Sonic would have been lying if he said he didn't miss sailing; the warm sun overhead constantly, the usually calm atmosphere and having the ability to mess around to hearts content? It practically screamed to Sonic. They had barely been on board an hour at that point. The castle was no longer in sight and their new hostage, Knuckles, had been tied to the post of sails in a clichè manner - mostly as Rouge had begged to watch over him.
Sonia wasn't taking the pirate life well in her little time aboard. She seemed quite comfortable in the looser, less obnoxious clothing however felt nauseous and panicked by the movement of the boat against the sea. Manic was adapting quite well unsuprisingly; he had found an old, red, sleeveless jacket, baggy trousers and black boots. He also had on a few wraps and things, very clearly just for the aesthetic. He would probably also garner a belt and sword holster when Shadow learns of Manic's combat training - a king wouldn't be strong without the wits of battle, as their mother once said.
Sonic walked across the deck and towards the captain's quarters. As he did so, he felt the eyes of Knuckles upon him. He didn't dare to look however, he couldn't begin imagine the pain, betrayal and anguish within them. Just the thought sent a slash to his heart, oozing with guilt and regret. Sonic felt worse to think he probably wouldn't mind as much if it were a guard he wasn't close to in the past. As he entered the captain's quarters, he heard Rouge talk to the echidna. "Eyes on me, handsome." She teased. He only heard an incoherent murmur from Knuckles as he closed the door.
Sonic saw someone by the map through the corner of his eye, he would've normally waved a hello to who he assumed to have been Silver, except he knew it couldn't be Silver; Mephiles had held him back. He looked, seeing Sonia looking at the map in awe. Sonic turned course, walking towards the magenta hedgehog instead of his lover, who was at his desk. The lapiz hedgehog peered over his sister's shoulder. He placed his finger on a vast ocean area, tracing his finger around as he looked over the land before eventually stopping. "We're about here." He told her. Sonia nodded "And we're headed here." She pointed to a large island to the left of the map "It'll take a month minimum based on my calculations." She smiled.
Sonic smirked at his sister. "When did you learn how to do maths?" He teased. Sonia playfully pushed his face away. "Someone had to be smart between us." She replied snarkily. "Shame its neither of you." Shadow remarked from his desk behind the two to the right. "Although, Sonia, your knowledge does lead me to believe you might be the smartest of the three." Sonic turned to Shadow. He was back in his usual pirate attire; red jacket with a red hat to match, a white undershirt, cuffs that matched the jacket and his regular boots.
"Must love idiots then, huh?" He asked. Shadow nodded in response, not giving the blue blur the reaction he wanted. "Can't say it wasn't a bad choice." He added. Sonic stuck his tounge out as Shadow turned his head, making Sonia snicker. "I'm not blind." Shadow's eyes flicked to Sonic, a stern glare rested upon them."Suprised I'm just learning of this." Sonic grinned. "Suprised you've just learned anything." Shadow retorted, turning his attention back to the maps and other things sprawled about the desk.
The blue blur walked over to the desk, finding Shadow making records for their new ship. Some were random things Shadow remembered from the former variations of the SS. ARK however, he hadn't named the current ship just yet; on what he was writing he merely called it III - a Möban numeral for three. Sonic understood why he would do that, two ships named SS. ARK had been destroyed. It was seemingly a bad omen in all honesty. They could decide on a name another day though, it wasn't much of a big deal anyway.
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The hedgehog, graying in age, paced around the office - granted it wasn't hers, the covered painting of its past owner watching over her from behind, mounted on the wall. She looked over the many books and documents she had sprawled about the desk, eventually shoving them off in one foul swoop in her anger.
"Why, is that how your father taught you?" A voice chimed, charming and flirtatious in tone. Her head immediatley snapped to the doorframe, finding a familiar presence leaning against it. "Been awhile, has it not?" She asked, not suprised at his visit in the slightest. "Why, when you sent me a letter telling me of my missing son's whereabouts." He paused and walked over, leaning over the desk and donning a mocking concerned face. "Am I not allowed to arrange a quick trip across the continent to see him?"
The female's face soured. "You're too late I'm afraid." She shrugged and pushed the male off of the desk. He quickly dusted himself off and straightened his posture. "My children unfortunately plotted against me with that dastardly pirate I allowed to marry my son. Luckily for me, a fine son of a count offered to look for them, your son went with him." She explained, her face poised and displeased.
"Quite a shame you displaced my love and chased a gay man, hm?" The male asked, raising a brow. "We could have avoided this if you'd have just married me." As if her pride was wounded, he stepped back with a glare. She picked up a few papers, stacking them neatly on the desk as she contemplated her response. "It's much too late now, Alumin." She sighed. "My father didn't allow us then, and I certainly cannot allow us now. I am a widow and you are a married man." She looked to the male, crestfallen.
The silver hedgehog wasted no time in hugging the woman from behind, the female stopping what she was doing and standing completely still. "We can't change the past, Leen, but we can change our futures."
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Robotroplolis; a bright, colourful city with the most cheerful population known to man - unless you mentioned a king that is. It was ruled solely by a queen with three children - or so Shadow had read. He never cared for the place; he didn't regularly visit the West of Möbius given the bad reputation of anyone who wore a simple hat on a boat, bonus points if you had scurvy.
"Must be Christmas." Rouge remarked with a large smirk. She was clearly also taking in the sheer happiness of every citizen in sight. "Minus the decorations." Tails added as he wrote something down in a small, brown notebook and stuffed it back into his pocket. Amy scoffed, indicating to Shadow's right. "Picked the perfect day for snobs." She whispered.
Shadow glanced over, trying to not seem obvious. He unfortunatley locked eyes with a lapiz blue hedgehog. Green eyes poised into his for a split second, before Shadow looked away. He didn't look back for a good few seconds, just so the hedgehog hopefully wasn't looking and he could survey whatever it was that displeased Amy. She had a history with rich, priviledged men afterall.
There was the lapiz hedgehog, dressed in loosely formal attire; a mere vest, blouse, trousers and boots. They were clearly made of fine materials. To his right, a green hedgehog walked beside him. He seemed to be a double of the blue one, except green and slightly smaller - not even by an inch from what Shadow could roughly measure. He wore very formal attire, putting his presumably brother to shame. To the two males' left, was a magenta hedgehog. She wore a large, red and purple dress. Her quills were neatly styled into a bun, pearl nets and many other things decorating them. There was also a guard, slightly behind them, except there wasn't much to see there, just shiny metal.
"Royalty I presume." Shadow shrugged. "The blue one seems interesting though, doenst he Shadow." Rouge teased. Shadow knew what she was implying; he was looking at Shadow. "Get to the guard through the prince." Shadow vaugley retorted. "Oh please, if I wanted to gush over a piece of metal I'd use a sword." Rouge replied. "If either of ya don't want your mouths to gush with blood, shut it." Amy hissed, walking infront and trying to maintain a lady-like posture.
"Just try and catch me Knux!" A voice called, rapidly approaching at an inhumane speed. Before Shadow could even react, he was sent hurdling to the floor, winded, with someone else overtop of him.
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1472 words
27th October, 2023
Its a little everywhere xddd if you couldn't tell, the first and second 'scenes' are in the present and the last is how Shadow and Sonic (are about to) meet.
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Random\\Sequal to Smooth Sailing// The crew knew immediatley as they set sail for Mönatoro they would face some challenges. They didn't expect them in such proportion however. With the everlasting threat of Mephiles' crew and a newfound yet familiar allie...
