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CHAPTER 2

                Silky quills, slipping through his fingers. The scent of Cheiras, turning his mind into mush. The color pink, painting his vision into a sakura wonderland. Emerald eyes, scorching his body. Her breath. Her heart. To him, she was all he could see. She was the night sky. She was the world. She was everything.
                But he wasn't hers. Sonic was.
                He wanted to pull away from her, but he couldn't. His mind was intoxicated by the Cheiras. He was no longer in control.
                "Get away from me, Shadow," Amy warned.
                He felt himself take a step. Her sweet voice was calling to him. He watched as nervousness contorted her face. As he was reaching for her, she closed her eyes. He got closer and closer. Heartbeats pulsing against his chest, he leaned towards her when all of a sudden, he got a wake-up call. The Cheiras' trap lifted off his conscience and he blinked, focusing his eyes first on Amy Rose's blushing face and then on his wake up call-- her hammer. It took him awhile to get his thoughts re-organized. What just happened?
                He got up, rubbing the pain on his head, and sensed Amy shifting back into a defensive position.
                "Don't. Once was good enough." he sneered.
                "Sorry," Amy squeaked. "Are you okay now? You're not going to attack me?"
                Shadow blushed and turned his face slightly away from Amy.
                "We wasted enough time here. Let's get moving," he mumbled. From the corner of his eye, he saw Amy nod.

