A/N: To the guests that have been leaving reviews on the last few chapters,

Thank you so much. You have no idea what your words really mean to me. It lifts me up to know that other people actually enjoy what I write, and that I'm not just some weirdo posting her works into the void. Thank you so so much for taking the time to read this and write your reviews. :D

That evening, everyone was below deck, sitting on the floor as they ate their supper. It was pretty dull, but there wasn't much that would keep for months at sea, and by now Sonic was used to boring anyway. He and the other four freedom fighters had mostly been surviving on stolen vegetables and bread for the past few months, and even then, their stores had been running thin, urging them to ration carefully.

But this soup was warm and filling. Amy had made it, and even now she was still tending to those who wanted seconds, despite not having had her own serving yet. She made sure Miles got the portions he asked for before anyone else got them, and even while he hid away in the corner to eat, she had a wave of hungry sailors continuing to demand food. The only other person who seemed to notice this was Shadow, who went up to her and poured a bowl of soup for her, kissing her gently on the side of her head. Amy smiled warmly and leaned her head briefly on Shadow's shoulder.

Sonic looked down at his bowl, though his appetite had gone down considerably. He looked around the room, pointedly avoiding looking at the couple, and his eyes landed on a little pile of orange fur hiding in the corner of the room, removed from the group.

Taking his bowl with him, Sonic walked over to Miles, stumbling every now and then when the ship tipped. He sat down next to the little fox, giving him some space, and smiled at him. "Hey," Sonic said.

Miles peeked out from behind one of his tails, regarding Sonic with caution. "Hello," he said quietly. Then he immediately went back into hiding.

Wow, Sonic thought. Never met a kid this shy before.

But still, maybe he could get him to open up a little. After all, Amy had said something about sharing the crow's nest with him hours before. Then again, the crow's nest was small and cramped, and Sonic generally preferred his personal space. He'd try and figure something else out. Still, if he was going to stay on the ship for a bit, might as well try to break the ice, right?

"You're Miles, right?" Sonic prompted.

The fox peeked at him again. "Mhmm," he said. "But everyone calls me Tails." He didn't sound happy about it.

"And you don't like that?" Sonic asked.

Miles shook his head. "I wouldn't mind it if it were affectionate, but.. everyone says it as an insult," he said. "The Babylons are especially mean about it."

"The Babylons?"

Sonic looked where Miles pointed, finding Jet's trio. "Ah," he said flatly. "'Course they are."

"They're mean to everyone," said Miles. "Rosy tries to get them to stop, but she's usually really busy. Whisper is the only one who lets me hide behind her. Tangle is nice, but she keeps trying to tell me to stand up for myself. Great in theory, but how am I supposed to execute it?"

"Well," said Sonic. "I think Tangle's got a point. They'll only walk all over you if you let 'em."

Miles nodded. "You're right," he said. "But it's way easier said than done."

"I think you can do it," Sonic replied. "You want some advice?"

Miles rose a brow, but nodded.

"Stand up tall," Sonic began. "Even if they say something nasty or try to do something stupid, stay on your feet. Make eye-contact, and don't be the first one to look away."

Miles frowned. "What if they try to hit me or something?" he asked. "They're all way bigger than me."

"You've got teeth, don't you?" Sonic said. "If they're picking on you it's already an unfair fight. Fight dirty. Bite, scratch at their faces, do what you can to get them off you."

Miles pursed his lips, as if he didn't quite agree with Sonic's advice. "I get what you're saying," he finally said. "But I think hurting them would get me in trouble with the captain."

"What would get you in trouble with me?"

Sonic and Miles whipped their heads up to find Shadow staring down at them, his eyes narrowed. "Go on, spit it out," he said.

Sonic smiled. "I was just trying to give him some advice on how to get the birds off his back," he said. "And he was worried that if he hurt Jet he'd get in trouble with you. But this was about self-defense."

Shadow kept his eyes on both of them, and Sonic didn't miss Miles curling into himself, hiding once again behind his tails. We'll have to work on that, thought Sonic.

After a moment, Shadow nodded. "My concern is who started the fight," he said. "You will not be punished for defending yourself, Miles. But don't go around starting fights yourself."

Miles nodded quickly, and Sonic figured he would never even think of starting a fight. He was so shy and quiet. He even had fair reason to be distrustful and hostile toward Sonic, but he could see that the young fox really wanted the company.

A pang of pity resounded in Sonic's chest, but it was dispelled when he realized Shadow was glaring at him now. "And if he does start causing trouble I'll be having words with you," Shadow said, his voice calm, level, but just on the edge of angry.

Sonic snorted. "I'm not teaching him to be a delinquent," he said. "Just trying to help the underdog, ya know?"

Shadow huffed, but he turned and left the two of them alone. Sonic rolled his eyes with another snort. "Now as I was saying," he said, "if the three of them are picking on you, it's already an unfair fight. All that honor stuff goes right out the window, got it? You focus on getting out and finding Shadow or Rosy. Or me."

Miles nodded. "Okay…" he said, a note of uncertainty still wavering his voice, but he didn't say anything else after that, turning his attention back to his food. He didn't hide behind his tails again either, which Sonic happily considered progress.


