I'm finished with my other story, so hopefully I can update this a lot more. Hopefully, since school is starting in a couple weeks and it's my senior year... college planning. Yay. :/

Dave the Gay, Christian Wolf27, sonamyfan21, arianahewitt, Sara lovelymusic, WorldOfSpeed, thanks for the reviews!

I own Amara and this story. Sega or Archie own the other characters.

Chapter 7

Amy's P.O.V.

"Alright ladies, I am the one that will help you get ready for tonight. Kreed is the one to help the rest of you, gentlemen." Tikal walks up to us with a smile. Since we ate lunch, we've been exploring the huts and socializing with the echidnas within them. Even though they won't help me and Amara, I can't help but to find these people and their village to be amazing. It's so peaceful and beautiful here.

"Lead the way then." Rouge coldly says to Tikal. Amara managed to get Shadow to explain to the both of us why Umdir and Knuckles' relationship is the way that it is. I find it sad; I think they both are right and wrong. Umdir has an important job that needs complete dedication, but it is also not the right job for a father.

Her smile turning into a small frown, Tikal nods her head and leads us girls to a hut close to the riverbank. Inside are heaps of women's clothing made by the women of the tribe.

"Pick what you like, and I will make sure it fits you. Also, think of a symbol that has a special meaning to you to be painted on your cheek. Do not worry about shoes, for we will be going barefoot." Tikal gestures to the clothes. We begin to search through the shirts, skirts, and dresses, looking for anything that appeals to us.

"Rouge?" Tikal clasps her hands in front of her as she addresses the white bat. Rouge arches an eyebrow, but doesn't answer. "I never meant to hurt Knuckles. He is my brother. I love him dearly, but I love my father too. Do you have any idea how hard it is to have both wanting you to pick one of their sides? I knew Father would not be pleased knowing I was actually visiting Knuckles rather than exploring the world to satisfy my curiosity like I had claimed. I just want them to forget their differences and be a family again. I know that is what Mother would have wanted." Tikal's blue eyes begin to water. Rouge stays silent for a few moments, continuing her search, before releasing sigh and finally looking at the orange echidna.

"You're fine honey. It's not your fault those two are like that. You can tell where Knuckles gets his stubbornness from." Rouge rolls her eyes. "I know it's hard for you, but you need to know that as far as Knuckles is concerned, you are the only family he has left. You mean more to him than anyone, more than me even. You need to talk to him sometime tonight. Let him know how you feel and how hard it actually is for you."

"Okay." Tikal's voice breaks. Rouge smiles and gives her a hug. With the tension now dissolved, we easily find our outfits.

Tikal chose a spaghetti-strapped white shirt with a sky-blue lace skirt that reaches just below her knees. Her dreads are french-braided, and she has on just mascara. She has a silver bracelet on each wrist, a braided ankle bracelet made of red string on her left ankle, and a simple silver-heart necklace around her neck. Painted on her right cheek is a light blue sun- 'To symbolize the start of a new day.'

Rouge is wearing a black crop-top with a violet lace skirt that reaches down to her ankles. Her hair is down and curled, and she has on mascara, violet eyeshadow, and bright-red lipstick. She also has two gold bracelets on each wrist and a black-ribbon choker-necklace with a purple jewel in the middle. A purple heart is painted on her left cheek- 'I cherish what I have.'

Blaze has on a white tanktop with a golden skirt that reaches just below her knees. Her hair is put up in a ponytail, and she has on mascara and winged eyeliner. She has one gold bracelet on her right wrist and a large orange-jeweled necklace with a gold chain. Gold flames are painted on her right cheek- 'Beautiful and dangerous, like me.'

Amara found a sapphire-blue dress with white leaf print that ties around her neck, leaving her back exposed, and it goes down to below her knees. Her quills are put into a messy bun, and she has on mascara and dark-red lipstick. She has a silver bracelet on her left wrist and a silver-braided ankle bracelet around her right ankle. Painted on her left cheek is a blue sixteenth music note- 'Music lets me express what I can't say, which is a lot.'

I picked a white strapless dress with red floral print that reaches just above my knees. I have a red headband to keep my curled quills from my face, and, with the insistence of the other girls, I have mascara and soft-red lipstick on. I have a pearl necklace and a pearl bracelet on each wrist. A red flying bird is painted on my left cheek- 'Someday I will be free from all my insecurities, no longer letting them hold me down.'

All in all, I think we look amazing.

