Sonic and the others stared at the black and red hedgehog. They were waiting for his answer. But it seemed that those staring eyes were burning holes in Shadow's body. What should he do? What is Sonic talking about? The hedgehog's mind raced, searching for an answer. He promised to not tell a soul. And now he was in the situation he dreaded the most. How to get out? How to get out!? He really needed to get out of this and fast!

"W-what rumor?"

Shadow hoped that playing dumb would get those eyes off him. As well as get them to drop the question. Oh how he was silently praying for a miracle to happen. Sonic placed his hands on his hips and gave Shadow a questioning look.

"You don't know?"

It was Amy. She was staring at shadow in confusion. Did Shadow live under a rock? How did he not know about the rumor going around? The said hedgehog shook his head. He pretended to not know what rumor they were talking about. But he indeed knew.

"There's a rumor about you being with someone. Many have said that they've seen someone near your shack. A few say that they've seen you and this person together."

Shadow stared at Sonic as he realized what the blue hedgehog's words meant. He was careful enough. Even though he bought this rundown shack out in the woods and fixed it up, he still wasn't careful enough. Shadow could feel the small beads of sweat on the back of his neck. A shiver ran up his spin as he continually thought to himself, 'Don't lose your cool now'. He can't show any signs that he knows.

The sudden sound of something clashing against the side of the shack startled the group. Shadow's heart was pounding in his chest and so were the others. What was that? What is going on? Sonic and tails were heading to the door of the shack. Shadow and the rest followed. Once all were outside, they begun to search for the source of the sound.

"I found something."

It was sticks, who discovered the source of the sound. On the right side of the shack, which faces the direction of the village, there was a broken piece of pottery. Why was it there? How did it get here? And who threw it? These questions were on the minds of all. Shadow kneeled down and took a better look at the broken pottery. He realized that the shattered pieces were once a cup with a dark blue rose on it. The broken cup looked familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Carefully picking up a piece of the pottery he started at the small sliver of the the rose that was printed on it.

"Who would break a piece of pottery? And all the way out here?"

Shadow heard Tails, but the broken cup seemed to the hedgehog in a trance. Where did he see this before? Why can't he remember? Shadow had a gut feeling that the cup was important to him, like he knew it's purpose and that it being here in this state wasn't good. But, why can't he remember?! Why is his mind drawing a blank!

The sensation of a hand on the hedgehog's shoulder caused Shadow to jitter and then stiffen. The sudden movement for the hedgehog, caused him to grip the shard tightly. The piece cut through his gloves and into his skin. He felt the small sting of the cuts, but didn't show the emotion of slight pain on his face. Shadow got to his feet and turned to see who placed the hand on his shoulder. Ruby red started into blue. Sticks had withdrawn her hand when Shadow jittered. Now both stood and stared intently at each other.

"Sticks. Shadow. Hello Earth to you two."

Shadow turned his attention to the blue hedgehog that called his and the badger's name. Shadow's expression must of worried Sonic because he walked over and had a face full of worry.

"Hey, you ok Shadow? You seem off."

Sonic said. The other male hedgehog shook his head and turned to his normal grumpy expression. Shadow crossed his arms and was annoyed. First he was woken up by a loud wild badger, had to play a game, and now was dealing with broken pottery with a piece cutting into his hand. He wasn't having a good day. Sonic seemed to noticed something with Shadow's hand. The blue blur begun to open his mouth.

"I'm fine. Just very annoyed."

Shadow cut Sonic off and gave a grunt. Sonic sighed and dropped what he was going to ask. Shadow did look annoyed and the blue hedgehog didn't want to anger him more.

"So, the team and I are going back to the village. We'll search around the area to see if we can find who broke the pottery and we'll be asking around the village too."

Sonic told Shadow and Sticks what the plan was. Since both weren't listening, them need a quick briefing. Shadow nodded in understanding and Sticks followed her group mates as them head to the village.

Shadow stood where he was and watched the group fad into the woods and out of earshot. The hedgehog felt a soft pressure on his shoulder. He gently placed his hand, the one without the piece of the broken cup, on the one upon his shoulder. He sighed and shook his head in a rough and distressed manor.

"We weren't careful enough."