After the meal was finished, Tangle and Whisper stayed up to wash the dishes left behind while everyone else went off to their hammocks hanging from the beams above, or in Miles's case, went topside to get back to the crow's nest.

Only Sonic, Silver, Amy, and Shadow remained after that.

"Come," Shadow beckoned, leading them topside and up the stairs to the captain's quarters. The captain sat down behind his desk, burying his face in his hands and sighing tiredly. "So…" he said. "What were you doing before you ended up on my ship, Sonic? Besides getting your ass beaten that is."

"Very funny," Sonic replied dryly. But he told the whole story of that morning, what he and Sally had been trying to do, how they'd been captured by the jackal and the strange nightmare he'd induced with the stone, and what he'd been trying to do before the fox had intercepted and incapacitated him.

Shadow listened intently, his eyes widening when he mentioned the jackal. But he waited until Sonic was finished before speaking.

"I know the jackal… his name is Infinite…" he said, his voice low. "And I suspect I might know that fox too. They were both there the night Maria… the night the royal family was murdered. One of them killed Princess Maria. I've just never been able to figure out which one–Infinite refused to say anything before he escaped… but you're saying that they're both working at the palace?"

Sonic nodded.

Amy reached out to Shadow, grasping his hand, her expression worried and solemn. "So that means…" she said, trailing off.

"It means Kintobor really orchestrated the whole thing…" Shadow said, anger rising in his voice. "And then he fucking lied to me!"

He stood up, wrenching his hand out of Amy's grip and walking out of the room, swearing and bellowing insults at the top of his lungs. Amy ran out after him, and Sonic and Silver looked at each other once in surprise before hurrying after her. The first thing they saw when they emerged from the room was a panicked Mimic, his eyes open wide as he stared at the captain on the deck below. Sonic followed his gaze and swore, running towards where Amy and the captain stood.

Shadow was emanating harsh red light, and it was only getting brighter the further he walked towards the prow. Sonic nearly reached him only to stop short, teal light suddenly enveloping his body and filling his vision. He struggled against Silver's will to no avail. "Shadow!" he cried.

"Stay back!" Amy shouted. She looked like she was trying to placate the irate captain, her hands reaching out gently towards him.

"Don't touch me!" Shadow snarled, and Amy winced, pulling back.

By now the entire crew had emerged from below deck to investigate the chaos, and Sonic heard Bean exclaim gleefully, "Ooh! He's gonna do the blasty thing!"

Blasty thing?!

Suddenly, the red light became blinding, and in that moment the teal aura disappeared. Before he could overthink it, Sonic hurried and grabbed Amy's arm, pulling her away from Shadow. He pulled her close to him, turning his back and quills to the captain, and then it hit.

Amy yelped in his arms as he fell forward, landing on top of her, but he barely heard it through the ringing in his ears. Sonic could feel the blast shake the ship beneath him, but he did his best to stay curled over Amy, shielding her from the worst of it. It felt as if his back and quills were being assaulted by the push of a magnet, and after a small eternity, the blast died down. His quills were pointing entirely the wrong way now, and he could barely hear anything. But at least nothing had been broken or knocked out.

Sonic turned his head to look towards the light, blinking as it faded. Shadow stood there, his shoulders heaving as his breath came in deep pants. Rage still burned like a wildfire in his eyes, but the flames seemed to be banking. His anger seemed as if it had mostly been spent now.

Sonic hoped it had anyway.

It took Sonic a moment to realize he was still on top of Amy, and his cheeks reddened as he hurried to get off of her. He winced as he stood, his entire body aching. He held a hand out to Amy, who took it and let him pull her to her feet. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice muffled as it reached his ears.

Sonic smiled, despite the pain. "I'll be fine in a sec," he promised. "Just gotta sort myself out. Are you?"

Amy nodded, then he saw a small dusting of pink on her cheeks as she said, "Thanks… for protecting me."

Sonic winked at her, then turned away to face Shadow, and Amy hurried past him to reach the captain, who was still seething. "Are you alright?" she asked him.

"No," said Shadow, his voice a low growl this time. "No, but I need to know the truth."

He pushed past Amy and approached Sonic, who was just barely beginning to regain his hearing, trying to get his quills to lay back down again and make sense of what had just happened.

"My god…" Silver said, echoing Sonic's thoughts. "What was that?"

"Not now," Shadow said, his eyes boring deep into Sonic. "You're going to tell me everything."


It was over an hour later that Sonic finally finished his story, beginning with the night of the royal murders, then the morning after when it was announced Kintobor would be crowned king. Nothing had seemed out of place aside from the murders themselves, but no one except a few deemed insane connected them to Kintobor, who had assured that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

Then a few months went by and things started changing. Taxes rose, and kept rising for the mobians. (To pay for better palace security, Kintobor had said.) Over time, more and more people became unable to pay the tax, relying on theft just to survive. And when they didn't pay anymore, they were taken away to various camps around South Island to "work off" their debt. Only those family members, those mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, husbands and wives, they never came back out.

