A/N: I keep forgetting to mention this, but I doubt I'll ever mention anyone's ages aside from Sonic's, Tails', and Silver's in the actual manuscript, lol. So, I wanted to clear up how old Amy and Shadow are, because it is important, not necessarily for this chapter, but for the story as a whole. I might end up mentioning it later, but I want to put it out there now so you know sooner rather than later, lol.

Amy is 18 years old, and Shadow is 20, putting Sonic in the middle at 19. I wanted to keep the age gradient but close the gaps a bit for obvious reasons, lol.

Anywho, hope you like this one, guys! ^^


Sonic's dreams repeated Infinite's nightmare, only this time, the jackal wasn't there, and more faces had joined the crowd. Blaze was there, her purple fur soaked, water spilling from her mouth as she rasped along with the chorus of voices. Sonia and Manic were there again, broken and bleeding, along with Sally and Rotor and Antoine and Bunny and… everyone. He couldn't even get away from them, couldnt't get away from their moaning.

"Your fault…"

Sonic woke with a jolt when he heard the pounding of a fist on the mast, tears spilling silently down his cheeks. He opened his eyes to early dawn light, the sun not even beginning to rise above the water as the stars faded in the blue-green sky. "Oi! Stowaway!" called Jet's voice below, oozing with annoyance. "Shake a leg! The deck needs swabbing! Captain's orders!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Sonic muttered, wiping the tears away shakily and taking a deep breath, steadying himself. He grabbed the blanket Amy had loaned him and dropped from the beam with a thump, landing on his feet and startling the hawk. He smirked as Jet stomped off towards the piles of rope beneath the center mast with a sneer, already feeling just a little better.

Sonic craned his neck, searching for any sign of pink quills as the sailors bustled to and fro. Finally, he caught sight of Amy emerging from below deck, still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, the cropped blouse and short trousers looking more disheveled now. She was missing the smile he'd seen on her almost all day yesterday, making her look exhausted already, her shoulders hanging heavy on her frame.

He approached her, holding the blanket out to her. "Good morning," he said. "Thanks for letting me borrow this."

"Hmmm? Oh," Amy said, finally smiling at him, albeit tiredly. "You're welcome. Just go ahead and keep it. We'll still be at sea for a bit until we figure out what we're going to do."

Sonic opened his mouth to protest, but Amy continued. "I know you want to rescue your siblings," she said. "And I think we are going to do what we can to help you. But Shadow…"

"He's not taking it very well is he," Sonic said, and Amy nodded. "When is he going to take action though?" he asked, his voice betraying his frustration. "Yeah, it sucks, and I would be angry if I were blindsided like that too, but I'd want to do something about it."

"Believe me," said Amy with a tired sigh. "He wants to. He wants to shove Kintobor's scepter right up his—"

"Rosy?" said a voice behind Sonic. He turned around to find Miles standing there, his tails drooping. "I'm not feeling so well," he said.

Amy reached out and touched the boy's forehead, frowning. "Alright, come with me," she said. "You too, Sonic. We're not done talking."

"Yes, ma'am," Sonic replied, following the both of them to the captain's quarters. Amy opened the door, ushering Sonic and Miles inside before closing the door.

Shadow sat behind his desk, frowning at a map laying in front of him. Amy passed him and went over to her own desk behind him. "Come here, Miles," Amy said, and with a pitiful sneeze, the fox obeyed.

Sonic watched as she sat Miles down on what he presumed was her cot and sorted through the herb jars on her desk, pulling some out and putting them in a mortar. She then took her pestle and used it to grind the herbs into a leafy powder. She poured the powder into another bowl and added water to the mixture, and Sonic heard her singing something, though he couldn't make out the words.

The melody was steady, with very subtle variations between the notes rather than a strong dynamic flow. Amy's voice rang gently through the room, and Sonic felt something loosen in his chest, the aches from sleeping on the mast easing away to nothing. Even Shadow had closed his eyes now, as if he were drinking in the song.

The ingredients in the bowl began to glow a soft white as Amy's song continued, steadily growing stronger and then fading again as the melody came to an end, the final notes fading into soft echoes as Amy carefully took the bowl of herb water over to where Miles sat. "Drink this," she told him. Sonic noticed her shoulders drooping even lower now, the dark circles beneath her eyes more pronounced.

Miles obediently drank the potion, wrinkling his snout a little at the taste, but swallowing any complaints along with the mixture. When he put the bowl down, he took a breath in through his nose, and it was clear. "Thank you," he said, handing the bowl back to Amy.