Sonic and the others looked around the area as they headed back to the village. Them don't know who broke the pottery, but this person could still be near by. But, they when they entered the village and had not found anyone in their search, they were at a loss. They walked around the village, asking if anyone had exited the woods.

All returned to Sonic's shack and reported what they have learned or found. In short, one one in the village had heard or seen anyone enter or exit the woods. So, the team was back to square one.

"I noticed that Shadow was staring at a piece of pottery."

Knuckles said as he and the other's sat. sonic nodded his head and placed his hand under his chin. He was thinking. He had noticed Shadow's behavior as well. The black and red hedgehog was staring at the broken pottery like he knew what it was or was trying to remember something about it. The others nodded as well.

"I wonder why he was staring at it so hard. What do you think Sticks?...um…...Sticks? Where is she?"

Sonic now noticed that not everyone was here. Sticks was missing. He and the others looked around the of shack, both inside and out. But, they couldn't find her.

"Huh? Where is she?"

Sonic scratched the back on his head. He was perplexed, but Sticks was wild since birth. So, did she find something, forgot to tell them and run after it? That is something Sticks would do.

Shadow sat on the land chair and faced the ocean. He really likes the view he has of the ocean. And his shack faces the ocean, so he has a view that pleases and when the ocean breeze is nice to have. Shadow had cleaned the small cuts the piece of the broken cup had given him. They weren't deep and were covered by simple bands. Shadow had tossed the pieces of the cup and his glove in the trash. He then pulled a new glove on and now was sitting in the land chair with a glass of water.

"Haven't played with a ball in a while?"

Shadow murmured to himself was a soft chuckle left his lips. He was enjoying the sight in front of him. It's been awhile since he've seen her play like a little girl. Though, Shadow knows that he only meet her last year, he has noticed that she was very quiet and had an off putting feeling around her. But, it's time like this that Shadow forgets how they met and sees a little playful side of her.

"I knew something was up. So this is why you haven't been in the village recently."

The voice was low, behind him and female. With a another startled jitter and almost dropping his cup, Shadow turned around and saw Sticks. He wasn't expecting anyone from Sonic's team to be here. Wouldn't they be at the village by now. Did she stay back? Why? And how did she know?

"Care to explain, hedgehog?"

The badger asks as she turns her attention to behind him. Shadow quickly turned his head behind him and saw that she was still playing. She hasn't noticed. Good, this means that if he's quick then he can get Sticks out of here and she wouldn't know! but , one thing he had to be was make sure the badger didn't tell anyone.

"I'll talk, but you have to keep it a secret."

Shadow growled low so the one playing wouldn't hear. Sticks could tell by the look in shadow's eyes that he was very serious. And she was as well. So, with a nod from the badger, Shadow relaxed a little. He knew that he had the badger's corporation and thought of where to start. The soft bounce of the ball help calm him down, but he still held his serious expression.

"I met her a year ago."

Shadow said as he stared at Sticks. She nodded, a sign for him to continue. He sighed, in all honestly he didn't want to tell anyone about her. Like he had said, he's only meet her last year and didn't know much about her.

"I don't know much about her, but like I know that she doesn't like to talk much and she's a bit anti-social or as you may say, she doesn't like being around people."

Shadow waited for Sticks to understand what he had said, before continuing. Just in case the badger had a question on what he said. When he saw the she didn't have any, he continued.

"She's not from this island, but she hasn't told which one she's from. So, don't even try to ask me. I've noticed that she has these episodes, like she'll stare at something then look like she's off in space. All most like she's in her own world and has forgotten about reality. These episodes happened a quite a bit last year. And pulling her out of them isn't easy, I've had to drag her back to reality. I normally do that by pulling her in the opposite direction that she's in."

Shadow stopped and let Sticks absorb the information he's given her thus far. He noticed that the badger's eyes were wide. And that's when he noticed it, the ball. He didn't hear the ball bouncing and the small sounds. Did the ball bounce off and she went after it? But, that wouldn't explain the badger's expression though. So what is it? Then a shiver ran up the hedgehog's spin and he felt his stomach drop. With a bit a shaking and an expression that showed he was in for a big issue, Shadow slowly turned his head around.

"Well then, quite a situation we have here. Isn't it, Shadow."