A Shadow Of Yourself
Whisper solemnly, slowly walked over throughout an empty field, rain pouring down on her, fur soaking wet, covered in mud and dirt as she marched through mud and grass, wispon in hand. She gritted her teeth, ears twitching and shivering slightly from the cold- her cloak wasn't helping. She didn't want it to help. She wanted to break down crying. Eventually, she sat down on her knees next to Tangle, placing her hand against the icy, cold gravestone.
"I'm sorry." She muttered, choked up as tears slowly ran down her face, trying to hide them with her mask.
Her heart felt heavy, and she was carrying the weight of immense guilt wherever she went.
"I..I didn't.."
She couldn't manage to form the sentence.
She didn't want to. She shouldn't have to.
She threw her hands onto the dirt of Tangle's grave, her claws digging into it slightly. "I'm so sorry", Whisper said, her voice becoming ever so slightly louder as she started whimpering, her ears lowering as she slowly fell onto the ground, sobbing into the dirt which muffled the sound of her crying.
She wanted to scream.
The only sound that could be heard in the field was a mixture of growls, whimpers, muffled screams and tears as Whisper refused to move from the grave.
It wasn't like anybody was going to stop her.
Nobody was there. Nobody saw what happened. Nobody carried the same guilt as her.
Or, atleast, that's what she thought.
Jewel carefully walked up behind her, desperately holding an umbrella above her head as the pouring rain didn't stop for even a second.
"Whisper?..." Jewel spoke quietly, visibly concerned and anxious- and clearly uncomfortable from being in the freezing rain.
"No."
"Please- Jewel. Just...don't." Whisper mumbled hesitantly, feeling sick, tired, and guilty.
Jewel folded away her umbrella, and placed it on the ground.
"Whisper...this isn't what she'd want." Jewel replied, trying to hold back tears as she sat next to the grave, Whisper refusing to even look at her. "I know." Whisper murmured, running her claws through her hair as she cried into the dirt.
"I really know."
"But.."
Whisper could barely say a word, sniveling as she was shaking due to the cold.
"But she...wouldn't.."
Her murmurs quickly turned into screams and yelps as she threw herself upright, facing the sky and baring her teeth,
"SHE WOULDN'T HAVE WANTED TO DIE! SHE DIDN'T DESERVE TO DIE- I DIDN'T WANT HER TO DIE!-"
Then striking her head against the ground as Jewel moved backwards slightly in shock, Whisper returned to being quiet-
"It was an accident...it was an accident..."
Jewel was mortified. She never expected to see Whisper like this- she knew it'd be painful for her, but Whisper was completely broken.
"It should've been me- not her...anyone but her..."
"Whisper, don't say things like that. Please." Jewel spoke, unable to hold back her tears as she started crying silently.
The wolf took a deep breath, and slowly moved up from the ground.
"I..."
"I don't know what to do..." Whisper muttered, standing up with her wispon as her hands were uncontrollably shaking.
She was cold, distraught, and feeling *miserable*.
"You don't have to do anything." Jewel said, unfolding the umbrella again as she stood up.
"Let's...let's just go back to the museum. You need rest- you've got to be cold, standing out in the rain for so long."
Whisper quietly nodded, following Jewel as they left the grave-
They left the field, and they arrived at Spiral hill village.
They arrived at a village that for once, felt like it was missing something.
Something to bring just a little bit of extra joy to everyone's day.
Something enthusiastic, something happy that would never give up on saving someone.
Not something-
Someone. Someone brave, someone strong, someone who cares about her friends more than anything-
The village was missing Tangle.
It felt eerily cold, the only sound being that of the wind as Whisper and Jewel entered the museum, Jewel flying over to sit at her desk, sighing in relief.
The next few hours felt like minutes, time passing by swiftly as night came closing in. Whisper was given a few blankets, and slept on the floor of the museum for the night, her wisps- which she had left at the museum while she was at Tangle's grave- sat close to her, heavily concerned and worried for her. This wasn't the first time she had lost someone close to her- first the Diamond Cutters, now Tangle? Nobody knew if what she'd do next- especially after what she tried during the Metal Virus.
When she woke, it was due to the sound of Jewel scrambling to the museum door, moving her desk infront of it and trying to hide.
Whisper was shocked and completely confused- What was going on? The town was clearly under attack, but it was unusual for this amount of panic.
Then, Whisper dashed through the museum's door as she moved the desk out of the way, swinging the doors open and readying her wispon as her wisps flocked to her aid.
There wasn't many badniks.
It wasn't a major attack.
Whisper activated her hammer, and began to fight them off-
every swing, every strike as strong as she could-
She wasn't going to give mercy to anyone who even associated with Eggman.
Not anymore.
Once she had taken out the visible badniks, the town was still terrified-
If not further terrified.
She was confused,
but then quickly came to a realization.
.
.
.
Have you ever seen something so disgustingly familiar, yet unfamiliar?
Something that you've always wanted back, and never wanted to lose-
But when you see it again, it's so different- so warped- that it's merely a shadow of its former self,
and you wish you'd never have seen it come back?
Have you ever seen a friend turn into what you hope is just a sick joke.
Because that's what Whisper realized, as a cold, metallic and clawed hand grabbed her shoulder and threw her across the village, Whisper landing on the ground with a grunt, bruised and heavily injured.
She was mortified.
Her wispon was next to her, but she didn't pick it up.
She couldn't.
She couldn't fight against this- not because of it's strength,
but because of who it was.
It was terrifying.
She was completely shocked, tears streaming down her face as she only stared on in disbelief and fear-
It couldn't be her.
She was dead.
Tangle was dead.
There was no way she'd be back.
But, infront of Whisper, stood a metallic, robotized version of Tangle.
She was every so slightly different in every way-
Her tail was spiked, and ended in what could only be a cannon,
her hands were clawed and sharp enough to tear through flesh,
her chest fluff was metal, dangerous spikes,
she wore an old, spiked leather jacket,
she had no mouth- much like Metal Sonic-, and only spoke in a robotic tone, although she *could* atleast speak,
and her eyes, which once filled Whisper with so much hope and so much joy whenever she looked into them-
were completely black, save for her glowing red irises.
However, staring into Whisper's terrified eyes as her mask fell out of the way, the robot looked hesitant. The seemingly cold, unfeeling machine, was nervous. It was worried. Because Tangle was still in there, and she never wanted to hurt Whisper- but she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. "....Tangle?" Whisper asked, crying as she waited for a reply- Tangle began shaking furiously, swiping at the air with her claws- before looking up at the sky and uttering a loud, robotic screech, panicking and shaking her head-
Then she left.
Just like that, she left.
And Whisper was anything but okay.