Chapter 2: A New Home, Part 2

The following morning, Sapphire began unpacking. She didn't have much, some extra clothing, some of her favorite books, a few toiletries.

She was putting away her stuff, when there was a knock on the door. "Sapphire. Can I come in?" Tails asked on the other side.

"Um, yeah, sure. I'm good. You can come in," Sapphire replied.

Tails walked in. "Hey, I made some breakfast."

"Oh, um... what you make?"

"Just some cinnamon rolls. I wasn't sure what you would like."

"Oh, that's fine."

"...So, wait, are those the clothes you wore yesterday?"

"Yeah, um, I just, went to bed after you gave me the room... I..."

"You were tired?"

Sapphire nodded.

"Yeah, that's okay. Come on, food's getting cold."

Sapphire enjoyed her food, while Tails wrote some things down while eating.

"So, I'm betting you want to spruce up your room?" Tails asked.

"Well, yeah. I'd like to paint the walls. Maybe get some more books, and stuff for my desk..."

"How much stuff do you have?"

"Sorry, no. I have some clothes and personal items, but..."

"Hey, no worries, we'll get you some more stuff. Anyways, when did you want to start working on your, well, lessons."

Sapphire's eyes lit up. "I, um sorry, this is just so exciting. How about... this afternoon! I want to get started as soon as we can."

"Well, okay then." Tails got up. "Well, I'm going to need to set things up."

"Okay, what are we going to make first."

"Something simple, to start. Is that fine, or maybe..."

"No, that's fine, that would make a good warm-"

Suddenly, the front door opened and closed impossible fast, with a burst of blue wind.

"-up," Sapphire finished, suddenly freaked out by what just happened.

Tails gave a small chuckle. "Hey, Sonic. Back so soon?"

"Wait, what-"

"Sup, Tails." A blue hedgehog suddenly appeared beside Tails. His quills were styled into spikes. He had green eyes, and wore white gloves, and red sneakers with white straps and gold buckles.

Sapphire couldn't believe it. Tails said she might meet him, but he was really here, in front of her. "You're... you're..."

"So, who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is my new protégé. You remember the contest I set up," Tails told the blue hedgehog.

"Yeah." He turned to Sapphire. "So what's your name?"

Sapphire remained quiet.

"She's shy, apparently," Tails said.

"Oh, I see." The hedgehog held out his hand. "Nothing to be shy about. I'm-"

"You're Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sapphire blurted out.

Sonic smiled and pointed at his chest. "Yep, that's me! Sonic the Hedgehog. Faster than sound. Scrambler of Eggmans."

Sapphire laughed. "That's really funny. It's good to meet you. I'm Sapphire."

"Nice to meet you," Sonic replied, and held out his hand again.

Sapphire pulled back a bit, like before with Tails, but then grasped his hand, followed by a shake.

"Well, that went better then I thought," Tails said.

"So, when are you two tinkerers going to start tinkering," Sonic said with a smirk.

"Sapphire said she wants to start this afternoon."

"Huh, is that so." Sonic leaned towards Sapphire. "So, you're ready to learn from someone younger than you?"

Tails was younger than her, wasn't he. Sapphire didn't think about that. She was fifteen, and Tails was, what, eight? No, he should've been older than that, given the time she's heard about him. Still, he was still a kid, and much younger than her.

"Yeah, pretty impressive for my little buddy, right?" Sonic continued.

"Geez," Tails replied. "Oh, Sapphire! Important question? Do you have any protective gear? You know, a mechanics outfit, a pair of safety goggles?"

"Oh," Sapphire looked down. "I'm sorry. I didn't have a lot of my own stuff to take with me, and didn't think about that."

"No worries, we can pick some up for you. We've got some time," Sonic replied.

"Wait, huh? Wouldn't it take a while to get into town? The train-"

"Well, you don't need to take the train, when you've got my fast two feet." Sonic offered his hand to Sapphire.

Sapphire pondered this. "Well, I suppose that... I will need this stuff. And if I'm going to be staying here, I might need some more clothes anyway... And it would be nice to see more of the city."

"So, what are we waiting for?"

Sapphire looked back up and nodded, then grabbed his hand. Sonic led Sapphire back outside, speaking to Tails, "We'll be back in a few hours."

