STH © SEGA

Sarah belongs to me, BlackPetals23. Alicia belongs to aliciathewolf45.

Enjoy!

Chapter Twelve:

Take A Hike!

When the group did finish their game of Truth or Dare and Shadow finally let Sonic out of the water, pushing him back in for making out with Amy later on, it was nearly six—the sun hiding behind the mountains as it sunk down.

Sonia leaned against the counter, drinking hot chocolate. Sonic walked past her and stared, his ears cocked towards her. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?"

"It's July and you're drinking a December beverage."

"Ooooh," Sonia rolled her eyes and took a sip while her brother sat in front of her. "Mister Fancy Words of all a sudden."

Manic walked in and stood beside her. "It'll only last for a minute."

"What are you two planning?" she eyed them carefully.

Sonic shrugged innocently. "What do you mean?"

"We aren't doing anything but talking to ya. Is that a crime now?" Manic leaned farther.

Sonia looked back at her mug before shrugging. "What do you think Mom's doing without us?"

Sonic's ears went back. "I haven't thought about her this entire trip. I feel selfish now."

"Yeah, since you are the suck-up," Manic teased.

"So? Sonia's the favorite! It's not fair!" Sonic wailed.

"I'm the only daughter she'll ever have," Sonia reasoned. "You guys are just two more males in her life who can't get a decent job to support even a pet fish."

"Hey, you're pushing it."

"Bite me," Sonia snorted and took a sip from her mug.

Manic hit the bottom and made the hot chocolate go over her face. Snickering, the two brothers ran out of the room as fast as they could—Sonic left Manic in the dust while Sonia shrieked.

~~~.~~~

Cream leaned back on her bed. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? First you get drunk, vandalize, and then you-you-you-UGH!" Tails threw the towel up in the air and started pacing.

"Kissed Charmy?" Cream raised an eyebrow.

Tails looked at her wide-eyed. "Kissed!? Kissed!? HA! You made out with him! You sucked his face!"

Cream giggled at the accusation. "Relax. I was just doing a dare."

"Don't tell me you stole a morning drink."

"I didn't."

"Cream?"

"I didn't!" Cream put her arms up in a surrendering motion. "I promise, Tails!"

"Good," Tails climbed in next to her and looked at the clock. "It's only eight-forty-five."

"And?"

"What are we supposed to do?"

"Well," Cream folded her arms on her stomach. "You could yell at me some more."

~~~.~~~

"You should feel bad! You got drunk!"

It wasn't Tails and Cream yelling. It wasn't even Rouge who had her moments when Knuckles did something completely and utterly stupid. It wasn't Sonic neither which would surprise most of the group—Scourge wasn't being yelled at either. It wasn't even a guy being yelled at. No, he was doing the yelling.

"Would you drop it!? I didn't mean to get intoxicated and wreck a cabin!"

"Two cabins! Remember?!"

"How should I remember!? I was drunk!"

The group traveled downstairs to look in the kitchen. The pink hedgehog was on one side of the table while Shadow was staring at her with only rage-maybe a little protection-nope. Only rage.

Sonic stomped down and went to one side of the table, "Guys!"

The stopped to look at the blue blur. "What's with the yelling? I'm sure the neighbors could hear you."

"Stay out of this, Sonic," Shadow growled. "This doesn't concern you at all."

"Really?" Sonic stood up and sauntered over to him. "Because if I recall, all our girlfriends were drunk and sabotaged the cabins last night."

"Hey!" Sarah rammed in through Rouge and Blaze. "You didn't care! You guys were passed out on the grass!"

"Blankets," Knuckles corrected.

"Shut up!" Sarah yelled at him

"Hey," Scourge put his finger in front her. "You can't blame us for your reckless procedures. You put that paint on the cabins and if anyone but us find out then you're toast. You can't blame us and hope we replace you in jail—that's not how it works, Sarah. Sure, we were sleeping but we weren't wrecking up cabins!"

"You guys should've been watching us!" she screamed at him.

"Last time I checked," Scourge leaned into her face so he was only an inch away, "you are all eighteen or over. You're not kids. Just young adults and so are we. Just because we might be more experienced with drinking doesn't mean we'll be sober enough to help you."

Sarah's eyes narrowed and she poked his chest. "You gave us the drinks."

Scourge put his hands up. "Not my problem. You could've been smart and put them back in the case."

"Yeah, right! You'll be blamed for this! It's your fault we got drunk!" Blaze got in his face with Rouge and Sarah.

