Chapter 2

Sonic and his friends swept through a remote part of Bygone forest at exhilarating speeds. His youngest friend, Tails, flew through the air. The 18 year-old fox wore trousers tucked into boots and a pair of suspenders that were stretched so far they couldn't possibly be functional anymore. Knuckles, the eldest at a fresh 30 years, jumped through the trees grunting quietly with the effort of propelling his muscular frame from branch to branch. The echidna man's white shirt billowed in the night wind, unbuttoned low enough to make any decent young lady blush, and his well-worn trousers bore the strain of his leaping faithfully. Sonic himself took the ground path, wind whipping his blouse and brown bandana around his neck, his leather boots obviously worn through and patched up slip-shoddily many times.

Sonic arrived at their favorite stakeout tree first, of course, and leaned up against it smirking. He took a deep breath of the evergreen air and relished in the cool breeze. He could feel the first hints of winter around him. The chill nipped at him as he ran, but the cold only spurred him to run faster, be bolder. It splashed cold water on the hot feeling of recklessness that filled him with adrenaline, and he could practically feel the steam coming off his fur. Night was the perfect time to watch for richies on the road; they'd all be asleep in their carriages, unaware of the expert ploys being used by Sonic and his gang to rob them blind.

When his friends caught up to him - Knuckles tossing him a dirty look as he arrived - all three of them perched behind a large patch of foliage and waited, deadly quiet, so as not to alert anyone who might be on the road to their presence.

"D'ya think anyone's coming?" Tails whispered after several moments.

Knuckles quickly shushed him, but Sonic ruffled the embarrassed teen's hair, and whispered back, "Don't you worry buddy, this road is full of fat cats with tons of goods just waiting to be taken!" Tails smiled at Sonic gratefully. The fox had only been recruited by the camp of thieves around 2 years ago, and he and Knuckles had made sure that Tails was well taken-care of since then.

"I hope so," Tails replied, "because if not, we're not gonna meet this week's quota, and you know how Scourge gets whe-"

Tails was shushed again by Knuckles. Both Sonic and Knuckles had joined the thieves' camp at around the same time many years ago. Though they never formally agreed to work together, they just couldn't seem to stop trying to one-up the other, and consequently chose to run in the same circle as the other exclusively. Sonic, 28 and the true team leader, nudged Tails and pointed to his ears, a sign to listen.

All three pairs of ears pricked as they heard the sound of hard, fast hoofbeats. In a flurry of dust, a beautiful brown horse carrying a pink hedgehog man dressed in fine pageboy clothing darted through the woods at unprecedented speeds - both before them and gone in the same instant.

Sonic grinned as the blur disappeared. They hadn't been able to stop the man and rob him then, he was going too fast, but Sonic knew one person who could catch up with the page.

He signaled to his teammates by tapping his nose and pointing in the direction the messenger hedgehog had disappeared in, receiving solemn nods back from the other two. Sonic sped off by himself in hot pursuit of the messenger, his boots digging into the soil.

It had not escaped the group that the horse the pink man rode was far too well-bred to be anything less than a palace horse, and the crest printed on the saddle proved it property of the Rose Kingdom. With royal messengers came royal messages, and royal messages could anything from a gala invitation to an expensive tribute delivered in an ornately set box. Both were highly desirable to a band of thieves.

Sonic followed the horse and its rider all the way to a small pond in the middle of a clearing spotted with wild flowers and overgrown thickets. Sonic knew this grove well. In fact, this was one of his favorite napping places for its total seclusion. He wondered how the other man knew of it as well.

Sonic smirked from behind a bush, getting a better look at the back of his would-be victim.

The pink man was busy tethering the horse to a tree, his leather cap pulled low over his eyes. There was a satchel slung over his shoulder, Sonic could see it was bulging with strange lumps.

His eyes gleamed. The silly pink man already had his back towards Sonic - this would be a piece of cake. Sonic began his agonizing tip-toe towards the man, hoping to slip behind him and catch him off-guard. As he got closer, Sonic took a deep breath and smoothed his blue quills back, ready to introduce himself loudly and gain the upper-hand, but he quickly stopped short in surprise when he suddenly found himself at the tail end of an intimidating weapon. He looked with bemused surprise upon the page boy… Well, he realized now, page girl - page woman? Who he hoped had something valuable on her. She had swung at him with impressive speed and nearly caught him red-handed.