"I should have everything ready by then. Oh, and don't forget to grab lunch before you guys come back."

Sonic nodded, and exited the workshop. Once outside, Sonic scooped Sapphire in his arms.

"Woah... th-this is, um..." Sapphire stuttered, nervous

"Trust me, going this fast, this is the safest way to travel," Sonic assured her.

And in a second, they were racing off.

They had been in the city, shopping for a few hours. Sonic, the nice guy that he was, offered to pay for Sapphire's new clothes. She didn't want to get a big wardrobe, but she made sure to get the essentials.

Now, with shopping bags in tow, they were wandering around, as Sonic pointed out different locals across the city.

"...And down there, is the Casinopolis. Um, you don't gamble, do you?" Sonic asked.

"No... I much rather earn my rings through hard work," Sapphire replied. "Besides, I'm still a little young for that, and, well..."

"Eh, don't sweat it. Just curious. I've been there once, searching for something. But that was a long time ago, one of my older adventures."

"I've heard a lot about your adventures, but never really got the chance to hear the exact details. I'm sure there's a lot of fun stuff you can tell me about."

"So, where do you come from, anyway?"

"Oh..." Sapphire looked away, "um, I'm from Blue Wave Islands."

"Really? That's a resort island, right? Must've been fun, growing up there."

"Not so much."

"Huh, why?" Sonic scooted up in front of Sapphire, walking backward.

"I... um..."

Suddenly, there was a voice calling out from behind them. "SONIC!"

Sapphire turned around to see a pink hedgehog running up. She had green eyes, a lighter shade than Sonic's, and was wearing a red dress, white gloves with gold wrist rings, and red boots with white stripes on the front.

Sonic sighed. "Amy..."

"Is she a friend of yours?" Sapphire asked.

"Yeah, you could say that."

Amy caught up to them, and took a good look at Sapphire. "Hey, um, who is this?"

"Oh, this is Sapphire, she's a new friend," Sonic replied.

"New friend?" Amy replied. She sounds skeptical.

"Yeah. Actually, she's-" Before Sonic could finish, Amy got in Sapphire's face. "Um, Amy?"

"Are you trying to take Sonic from me!?"

"H-hi..." Sapphire responded.

"Sonic is MY boyfriend!"

"I- I'm not-" Sapphire froze, as Amy, out of seemingly nowhere, pulled out a large, wooden hammer, with a red hammerhead.

Sapphire shrunk back, dropping her bags. "I'm sorry. Please, I- I-" And then she burst into tears, and ran off.

As Sapphire ran off, Sonic yelled, "Amy! That's Tails' new protégé! Remember the contest thing he was doing."

"Wait, what?" Amy replied.

"Trust me, I just met her. I was helping out with some shopping, and showing her around. Also, you've got to cool it with the whole dating thing."

"No! We're meant to be together!"

Sonic just crossed his arms, and tapped his foot. "And what tells you that?"

Amy grunted in annoyance.

"So, what are you going to do about Sapphire?" Sonic asked.

"Well, I-" Amy looked around. "Wait, where did she go?"

Sapphire ran away, crying. Amy really scared her. She'd never had anyone threaten her like that. Was Sonic really that important to her? Was it a bad idea to try to be friends with him?

She slipped into an alleyway, and crouched behind a garbage bin.

"...I'm really pathetic," Sapphire said to herself, sobbing.

She sat there for a while, lost in thought.

"Hey, kid, you okay?" a new voice spoke up.

Sapphire looked up to see a human, shaggy brown hair covering his face.

"Yeah, I just... got scared by something." Sapphire got up, acknowledging the new arrival.

"Oh, that's fine. Come on out," the human said.

Sapphire stepped out, and almost immediately noticed some odd shadows around. "Hey, um..."

"No, no, quiet now." Two figures appeared behind the human. As Sapphire stepped back, she bumped into someone. She spun around to see another two people. Soon, she was surrounded, three humans, a mobian jackal, and a mobian bear towering over her.

The first human she spoke to said, "no need to be scared. Give us everything you have, and we won't have to harm you."

Author's Note: So now Sapphire has met Sonic, and Amy, ...and has been put in a bad situation. So what happens next. How does she get out of this situation? This is part 2 of 3 of the Intro story, so it's not over yet.