The Art of Prophecy

"Tonight…"

Tonight. It was going to happen tonight. Amy's head and thoughts were spinning, but at least she was able to understand that much, and that was enough for her to realize what she had to do; she had to warn Knuckles! Immediately!

Amy jumped out of her bed, leaving sheets and pillows in a mess behind her on the mattress. She didn't bother to eat breakfast; how could she even think about that right now? She jerked her boots on and hastily put on her red headband; that was necessary. And of course she hurriedly dressed herself in her red summer dress and grabbed her precious Piko Piko Hammer before she exited the house.

She sprinted across the green fields as fast as she could; but she knew very well that it would take some time to get to Angel Island by feet. "I don't have time," she panted as she ran. "I need to get to Knuckles now!"

"Frooogggyyy!"

The familiar low-pitched voice startled her, but what startled her even more was the frog that flew straight into her face as she looked to her left the moment after.

With a gasp and a high-pitched squeal, Amy stumbled backwards and almost crushed a couple of butterflies and a few ants as she fell to the ground, desperately trying to pull the green slimy creature off her face. "Mmmphh, mhh mhhh! Umph mmhmhm!(Froggy, let go! I'm in a hurry!)" Her words didn't make much sense since she talked into a frog's belly.

It was not until the big purple cat reached her and grabbed the frog to pull it off; along with the frog, he pulled half of Amy's face and all her hair. "IIIIEEEKKHH! Big, stop! You're ripping my head off!"

"Huuuuhh?" Big's reaction was not the fastest, and by the time he let go, he had already pulled off the stubborn frog; and of course, a lot of pink strands of hair.

"Gaaaaggghh!" Amy whimpered. "For God's sake, Big..! And I have a sore scalp too…!" She covered her head with her hands and carefully rubbed the tender spots. "My god, you're powerful," she muttered as she pinched her eyes close when she pulled off a few loose straws. "But you got the frog out of my face, at least. So, thanks."

"I'm sorry," Big apologized. "Froggy ran away. Again. Then you found Froggy! Froggy likes Rosey. Big likes Rosey too; Big is grateful." He gave Amy a wide smile, which was almost a little creepy when coming from that big cat.

But Amy returned his smile; "That's alright… although it was more likely that he found me… but whatever," she shook her head.

"Where is Rosey going?" Big asked as he tilted his head. "Rosey looked like she was in a hurry."

Amy blinked; That's right! Angel Island – the Master Emerald – Knuckles – the stranger – the theft – she had to hurry! Amy's stressed condition returned to her as she quickly got to her feet and looked up at Big. "I'm sorry, but you're right; I'm in a hurry and I really need to get going now!"

Big spoke before Amy'd managed to get going; "Where is Rosey going?" he asked.

Amy turned back to look at him; at first she opened her mouth to send him off or something such, but then she closed it, ashamed of herself for having considered it. Instead she opened her mouth again and said gently instead; "I need to go to Angel Island; something serious is about to happen and I need to warn Knuckles."

She was kind of expecting something like "ooh" coming out of Big's mouth next, but instead he gave her a different, nice kind of look as he opened his mouth once again. "Rosey wants to go to the sky? Then Big will help Rosey, because Rosey helped Big find Froggy," he said.

Amy blinked in confusion; "You'll help me?" To be honest, she didn't really see how Big could possibly help her to get to Angel Island any quicker. But Amy wasn't rude enough to simply wave off his offer, so instead she asked, as politely as possible: "I'm sorry for asking, but… how exactly do you intend to help me..?"

Big responded with one of his wide smiles. "Hold on to my fur," he instructed and pointed a big furry finger at his body.

Amy didn't really know how to react; grabbing onto Big's body was not the thing that she'd be willing to do in normal circumstances, but this wasn't really a normal circumstance now, was it? So instead of protesting in repugnance, she actually obeyed and slowly walked up to Big and grabbed his fur with one hand.

To her surprise, Big gave her a confused look. "You'll fall if you only use one hand."

Amy refused the urge to frown before she took a small hop and grabbed onto Big's massive amount of fur with both arms as well as her legs, just like if she was desperately trying to hug him. It probably looked kind of weird from other people's perspective; luckily, no one was there expect them.

"Good," Big approved pleasantly, and then he bent his legs under him and raised both of his arms above his head, as if he was preparing to take a big leap. Froggy jumped up too and positioned himself on Big's shoulder.

Amy was just starting to feel a little awkward and slightly wondered what Big meant when he said that she might "fall off", when he suddenly let out an exaggerating roar and before Amy got the chance to even blink, he'd taken off from the ground with amazing speed, and they darted upwards.

Shocked was the least thing that Amy was now; she let out a screech in shock and terror and surprise and astonishment mixed up together as she now understood what the big cat had meant by his warning, and she clung to his thick fur for dear life. "GGAAAAAAGGHHH!" Sexiest scream in hedgehog chick history. "WHAT THE HELL, BIG?!" she screamed as they continued upwards without slowing down. "Since when did you learn how to fly?!"

"Big always could." His deep voice made itself heard even though the grumbling and whistling sound of the winds – that were ten times as strong as usually – and the speed hit them as they darted through the air, through the clouds.

