Chapter Text
The town was dull, yet bearable, the townspeople going on about their days, everyone minding themselves, others not so much. It wasn’t exactly perfect, yet it was for its standard atmosphere, oddly standard.. At least that’s what a vigorous lot thought, Amy, aside from her past accomplishments in keeping order, found peace with the silence, and continued with her errands in finding ingredients for a new recipe she fancied. Tails, although he shared a mutual doubt with his older brother, seems fairly unbothered, too went on with his crafty self. Then there’s the tireless, and questionably overgrown, hedgehog, he remained vigilant, for two reasons, one being more suitable for worry than the other. As Tails tinkered, he found it hard to ignore the building tension in his brother, before he asked, he lightly hammered in a piece of metal into a remaining crevice from damaged armor, and finally put aside his tools. He dusted his gloves as he stood from his table and walked towards Sonic, who looked out the window, anxiously tapping his finger on his crossed arm.
“Sonic, we’ve been through this many times, it was only a shallow cut, it has happened before, the wound is practically gone. In regards to tonight, you can’t stop me from-“
“It’s not that, Tails.”
The fox looked at Sonic a bit surprised, but deviated more into confusion as for the different reason behind his brothers disquiet manner.
“May it be about the town?”
“…”
Tails exhaled taking the silent response as a yes, and stepped closer, standing to his right side, looking out to the town also slightly disconcerted by its lack of life. The hedgehog glanced down to the fox, frowning at the sight of a patched cheek, the previous full moon caused harm to his little brother once again, yet he couldn’t bring himself to force the fox out of the matter, for it was out of his control. He remained silent, zoning out to his thoughts about self-loathing, before snapping out to the raised voice of Tails that had echoed in his head.
“Could you please stop that, I’m fine!.. I am able to look out for myself, you know that.”
Tails crossed his arms pouting, which finally lightened the hedgehog into a soft grin. He patted his furry buddy, ruffling the fox’s head, at last promoting them into gleeful giggles.
“Stop that!”
“Aww come on, not my fault my brother is so great!”
“No im not! I still have a long way to go! Hehe.”
“A promising, talented, and genius blacksmith, plus the magic side-hustle you got going on, you’re doing great by the way!”
“Shh!! You know how risky that topic is!”
They whispered to themselves on the subject, fact is, it had nothing to do with magic, it was only herbal remedies, but for the ideologies widely known throughout the Kingdom, it was a dangerous practice. They had kept to themselves, only sharing what was accepted and respected, like honor and strength, altering the views of others for their sake. Very few were aware of their deeds, and those few believed what they did, and had kept it to themselves knowing the risk. Those few would include the noble rabbit family, a team of coroners, and selected few from the newly established resistance. They have kept secret long enough, but of course skeptics lingered, always eyeing the lot for any sign of peculiarities, especially the hedgehog for his wolf like similarities.
_____
The day went on per-usual, tedious, uneventful, the hedgehog kept to himself avoiding the stares and glances, very few with undisclosed admiration, Tails stayed behind to close and lock his blacksmith, and to give both of them space to not raise any red flags. Sonic continued to walk down the street, passing by other businesses that were just closing as well, while others began to light lanterns for the night customers, Sonic paused and gazed up to the orange sky, dread taking over him, evening was approaching. He inhaled sharply, clenching onto hidden items under his ragged cloak, and hurried his pace. Amy from a distance noticed the familiar blue streaks, taking a firm grip of her large weapon.
“Don’t worry Sonic, I’ll take care of you..”
“What was that?”
Amy quickly turned to one of the members of the resistance with a flush of red across her face, she hadn’t realized she was mumbling to herself.
“O-Oh! Nothing, just babbling to myself, don’t worry!..”
The woman in front of Amy looked across the street to see a cloaked hedgehog pass by, heading to the next corner around a building. She then narrowed her gaze towards Amy realizing her embarrassed look.
