10: Slip of the Tongue

Shadow and Blaze stayed up longer than they had anticipated, working their minds to maximum creating the plan to take back the castle. Blaze managed to quell her attraction long enough to get lost in the plotting. The twinkle in her eyes caught Shadow's attention however, and he found himself being even more drawn to her than normal. Her intensity reminded him of Rouge, but her intelligence and straightforward method of planning surpassed any member of GUN he had worked with. For once, Shadow felt he had an equal. It was… refreshing.

Towards dawn, Blaze began falling asleep; her eyes glazed over and Shadow caught her slumping forward on her knees more than once.

"Blaze?" The princess had finally slipped to the side, curling up slightly. Shadow shook her shoulder gently, but she only whimpered softly and pulled her legs closer to her chest. After a few moments, soft, even breaths reached Shadow's ears and he knew the girl was asleep. He sighed, leaning back against the wall until his flared spines bent outward. The black hedgehog drew a hand across his mouth, blinked back his exhaustion and contemplated the day. The sunny feeling from earlier began to tickle his extremities, clamoring in its own soft way for his attention. An exhale of pained reluctance escaped the hedgehog's lips; he closed his eyes, allowing the feeling of a faint, memorable presence obscure his consciousness.

"Am I not doing enough?"

No, the presence seemed to jingle, you're doing enough for others, but not enough for yourself.

"How do you figure?" Shadow grimaced at the well-meaning accusation. The warmth flared against his spine, indignant.

You used to be so compliant when I was alive…. You've gotten very stubborn.

Shadow winced, half opening his eyes. Maria was right; he was being more stubborn than he used to be. It was just because Maria was digging around where she shouldn't be, though. A memory of the pair sitting on her bed aboard Space Colony ARK flashed across his thoughts.

We were so open then….

No, it wasn't that Maria was putting pressure on him…. It was that he didn't want to accept what she was asking him to do. After all this time, he had finally convinced himself that he didn't need affection and Maria was asking him to let go of the past and allow closeness in his life again. A feeling of wetness clung to the fur on his face and Shadow realized he was crying. A choked sob squeezed from his lungs, a whisper following close behind.

"I don't want to forget you…. You're all I have."

I'm not asking you to forget me, and you won't. I just want you to move on. It's okay to have friends, Shadow.

He scoffed grimly at the innocent statement.

It's okay to have more than that, too….

He didn't think she'd be so blunt! Before he could respond, the warmth began to fade. Shadow sat up, alert.

"Wait…"

You should get some rest. Don't worry; I'll stay nearby. Shadow began to lose consciousness, falling to the side and leaning his weight on the princess' shoulder. Pleasant memories of his time with Maria turned to dreams in his mind, but he didn't notice that the warmth he felt was coming from a certain pyromancer rather than his old friend.

Shadow's eyes fluttered opened as a beam of sunlight glared across his face. The jungle outside was noisy and brimming with activity. A natural alarm clock. The black hedgehog straightened up from his hunched position, rolling shoulders that crackled and gently massaging his stiff neck. Shadow yawned silently before remembering the slumbering royal next to his leg. His ruby eyes flickered over Blaze's sleeping body, her knees curled to her chest, her brightly-colored tailcoat laid out like a blanket around her.

A piece of her ponytail had come loose and fallen over her eyes. It was caught in some of her lashes and every few moments her eyelids would twitch. Overall the scene was rather cute and Shadow felt the flower in his heart raise its petals warmly. He slipped a glove off, moving slow so as not to wake his company. His bare hands rarely saw the light of day and the silky sensation he experienced as he brushed the hair from Blaze's face was nigh overwhelming. She was so soft… very misleadingly delicate as well.

Blaze was such a strange person to Shadow. At first she seemed like any other gaudy type of power figure that he had encountered. Then, she had seemed completely nuts during the time at the cave…. When they traveled to the ruined castle, she had seemed terribly vulnerable and last night…. Last night, Shadow had seen her for what she truly was: a determined, protective royal who cared deeply for every individual in her kingdom. She was strong and diligent and Shadow believed she would be a good fighter when the time came.

Without realizing it, Shadow had let his hand rest at the back of Blaze's head, nestled in her lilac fur. Before he could pull away, the princess' eyes opened. She didn't move or recoil, only stared up at him with an unreadable expression. Shadow couldn't breathe.

"Good morning," she said dryly.

Shadow pulled away, nearly laughing in surprise. Again she had thrown him off-guard. He rolled his shoulders again and stood, slipping his glove on in what he hoped was a discreet movement. Blaze sat up and readjusted her coat before fixing her hair tie. Shadow rolled his eyes.