"It's too bad Scourge can't see me now. I think he would've liked this." I smile at myself as I look in the mirror. My parents would never allow me to wear this. 'It is unladylike', they would have said.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure he would've loved it." Amara says in a hard tone. I narrow my eyes at her. Blaze speaks up before I can say anything.

"What guy wouldn't? This is the most skin I've seen you show, Amy!" Blaze smirks over at me. I blush.

"It's not that much." I mutter, becoming self-conscious.

"No, it is not." Tikal reassures me. "You look lovely." The others nod their heads in agreement. I smile at them.

"Thanks. You all look lovely as well."

"Then let's go show them what we got!" Taking one last look in the mirror, Rouge struts out of the hut. Amused, the rest of us follow her out. We see the setting sun, a couple of stars already out, and a couple of clouds dotting the darkening sky. We walk on the soft grass to the center of the clearing, where a large fire has already been started. A pig is roasting over the fire, and everyone appears to already be here, taking their seats on the ground and forming a large circle around the fire. Even Umdir is here. With the Master Emerald right behind him, Umdir is sitting next to a female light blue echidna, who is sitting to Zarruk's right.

"Hello ladies." I look to find Kreed and the rest of the guys making their way over to us. We look over the guys' apparel while they eye us. I catch Sonic's eye, and he gives me an unidentifiable look. It makes my stomach tighten with nerves. I look away and continue observing the rest of the guys before I can blush.

The guys' apparel consists of just their pants and lines painted on their chests, arms, and faces. Kreed has grey jagged lines, Tails' light blue lines are both vertical and horizontal, Silver has vertical purple lines, Knuckles' lines are horizontal and yellow, Vector has red wavy lines, Espio has orange diagonal lines, Charmy has random blue lines, Shadow has lightning-like green lines, and Sonic has swirling white lines that reminds me of wind. I cannot help but to admit that they all look handsome, including little Charmy.

"You all look exceptional tonight." Kreed half-bows to us.

"Thank you, Kreed. You all look handsome as well." Tikal smiles at him.

"Not bad." Shadow smirks over at Amara.

"'Not bad'? Gee, your compliment is making me swoon with delight." Amara says sarcastically.

"Oh Shadow." Silver shakes his head. "When it comes to giving a lady a compliment, you have to really compliment them. Observe." Silver walks up to Blaze and takes her hand in his.

"My dear," he says in a low voice. "You look utterly, and breathtakingly, gorgeous tonight." He kisses her hand as she smiles lovingly at him. He turns back to Shadow.

"You see? They always like things like that!"

"Even if you don't mean it?" Sonic asks with a sly smile.

"Especially then!" Blaze smacks him upside the head. "I-I mean, no! Of course not! You should always be honest!" Silver quickly corrects himself. We laugh at him. My laughter is cut short when Sonic suddenly walks up to me and bows, taking my hand.

"Your beauty is far greater than a crystal clear night with a full moon, Miss Rose." He says with a half-lidded gaze. I feel heat rush up to my face and I snatch my hand back.

"Funny. Now go fake claims of beauty with some other girl." I cross my arms and glare at him. His earlier words of my natural beauty echo in my head, but I shake them out. He's just messing with me. He's made it clear he doesn't care for 'my kind'. Not that it matters...

"Fake? How could you say such an outrageous thing?" Sonic dramatically asks, pretending to be offended.

"Because you can fake pretty much anything. So leave me be, Faker." His ear twitches and some of the amusement in his eyes dies.

"Hey, I am not a faker." He argues.

"Oh. My. God!" Knuckles suddenly exclaims while gaping at Sonic, drawing everyone's attention. "Shadow!" He grabs the black hedgehog's arm. "We found it! We've finally found it!"

"What are you talking about, Patches?" Sonic huffs. Knuckles grins darkly at him.

"Quiet... Faker." Knuckles' grin widens as Sonic's ears twitches again. "I can't believe we've finally found it!" He cackles with delight.

"Faker. Hmm, suits you perfectly." Shadow smirks at the irritated blue hedgehog.

"Amy," I look at Knuckles. "It's official: I like you. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't of discovered his new name!"

"Would you quit it! It's not even that clever!" Sonic glares at the echidna.

"Like Patches is?!"

"Gentlemen." Tikal steps between the two. "There is no need to argue. I am sure Chief Zarruk is waiting for you all. You are his guests, after all." Sonic sighs and starts walking over to where Zarruk is seated.