“You know, there’s quite a lot of rumors surrounding that man, you sure you want to pick that one?”
Amy took a second to think about the question before her face took on an even redder tint, embarrassment taking over her she slouched onto her weapon with a long shaky exhale.
“It’s nothing like that! In fact, you don’t even know him personally, so don’t talk about him so harshly! He’s a good man!”
“Whatever you say Guild-master.”
Amy rised from her mess at the title ‘Guild-master’ with a pout, she didn’t like that the resistance was considered a guild, and not a force of justice. She dedicated herself to build a righteous reputation for the resistance, just for it to turn out to be a group of bounty-hunters, seeking riches and selfish honor. She sighed in defeat, effortlessly lifting the heavy accoutrement over her shoulder, unintentionally making the woman beside her feel inferior. She faced the orange sky that was now blending into a purple hue with a determined face, she would have to meet up with Tails later at their usual monthly meeting spot. Finally, she began marching into the street, leaving the woman behind in her internal disarray, who ultimately sighed knowing the routine.
“Happy hunting I suppose..”
The woman grasped the hinge of her sword that was hanging from her belt, and turned around to head back home, the two departed from each other as usual every month, no questions asked, just the same old full moon patrol in order to keep the town safe, and who better to leave that burden to than the toughest soldier there is.
_____
Tails snuck behind some buildings where he uncovered some hidden viles and his handy makeshift crossbow. He tuck the items into his cloak and continued into the shadows of the building, successfully keeping hidden from the evening strollers. He made it to the edge of town where the woods resided, ducking his way under the shadows of a nearby tree, the teen fox started to load his crossbow with the sedatives he created, assuring that everything was ready for the night. Once the crossbow was ready, he went to double check his arsenal before he was startled by the sound of rustling steps heading towards him, he went into high alert, clenching onto his invention with agitation, he slowly peeked over the bark of the tree, to his relief, was only Amy, confidently waving with her dignified weapon over her shoulder. He let out a breathy sigh, finally revealing himself to the pink maiden.
“We should really start working on a sign to let the other know of our whereabouts..”
“Sorry, scare ya again?..”
“Hm.. no matter, we should start heading to the cabin soon before the moon rises any further, he’s waiting for us…”
“Yes.. let’s make haste shall we?”
Tails nodded in agreement, with Amy following along, they both jogged into the woods, weapons ready in hand, ducking and curving around trees and branches as if it were familiar like home to them. Leaves rustled and blew in their path, a dark eerie ambience covered every inch of the woods, critters chirping in the darkness, yet the two continued unbothered. A few minutes pass, they finally arrived at a rustic overgrown cabin, easily missed if not being searched for. The yellow fox and pink hedgehog creep closer, making out the sounds of heavy breaths from inside, closely resembling that of an out-of-breath bear. The pink hedgehog used the longer end of her weapon, carefully creaking the log door open as to not alert the beast inside, once open, the yellow fox swiftly aimed his crossbow inside, loaded with a strong narcotic covered dart. The second they both saw no signs of aggression, they quickly relaxed, but continued to silently insinuate inside.
They both crouched down near the slumbering beast, and watched closely while its body rose, and lowered with every breath, empty viles resting on a counter. The cabin was still, the woods silent in fear as to not awaken it, the breathing echoing in the small building, two silent guardians watching over the mythical being. This wasn’t anything new to them, but if seen by a stranger, this could be taken as the devils work, worshippers of a monster, black magic, bad news, but simply, it was just two worried friends looking after the one that gave them strength, who was unfortunately given a bad hand in life. Their faces were peaceful, full of admiration and respect for the blue werewolf, understanding in their hearts that he does not mean harm.
