Author's note: I'm so mad at myself for making that happen so fast, but Miserie's eye is gorged out like that, so I wanted to get it over with. Sowwies. Enjoy this chapter though! And I'm sowwies again, I took time off towrite Sweetly Scented, but you can go check it out, it's awesome!
File 5- Maria-Ver1dotoh
Entry 1- Still More Fighting
Miserie pulled her patch over her hollow eye and sighed. She watched Shadow and Amy move around, not talking to each other. They were both thinking so hard, they forgot she was around. Miserie absolutely hated being the youngest.
She looked around in the forest. They had to be close to the end now. They'd been walking for at least three days, in silence. Miserie tried to keep herself amused by naming the trees on her way, but she didn't really care about the trees, and besides that she didn't know the names to begin with. She looked from Amy to Shadow. Before, they were getting along so well. At least, better than now…
Amy finally said, "I need a break." She said it while still walking, as if she really didn't need one. Shadow didn't answer. He was walking slowly so that Miserie, who was lagging behind, could follow. Miserie couldn't see his face, but she was sure he was thinking hard.
When Shadow didn't reply after a while, Miserie decided she wanted to stop. "uhm, me too!" Miserie said, and she crumpled to her knees. "I'm tired."
Shadow turned around. "fine. But a short one." He said. Miserie grinned. He only stared at her then turned around.
But she quickly lost her grin. Amy sat down, but she wouldn't face Shadow. And Shadow wouldn't face Amy. Miserie sat between the two, lost. She wanted to talk with Shadow, but she also wanted to talk to Amy. She didn't want to hurt their feelings, but it was so much easier when they talked.
'This is all my fault.' She whined to herself. 'Why did I have to save Amy anyway? Well…she is my friend but…why didn't I do it sooner? Man…' she sighed again. 'This is worse than punishment. Although I've never been punished. This has to be worse.'
She looked at Shadow. 'He's sometimes mean. I have to be careful. He isn't mean to me, but he is to Amy.' Now Miserie looked over at Amy. 'And Amy can be stubborn and sometimes she can be rude. Not to be mean of course. Shadow doesn't like it when people accuse him or if they won't give up.' She looked at her hands. 'The perfect pair to travel with.' She said to herself.
"Are you ready, Miserie?" Amy said, without turning. Miserie looked up.
"No. I'm going to wait here…" Miserie said, quietly. "I'm going to wait until you stop fighting…"
"We aren't fighting." Shadow said hollowly.
"Are so. You won't even look at each other. You won't even talk. The only person either of you are talking to is me…" Miserie whispered, softly. "You guys are making me feel horrible…"
Amy whirled around. Her green eyes were filled with tears. "Don't!" she said, hysterically. "Don't feel bad, it's all my fault!"
"How could it be your fault?" Miserie asked, baffled. "You were scared, weren't you? That's why you didn't move, wasn't it? If I had just realized that sooner, I'd have"
"No, no, no!" Amy interrupted. "If I had just moved like Shadow said, you would still have an eye!"
"But I do have an eye." Miserie pointed at her right eye. She felt tears well up in her eyes. "you don't think it's you're fault, do you?"
"It's all my fault and I'm sorry!" Amy said, flatly. Then she turned around again. "all…my fault…"
"Hmph." Shadow muttered.
"Shadow, you're not going to let her believe it's her fault, are you?" Miserie asked. Shadow didn't reply. "Are you, shadow?"
He shook his head. "It is her fault." He said. "If she had moved, you'd still have two eyes."
"No it isn't!" Miserie insisted. She stood up and stamped her foot. "I can't believe you're thinking it's her fault! That's not fair! What if she was scared? What if she got shot? What if she lost an eye? It's no one's fault!"
Shadow looked at Miserie, his red eyes showing no emotion. "Oh?"
Miserie balled her fists. "And if you're going to shame Amy into believeing it's her fault, then I don't like you anymore, Shadow!"
Shadow turned away. "Go ahead."
"Shadow!" Miserie whimpered, forgetting that she hated him. "You're being so stubborn!" She pointed at Amy. "You're being just like Amy! You two are so alike it's not funny!"
Amy got up, still not facing Shadow or Miserie. "I'm not like that insensitive, melodramatic, horrible jerk!" She argued.
"And I'm nothing like that stuck up, whiny little brat." Shadow said.
"Are so! Are so!" Miserie cried. "Look at you! You're both too self-absorbed to see the other one is hurting too!"
"What?" Amy said. "Shadow isn't hurting; he just hurts others!"
"No!" Miserie said. "I know you're hurting Amy, because you think my eye coming out is your fault. But Shadow, you're hurting because you hurt Amy, aren't you?"
"Since when did you decide you knew me so well?" Shadow asked.
Miserie grabbed Shadow's arm. "Stop being stupid and apologize, Shadow!" She whined, swinging on his arm. "Please?"
He shook his head. "No."
Miserie looked at Amy. "Amy, what about you?"
"Uh-uh." Amy said.
Miserie stamped her foot again. "But…But…" She said,and her lip trembled. Shadow looked at her, and he sighed.
"What's wrong, Miserie?" He said, looking upset.
Miserie broke into tears. "I'm sorry, okay?" She said. Her voice cracked, tinged with sadness. "It's my fault, okay? Why won't you just apologize? I don't understand…I don't like being punished… Why can't you just stop?"
"Punished?" Amy turned around suddenly and faced Shadow. Miserie looked, bewildered, at Amy. "Shadow…" Amy said quietly.
Shadow was looking at Miserie, but he turned to face Amy when she spoke. Miserie sat on the ground like a dog on its haunches. Shadow didn't say a word. He waited for Amy to continue.
Amy went into a rage. "I can't stand you, Shadow!" She screamed. "You're so stupid confident! Just like Sonic! Always stepping all over my feelings!" She balled her fists and continued. "But Miserie told me you were different and look what you did! You're the same! You're the same selfish hedgehog who tried to take over the world!"
"Selfish?" Shadow said, looking amused. Miserie rubbed her eyes and looked at Amy.
"Selfish, that's right!" Amy screamed, but then, she said quietly, "But you realized you were wrong and you helped Sonic. I took the wrong impression." She paused. "I was wrong." Now she glared up at Shadow. "but right now, YOU'RE wrong!" She pointed at him. "You're wrong! You told me it was my fault! But…even if it was…why doesn't Miserie feel the same way? If it was really my fault, wouldn't Miserie hate me more than you do?"
"Who said I hated you?" Shadow asked. He looked at Miserie. "I'm watching out for Miserie. She's the only one like me." He looked at Amy. "But you, you tried to kill her, and I think it's your fault."
"She's not the only one like you!" Amy said, suddenly. She shook her head. "She's not even like you! She's…" Amy looked at Miserie. "Miserie's so nice. When I first met her, she didn't scare me the way you did. She didn't hurt my friends, like you did. She was so nice. But you weren't. You stole, you lied, you cheated, and you nearly killed Sonic. And I thought I could never forgive you for that!"
"Wait! Stop!" Miserie said, and both hedgehogs looked at her. "…Shadow…Amy…" she said softly. "I just want us all to be friends again. I didn't want all this fighting. This isn't anyone's fault but mine."
Shadow and Amy looked at each other, then back at Miserie.
"you know what?" Amy said suddenly.
"It's no one's fault. Let's just get going." Shadow said. He turned around and started walking away. "And you two better keep up."
Miserie looked at Amy, who shook her head. "Whatever Shadow."
Miserie smiled a little. 'At least they're talking again…' she thought, and she hurried after Amy, disappearing into the trees.