"Knuckles, may I speak with you?" Tikal timidly asks her brother before he can follow. The amusement on his face from the earlier encounter disappears and Knuckles crosses his arm while he looks at the ground, but he stays put. The rest of us follow Sonic, giving the two echidnas some privacy.

"I hope he isn't as hard-headed like I remember." I hear Kreed mutter.

"He'll listen to her." Rouge replies confidently. I hope things work out. Coming from an only child, siblings need to appreciate and be there for each other.

"Hello dear guests!" Zarruk stands and greets us once we're near enough. "I would like you all to meet my wife, Crystal." He gestures to the light blue echidna I noticed earlier. She stands and smiles warmly at us.

"A pleasure to finally meet all of you. Come, take your seats. Dinner is about to be served." She motions over to the large open space to Zarruk's left. I go to follow Amara, but I suddenly feel myself being pulled towards the area right next to Zarruk instead. Sonic sits next to the chief, pulling me down with him. Tails is on my other side.

"What?" Sonic smiles innocently, seeing my glare. "I still have to keep an eye on you." I roll my eyes and look at my surroundings. Why bother scolding him? He wouldn't listen anyways.

Echidnas walk up to the roasted pig and remove chunks of meat, serving the plates of pork to everybody else. Other echidnas with baskets walk up to the seated people, offering them the food within: corn, apples, carrots, peaches, peas, kiwi, green beans, ect.

Knuckles and Tikal rejoin our group a couple of minutes after dinner is being served. Knuckles takes his seat between Rouge and Kreed, and Tikal sits between Kreed and Tails. Knuckles' reassuring smile to Rouge is enough for me to know he and Tikal are okay. I cast a glance at Umdir and see a small, sad smile on his face as he observes his two children. I hope they fix things soon. I turn my attention to the plate on my lap and take a small bite of the pork. It falls apart effortlessly in my mouth, its rich juices bombarding my taste buds with flavor. Delicious.

After I finish eating my meat, Sonic looks over at my plate. "Hmm. Just like your prince."

"What?" I look at him confused. He gestures to my food. I look at the peas, kiwi, and green beans that are left on my plate. All green things. "Shut up!" I slap his arm, making him chuckle. Stupid hedgehog.

The rhythmic pounding of drums suddenly sound, making me jump. Echidnas cheer and stand, moving their bodies to the beat as they crowd around the fire.

"What's going on?" Tails asks over the noise.

"What does it look like? They're dancing!" Sonic answers. The young fox rolls his eyes.

"Well duh! I'm asking what for!"

"No reason." Sonic shrugs. "There's always a dance before a feast ends. Probably to help them digest or something."

"Come on Amy!" I feel someone tug at my hand. I look up and see Tikal smiling down at me. "Come on!" She yanks me to my feet and pulls me into the dancing crowd.

"But I don't know any of your dances!" I yell over the drums.

"We do not have specific dance moves! Just move how you wish!" With that being said, Tikal begins to dance, letting the beat of the drums guide her. I look around and see she is right; no one is dancing the same. They all are moving their own ways, dancing their own moves. No one looks silly. No, they look graceful and confident. My nerves beginning to settle, I begin to dance too, swaying my hips and moving my arms up in the air. I don't think about what I'm doing, I just let my body take over and let it move.

"There you go!" I hear Tikal giggle. As I grow more confident, I see the rest of the crew joining the dance. Even Shadow managed to get Amara to join, not without some struggle and a self-conscious look though. The sight brings a smile to my face and I focus back to my dancing. This is a new experience for me. All my life I have done what others have told me to do. To do something that no one other than I can govern is an amazing feeling.

"Nice." I hear a voice say from behind me. I stop and whirl around, meeting emerald-green eyes. "May I have this dance?" Sonic bows and offers me his hand. I hesitate before taking his hand. He straightens up and pulls me to him, resting his hand on my lower back. We start to dance a classic waltz. Not ready to go back to rules, I add twists and steps that don't exist anywhere in the dance. Sonic quickly follows suit and add his own moves. Somehow it works out as we dance the waltz, enough moves added to it that the dance becomes unrecognizable. It is completely our own. I clear my head of all my troubles and thoughts and focus on the feel of the dance: how his body feels pressed against me, how I can feel the vibration of the drums through my bare feet, how the firelight illuminates his emerald eyes, and how safe I suddenly feel. I'm being held unwillingly for ransom, yet I feel safe. Feelings are complicated like that.

The drums stop, Sonic and I halting as well. We're panting heavily with less than an inch between our noses, looking into each other's eyes. I vaguely notice the people around us begin to leave, and my senses suddenly snap back to me. I step out of Sonic's arms.