He slowly raised his hands by his head, showing his surrender as he plastered on his trademark smile that was sure to get him whatever was in that bag in 3 minutes flat.

'Oh ho, a woman? ' He thought, his smile stretching wider, 'make that two minutes flat .'

"Who are you?" She asked solidly. Sonic was impressed. The woman didn't shake a bit, she seemed almost as if she knew how to wield the weapon she was holding, but Sonic wasn't fooled. He knew she didn't. Women weren't trained in combat, especially not with such unwieldy and illogically large weapons as this hammer she held. This confidence was simply an act of hers.

"I'm So- … sorry to scare you," he recovered, placing a hand on his chest. "Name's, uh, Sonar the Hedgehog, now would you get that thing out of my face?" He winked at her, waiting for the blush to blossom on her cheeks as it often had on other women he used his charms on.

Amy almost relaxed. Almost. The handsome stranger was absolutely a threat, but she felt disoriented by his smile and cavalier casualness. He may be, at a glance, rather friendly, but he was a stranger and she would not be silly enough to take any chances. Rather than blushing, Amy's eyebrows crinkled in confusion and she looked him up and down slowly - sizing him up. Sonic smirked as she did, and wondered what she was thinking.

The man was a rather tall, blue hedgehog, with eyes like hers. She stopped herself from thinking about how feeling that the fire behind his green eyes was familiar, stopped herself from holding his eye contact. He looked athletic - lean - in his trousers, boots, and what she assumed had once been a white button down. His blouse was so thinned and dirty that she doubted he had worn anything else for at least a year or two. His smirk was partially buried behind a brown bandana which he pulled at as the silence stretched on, running a hand through his long quills. She cocked her head at him and thought that he seemed to be a rather impatient fellow.

She lowered her hammer and opted to target his obviously large ego. "You're right, you obviously aren't a threat. I'll keep it out though, if you don't mind." She patted the hammer head as she leant on it.

"Ouch!" He clutched at his heart and grinned at her, "You insult me, dear lady!" He lowered his hands slowly, daring her to make a move with his fiery stare. "I was simply coming here for a drink before I continued on my way home for the night." He began to walk toward the pond, toward Amy, but gave her a wide berth. They watched each other intently as he approached, circling her, the tense thread between them pulled taught by his boldness.

"Don't worry," he sighed and turned his back to her finally, losing their staring contest on purpose. He knelt by the water's edge, "I'm not gonna attack you or anything. I'm nobody."

Amy raised a brow at him, "yeah, well, I might attack you, so don't get any ideas. Besides, people who aren't threats don't typically have to clarify it."

Sonic smiled as he raised his hands to his lips, took an inconspicuous drink, and wiped his mouth. She was sharp, he'd give her that.

"Yeah, right - like you know how to handle a weapon that massive." He said, then turned his head to gauge her reaction to his teasing. Sonic wanted to test this woman's mettle, if not for some fun then because he was naturally curious about her. She simply wasn't adding up for him.

"Don't tempt me," she growled, "I'll prove it." Her angry, competitive, green inner-monster reared its stupid head. It was a monster formed from a lifetime stuck in a cycle of doubting and fighting - usually it was her father's doubt or the world's doubt that she railed against, but it was her own doubt of herself that was often the hardest to battle. This time, it was this idiotic, grinning stranger's doubt that her heart demanded she fight. He didn't know he was talking to the first female captain of the guard. Or at least, she hoped she would be.

Sonic stood up and faced her again, cocking an eyebrow playfully at her while crossing his arms.

"You'll prove it?" He said incredulously. He practically scoffed. If nothing else came from the evening, at least he was entertained.

Amy's nostrils flared as she hefted her hammer into a fighting stance. Her mind screamed at her to get a grip, but the anger in her heart stoked a flame that brought her body to life. Her cheeks flushed pink and her fur bristled.

He smiled at her, excitement pricking his ears up.

"How cute!" He drawled, "you even got someone to show you a defensive stance!" He waved his hand and shook his head. "C'mon, you can drop the act."

"Ohhhh, I see now. You're afraid!" She mocked, her eyes gleaming up at him from underneath the brim of her cap.

Sonic almost whistled, impressed, at his opponent. She looked like a real fighter, and he was endeared by the spirit behind her green eyes. Her voice was so sweet and her appearance so… pink, but her words were laced with steadfast conviction. She kept surprising him, which was usually hard to do.

