Once again, as a reminder, do not make any editing or corrections to this, do not point to me of any mistakes. I will not make corrections. I`m leaving this mostly as is of what it was when Tojo and I rped this out. We both have different rp styles so expect there to be some inconsistencies in things such as apostrophes and tenses.
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Today was less busy than it was yesterday. Fewer people, fewer cars, less hustle and bustle. Shadow took Maria to the train-station, not so far away from the hotel, and then walked down a flight of stairs; they appeared in a different part of town. A small residential district, followed with a large casino, movie theatre, and a couple of restaurants.

Maria looks at Shadow,"What will we do today?"

"Anything we want." Shadow said, and being caught up in the moment, just stared off. An older gentleman scrunched his face at the sight of Shadow, and started to stumble over; when he came into view, he was wearing a moth-eaten military uniform, the distinctive silver-steel lettering "G.U.N." on his arm. 'Nnehgnn..what're you doing here, rodent.. Remember me?' His voice sounded gratey, but then again, that was a testament to his age.

Shadow stepped in front of Maria and automatically took a defensive stance, but seeing he wasn't much of a threat, just clenched his fist. "..No." The man was old enough to have been involved in the incident fifty years ago..

Maria clasps her hands over her mouth with a gasp,"GUN soldiers are still here??"

'Never left, sweet-heart..' Grinning slightly at Marias show of fear, he didn't recognize her. 'Do yerself a favor, get as far away from this..trouble maker, as possible. Ta be honest, he ain't nothin but bad news.'

Shadow refrained from attacking outright or using harsh language in front of her, just said. "Don't you have a rifle you should be polishing.." Then roughly shoved the man off, who in turn stumbled back and shook his fist at him. 'You shoulda been canned a long time ago, rat. Yeah, you good for nothin..-' Muttering as he started to walk off. "I still have a lot of enemies around..that's my only concern with you, Maria."

Maria watches the man walk off with her hands clasped worriedly to her chest,"I`m concerned, too, Shadow..."

She looks at Shadow,"Are they still hunting for you?"

"The hunt was called off a while ago..a year and a half ago, after the world was saved. The President gave me a pardon..but people still don't exactly like me." Wrapping an arm around her, he started to walk towards the station again. "How about we..go back to the ruins, or go someplace else."

Her voice still holds her concern as she walks with Shadow,"Yes, good idea."

"Don't worry, Maria..you know that I won't let anything happen to you. I promise.." Looking over to her and stating this after a time, he guided her up the stairs and towards the train; Tails could be seen stepping off, but he wasn't exactly happy to see Shadow after what happened yesterday.. Shadow just waved slightly in his direction.

Maria tries to push aside her worry, at least for in front of Tails. her worry may just make Tails even more uneasy. She gives a friendly wave to Tails,"Good morning, Tails."

'Ah, morning Maria..Shadow.' Nodding friendly-like towards Maria, then nervously towards Shadow. "Hello.." Walking by, he waved towards Maria, walking by. 'I have to go find Sonic and Amy, and..' Scratching the back of his head as he started walking off.

"All right. Bye, Tails."

Maria gives Tails another wave and turns back to Shadow.

"..I hope I don't run into any more annoying people." Shadow said quietly as he boarded the train, taking Maria to an empty train-car.

As they take their seats on the train, Maria nervously asks Shadow,"Do many of the soldiers patrol the city?"

"..Hunh?" Waking up from his moment of silence, he looked over to her. "They're just a small task-force now..they don't hold as much power as they used to..so only a few. Don't let them scare you, Maria.."

Maria looks down at the floor and at her blue shoes,"I can`t help it..."

"..I know.." His teeth grit, he looked on with anger and hatred. "..They're the bastards that killed you.. I was about to kill them all and destroy their lead-commanders..if this hadn't worked..They ruined everything.."

As he spoke, his right fist clenched, just looking out the opposite window.

Maria falls silent through the train ride. She looks around the box nervously as though she expects another soldier to make an appearance and intend harm on them. She scoots herself a little closer to Shadow.