"W-well that was fun." I nervously say. "Thank you for the dance."

"Yeah, sure." He rubs the back of his head, a habit I'm beginning to notice he does when he's nervous. "Well, looks like it's time to go train."

"What?" My shoulders slump. "You serious?" The soreness in my limbs just became bearable!

"I said we'd train tonight if we had time, and it looks like we do." He smirks at me. I lean my head back and groan. "Now now, you asked for this. Come on. I think I know a good clearing near here." He walks off.

"Wait! Can I at least change first?" I gesture to my dress. He looks back at me over his shoulder. The way he eyes me makes me feel self-conscious again.

"You'll be fine. The clothes made here not only look good, but they are also very enduring. Now hurry up. Time is a-wastin!" I cross my arms and, with a huff, I follow him. Sure I asked him to train me, but I didn't expect to be trained to the point where I don't want to even stand afterwards!

"Here we are." He stops in a small clearing in the jungle, far enough from the villagers so we don't have to worry about being too loud. "Wait here." With a gust of wind and a blue streak, he's suddenly gone.

"Sonic?" Where the hell did he go?

"Here." With another gust of wind, he is right by my side, extending a long wooden stick to me.

"Agh!" I shriek. "What did you just do? Where did you go? Wha-?"

"Hey hey!" He hushes me. "I can run faster than the speed of sound. I thought you already knew this?"

"No." I shake my head. "I haven't seen it before, nor has anyone ever mentioned it."

"Seriously? I'm faster than the speed of sound and no one talks about it? I'm gonna have to change that." He rubs his chin and mutters to himself, loud enough for me to hear. "Anyways," He focuses back on me. "enough about what I can do. Right now I'm going to teach you some basic sword maneuvers." He tosses me the stick. "We'll use these first. I'd like to stay in one piece." He grins at me.

"Let's just get started." I roll my eyes.

For the next hour Sonic shows me the basic defense and offense maneuvers for sword fighting. He has me practice them by myself, correcting my posture as I do so. I eventually start to get the hang of it and start to perfectly perform the maneuvers. Maybe I will be able to learn a lot more than I thought before returning home.

"So far you are doing well." Sonic steps in front of me, holding his own stick. "Now I want you to verse me." We get into positions. Feeling confident enough, I make the first move and go to attack him. He blocks my attack, knocks my stick out of my hand, and holds the end of his stick against my throat, all within a couple seconds.

Maybe not.

"Learning the moves is one step, but quickly and correctly using them is another." He steps back and gets back into position. "Again." I spend the next hour sparring against him, repeatedly and quickly beaten each time.

"That's it!" I pant heavily. "No more!" I sit on the ground and rest my head on my knees, my eyes closed. "I'm exhausted." After two hours of training, I don't think I've improved very much. I could easily be taken down in three seconds flat.

"Alright. You lasted longer than I expected, actually." He sits down besides me. "You know, for someone who knows nothing about fighting, you catch on really fast."

"I don't need you to lie to me. I know how bad I am." I grumble, my eyes still closed.

"I'm not lying, and I don't appreciate being accused of that either." Sonic says firmly. I turn my head and look at his irritated face.

"Oh? Like pirates are the most trustworthy people." I glare.

"More than your people are." He narrows his eyes at me.

"They don't steal or kidnap people!" I feel my temper rising.

"Oh they steal alright. They steal from the poor. Especially your precious prince and his family." He sneers. "They're the reason why I do what I do."

"What are you talking about?" I ask warily.

"I don't know if you've noticed from the cozy comfort of your big fancy house, but a large amount of Pallertha's people are extremely poor, while the rich are not just rich, but filthy rich. Why is that, do you think?" He continues before I can answer. "It's because King Marcus taxes the poor people heavily and he barely, if at all, taxes the rich. I steal from the rich so I can give it to the poor. Call me Robin Hood if you'd like, but that's what I do. You remember the gold I gave Zarruk?"

"Yes." I slowly nod.

"That is to pay the taxes he owes to Marcus. If he fails to pay, Marcus will take this island from the tribe, and he will discover and take the Master and Chaos Emeralds too. This is the case of so many other, innocent people. The rich refer to me as a pirate, while the poor refer to me as a hero. So tell me, Princess, what do you think I am?"

