Now smiling, the hedgehog picks up the leaf and gently pours the ashes into the hungry flame.

At first the reaction was underwhelming. Silver watched the fire cackle, and a feeble puff of smoke sputtered above the flame for a brief moment. However after the initial puff came a massive blast, which blew his spines back and drew out a stunned gasp. The thick smoke massed around the fire was a bluish grey, the very sight of it made Silver think "sickly".

Covering his mouth to protect his lungs, the hedgehog gathered himself to investigate. Apparently, the viscous smog was enough to extinguish his fire. Out of its ashes had formed a dark hedgehog, who was crumpled upon the ground. Silvers shock was more than clear, his subsequent gasp caused him to inhale a very unpleasant amount of smoke. He let out a harsh, painful cough to clear his lungs, but the smog was like glue inside of him, and every cough drew in more gas, choking him.

Silver was beginning to lose sight before feeling a slow tugging at his throat. It felt as though someone were drawing a long piece of fabric out of his esophagus and lungs through his mouth. And suddenly, he could breathe again. He took in rapid, deep breaths, making sure his lungs were clear once more.

Slowly settling, Silver looks up to see the dark hedgehog kneeled beside him. He looks weak, and sickly. An understatement; he looked as though he would drop dead at any given moment. He is mostly a dark gray, with the exception of the stripes on his spines, which were the same grey as the smog that had clogged his lungs. His muzzle is also greyish, and he simply had no mouth at all. His eyes were a dull, lifeless green that looked positively toxic.

Silvers eyes widened with overwhelming curiosity.

"y-you… were you, um, that voice? The one who told me to burn the ashes…?" Silver asked meekly.

The sickly looking hedgehogs eyes drifted slowly, looking off to the side of Silver and focusing on nothing in particular. They seemed to flicker back and forth between two blades of grass.

Silver felt greatly unsettled.

"Um, excuse me?" He frowned nervously and sat up. "Sir? Are you okay?" He waved his hand in front of the older hedgehogs face. The darker flicked his focus to Silver, piercing a hard look directly into his eyes. Silver flinched backwards and let out a small noise of a shock. He looked away nervously and mumbled. "Please don't do that…"

He frowned and thought for a moment, looking over the grey one. He took a steadying breath and held out his hand. "U-um, im Silver. Hi."

The older stared at his hand for what felt like an eternity to Silver before mirroring his action. All of his movements were jagged, slow, jerky and awkward. Even when he was still, he was still a bit shaky, occasionally letting out a small shiver. Despite this, Silver smiled, determined to be on good terms with the new being. He took the others hand in his own and shook it gently, trying not to spook him. The other hedgehog seemed mostly unresponsive, but never broke eye contact.

"I… am Mephiles…" the older hedgehog said with a heavy breath. The voice alone was enough to make Silver shudder. But at least he knew he could communicate.

Mephiles's eyes slowly drifted again landing back on the patch of grass. "Um, hey, Mephiles? Are you okay?" Silver tilted his head slightly. He moved to sit next to the other, crossing his legs and focusing on the grass also. However, there wasn't much to look at.

Frowning, Silver turned to Mephiles again. "Mephiles?" he giggled a little at the sight of the other, whose eyes were now closed. "Are you asleep?" He whispered.

After little deliberation Silver moved in front of the older hedgehog, taking his hand between his own and looking it over. It was cold and stiff. Frowning now, Silver dropped the hand and moved to his face. He prodded the others face gently, which was also cold and dead feeling. He shuddered and grimaced, then held his hand by his nose. He relaxed as he felt the other breath steadily.

Silver carefully laid the hedgehog onto his side and set to rekindling the fire.