STH © SEGA

Sarah is mine. The other campers that went unnamed are technically mine; I just made them up real quick.

Enjoy!

Chapter Nine:

Against the Current

Manic awoke to the sun shining in his face. The peanut butter taste was still there but going away nonetheless. He frowned and stood up, walking to the kitchen and grabbing some milk. After downing the first two glasses, Sarah walked in. She rubbed her eyes and looked at Manic, "How was the peanut butter?"

He rolled his eyes and finished his third glass. The lime green hedgehog had her quills in a ponytail with her pj's on. Manic watched as she cut a banana for her Frosted Flakes. He sat up on the top of the counter next to her, "Hey Sarah?"

"Hm?"

"How long were we staying?"

"I don't know anymore. You guys were skeptic to come here yet now you guys don't wanna leave."

Manic shrugged, "What's wrong with that?"

"I don't know but we can't live here."

Sonic's brother was quiet for a few minutes until Scourge came in. Shadow and Amy with Fiona, who surprisingly was talking to the pink hedgehog, came in right behind the other green hedgehog. Manic got off the counter and watched as Amy poured orange juice for her and Shadow. Scourge got two glasses for him and Fiona.

Sonic came in, kissing Sarah on the cheek quickly before whacking his brother upside the head gently.

"OW!"

Right, I meant gently.

"Alright boys," Blaze walked in, "Stop it."

"What are we doing today?" Amy asked, drinking her orange juice.

Sarah shrugged, "I might borrow some tubes for us."

"Tubes?" Manic looked confused.

"So we can float down the creek."

"Yes!" He jumped up and down, "I'm gonna go get my floaties!"

They watched him race upstairs to Sonic's room where he put his bags and Sonia's bags. Sonic raced up after him, "You stole my floaties!?"

The people in the kitchen laughed before going back to eating breakfast, or making it first. When everyone got down and ate breakfast they walked out to see the black, round tubes that floated on water and built for people to sit on. Sarah held one with her bathing suit. It was dark blue and two pieces. The top had thin straps that went around her neck and then the bottom part was like any other bathing suit, just simple and plain.

Sonic gaped while Manic whistled, "I'd tap that."

Sonic glared at is brother and two seconds later Manic was in the creek without a tube. Sarah giggled and grabbed one for her. Amy hurried along with her, they were both small enough to squeeze together on one tube. The pink hedgehog wore a red bathing suit that was one piece and the thick straps went over her shoulders. It was modest to say the least. Cream wore a similar one that was white and had orange and yellow designs on it. She grabbed Tails' hand and a tube. Tails had on black swimming trunks and a white shirt.

Knuckles and Rouge wore similar things as them. Knuckles had on blue trunks and a white shirt while Rouge had a one piece bathing suit that was dark purple yet showed some of her stomach. They rushed along with the younger couple.

Espio had secretly begged Charmy into asking Alicia to come for him. Charmy, being the smart bee he is, said he would if Espio gave him two hundred bucks. Espio agreed to one fifty. Alicia had on a light pink swimming suit while Espio reluctantly wore his own red swimming trunks with a white shirt. Vector was already in the water, swimming like a crocodile with Charmy on his back, seeing as Charmy didn't like water that much being a bee. Fiona wore a dark red, two piece bathing suit that showed off her flat stomach. Though it almost made her look like she never ate. Scourge wore a black shirt and white swimming trunks.

He was more or less dragged in the water by Fiona who seemed happier than usual. Blaze grabbed Silver's hands and a tube, rushing towards the water that turned calm. The purple cat had on a two piece, white bathing suit that had thin straps over the shoulder. Silver was the laughing stock, having to wear purple trunks with a lighter purple shirt. He was proud of it though.