Amy gave him a tired smile and gestured for him to run along. When Miles was finally out of the room, the door shut behind him, Sonic stared at her for a moment. "So you're a witch," he finally said. She looked almost offended, and he hurried to clarify, "I don't mean that in a bad way! I've just never seen someone cast a spell before. That was pretty cool." He smiled in a way that he hoped was reassuring.

Amy's posture relaxed after that, and she slumped onto her cot. "Sorry," she said tiredly. "Yeah, I am. It's just… most people follow that up with, 'witchcraft is dark magic! Burn the witch!' Glad you're not one of them."

"Why is it that witches get that reaction and not mages?" Sonic asked. "I've never understood that. Manic never got that when we found out about his earth abilities."

"Because mages are good at getting on the good side of powerful people," Shadow said, and Sonic turned to look at him as he continued. "Mages are often illusionists. They're good at making grand gestures and promises of power. Very few can deliver, but the illusions are impressive enough that no one wants to go after them. And their magic is connected to their will, meaning as quick as they can think it, they can make it happen. Witches, however, use ancient magic connected to the earth itself. They rely on earthen ingredients to perform magic, meaning their magic is often more powerful, but slower to cast. Most of them are healers, as you just saw with Rose, but they can also curse those who cross them, which is why they are so feared."

"Can't mages curse people too?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, but only some, and a mage's curse is reversible," said Shadow. "Unless there was a sacrifice involved from another party to bind it. But a witch's curse is much stronger, and always permanent. If people have reason to fear a witch's curse, they will do whatever they feel they must to avoid it. Ironically, that's how most curses are cast."

Sonic looked over at Amy, who had laid down and curled up on her cot, closing her eyes. Shadow followed his gaze, then quietly said, "I kept her up late last night, and spellcasting takes a lot of her energy. She'll be fine after some rest."

"She and I were still talking about something though," Sonic said with a quiet laugh.

"About what?" Shadow asked.

Sonic hesitated for a moment, and he absently started playing with the quills near the back of his neck, trying to think of what to say. Shadow had been really upset last night, and Amy had said earlier that he still was. But he wasn't very well going to lie to him. After all, if he wanted Shadow's help, he needed to be able to trust him.

"We were talking about what our next move might be," Sonic finally said. "I know you're still upset, but Silver and I really need to get back as soon as we can. And I've got other friends aside from my siblings that are imprisoned too. Blaze is one of them, and there are too many others that need help too."

The two hedgehogs were both silent, Sonic waiting for a response as Shadow frowned, deep in thought. After a moment, Shadow nodded. "I understand," he said. "But what are we supposed to do? If what you're saying is true, then when we come into port, my crew will immediately become targets. Some of them were even social targets before, like Rose."

"There are other witches on board?" Sonic asked.

"No," Shadow replied. "Tangle and Whisper are lovers, and they'd rather not have to worry about being hanged for being caught. So on my ship they don't, and they don't hide it."

Sonic blushed. "Oh," he said. "That makes sense. I guess there were a lot of people even before Kintobor came into power that didn't agree with that. I'm surprised you're telling me this though, I mean, not that it's bad, I—"

Shadow raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk turning up the corners of his mouth. "You don't strike me as the type to be bothered by that sort of thing," he said.

It was almost as if he could see through Sonic, which was unsettling. Sonic's pulse quickened, and he felt his cheeks flush as he cleared his throat nervously. "Well, you're right," he said. "I'm not. I mean, I'm not like that, but I've known others…" He trailed off, his stomach flopping as the lie left his mouth; as he realized it was a lie. But he buried the increasing panic in his chest and forced a smile. "So yeah, it's no big deal," he finished.

Shadow leveled his crimson gaze on him, staring curiously at Sonic. After a minute, he gave him one more knowing smile. "I see," he said, and Sonic really just wanted to run away from the entire situation; Shadow's stare, his own thoughts, these new feelings. But he forced himself to stay rooted to the spot in the room and meet his gaze, smirking back to bolster his confidence. It worked, somewhat. But Sonic was still relieved when Shadow said, "Go back to swabbing the deck, hedgehog."

Sonic nodded, gave Shadow a playful mock-salute, then turned around and opened the door, emerging to salty sea air and bustling sailors. He shut it behind him and took a deep breath, then went down to the deck to carry out Shadow's orders, his mind reeling.


Swabbing the deck was too mindless of an activity. It did nothing to stop the constant replay of his conversation with Shadow, the constant loop of Dear Gaia, I am attracted to a man. What was he supposed to do with this information? What did this mean for the people back at Knothole? Could he even tell anyone? Would it even matter? It wasn't like Shadow was single. And on top of his definite feelings for Amy and Sally, it was just downright confusing. Could he like men and women both? Maybe this was just a one-time thing. But then why Shadow, and why now?

