Running never felt so good to him like this.
Fields zipping into view in lightning speed. The wind tickled his eyes and nose playfully in swirling patterns. The freedom enveloped him of cool and calm feelings in his peaceful mind. Whatever came up on his fast track path jumped out of the way when the stranger sped through. The Flora meadows were his perfect place to run his daily laps and to delve into his thoughts when needed. The blue hedgehog suddenly bumped into a familiar princess he knew from old times…
"Ouch! Oh, Princess Amy! I didn't know that you were out here. Are you okay?"
He reached out his hand to help her up from the grass, the bewildered monarch dazed from being suddenly knocked to the ground. Amy struggles a bit to regain her balance; however she finally stood to think over what had just happened. Later, she saw the blue hedgehog on his knees, arms stretched over and head faced to the ground. Oh brother, she thought grimly, hopefully I'll make a law about this.
"Come on, Sir Sonic the Hedgehog. Obviously, you've known me long enough to have figured it out; I hate that my own subjects do this for me," she said with a tired tone.
Sonic looked up, a look of jest on his face. "I knew I could get to you with that. Anyway, you shouldn't be out here you know. Your father would have me by the throat if he knew that I knew you were outside castle grounds."
Amy frowned a bit. "I was only here to…to…to shop! For flower seeds and tulip bulbs. You know, you can't get enough flowers!" she laughed nervously, hoping that the knight wouldn't catch on what she's really doing.
Sonic's eyebrow lifted a bit. Suspicion crept into his subconscious, eyeing by the way the princess was veiled in her transparent, sky blue cloak like she was being evasive to the world, her secrets all hidden in her cloak. He tried the effort of breaking the 5 minute ice, but Amy turned around and headed for the direction for the town square. Sonic trotted besides her to catch up.
"Where are you going, the Middle East or something?" he joked. Amy didn't say anything, so he hinted that something's up.
"I already told you what I'm doing, so there. Let me do what I want to do, okay?" Amy said.
Suddenly, her arm was caught, forcing her legs to stop in their tracks. Amy attempted to snatch her arm back, but Sonic gripped on it tighter.
"I know you are not going out there dressed up like that," he objected, "You know there are rogues out there who hound on pretty, wealthy young ladies like you, no matter who you are. It's too dangerous out there, especially for a princess who's soon to be a queen."
Amy finally freed his grasp and stormed off towards the same direction. Sonic ran up in front of her, blocking her path. Amy, annoyed at how she couldn't have a right to privacy, just moved around him like he was invisible. Before he tried to catch up to her, she yelled back, "Through tough times, even a dandelion can make it through."
Then, a thought sprang to her mind. She halted in her tracks and turned around to face his approaching green eyes.
"Sonic! Wait! You're a knight, right? Can you tell me about this kingdom my father hates so much? I mean, I'm sure you know about it."
Sonic, his mind suddenly snagged into what Her Majesty said, tripped over a tree trunk and hit his face. Hard. "WHAT?"
At first, he hesitated to tell her, but he looked at the pink future queen's pleading, glassy eyed expression. He couldn't help but have his heart feel a melting, warm sensation. Ahh, what's the point? She'll know about them anyway in the future.
Sonic sighed. Amy silently nodded in understanding, but inside her subconscious was saying "Yes, Yes, YES!" in a triumphant chant.
"Okay, but you have to promise me that you wouldn't get in trouble or go over there, okay?" Sonic warned. Amy nodded again.
"Alright. You want to know the kingdom that your parents never wanted to talk to you about? That's the Umbra Kingdom. It's a dark, brutal, and cruel world to be in. Well, let me say it's so bad that daisies never grow there. You see, the Umbra and the Flora kingdoms are sworn enemies, so that's why we never interact with them so much. They go by harsh ways, we go by good deeds, and there are millions of differences between us. Rumor has it that they guard a huge green gem, supposed to have to influential powers over our Floran ancient emeralds. Rules are contact with an Umbrian is strictly forbidden and punishable by exile. All I know about the royal family is that they are real cruel brutes…"
Amy caught on with what he said about a royal family. "Tell me about the royal family. What are they like?"