Sonic was dragged in later by Shadow, both wearing white shirts but Sonic wore green swimming trunks and Shadow wore dark red. Sonic got his white floaties that had ducks on them back from his little brother and wore them proudly.

~~~.~~~

For the first ten minutes the group tried getting all together to go down together. Amy and Sarah shared a tube while Sarah held the tube Sonic layed on after he almost tipped over. Shadow held onto the back of their tube and floated along with them in the front. Scourge got on and Fiona got on his lap while they floated down the creek. Silver and Blaze then went almost side by side with Tails and Cream who copied Scourge and Fiona.

Manic was unconscious while floating through the friends on tubes, also he had a huge bruise on his forehead. Knuckles and Rouge followed afterwards with Knuckles in the water pushing the tube a bit while floating like Shadow did. Alicia shared tubes with Espio and Vector and Charmy were beside them while Vector continuously kept winking so much Espio grabbed a stick the first ten seconds of the first ten winks to poke Vector in the eye. Charmy was shivering after Vector sputtered water out of his mouth and accidently stood up. Let's just say, for once the crocodile actually apologized to Charmy and promised to repay him.

"This is nice," Rouge said while Knuckles put his chin on the tube, "Great view and it's nice to see the neighbors."

Sonic agreed, "Yeah, when they aren't noisy."

"I'd never think I'd hear Sonic say that," Sarah muttered to Amy with amusement that the two giggled.

Shadow looked over at the first cabin they passed. A black Labrador barked and tried getting out of its chain. Another one hopped into the water and swam with the group until a small raccoon smiled at them and got her dog back.

Amy grinned, "She's so cute!"

"The tiny bows in her hair," Sonia said while keeping track of her brother in her white bathing suit.

"Her bright blue eyes," Fiona read her magazine she somehow brought alone.

Scourge looked at her while feeling the water with the tips of his fingers, "Bright blue eyes?"

"Yeah, yours are more ice," Sonic said, "You know, cold, heartless."

"Let's remind ourselves, I was nice while having a little girl on my lap instead of pushing her off," Scourge retorted, "I'm not heartless."

"Right, you're just the Anti-Sonic."

Scourge pursed his lips while thinking, "Fine, you guys think what you want to think."

"Aw," Sonic teased, "I think Scourge is joining the good side, guys."

"What!?"

Scourge almost fell out of the tube but Fiona had already threatened him that if she did there would be severe consequences. Sonic laughed with the rest of the group, "What Scourgey?"

He winced at the nickname, "Don't call me that."

Amy's ears perked up, "Whatever happened to Rosy?"

"Who?" Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"Rosy was like the Anti-Amy," Sonic explained, "Only we called her bipolar and that whenever she talked about Scourge she basically wanted to kill him."

Scourge shivered while Fiona rolled her eyes, "Last I heard she's doing pretty good for herself."

"Really?" Scourge said, "How?"

Fiona stopped reading to look at him, "Why do you care?"

Shadow and the guys looked at him as if they were pleading to him not say the wrong thing. Scourge gulped, getting the message and shrugged, "Nothing really. Just wanted to know how far of a distance she is so I can assure myself I'm safe from her crazy life."

Fiona hummed for a second while the girls gave her look as if saying, 'Please don't tell us you think that's true.' Fiona let it go though and that made the girls quiet. The guys secretly smirked to themselves before Cream asked Rouge, "What do you do now?"

"I'm a journalist," Rouge said, "Surprisingly. Then again I like snooping and getting the best facts."

"What about you, Sonia?" Sonic asked, "How are you holding up?"

"Still living with mom and Manic if that's what you're asking, and oh yeah, still living with you too," she teased.

Amy laughed, "I can't believe you're dating a guy who still lives with his mom," she told Sarah.

Sarah shrugged, "I like Aleena."

Cream looked back at Alicia, "So do you do anything besides babysit?"

"I work at a fabric store," Alicia smiled, "What about you?"

"Amy and I run a bakery with Sarah and a flower shop built into it," the rabbit replied, "Shadow what do you do?"

