STH © SEGA
Sam, Mike, Sarah, Benjie and Lewis belong to me, BlackPetals23. Dexter (Dex) and Derrick, Peter (Mr. Worthington), Mrs. (Eloise) Wilson and Mr. (Frank) Wilson belong to me, as well. Any animals mentioned belong to me, too.
Flame, Jeffery, Petunia, and Sunny belong to Phantomask! Thank you, Phantomask!
Alicia belongs to aliciathewolf45. Thank you, aliciathewolf45!
I own nothing in italics if it's a brand. If it's the characters thinking, I guess I own that, I own the story…now I just completely lost myself. Any brand of something = I do not own! Also, any songs mentioned, I don't own.
Review Replies:
To Emi Roza: Oh, my gosh! Your review almost made me cry! Haha! How weird, I didn't think last chapter was that sad…I don't think…wait…what did I write last chapter? Oh, right! Short term memory settled in—the fight! Yeah…um…hmmm…what else was I gonna say? Oh, right! THANK YOU!
Enjoy!
Chapter Thirty-Eight:
Odd Family
The one thing Benjie remembered was Fiery Mallet [Amy] busting the door open and Rouge hugging the twins. He had been too busy staring at everyone on the ground.
Flashback
Knuckles was the only one that stood. Sonic was on his knees as Sarah crouched near Lewis first before whispering words of comfort at her fiancé.
Sonic had tears still streaming down his cheeks as he buried himself into Sarah's stomach like a child. "I'm so sorry…" he murmured to her. "This is my entire fault…"
"Shhh," Sarah soothed, rubbing his back (minding his quills). "It'll be okay…"
Sonic caught a glimpse of Amy as she kneeled down over Shadow's body. The pink hedgehog had her own water works forming as she touched Shadow's scratched cheek. She let out a watery laugh among her teary eyes and saliva filled throat (from the tears, ya know how you get when you cry).
"Oh, Shadow…what have you gotten yourself into?" She combed her fingers through his fur and quills as if he were a puppy.
Sonic then twisted his head to hide in Sarah's form once again.
Knuckles watched the two as Lewis rubbed his jaw. Blue eyes caught his attention and he looked at Rouge apologetically. "I'm sorry…" he simply stated—the first clear and loud sentence that had been spoken since the fight stopped.
Rouge's hands grasped the back of the twins' heads. Her frightened eyes only glanced down at her sons before she tightened her hold, digging their equally scared, shivering bodies closer to her motherly warmth and care they desperately needed as reassurance. When the fight broke out, all they wanted was someone to tell them that it was going to be okay, that the grownups were just joking around. They had wanted their mother so badly in that moment that when she did come and hold on to them, they felt safe and neither were about to let go.
Rouge only gazed up at her boyfriend. "What…happened here?"
End of Flashback
Tapping his fingers on his knee, Benjie sat on the rocking chair. Shadow was placed on the mattress, nearest to the TV, while Silver lay unconscious beside him. Manic took the remaining spot on the mattress and Tails was on the couch. Sonic was sitting on the other couch, in the same position he was in the barn—curling up to the only comfort he had left: Sarah.
The lime green hedgehog only needed to glare at Clark once before her father got the message to not say a word. Even if it was to ridicule Sonic—Sarah had gotten the notion that that was exactly what he had been about to do.
Benjie glanced at his brother who sat on the floor beside Amy who kneeled next to Shadow. Rouge was sitting with her legs crossed, the twins on either side of her. He wasn't sure, but he thought Dex was on her left and Derrick was on her right. Derrick was bigger than his younger brother and his short black hair was normally spiked, whereas Dexter let it flop. They both were cuddling up to Rouge as Knuckles appeared from the kitchen with ice in a plastic bag. He handed it to Cream who then went ahead and mended Tails.
Knuckles could feel that Rouge still wanted questions. The guys hadn't explained, even when Rouge asked in the barn. They instead packed the guys, one by one to the house, seeing as Shadow and Silver were both out and were the only ones to know how to drive Shadow's truck.
"Knuckles…Explain…Please," Rouge begged. "It's not every day you see your best friend unconscious," her gaze hit the ebony hedgehog with melancholy.
