Scarlet was dying of boredom, and out of the five hours her party was supposed to last; only two had gone by. This is going to be a long night. She thought.

"Scarlet, would you do me the honour of the next dance?"

Scarlet took the boy's hand, and put on a fake smile. The same fake smile she had had on all night. All of her suitors were supposed to be Eggman's most promising young men, but the only free ones, were the dullest people you could ever meet.

The previous gentleman who had been hanging by Scarlet for a while was finally taken over by a new one, but by this time, Scarlet wasn't even going to look at him. He'll just be another young bore. She thought.

"You look like you're having as much fun as I am." The man laughed.

For the first time all night Scarlet put on a real smile. Finally someone I can have a conversation with.

"Am I that obvious." She laughed back.

"Well –"

Scarlet's grin grew "Don't answer that. Want to go somewhere we can actually talk?"

And without waiting for an answer the boy was being dragged out onto a quiet balcony.

"This is my favourite place to be on board the ship. It's always so peaceful and relaxing." Scarlet sighed

"You don't strike me as the type who likes peaceful." The boy responded

Scarlet turned, and actually looked at the boy. He was a blue cat, about her age, with a look of determination inside him. Scarlet was curious, "What's your name?" and as an afterthought, "I'm Scarlet."

"Thorn. Do you live on Eggman's ship?" Thorn questioned

Scarlet smiled, he was just as curious as her, "Yes, with my mother."

"What about your dad? Is he Eggman?" The nosy cat quickly bit his tongue, as he saw the look on Scarlet's face when these words stumbled out.

After a few minutes she responded. "I have no father. Eggman is the closest thing, though he is more like an uncle to me. What about you?"

Thorn smiled, "I have a dad, mum, and a sister, Sun. Is it nice living on a big ship like this? Do you ever get bored?"

"Sometimes I wish I lived somewhere smaller, but it is nice to be able to move anyway you want. No I don't get bored. If I've nothing to do, I practise my fighting skills. My dream is to someday fight off a whole robot army singlehandedly." Scarlet quickly reeled on herself. She realised she'd let her guard down too much, but something about this cat, made her feel safe, and relaxed.

He took no notice. "I like fighting to, though there is only one man I want to defeat. It was my dad's goal too."

A new person walked onto the small balcony, and Thorn quietly stepped into the shadows, he knew no one knew him, but he wanted to keep a low-ish profile anyway. "There you are Scarlet; I've been looking everywhere for you."

Scarlet smiled. It was her favourite person. "Uncle Eggman!" she threw her arms around him, "Thank you for the dress. It really is beautiful."

"Nothing compared to you." He replied with a smile. "Come on in soon, we can't cut the Christmas cake without the guest of honour."

Scarlet turned the colour of her name. "I'll be in in a minute, I promise."

"Uncle Eggman?" Thorn laughed, walking back into the light.

Scarlet went an even deeper red. "At least I speak correctly." She retorted, before bursting into a fit of giggles with her strange new friend.

Thorn knew that his dad would be looking for him soon, but he had the whole night to find out about this mysterious, beautiful girl. He wasn't going to give up this chance for the whole world.

"Come on Thorn." Scarlet laughed grabbing hold of his wrist and tugging. "I need to cut the cake." And with that the two new friends stumbled back into the main of the ship, still in fits of giggles.