Ruby

Chapter 1: Empathy

Hiya! For those of you who hate Shadow x Rouge and just want to bitch about how lame it is, leave this fic now. Shoo! Anyways, enjoy (or hate) the fic and point out anything I need to improve on. Perhaps I'll post an adult version at , not promising anything though… perhaps Knuckles will come into the fray, but the main focus is on Shadow and Rouge.

The bat looked up at the night sky. All the stars burned brightly within a big spaced mix of purple, blue and black, like diamonds in a tunnel. Rouge sighed. There were two things she couldn't get out of her mind, loneliness, and the fact she had nothing to do.

What? Rouge the Bat, with no work? Yes, you see, Rouge had lost jobs since the Police launched a crackdown on robberies, and Rouge helped save the Earth twice! There was also the thought that Knuckles hadn't talked to her. Rouge didn't know exactly that this thought was disturbing her, but she knew something was and she couldn't pinpoint it.

She'd came to the Sub-Urban part of Station Square and was lying down on a roof, looking at the stars. These emotions were taking her over, and all that Rouge did to suppress it, it came back worse. She'd decided to move to yet another place, every time she got the energy to fly again.

She hovered over Station Square. The city that was so great didn't seem to want her anymore. Rouge saw the sea in the distance, and decided to think at the beach since it was so quiet at this time of night. It wasn't far; and her small wings were getting quite tired. She hovered over the cliffs and stopped at the sand to sit down. To her surprise, she saw Angel Island in the distance, which had an elliptical momentum over Station Square, the sea and the Mystic Ruins.

She thought of the treasures on that island floating in the sky, jewels, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and most importantly, Knuckles… that's when it hit her. She pined after Knuckles, and her conscience couldn't take no more. She looked around, and strangely, she saw a figure over the cliffs. Could it be Sonic… no, he didn't have much to do with her… Shadow? What would Shadow want to do here?! Spying on her, seeing her hurt?!! Rouge, with a face full of rage, decided to find out. She flew up, barely by the exhaustion of her wings.

When she reached the steep cliff and saw the hedgehog, her face softened. The ebony and scarlet coloured hedgehog had a reflective drop of water running down his face. Rouge felt sympathy for him, something she usually never did, even for herself.

"Shadow…" Rouge stepped into the lunar light.

"Who's there?!" Shadow jumped, and he didn't recognise even Rouge's voice, mainly because of his alienation from people. When he saw the boot with the heart, he knew.

"What are you doing here?" Rouge asked, softly.

"I could say the same thing for you, bat girl." The hedgehog snapped back.

"No, I just meant…" The bat got blocked.

"I don't care what you meant, leave me in peace!" He snapped again.

"Shadow! Tell me why you haven't got in touch with me!" This was something that randomly came out of Rouge's mouth and she didn't expect it to be answered greatly. After all, she knew Shadow only wanted to be alone. Or so she thought…

"Perhaps you should ask that nitwit of an echidna instead!" Rouge hadn't been prepared for that. That hurt her, and she got extremely annoyed.

She slapped Shadow and promptly walked away. "Rouge… wait." Rouge, despite being close to crying, turned around.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to hurt or abuse your feelings." Another surprise. In fact, she half-expected Shadow to punch her right back.

"Why were you so upset before I came?" Rouge inquired. She knew she was testing the poor hedgehog's patience, but she had to get the answers. Slowly, she sat down beside the hedgehog.

Shadow paused, then sighed. "You know, I still remember Maria. I feel comfortable with the fact I fulfilled her wish, and I now remember her clearly again… the other thing is I don't know whether I'm a clone or not yes, I remember Maria and got over the amnesia, but I still do not feel certain, that's why I felt slightly… upset."

Rouge didn't know what to say. "Well, I suppose if you have the memories, it doesn't matter."

Shadow slightly raised his voice. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you asking all the time?"

"It's called empathy, Shadow. I'm trying to empathise with you and help you… plus, you're company." Although a manically depressed hedgehog was hardly company, it suited Rouge fine.

Shadow lifted his head up. "Empathy"… it stroke a cord within his head. Maria had taught the word to him… "…to feel someone else's feelings…"

Rouge smiled. "That's right." Her legs hunched and were clasped by her arms while Shadow sat with his legs dangling over the cliff. "I suppose you were right in a way about Knuckles…"

This time, it was Shadow's turn to be surprised. His ears pricked up, even. "How so?"

Rouge was reluctant to say, but it's not like Shadow would get a megaphone and parade it around. "He never got in touch with me afterwards… he said there was an old telephone transmitter on Angel Island that Eggman built a few years ago, but I can't seem to get in touch."

Shadow put his hand to his chin and wondered. "I did see a tourist barge go out to the area of where Angel Island was… perhaps you could try flying or climbing there via the barge."

Rouge thought about it for a second. "When does it leave?"

The hedgehog replied, "It takes midnight trips occasionally. Perhaps you could go tonight."

The bat smiled and walked forward to locate where the shipyard was. Only about half a kilometre away, at least.

She turned around. "Thanks for the company Shadow… I'm going to the shipyard now, bye."

Shadow replied, "Thank you for empathising with me, Rouge. And if you want to talk, just come here… you'll find me."

The bat smiled after turning around again. She ran and spread her wings to fly off. After finding the shipyard's entrance, she touched down. Only a few people there were waiting, but still, she thought it was peculiar that a tourist boat would set off at this time of night. Something got her feeling uncomfortable.

In the small queue, the boat finally arrived. Rouge got on, feeling slightly alienated that she was the only anthropomorphic creature on the boat. The rest were humans, two with families, three just alone. The boat started and she looked up at the sky and down to the water, thinking about how Knuckles would perceive her… how she would get onto the island and how. After working for the President, the files on Angel Island said there was a system of pipes leading up to rivers which made the water flow from the up-side down mountainous base of the island. As it approached, she got out her binoculars, and saw that this was true. She decided to climb up, go into the pipes and surface at the river/lake and find her way to Knuckles. Thank god that Angel Island was low this time of year, only about 20 metres above the sea, which height the bat could handle.

As it went straight around the floating island in the sky, Rouge leapt unto the roof of the boat. She spread her wings and with all her force flew up, unto the tip of the island. She took a rest for a minute on a cliff edge and started to climb with her needle-like fingers. Then, she heard gun-shots coming from the inside and outside of the boat, one shot she just escaped. Rouge gasped, sighed and turned away. Her presumptions about the boat were right, but she didn't want to find out what happened since her own safety was at risk, despite being a government agent. She'd have to report this to the President when she got back though… it wasn't right. With a guilty mind, Rouge continued climbing. It was exhausting, but Rouge could handle it, taking breaks on ledges every so often, and the pipe was only a few feet away. The spray of the water touched her fur, which annoyed the exhausted bat.

She gripped the edge of the pipe with all her force and lifted herself up, being careful not for the water to make her slip. She continued into the ancient waterway…

referring to Sonic Heroes.

Next Chapter: Ignorance.