A few hours later, Sonic woke up to boots thudding across the deck, and a splash as something fell into the sea below. Sonic's heart pounded as he sat up, finding Jet and his birds standing triumphant over something bobbing in the water.
The blood in his veins froze when he jumped down to the deck and saw Jet wearing Shadow's tricorn hat, smirking as he looked down at the water below. The red feather on top stood out starkly against his green plumage, and that combined with the malice in his grin made him look more threatening, almost insane.
"What have you done to him?!" Sonic screamed, rushing to the rail and peering over to find Shadow floating—luckily on his back—in the ocean below.
"Shut up!" Jet hissed, but it was too late. Tails poked his head out from the crows nest and peered below, his eyes widening. Silver emerged from below deck, followed quickly by Tangle and Whisper. The door to the captain's quarters slammed open as Amy appeared, fear in her eyes. Her long nightgown billowed in the night wind as she hurried to where Sonic stood.
Sonic leaned over the rail again, his heart in his throat as he noticed Shadow was hardly wearing anything, just a thin white shirt. Sonic knew how cold the sea must have been at night; if he didn't drown, there were plenty of other ways to die. Sonic would have jumped after him himself if Amy didn't beat him to it, diving in and grabbing hold of Shadow's shoulders, keeping him above water as she swam back towards the ship. This was just as well, as he still couldn't swim.
He turned to Jet, who was still grinning smugly. "Why?!" Sonic demanded.
"Because you porcupines make me sick," Jet spat. "All this goody two shoes stuff makes my feathers crawl. A sailor looks out for himself and his crew. Not some random stowaway who was supposed to be dead anyway. And getting involved in morals and politics? Disgusting! You're all lucky I didn't just riddle him full of holes!"
"Tangle, help me pull him up!" Amy shouted from below. Tangle moved to help her, but at that moment, the cocking of a pistol flint cracked through the night air. Jet had his gun aimed at Tangle's head, his smirk gone, and she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening as she slowly raised her hands and tail.
"The only way he's ever comin' back up is if he's dead," Jet snarled. "And if you help them, then you're dead too."
Whisper ran up in front of Tangle, her body aflame as her wisps surrounded her protectively. They swarmed Jet as she rushed towards him, making it hard to keep aiming his pistol. But this didn't stop him from slamming the creatures out of the air with the butt of the weapon, the wisps crying out and dropping to the deck.
"No!" Whisper cried, the flames extinguishing with a pop as the flame wisp flew away dizzily. With that, she'd lost her advantage, and Jet slammed the butt of his pistol into the side of her head, Tangle crying out her name as she crumpled to the deck at his feet, unmoving.
Sonic growled and moved to curl, but two more flints cocked, and suddenly Wave and Storm were aiming their guns at him as well. Slowly, he straightened, raising his hands in surrender. But he glared at Jet, his quills crossing in barely contained rage.
"What's going on?" Amy asked impatiently from below. "Tangle?"
Everyone was caught in a stalemate, except for Tails, who seemed to have disappeared, and Silver, who grabbed a hold of all three of the birds' pistols with his magic and forcefully pointed the barrels at the deck below them. "Tangle, help Rosy!" he shouted. "I have them!"
Tangle nodded and ran over to the side of the ship. But when she reached it, Jet let go of his pistol and shoved her over, and she joined Shadow and Amy in the sea with a surprised yelp and a splash.
"Tangle!" Sonic yelled.
"I'm fine!" Tangle spluttered. "Just deck 'im for me, will ya?"
Now that there were no pistols pointing at him anymore, Sonic curled up and spun towards Jet, knocking him flat on his back and untucking to hold him down. "How 'bout I toss you in there with them?" Sonic snarled.
Jet grinned. "Nah, I think the honor should go to you," he said as he brought his legs up under Sonic and pushed hard, shoving him off and allowing Jet to get back to his feet. "Storm!"
"You got it, boss!" the albatross said as he slammed a fist into Sonic's gut, knocking the wind out of him and sending him tumbling over the rail. He braced for impact, but instead someone grabbed his arm and slowed his fall.
Sonic looked up to find Tails holding him up, seemingly with ease. "Are you okay?" the fox asked.
"Yeah," Sonic choked. Then a bullet whizzed past them, and Tails ducked, the toes of Sonic's boots dipping into the sea beneath him. "But I don't think we're winning."
"Definitely not," Tails agreed.
