Chapter 5

The boys followed the overgrown path inland, away from the shore of the lake. They pass through thick trees, struggling not to lose the path, before finally reaching what is clearly the end.

In front of them lie crumbling walls, broken and scattered by the wind and rain... and by other forces entirely. Beyond them are houses that have been torn apart, burned or collapsed. This was clearly once a village, but it was devastated at some point in the past. Demon attack is the first possibility that leaps into the hedgehogs' mind.

"Gosh, the demons really did a number on this place." Sonic hissed as they continued forth.

They wind their way deep into the maze of dusty crumbling buildings and twisted saplings, looking for any sign of life – or, failing that, something that can help them in their quest.

They bend down to rummage through an old heap of rubbish, looking for anything that could be useful.

"I feel like we're scavengers." Shadow frowned as he threw an empty can. "This is not what I expected when the prophecy said you were the champion."

"The prophecy didn't outright say it, Shads." Sonic frowned at him. "But I guess you're right. This does feel a little degrading, but we can't be too careful."

Suddenly, the two hedgehogs hear a 'thwip' and something shoots past Sonic's face, embedding into the stone beside his head and trembling with the impact.

"Don't make any sudden moves!" A voice calls out, high pitched and a little squeaky, but firm and commanding.

The boys freeze to avoid giving their assailant a reason to shoot at them again.

"Stand up and turn around, slowly," it commands again.

Slowly, the hedgehogs stand up and turn around, their hands above their heads to show surrender. As they turn around, they are surprised to see that they have been cornered by what looks like another Mobian.

She had the unmistakable features of a giant mouse; paw-like feet, a muzzled head with long whiskers, large mouse ears, and a body covered in dust-caked auburn fur. It doesn't look like she has had a very easy life; her clothing consists of a dirty, tattered set of pants and shirt, while her limbs and midriff are wiry, hardened as much by meals that are less than frequent as by constant exercise and physical exertion. Her buttocks are non-existent, and her breasts can't be any larger than an A-cup. Still, she looks quite capable of defending herself; not only is she brandishing a blowpipe, clearly ready to spit another doubtlessly-poisoned dart at the hedgehogs, but she has a formidable-looking knife strapped to her hip.

She looks at them for a few long moments, and then lowers her blowpipe.

"I'm sorry about that, but I thought you two were demons. They destroyed this place years ago, but some of the damn scavengers still occasionally drift through. Not so much lately, of course. I've made something of an impression on them." She grins malevolently, one hand caressing the blade of her knife in an almost sensual fashion. "My name is Amily, the last survivor of this village. All of my people are gone now; they're scattered, dead, enslaved, or worse. What about you? Are you one of those... Mobians, I've heard sometimes wander into this world?"

Sonic and Shadow looked at each other in shock. The way she said it was as if she's never heard of a Mobian before. Amily saw their confusion and tilted her head curiously.

"Is something wrong?"

"No no ma'am, not at all." Sonic quickly shook his head. "It's just that… are you yourself not Mobian?"

Amily shook her head. "No. In this world, the bi-pedal animals are called Marethians. We're similar to Mobians, it seems, but we're not called that."

"I guess it makes sense." Shadow nodded as he crossed his arms. "But yes, we are Mobians. I am Shadow, and my blue companion is Sonic, Mobius' Champion."

"Forgive me for asking, Amily, but… why do you remain here in this empty wasteland of a settlement?" Sonic asked her.

"I was born here, I grew up here, and I would have gotten married and settled down here if it hadn't been for those demons." She spits the word 'demons' with contempt. "After it was all over, I had nowhere else to go. So I stayed here. I've still got nowhere else to go, to be honest. I haven't found any other settlements of my own people, and I'd sooner die than give myself over to the demons. But it seems that if I'm ever going to see more of my people living free, I'm going to have to take the leading role..."

She stares at the hedgehogs intently, making then feel a bit uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" Sonic asks her.

"You see, that role I was talking about? I've had a long time to think about it, and there's no one else for it. If there are ever going to be more of my kind born into freedom, they're going to have to be born. Literally; I need to find a mate that is pure, one that can give me strong and pure children of my own kind," she explains, one hand absently touching her flat belly. "The few males of my kind that I've managed to find are demon slaves – far too corrupt to make suitable mates, even if I could free them. I've heard, though, that Mobians are strangely weak breeders; your seed would be free of taint, and you would father more of my own kind. Unlike, say, an imp or a minotaur."

She tucks her blowpipe into her belt and takes several uncertain steps towards Sonic, trying to appear winning – flirtatious even – despite her grimy appearance and clear inexperience with the matter. "Please, will you help me? You said something about being a champion – If you lay with me and help me bring more of my people into this world, free of the demons and untouched by their perverse taint, you will be striking another kind of blow against their corrupt stranglehold on Mareth."

The offer was shocking... and yet, strangely enticing. Sonic couldn't help but think that it's nice to meet somebody who, even if they are more sexually explicit than in his town, actually approaches the matter with some decorum. He's still surprised and even embarrassed by the invitation, though.

"I-I-I… well…" Sonic gulped nervously, looking anywhere but at Amily.

"Amily…" The two bi-pedal animals turned to Shadow, who is staring at the girl with serious intent. "Does it have to be the champion, or can it be any other Mobian who's not corrupted?"

Amily hummed at the thought as she backed down from Sonic a bit. "Well, I suppose it could be any Mobian who is still pure. Why do you ask?"

"Shadow… you can't possibly…" Sonic gasped as he realized what the ebony hedgehog was planning.

"Yes, I am." Shadow nodded. "Sonic is inexperienced, Amily. But I, however, have already lost my virginity long ago. If you allow me, I will father your children instead."

