\\Řøćķý Wăţëŕš//

\\12//

Silver shivered, left to the merciless hands of the cold air. He never wanted this. He was all alone, no longer of much importance to the other hedgehog; discarded onto the deck in the dead of night after fulfilling his purpose. It made him sick to think he fell for the kind charade Mephiles played into. He despised the thought, but he missed his father - though he was still deciding who was worse.

Light yet sharp footsteps came into earshot and gradually got closer. The small hedghog began to shiver, except not for the cold this time. His jaw locked as he jumped up, his heart thumping audibly. His mouth dried as his eyes searched the surrounding areas.

A familiar cat began to approach, lavender in colour. Her golden eyes looked him over in concern. Silver breathed a sigh in relief, though his heart kept thumping. "What did he do?" The cat whispered in horror, gingerly reaching out and holding his bruised arm as she inspected it. The ivory hedgehog looked down in shame, he let it happen. He was stupid enough to fall for the obvious trickery, and he was too weak to fight back.

Blaze looked away with a wince, a tear forming in her eye. "We have to stop this..." she whispered, moreso to herself than Silver. "How?" He replied. "He's like a god with all of his abilities!"

The woman's golden eyes lit up almost instantly and a small gasp escaped her lips. Silver's ears perked, expecting an explanation. She clearly had some kind of idea.

The cat didn't explain though, she merely grasped Silver's hand gently and pulled him along towards Mephiles' office. Dread immediatley settled back into the hedgehog.

"What are you doing!" He demanded, not caring whether he was whispering or not. He was quickly silenced by the cat when she shot him a stern glare and squeezed his hand, a finger to her lip. His breath quickened once more as he cursed beneath his breath, he trusted the cat, but not her abilities. If Mephiles woke up, there was no telling what he would do.

The cat opened the door slowly and quietly led him inside. He bit his cheek in fear as the cat began to rummage through a nearby chest of drawers. He paced back and forth as he watched her, breathing erratically.

The cat eventually stopped and called him over, showing him a set of jewels. They were hexagonal in shape and each a different colour. "These are from my kingdom." Blaze explained, her tone filled with sorrow as she reminisced her life pre-Mephiles. The hedgehog placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, the most sincere smile he could muster on his face.

The cat shook her head with a sigh, burying her emotions - he hated it when she did so, he could only wish she would be honest with herself and allow herself to cry. He could tell something bothered her, more than knowing she would probably die on the ship they found themselves stuck on.

"Sol emeralds." She described, picking up a bright pink one. "These are what give Mephiles his abilities." Her eyes were glued to the jewel. "The next time we dock, one of us needs to take these with us." She instructed. "We then need to find Shadow's crew and give them to him." Silver nodded along reluctantly. He knew returning to Shadow was a plead for death, though he didn't feel like he had a choice considering his other option; staying and allowing Mephiles to abuse him.

"What about Cream?" Silver asked. The poor rabbit had it just as bad. She had lost her mother days before and was now forced to take on her roles. Blaze looked away, probably in thought. "Her too... we still have time before she ends up like Kit."