"The Umbrian Royal Family carries a big reputation of being the most notorious monarchs in history. They're known as the family straight from hell. The king and queen punish heavily and never show any mercy to their victims. They also don't give a damn about how high the taxes are, as long as they get paid with gold and coins. Now their son, he's just as evil and hazardous, so you better stay away from him. Rumor also has it that he caught on to his mother and father's bad habits very quickly, if you know what I mean."
Listening to that explanation, Amy mouthed a thank you to him and went on her way. Sonic didn't even stop her, thinking over about what the king warned him not to do: tell her about the kingdom that is forbidden, by law, to speak about.
The princess walked on to a nearby village, deep in thought about that young hedgehog 8 years ago. Was it that same little boy that I saw long ago? Why did he look so mean? Is he what Sonic said he was? I'll find out soon enough.
Amy didn't realize that she was headed for falling into a deep well, but was caught just in time by a tiny hand. Yanked out of her daydream, Amy looked down the 30 feet drop of darkness, at the bottom ice cold water splashing up from the hidden irrigation. Amy, being an acrophobic person herself, almost fainted until she was pulled up to the outside world. What a klutz, she thought to herself, feeling hot in the cheeks.
"Excuse me ma'am, but you can lose you step and fall in our village's well. I know. It happened to me before. Are you okay?"
A startled Amy looked around for the tiny voice, and looked down in front of her. A cream-colored rabbit stared up at her with huge orange, innocent eyes. To Amy, she seemed to be a cute little peasant girl. However, she realized that the rabbit's face turned to awe, and she ran to the nearest tree; hiding from the stranger she just met. Amy was confused as to how this little girl could be afraid of her. She walked slowly to her, but the rabbit at the same time went farther away.
"Come on, don't be scared. I thank you for saving me from falling in that well. I want to commend you for that action."
Still, the rabbit wouldn't budge from that trunk.
"What's wrong? Am I intimidating you?"
The girl glanced up at Amy's head. The princess felt around her head and saw what she was scared of.
"Oh! You're scared of being in front of a princess? It's okay, look; I'm taking this tiara off my head. See? Now I'm just an ordinary person now. So it's okay now. You won't get in trouble for this," Amy smiled.
The little rabbit slowly crept from the tree's shadow and approached Amy. A friendly smile grew on her face, a cute expression that warmed Amy's heart deeply.
"So, what's your name little one?"
The girl answered shyly, "My name is Cream. Cream the Rabbit." She reached out her hand gleefully and Amy happily accepted. Finally, a friend who is not in the Floran courts, she thought excited.
Both of them hit it off by talking about their lifestyles, their duties in their place, and what troubles they have. Cream was intently listening to Amy's problems, from the stillborn incident to the mysteries of a black hedgehog's identity. Amy relaxed knowing she could express her problems and secrets to someone nice, patient, and who never judged over on a ridiculous subject.
"So," Cream said wide eyed, "are you going to try to find out who he is? Is there any way I can help?"
"Well yeah, but I have to be in cognito to do that. I have the strength enough to go on my own, so I'm going to be okay. Thank you for the offer anyway, but it's going to be dangerous for you, since you're young. Sooner or later, I'll find out who he is and if he is what Sir Sonic says he is, then I'll do my best to ignore him and forget about the past."
"Okay, Princess Amy…just be careful."
"Oh, don't worry, I will. Oh, and one more thing Cream?"
"Yes, Princess Amy Rose?"
"Just call me Amy, okay?"
Cream nodded and ran happily to her house, Amy calling her back. "Cream! Don't tell anybody that you met me. We're secret friends, understand?"
Cream answered back, "Cross my heart, Amy. I would never tell about us."
Feeling very secured, Amy walked back towards the palace walls leading to her bedroom window, very glad that she has a friend who emphasizes how she feels about certain events. Also, she made a beautiful friendship happen. Amy beamed at the sun's kissing rays welcoming her back to the Floran meadows.
Little did she know that she was being watched, not in person, not in secrecy, but in a crystal ball, draped over by a deep voice. "Yes little princess, walk to your precious palace. It will be soon when I get a hold of your powerful jewels, my future queen."
Then, maniacal laughter echoed throughout a wet, dank castle hidden in the outskirts of the Flora and Umbra kingdoms.