Guests, coolermaster, FireWitch25, Sunset Rose 22, DragonTooth24006, sonamyfan21, WorldOfSpeed, arianahewitt, thanks for the reviews! This is the most reviews I've gotten for a chapter so far! :D
I own Amara and this story. Sega or Archie own the other characters.
Chapter 10
Sonic's P.O.V.
She ran.
I stare in shock at my cabin door, where Amy just ran through moments ago. She ran and left her friend, who needs her now more than ever, behind.
"She hates me! She hates me!" I hear Amara cry out in sorrow. I tear my gaze away from my door and look at the broken hedgehog sobbing uncontrollably as Shadow holds her, trying to comfort her.
"Get her to bed." I order. Shadow nods and, gently scooping her up into his arms, takes her into his cabin. I look back at my door.
I shouldn't be surprised. I didn't know the extent of how different Amy was from other rich people. Now I know. She draws the line when it comes to ruining her prince's 'good' name. Poor Amara. At least she has Shadow.
Amy does not deserve the luxury of a bed. No, she can stay in a cell for the remainder her stay for all I care. Well, the other cell that isn't busted up from her disobeying me earlier today, that is. With that thought, I walk to my door and open it. After my eyes adjust to the dark, I see her figure curled up on my bed, crying into one of my pillows. I shake my head in disgust and I shut the door. Amy doesn't move.
"Pathetic." I spit. "Your 'best friend' gets raped by your fiance and needs you, yet here you are, crying, because he isn't as perfect as you thought." She continues to cry, my words seemingly having no effect on her. Undeterred, I walk over and am about to yank her off the bed, when she finally speaks.
"My fault." She whimpers. "I-It's all m-my fault." She turns over and her tear-stained face looks up at the ceiling, her eyes glossy and unfocused. "If she n-never knew me, she never w-would have met h-him!" She starts to cry harder.
"What about your precious Prince Scourge?" I sneer. She whimpers and covers her ears with her hands.
"S-Sc-... Him." She shudders and shakes her head violently, ears still covered. "It's all my fault." She buries her face back in my pillow, her body shaking from her sobs. She continually repeats that sentence, the words slurring together and muffled by the pillow.
I watch her in confusion before I realize she's not crying because of Scourge's ruined image.
She's crying because she feels responsible.
With this realization I sit down besides her, no longer angry with her. "It's not your fault." I say gently.
"It's my fault!" She shouts through the pillow.
"Amy, look at me!" I take the pillow from her and make her sit up. She looks back at me, the crazed look in her eyes making me uneasy.
"It's not. Your. Fault." I say firmly.
"It's all m-" I cover her mouth with my hand.
"No, it's not. You had no idea. You can't control what he does." Her eyes start to focus on me. A good sign. "Now listen to me. Why did you run off like that?"
"I-I couldn't l-look at her a-anymore. Not w-when I know i-it's my fault!" Her eyes start to unfocus again.
"Hey hey!" I grab her face and keep her looking me. "It's not your fault, but you running off like that hurt Amara. She thinks you hate her." That does the trick. Her eyes fully focus on me and she frowns in confusion.
"I d-don't hate her."
"You running off made her think otherwise." I say slowly. Her eyes widen and she leaps off the bed.
"I-I need to see her!" She starts towards the door.
"Wait a minute." I go and step ahead of her. "I'll go with you." I lead her next door to Shadow's cabin. She won't be able to get past him if it's just her. I knock on the door. Shadow opens it, his gaze hardening on Amy.
"What?"
"They need to talk. You know that." I gesture over to Amy with a nod of my head. He sighs heavily, his body still blocking the doorway, then he reluctantly steps aside. I motion for Amy to walk in first. When she enters, she sees Amara curled up on Shadow's bed, staring blankly at the wall. The sad sight brings tears back to Amy's eyes.
"Amara?" Amy's voice is above a whisper. It's enough to catch the magenta hedgehog's attention, though. The two stare at each other for a minute before Amy runs over to Amara and hugs her, both starting to cry again.
Feeling awkward just standing there, I nudge Shadow with my elbow. "We should step outside and give them some space." Shadow nods in agreement and follows me out the door. We walk back over to the helm, where this all unfolded just minutes ago. As we stand in silence I notice strong gusts of wind, warning the storm is approaching.
"So, how long have you known?" I break the silence.
"Since her second night here."
"That soon?" She didn't tell her best friend of over a decade, but she told someone she met the day before?
"Yeah, so?" Shadow narrows his eyes at me. I shake my head in bewilderment.
"You really like her, huh?" I've never seen Shadow show much emotion for, let alone to, someone. Now that I have time to fully acknowledge that Shadow has a girlfriend, I can't help but to feel flabbergasted. Looks like Mr. People-Are-Overrated has feelings after all.