On the deck above, they heard Jet laugh, a shrill, crazed sound. "Now it's just you, pipsqueak," he said. "I'll give you a choice. You either tuck your tail 'tween your legs and go with the driftwood, or I shoot you full of holes. And don't think I can't shoot faster than your stupid mind magic. So what's it going to be?"
Silence. Then, "You'll pay for this eventually, you piece of merda."
Jet snorted. "Yeah, whatever," he said. "Go before I shoot you anyway, you weak little runt."
Sonic gestured for Tails to fly up again, and the fox shook his head. "We gotta help the others," Sonic hissed urgently. "Shadow wasn't even awake and Whisper got knocked out!"
"Yeah, but Jet's still on the deck," Tails whispered back. "He'll shoot us on sight!"
Finally, they heard Jet's footsteps move towards the captain's quarters with another laugh, his lackeys following him. Only after the door was shut did Tails hurry Sonic over to the others.
Silver floated in the air, surrounded by his own aura, carrying Whisper behind him, her body limp. Her wisps surrounded her, crying frantically, but they seemed mostly unharmed. Sonic saw Silver's aura surround Shadow and gently lift him out of the sea, and breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked down at the other two girls, who were still treading water below. "You guys okay?" he asked.
"We're fine!" Tangle said, though she was looking up at Whisper, her eyebrows crinkled with worry as she wrung her soaked tail in her hands. "But I can tell ya Rosy ain't happy."
Sure enough, when Sonic looked at Amy, she looked as if she might set something on fire with her eyes alone. She glared ruefully at the ship, then splashed angrily at it. "Birdbrains," she growled. "They stole my spell ingredients."
"Look, I'm mad too," Sonic said. "And if I thought it would end well I'd happily beat them up and take the ship back. But we need to get to dry land, or you guys are going to freeze to death."
He turned to Silver. "You got Shadow?" he asked.
"Si," Silver replied.
"Alright. Tails, you know how far it is to South Island?"
The fox looked up at the sky, then twisted his head around a little bit to get his bearings. "Yes," he finally said. "But it'll take a while to get there by swimming. It'll be faster if Silver and I carry everyone."
Immediately, Silver picked up Tangle with his magic, bringing Tangle close enough to Whisper that she could reach out and hold her closely, tucking her protectively against her body. Sonic reached a hand out to Amy as Tails brought him within her reach, and she took it, letting him pull her out of the sea and into his arms as they flew away.
A few hours later, the party finally reached land, the two flyers setting everyone down before all but falling onto the sandy beach themselves. Shadow and Whisper were still unconscious, the cold sea unable to rouse them. Amy hurried over to Shadow when Silver set him down, and Sonic followed close behind. Tangle gently set Whisper down on the sand a little ways away.
"Come on," Amy muttered, lightly smacking Shadow's cheeks. "Wake up…" She grabbed his wrist, checking for a pulse, then sighed with relief. "He's alive. Really cold, but alive."
Sonic knelt down beside Shadow, unsure of what to do. "Why hasn't he woken up?" he asked. "I didn't think he'd be this easy to take out."
"I don't know," replied Amy. "They… might have drugged him somehow, but I don't know how they would have gotten it past him without him knowing. He knows poisons really well."
Tangle spoke up then, her eyes wide. "Wave!" she said. "She cooked tonight! She must have mixed something in his portion! I didn't see it, but that has to be it. None of them are mages, so none of them have powers like just conkin' people out with their minds…" She looked back down at Whisper, her tail drooping, as she stroked her head gently.
Amy sighed. "That definitely makes sense," she groaned. "But again, he knows his poisons really well! How'd they sneak it past him of all people…? Ugh! I can't even do anything to wake him up! I don't have my spell ingredients! I don't even have my tarot cards…" She trailed off sadly, her sudden burst of anger fizzling out.
Sonic put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll figure something out," he said. "I promise. But right now we need to get some sleep and make sure none of us wake up with pneumonia in the morning." He turned to the group. "Anyone got a way to start a fire?"
Tails stared at the trees a little ways away from the beach, his tails flicking as he thought. Then he seemed to make a decision and flew towards the trees, vanishing from sight.
A few minutes passed, and Sonic was about to go in after him when he came back out, holding a bundle of sticks and some dead pine needles. "Give me a bit," Tails said. "I think I can get a fire going." He approached Whisper's flame wisp, gently coaxing it over as he set up the pile of wood to burn. The wisp seemed to understand, because it sparked, and within a few moments, the kindling had caught.