*****************************

                Dawn was cleaning away the night sky and slowly bringing the morning sun out. Amy was leading since she was the one who knew where to go. Shadow didn't mind. He was currently preoccupied yelling at himself mentally.
                Those flowers are dangerous, he thought. He made a note to himself to stay away from them the next time. His thoughts went back to Amy. He couldn't believe he did that. Him! The Ultimate Lifeform! What good was it to be ultimate if he couldn't even resist some stupid flowers by himself? He should have apologized to Amy as soon as he gained control, but couldn't admit he was weak. His pride wouldn't allow that. Besides, it wasn't his fault. He was temporarily insane, because of the Cheiras. Yes, it was the flowers' faults for his actions. He only wanted to embrace her, because the flowers told him to-- not because he was in love with her. Nope. No love for the Ultimate Lifeform.
                Satisfied, he looked up and watched Amy. The morning sun was half way up the sky and although the tree tops provided shade, there were little beams of sunlight dappling the pink hedgehog who occasionally walked under them. The effect the sunlight had on her quills was brilliant. Her slender form was pleasing to the eyes and he had to admit that she was attractive. No. More than attractive, she was beautiful-- like an angel descended from Heaven. She was the exact replica of a rose in full bloom. A Rose...His Rose.....Strange. He felt like he called someone that before.
                ....... Someone named Armistice, a word meaning peace. But who was Armistice? He couldn't remember anything about anyone named Armistice. The name was sudden and it confused him. It made his heart beat painfully. He visibly frowned trying to remember. If she was significant enough to make him feel pain, why couldn't he remember her?
                "Shadow, get down!" Amy's fierce whisper cut through his thoughts. Without a word, he crouched and looked in between tall bushes to the road he didn't even realize they found. The unmistakable sound of a horse-drawn carriage thundered in his ears. He felt Amy's ears draw back in anger. "Slave Traders."
                At this classification, Shadow inspected the carriage even more closely. The whole thing was guarded by six men with one of them driving the carriage. He suspected that the leader was the one inside. Attached to the little private box was a cart loaded with supplies and cages. There were five cages in all with two of them occupied. One held a lavender female hedgehog who couldn't be more than seven years old. Her face was streaked with dry tears and her clothes were ruffled and covered in dirt. In the other cage, twin female birds, one black and the other a dark brown, were loudly sobbing in each other's arms, even though they looked older than the hedgehog. His attention cut back to Amy as she got up, revealing her presence , and shouted at the driver to stop.
                "Let them go!" Amy commanded.
                The carriage halted and a very fat duck waded out of the carriage. Dressed in a blue striped suit with multiple rubies adorning his fingers, he let out an annoyed quack. The snakes around him immediately started to grab Amy, but she was too fast. She elbowed the first two and advanced towards the duck. Sighing, Shadow quickly dispatched the rest of snakes with chaos spear before they could hurt Amy. The duck was obviously in complete shock and started to back away into his carriage. However, before he could shut the door, Amy grabbed it with her right hand and raised her left to slap him. Shadow sensed the chaos power Amy put into her slap as she made the final blow.
                Interesting. The moon's power worked during the daytime.
                Within a few minutes, they got the girls free from their cages and the slave traders hung over the cart on the road.
                "Thank you so much!" the birds chirped. "How could we possibly repay you?"
                Amy's hungry stomach growled before she could answer. She laughed away her embarrassment.
                "If you don't mind. I'm kinda hungry right now," Amy answered.
                "That's okay! Our village is not too far from here!" the lavender hedgehog shouted. "Oh, please say you'll come back to the village with us! Our leader, Lucerne, would want to thank you, too!"
                Shadow's ears twitched at that name. Lucerne. It was another name his mind seemed to be familiar with, but he couldn't remember why. He sensed a relationship between that name and the other one, Armistice. That was two names he knew yet did not know so far today. Was it an after-effect from the Cheiras?
                "Well, if it means food, I guess we could take a slight detour," Amy sighed. "Is that okay with you, Shadow?"
                Shadow remained silent.
                "I'll take that as a yes," Amy grumbled.
                Their village really wasn't far. However, it still took them most of the day to arrive at Windsong Village. The village was very small and very poor. There were only three buildings built from wood and stone- the others looked as if they were small mounds of dirt and grass with the doors and windows carved out using shovels. The overall structure was very tribal with all the homes facing the center in which was a large hearth. There, the group was welcomed by grinning males, weeping females, and wide-eyed children-- all of whom were very grateful to Amy and Shadow for saving the three girls. They were ushered into the biggest building north of the hearth and sat down at a grand table. Women and chefs were frantically setting food in front of them as Amy allowed herself to gorge on the free meal. Not wanting to offend anyone, Shadow took a piece of each dish and nibbled on them.
                An hour later, Lucerne, an old, grey female hedgehog hobbled in with a twisted staff supporting most of her weight. She had no wrinkles, but her skin was very pale as if she haven't seen the sun in years. However, it was not her age but her eyes that drew Shadow's attention. Green eyes. They were not like Amy's emerald eyes, but they were close to it.
                "Thank you for saving our village's girls. We are glad to have them back with us," Lucerne said. "I am Lucerne, the leader of this village. May I ask the names of our heroes?"
                "My name's Amy and this is Shadow!" Amy replied. "We're on our way to Gorziken Castle, so if you don't mind, we would like to leave as soon as possible. We're kind of in a hurry."
                "Gorziken Castle?" Lucerne questioned. She put on her glasses to look at them better. As soon as she got a good look, her eyes widened with surprise. "Armistice?! Is that you?"
                Shadow flinched at the word. The unknown relationship between the two names, Lucerne and Armistice, was solved.
                "Who's Armistice?" Amy asked. Lucerne paused and blinked at them a couple of time before composing herself.
                "Oh, I'm sorry." Lucerne apologized. "For a moment there, you looked like my older sister."
                "It's fine," Amy said. "So anyways, thank you for the food. We'll be going now."
                "Oh please don't leave yet!" Lucerne cried. "At least stay here for the night. We would love for you to stay with us for a bit longer. Besides, it's dangerous to go near Cheiras at night."
                The casual mention of the flower's poison at night brought a blush on Shadows cheeks and made Amy accept the offer in lightning speed.
                That night, Shadow couldn't sleep. The name Armistice kept him awake. Finally, he gave up and decided to talk to Lucerne about it. He left the warm bed the village gave to him for the night and went to find Lucerne. Outside, the soldiers on guard were more than happy to guide him to Lucerne's private home, so it didn't take him long to reach the small house. The door to Lucerne's house was engraved with kindergarten pictures of the sun and two hedgehogs holding hands. Shadow's already restless spirit became unnerved from the picture on the door. Not wanting to stare at it any longer, he quickly knocked and when he could hear no answer, went ahead and went in.
                Lucerne was sitting peacefully in a velvet chair by the fire. She was gazing forlornly at a picture of a pink hedgehog. A pink hedgehog that looked a lot like Amy. They would be twins if the mysterious hedgehog in the picture was a few years younger. The picture nearly drove Shadow mad.
                "Tell me about her." Shadow said feverishly, causing Lucerne to jump in her seat and spin around to stare at him in surprise. "Tell me about Armistice!

