head, horrible memories pounding in his head. "No, we can't. Alaric practically exiled me from there."

"Well, you could just sneak your way in." Silver added. Shadow nods, a small idea forming in his head, growing and growing as it developed into a plan. "Alaric's going to fucking kill me if she finds out." He mumbled before he abruptly slammed his fist into the wall, a loud click echoing throughout the room. The others jumped, Sonic the only one understanding what was happening. "Shadow, are you sure this is a good idea? After all, he did finally lose it. His mind, I mean." Shadow nods, his eyes hard with stubbornness and determination as the walls slid back and receded into the neighboring walls.

"He's been hibernating for too long, in my opinion. Besides, we need his help. Just. In. Case." The beast's eyes flash open and he stared at the group, a low growl escaping his throat, almost sounding like a sadistic laugh.

~~~~~~~

"Wow. This place is amazing." Alannah whispered, a smile of wonder on her face. Shadow smirks slightly, though his heart ached with pain. "I still remember the first day that I set foot here. So beautiful, so plentiful. Now, all I see is a grand mistake." Alannah glances at Sonic, seeing a flash of pain in his emerald eyes. She then looks at Silver who simply shrugged. The flying behemoth that they rode, Rashid, gently landed at the entrance of the cave where Shadow first woke up. The small group gets off, only to get startled by Rashid talking to Shadow in a foreign language.

Shadow responded, speaking quietly and quickly. Rashid soon nods before sitting down at the entrance and perking his ears. "What did you tell him?" Amy asked. "To keep watch. A few minutes after we leave, he'll close the gap between us, keeping a close eye out for anyone." Amy nods, glancing at the hybrid before walking over to Silver, standing close beside him. Shadow leads the way without another word, the others following closely behind. As they snuck through the beautiful farms and orchards, the memories from years ago played out in Shadow's mind.

It brought a twisted sense of nostalgia to him and he hated it. He was brought into this sick mess and now, his son has to pay the price for even being his child. Shadow hated it. The large temple came into view and Shadow whistled a bird song to Rashid. The hybrid responds back with a similar bird song, saying no danger. Shadow nods before bolting with no warning. "What the hell?" Silver mumbled, running after him with the others. Shadow skidded to a halt at the temple steps and was frozen to the spot as a blood spot made itself present by moonlight.

The red dotted trail led inside the temple and Shadow couldn't help but think of a simple lioness. "Shadow, what's wrong?" Sonic asked, laying a hand on his shoulder. His emerald eyes soon saw the blood and he understood. "Is... is she okay?" Shadow doesn't respond. He, instead, shifted into a wolf and followed the trail, his claws clicking and echoing throughout the temple as a sign of help.