"Cool," Sonic said. Then he heard Amy sneeze next to him, and remembered she was soaked through. Shadow must have been as well. That combined with the chill in the night air would surely result in sickness. He blushed and looked away as he said, "You need to get out of those clothes. So does he." He gestured to Shadow, then chanced a glance at Amy, whose face looked as red as his felt.
"I'll give you my vest," Sonic said. It wasn't much, but at least she could try to cover up with it.
"It's okay," Amy said. "Help me with him first."
Sonic nodded and grabbed Shadow gently by the arms. Then he remembered that everyone else was still there and felt his face go even redder in shame. "What should we do about your guys' privacy?" he asked. "I mean, it's not just you guys, and…"
"Relax, Sonic," Amy said. "This is a survival situation. Warmth trumps decency. They'll understand."
"If you say so," Sonic replied, getting Shadow up in a sitting position so Amy could pull his shirt over his head. It caught once on his quills, but Amy carefully pulled the fabric off before it could tear.
By now, Tails had a strong fire going, and Sonic and Amy brought Shadow closer to it. For the first time, Sonic saw a patch of white fur on Shadow's chest that looked much thicker and softer than the rest of his black fur, and he resisted the very strong urge to touch it.
Once they'd laid Shadow down close enough to the fire, Amy retreated, and Sonic politely turned his gaze to the fire, taking off his vest in case she wanted it, glad for the shirt underneath it. His heart pounded in his chest, his nerves on fire. This didn't mean anything. It was just survival. And yet he couldn't quite get the blush to leave his cheeks.
A moment later, he heard Amy approach him from behind, and he held up the vest. She took it, and he sighed with relief when she sat down next to him, her torso covered. It was awkward enough having a bare-chested Shadow laying next to him. Plus, the vest would provide Amy with a little extra warmth, which still wasn't much but it was better than nothing.
"Good job on the fire, Tails," Sonic said. "So now we need a plan for what to do in the morning. Shadow and Whisper are still down for the count right now. Is there a way we could wake either of them up?"
He turned to Amy, who shook her head. "If I had my spell ingredients, maybe," she said. "But those are all back on the ship with the birdbrains. I might be able to find some herbs around here in the morning, but I don't know."
"I doubt the effects of whatever it was for Shadow will last until morning," Tails pointed out. "It knocked him out hard, but it doesn't seem like it was meant to poison him. And the effects will probably wear off after it's gone through his system–he's pretty strong against most poisons. He'll probably wake up in a few hours at most. But the herbs likely wouldn't be a good idea for him, since we don't know what the poison was and how it could potentially react to them. But we might want to see what we can do for Whisper. She might actually have a concussion, so we should try and do something now."
Amy nodded and went over to Whisper to check on her. She lingered there for several minutes, examining her thoroughly. Then, she walked over into the woods, a brightly glowing cyan wisp in tow, and came back several minutes later with a bundle of herbs. She knelt down next to Whisper and began to sing quietly, the herbs in her hands glowing softly as the magic set to work.
Sonic watched, holding his breath as the light grew stronger and faded, just like her magic always did. Once the spell was finished, everyone was silent for several moments, waiting for Whisper to open her eyes. She didn't, but her breaths deepened, and she stirred a little, merely sleeping now. Amy relaxed a little, and Sonic released the breath he'd been holding and cleared his throat. "Well, it doesn't look like there's much more we can do until morning," he said. "Let's just try to get some sleep and hope Shadow wakes up soon."
Everyone nodded in tired agreement, but Sonic stood, ready to stand watch for any enemies that might approach the makeshift camp, before Silver came over and waved him away. "I keep watch for now," he said. "You need sleep." Sonic opened his mouth to protest, but Silver shook his head. "Rosy needs you," he whispered.
Sonic felt his cheeks warm, but he finally backed down when he turned to look at Amy, who was curling up against Shadow on the side of him furthest from the fire. She shivered as she buried her face in the captain's side. She was probably more freaked out than she was letting on, Sonic realized. "You're right," he admitted. "Wake me up in a few hours though."
Silver nodded, and Sonic went back over to Amy and Shadow, kneeling down next to the former. "Is there anything I can do?" Sonic asked softly.
Amy lifted her head to look at him for a moment, then nodded. "Can you… can you stay behind me?" she asked softly. "It's really cold…"
Sonic nodded and laid down behind her as she'd asked. "Do you want me to hold you?" he asked, his cheeks burning. But as she'd said, it was pretty cold. It was as much to keep himself warm as it was to warm her.
After a moment, Amy nodded, and Sonic carefully wrapped his arm around her belly, pulling himself a little closer. "Is this okay?"