"I started it…" Sonic whispered from Sarah's hold. "…Shadow wanted to…reorganize our plan we had to trap Sam…he thought Sam could outsmart us…"
"He can," Rouge's ears flipped back as her eyes instantly narrowed. "You can't tell the future just as much as him, but he can still do the unpredictable, damn it, Sonic!" She stood up, letting go of her sons.
"Rouge…" Esperanza appeared to stand by Clark, who stood watch over his future-son-in-law and daughter. "Hear him out."
Sarah nudged him gently. Green eyes stared at Rouge. "He accused Scourge of not being on our side…"
"And from there," Knuckles grunted as he leaned against the wall. "Tails stood up for Shadow when Shadow made it look as if he were on the bad side—causing Sonic to go against him. You can figure out the rest."
"They took sides?" Amy inquired, "Why, Sonic? Why would you think for a second that Shadow would be on the bad side?"
Sonic met her eye contact. "Amy…he's been known to switch sides before—just like Rouge. Rouge won't leave because of her sons, though. Shadow has nothing to live for; he never has ever since he lost Maria."
"He has me."
They stopped and stared at her. Blaze smirking inwardly, and despite all the glares he had been given, so did Sonic. Amy's arm stretched past Shadow's torso to hold him closer to her lap. She fingered through his chest fur as she stared mystically down at him. "He wouldn't leave from what's happened between everyone…we're a family. And family argues from time to time—but they also celebrate good things in life, like us."
Cream stared at her best friend from the corner of her eyes. Amy continued:
"What happened to Rouge was terrible, but we looked at it in the best case scenario. She got two amazing little boys," Amy smiled at Dex and Derrick who were tired and gazed sleepily at her.
"One thing doesn't make us a family," Sonic whispered as he stared coldly at the ground.
Amy tilted her head, "When we split up."
He was silent and listened, his ears turning in her direction. Everyone was either watching Sonic or Amy. Amy heaved a sigh through her nostrils. "We split up and if we hadn't…we wouldn't be where we are today. I'd probably still be chasing after you, Rouge would probably be without Dex and Derrick—and Knuckles. Silver and Blaze would've never gotten to see the coolest places on earth!" she giggled but stopped immediately afterwards. "Face it; Sonic…we are a family."
Sonic blinked but found the ground to be holding his gaze. Amy cleared her throat:
"I'm the annoying, too-cheery-for-my-own-good sister, Blaze is the watchful eldest sister, Rouge is the motherly sister, and Cream is the sister we all look out for…" She laughed a bit while Rouge smiled softly.
"Silver is like the goofball brother," Rouge grinned while Blaze choked a watery laugh, holding Silver's head in her lap. "Shadow is like the anti-social one, even with Amy there looking out for him," the ivory bat winked at Amy who giggled.
"Sonic's like the protective brother," Cream trailed off to stare at Tails. "Tails is like the smart one who keeps us in line."
They shared a laugh before Amy blinked back tears. "Sarah…she's…like this new addition but…it feels like she's always been there…She's the independent sister while Lewis is the type of brother to go out with a magnifying glass and burn the ants on the sidewalk."
Lewis chuckled and raised his hand. "Been there, done that."
They laughed again, the tension fading once more like it had nights before. Amy smiled. "Benjie's the one to tease everyone…but there's still a good man if you find time to get to know him. Aleena is like our foster mom and cook," Amy laughed through her tears with the girls.
Even Sonic found himself chuckling with the guys, at least, the ones that weren't unconscious. "Esperanza is the warden and Clark is the man with the gun."
Clark chuckled as Esperanza tried to look angry but ended up just the same as everyone else: smiling and laughing.
"We are a family," Amy said to Sonic once more.
Benjie chuckled at a thought and said, "Just one that dates each other…"
With that, the hate was gone and love conquered once more in the house. Accompanied with a great amount of laughter.
At one, most of the guys were coming around.
Sonic was escorted to the bedroom to lie down and take a nap, suggested by Sarah. The blue hedgehog fumbled with the sheets as he muttered something, getting in.
Sarah smiled softy at him before kissing his forehead. "Get some rest."