"You look fine. Let's go."

Blaze's head shot up, eyes wide in shock. Shadow was just as surprised at himself and bit his lip. Blaze blushed in the awkward silence. Shadow floundered for recovery.

"It, uh… just slipped out."

"Mm, yeah. Let's go." Blaze broke eye contact. Shadow offered his hand helped her to her feet. Her heavy scent washed over him for the first time in a day or so and he lost his balance, stepping back so abrupt that Blaze fell into his chest.

"Um…" she blushed deeper. Shadow quickly gripped her arms and set her at a distance, clearing his throat. Rosy color bloomed in his cheeks.

"Sorry…. Meet you in the dining hall?"

"Yeah."

Shadow shot from the room, his heavy steps echoing through the hall before fading away. Blaze laughed and hugged herself.

Knuckles punched the tree trunk with a deadly force. The hit sent shudders up the tree until it whipped back and forth at the top and the whole thing creaked, falling over, taking vines and undergrowth with it. Rouge clapped with loving sarcasm and grinned broadly.

"Way to go, Knucky. You sure know how to take down a palm tree." Knuckles glared at her over his shoulder. He nudged what was left of the trunk base with his sneaker before clambering onto it and turning around to reach towards Rouge. Flattered, the white bat took the proffered hand and fluttered her wings with a sweet expression, landing behind the echidna gracefully.

"Thanks, sweetheart," she purred. Knuckles rolled his eyes and pointed downhill.

"Look. There's a ruined castle and a fifty percent chance that the others are hiding out there. If we find them: great. If not, I want you to be silent until we do or I'm gagging you with one of these vines."

"Sounds spicy."

"Shut up."

"Temper, temper."

"Just because I've been liking you more lately doesn't mean I'll let you get away with teasing me constantly." Knuckles slapped a hand over his mouth. Rouge raised her eyebrows then smiled flirtatiously.

"Really?"

Knuckles thought back to all the previous situations that mirrored this one and how every time he would blush and sputter with embarrassment. He was tired of that. Heck, he was tired of all of this nonsense! He was hungry and filthy and worried sick about the Master Emerald back home. How long had it been? A few days? A week? Did Eggman already take it into his maniacal clutches and use it to conquer Mobius?

"Knuckles? You're hyperventilating."

Knuckles kissed Rouge on the cheek shyly; his vision spiraled out of control. The thief-slash-heroine touched her burning cheek in awe. She smiled, her blue eyes shining.

"Well… that wasn't what I was going to ask for," she breathed, "but look there; it's Sonic and a big group of people." Sure enough, a crumbling wall revealed one side of the castle where a group of people mixed with some familiar faces were gathered and respectfully listening to none other than Princess Blaze. Knuckles threw his hands into the air.

"Oh, thank heaven!" He barreled down the hill, forgetting the intimate moment he had just shared with a certain bat. She shrugged, still beaming, and followed the ruddy echidna. As they approached, Tails jumped up from the midst of the crowd and pointed at them, grinning.

"Knuckles and Rouge are back!"

The Mobians all looked up, smiling and those from the Island turned their heads in curiosity. Sonic grinned, jumping up from where he had been sitting. He approached Knuckles with his arms spread.

"Good to have you back, buddy... where you been with the love of your life?" Knuckles' unexpected snarl made Sonic's grin fall ever so slightly, but Rouge sauntered up from behind the echidna to diffuse the situation. She sashayed her hips and smirked.

"Sorry we're late, everybody... but it looks like you're all up to something." She looked up at Blaze, a hint of respect slipping across her face. "What are we interrupting?" Blaze smiled a bit, happy that at last the gang was reunited and they could stop worrying about their friends for the moment.

"I'm so glad you asked," she stood and approached a stack of haphazardly-placed stones that was serving as a podium. "Now, if I could have your attention, everyone. Sonic and friends, crew of the Ocean Tornado..." The already silent crowd eyed her, smiling with a hint of jest. Realizing she was being unnecessarily formal, Blaze cleared her throat and looked down at her hands. "Oh.. um... I'll just get started then. So, with the information I have gathered from listening to each person's report, partnered with my own knowledge of the Island's history, I have come to a conclusion about Nega's plan—what he wants and how he is going to attempt to attain it. That conclusion has a great percentage to be correct, and therefore, with the help of Shadow, I devised a plan for a counter attack that will hopefully leave Nega too weakened to strike again for very long time."