Again, Amy nodded, and Sonic heard a quiet sniffle, felt her shoulders start shaking. "Hey," he whispered gently. "What's wrong?"
"I'm fine," Amy whispered back shakily. "It just… it all hit me at once, is all. I lost my tarot deck, all my things, and Shadow is knocked out and I'm worried he won't even wake up, which is stupid, I know, but it just… it's just overwhelming."
Sonic held her just a little tighter, his heart squeezing in his chest. "No, it's not stupid," he assured her. "I'm worried too. But it's gonna be okay. We're gonna figure it all out in the morning. But we need to get to sleep now, okay?"
Amy nodded, though Sonic could still feel her sobbing in his arms. He wished Shadow were awake. He'd be much better at comforting her than he was. Heck, he'd be better at comforting him. And he'd know exactly what to do next. He'd know how to get his ship back and… and maybe Sonic wouldn't feel so lost if he could just hear his deep, steady voice.
After a little bit, Amy's breathing slowly evened out, and she was asleep in Sonic's arms. He sighed, resisting the urge to nuzzle up against her, and tried to get to sleep himself.
"Where… am I…?" asked a deep, groggy voice, and Sonic woke up to find Shadow sitting up. "Why am I… where are my clothes…?"
Sonic's pulse quickened, and he sat up quickly. "You're awake," he whispered, relief flooding his voice. Now they could figure a way out of this mess.
Shadow nodded, then looked Sonic up and down quizzically. "Did… we do something I don't remember? Because I don't remember taking my clothes off, and I don't remember Rose wearing… your vest…?"
Sonic's cheeks turned bright red, and he was glad it was still dark. "No!" he said quickly. "No, definitely not."
He explained everything that had happened a few hours prior, both of them careful not to wake Amy up, who was still curled up between them. When Sonic finished, Shadow looked like he wanted to tear a tree in half with his bare hands. But he took a deep breath. "Okay," he said. "To start, where is my shirt?"
Sonic handed over the shirt, though it was rather muddy now, and Shadow donned it quickly, buttoning his collar and standing up. It was still a couple hours until dawn, but Shadow poked at the ashes of the fire with a stick as if debating how to get it going again.
Sonic felt Amy shiver next to him in her sleep, and hesitated before laying back down with her, pulling her into his warmth and relying on hers in return. Shadow came over and stood over them, frowning at Sonic. "Did you leave something important out, hedgehog?" he asked.
Sonic shook his head. "She was cold," he said, "and she asked me to stay behind her. I think she was scared too. We weren't sure if you were gonna wake up on your own."
He saw Shadow's expression soften a little. "I see," he said quietly. "Then I'll lay back down. Have you gotten any sleep?"
Sonic nodded, but even so, his eyes were drooping closed. "Yeah, but more couldn't hurt," he mumbled. "You want me to go? Oh, wait, Silver was supposed to wake me up to stand watch anyway."
Shadow was quiet for a moment, and Sonic moved to get up before a hand grabbed his arm, holding him back. He looked back at Shadow, who whispered, "No. Stay." The captain's expression was difficult to parse, but Sonic thought he might have blushed, though it was too dark to tell reliably.
But Sonic just yawned and laid back down, too sleepy to protest. He snuggled closer to Amy's warmth, and he opened his eyes briefly when Shadow reached an arm around her and put his hand on his shoulder.
Sonic didn't remember anything else after that, until he woke up a couple hours later to find Amy wriggling out of his arms. He let her go and sat up with a yawn, finding Shadow standing a little ways away talking to Tangle and Whisper. He watched with a sad smile as Amy ran up to Shadow, all but tackling him in a hug. Then he stood and stretched, trying to work out the aches from sleeping on the rocky ground.
"So!" Sonic called out as he approached the four of them. "What's the plan so far?"
"We don't have one," Shadow answered, gesturing to Tangle, Whisper, and Tails. "We don't have much to work with aside from the wisps. We don't even know where we are."
"Wait," Tails said, raising his hand, as if this were merely a class in school. "Can't we go off of which direction the sun rose in to at least try to orient ourselves?"
"My my," said a new voice, and everyone turned to stare at the newcomer. She was a white bat with piercings in her large ears and keen, green eyes that looked back at all of them knowingly, a smirk playing at her lips. She wore a pink blouse with the top couple buttons open, a pair of skinny black trousers, and a pair of boots with three-inch heels. "Aha," she said smoothly. "You can see me now."