Amy shook her head. "No."

They looked at him, all of them did. She swallowed. "He's right. We could've put the drinks back in the case. We didn't get pressured or anything. He wasn't going to make us drink—he frankly doesn't give a shit about any of us but he has done the right and loyal things."

"Like what?"

"He warned the semi was coming," Manic muttered.

Knuckles nodded. "He helped with Alina first. He didn't even smoke that night. Or swear."

"Just a few sips of beer but he was sober that night," Fiona shrugged in agreement.

"And he didn't pressure you to drink," Silver nodded. "It's your fault. Admit it and live with it."

Blaze gaped at him. "Excuse me?"

Silver moved to the side and put his hands up, giving her space to walk into the living room and out of the kitchen. "You're excused."

Blaze glared and walked out of the room with Rouge and Sarah right behind her. Cream stayed with Fiona and Sonia. Amy looked at Shadow.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" he hissed. "This doesn't change a thing between what happened. I don't know if I can trust you."

"You're just afraid of her getting caught," Fiona stated.

Red eyes glared at her to be quiet but stopped and looked back at the pink hedgehog. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "What you did…."

"I get it, Shadow," Amy folded her arms. "You can stop repeating it."

Sonic shrugged. "Maybe he has a point, Ames."

"A point? What's the point of this lecture? It's getting nowhere and it's just a simple recap of what happened. If he's trying to make me guilty, it's not working. It's just getting me pissed off at him."

Shadow looked up and only stared at her. "Fine then. If that's how you want it."

Amy waved him. "Oh! So it's my fault now?" She searched for the right words and glared at him, "Go take a hike, you asshole!"

"Fine," Shadow hissed.

Shadow walked out then and there, leaving with the guys while Cream and Fiona stared at her. Sonia sat down and sighed. "You want to do something fun?"

"Like what?" Amy whined, leaning on the table with her elbows. "He's not going to talk to me. We've been through this before when I didn't talk to him for three days."

"Why?" Cream sat down next to Sonia.

"My phone died. I couldn't find the charger. It's the truth. He thought otherwise."

"What'd you do to make it up to him?" Fiona sat down after, following the two's example until Amy took a seat beside her.

"Nothing. He wouldn't speak to me. After I went to his place though, I remember getting out of the bathroom and picking up my phone before sitting beside him to watch a movie. He cuddled right up and went back to his usual caring behavior."

"He checked your phone to make sure you weren't cheating," Fiona nodded while filing her nails.

"That was my guess," Amy shrugged. "I guess I can't do anything this time. There's not much that can cure angriness."

"Don't worry, Amy."

The rose hedgehog glanced at her best friend who reached across the table for her hands. "He'll be fine and notice he can't live without you!" the rabbit giggled.

Fiona rolled her eyes. "Please. You told him to take a hike."

Amy's eyes widened. "Oh no!" She leaped from her chair with the girls minus Fiona following hot on her heels.

They went into the leaving room but no one was there. Cream held her head. "Tails?" she called but he didn't answer.

Rouge came out of the bathroom. "What's up?" she glanced between the worried Cream and the almost-crying Amy.

"Where is Tails?" Cream stepped forward.

"Shadow!" Amy called throughout the cabin.

She ran up the stairs and almost knocked down the door. She stared at the empty bed in the dark room. Nothing was taken but nobody was in the room.

Amy slid down against the door. "Shadow…." She whispered, clinging around her stomach while crying.

From downstairs she heard the words that slashed her heart apart.

"THEY'RE GONE!"

"Shadow, come on!" Sonic yelled as the ebony hedgehog kept walking in the dark.

Knuckles and Silver were behind them. Tails was trailing beside Sonic while Shadow kept a steady pace ahead.

"She didn't mean it! It was a simple mistake!" Silver yelled.

"Yeah!" Knuckles nodded. "They won't get caught! Ever!"

"What if she does?" Shadow turned around. "What happens when they're gone to the police to be thrown into jail?"

"They'll make bail," Sonic shrugged.

"How do you know?"

Sonic shrugged again, "A hunch?"

"And what if your hunch is wrong?" Shadow walked forward.

"Shadow, you're just being paranoid."

Silver looked at Tails and agreed with a short and brisk nod. Knuckles folded his arms. "Tails is right, Shadow. They'll be fine on their own. They could easily live without us if they chose to."

Shadow wasn't listening to his friends anymore. He was staring at a truck; its back lights were on while it drove across the creek crossing. He hadn't noticed they walked that far in such short seconds, but technically, he ran along with the others who tried their hardest to keep up with the two fastest.

