Chapter 2: Suspicion
"Andrea, wake up, you need to eat something," Sonic says, shaking Andrea softly.
"Huh?"Andrea moans, slowly opening her eyes. "Ugh," she squeaks, her strained, reddened eyes squinting unwillingly, reluctant to remain visible. She closes her eyes once more for a moment, rubbing them slightly with her better hand, since the other bore more gashes. After a minute, she again attempts to open her eyes, blinking them repeatedly; she peers at Sonic, who still looms over her, waiting patiently for her response. Confusion passes over her quickly before she replies, "Oh, okay." Andrea sluggishly rises. She nearly falls, but Sonic catches her before she impacts the ground. "Thanks," Andrea leans on Sonic for support as they hobble into the dining room.
"Sit down over here," Shadow directs as he points to an empty chair across from him. Andrea slides into her chair along with everyone else.
"So, Amy, what's for dinner tonight?" Tails asks nervously.
"Pizza," Amy declares happily, "It was delivered about five minutes ago. I didn't feel like cooking today."
Sonic and Tails sigh in relief.
Amy serves everyone two slices of pizza and then joins them at the table with her own plate.
After they finish, all of them take a seat in the living room.
"So, Andrea, where are you from? Are there a lot of other lemurs there? I've hardly seen any of your kind around here. And I've definitely never seen a green lemur like you," Sonic questions.
"Where am I from? I... um... come from... uh... a place you've probably never heard of, so it wouldn't really help to say. There are other lemurs, but only my family line are green like this. I don't really know why," Andrea answers nervously.
"Well, okay then. How old are you?"
"I just turned 18 last month – March."
"Hm... okay. What were you doing in the woods like that? Did something happen?" Sonic asks carefully.
"What's with all the questions?!" Andrea shouts, feeling uneasy and irritated.
"Sorry! I thought you wouldn't mind me asking. If you told the others and I, we could help you get back home," Sonic insists.
"It's okay, I'll get home by myself," Andrea responds flatly. I can't go home. I can never go home after what happened. I have to make sure these new friends of mine never find out what had happened. They can't get involved, she thinks to herself.
"Well if you're sure," Tails murmurs, interrupting Andrea's thoughts.
Amy stares at Andrea for a minute; she decides to ask, "How did you manage to get so cut up?"
Andrea's eyes widen and she jerks her head down, staring into her lap, "Well, um, I guess I've never been a very careful person. Of course, too, being so tired and all, I tripped a lot over the tree roots..." she lies, speaking almost too fast to understand "...and I guess falling into the thorn bushes, which seem to populate the majority of those woods, caused most..."
"I see..." Amy replies, quizzically.
Andrea peeks up to find Shadow staring at her. She focuses on him and grumbles quietly, "What?"
Andrea surprises Shadow, whose face stretches back in minor shock, "Huh?! Oh, nothing. Just thinking. I just happened to be looking at you."
"Oh, well, okay," Andrea mutters, not believing him in even the least.
"Hey, I have an idea. Lets go to Angel Island to visit Knuckles. We'll stop and get Rouge on the way." Amy suggests. "We can introduce Andrea to them, if it's alright with her."
Everyone turns to Andrea. "I guess, sure," she says a little nervously.
"Let's get moving, then," Shadow states, glad to get out of his uncomfortable position.
Great, Andrea thinks to herself, more acquaintances I have to lie to. Lying sucks.
---------------------------------------------------
Sonic walks up to the pink and black house and knocks on the door.
"Come in!" shouts the familiar voice of Rouge.
Everyone steps into the well designed house. The elegant entrance room flows into the living room, decorated with pink and white polka dot wallpaper and white carpeting. A large black cabinet, holding a tv rests against the side wall, with a black leather sofa lounged in front of it. A petite glass coffee table, holding a vase of faux flowers and some kind of jewels magazine, rests between the cabinet and the couch. Tall, white lamps linger on each side of the sofa, illuminating the room. Jewels and small chests furbish the room along the walls as well as some small end tables and desks. Rouge emerges from a walk-through doorway, which appears to lead into a tan kitchen.
"Wow!" Amy says, dazzled, "Your house is wonderful!"
"Well of course it is!" Rouge regards, "And who is this?"
"I'm Andrea the Lemur. Your friends helped me heal the bad wounds I got from losing myself in the woods."
"Oh you poor dear," Rouge remarks in a subtly sarcastic tone. "So what are you all doing here?"
"We came to see if you wanted to come up to Angel Island with us and introduce Andrea to Knuckles also," Sonic explains
Rouge studies the oddly-colored lemur, "Sure, why not? I haven't seen that echidna creep in a while."
"Come on. We can go in the Tornado," Tails insists.
"Okay! Lets go!" Sonic beams.
Tails leads everyone to his creation and begins situating the others in, "It's going to be tight, since there's so many of us, but just try to hold on!"
"I'll ride on the wing, Tails, so there's more room!"
Tails nods and climbs in himself once Shadow, Rouge, and Andrea settle in. He then fires the engine and takes off.
The floating island soon draws closer, becoming more and more visible and distinct. "Here we are. Angel Island!" Sonic shouts.
Andrea's jaw drops, "This is Angel Island? It's so beautiful!"
"Yes, this is Angel Island. It is pretty isn't it. The first time I saw it, I felt like I was in heaven. Maybe that's one reason it's called Angel Island," Amy comments.
"Well, it makes sense," Andrea agrees, still gawking over the island.
"Yeah..." Shadow mumbles.
"Hold on tight! We're gonna land!" Tails warns everyone. Everyone grabs hold of their seat as the machine sinks towards the lush green carpeting below.