"To get our jobs out of the way, I'm a professional hero," Sonic smirked.

Shadow rolled his eyes, "I don't work, Cream."

"You don't?" Cream raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"

"I find it irrelevant."

Cream kept the eyebrow raised but now it looked like she wanted to ask if he were dumb or just…dumb, "Shadow, working is a basic necessity in life."

"He's working with Tails, Cream," Amy reassured, "Tails needed a worker for his workshop and Shadow had nothing better to do. Sonic works part time since we all know he won't do a real job."

"Hey!"

"Fiona?" Alicia asked, ignoring the blue blur.

Fiona shrugged, "I work at the mall."

"At what store?"

"The Fancy Nails Beauty Care store," Sonia replied, "I've seen her once or twice."

Fiona smacked her lips, "It pays the bills."

"Scourge?" Alicia asked, "You probably don't have a job."

"I do too!"

"Yeah?" Sonia asked, "What is it?"

Scourge stared at them but looked away, "Umm, I'm a…"

Fiona rolled her eyes, "He's unemployed."

"HAHAHA!" Sonic laughed hard enough to almost fall into the creek.

"You basically are too, Sonic," Tails defended Scourge for once.

"What? I am not," Sonic wailed.

Shadow stared at him like he was losing his brain, "When we say part time, we mean only the five minutes you come in, say hello, grab a wrench and pass it to either Tails or me before walking out."

"So?"

"So we never see you again that day at the workshop. So you technically are jobless," Tails finished, "Plus I don't pay you."

"You guys are jerks," Sonic stated while looking away.

Sarah smacked his leg slightly, "You are such a baby."

"I am not!" Sonic hissed, "I'm just…not into jobs."

"We can tell," Knuckles whispered.

"What do you do, Knuckles?" Shadow asked while they passed the second cabin that was quiet.

"When we moved down here this other echidna and her family came to guard the Master Emerald. They were somehow very distant relatives," Knuckles shrugged while Rouge fingered through his dreads, "Now I'm looking for a job."

"You can work at the workshop," Tails suggested, "It's nice. Quiet and you've got Shadow and me."

"Geez," Knuckles rolled his eyes, "I feel so touched and loved."

"You're welcome," Shadow said with a chuckle before things got quiet.

Ten minutes went by and they passed two more cabins that had children and their parents outside. Blaze sighed, "Is any guy here thinking of proposing?"

Sonic looked over at her, "Why would you ask something like that?"

"I think I want a kid," Sonia blurted while staring at the happy children with their parents.

Scourge made a puking sound while Fiona looked at him, "What's your problem?"

"Kids? They cry, they poop, they annoy the living hell out of you," Scourge said, "Why would anyone want one?"

"You were a child once, oh right, you just popped out of the ground being a son of the devil himself," Sonic teased again.

Scourge glared, "Shut it."

"Come on, Scourge," Amy said, "Wouldn't you like kids one day?"

Scourge shook his head, "Hell no. They're annoying."

"Says the guy who went soft for Alina."

Scourge glared at Knuckles, "You would've done the same thing if Amy threatened you."

"Yeah right, you didn't do it out of fright," Knuckles scoffed, "Just wait, one day you'll be sitting on your bed alone and thinking why you didn't marry Fiona and have a family while she's off traveling and living life large."

Scourge raised an eyebrow, "Are you in my head right now?"

"So you do want kids!" Amy yelled.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

Scourge glared, "NO!"

Amy put her hands on her hips awkwardly, "Listen here, mister. When I say something, you better agree with it. Just like you better agree with it when Fiona says something. Understood?"

Scourge looked at Fiona who nodded. He gulped, "Yes ma'am."

Amy smiled and leaned back a bit while the guys looked at her in fright. The girls smirked in pride while they went down the creek. Sonic looked to the red eyes that stared ahead in dread.

"Shadow, if you marry Amy, I promise to visit you every day so you won't lose your dignity."

Shadow looked slowly over at Sonic before looking forward again. Knuckles sighed, "Sonic, I'm afraid he's already lost it."

Sonic's eyes widened, "But he's Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow."

"We get it," Vector said, "Shadow," he spoke in a spooky voice.