Description

CHAPTER 2

                Silky quills, slipping through his fingers. The scent of Cheiras, turning his mind into mush. The color pink, painting his vision into a sakura wonderland. Emerald eyes, scorching his body. Her breath. Her heart. To him, she was all he could see. She was the night sky. She was the world. She was everything.
                But he wasn't hers. Sonic was.
                He wanted to pull away from her, but he couldn't. His mind was intoxicated by the Cheiras. He was no longer in control.
                "Get away from me, Shadow," Amy warned.
                He felt himself take a step. Her sweet voice was calling to him. He watched as nervousness contorted her face. As he was reaching for her, she closed her eyes. He got closer and closer. Heartbeats pulsing against his chest, he leaned towards her when all of a sudden, he got a wake-up call. The Cheiras' trap lifted off his conscience and he blinked, focusing his eyes first on Amy Rose's blushing face and then on his wake up call-- her hammer. It took him awhile to get his thoughts re-organized. What just happened?
                He got up, rubbing the pain on his head, and sensed Amy shifting back into a defensive position.
                "Don't. Once was good enough." he sneered.
                "Sorry," Amy squeaked. "Are you okay now? You're not going to attack me?"
                Shadow blushed and turned his face slightly away from Amy.
                "We wasted enough time here. Let's get moving," he mumbled. From the corner of his eye, he saw Amy nod.