Sonic hummed and watched her leave. "Sarah?"
"Hm?" the lime green hedgehog stopped at the door and twisted her head just a titch to stare at her fiancé.
"…Do you think…we'll actually beat Sam?"
Sarah raised an eyebrow slightly before walking over to him and sitting at his side. "What do you mean, Sonic?"
Sonic propped himself up on his elbows. "What if Shadow's right? What if he sees our trap and traps us instead?"
"He won't."
She went to stand up but Sonic caught her wrist. He held her gaze. "I'm serious…I don't want you to get hurt."
She smiled thinly and cupped his cheek, "C'mon, Sonic. Someone hurt me? Ha!" She strolled out of his grasp easily before walking out into the hallway, shutting the door.
Sonic still watched the hallway, hoping she might come back. After several minutes, he stared up at the ceiling. It was white…bland and boring. So, predictable.
He shut his eyes tightly and sighed.
…I should've listened to Shadow. Better to be safe than sorry.
~~~.~~~
"How is he?" Sarah crouched beside Amy who smiled at her.
"He's okay now, just muttering some words now and then. He's waking up." Amy was combing through Shadow's fur still, just waiting.
That was then that Sarah noticed a spot next to the ebony hedgehog missing. "Where's Silver?"
"He woke up."
"And you didn't tell me!" Sarah squeaked. "I studied on concussions when a kid at school got one. It's not good to-"
"Sarah, relax. Blaze got him some water but he insisted on seeing the others. He's wondering where Sonic is."
"And?"
"I told him Sonic's in his bedroom resting."
Silver walked easily through the living room. "Hey."
Sarah and Amy glanced up and grinned softly at him. Sarah stood up and wiped her hands on her jeans. "Are you okay? That bruise doesn't look so good."
Silver frowned as his hand rubbed against the purple skin. "You know when they say white matches with everything?"
Sarah and Amy found themselves laughing at the fact that Silver would have to deal with a bruise all evening, and for once, his white fur would clash with something: a bruise.
Silver sat down across from them, crisscrossing his legs before glimpsing down at Shadow, "So…what about him? Manic and Tails?"
"We'll just have to wait and see," Amy noted as her phone buzzed on the floor next to her.
She flipped it open and smirked before putting it away. Silver frowned. "What was that about?"
"Alicia and Mike are on their way."
"You invited those two?" Sarah groaned. "I mean, I like 'em…but…screw that, I dislike 'em."
"You like Alicia."
"So? I don't like Mike," Sarah grumbled. "Alicia is just fine but Mike…ooooh," she shivered at the name. "He thinks he's so good…"
"When has he ever thought that?" Amy asked.
"I don't know, but I assure you, I shall find out," Sarah stood up and walked down the hallway to her bedroom. "Oh, by the way, Sonic invited Flame and Sonia. Aleena has already decided to stay after and watch the kids."
Amy's smile faded. "You did tell them it might be dangerous, right?"
"Are you kidding? They couldn't pass the opportunity to kick some ass once more," Sarah winked before skipping down the hall.
Silver smirked before looking at Amy. "Do you think Shadow was right? That we might not win?"
Amy sighed and stared down at the male she adored. "We can…never tell the future, Silver."
"Exactly."
Green eyes shot up to amber ones. "Okay," Amy sighed, surrendering. "When the guys wake up…we'll make a plan."
Waiting for the guys to wake up took longer than expected. Sonic had a two hour nap and it was now three o' clock in the afternoon. The dance would start at six.
He stared as Sarah scrap-booked in front of him, letting him keep a watchful eye on her as he woke up.
"Have you been there all this time?" Sonic muttered quietly into his pillow.
"Hmhm," Sarah hummed. "Sonia and Flame are here with the kids. Silver woke up when you left to take a nap. Shadow woke up thirty minutes after I came back in here from talking to Silver and Manic woke up nearly twenty-five minutes ago."
Sonic lifted himself out of his bed, "Tails?"
Sarah shook her head and stopped to gaze at her fiancé. "Sonic…he'll be all right."
"I need to know that for myself," Sonic nearly growled, staring down at her. He softened before placing a kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry…I'm just worried about him."
