The creature ceased to be.

It did not go quietly, as one would expect. No biting of the lip to hide the moan of pain, no squeezing a rock like a vice. It went with a scream that lurched Amy's head up, made her stare dazedly at the cave entrance.

The whimper that followed rocked Amy to the core, and she stumbled to her feet with a messy roll, peering into the depths. The scream had started out sounding like the howl of agony the creature had made when the spear punctured his skin, but it broke off into a ragged whimper, then gained volume into another cry of pain and utter desperation. Just like she had heard the previous night.

Amy suddenly felt small, uncertain. The beast and the poor, mysterious tribesman… their screams had merged together, had twisted and changed, and…

Something was terribly wrong. It really was a skinwalker, wasn't it? And the screams she heard earlier, it was the person behind the skinwalker, and-

Amy shoved her hand against the cave wall, and advanced into the cavern. She strained her eyes to adjust, but the inky darkness of the cave was so much darker then the jungle outdoors. Her eyes could make out shapes, at the very least.

Then Amy heard it. A breathless wheeze, followed by a muffled sob, a hiss of pain…

Each sniffle told her the same message - someone was in pain.

Amy's shoes felt sticky. Some form of sappy liquid clung to the bottoms of her boots, and she cringed as she looked down at her feet. While she could barely make out the shape of her shoes, much less what she was actually standing in, she had her suspicions on what she stood in, and she wasn't necessarily inclined to test her theory.

"Hey," Amy called into the darkness as she lifted her head, heart twisting in her chest as she searched the abyss for any movement. She thought she caught something, but she couldn't be sure. "Are you okay?"

There was a ragged gasp, and Amy started to make out the shape of the creature, the long spikes gravitating off the back of its head. The beast as a whole was smaller, too, but Amy suspected as much. It was a person, after all, and most didn't get much bigger than herself.

Then, softly, there came a voice. "I… wasn't expecting a guest, heh."

…that was a familiar voice.

Something clicked. "…Sonic?!" Amy leaned backwards sharply, startling. It was deeper than she remembered, but only just, and it…

Oh chief, she had tried to kill him.

"Heh, recognize my handsome mug?" Sonic chuckled, and Amy could just picture his overdramatic wink.

"Sonic," Amy gasped, eyes widening as she stumbled forward, flinching at the squish of the liquid below her feet, jumping forward. She took extra careful measures to not crash into Sonic - Sonic! - as she landed at his side and tossed her arms around him. She barely registered that he was laying on his side when she hugged him, and he squeezed her right back. He inhaled sharply in pain, but she ignored it and held him closer. "Sonic! I can't believe you're- oh, Sonic!"

"That's my name." Sonic hissed in between his teeth. "You're wearing it out."

Amy laughed wetly, sniffing at the tears dripping down her face. She withdrew, keeping her hands placed firmly on Sonic's shoulders as she stared at the blurry outlines of his face. "You huge idiot! I can't believe you're back! I- wait. What are you doing back?! The chief - nono, it's chieftess now, isn't it - will be furious! You broke the deal! What if she-"

"Amy," Sonic chuckled, squeezing her wrists gently. His brows were clenched in pain, Amy could see at least that much. A rock of worry seemed to settle into her stomach. "Chill."

"B-but-" Amy faltered, her brows clenching and unclenching as she struggled to decide if she was angry at her former tribemate or not. "…chief, I missed you, Sonic."

"Aw, you did?" Sonic laughed, but doing so caused him to break into a coughing fit, and Amy jerked her hands back as she watched Sonic hack up a glob of liquid, a low whine of pain breaking from his throat.

"…I…" Amy whispered, staring at him as he shuddered, finally getting the coughing fit out of the way. "…I'm sorry."

"'sn't your fault…" Sonic assured, glowering at his hands. "Just a stupid sideaffect of this curse."

"You're… cursed?" Amy bemused, narrowing her eyebrows. "Is that why you're a skinwalker? Is that why you transformed like that?"

"Wha? No, not literally cursed. I think…" Sonic gripped his side, shifting into a sitting position, and leaning. back on his free hand. "Well, I mean… it's just a bit of this demon-god creature dude, Dark Gaia, stuck in me. Makes me transform at night. I didn't think it'd start acting up again… thought I'd be long dead before Dark Gaia came back."

"…why are you injured right now?" Amy asked, deciding against telling him that his explanation just made her more lost. A skinwalker would only transform so completely, like he did, if the person was fully possessed… at least, that's what she thought. "I watched you heal. Or, at least… I think I did?"

"You did. While transformed, or, um, in 'werehog' mode, I heal faster than normal. Like… super fast. It doesn't even leave a scar!" Sonic puffed up in pride, but scowled at the movement, and raised one hand to massage his chest. "...but transforming does a number on me. It hurts a lot, and heals slower. Eating can speed up the healing bit, or nullify the pain a bit."

"...and you weren't able to eat last night." Amy finished, brow furrowing. "Which means that you're healing slowly, and… bleeding. A lot."

"I don't think I'm bleeding a lot right now." Sonic frowned, twisting his head around to regard his back. "I think it mostly stopped."

"But you're still hurting! And in pain!" Amy tugged at her bangs, shoving her way to her feet, wincing as she almost slipped. "And just because you're not bleeding right now does not mean that you haven't lost a lot of blood already! I'm going to go grab you some food. When I come back I want answers!"

Sonic startled in surprise, blinking rapidly. "Answers? For what?"

"For why you're here!" Amy quipped, "and not with the chieftess! Goodness, Sonic! What'd you think?"

"The chieftess?" Sonic balked for a second, then perked up in understanding. "Wait, Amy, I need to explain that-"

"Not now, Sonic!" Amy grumbled, whipping around to march out of the cave. "I'll get you food so you can heal, and then you can explain! Whatever excuse you had better be good, or Chief Kn-" She paused, reminded herself harshly that he wouldn't know that, then grumbled "…the Chief will be furious."

"Amy-" Sonic started, nervous, but wasn't able to finish before Amy strode out of the cave.

Amy broke into a run once she was in the safety of the jungle, heading to the field. She wasn't sure how far away it was, but she knew the general direction.

She had to be there before her mother started the morning harvest.

In and out.

(:)

There is no relationship between the Chief and Chieftess. They're two rulers of two different tribes. There is no marriage. :)

Also "chief" is used as a swear word. Instead of "chaos", because… well, let's just say they dunno what Chaos is.