Thirty minutes pass by in the blink of an eye, the young fox finally yawns, breaking the silence, and begins to feel drowsy. The pink hedgehog sighed silently as she patted his head, as if telling him to rest, that she will watch over for awhile. The fox lowered himself, resting his small head on her lap, quickly falling into a deep sleep, just the same as the bigger dog in front of them. The hedgehog was left silent again, watching over the two brothers, a sense of tranquility and affinity drenching her as the two quietly snoozed.
“.. heh, what will I ever do with you two..”
The maiden adjusted her weapon to give herself a flat surface to rest her head on, the second she rested comfortably, she began to quickly drift off into sleep as well. The stillness of the night remained, the three exuded kinship inside the dark cabin, ever so slightly lit up by the full moons glow through the vines over the window, soft snores echoing.
_____
“.. watch out! They’re breaking through the windows!”
“…. Hold fire! The buildings are burning, stop!!”
“.. Somebody, please!! HELP!!!”
The distant screams and wails echoed into the woods until finally reaching the cabin where the three rested, the first to wake from the cries was Amy. The second she focused her hearing with the flick of her ear she arose from her sleep, she scanned the room to realize neither of them had woken up yet. The werewolf was far gone in his slumber from the sedatives, as for the fox, enjoying his sweet dreams calmly adjusting himself on the floor into a ball of fluff. Amy became alert, agitated by the shouts for help, she rose up lifting her weapon, her flight or fight going haywire, her mind was overwhelmed with questions and worry, she had to decide, NOW.
She picked up her armament firmly, and darted out the cabin, careful as to not wake the brothers. She rushed through the woods breaking branches along the way, not caring about the disruption she caused to her surroundings, her mind focused on her beloved town she had protected for so long. Her pace became staggered, she continued to push forward hastily, she saw a black smoke tower in the skies, and the distant bright light. Finally, she arrived to a nobles home, engulfed in flames, distraught everywhere she looked.
“Everyone!! Aim for the culprit!!! Don’t let em have a second of rest!!”
Amy turned towards the direction they were attacking, only to see a single cloaked person standing unfazed, deflecting every arrow before lunging towards the closest soldier ripping apart their armor as if it were nothing. Using its supernatural strength, it bent the soldiers bone like twigs, tearing off the limb, to just bite the flesh like a ravaging carnivore. Amy, still not able to process the gravity of the situation, did the first thing in her mind, the one thing she knew what to do, which would only result into her plundering defeat.
Without hesitation, she jumped into action, slamming her heavy weapon onto the bloodied gravel. The cloaked being departed from the mutilated body, dodging breezily, Amy could hear the sound of her comrade choking on blood, she looked down to see a half decapitated soldier.. that- thing.. must’ve attempted to bite their head in half… She no longer had a doubt in her mind, all she saw was red, theoretically and figuratively. She raised her weapon towards the cloaked figure, preparing for a counter attack.
“Rose!! You can’t fight it alone!! It’s too dangerous, retreat!!!”
“Tch! Come on!! I’m right here!”
Amy, disregarded her fellows pleas to save herself, ready to avenge for the damage done. Although she stood firm and strong, inside she was scared, she’s never seen a body so mangled in her life, she was terrified. She forced her fear into a corner and was now running on pure adrenaline. The figure shoot itself towards Amy, ready to tear its claws into her body, she barely reacted in time to deflect, overwhelmed by the speed. She managed to push it off with her own strength, flinging her weapon across its path, but not even in a blink of an eye, the cloaked figure had seamlessly appeared standing on her weapon in a taunting manner. She became enraged, the cries and shouts of the townspeople amplified her distress, the sound of the manor falling apart with the fire, she swung her weapon up into the sky to remove the figure from it. Amy scanned for the figure, only to turn around to see that it had continued on with attacking a civilian.
