Hello there! This is a series of special stories that happened in 'From the Wilderness', during the one-month wait to get to the ARK. Not sure if this is going to be a 30-chapter fanfic, but it might get close. Hope you'll enjoy the shenanigans Sonic will drag Shadow into~!

GuardianDragon98: Thank you for your prompt! It will be added, but before that chapter comes, I want to put out ideas of my own as well, kinda like an intro to the whole fanfic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog franchise or anything related to it.

MOUNTAIN VIEW

The sun hadn't even risen yet, but Sonic was already up. Truth to be told, he had already been up around four in the morning thanks to a certain insisting echidna.

With a large jaw-popping yawn, the blue hedgehog grumpily trudged all the way to the Black Arms' den. Last night, despite Shadow not caring whether Sonic camped out with them or not, the speedster decided to bunk with Tails and Knuckles. Quite a waste of time that turned out to be.

As Sonic mentioned before, Knuckles woke them both up at the ungodly hour of four in the morning, persisting that he and Tails leave for the mainland (his exact words were Angel Island) immediately. As Sonic planned to stay with Shadow (for several reasons; to map out the island for the President so that the task would finish quicker; to reassure Shadow that no, they didn't just up and leave the island for good), he got kicked out of the X-Tornado (personally by Knuckles. At least they had the decency to drop him close to the Black Arms' den, or else it would be a LONG trek).

Now, with his meager camping supplies in a drawstring bag, he was planning on crashing at the den site. Sure, he got several things planned out already, but right now, it was just TOO EARLY! Not only did he had to get up so early, he fell asleep quite late at night, too busy with a certain bucket list. Thus, he was currently running on a mere two-hour sleep and was as grumpy as heck.

'Knucklehead will pay for this...as soon as I'm awake enough to think of a good revenge prank,' Sonic thought as he barely avoided stumbling and tripping over another rock. Yawns kept on escaping him and his eyes were starting to tear up from just how sleepy he was. 'I wonder if sleepwalking is a good hobby to take up right about now. At least that way, I can sleep and walk to where I want to go at the same time... Oh great, now I'm contemplating weird things. I could use a cup of coffee or something right about now!'

Sleepy Sonic somehow managed to get to the clearing without much trouble (note that trouble meant tripping over something and injuring himself worse than he already was, or bumping too hard against tree trunks; he swore the tree wasn't there when he last looked!). Looking around in the faint light, he saw that only two Black Arms were awake, guarding the den. Too tired to be wary, he raised a hand up in a wave before trudging over to the cave entrance. Thankfully, the Black Arms recognized him and let him be, one even snorting in amusement at the sleep-veiled expression.

Sleepy Sonic thankfully found the cave entrance with no problem and didn't care for getting scratched or scrapped as he slumped inside. The cave floor was covered in Black Arms, all snoozing in content. It sparked a slight sense of jealousy and longing inside Sleepy Sonic, but he pushed it away. Soon, he would be doing the same. Just needed to find a clear spot... Heck, he wouldn't even care if he had to sleep on top of a Black Arm! As long as he got his sleep...

"Hedgehog, what are you doing here at this time of the day?"

The familiar deep voice was huskier; Shadow also wanting to sleep rather than be awake to confront the intruding hedgehog. Sleepy Sonic could only manage a hum while his mind spouted out reasons and curses at Knuckles.

"...Forget it. It's too early," Shadow groaned, too tired to make sense of whatever Sleepy Sonic was mumbling under his breath. Sleepy Sonic agreed wholeheartedly, moving closer to the black hedgehog and, without a single care in the world, slumping right against him. The warmth of the long fur was quick to lull him to sleep. He barely managed to mutter an excuse before his mind gave up the battle for sleep.

Shadow eyed the blue hedgehog, surprised by the audacity. He must be quite tired that he actually just stood there, thinking over the situation for five seconds before even thinking of moving the hedgehog off him. But once he managed to regain control over his mind, he picked up the hedgehog from under his arms and trudged back to his sleeping spot. Once he reached the bedding, he unceremoniously dropped Sonic before moving further away to curl up and head back to sleep.

Hours later

A particularly bright shaft of sunlight was what woke Sonic up. Groaning grumpily, he turned away from the sun, still too sleepy to think of getting up. For a minute or two, he seemed to be heading right back to dreamland. Unfortunately, the journey there was promptly interrupted by a hard nudge against his side.