"If you are making me talk about this, then I will make you talk about yourself and Amy." Shadow crosses his arms.
"What are you talking about?" I look at him incredulously. What about me and Amy?
"Now now, Faker." Shadow smirks. "Surely even you have noticed how different you treat her now than you did at first." My ears flicker in irritation.
"I didn't know her then." I say defensively.
"Oh, so you know her very well now?" I scowl at him.
"Alright! You shut up, I'll shut up. Happy?" He just continues to smirk at me. I roll my eyes and turn away from him to watch the dark, rolling ocean waves.
"Sure, you could say that, but it is only because I ignored my head." What? I hear his footsteps and I turn my head to see him walking over to the doors leading below deck. "I am going to make sure all our supplies are secured." He gestures to the storm clouds behind him and walks down the descending stairs.
What a irritatingly confusing guy. What he said moments ago made absolutely no sense. None. It was even more annoying when he acted like he didn't even say it. What's really bugging me, though, is his implication of me caring for Amy as more than a friend. Uh, no. I already know what it's like to love someone, and I definitely do not feel that way about Amy. Even if I did, which I don't, it wouldn't work out. She's filthy rich, used to living a pampered life, and I'm... me. It'd be remarkable if we lasted even two weeks.
Wait, why the hell am I even thinking about this?! With a frustrated shake of my head, I double-check Silver's work, needing to be focused on something else.
As I climb down the rigging, having just gotten done making sure the sails are secure, someone calls me.
"Sonic?"
I look down and see Amy, eyes slightly red but otherwise tear-free. All my earlier thoughts come rushing back into my head and I loose my grip on the rope, falling down the rest of the seven feet and landing flat on my back.
"Oof!" The drop nearly knocks the air out of my lungs.
"Sonic, are you okay?" I see Amy lean over me with a concerned look.
"Yep!" I quickly scramble back onto my feet, heat rising up to my face. "Just fine and dandy! H-how are you?" I nervously scratch the back of my head. Smooth.
Her lips form into a small smile. "Okay, I guess. Amara fell asleep so I decided to come out here." Amy moves some of her quills out of her face after a burst of wind, her face filled with exhaustion and sorrow. Suddenly, a white flash temporarily lights the night, a loud boom following seconds after and making the pink hedgehog jump.
"Come on," I say once raindrops start to sprinkle down. "let's get ya inside. We won't be training tonight." After making sure the wheel is locked into position so we don't steer off course- another useful invention of Tails'- I follow her into my room. As soon as I close my door, the ship suddenly tilts. Having experienced many storms before, I easily keep my footing. Amy, however, is unprepared and gravity takes a hold of her. I dash over and catch her before she can slam onto the hard floor.
"Thanks." She gasps, her jade eyes wide with surprise.
"No problem." I set her back up on her feet and she cautiously makes her way over to my bed. She climbs under the covers and curls up, sighing in exhaustion.
"'Night." I turn to go back out into the storm. The ship may not steer off course, but it can still be blown off course by the storm.
"Wait," I turn to see her sitting up with her head bowed down. "Could you... stay here with me?" She glances at me before looking back down at her hands. "I don't want to be alone with my thoughts right now." She whispers
"I really have to go-" I see her shoulders slump and I can't help but to feel bad. One's thoughts can be their worst enemy, as I've already found out. "Well, I, uh, guess I can stay until you fall asleep."
"Thank you." She smiles weakly as I go over to the bed and lay on top of the covers. She lays back down.
As I lay there I listen to the wind howl outside, to the rain as it pours, and to the creaks my ship makes as the waves crash against it. The storm certainly is noisy, but not strong enough to damage my ship. Even knowing that, I still can't help but to feel anxious. Some things just don't change I guess.
Amy suddenly groans queasily, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"You okay?" I ask quietly, not sure if she's awake or asleep.
"I'm alright. The rocking just gets old after awhile." She grumbles. I chuckle.
"You get used to it after awhile." She doesn't say anything after that. "You better get some sleep. I'm givin' ya a break tonight, but you're definitely training in the morning." I roll over into a more comfortable position, smirking at her exasperated groan.
It's not long before I hear her quiet, even breaths. "Amy?" I whisper. She doesn't reply. I slowly get up, not wanting to wake her, and I grab my rain coat. I go back outside and see Shadow at the helm. As nice as it is to be able to rely on him to handle things when I am busy, I am still annoyed with him for the headache he gave me earlier.
"How's she holdin', Shads?" I shout above the howling winds.
"Everything is still in check!" He answers. I nod and take the wheel from him. "By the way," He says as he steps aside. "I do not think falling from the rigging is the way to get her attention!"
That damn hedgehog...