Amy's hair fluttered and lashed fiercely in front of and behind her face; if she wouldn't have been taken by such surprise, she might've been amazed by this. She was amazed, but not in an admiring kind of way right now. She couldn't resist to peek down, and as soon as she did, she immediately regretted it; they were as high up as Amy had ever been and would probably ever go without a seatbelt and a sheltering window.

She thought she saw a bird flash by, and maybe even a ship, but they disappeared out of sight as soon as they had appeared, and all the time they just kept going upwards. It felt like they'd left the ground and the even the clouds far, far behind them. Or below them.

Amy didn't have the guts to look upwards, so all she did was to press her face tightly into Big's warm fur. But just as she thought that she would never get to walk on solid ground ever again, the whistling in her ears stopped, and she heard the thump sound of something heavy landing on the ground, and a terrified screech of a male (sexiest scream in echidna history), and she looked up. After a few confused blinks and a few wasted attempts to process what had just happened, she realized that they had reached Angel Island; on top of that, they had crashed into the ground right in front of the Master Emerald and a startled Knuckles.

Amy let go of Big and was prepared to call out and run up to her friend, but to her surprise, her legs gave way under her, and with a surprised gasp she would've collapsed, if Big hadn't caught her before she hit the ground. "Ack! Phew… Thanks, Big," she said gratefully as he helped her back on her feet, and she gave him a gentle smile. "For that, and for bringing me here." Holy god, it must've only taken about a few minutes.

Big gladly returned her smile. "No problem," he said happily. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Knuckles interrupted him:

"JUST WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" he exclaimed completely horror-struck, and pointed an accusing index finger at the two of them; his face expression revealed exactly how startled he was.

Amy very well understood his reaction, but she had no time to explain, and only ignored his question. "Knuckles, we don't have time! You have to listen to me!" she exclaimed and jogged up to him.

Knuckles met her gaze with a questioning raised eyebrow; "What's wrong?" he asked her. "You look kind of pale."

No shit, Amy thought but quickly sent that thought away; "Knuckles, please don't think that I'm crazy when I tell you this, but; someone is going to steal the Master Emerald!" she exclaimed with a wild face expression. Maybe she shouldn't have been so straight-forward, because Knuckles indeed looked at her as if she was crazy.

"… What?" he said after a while.

"It's true!" Amy burst out. "You have to believe me!"

Knuckles just looked at her for a while. Then he shook his head; "Look Amy, I appreciate that you're concerned about the Master Emerald's safety, but—"

"Knuckles, I'm telling you the truth!" she shouted. "Listen, I had a dream and—"

"A dream?" To Amy's immense dismay, Knuckles skeptically shook his head again, and then he tried to give her a comforting pat on her shoulder for some weird stupid reason. "Tails told me that you've been rather exhausted and absent-minded lately. Now I see what he meant; listen, you're probably just still a little shaken from Cream's kidnapping—"

"No, Knuckles, no!" Amy desperately tried. "No, this is true, I swear…!"

But Knuckles just continued to shake his head; "It was just a nightmare, okay Amy? You're just a little confused—"

"I am not confused!"

She glared at him; Knuckles wasn't listening to her, but Amy refused to realize that this was futile; she shook her head from side to side and then gazed almost pleadingly at her stupid friend. "Knuckles, please…!" she practically begged for him believe her. "You have to believe me; the Master Emerald…"

Knuckles sighed, and then he actually grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, completely ignoring Amy's frustrated protests; "Knuckles, no! What are you – no! Stop! Stop, Knuckles, please!"

Big, who was still there, watched all of this with an unhappy face. "Red should listen to Rosey," he said to Knuckles.

"Stay out of this, Big," Knuckles said warningly as he led Amy away.

Amy continued to shout and tried to break free and convince him that the Master Emerald was in real danger, but it only ended with Knuckles grabbing her arms and holding her still; he turned her around and looked straight into her eyes. "Amy, listen to me," he said determinedly. "It was only a dream."

"But—"

"It was only a dream."

Amy opened her mouth to protest, but for some reason, she froze. Very quietly she closed her mouth and slowly turned and looked down at their feet; maybe Knuckles was right… Maybe it was only a dream after all…

No matter what it was, Knuckles would never believe her. Maybe she was just exhausted or whatever after all… she did not want to think that she was, but maybe it was true?

Amy stood silent for a long, long while before she finally sighed and raised her head to meet Knuckles with depressed and tired eyes. But just as she was about to apologize to him, she was interrupted when Big stepped in between them with a serious face. "No!" he grumbled.

Knuckles backed up; "Big, what the heck are you doing?" he asked, and Amy wondered that too.

But Big only glared down at Knuckles with a very determined face. "Rosey wouldn't lie to you," he said strictly.

To this, Knuckles responded with wide eyes; "What..? Hey listen, it's not that I think that Amy would lie to me, but—"

"Rosey doesn't lie," Big repeated, this time forcefully. "Rosey tells the truth. She only wants to help you."

Knuckles was taken aback; "I-I know that… but…" he hesitated.