Sonic swatted away whatever it was that interrupted his much-needed sleep. It did little to deter the Black Arm though, and a harder nudge was his reward. Sonic groaned louder, almost borderline whining at this point. "Sleep! I need sleep!" he nearly wailed, curling up into a ball. Usually, he would have the state of mind to harden his quills and stick them out so that the other couldn't nudge him again, but his quills mirrored their owner's tiredness, merely flopping back down.

There was a loud growl right next to his ear and Sonic yelped, whirling around, eyes snapping open and glaring openly (pleadingly) at the Black Arm. He recognized the amber spirals decorating her legs and groaned, "Amber-Spiral, just let me sleep!"

Amber-Spiral shook her head. She growled again and nudged Sonic insistently. The blue hedgehog was just as stubborn though, curling back into a tight ball and making sure to press his ears to his head. He closed his eyes again and pointedly ignore all the nudging and growling he was receiving for his efforts.

It went on for nearly ten minutes before the nudges stopped. Sonic nearly cried in relief. He was getting his sleep...!

The bedding below him disappeared as he was lifted up.

...or not.

Sonic uncurled from his ball, nearly falling down as his action caused whoever was carrying him to lose their balance. The blue hedgehog couldn't care about it; he would even be glad if he were dropped back onto the bedding. But to his dismay, the arms merely shifted, now holding him up from under his arms and dangling him. "Hedgehog, you will wake up this instant."

"Shadow! Don't wanna!" Sonic growled, glaring grumpily at the unimpressed hedgehog.

"It is already noon," Shadow argued back.

"Don't care. Just drop me back down. I'll sleep on the stone floor if I have to!"

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Hedgehog...don't make me wake you up," he warned.

Usually, Sonic would be smart enough to know that Shadow carried out his threats (there was just something about the black hedgehog that screamed 'when I make threats, I plan on carrying them out'). Unfortunately, his common sense was still tired, thus all the cocky hedgehog did was retort, "Make me."

It would be something he regretted for the entire day.

The cave nearly echoed with Sonic's scream of shock and fear as Shadow dropped him...right into the small pool in the second section of the cave. Thankfully, the pool wasn't that deep, only up to Sonic's waist, but it scared the heck out of the blue hedgehog, startling the sleep right out of him. He tripped over his feet in his haste to get out of the pool and trembled from the cold water and fear-induced adrenaline, resting on all fours to regain his composure.

"Awake yet?"

"..." Sonic couldn't even muster up the words. A mixture of anger, fear, indignation and more swirled in his chest. Once he caught himself, he gave Shadow a pointed glare. "You might want to watch your back Shadow," he warned lowly. "Who knows if something might happen."

"You dare challenge me?" A dangerous smirk stretched across tan lips. "Would you like to take another dip to cool off?"

Sonic couldn't choose a response between anger and indignation. He merely growled quietly as he got up to his feet. With the air of a wounded pride, he shook off the water on his legs, dusted his fur and strode past the amused Shadow with his nose pointed up. Making a bee-line for his bag, he pulled out some rations and chewed on them moodily to satisfy himself and his hunger.

Amber-Spiral took the chance to plop herself next to the moody hedgehog, snorting in mirth at Sonic's situation. "If you're here to laugh at me, please leave," Sonic grumbled. Amber-Spiral just gave him a look before nudging Sonic again. The blue hedgehog groaned and flopped against Amber-Spiral, fruitlessly pushing his body against hers. "Can't a hedgehog get any sleep?" he muttered, both to himself and Amber-Spiral. "I mean, I only got TWO hours of sleep! A hedgehog needs seven hours to be fully-capable at the very least!"

Amber-Spiral rolled her eyes at the drama-queen undertone in Sonic's words. She pushed back, as if telling him to 'suck it up and deal with it'.

"You're not helping."

Another snort and Sonic gave up, resigning himself to finishing his lunch.

Much later, Sonic was in a better mood, enough to relax and remember the bucket list he planned last night. With just slightly-less enthusiasm than when he first made it (being waken up THAT rudely by the mobian the list was for did that to you), he took it out and glanced at the first item of the day.

'Exploration'

'I'll need to ask Shadow if he knows any good spot,' Sonic thought as he placed the list back inside the bag. 'Maybe a high spot, someplace I can get a good look at the whole island and scope out the place.' With that decided, he got up to find the black hedgehog.

Heading outside, he came to the clearing that was surprisingly missing a lot of Black Arms. In fact, the only Black Arms he noticed were all back inside the cave and - by the groups of pups playing around them - parents. 'Where is everyone? And where is Shadow?'