Amy finally broke, she couldn’t keep up, tears escaped her like a broken dam, she attempted to assist others under attack, but was met with the same outcome of a distorted sight of a body. She turned to face off a larger group of the cloaked people, catching a glimpse of a familiar snout. It stood frozen, clawing into its arm, as if holding back while it glared at the devastating sight. The second they locked eyes, it disappeared. Amy at last crumbled to the ground, chaos letting loose, left helpless, she was revolted by the fact she was shown pity. She quickly covered her mouth feeling acid building up in her esophagus, not bearing it she puked onto the ground. Amy, despite her sorry state, forced herself up from where she spilled her decomposed dinner and made sure she was helpful in some way..
The flames roaring behind her, she went to the nearest group of survivors and protected them with her life, she swung ferociously, while still guiding them to safety. Her hardly comparable strength held them off, she endured many injuries throughout her heroic efforts, managing to save countless lives, but at the cost of her sanity from the carnage displayed right before her eyes in every turn.
“I can do this, just a little longer, save as many as you can, you have to Amy Rose!!”
….Her thoughts echoed throughout the night, until finally the sun peeking through the horizon. Those monsters had finally departed into the darkness, leaving only the corpses and debris scattered. Everyone was restless, still in shock of the event, Amy rummaged through broken down buildings, uncovering survivors still. Amy was left ragged, her straight quills had been spiked up with the anticipation from the action, armored peasant dress now broken and ripped, soiled with dirt and blood, and most likely not just hers.
Knuckles rushed towards her direction, in a similar state, carrying many frightened children and women. The difference was blatantly obvious, although they shared a mutual enemy fighting off with mutual force, it was Amy who had succumbed the most injuries, and had fought against the enemy often. Knuckles had let the children and women down to reunite with their families, worry filling his eyes.
“Is that everyone?..”
“.. yes, that was everyone, Rose.. are you-“
Before Knuckles could finish his question, he hurried to Amy’s side to hold her up as she had collapsed. Her body had endured long enough, finally giving into the wounds and fatigue.
“Whoa! Hey, take it easy Rose.. you’ve done enough..”
Everyone, the resistance and survivors, finally had their chance to breathe, breaking into sobs at last. The last of the corpses was finally found, and put aside for identification and burial, while some were left in shambles, many were left to ponder about the new revelation of what they experienced. They remained silent at the sight of the brave who had fallen, and who had pulled through, achieving true heroism and courage. That day had left everyone with a new view of the world, from what was a dull, ungracious sight of life, had now become a dark, yet beautiful outlook. They all turned to face Amy, who had proven to be a savior, some even thinking of her as an angelic being sent to protect them, and the same could be said from Knuckles, although he took on a more brute course.
Within the silence, tears trickled in everyone’s face, grateful to be alive, many considering this day to be punishment for their aspects and way of life. Knuckles lifted Amy into his arms, demanding for her to be aided.
“Someone, tend to her wounds, now.”
One of the clerics that had finished tending to a child, rushed to Knuckles, and quickly began to clean her cuts with care. In the distance, Tails and Sonic ran to the scene, the sun had finally risen enough for Sonic to transform back, and staggered his way into town with Tails’ help.
“We saw the smoke close from a distance, what happened here?!”
Sonic remained silent the second he saw a civilian hurt, when he finally he saw Amy unconscious, was when he urged Tails to hurry towards the crowd. Knuckles turn to face Tails to fill him in, aware of the situation with Sonic.
“The town was attacked last night, I have no idea how it began, but when I got here these cloaked people were killing the innocent..”
“Cloaked?.. A-and Amy??”
“She’ll live.. she is resilient after all.”
Sonic continued to look at the severity of what had happened, feeling worthless for not being able to assist. Tails grasped onto Sonic, also feeling the same, Knuckles exhaled, and lowered himself with Amy so the cleric could continue with ease.
“You two tried your best chasing off those monsters, and for that the town thanks you.”
Tails and Sonic looked at Knuckles perplexed, it seemed he had lied to cover for them, since they too had cloaks, prone to accusations. The townspeople looked at them, grateful for their efforts, and believed the story. Sonic and Tails exhaled, looking down at Amy. She is resilient..