XXXXX
"Whoa, there's a lot of water up here! And- wait. Is that a fish?! There's a fish up here!" Charmy excitedly exclaims from the crows nest.
"How did a fish get way up there?" Knuckles squints his one eye up at the lookout, where Charmy is unsuccessfully trying to catch the fish.
"No idea." I shrug. Like I had predicted, the storm last night wasn't too intense. The results are just some water and clumps of seaweed above deck. Apparently there's a a fish too...
"Ha! Got it!" Charmy, now soaked, grins down at us with a silver fish wriggling in his hand. "Eep!" The fish wriggles its way out if his grip and falls. Before we can warn her, the fish drops right on top of Rouge's head.
"Ew! Get it off!" She shrieks as it flops around, and she tries to slap the fish off her head. It flips off before she can hit it, however. Blaze calmly scoops up the suffocating fish and tosses it back into the ocean it.
"Eeew." Rouge groans with disgust while the rest of us laugh. She glares up at Charmy, who's gasping for air from laughing so hard. "Don't you worry, honey. You're going to get what's coming to you soon enough." She growls before going below deck to take a bath, I'm guessing.
"Heheh. Poor kid." Knuckles snickers, glad it's not him she's after.
"It- was an- accident- though!" Charmy says as he continues to laugh.
"That's not helping your case, Charmy." Amy shakes her head with an amused smile. Training this morning actually went very well. She's learning more than I expected, and she's already very handy with that hammer of hers. I touch my left forearm and wince. I made the mistake of trying to block one of her hits with my arm, something I'll never do again. She also looks much better compared to last night, but there's still a look in her eyes that worries me. I don't know what, but it's there.
"Shadow!" I look behind me, towards the helm, and see a frowning Amara, in her clothes but also looking like she just woke up, with her messy quills and all. "Why didn't you wake me up?" She demands while stifling a yawn.
"You needed the rest." He raises an eyebrow at her. She narrows her eyes at him.
"Ten hours is way too much." I hear a snicker and I find Amy standing to my left.
"When she gets too much sleep, Amara gets very cranky." She explains softly to me. I chuckle. This should be interesting.
"So you would prefer waking up at dawn instead?" Shadow crosses his arms, also narrowing his eyes at her.
"Yes! I've practically slept the day away now! No thanks to you!" She growls, even though it been like, three hours since sunrise. "You even made me miss breakfast." She stomps her way into the kitchen.
"What the hell?" Shadow mutters under his breath once she has disappeared into the kitchen.
"She slept too long. Now she's cranky, obviously." Amy explains, her amused smile still on her face.
"Will she be like this all day?" A slight grimace appears on his face. Amara walks out of the kitchen, eating an apple, with a frown still on her face.
"Watch and learn." Amy winks at us and walks up to Amara, stopping her. "Amara, you need to take three deep breaths. You're going to scare Shadow away." She giggles. Amara narrows her eyes and clenches her jaw. Oh jeez, Amy...
Amara suddenly bursts out laughing. "Three breaths? Damn it, I thought I was controlling myself better than that!" She grins sheepishly. She walks over to Shadow and hugs him. "Sorry I got moody there." Shadow hugs her back, but his face is the same as my thoughts: what had just happened?
"Whoa whoa whoa," Silver eyes widen while looking at the pair. "Are you two together? As in 'together' together?" This catches the attention of everybody, all eyes set upon them.
"It's also called 'dating', Silver." Blaze tells her husband, still maintaining her look of shock at the couple. Amara looks up at Shadow to answer.
"Yes." He answers in his usual monotone voice. "Make an ordeal about it and I will hurt you." He threatens before anyone can say anything.
"Shadow, be nice." Amara gently elbows him. Shadow huffs and flattens his ears while Silver opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again, then closes it.
"... I'm going to check on Rouge." Knuckles rushes below deck.
Silver sighs heavily, but stays quiet. Everybody else follows suit, but not without their looks of surprise. Even Espio has one.
The silence is broken with, "Aww! Not you guys too! It's bad enough having Knuckles dating Rouge and Silver married to Blaze!" The young bee whines, not impressed by relationships. "What's next? Cap'n and Amy getting together?" Charmy throws up his hands in exasperation. I feel my face grow hot as everybody looks at Amy and I with sly, bemused grins.
"No!" I quickly answer. Thanks, Charmy.
A high-pitch shriek is suddenly heard from below, growing louder. "AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWE!" Rouge bounds up the stairs to the deck, only a towel wrapped around her bubbly, soaking wet body, closely followed by a nervous Knuckles. "Shadow loves a giiiiiiirl!" Rouge grins and tightly hugs the two, also getting them wet.
"Rouge. Get. Off." Shadow growls and tries to get out of her embrace.