A huff blew right past his ear and Sonic whirled around, relaxing when he recognized Red-Tail. "Red-Tail? Where is everyone?"

The Black Arm nudged one of the bones littering the clearing and made a pantomime of biting and chewing something. "...Eating?" Red-Tail shook his head and nudged the bones again, before crouching down and stalking at an unseen prey. "Wait, you mean...bare bones, so no more food?" A nod. "The stalking... you mean they're out hunting?" Another nod. "Alright then... what about Shadow? Is he out hunting too?" A shake. "So what's he doing?"

Red-Tail immediately issued a pose that looked too much entirely like brooding and Sonic burst into laughter, immediately realizing what Red-Tail was implying. "So, sulking somewhere, eh? Can you take me to him? I have something that will keep him busy for a while and get him to do something other than *pft* brooding."

The bright red tail swished in approval at Sonic's words. Red-Tail stood up, but before he left, he turned towards the den's entrance and barked. A high-pitched croon was the reply as Amber-Spiral stuck her head out. The two Black Arms exchanged a conversation before Amber-Spiral came out, taking a seat on one of the large rocks and keeping watch over the clearing. Red-Tail nodded and turned back to Sonic. He gestured towards the jungle with his head and Sonic took the cue, following the Black Arm.

Red-Tail led Sonic through the jungle, taking him to the west. Instead of following the mountain range though, he followed a stream. Its banks were lined with smooth weathered stones, a border between the water and the rest of the jungle. The stream snaked across the island, taking them northwest.

As they reached a wider part of the stream, Red-Tail stopped. Sonic paused as well and the Black Arm chuffed, gesturing with his head towards a black figure sitting on the other side of the stream. It was Shadow, and Sonic couldn't help but be amused when he saw that pose Red-Tail showed him was an exact copy of Shadow's.

"Shadow," Red-Tail called out, drawing his leader's attention. Garnet eyes looked up from their far-off gaze and noticed the Black Arm and the blue hedgehog standing on the other side of the stream.

"Red-Tail. Hedgehog," Shadow acknowledged the two, though by the frown on his face, he didn't seem pleased that the two of them were here, interrupting his alone time. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I kinda need your help," Sonic replied with a friendlier expression in hopes that Shadow would be more cooperative in doing so. "As you're the one who knows the island more than I do, I was hoping you could show me around?"

"..."

"With your help, we can map out the island faster and leave sooner."

Those seemed to be the magic words as Shadow stood up. With a powerful jump, he leapt over the stream, easily reaching the other bank. Sonic inwardly smirked as Shadow looked over impatiently. "Where do you want to start?"

"Someplace high, so that I can get a good overview of the island," Sonic replied while Red-Tail took the chance to head back to the den, leaving the two to themselves. "Know a good spot?"

Shadow snorted. "Of course I do. Or haven't you realize the den is situated inside one of the highest spots on the island?" he asked dryly before heading towards the mountain range without waiting for Sonic to reply.

The blue hedgehog spluttered at Shadow's words and whirled around to catch up. "I know that!" he protested. "I just didn't think you would suggest climbing up the mountain range itself."

"Who said anything about climbing?"

"...I see what you meant by not climbing," Sonic commented as Shadow led him up a mountain path that meandered and wandered off-course more often than not. "But don't you think climbing up would be faster than this?"

"And risk causing an avalanche?" Shadow retorted as they made the umpteenth turn. "This path takes a long time to travel, but it is the safest."

Sonic sighed. In a way, Shadow was right, but the blue hedgehog could have just ran up the mountain range. At the speeds he could achieve, avalanches would be the last thing he worried about (he would be more concerned about the ground falling under his feet, but then again, he was fast; he would be on stable ground before the rocks under his feet even started collapsing).

But he had his own reasons. Other than just scouting out the island and having someone with more knowledge about it, all of this was also to distract Shadow. He sounded so depressed about waiting for one more month when the answers he sought were so close that Sonic didn't have the heart to make him wait that long.

Heck, if he were in Shadow's shoes (even though the shoes the black hedgehog was wearing were his), he would have been driven up the wall from having to wait that long!

'Still, maybe I should have offered to carry Shadow and just run up the mountain...nah, he probably would punch me in the face if I even suggest I carry him like that,' Sonic thought, half-amused. 'Hopefully, we'll get up the mountain range sometime today. The sun's going to set soon at this rate...'

"Wow..." Sonic whispered in awe as they finally reached the top of the mountain. By then, the sun was setting, casting everything in a reddish-gold glow. From their position, they could see the entire northern side of the island.