"He's fine, honestly. It was just a mere bruise on the back of his head and some scratches. Speaking of that," Sarah stood up and made Sonic lean over near her.
The blue hedgehog was slightly tall for her so he'd always have to lean down or she'd have to tippy toe up. Sarah sighed as she saw the scratch above his eyebrow. "The blood has dried up."
"No, duh."
She didn't say anything back to him for once, which took him by surprise. He held her at her hips and whispered, "You okay?"
"Yeah," Sarah shook it off. "I'm always okay."
Sonic chuckled, "Even when you're angry?"
"No, then I'm fantastic."
He could hear the sarcasm emitting itself from her throat. The blue hedgehog cracked a grin and tugged her even closer. "You're cute when you're angry."
Sarah sighed and patted his arms. "Of course I am."
Sonic found himself nuzzling into her shoulder. "So," he pulled away but kept a hold on her. "Where are the kids?"
Sonic let go and walked to open the door. Sarah turned and answered him, "In the living room watching Finding Nemo with Alicia and Mike."
Sarah watched, even flinched just a tad, as Sonic's ungloved hand gripped the doorknob forcefully. "Who invited them?" he slowly asked, glancing at her over his shoulder.
"Who do you think?" she put her hands on her hips.
Sonic turned unexpectedly, "You?"
Sarah scoffed, "Don't be dumb—of course not. Amy did." She saw his body relax, which made her pose a question. "Why would you think it was me?"
"You hate it when I stare at another girl that walks by," Sonic walked backwards until his back hit the door. "Makes sense that I'm sent in a fury when you stare at guys."
Sarah almost choked on her laughter. "Wait! You—you actually thought I was interested in Mike?" She whispered, as if Mike could hear her from the living room.
"It seems plausible, you're always looking at him," Sonic snarled as inaudibly as he could muster.
"If anything it's a hate brother/sister relationship," Sarah tried opening the door but Sonic towered over her. "I never said 'love', now did I?"
Sonic stood in his place, glaring down at her. She didn't seem fazed; instead, she tippy toed up to him and kissed him. He moaned almost instantaneously and tried going into the kiss but Sarah pulled away swiftly and opened the door, going under his arm.
He slammed his arm on the door, shutting it stridently. He shook his index finger at her as if to say, 'no, no.' "That's not nice," he murmured to her.
Sarah swallowed and blinked harmlessly, "Hm? What?"
"You are so trying to kill me, aren't you?" Sonic inched closer to her face.
She followed his lead, her nose almost grazing his. "Trust me, Love, if I was trying to kill you, you'd all ready be dead."
With that, Sonic let her pass and leave, but he caught hold of her hand and followed her out. Amy was sitting on the couch, putting a rag up to Shadow's lip, which had stopped bleeding a while ago.
Sonic felt Sarah entwine their fingers, which made him smirk to some extent. He caught Shadow's eye contact and cleared his throat.
Shadow tried swatting Amy away but she only slapped his shoulder in response. Shadow shrugged at Sonic and continued to watch Finding Nemo. Petunia hadn't realized her uncle was there and neither did Jeffery. Instead, they were too busy watching the TV.
The cobalt hedgehog grinned and walked over to the ebony hedgehog, still holding on to Sarah.
"Now…about that plan."
~~~.~~~
"Sam's motive is to take out all of us," Sarah put her phone away as they crowded around in the living room, letting the kids go downstairs with Aleena and Esperanza, "Scourge texted. Sam's bringing his gang."
"He has a gang? Great!" Mike smiled sarcastically. "All I want for Christmas is a death wish!"
"Is that supposed to be funny?" Sarah narrowed her eyebrows at him before shaking her head and sitting down in Sonic's lap.
Mike shrugged at Alicia who ignored him. Amy was sitting next to Sonic and Sarah, only in Shadow's lap. Trying to squeeze everyone in the room was said easier than done. They had to move their last unconscious comrade to the softer couches by the stove that was burning the wood, crackling every now and then.
"He wants to be even numbered," Shadow mused out loud.
Manic scoffed, rubbing his shoulder. "What if he outnumbers us? How will we fight back then?"