"Think about it though," Sonic whispered, "He's the first one out. He's supposed to be the toughest out of all of us."

"Hey," Knuckles growled.

"Well heck, if I were with Amy I'd run for the hills," Silver said, "She'd make any man go nuts."

"HEY!" Amy yelled while pointing at him, "I'm watching you."

Silver's eyes widened while he swallowed harshly, "Oh God…"

"Oh come on," Shadow broke his moment of silence, "She's not that bad."

"Thank you, sweetie," Amy smiled before kissing him on the forehead.

"You're losing it man," Sonic warned, "She's got you under her finger. Under her spell. Under her-her-her whatever it is!"

Shadow rolled his eyes, "You're being ridiculous."

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are."

"Why do you think that, Mister Smarty Pants?"

"If you actually believed that, you wouldn't be dating Sarah," Shadow smirked before Sarah whacked him upside the head, "OW!"

Sonic laughed, "Ha! Serves you right. Sarah and Amy are completely different. Amy's more controlling."

SMACK!

"OWWWW!"

"I'm gonna die…I'm gonna die…."

"For cryin' out loud," Blaze hollered from the back to the front, "Would someone please shut him up?"

"Sonic, just because you have a big bruise on your leg now," Rouge explained, "Doesn't mean you'll die."

"It sure feels like it!"

Scourge smirked, "You never died though."

"Yes, I have!" Sonic pointed at him.

Sonia rolled her eyes, "Two months ago he almost got electrocuted by the toaster."

Shadow snorted, "I don't wanna know."

They stopped while a little boy and his brother ran around the creek side with their Doberman pinscher and German shepherd. Amy squealed with Sarah as the Doberman came up on them and licked their cheeks.

"Marine! Come here!" the little boy called and the Doberman left, bounding through the water with loyalty to her master.

Amy sighed, "Shadow…"

"Hm?" the Ultimate Life Form was almost like the rest of the team now; sleeping or closing their eyes ready to fall asleep.

"We should get a dog."

"Yeah," Rouge said and looked at Knuckles, "What do you think about that?"

"A dog?" Knuckles questioned, "Why?"

Rouge motioned to the Doberman and German shepherd. Knuckles tilted his head. The little boy was a mouse, the same as his brother, playing and tripping over the Doberman but the dog stayed beside him. Yapping and waiting for attention from him. The German shepherd stayed with the older mouse, playing fetch with a stick.

"You point?" Knuckles asked, his eyelids almost closing.

Rouge whacked his head softly, "They're cute, loyal, and fun!"

"You wouldn't play with it."

"Yes, I would."

"You wouldn't feed it," Knuckles complained.

"Yes, I would."

"When?"

"When I walk around trying to get news. I'll look like any other normal Mobian."

Sonic laughed, "You're going to the next level, Rouge."

The blue blur held his girlfriend's hand which held the handle n the tube. Sarah leaned back in the sun with Amy while the rose hedgehog watched the conversation, her boyfriend busy snoozing. Silver was asleep as was Vector who just floated with the current. Charmy stayed awake in fear he would get drenched again. Espio and Alicia were in the far back, talking in privacy.

Rouge clicked her tongue and did an air fist pump with the hero, "Boo-yeah."

"A dog, huh…." Knuckles went onto thinking, "Shadow!"

"Hm?"

"What kind of dogs are there?"

"Do I look like Google?"

Knuckles opened one eye, "In a different form, yes."

"Fine. German Shepherd, Doberman, Bull dog, Newfoundland, Irish Wolfhound, Mastiff, Great Dane, Poodle, Scottie, Corgi, Shetland sheepdog, Collie-"

"Alright I get it, a lot of dogs."

"Yes, in fact if I were to name them we'd be here all day."

"Okay. How about dogs that you would think would fit Rouge and I?"

"That's like asking me what your relationship is like. How the hell am I supposed to know that?" Shadow called.

Blaze snorted, "Please. Their relationship is fine. I'd say a big guard dog would do well for them. Like a Doberman."

"Doberman?" Knuckles called back to her over his shoulder.

"Yeah."

"German shepherds are police dogs," Sonic said, "I should know; I was attacked by one once."

"That was not a police dog," Shadow stated, "It wasn't even a big dog, you liar. It was a small dog."

"What type?" Tails asked.

"Chihuahua."