He sighed and scratched his neck, tampering his growing smile with faux hesitation. "Well… I don't want to walk back on my whole 'I'm not a threat' promise but -" he smirked devilishly, and it hit her like a shard of ice in the heart.

"- I hate to disappoint a lady."

There was a flash of wind, and Amy worked to maintain her composure as Sonic disappeared before her very eyes. She heard a sound like a sonic pulse and felt wind in her hair, and suddenly, his smug voice was in her ear.

"What's your name, by the way?" He quipped, and she stifled a gasp.

She swung around, bringing her hammer with her hard and fast, expecting to slam him away, but the wind whipped around her and her hammer found nothing. The unexpected emptiness and the force of her swing knocked her off balance briefly, and she struggled in her boots to get her footing back.

Amy blinked hard, her fear instincts pricking back to life. This was no ordinary man, a stranger, and now she was in combat with him.

She calmed herself. Shadow's warnings about being an emotional fighter rang in her head.

"If you allow your emotions into the arena, you become manipulatable ."

She focused back on the present and listened intently, her ears orienting forward, backward, and forward again. She took stock of what she knew of her foe and determined that while he was not trackable, the wind and the sound of his movement were. She heard the sonic woosh of him behind her, and followed it with her ears as he ran circles around her, aiming for the tree that he would be passing in three, two -

She grunted and threw her hammer overhead like an axe straight at the tree, smirking as it crashed cleanly through the trunk.

Sonic stopped short as something whipped in front of him, barely skimming the tip of his nose as it demolished the tree right where he would have been standing if his reflexes weren't so fast. He swung his arms to regain his balance after his short stop, and saw it was her hammer that he had barely avoided.

"Whoa," he breathed, swinging around to look at her, "Nice aim, you even managed to not hit me!"

Amy held her hand out, and Sonic watched agape as her hammer disappeared from the ground and re-materialized in her grip.

"Oh, I meant to hit you," She said mischievously, and lunged at him, swinging her hammer back, underhanded this time.

Sonic laughed in amusement and took off again, appearing behind her in a flash. He knelt and swept a leg under her as she charged him, sending her careening forward. Amy reached out and turned her forward fall into a roll, hammer disappearing. She landed on one knee and whipped around to face him.

"So you have a good arm, so what?" Sonic chuckled and turned his back to her, rolling his sleeves up. Visions of her fight with Shadow earlier that evening played in Amy's mind.

"Sorry lady, one party trick isn't -" Sonic stopped gloating as he lurched forward, pure force hitting his back and winding him briefly.

Sonic's arms were pinned at his sides and he found he was trapped between the pink woman's, held in place by the long staff of her hammer pressing against the bottom of his chest. He tried to push forward briefly, but quickly realized just how strong she was. He expected to be able to break away easily, but was instead met with the iron lock of her natural strength.

"Name's Rosy," she grunted from behind him, pressing her cheek into his shoulder blades as she held him to her chest. "And it would do you good to remember not to turn your back on an opponent, no matter how helpless you may think they are."

Sonic struggled against her grasp, gritting his teeth as he realized she was a true fighter. He laughed again breathlessly, enthralled by the fight in her. She had got him, momentarily, but he knew he had the size advantage against her. Sonic could feel the short quills on her forehead pressed into his back as she fought to keep him immobilized.

He grunted as he bent at the waist, effectively lifting her feet off the ground and thrusting his hips back into hers. Sonic took them both forward, rolling them onto the grass. Their fair fight was quickly becoming a scrap, but he couldn't help but smile. He hadn't had this much fun fighting in years. Usually, he was fighting for his life - never once had he fought because a pretty woman had a point to prove.

They were on the ground with her underneath him, crushed under his back. He jabbed a gentle elbow into her side and used the momentum to escape out the other side of her hold. Sonic sprang up and backed away from the girl, raising his hands gingerly once again. He had gotten carried away. The breeze chilled him as he moved from her warm body, and his mind began to sober.

"You're right," he panted, grinning, "You're right… you're a fighter, alright? I forfeit. You win, Rosy." He glanced down and saw her cap abandoned at his feet, and bent to pick it up.

Amy sat up, wiping her forehead and smiling with exhilaration. She got him! The training was working - she had the upper-hand in a real fight! Granted, she couldn't keep it, but she held the blue hedgehog man off, and that was a win. She laughed aloud to herself as she leaned back on her hands, looking up at the sky, tired from her long day. The moon was full and the stars were bright. She felt alive in the universe, and hopeful for her future.