"Who even says we have to fight?" Cream wailed. "Maybe we can set a treaty."
"A treaty? With a killer? Ha! The police can't catch him, obviously, and if they do and he frames us, the police will be checking every inch of us and our belongings," Rouge told the rabbit. "We are not about to try and get tricked. I plan on doing the tricking here, Cream."
The rabbit stayed quiet from the rocking chair. The twins were downstairs, playing with Petunia and Jeffery. Knuckles was on the three person couch with Silver and Manic, their girlfriends in their laps. Mike and Alicia had taken the mattress on the floor.
"So…if he does outnumber us…what do we do?" Amy trailed off, taking time to ask the question.
Everyone was in silence. Every gear turned and every mind thought. Conjuring up a plan should've been effortless for a group of heroes. But it seemed there was no prevail. As if they were in a dark abyss, looking for one tiny ray of light.
"Hmm…" Shadow scooted Amy off of him so he could stand and pace across the floor.
Sarah started her thinking mode by twirling a quill while Sonic thought and muttered to himself. Manic was staring into space as Sunny was trying really hard. Cream didn't have the faintest clue and Knuckles and Rouge seemed as if they were having a conversation between their minds together. Silver played with his hands that were linked together with Blaze's. Blaze was leaning back on Silver and closed her eyes.
Clark watched them with amazement, only because they didn't know what to do. Benjie and Lewis were in the kitchen scrounging for food on the other hand.
Benjie opened a cupboard and listened as Manic talked:
"Maybe we could get some more people. We should all have friends here."
"True, but those friends have families—children and spouses, they won't want to get into an argument like this. They'd tell us to go fly a kite," Sonic answered his brother.
Lewis scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You would think they'd have a plan by now."
"Hey," Benjie said with his voice echoing as it was in the nearly empty cupboard. "You remember that movie we watched a long time ago?"
Lewis rolled his eyes and answered mockingly, "Of course."
Benjie popped his head out of the cupboard. "I'm serious. The main characters faked not knowing what to do and set themselves up in the trap—wanting to make the evil person think he was a step ahead of them."
Lewis stopped eating the pudding he had in his grasp to stare up at his older brother. "Oh…my…God…"
"Why don't we just fight them?" Knuckles growled impatiently. "I'm sick of this Sam guy getting in the way!"
"In the way of what?" Silver asked.
"Living! He's threatening to kill us! He wants to kill us—to be rid of us!" Knuckles answered.
"Shut up!" Shadow shouted, rubbing his temple. "We need to properly think of a plan as calmly as we possibly can…"
"Hey!" Lewis and Benjie barged in.
Shadow growled at them until they put their hands up. Lewis swallowed. "We got an idea…"
Alicia had finished her French braid when a knock on the bathroom door interrupted her. She was in the middle of placing her short, light purple dress on—such perfect timing.
Groaning, the wolf snapped, "What?"
"It's almost five-thirty, we need to hurry up."
After an hour of 'rehearsing' the plan Lewis and Benjie came up with (mostly Benjie), the girls had rushed in getting ready. Sunny and Blaze were of course the first ones to get their nails repainted (despite having painted them the night before), their dresses on, and their hair/quills in tip-top shape.
Alicia had helped Cream braid her hair because the rabbit was fussing over Tails when he woke up. He was in part of the plan but didn't hear most of it from Sonic squishing him to death—Amy's death hug couldn't even match with his.
Anyhow, the rabbit was dressed in a brown dress that reached to her knees. It was silky fabric and had a loose bow at the bottom of the sash-like part of the dress that was smoothest part. With that, she wore silver flats and tiny pink flower clips in her hair. Technically, her hair was French braided from three different areas and connected at the side, to the left a little, with a bunch of bobby pins and the flower clips. Alicia had Blaze curl Cream's medium-length bangs while she was busy braiding.
After finishing one completely (Cream had gotten out of doing her nails), Rouge went next. The white bat had longer hair than she had a long time ago, but it was still rather short. So, they left it lying down but curled. Rouge's dress was red and dragged to the ground. The strapless dress showed off her breasts but it also made her proud to still have a skinny waist, even after having twins.