Tails and Knuckles with the girls laughed. Scourge was asleep while Fiona read her magazine all of the time; flipping the pages constantly back and forth was her hobby besides beauty care.

"Why'd it attack him?"

"It was hardly an attack, too."

"Okay, Shadow," Sonic chuckled nervously, "You can just shut up."

"He stopped to pet it. It never even barked at him, just waited for the attention and love from the Almighty Sonic the Hedgehog."

Sonic glared at the ebony hedgehog that looked away, "You jerk…I knew I shouldn't have taken you."

"Taken you where?" Sarah fanned herself, "Was that that day you went to Center Mobius?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Just curious. What were you doing there?"

"You sure are "just curious", Sarah," Sonic chuckled.

Sarah peeked at him, "Are you hiding something?"

"I might be. Or maybe it's Shadow hiding something. Or maybe us guys are all hiding something, huh, guys?"

"What'd I do?" Silver snorted, looking around as he woke up.

"You keeping secrets from me?" Blaze teased.

"No," Silver went back to sleep.

Tails shrugged when Cream looked at him, "Don't look at me, I wasn't with them, I don't know what they're talking about."

"Okay, Amy, you better be listening."

Amy's ears went in the direction of the blue blur but she kept her eyes closed, "Hm?"

"Faker," Shadow warned, his narrowed eyes glaring at Sonic.

"We went to Center Mobius, you know what that is?"

"Hmhm."

"Explain it," Sonic leaned back.

"Big city," Amy moaned in the sun while Sarah closed her eyes.

"And?"

"Stores."

"Keep goin'."

Rouge smirked, "Jewelry stores."

Amy sighed, "I already saw it."

"What?" Shadow shot up, "Saw what?"

"The bracelet. I was packing and it," she used quotation marks, " might've "accidentally" fallen out of one of your shirts."

"You two live together?" Rouge asked.

"No, I was at his place. No wonder why he was so skeptic about leaving me alone in his apartment. At first I thought he was cheating on me."

Shadow planted a soft, quiet kiss on her shoulder which made her hum. Sarah stretched, "A bracelet? Why?"

"Sonic took what I wanted."

Sarah opened her eyes, "Sonic?"

Sonic had his eyes shut tight as the sun beamed down on him, "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"What'd you buy me?" Sarah smiled as she traced hearts on his hand.

Sonic chuckled, "I'm not telling you. You'll just have to guess."

"Is it big?" Rouge asked.

"Anyone but Rouge," Sonic muttered, "She knows her jewelry."

"That's why I'm surprised Rouge didn't start her own jewelry store," Cream said mainly to the bat.

Rouge shrugged, "Sneaking around, taking notes and digging deep is better for me. Did you know I accidentally stumbled upon solving one of the hardest cases of West Mobius?"

Knuckles nodded, "I remember. The cops wouldn't leave my house."

Rouge patted his head, "You poor baby," she cooed.

"I really do need a guard dog," Knuckles muttered with closed eyes.

"Okay, back to jewelry," Sarah said, "Is it small or big?"

"Medium."

"Is it nice or bad?"

"What do you mean? Personality wise?" Sonic put his head up, "It can't talk."

Sarah rolled her eyes, "No. I meant is it beautiful or ugly?"

Sonic shrugged, "I don't speak female. I guess it's pretty."

Rouge shook her head, "No, Sarah. You're supposed to ask if it fits you. When it's for you, other girls don't matter."

"She knows her stuff," Fiona nodded in agreement.

"Fine, does it fit me?" Sarah kept drawing hearts.

Sonic shrugged, "I thought so."

"Is it a ring, bracelet or earrings," Rouge asked, "Oh! Or a necklace? Or anklet or a toe ring?"

"A toe ring?" Sonic lifted his head, "What the hell are toe rings and anklets?"

"Sonic, you know what a bracelet is?"

"Yeah."

"A ring?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Do you know where those things go?" Shadow peered at him.

"Yes, Shadow," Sonic answered tiredly.

"Well an anklet is like a bracelet only for the ankle and a toe ring is exactly what it sounds like. A ring for the toe."

"That's just stupid. I get the anklet but the toe ring is stupid."

"Agreed," Knuckles muttered.

Rouge sighed, "Getting bored."

"We're almost at the river crossing, relax," her boyfriend kissed her hand.

"Yeah, we'll walk back to camp."

"Walk?" Rouge shot up, "Why walk?"

"Right, you didn't bring shoes, sucks to be you," Sonic teased.

Amy moaned, "Crap…"

"So what is it?" Sarah asked Sonic.

Sonic looked at her, "What is what?"