Her view was shadowed as Sonic leaned over her, and she remembered where she was and who she was with. She scrambled to her feet, realizing her hammer had de-materialized.

"I like your laugh," came his steady voice. She froze and met his eyes, straightening up slowly. She felt exposed without her cap and hammer, and prayed he would not recognize her.

Sonic held the cap out to her, only an arm's length away. He was surprised at the gentility in his own voice, and even more surprised at his tender admission - that he couldn't help but smile watching her revel in her small win.

"Uh, thanks," she said, taking the cap. She couldn't help the sharp inhale as their fingers touched, the feeling of his hand affecting her only now, in this cold, quiet moment, despite their full-bodied wrestling only minutes ago. She placed it back on her head, demurely tucking her hair back up into it, suddenly feeling rather foolish.

Sonic had been intensely interested in looking at her without the shade of the cap. He had seen the passion of a fierce personality shining through her eyes as she reveled in the view of the sky, and it made him smile for a reason he couldn't place. He cleared his throat as he pulled his hand back, suddenly aware that the atmosphere between them had grown heavy.

"So what brings a messenger like you over here? Even if you are the world's best fighter," he teased, "it's not safe to be running around the forest at night. Not every chance encounter in the woods ends up being with such a fun and handsome guy as myself." He grinned.

"You ask an awful lot of questions," she grumbled, feeling off balance.

His hands went up again.

"Just trying to be friendly." He said. He was back to his usual tactics. He had been gone far too long, and he'd have to explain his absence to Tails and Knuckles. He didn't want to have to do it while empty-handed.

"If you must know," she huffed, "I was…stopping for a quick training session…on my way back from the Kingdom of Babylon."

"Oh?" He asked and quirked an eyebrow. Surely they both recognized that moments ago she had not been riding away from the Kingdom of Babylon, but rather towards it, and away from the Rose Kingdom.

"Is there some fancy-pants party or something?" he guessed, rolling his eyes.

"You're very clever aren't you?" She mocked, hitting him with one of her most venomous stares.

Sonic shrugged, taking a tiny step towards her. Though she saw it, Amy did not move. They could feel their closeness now, tentatively letting their circles of comfortability grow smaller. Amy shivered a bit, and blamed it on the chill in the air.

"I like to think so." He said, looking down at her with a genuine smile. Amy couldn't help the smile that broke out at his admission, and quickly looked away. She should not be encouraging trust with this person. She didn't know why she had told him about the training she had come to do in the first place.

Sonic took a breath and hoped that they had established enough of a rapport for her to be truthful.

"Listen Rosy, is that thing about the Kingdom of Babylon true? Or were you just trying to cover up the fact that you ran away from the palace at night without any real reason to?"

Amy 's eyes widened. Worries began to flood her mind and she staggered back on one foot, breaking the dam holding back the tension between them. Without even knowing, she had let this man too close, and now it was time for her to leave - curiosity be damned.

"I shouldn't tell you that, I - There's thieves out here, the royal guard brought one in just today and -"

"What?" Sonic interrupted.

Amy took a full step back at his sudden intensity.

"Why do you -"

"What are they going to do to him?" He asked desperately. Amy could see real pain in his eyes, and his sudden vulnerability threw her even further off.

"I shouldn't - are you -"

Sonic stepped forward swiftly, and she tried to pull back as he grabbed her hands and held her in place. "That's… my friend… he's a good guy, he just did what he needed to to survive. Rosy, please, what will they do to him? He doesn't deserve harsh punishment." His panic was sincere, she could tell.

Amy swallowed hard, stuck where she was. "Your friend? So you are -"

"No," he said severely. "I'm no one, it's just… he's my friend." He softened, suddenly realizing what he had done on instinct, but didn't let her go. "Besides, what's the problem with the thieves out here anyway…"

"They steal?" Amy offered.

"You don't think that it's turned into such a big operation because it had to? That there's a reason? That being the person who steals to live doesn't make you the villain?" Sonic huffed.

Amy paused and gathered her thoughts. She summoned up her diplomacy. "No…" she said slowly, "But I guess… I just would be afraid of people that desperate…"

Sonic looked at her thoughtfully. "And I would be afraid of the people who are responsible for their poverty," he said simply.