The wolf in the bathroom tugged on her dress and opened the door to see Mike. "When are we leaving?"
Mike rubbed his ear and looked at her. "Um…"
"What?" Alicia stared at herself in the mirror and tilted her head before glancing back at him. "Have you never seen me dressed up before?"
Mike slowly shook his head. Alicia sighed and rolled her eyes, turning around. "Zip me up."
Mike's fingers fumbled just a tad, but in the end he got the zipper up to her mid-back. He cleared his throat and she turned around, "Shoes?"
"Right," Mike let her walk by, but followed her to the door where she left her bag. "Rouge is just wearing sneakers."
The wolf stopped and turned at him, "Rouge? Wearing sneakers to a dance?"
"You have to change anyway," Mike mused. "Amy thought it would be smart to dance first and then when we saw Sam, the girls would change into clothes that they could actually move in."
"I can move in this," Alicia stated and to prove it, she twirled.
The male swallowed, "That's nice, but again—bring other clothes."
Alicia sighed again and watched from the corner of her eye as Mike vanished. She stared at her flats and then at her sneakers. "Screw it," she tugged on her sneakers after putting on her socks. "I can look country-fashionable."
"More like city-fashionable," Sonic snorted from the kitchen archway.
"Why don't you-"
Alicia stopped when she saw Sonic and Shadow, dressed up. Only, they weren't in suits. Sonic merely wore a white flannel shirt and nice dark jeans and then his boots. Shadow had a dark green flannel shirt on with similar jeans (his, he checked) and his brown boots.
"That's what you guys are wearing?"
"We don't try," Sonic smugly smiled. "Besides, we're going to be in a fight anyway."
"Okay, are we almost ready?" Sarah came in, wearing her dress with her naturally wavy hair down and flats on.
"Almost," Silver appeared. "Rouge is just saying goodnight to the boys."
Knuckles stood next to the white hedgehog—they were both dressed in nice jeans and a nice shirt, much like Shadow and Sonic. Flame, Manic, Benjie, Lewis, and Tails had all followed pursuit and that left the girls the only ones trying when it came to the actual dance and not the brawl.
Tails escorted Cream by his arm linked with hers. Sarah went to stand next to Sonic while Sonia came from the bedroom. She was in an orange with a bow around the waist and only a strap going over one shoulder. Her hair was tugged back in a messy bun and her shoes were silver heels.
"Did the girls get their clothes?" Sonic asked.
Sarah lifted her duffle bag up and patted it. "Amy and I are sharing one. Blaze took Amy's small bag and Sunny is using a bag I had with Alicia. Sonia has to use a garbage bag."
Sonia lifted it up but smiled nonetheless. "Let's go kick some ass."
"Where's Blaze and Amy?" Sunny asked, walking into the group's circle with Mike.
The grey hedgehog peered down the hallway again. "They said they were ready."
"And we are," Amy emerged from the dark hallway in her green gown and with Blaze in her multi-colored dress. "Let's go."
"Don't worry, we're always the earliest ones anyway," Sonic waved them off before leading them out the door.
Shadow stopped with Amy in the back of the group. He smiled at her in the gown she adored just as much as him. It had different shades of green and was frankly the only dress to pop out the most. Flower-printed fabric climbed up from her thighs to around her waist, much like Sunny's "popping snowflake" only it didn't go all around the dress. There was a light green dress part underneath that was visible over the silky fabric. Then the solid green color was around the rest of the dress, though it seemed to get darker as the straps enclosed around her neck.
Amy grinned and linked arms with him as he escorted her.
"Ready?"
"Are you kidding?" Amy giggled. "We get to have the best night of our lives!"
Shadow just hoped she was right.
Making accommodations for the group to all fit together in a minimum amount of cars seemed easy at first. Alicia and Mike, in the end, had to take Silver, Blaze and Sarah in their car. Tails took the group he came with: Rouge, Knuckles and Cream (minus the boys), but also had to take Sonia and Flame. Sunny and Manic took Sonic's truck, putting the girls' bags in the back. Amy and Sonic found themselves placed in Shadow's truck.