"So what's he after?" Sonic spoke up while straightening his gloves. Blaze chewed her lip, nervous to disclose the information. Her glance flicked around the room before meeting Shadow's. He nodded with encouragement. Blaze swallowed and continued.

"While Mobians do not know of it's existence at all, some of Marine's crew may recognize the legend from history class. I say 'legend', but in fact it does exist. Eggman Nega is after the Jeweled Scepter." Murmurs broke out among the sailors. One of them stood up to be better-heard.

"Isn't that just a metaphor? For the core of the planet?"

Blaze shook her head gravely, "I wish it was. However, it is much more detrimental than that. If Nega gets his hands on the Scepter and removes it from its place, he will not only begin the destruction of the Sol Dimension, but he will remove all ties it has with Mobius, effectively sealing my friends within our Dimension."

Shadow sat up in his chair, wondering why Blaze had neglected to inform him of such information earlier. Cream squeaked fearfully and Tails quickly pulled her into a hug to quell her emotion. Amy began to fret with her gloves while Silver stroked her hair nervously. Knuckles and Rouge gave Sonic a joint glare: did you know this could happen? Sonic shrugged, the weight of the matter finally bringing him to a level of sobriety. He turned up at Blaze, unsure of what to say. Her expression was soft and removed—her 'professional' face.

"I know how much your world needs you... and how much other worlds will as well. Upon my life, I will not allow Nega to succeed. That is why Shadow and devised a plan. A plan that I am sure will succeed, because in my presence, I have the universe's greatest heroes." Blaze moved away from her podium and descended from the platform to stand in front of the Mobian's had been allied with for so long. Then, to everyone's surprise, she bowed.

"Please... I humbly request the help of Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, Tails, Cream...and Shadow. Please, help me save my planet and my people." A moment of silence passed awkwardly. Blaze tried her best to keep her eyes on the floor but she looked up through her lashes, seeing Silver's disquieted face and then Shadow's blank expression. Sonic jumped to his feet, pulling Blaze up and shaking a finger in her face.

"Do you really think we would refuse? Blaze, you..."

"Well, if you had the chance to go home now instead of help..." her voice fell to a whisper, "you have younger people with you, you know." She inclined her head towards Tails, Cream, and Cheese. Sonic paused and considered.

"Perhaps... we can send them home first? I hate to travel separate but Vanilla will actually kill me if anything happens to Cream and Cheese."

Blaze chuckled, "Everything has to be smart-mouthed with you."

"That's not all I can do with my mouth," Sonic winked over-dramatically. Blaze tried to hold back her laughter. Suddenly, a hand came down on Sonic's shoulder with ominous force.

"Your jokes are always god-awful quality, Faker." Shadow rumbled. Sonic withered. Shadow looked at Blaze intently, "shall we get on with the plan?" Blaze nodded, heat rising from her collar. She addressed the company again.

"The Mobians Tails, Cream and Cheese, will be sent home for their safety!"

Tails pulled away from comforting Cream, "What? How is that a good idea?" Sonic moved towards him.

"Because we need someone to watch out for Vanilla and everyone else if...we don't make it back. We can't leave everything to the Chaotix, can we? You're the only one I trust for the job." He smiled down at his young friend, and for a moment the blue hedgehog seemed so much more mature than normal. Tails' eyes grew watery and he stared down at his shoes.

"I... understand."

"We have to go back and check on Momma! Tails will you help?" Cream's sweet voice eased the tension. Cheese whizzed about, smiling at the twin-tailed fox until Tails crumbled and nodded. Blaze was content.

"Therefore, Stage One of the plan will be to send you back, however we may. Stage two," the feline royal faced Marine and her crew. "Marine, I want your group to go around the island and make sure that no citizens have been severely troubled. Try to evacuate people here, since it seems to be the last hidden place on the island. Besides—I'm sure Nega is already elbows deep in his plan." She grimaced. Marine nodded reverently.

"Sure thing, My Lady. I'll have some o' the men rebuild the walls and put on s'more camoflauge as well." The sailors all nodded.

"Excellent, you are dismissed." Marine started gathering her crew and they filed out of the castle. Blaze turned to her friends, "Now, I guess is Stage Three, which Shadow might be able to explain a bit better... than myself." She stepped back a bit and glanced at Shadow. He rubbed the back of his neck before stepping to the front of the group. Sonic leaned back on his hips and narrowed his eyes.

"This better be good, Shads."

Shadow glared at him before grinning devilishly.

"It is—I designed all of Stage Three."