"I thought I'd never see the day!" Rouge dramatically exclaims, ignoring the irritated ebony hedgehog.
"Rouge." Amara wheezes. "Air." Rouge releases them and beams at them both.
"Oh, this is just to unbelievable! Oh! Does this mean you'll stay, Amara? We can stay up late at night and gossip, and..." I tune out the rest of what she has to say, not caring what plans Rouge already has. I look at Amy and see her look painfully at Amara.
"Hey," I gently touch her shoulder. "you okay?"
"Uh, yeah. Just... thinking." She sighs. I let the subject go, not wanting to pry. I hate people who can't mind their own damn business. It's one thing to be curious, but it's another to be nosy.
"Hey, Charmy! You're slackin'!" Vector points in front of the ship, the city of Dascoun now visible.
"Oh, uh, hey Cap'n! Dascoun, straight ahead!" Charmy shouts down to me right after he sees the city.
"Gee, you don't say?" I roll my eyes. Good. We're right on schedule. "Alright Charmy, keep a look out for any royals, got it?" He nods in understanding and I look at the others. "The rest of you get ready." They disperse to their rooms and I go to the steering wheel.
"What are you doing?" Amy asks curiously, standing to my right.
"Going to a secret bay I know. Can't exactly dock in a city when you're a wanted guy. Not including the ladies of course." I wink at her.
"Oh I'm sure." She scoffs and rolls her eyes.
"You know it. Now go get some clothes packed. We're staying in Dascoun for two nights."
"Aye aye!" I smirk as she leaves and continue to steer.
We drop anchor in Sonic's Bay, named by yours truly, and take the lifeboats to get to shore. I found this area as a kid, during one of my runs. It's perfect for hiding my ship, and it's located well enough to discourage any wanna-be explorers from discovering this place too.
We hike through the forest, towards my childhood city. We stop once we're near the border and put on our hooded cloaks, all different colors. Wearing dark-colored cloaks would be like begging to be noticed, since every sneaky person thinks it's a good idea to wear dark clothing, totally not suspicious, and gets caught for 'some reason'. Well, not me. I'm too smart for that. I watch Amy as she lifts her light blue hood over her head, the hood doing a good job of hiding her face.
"Amy," She looks up at me. "I'm going to trust ya here, okay? Rather than tying you up or somehow prevent you from fleeing, which would be conspicuous anyways, I'm just going to trust that you will follow. Understand?" This will be a good test. I'm not too worried about her running off. Now that she knows who her fiance truly is, I doubt she's in any rush to see him now. Doesn't mean she can't just take off though...
"Yes." She nods. I nod back and lead the way into the city. We weave through the bustling streets of people, no one paying any mind to us as we pass.
An hour later, with Amy still here and no other unexpected troubles, we find ourselves in the poorer part of the city, in front of a medium-sized, lavender house with a decent-sized yard.
Home.
I open and walk through the gate, my crew following me, and I knock on the front door.
"Coming!" I hear an all-too familiar voice call. I smirk and I knock again. "Hold on, I said I was coming!" She says in an irritated voice.
"I'm waiting!" I say loudly, something I've constantly said to her throughout the years, it always annoying her. The door flings open and Sonia looks at me in surprise.
"Sonic?"
I lower my hood. "Hey, sis." I grin.
"Sonic!" She shouts with glee and tackles me with a hug. I chuckle and hug her back. "You're just in time for lunch!" She looks behind me and notices everyone else. "Good thing Mom has plenty of leftovers." She chuckles. "Come on in. Mom is going to be so happy to see you all." With a smile, she grabs my hand and pulls me inside.
"Sonia dear, who is at the door?" I hear my mother's voice call from the kitchen. Sonia and I stop in the kitchen doorway, my mom having her back to us as she grabs the dishes from the cupboard for lunch.
"Just some loser and his friends." Sonia smirks at me.
"Please, you're just jealous you're not as awesome as I am." I stick out my tongue at her.
"What did I tell you two about- Sonic!" My mother whirls around and beams with happiness.
"Hey Mom." I grin and I hug her.
"Oh how I have missed my boy." Mom holds me back at arm's length and smiles lovingly, her eyes staring to water.
"Aww come on Mom, don't cry. I'm here." I soothe her, really hoping she doesn't cry.
"Sorry. I am just happy to see you. It has been a while." She blinks away her tears and a pang of guilt hits me.
"I know, and I'm sorry. It's been chaotic lately and-"
"It is alright, dear." She interrupts. "I understand." She smiles softly.
"Hey! What's up bro?" I turn and see Manic in the doorway at the other end of the kitchen, a huge smile on his face.
"Same old, same old." I shrug and give him a hug, patting his back.
"Oh, you mean you're still lame?"
Home sweet home.
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