Amy looked up at Big with confused eyes. "Big, what are you…?" she mumbled, and Big turned to her instead.

"Rosey is telling the truth, because Big saw strange person collect shiny gems before," he said.

Both Knuckles and Amy stared at him; "What?" they exclaimed simultaneously.

Big nodded. "Black hedgehog took shiny gems and said that he was going after the big one, that one," Big pointed at the Master Emerald. "Big knows this is true." He gave Amy a gentle look before he faced Knuckles again with a strict face. "Big knows Rosey is telling the truth."

Knuckles just stood there, shaken by the sudden twist and by the information; he seemed way too taken aback to find an appropriate reply. He just gazed from Amy to Big and looked into their determined faces, and then after a long while, he looked down at the ground in modesty, and Amy was almost sure that he was ashamed of himself as he spoke: "… I'm sorry," he apologized through a murmur. "I'm sorry I doubted you, Amy."

All Amy did was shake her head and give him a faint smile. "It's alright." She was not angry at him; she could agree that her story was kind of unreliable. Unlike Big's, she thought and turned to look up at the big cat with a wide and honestly grateful smile; "Thank you, Big," she said.

Big smiled back. "Big doesn't want Red to think that Rosey is a liar."

His words seemed almost hurtful to Knuckles, and Amy almost felt sorry for him.

"It was good that you stood up for her, Big," Knuckles said after a while, without facing them. "Now I know that the Master Emerald is in danger… thanks to you," he added quietly. "So… thanks."

Both an apology as well as a "thank you", coming from Knuckles in one day; wow. Amy wished she had a video camera. "Don't worry about it," she replied. "So, are you going to stay up all night and guard it?"

Knuckles nodded. "Yeah. I'll ask Sonic to help me out; we can take shifts," he said. "I'll guard it today, he'll take the night, and I'll check on it tomorrow."

"That's a good plan," Amy said. "I'm sure Sonic will help you out." She paused, and then she couldn't stop herself from yawning; "I think I'll be going home now… bit tired…"

Knuckles nodded; "Of course." He gave her an awkward wave as goodbye. "Take care."

Amy waved back, and with that, Big lifted her up and then they took off, and eventually he dropped her off back at her home.

After Big had left, Amy felt more exhausted and bewildered than ever; she had no idea whatsoever what to think or do. So she solved the problem in the same way she'd done last night: She went to bed. And it felt really good, even though it took time for her to fall asleep.

At least the Master Emerald would be safe now, with both Sonic and Knuckles as guards. There was really nothing else she could do, and even if she could, she was not sure if her mind could handle it; it desperately craved sleep right now.

And just as if on command, Amy drifted into deep slumber a few moments later, and this night she slept on without any bothering nightmares.

When Amy woke up the following day and checked her watch, she was surprised to find it saying that she was 11 am. She blinked and rubbed her eyes before she yawned and stretched herself out; that was probably one of the best nights in her entire life. The lack of sleep and the drowsiness were completely gone, and Amy felt more energetic than ever. No nightmares for this hedgehog, not tonight!

Amy smiled a little to herself as she got out of bed and walked out in her kitchen to eat breakfast; three yummy sandwiches with cheese, jam, eggs and cucumbers and a hot cup of tea with sugar and honey in it. It felt really good; after all, she'd skipped breakfast as well as lunch and dinner last night.

Amy hummed happily to herself as she gazed out the window and watched a butterfly pass the glass panes; maybe she should call Tails and the others? Yeah, then they could catch up, and she would make it up to them for the time she'd been absent and gloomy.

As soon as Amy had finished breakfast and gotten dressed, she gave Tails a call, and he replied that it would be great if she came over; Sonic and Cream were at his place as well. The thought cheered Amy up even more, and she immediately set off to her friends, arriving at Tail's house in about fifteen minutes.

As she arrived, her friends greeted her warmly and she joined them on the porch where they played games and chitchatted for a long, long time. Everything was great, and everything seemed to go on like that for forever… until a loud and high-pitched scream echoed through the air.

Everyone who sat by the table winced; the loud scream seemed to go on for eternities, but then it finally stopped. No one said anything, but they all thought the same thing; what the heck was that just now?

But just as they were about to continue chatting, another scream was heard, by the same voice; only this time, it was closing in fast, and instead of ust screaming, it bellowed a name: "SsssooooOOOOONNIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCC!"

Amy blinked and spun around on the couch in confusion; she very well knew to whom that voice belonged to. And her idea was confirmed when a roaring Knuckles came charging at them, running almost as fast as Sonic and eyes wild with rage as he bellowed: "SONIC, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, YOU BASTARD?! I'M GOING TO EAT YOUR SOUL!"

… What the heck…? "Knuckles, what's happened? What's the matter?" Amy asked when the furious echidna had reached the house.

He was breathing fast from the run and he was trembling with rage when he finally stopped looking around the house for Sonic and instead faced his confused comrades who watched his every move. His eyes were wild and his face would probably have turned red from anger if it wouldn't have happened to already be as red as it could be, and he must've scared off every single bird, animal and bug from the place as he roared: "THE MASTER EMERALD IS GONE!"