He was so jittery that he had the entire thing done within moments. "Oi!" called Jet's voice behind him, and Sonic groaned. "What on earth was that?" Sonic turned to find Jet's beak hanging open in shock, and he smirked. "How did you get that done that fast?" the hawk demanded.

"That was nothin'," Sonic said. "Watch this."

He was off in a flash, running on the banisters and even on the sides of the ship, the thumps of his boots echoing loudly against the hull. He ran the same path a few times within a second, then came back to where he'd left his mop and bucket with a smirk. Jet's beak still hung open, shock slowly replacing itself with rage. "No one's faster than me, in the land or in the sky!" he growled.

"Whatever you say, pal," Sonic said. "I've never met anyone as fast as me. You got the skill to back it up?"

The hawk leveled a glare at him, and Sonic snorted a laugh. "Alright, mister pincushion," said Jet, spreading his wings wide. He beat the air a few times, a smirk spreading across his face as his feet left the deck, and then he was off like a shot, flying high and far away from the ship.

Ugh… water…

Still, Sonic wasn't going to back down from a chance to wipe that stupid smile off Jet's face. He took a deep breath, steeling himself, then sped after him. The water sprayed in his wake as he caught up to the spec of green on the horizon. He came up underneath Jet, who looked down in astonishment as he turned around, running backwards. Sonic yawned, just to piss him off a little more, then turned and went even faster, looping around and switching directions as he headed back to the ship, passing Jet along the way. He could hear Jet cursing him as he doubled back, and Sonic laughed triumphantly. But even the race aside, the feel of the wind in his quills as he ran was the best thing he'd ever felt, and he let out a happy whoop.

He was almost sorry to reach the ship, but the relief of having solid wood beneath his feet was definitely welcome. A moment later, an extremely cross and soaked Jet landed on the deck, ruffling his feathers in an attempt to dry off, though it could have been taken as a sign of annoyance as well. Sonic grinned, and the hawk glared even harder. "You win this time, porcupine," Jet scoffed. "But next time, I'll show you who's the fastest thing alive."

"Sure," Sonic teased. "And it'll be me unless you step it up. Also, I'm not a porcupine. I'm a hedgehog."

Jet scoffed again and turned away, heading below deck.

"Whoa!" exclaimed a voice from above, and Sonic craned his neck to see Miles peering down from the crow's nest. "That was so cool! I've never seen anything like that before!" His eyes shone with excitement.

Sonic grinned. "I'm a hedgehog full of surprises!" he shouted back. He jumped up onto the sail beam again, then onto the highest one that was on the same level as the crow's nest. Miles's mouth gaped in astonishment as Sonic took a playful bow.

"Do you know your maximum speed?" Miles asked eagerly. "And how do your boots withstand the stress? How does your face not smush when you go that fast? Can you take off and fly if you run fast enough? Are you a mage?"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, kid," Sonic laughed. "I have no idea what my top speed is, I don't know, I don't know, I don't think so, and no. Just a genetic gift, I'm not a mage."

Miles smiled bashfully. "Sorry. I get excited sometimes. My brother used to tell me my mouth is like a runaway chao when I get going…" Miles's face fell. He turned away, settling his gaze on the horizon. "I always loved studying things," he said. "I miss my books."

The way Miles looked as if he might cry made Sonic doubt that it was just his books he was missing, but he didn't push. It seemed like a touchy subject. He walked along the beam towards the crow's nest and climbed in. Looking around, Sonic could see seemingly forever in any direction. The waters were calm today, the sky dotted with occasional fluffy white clouds. "Wow," he breathed.

The two of them were silent for a while, and Sonic's mind wandered back to his siblings as it always did anymore. How was he going to convince Shadow to go back to shore as soon as possible? He couldn't help but understand the captain's protectiveness of the crew, especially of Tangle and Whisper, but what arguments did that leave him?

Speaking of the couple, he saw Whisper approach the mast and begin climbing up the rope at the base, the clay tribal mask she wore making her expression inscrutable. Sonic realized that he hadn't actually seen her without that mask, and he wondered just what it was she was hiding beneath it. A facial scar of some kind? Why would she want to hide her face like that?

Could she have been responsible for dragging him onto the ship in the first place?

"Miles," Whisper said when she reached the top. Her voice was quiet, befitting her name, and Sonic had to lean closer to hear her. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the last thing she wanted, and she said something inaudible to the fox, whose tails flicked with irritation. Then his eyes widened. "He's here?!"