Throughout the train-ride, Shadow in turn kept an arm around her, even invited her to lean against him as he stayed silent. He used this time to think to himself, debating things here and there. The train came to a stop about an hour after they started, and Shadow enthusiastically lifted her up, carrying her out the train.

Maria quickly wraps her arms around Shadow as she is being carried out. Several people that are around stare, finding a giant hedgehog carrying a human to be a very odd sight, and even odder to see Shadow being kind to someone.

Shadow carried her off, suddenly using his high-speed to carry her off, taking her on a ride. She could feel the rush of wind go past her, running through her hair as Shadow continued to run across the surrounding grass-land, through the mine-car tunnel, and through the forest. Leaves and grass went past them, as Shadow suddenly skidded to a halt, stopping at their "home." It was the cave they had emerged from just yesterday. "..Here we are."

Maria has found the ride fun and had instantly forgotten what was troubling her. She definitely seems like she is in higher spirits as she gives a small laugh.

Grinning towards her, he shortly after started to walk into the depths of the ruins. "I know a young girl you might want to meet..she's friendly like you are."

Maria looks at Shadow,"Who is it?"

"Her name's Cream..she has a chao named Cheese." Still walking down, it suddenly got dark; a few lights were still on driven by generators and recharge-able batteries in the basement.

Maria smiles,"Oh she has a pet chao?"

"She does..she's a little rabbit. Very sweet and kind, like you.. I didn't get to know her very well, though.." Suddenly lifting up a light from a nearby crate, he led the way, into the room she was revived within; as if dried ice were mixed in the tube, a gentle stream of cold "smoke" wafted from the sides. "..I'm not sure where we'll go to call home, though."

"I`m sure we`ll get it figured out. Getting established on Earth shouldn`t be too difficult."

Offering her a few snacks from a food crate, as well as a bottle of water, he seemed to be collecting things; currency, he started to pack in his satchel, then medical supplies into a back-pack and other supplies, including the flash-light. Setting it on his back, he started to lead her out of the ruins. "If anything ever happens, anything at all, or if you're separated from me..come straight here."

Maria nods her head as she walks with Shadow,"I understand. Th same goes for you."

"..." As if he were going to say something else, he just nodded, looking on. He walked her through the lush green forest, showing to her the great pyramid at the center of the forest, along with some of the other ruins here and there. "..Before I appeared, there was a monster..Chaos. A creature that caused this civilization to fall, centuries ago." Pointing towards the pyramid; something she'd take note of were the echidna like statues.

Getting a look at it, she sees the paintings of Chaos along the sides. Maria lifts her hand up and lets her fingertips touch the painting, though it`s chipping away from being so old and exposed to the weather. Maria then looks at Shadow,"So this was the one they made those chaos creatures from?"

"I never found out much about it..just saw pictures of the chaos creature. Sonic became famous for defeating it and saving Station square.." Now walking her around the pyramids sides, looking around at the Chaos paintings. "It was like water, with a dark and evil mind..it wanted to destroy everything."

Maria looks at Shadow,"Why did it want to destroy everything?"

"..Because of greed and lust..a thirst for power a Chieftain had.. I don't know the whole story.. I just know the legends of how this empire fell. The chaos emeralds were involved..they're like a double edged sword. I find it miraculous I could use their powers to revive you..but how they were being used just a few years ago to make that creature more powerful..Robotniks old project."

Maria finds it odd that Shadow mentions her last name,"Robotnik? My family?"

"..." Shadow straightened and stopped, nearly forgetting she did not know him. "Ah..it's not important. It's.. not really that important right now."

Maria puts a hand on Shadow`s shoulder,"You need to tell me, Shadow."

"Well..I'll-" Suddenly, she could hear an odd sound from above, Shadow starting to turn his head to look behind; both would look only to see an older man flying some sort of one-man transport. "Hellooooooo.." He called out, with a mischievous grin, leaning over the side; he took particular interest at seeing Maria, a look of surprise crossing his face.

Shadow groaned, face-palming. "Eggman..what do you want."

"Eggman?"

Maria won`t verbalize it but she finds the name to be very strange but she takes the cue from Shadow that this person`s company is undesired.

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