The only way they came out was in coffins.

Sonic's parents had said they would rather have died than ever let their children be dragged into one of the camps, and so they did.

Even over a year later, Sonic remembered running with Sonia and Manic by his side and hearing those final gunshots and running back to find his Jules and Bernadette Hedgehog dead on the ground, blood soaking the forest floor beneath them. In perfect detail.

He barely escaped the same fate as the soldiers fired their muskets, grazing his left ear with a bullet as he sped away.

About a year later, they caught Sonia and Manic on a supply run for the rebellion, taken away to camps he hadn't been able to approach without risk of being killed on sight. Sonic hadn't even been with them. He'd been on the other side of town, on the outskirts of the port, trying to find Blaze, who had spoken of going "home". That was the day she had been caught too.

Silver's fists had tightened at the mention of Blaze's capture, but he'd said nothing, allowing Sonic to continue.

Slowly, he and the other freedom fighters had been whittled down to almost nothing. Until three weeks ago, when it had finally only been him and the four others. They'd been surviving and trying to stay together until yesterday morning.

When Sonic finally finished, Shadow looked at him sullenly. Amy put a comforting arm around Shadow's shoulders, though she looked at Sonic like she wanted to reach out to him too, her gaze pitying. "I'd been wondering why we weren't seeing many mobians when we went to shore," she said quietly.

No one said anything for several moments. Sonic wanted more than ever to just find his siblings, but he'd been offshore for more than a day now. There was no way Espio could send one of his spirits this far away, being even further from home now than this morning, which meant he had no way of relaying a message back to him or get any information on what was going on at the camps (which was maddening).

Speaking of magic though…

"What was that… explosion earlier?" Sonic finally asked.

Shadow looked over at him, then sighed tiredly. "I was… sickly, as a child," he began. "My parents could barely keep me alive. When I was about three years old, they took me to a mage to see if anything could be done. He called himself Black Doom, and in a way I suppose the name was fitting. They struck up a bargain with him. He gave me incredible strength and strong magical ability. But he took me away from my parents and raised me as his own."

Shadow looked away. "My childhood was not a happy one," he said. "The only thing that kept me going, that kept me sane… was Princess Maria." His voice softened when he spoke of the princess, though not like Silver's had when he'd spoken Blaze's name. It was a different kind of love, the way Sonic might have said Sonia's and Manic's names if…

He shied away from the dark thoughts.

After a moment, Shadow continued. "That night… Kintobor acted… Broken. He said that he would capture whoever did it, and I could decide how they would be punished myself… He gave me this ship so I could finally get away from Black Doom, or so he said… but now you're telling me that… he was responsible for her death…"

Shadow looked around at everyone in the room, suddenly looking exhausted. His eyes settled on Amy, who still had her arm around him. "I think I need some time alone," he said. "Sonic, Silver, you are dismissed. Rose?"

"Hmm?" Amy replied softly as Sonic walked towards the door with Silver. He didn't hear what Shadow asked her, but he figured it was none of his business anyway. As they emerged from the captain's quarters, he looked over at Silver, who looked as if he might fall asleep on his feet. "You know where you're sleeping?" Sonic asked.

Silver nodded tiredly. "Found a corner below the deck," he said. "You?"

Sonic looked up at the crow's nest, settled at the top of the center mast, then shook his head. It would be too small, and he didn't want to wake up Miles this late at night. Besides, the kid was barely used to him anyway. It would be better to just give him some space. But the idea of going below deck, where it was also crammed full with all the other sailors, held absolutely no appeal. "I'll figure something out," he told Silver. "Good night."

"Buona notte," Silver replied, turning away with a yawn as he descended the stairs to the deck.

Sonic looked up at the sky, the moon a slim crescent and the stars twinkling brightly above. I wish Sonia could see this, he thought, remembering how much his sister loved studying astronomy. Had she been there, she would have pointed out each constellation in the sky above, as well as too many stars for Sonic to remember their names. He and Manic probably would have teased her for her intense interest, leading to the three of them bickering over something stupid like they always had. Sonic missed the bickering…

He sighed, and just before he was going to go down the stairs, the door opened behind him, and Amy emerged, holding a blanket. She offered it out to him with a tired smile, and he took it gratefully. Before he turned away, she reached out and hugged him, squeezing him tightly before letting go. Sonic wanted to return the hug, but she'd already let go by the time the thought even crossed his mind, leaving him feeling strangely cold.

"Good night, Sonic," she said, gently shutting the door.

"Good night, Amy," Sonic replied, though she probably couldn't hear him through the door.

Sonic turned and went down the stairs, his borrowed boots scuffing against the deck with every tired step as he passed Mimic, whose eyes were still on the dark horizon ahead of the prow, as they always seemed to be. Sonic looked at the rigging, debating how well it would hold. It looked sturdy enough, and he was tired so he hardly cared. So he jumped, reaching the first sail beam and laying down on it, covering himself with the blanket, which smelled like roses and lavender. The scents and the warm weight were strangely comforting, and despite the chaos of the day, he fell asleep within moments.