*****************************

                Dawn was cleaning away the night sky and slowly bringing the morning sun out. Amy was leading since she was the one who knew where to go. Shadow didn't mind. He was currently preoccupied yelling at himself mentally.
                Those flowers are dangerous, he thought. He made a note to himself to stay away from them the next time. His thoughts went back to Amy. He couldn't believe he did that. Him! The Ultimate Lifeform! What good was it to be ultimate if he couldn't even resist some stupid flowers by himself? He should have apologized to Amy as soon as he gained control, but couldn't admit he was weak. His pride wouldn't allow that. Besides, it wasn't his fault. He was temporarily insane, because of the Cheiras. Yes, it was the flowers' faults for his actions. He only wanted to embrace her, because the flowers told him to-- not because he was in love with her. Nope. No love for the Ultimate Lifeform.
                Satisfied, he looked up and watched Amy. The morning sun was half way up the sky and although the tree tops provided shade, there were little beams of sunlight dappling the pink hedgehog who occasionally walked under them. The effect the sunlight had on her quills was brilliant. Her slender form was pleasing to the eyes and he had to admit that she was attractive. No. More than attractive, she was beautiful-- like an angel descended from Heaven. She was the exact replica of a rose in full bloom. A Rose...His Rose.....Strange. He felt like he called someone that before.
                ....... Someone named Armistice, a word meaning peace. But who was Armistice? He couldn't remember anything about anyone named Armistice. The name was sudden and it confused him. It made his heart beat painfully. He visibly frowned trying to remember. If she was significant enough to make him feel pain, why couldn't he remember her?
                "Shadow, get down!" Amy's fierce whisper cut through his thoughts. Without a word, he crouched and looked in between tall bushes to the road he didn't even realize they found. The unmistakable sound of a horse-drawn carriage thundered in his ears. He felt Amy's ears draw back in anger. "Slave Traders."
                At this classification, Shadow inspected the carriage even more closely. The whole thing was guarded by six men with one of them driving the carriage. He suspected that the leader was the one inside. Attached to the little private box was a cart loaded with supplies and cages. There were five cages in all with two of them occupied. One held a lavender female hedgehog who couldn't be more than seven years old. Her face was streaked with dry tears and her clothes were ruffled and covered in dirt. In the other cage, twin female birds, one black and the other a dark brown, were loudly sobbing in each other's arms, even though they looked older than the hedgehog. His attention cut back to Amy as she got up, revealing her presence , and shouted at the driver to stop.
                "Let them go!" Amy commanded.
                The carriage halted and a very fat duck waded out of the carriage. Dressed in a blue striped suit with multiple rubies adorning his fingers, he let out an annoyed quack. The snakes around him immediately started to grab Amy, but she was too fast. She elbowed the first two and advanced towards the duck. Sighing, Shadow quickly dispatched the rest of snakes with chaos spear before they could hurt Amy. The duck was obviously in complete shock and started to back away into his carriage. However, before he could shut the door, Amy grabbed it with her right hand and raised her left to slap him. Shadow sensed the chaos power Amy put into her slap as she made the final blow.
                Interesting. The moon's power worked during the daytime.
                Within a few minutes, they got the girls free from their cages and the slave traders hung over the cart on the road.
                "Thank you so much!" the birds chirped. "How could we possibly repay you?"
                Amy's hungry stomach growled before she could answer. She laughed away her embarrassment.
                "If you don't mind. I'm kinda hungry right now," Amy answered.
                "That's okay! Our village is not too far from here!" the lavender hedgehog shouted. "Oh, please say you'll come back to the village with us! Our leader, Lucerne, would want to thank you, too!"
                Shadow's ears twitched at that name. Lucerne. It was another name his mind seemed to be familiar with, but he couldn't remember why. He sensed a relationship between that name and the other one, Armistice. That was two names he knew yet did not know so far today. Was it an after-effect from the Cheiras?
                "Well, if it means food, I guess we could take a slight detour," Amy sighed. "Is that okay with you, Shadow?"
                Shadow remained silent.
                "I'll take that as a yes," Amy grumbled.
                Their village really wasn't far. However, it still took them most of the day to arrive at Windsong Village. The village was very small and very poor. There were only three buildings built from wood and stone- the others looked as if they were small mounds of dirt and grass with the doors and windows carved out using shovels. The overall structure was very tribal with all the homes facing the center in which was a large hearth. There, the group was welcomed by grinning males, weeping females, and wide-eyed children-- all of whom were very grateful to Amy and Shadow for saving the three girls. They were ushered into the biggest building north of the hearth and sat down at a grand table. Women and chefs were frantically setting food in front of them as Amy allowed herself to gorge on the free meal. Not wanting to offend anyone, Shadow took a piece of each dish and nibbled on them.
                An hour later, Lucerne, an old, grey female hedgehog hobbled in with a twisted staff supporting most of her weight. She had no wrinkles, but her skin was very pale as if she haven't seen the sun in years. However, it was not her age but her eyes that drew Shadow's attention. Green eyes. They were not like Amy's emerald eyes, but they were close to it.
                "Thank you for saving our village's girls. We are glad to have them back with us," Lucerne said. "I am Lucerne, the leader of this village. May I ask the names of our heroes?"
                "My name's Amy and this is Shadow!" Amy replied. "We're on our way to Gorziken Castle, so if you don't mind, we would like to leave as soon as possible. We're kind of in a hurry."
                "Gorziken Castle?" Lucerne questioned. She put on her glasses to look at them better. As soon as she got a good look, her eyes widened with surprise. "Armistice?! Is that you?"
                Shadow flinched at the word. The unknown relationship between the two names, Lucerne and Armistice, was solved.
                "Who's Armistice?" Amy asked. Lucerne paused and blinked at them a couple of time before composing herself.
                "Oh, I'm sorry." Lucerne apologized. "For a moment there, you looked like my older sister."
                "It's fine," Amy said. "So anyways, thank you for the food. We'll be going now."
                "Oh please don't leave yet!" Lucerne cried. "At least stay here for the night. We would love for you to stay with us for a bit longer. Besides, it's dangerous to go near Cheiras at night."
                The casual mention of the flower's poison at night brought a blush on Shadows cheeks and made Amy accept the offer in lightning speed.
                That night, Shadow couldn't sleep. The name Armistice kept him awake. Finally, he gave up and decided to talk to Lucerne about it. He left the warm bed the village gave to him for the night and went to find Lucerne. Outside, the soldiers on guard were more than happy to guide him to Lucerne's private home, so it didn't take him long to reach the small house. The door to Lucerne's house was engraved with kindergarten pictures of the sun and two hedgehogs holding hands. Shadow's already restless spirit became unnerved from the picture on the door. Not wanting to stare at it any longer, he quickly knocked and when he could hear no answer, went ahead and went in.
                Lucerne was sitting peacefully in a velvet chair by the fire. She was gazing forlornly at a picture of a pink hedgehog. A pink hedgehog that looked a lot like Amy. They would be twins if the mysterious hedgehog in the picture was a few years younger. The picture nearly drove Shadow mad.
                "Tell me about her." Shadow said feverishly, causing Lucerne to jump in her seat and spin around to stare at him in surprise. "Tell me about Armistice!