Knuckles walks toward the plane, "Hello! What a surprise. What are you guys doing–" Knuckles spots Andrea, "Who is she?"
"This is Andrea," Rouge turns to Andrea, "Andrea, this is Knuckles. He's a creep, so don't get too close."
"Um...hello, Knuckles," Andrea murmurs.
"Shut up Rouge," he snarls, glaring at her briefly before looking back to Andrea, "Hello. I think you'll enjoy Angel Island. It's a rather nice place," Knuckles says a little uneasily. There's something about her that seems different. What's with her fur? I've never seen her species around here. I don't like it, Knuckles thinks to himself, Well, I'll have to hope it's just my imagination.
They show Andrea around Angel Island, Knuckles acting as the tour guide. The last place they visit is Knuckles's shrine.
"This is my shrine. I keep the chaos emeralds and the master emerald here. I try my best to keep them safe. Once in a long while someone might grab an emerald, but they don't have it for long," he momentarily glares at Rouge, who grins and shrugs in response. "They never do because I get to them before they can use it," Knuckles gloats to Andrea.
"You must care about the emeralds a lot," Andrea states.
"Yes, I do. It's my duty to protect them. They could put everyone in danger if stolen. Plus, if the master emerald was taken from here, Angel Island will slowly fall and sink into the sea. The master emerald is what keeps this island floating," Knuckles dictates, appearing as serious as ever.
"Wow... they're that powerful?" Andrea gawks, her violet eyes glowing with interest.
"Yes, incredibly powerful. Too powerful for someone who doesn't know how to use them. I have to protect them from those who wish to steal it. If they were to fall into the wrong hands, our planet and everyone on it will be in danger," Knuckles affirms, feeling very uncomfortable telling these things to this outsider, especially when it's someone that he does not trust.
"Wow..." Andrea replies in awe. I wonder how powerful I could be if I got a hold of those emeralds. Maybe I could finish the job. And then no one could hurt me for what I did. No one could hurt me... Andrea thinks. But what if they catch me? They would not help me anymore. Although, what would be worse is if I were their friend, and then they find out about my past... no. I cannot think of the worst. I must think ahead before it's too late. I need to leave them as quickly as possible.
"Andrea?" Shadow says, interrupting her thoughts.
"Huh? What?"
"Sorry, you were just standing there, not moving or blinking. I thought something was wrong."
"Oh, no. Nothing's wrong. I was just daydreaming," Andrea smiles, trying not to sound nervous.
"About what?" Knuckles asks suspiciously.
"Oh, well, nothing really. It was just, like, blank, you know what I mean?" Andrea tries her hardest not to give the slightest hint of her nervousness.
Sure Andrea, sure, Knuckles thinks. Just you wait. I'll find out what you're hiding from us. I know you're hiding something. This something also better not have anything to do with the emeralds either.
"Why don't we take Andrea somewhere now? How about we go and get some ice cream?" Tails asks out of the blue.
"Sure, why not..." Shadow concurs.
"Yeah!" Sonic shouts.
"Alright!" Amy yells.
"Okay, I guess." Knuckles says.
"Okay, sure!" Rouge chuckles.
"Um... alright, I guess..." Andrea mumbles, relieved.
They take the Tornado into the village to buy ice cream. They go to a small ice cream shop in the village.
"Here's your change," the cashier says, holding out a few bills to Sonic.
"Thank you sir," Sonic replies as he puts the change away and hands everyone their ice cream.
"Yummy! This is delicious!" Amy declares; everyone nods in agreement, all except Andrea who slowly licks her ice cream.
"What's wrong Andrea? You don't like ice cream?" Rouge laughs.
"What? Oh, well, I think ice cream's okay. I'm just not in the mood right now..."
"Well, what's wrong?" Knuckles asks suspiciously.
"I guess I'm still a little weak and tired. Maybe we should head back to Sonic's house, if that's okay? It is okay right? I'm not imposing am I?"
"No, no, it's fine, really. I already have those two–" he motions to Tails and Amy, who both tilt their head in confusion "–who I can manage to live with all the time. It's okay to add one more for a few days." Sonic stands and tosses the paper towel previously wrapped around the ice cream cone, "Alright. Lets go. Andrea, you can get some rest," Sonic says, walking towards his house. Andrea nods gratefully. Her and the others follow behind the blue director.
When they return, Sonic leads Andrea and Shadow to a room that they can sleep in, "Here we are. Good thing this room's big enough for two." Inside the room, two beds sit with a long dresser in between them against the wall. A wall lamp hangs above the dresser. The drawn shades cover the window, with dim light peeking through. The solid, burgundy walls appear darker without the bright radiance of light. Andrea feels the soft carpet brush against her feet as she walks in. Sonic flicks on the lamp poised comfortably next to the door.
"Looks cozy," Shadow comments quietly as he plops onto one of the beds.
"Yes... cozy," Andrea sits on the other bed and lies down.
"The rest of us will go to sleep now. Goodnight!" Sonic says. Before leaving, he switches on the wall lamp to its first setting, a dim glow. He flicks the standing lamp off on his way out; he heads to his own room.
Soon all the lights, except Andrea's and Shadow's dim glow, are off.
"So, what's really the matter. I don't believe it's because you're tired," Shadow pries, turning to Andrea.
"Well, I don't know. I just... I don't think Knuckles likes me very much... that's one thing, and... um... never mind..."
"What? What were you going to say? Tell me."
"I said never mind!"
"Fine, fine. Whatever." Shadow lies down, facing away from Andrea. Doesn't make much of a difference to me regardless of whether or not she says anything, he sulks stubbornly.
Soon both Shadow and Andrea fall asleep, along with everyone else, unaware of strange upcoming events.