Despite having to push her dress down, Amy fit in the middle of the boys. Shadow leaded the vehicles towards Mr. Wilson's home. Sawyer was split up in two parts when it came to who owned what land. On the western side, closer to the mountains, the land was basically owned by Mr. Wilson. His family went way, way, way, way, way back from when the town was established. The eastern parts were owned by three other larger families who didn't come until about fifty years after the town was made.
Everyone else lived in that land—small pieces of land their family owned and passed down from generation to generation, despite the bigger families trying to buy it all every passing year. But not Mr. Wilson. He was a peaceful man and divided his land to his children and only sibling: Jo. Shadow had recalled meeting the strange man before. He was doing the chicken dance at one of the dances—might've been the Fourth of July if Shadow evoked correctly.
The ebony hedgehog just felt bad for Jo's wife, Millie. Millie had been a lawyer down in California until she met Jo, who was down there on vacation with some relatives (Shadow remembered the story by Jo all too well; the old man would repeat it everytime he saw someone new.). The two moved back up here to work for Frank Wilson, Jo's brother, after their remaining parent died and gave the land up to Frank. Jo had never wanted to farm; he had always wanted to travel. But he came back in loyalty to his brother—thinking Frank couldn't handle college, his expanding family of newborns, and the farm. But Jo had never been so wrong in his life. Frank had become a vet and a farmer during the years. Of course, the Wilson's were also ranchers.
Red eyes stayed tuned in on the road. The sun was still up but it was only a matter of time before it settled past those mountains that Shadow had walked up many times. His mind wondered and he questioned himself how he even met the Wilson's and became, as Eloise said, 'good neighbors'. Shadow lived more on the eastern side than the western, but he wanted a home over there. He'd work for Frank just to do it—maybe because the land was better or maybe because Shadow liked to be closer to the mountains and open land than be near other people. True, the closest farmer near him was some guy he never truly bothered to meet, but it was only a matter of time before Sonic became the closest one.
And Shadow just couldn't wait (tons of sarcasm placed into the thought) for that. He had already had to deal four years living under the same roof of the hedgehog, what would make the rest of his life being neighbors with him any different?
Amy hummed next to him as Sonic sparked up a conversation with her.
Shadow was still lost in his thoughts like usual. At least they weren't about a certain pink hedgehog.
I remember meeting Frank when I needed cattle.
The bolshie hedgehog nodded mentally. That sounded about right. Frank had cattle he would sell and Shadow needed more just to make it into the meat market to provide for himself and his new home. That April, Frank and his family had been the only ones to help Shadow brand the calves and really show him how to do things, though the Ultimate Life Form had been anti-social towards the talkative family at first. But, they pushed through his barriers…literally, one of the grandchildren took the car when they weren't looking and decided smashing into Shadow's garage would be fun.
Thus, he started to get to know the odd family.
He glanced over at Sonic who was making a funny face at Amy—the two were beginning to start their continuous laughter for the ten minute ride.
A smirk came upon Shadow's face as he stared back at the road.
It won't be the first odd family.
Honestly, I didn't know how to end this one, but I like the ending. Shows a little glimpse of what's to happen if you look closely. Reread multiple times (like usual) so I do hope there are no mistakes. Annnnnnnd, I just got finished watching Sherlock Season 3, Episode 2: The Sign of Three. My friend always cries for some reason while I'm trying to stay in my seat.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. This is really a boring chapter in my opinion and more of the touchy ones than the action ones—but don't worry…expect some twists at the end…I'm actually debating on whether to put a twist at the end of the next chapter as a little cliffhanger, ya know? Oh, cliffhangers are so much fun to write, but terrible to read and have to endure. It's like The Hobbit Part 2… :/ I actually ended the last chapter the same way The Hobbit Part 2 ended. How funny.
So, good night, good evening, good morning—whatever time of day it is for you when finishing this chapter!
Arrivederci!
Also, a little heads up, readers! No updating for some of February because I have relatives coming! I'm not sure exactly when, I think they said the 8th through the 15th...or maybe it was the 8th or 15th. Through. Had to have been through. So, yeah, don't expect much updates in February. :(