"Wait wait!" Sonic called out in shock. "Who the hell did you have sex with?! Certainly not Maria!"

Shadow hissed.

"No, of course not idiot. It was with Rouge. It was a one time thing. We were drunk. However, that's not the point." He looked back at the girl. "Do you want me to father your offspring?"

"... If the champion cannot… then yes. You're the best hope I have... the only hope I have." She replies, sadly.

Shadow nodded his head. "Then I will help you, even if it means doing things with you you don't really want."

Amily blinks at Shadow, clearly surprised.

"I've never met a male who actually cared if a female wanted sex or not..." She then smiles gently. "It's nice to meet somebody who can still care about people as something other than fuck toys. Please, come with me, the both of you. It's not safe to separate."

She eagerly leads the two down a path, her tail swishing back and forth energetically. She seems very happy by Shadow's acceptance.

"It seems you've made Amily happy by asking if this is what she wants." Sonic whispered with a smile at his rival.

"Of course." Shadow nodded. "If I had just outright fucked her without asking if she really wanted it, it would be considered rape."

Sonic nodded in agreement as they both continued following the mouse girl.

Amily leads them on a convulated route through the ruins of the village. Up streets, down streets, around corners, even straight through some ruins. Finally, she leads them into one particular ruined house. She swiftly turns to Sonic.

"If you don't mind, could you wait out here?" She asks him. "I don't really want to have an audience."

"Way ahead of ya'." Sonic smirked with his hands raised up as he backed away. "Go on you crazy kids. Go have fun, and good luck."

Amily giggles and leads Shadow into the house to a bedroom. It's not exactly an impressive sight; a few bits of smashed furniture, and a large mound of vaguely clean rags and tattered cushions is the closest thing to a bed. The floor is covered in a thick layer of dirt - more than just dust, it's like dirt was deliberately brought in from outside.

Amily sees Shadow examining the room and looks sheepish.

"I have to stay hidden, I can't afford to make it too obvious that anyone lives here. That dirt actually helps warn me if anyone else has found this bolthole." She idly takes her tail in one hand and starts stroking the tip. "So... here we are?"

She seems hesitant about this. It's clear that for all her insistence on this being what she needed to do, she's evidently a virgin, and has no real idea of how to proceed from here.

Amily may be a cute little girl, but Shadow's not sure if it's really a good idea to proceed without her permission. He didn't want to force himself on her, so he just waits for her to decide whether she really wants to have sex here and now.

After a few moments, when it's clear that Shadow's not going to do anything, she frowns a little and steps up to him. Looking up into his eyes, the black and red hedgehog suddenly realizes she wants a kiss. Bending down his head, he plans to give her a rather chaste kiss, but Amily obviously has other ideas.

The hedgehog feels his tongue entering her mouth, and what was intended as a short, innocent kiss turns into a very hot, rather 'not-so-innocent' one. Suddenly, Shadoe feels her little hand grabbing his ass, slowly moving to stroke his tail.

Shadow moans into the kiss at Amily's actions, letting her know that his tail was a sensitive limb, and one that he thoroughly enjoyed having touched.

Despite this passionate display, though, she doesn't seem to really be 'feeling' it, more going through the motions to arouse the hedgehog.

Shadow suddenly feels something pushing against his inner thigh and he looks down, breaking the kiss with a thin trail of saliva connecting their mouths. She looks down too.

At the sight of Shadow's member, Amily grins and begins stroking it. "You are obviously the right size for me..."

Shadow shivers at Amily's gentle touch as she plays with him. Before long, he's hard and almost desperately waiting for her to start doing 'it' for real. Never losing her grin, she slowly lowers herself onto the hedgehog and guides his penis into her netherlips.

"Aah!" She cries out in pain as she grips Shadow's chest fur once she was fully sitting down, tears brimming out of the corners of her closed eyes.

"Are you alright, Amily?" Shadow asked her in concern, gently petting her head as he felt a little blood dripping down his cock, knowing that the girl's hymen had snapped.

"Y-yes." She whimpered. "Just need to adjust a bit."

"Take your time." Shadow encouraged her, still petting her head.

The feeling of the mouse girl's inner walls is better than Shadow imagined, but still, he was not about to deliberately hurt her during her first time.

After a few minutes, Amily took a breath and looked up at him.

"Alright." She nodded. "I think I'm ready."

As soon as the mouse-girl started moving up and down, Shadow forgets anything but the pleasure he feels.

Shadow groans in pleasure as Amily rides him, grabbing her hips and gently guiding her. The two of them pant, their tongues hanging loose as sweat dribbles down their faces. Shadow stares into Amily's dark green eyes, suddenly finding her highly attractive.

"Amily," He whispers in her ear. "Keep going. I'm almost there."

"Me too…" Amily pants back before suddenly picking up her speed.

The two of them pant and moan as the activity continues, pleasuring the both of them. It doesn't take much longer before neither one can hold back anymore.

Shadow moans and Amily screams in pleasure as they both orgasm together, the hedgehog filling the mouse with his sperm. After a few blissful moments, Amily looks into Shadow's eyes for a moment before standing up and putting on her clothes again.

As he watches, Shadow couldn't help but get the distinct feeling that she's somehow disappointed. And for some reason, it disappoints himself.

"Amily," he said to the girl, who promptly look at him. "If you don't mind, I would like to come back and see you again sometime… maybe make some frequent visits?"

Amily seemed to think about this for awhile before she smiled at him.

"I think I'd like that." She nodded.

Shadow nodded and stood up, slowly approaching her and wrapping her in a hug. He kissed the top of her head, nuzzling her a bit.

"We will see each other again, Amily." He promised. "But for now, I must go. Sonic and I have a realm to save."

"Of course." Amily nodded. "Good luck, Shadow."