The black truck drove right across and went onto the dirt road. Shadow moved forward a bit before going into a jog and running instantly up to a tree. The rest followed with Sonic getting their first. Their shoes were barely touching the water while Shadow's narrowed eyes watched a bulk Mobian climb out of the truck and open the gate.

"Isn't it off limits?" Sonic whispered.

Tails shook his head. "No. They're probably just camping, come on."

"Then why does he look so suspicious?" Shadow growled at the Mobian glancing around.

The tail showed he was a crocodile like Vector who was back at the cabin sleeping in the bed with Espio and Charmy like usual, probably all three were oblivious of the fighting.

Knuckles shrugged. "Maybe he's just trying to hurry because his truck had problems on the highway."

"Maybe, but then again," Shadow took a bold step in the water.

Sonic grabbed onto his shoulder. "Shadow. Have you ever heard of curiosity killed the cat?"

Shadow glared. "I'm not a cat, Sonic."

"It's a figure of speech…" Tails started but Shadow continued to walk into the dark water.

"Shadow!" Silver hissed. "You'll freeze to death!"

Shadow shook his head and motioned them to come follow him. Sonic did first, swift and courageous looking as he entered the water. "It's not freezing….it's actually quite warm."

Tails shrugged as the two followed up the current to hide behind the bushes while the truck drove forward about fifty feet in front of them. Shadow didn't want the men in the truck to see shadowy figures lurking behind them.

"Let's go," Shadow said as soon as the dust cleared.

"After them?" Knuckles wailed in the water, his fur now dripping. "You've got to be kidding!"

"Yeah!" Silver agreed. "Just kiss and make up with Amy!"

"He can't, unlike us," Tails explained. "He has pride."

"Gee, thanks," Knuckles splashed water on the fox before getting out of the water and following the ebony and blue hedgehogs down the road.

"Shadow? What if they are just camping?" Silver raced after them with Tails. "What then?"

"Then my curiosity will be cured and we can go back to the cabin."

"Thank God," Knuckles rejoiced.

"That is if these guys are the good guys," Silver muttered.

"What if they're the bad guys?" Tails almost whimpered.

Shadow shrugged. "It's not anything we can't handle."

"Right," Tails nodded nervously. "You're right. I shouldn't be frightened."

Shadow raised an eyebrow back at the fox. "You want Silver to hold your hand?"

"No!" Tails waved his hands.

BOOM!

Lightning cracked the sky while thunder followed. Tails yelped and grasped Silver's arm who glared at him. "Get off, wimp!"

"Guys!" Knuckles yelled at them as if they were toddlers. "Not now. We need to hurry and get close to something besides trees or water."

Shadow nodded in agreement and ran with Sonic while Tails ran alongside with Silver and Knuckles. It wasn't long 'till they were behind the pick-up that was still driving. Shadow hopped onto the back, signaling the rest to do it. There on the back they could see large crates were covering the windows. If the driver or passenger were to see them, they'd need to look at the mirrors on the side of the truck. When they were all pressed up against the crates though, the driver wouldn't see them even if he heard something.

Knuckles breathed heavily and shivered from the breezed. "What's the plan?"

Shadow looked at the crate before getting a piece of the wood chipped off. "Don't do that!" Tails hissed.

The ebony hedgehog put his hand in through the small hole then pulled it out after feeling something on the sides of the wood. Red liquid was on his fingers. The guys watched in shock and terror as Shadow stood up and looked over the roof of the truck, standing up with the wind trying to take him away like a kite.

"Shadow?" Sonic got up along with him and the rest, squeezing through.

Shadow stared at the mountains they had climbed the other day. Tails stared at the road that forked. One went to the hiking trails; another went to the extra camping sight plus biking trail. Knuckles swallowed heavily along with Silver.

"If we're found," Silver said normally not to yell to attract the driver but loud enough to let his friends hear him, "does that mean we'll be like these guys?" he tapped the crate softly.

Shadow felt Sonic shiver and glanced at him. He twisted his head sharply and stared at his friends. Sonic shook his head. "No. I have a plan."

"I hope it's nothing like the time you tried stealing the chilidog cart at the park," Shadow muttered.

Sonic glared. "This plan will work, trust me."

Shadow felt the breeze in his quills as they went left on the forked road. Another bolt of lightning flashed the sky followed by booming thunder.

"That's what I'm afraid of."