"…Your friend is going to be fine for two weeks. Battered, but fine." Amy said after a long moment of consideration. He didn't seem dangerous, and he had a point. "After that… there will be a public execution."

Sonic's eyes flared. He pulled Amy in a bit closer. "You work in the castle, don't you? You don't need to lie, I won't hurt you. I… You could help us free him before that happens!" He pleaded. He was looking down at her with such sincerity it almost made her blush.

"I -" Amy was reeling. His proposal was ludicrous, but she had to admit she was intrigued. Still, she had no reason to risk treason against her own father for this man who was virtually a stranger.

"Maybe I can help… if you tell me the truth about yourself, too." She sighed. Her kindness and curiosity would be the death of her, she was sure.

Sonic showed his surprise at her ability to see through him for only a brief second, finally dropping Amy's hands. His palms felt hollow and cold as he let them go.

"Name's Sonic," he sighed, "and you?"

Amy hesitated. Her real name could be a danger to her identity, but if she lied again, he would only catch her.

"Amy," she abbreviated.

"Well, Ames," he skipped straight to the nickname and winked at her, his ability to flip-flop between sentiment and sarcasm like whiplash. "All you need to know is that I care about my friends. If I can get him out, I'm going to. But it sure would be easier with your help."

"Nice to meet you," Amy said gingerly, reading a mix of sadness and determination on his face. Yes, he was very much like her. And how could she refuse to help an innocent - being cruel was not in her character. Her mind lit up with an idea, and she charged forward with it before she could determine whether or not it was a good one.

"I can help you," she admitted carefully, "but I need your help with something as well."

Sonic placed his hand on his heart, "Anything!" he said.

"My own friend is going to be gone for the next few weeks… and I need to keep training. There's… well," No going back now, "the tournament of champions is coming up, and I plan on winning it."

"Woah ho!" Sonic laughed, stepping back in surprise, "You're gonna enter the tournament - you are something else, Ames!"

"It's Amy." She reminded him scoldingly.

"Nah, I have nicknames for all my friends," Sonic said, waving her off. "I graciously accept this trade offer - it would be your honor to learn from the likes of me, I'm sure," he teased.

Amy snorted at his arrogance. "This is serious Sonic - entering this tournament is no laughing matter. If I lose… it could…" She trailed off, the realization of what would happen if she were to lose washed over her for the first time. Sonic looked at her as she got lost in thought. He wondered what was really happening in her life - why any sane person would put themselves on the line by entering a tournament where they would surely be killed. Amy was still holding something from him, and he determined he would pry some answers from her one way or another soon.

"Well then, I should… get back." She said, obviously looking for a way out. "We can strategize an escape sometime this week. See you tomorrow?" She began to turn from him.

"Wait," Sonic said, reaching for her. He couldn't let her go yet - he had one more thing he needed from her. He reached for her suddenly and grabbed her up into a hug, swinging her gently around once. He heard the breath leave her lungs in a surprised gasp as her feet left the ground.

"Thanks," he said as he pressed his face into her shoulder. For a brief moment, he was swept away in the motion and the surprisingly delicate smell of her fur. The thought crossed his mind so quickly that he didn't catch it - she smelled nice.

He released her and she staggered back, reaching to adjust her cap awkwardly.

"Um… no problem…" She tried to recover herself smoothly. She called her horse over and mounted up expertly, trying to still her breath.

"Tomorrow night?" She asked, looking down at him.

"I shall count the minutes." He winked and bowed shallowly to her.

Amy rolled her eyes and snapped the reins, taking off into the night.

"See ya!" Sonic called cheekily, watching her go. When she was out of his sight, he took his hand out from behind his back, revealing the letter he had swiped from her satchel. He retrieved his knife from his belt and sliced the top open quickly.

"...The Princess' 25th birthday, all eligible suitors shall attend, an engagement will be announced by the end of the evening…" Sonic raised the paper and kissed it joyfully. What a night!

He paused and took a deep breath, suddenly feeling like he hadn't been breathing since he stepped into the glade. He smiled to himself as he raced back to his friends, looking forward to seeing her again tomorrow to begin training, but then he quickly sobered. He needed to banish those thoughts and feelings before meeting back up with Knuckles and Tails. He felt protective over his new informant for reasons he was too afraid to place, and didn't have the emotional capacity to try tonight.


A/N: Mmmmm the flirting. I live! See you back here for Ch.3 - leave a review if you are enjoying!