The jungle stretched out below them, a carpet of green divided from the ocean by a streak of white sand. The waters glittered like a multi-faceted gem, and mirroring the ocean, above the horizon, was a golden cloudy sky swathed in soft shades of pink, purple and red, like a molten ocean of colors itself. "What a view..."

Shadow silently shared his sentiments, staring out with softer eyes. He took in a deep breath of the thinner colder air and frowned when he noticed a familiar scent carried by the strong winds. Turning to the east, his frown deepened when he noticed the darker shades of the incoming clouds. "Hedgehog, are you done?" he asked in a wary and urgent tone.

"Just a minute," Sonic replied as he dug into his rucksack and pulled out a camera to take pictures so that Tails could record the northern side of the island. Sure, they would still have to explore the entire thing on foot to map out other features that couldn't be seen from up here, but at least with this, they could get a general shape and size of the island.

Shadow couldn't find it in himself to be interested in the device, too occupied by the fact that a storm was literally brewing on the horizon. He frowned at the blue hedgehog, growling, "That minute better be quick. There's a storm coming in and I don't want to be stuck in it when it arrives."

"A storm?" Sonic perked up at that. He turned towards the direction Shadow was staring at and also noticed how close the dark clouds were. 'It'll be upon us soon if it moves that quickly,' Sonic thought with a frown as he put away his camera. There were plenty of opportunities later in the future to take more pictures; right now, he needed to warn Tails about the storm and get back to the Black Arms' den. "Alright, let's get back."

Shadow nodded, feeling a sense of relief at Sonic's decision. He turned to head back down, but instead of using the path they took to get up here, he chose a different path. "We'll have to take another path if we want to get down quicker. It's on the other side of the mountain range, but we can still get back to the den if we take the tunnels under the range," he explained when the blue hedgehog wasn't following. "Now get moving."

Sonic didn't need to be told twice as he followed Shadow. The path was steeper, but it seemed to lead fairly straightforward, unlike the previous path where they had to take so many turns and detours just to get to the top. As they journeyed down, the blue hedgehog took out his communicator and called Tails. "Tails, you there?"

"Yeah Sonic. What's up?"

"Shadow said there's going to be a storm coming in tonight." Sonic didn't need to see Tails' face to know that it paled at his words. "Be careful when you come back to the island. Heck, just come back after the storm's over. I'll call you then. OK?" Sonic took another glance at the clouds and winced at their near-black color. The approaching night wasn't helping either. "It looks like it's going to be a rough night."

"Will do. Be careful Sonic. See you tomorrow."

"See you Tails." With that, Sonic ended the call and jogged slightly to catch up to Shadow. The path was starting to meander slightly, taking them close to a large waterfall. The sky was darkening rapidly at this rate and Sonic could hear thunder rumbling louder. "Shadow, how far do we have left to go?"

"There's still some distance left," came the gruff reply. Shadow could feel the approaching storm. The wind was whistling louder, nearly reaching a howl, and lightning made its appearance. The storm was almost upon them; rain was coming soon, and they didn't want to be caught in the downpour, in the middle of the night, with visibility so low, on top of a mountain range where it was all to easy to slip and fall with a missed step.

The two hedgehogs quickened their pace. The first raindrops were starting to fall and Sonic debated running down the mountain. With his speed, he could easily reach the bottom quickly and he was sure he could carry Shadow, despite the hedgehog's larger size. Sure, he dismissed the idea earlier when they were getting up, but now, he thought the situation called for desperate measures. "Hey, Shadow, I think we should-."

His sentence got caught off by a roll of thunder as rain started falling, quickly escalating into a sheer downpour. Sonic and Shadow winced as the rain hindered their vision. Shadow was lucky; he had at least some sort of night vision, but Sonic couldn't see a thing in the dark. With the rain constantly getting into his eyes and blocking his sight, he was almost walking entirely blind. "Shadow?!" he shouted, his voice almost lost within the roar of the rain storm.

"Down here!"

"Where? I can't see a thing in this ra-." Sonic yelped when his foot slipped. The rainwater had made the rocks slippery, and with how steep the path was, he couldn't get a footing. He tripped...

Falling right into the waterfall that was next to the path.

And that's it! I am leaving you guys on that near-literal cliffhanger.

So, what do you think? What's going to happen to Sonic? Blue speedy hedgehogs don't mix with water, so hopefully he comes out alright. See you guys in the next chapter, and if you want, add a prompt of your own too! What kind of adventure, moment or situation do you want to see the characters in?