~~~.~~~

Rouge stared at the ground, "I don't want to."

"I'll carry you on my back," Knuckles turned around and waited but she wouldn't budge.

"…."

Knuckles sighed and turned around, "I promise I won't drop you like I did at the park…or the carnival…or the baseball game….."

Rouge blinked, as if waiting for him to continue.

"Or at the pet store…or in the mall…or at the other park…You get the point," he turned back around, "Just hop on."

"I'd rather not," Rouge stood up in the water.

"Well what are you going to do?" Knuckles folded his arms.

Amy got beside her and stared up the creek, "We could walk back in the creek."

"You mean up current?" Sonic snorted, "Yeah right. Good luck with that!"

Amy was wearing flip-flops though, borrowing them from Cream while she rode on Tails' back. Sarah lent her's to Rouge and climbed onto Sonic while Shadow and Knuckles looked at their girlfriends. Blaze contemplated of going with them but Silver had already dragged her out of the water and onto his back, walking along with Sonic and Tails. Alicia jumped right into the water, smiling and ready for the new challenge. Espio reluctantly went with Vector and Charmy; Vector bumped Espio with his tail. Espio shook his head but Vector frowned and basically rammed Espio into the water.

Shadow sighed, "See ya…hopefully," he trudged on after his friends, somewhat dragging Knuckles.

Rouge and Amy stared at each other, "Against the current?" Amy bravely asked while they stood in the middle of the crossing.

Rouge nodded just as courageously, "Against the current."

The rose hedgehog took the first step and thus began the mighty journey for the two fearless females up the creek in swelling currents that led the highest height of water to only be thigh deep—of course with two other friends.

~~~.~~~

Espio had given up and walked back to the cabin. The guys and the girls that had walked with them were around the campfire that crackled and burned their marshmallows again.

"Espio," Vector tilted his head, "Where are the girls?"

"Battling against blisters," Espio stated while he sat down.

"What?" Shadow asked, sitting straighter.

"They got out for a rest and immediately they just full out screamed," Espio told the story, "Amy threw her flip-flops nearly ten feet trying to get them off and screamed again from the burning and the sight. Seven blisters were accounted for on the right foot and six on the left," he grabbed the water Charmy gave him.

Shadow's jaw dropped a tad with Knuckles'. Sonic snickered, "Serves them right for going upstream."

"Yes, but Rouge was almost as bad as Amy."

"Alicia?" Vector said which made Espio eye him while he raised his eyebrows up and down, making the Mobian roll his eyes.

"She's okay. She didn't have flip-flops tugging at her feet causing the blisters."

Shadow shook his head, "Oh boy…how long do you think they'll last?"

Espio shrugged, "Some are pretty big, maybe a year."

Knuckles pretended to faint, "Rouge is gonna have a come apart."

"She already did," Espio pointed to his face, "Tears were threatening."

Knuckles groaned, "I'll never live to hear the end of it."

"Probably not," Shadow whined, "If they go berserk, Tails, I'm moving in with you."

Knuckles agreed, "You have cable."

Tails rolled his eyes, swishing his tails, "My TV feels the love, guys."

When Amy, Rouge and Alicia did get back to the cabin, the fire was out and the team was in bed, all beside Shadow and Knuckles who waited downstairs. Alicia stayed that night, seeing as it was too dark to go wandering around so she slept on the couch.

Shadow and Knuckles herded their tired girls upstairs. Knuckles closed the door behind him and watched as Rouge collapsed on the bed.

"So, will let me carry you next time?" Knuckles walked slowly towards her.

She had kicked off the flip-flops downstairs like Alicia and Amy, still in her bathing suit, she crawled onto her stomach. Knuckles climbed onto her back and kissed her neck, "Rouge?"

"Hm?"

Knuckles' jaws clenched, "We're gonna have to tell them…" he kissed down her back, taking off her bathing suit.

Rouge moaned but once the bathing suit was off, she turned around. Knuckles had his shoes off already but kept the socks on. He wrapped his warm body around Rouge.

"…soon."

~~~.~~~

Shadow watched Amy come in from the shower, "Bed?"

Amy nodded slowly but surely as she crawled into the bed, literally. Shadow's ears went back as he growled in impatience. He wrapped his arms around her torso and dragged her near him.

"You're as slow as a turtle stuck in mud."

Amy purred into his chest, "I'm just gonna take that as a compliment."

Shadow smirked softly and kissed her temple, "Sweet dreams, Rose."

~~~.~~~

Three in the morning and nothing in the cabin was quite moving. Except for a hedgehog.

His blue quills were a bit messy while his slump body moved towards the door. He opened it and walked outside with his eyes closed.