Chapter Text
Amy huffs as she finishes knocking the tree over with her hammer, and frowns at the broken stump left behind. She reaches up to rub at her sore wrist, looking at many trees shes felled while bitterly thinking about her lack of improvement, before hearing a sharp snap behind her. Amy quickly turns, only to see the infamous black hedgehog, she lets out a small sigh of relief. Shadow isn't the kindest around, but he's never tried to attack her, though he did seem to love poking at her until she snapped.
Amy quickly begins to pack up, poofing away her hammer and grabbing her bag. "Do you need something?" She asks, looking at the black hedgehog with slight irritation.
"Well I was going to train here," he says, "but it seems that someone has made quite a mess."
Amy let's put a short laugh, "Yeah well you can go ahead and train here all you want, I was just about to leave anyways."
Shadow tilts his head slightly, "You aren't even going to clean up after yourself?" He questions, gesturing to the wreckage around them.
Amy rolls her eyes in annoyance, "I'm sure that you're more than capable." she huffs as she begins to march past him.
Shadow crosses his arms and shakes his head in disapproval, "Making a mess and then leaving it for others to clean up? You're just as bad as Sonic."
Hearing this causes Amy to tense up and hesitate before walking forward once more, fists clenched.
Seeing this Shadow lets out a sigh "I've seen you train" he says casually, "you won't get anywhere at this rate."
Amy stops in her tracks and whirls around to face Shadow, ready to give him a piece of her mind only to stop once she sees the serious expression on his face. She decides to instead put her hands on her hips.
"And how exactly do you suggest I train then?" She asks, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Shadow stares at her for a few moments, slightly surprised that she stopped at ask before continuing. "For one I'd stop wearing those weighted bracelets." he says, gesturing to the large gold rings she wears, "How often do you even take those off?"
Amy begins to move her hands behind her back before catching herself, determined not to look weak. she crosses her arms and frowns at him "Why would I do that when they make me stronger, and why do you even wanna know in the first place?" She questions, her irritation slowly turning into curiosity.
Shadow gives her a blank look, "because they aren't helping you at all, if anything they're hurting you."
Amy frowns, "What do you mean?" She asks, unconsciously reaching up to hold one of her sore wrists.
"All that weight focused on one area isn't good for you," Shadow explains, turning to fully face Amy now that he has her complete attention. "maybe it was helpful at the beginning when you were first learning to wield your hammer, but at this point, it will do nothing but harm your joints." He hesitates a moment before asking once more, "Tell me, how often do you take those off?"
Amy looks down at the weights she keeps on her wrists, "well, never really. Even when I sleep I keep them on." she says with a shrug, "nobody had ever seemed concerned so..."
Shadow stares at her for a moment before quickly walking towards her, "That's probably because they were all idiots. Now show me your wrists." He demands as gets closer.
Amy pulls back defensively, "I'm not going to let you touch me." She snaps, suddenly remembering who she was talking to.
Shadow stops a few feet in front of her, making direct eye contact "Amy please, I promise that I only want to help."
Amy studies him for a moment, searching for any hint of deception. Eventually, she takes the final steps towards Shadow and holds out her wrists, seemingly satisfied with what she saw. Shadow carefully holds one of her hands in his and reaches to take the golden weight off of her. He glances up at her briefly, as if looking for permission, before looking down once more and finally removing the weight. Both Amy and Shadow cringe at what's beneath, almost no fur left on the raw skin, with a dark purple bruise spreading across her swollen wrist.
Shadow is quick to remove the bracelet from her other wrist, cursing quietly as Amy flinches in pain and her wrist seems to go limp.
"We need to get you to a doctor" he states immediately
"Is it that serious?" Amy asks, looking very pointedly away from her injured wrists.
"Yes," Shadow says, looking grim, "there could be nerve damage, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was also some fracturing from the constant weight."
At this Amy startles beginning to panic, "Really? You think it hurt me that much?"
Seeing this Shadow is quick to soften his features, "Amy, you'll be fine," he says, attempting to calm her, "even if there are more serious injuries, I'm positive that you'll recover. You're very strong and brave- which is something that I've always admired about you."
Amy looks up at Shadow with wide eyes, opening her mouth to speak before quickly being cut off by Shadow.
"We need to get going," he says ignoring her surprised squeal as he lifts her with ease. "I'll take you to the hospital, try to relax." he huffs. adjusting his hold before beginning to skate towards the nearest path.
Amy leans back into his arms, trying to get comfortable as her mind races.