Do I believe him? King Marcus has always been kind to me, but, regardless of Sonic's accusation, I have noticed the fair amount of poor people. I will admit, Sonic and his crew are way more civilized than the tales I've heard about pirates, and they haven't really done anything to prove otherwise (except for Shadow and his intended use for Amara, which I should make sure is still not happening). Maybe Marcus is a greedy king. If so, that doesn't mean Scourge is. He's not the one enforcing the tax laws. Once Scourge and I take over the kingdom, I'll be sure to right the poor if Marcus is indeed treating them unfairly.

"As a hostage, it's hard to answer that unbiased," I glare pointedly at Sonic. "but from what I've seen so far, I guess I'd say... a hero."

"See, I knew- wait, what? Really?" His eyes widen in surprise.

"Yes." I give him a small smile. "You and your crew feel bad when taking lives, even when it's necessary. You all treat me and Amara like people rather than prisoners, except for that first day. You also help the Peacekeepers keep their island. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like things a pirate would do."

"Hmm." Sonic lays on his back and looks at the star-filled sky. "You sure you didn't drink any sea water? Silver accidentally did that once. He was messed up for a week."

"Yeah, like I'd drink fish water." I roll my eyes.

"Don't knock it till ya try it." He chuckles. I shake my head and look at the sky as well.

"Once Scourge and I take over Pallertha, I'll make sure to right the poor." I say. I see him look over at me from the corner of my eye.

"What makes you think he won't be like his father?"

"I'm getting married to him, don't you think I'd at least know that much?" I argue.

"Well you did meet him like, what, a week-and-a-half ago?" He points out.

"You sound like Amara." I grumble.

"Just sayin'." He shrugs.

"Well I stand by my choice to marry him." I cross my arms. "We'll be happy, and we'll rule Pallertha as fair as possible."

"As long as you're happy, I guess." He says lowly. We stay silent after that, a comfortable silence between us as we gaze at the night sky.

"Come on." He gets up and offers me his hand. I take it and he hoists me up. "We should get to bed. We still have to get up early for training." My shoulders slump again.

"Can't wait." I grumble. I better have at least a little more muscle from all this training.

"That's the spirit." He grins. "Would ya like a lift?" He extends his arms towards me. Curious as to how fast he is, I nod. He scoops me up bridal-style. "Hold on." In a fraction of a second, my quills fling back and wind whooshes past my face. The jungle blurs by. It's scary but thrilling at the same time, enough to steal my breath away. Just as soon as it started, we are standing in front of a large tree trunk.

"What are we doing here?" I scrunch up my eyebrows in confusion once I regain my breath. "If I remember correctly, the huts are behind us."

"Look up." I do and see multiple tree houses, wooden bridges connecting all of them. "Think of the huts back there as a small town shops These are the homes." Sonic walks past me and whistles. A rope ladder falls down from above "Ladies first." I go over to the ladder.

"If I'm going first, you better keep your eyes down." I glare at him. I'm wearing shorts under this dress, but still...

"Yeah yeah, I will. Now would ya hurry up? I'm actually pretty tired."

"Oh, poor thing." I fake pout and start climbing. the night guard helps me up onto the wooden platform once I reach the top of the ladder. I nod my thanks and wait for Sonic.

"Okay." He sighs once he's up. "Our hut is this way." I follow him over a couple bridges and into a small treehouse. Inside are a couple hammocks and other small pieces of furniture like woven baskets for storage. I walk over to the hammock next to the small window.

"I call that one." Sonic says right as I reach it. He walks over to a small bowl full of water and grabs a rag. Dipping the rag into the water, he begins to wash off his paint. Ignoring him, I lay down in the hammock. Forget pajamas, I'm too tired to change, and this dress is comfortable enough to sleep in. "Didn't you hear me? I called it."

"Yep, and I say too bad." I close my eyes and sigh. Very comfy. "And don't you dare flip me out of this." I growl, guessing his intentions with my eyes still closed. "I may not be able to fight like you, but you better believe I will do everything I can to make you miserable. Starting with sabotaging your breakfast." I threaten. I'll do it too. I hear him chuckle.

"Fine, I'll let you win this one. Gotta let the losers feel victory every once in a while after all."

"Hmm. Too tired to care. Night Faker." I roll onto my side, facing the window.

"Night Princess." He continues to wash himself. I feel like I am getting too close here. Soon enough, I'll be back with Scourge and leaving these people behind. They're wanted pirates and I'm Scourge's fiancé. There would be no way I would be able to see them again without having them arrested for their 'crimes'. I'm going to have to keep my distance and remind Amara of this too.

Because, regardless of how friendly they are, we don't belong with them.

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