The Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Princess[ic-O/A]

"Come on Diamond, let's go!" Diamond and Rouge were headed towards that new chinese restaurant, the Jeweled Dragon. "Rouuge," Diamond whined. "I don't want to go. Your gonna make me miss Angel Star's concert! Besides, I'm not such a big fan of chinese food." Rouge snorted. "Riiight. Last time we went to a chinese restaurant, you ate almost all the food they had! They had to call 5 trucks to get all the food back!" Diamond blushed. "I hadn't eaten in 3 days!" "You mean 3 hours." "Hmmph. Fine." Rouge smirked and literally dragged Diamond to the shop while Diamond just looked at the sky. They were half-way there when they passed by the park.Then she narrowed her eyes. 'Hmmm..What is that? It looks like a.. rocket heading straight at us! It could be a hawk, but just to make sure....' Diamond broke free of Rouge's grasp and made water appear in her hands, then she whipped the object out of the sky.

"愚かな都市は.....なぜ私はここで停止しますか.....(stupid city.....why'd i stop here.....)" Tails muttered, there were never good places to buy mechanical stuff in the city,or at least this one."おい！(Hey!)" Tails called out running up to the girl she looks kinda strange...why is she wearing a komoto? He thought. "申し訳あなたが失われたようで、私はあなたの周りに示すことができるかもしれない私は思ったか？私はあなたの素敵な人のように見えるという...(um....sorry but you seemed lost,i thought maybe i could show you around? i mean you seem like a nice person...)"He smiled to show he meant no harm,that he only wanted to help her.((lol the japanese meaning is a bit off but i put the translation next to it in () ))

Diamond smiled nervously. "Sorry Sky. I thought eggman was sending a rocket or robot or something like that at us. Didn't know it was you." Rouge battered her eyes at Sky and stepped forward. "Well hello Sky. Sorry about little miss drama queen over here, she thinks everything is an attack. You sure are cute, you know that." Diamond tried to stop herself from exploding and beating Rouge up. "First, I do not. Second, I am not a drama queen. And third, I don't think your boyfriend Knuckles, would like to be hearing that." "For the last time, he is NOT my boyfriend!" Diamond rolled her eyes. "Riiight. That's exactly what your diary says. Or wait? Didn't it say you thought he looked soo cute when he was angry?" Rouge's left eye twitched. "You. Did. No-" Diamond turned her head. "Yeah, yeah, save it for later." Diamond turned back to Sky. "We're heading towards a new chinese restaurant down Siren St. You wanna come?"

[[ The ----- symbol is our fast forward, basically. :) From there, the entire sequence of the fighting and whatnot between Kurokage and Sonic Team has passed and are now retallying people. Get ready to go find Rouge, Diamond and Sky. ^-^]]


Shadow had been tagging along with Tails, keeping a protective eye on the young fox(at Sonic's request), before noting an odd sight among the common bustle of the city's almost bland crowd. His hesitance caught the attention of his overlooked, and the fox turned to greet the lavished, nearly royal looking female human who stood feet taller than themselves, rich hair falling in lush ribbons around her pained, confused face.

"Um.... Sorry but you seemed lost. I thought maybe I could show you around? I mean you seem like a nice person.."

"Tails, I don't think it very wise to approach a suspicious stranger." He cautioned with slight disconcern tinting his dark voice, casting eyes upon the girl. There was something about her, something shadowed and forbidden, a gleam of something dangerous yet innocent all at once. A sudden urgency to pull Tails along and continue on their way for supplies rushed through him like hot blood, but the girl soon responded, severing his chance to.

"I-I am lost... I... don't really know where I am..." A glitter crossed those dark, alluring eyes that made him think she was debating being careful in answering, yet he intercepted Tails' own reply with,

"I suppose we can help you..."


------


"Do you presume they're around this area?"

His asked with authentic curiosity tinging his tone, scanning around the open lot. He was again paired with Tails(something he found neither positive nor negative), and was now searching for an old companion, Rouge, Diamond, Thorn and Sky. He hadn't been introduced to the last three before, but had been given a very brief background check on them from Knuckles before setting out with the yellow fox. His rather vast mind was flickering between thoughts, trying to maintain most focus on locating the others, while his subconscious worked on the gang's most recent situation.

It seems this Ayumu, princess of darkness, is a bit more trouble than she's worth... He mused, recalling how horribly powerful Kurokage truly was. It infuriated him to be defeated, crazed him to be challenged by one who could match, and even surpass, him. and that Kurokage was now on the top of his "utterly hated" list. He had been killed by that man, nearly, and, with a refined gratefulness, had been healed mostly by Amy. Her and Ayumu were hiding out with Knuckles in his home while the rest of the team headed out to find people willing to help.

"Wait... I see them." He spoke, gesturing off in the distance where three forms stood silhouetted by the city's brightness in the park. The blackness of night camoflauged him as he glided towards the trio, although, when glancing back to Tails to see if he followed, the little fox was a beam of yellow amid the shadows. The two met up with the others, Shadow stating promply,

"We need your assistance. Where are you headed right now? Perhaps we can discuss this somewhere private?" He searched around him once, as if each shadow that clung to the ground around them could be a Shade Demon ready to kill them all.

---

Ayumu sat in the silence of the house, her back rigid against the fluffy back of the couch, watching the second hand of the clock on the wall move jerkily for the 12. Amy rested before her in an arm chair, and the red-colored Knuckles reclined easily in a lounge chair to her left. Her silk kimono rumpled awkwardly underneath her skinny, pallid legs, the red and gold pattern glimmering oddly in the lamp's light. Light...

She turned her head, a sudden movement that made the two glance up at her, then return to staring off into space. She felt so very unfamiliar with light; it revealed so much, so splendid, yet so challenging. To her, it was the stronger of the two, darkness and light, yet it still caused her inferior fear.

She slouched a bit in her posture, actually letting herself feel the nice, relaxing comfort of the couch, and smiled a little.

How peculiar... So soft and comfortable... She recalled nothing as firm but soft as this back in the Shadowlands, where everything gentle was abstract and intangible like fog and smoke and mist...

"I'm going to check in on the search..." Amy said calmly, disappearing through the doorway and into the foyer. Ayumu watched her go, then gazed steadily at Knuckles before viewing the clock again. From her position, she could hear the hurried, almost frantic words of the girl in the hall, speaking quietly to another being named, "Thorn", clearly urging this character to join them at the household. She recalled the name from those who were being collected to protect her. A light amount of guilt panged in her chest, but she ignored it as she heard the phone hit the receiver and Amy's footsteps trot softly as she headed out of the front door.

---

Litria Death wrote:

Thorn’s feet trotted heavily on the soft earth, clumsily as she tried to hurry about lawns and sidewalks, steps transitioning as her breaths grew heavy.

Amy had said she‘d be waiting for me somewhere nearby! Where is she? She thought irritably, pumping her arms harder, feet hitting the soil firmer. Whatever Amy had been fluttering nervously about on the phone, it had seemed very important and had made her very anxious to find her and the others, as she notably recalled Shadow’s and Sonic’s name come up.

As she made a mad beeline for a narrow alley between two homes in ruins, she finally caught sight of a familiar head of pink hair at the end of the strip, hovering before the door of a darkened house.

“Amy!” She called out, slowing dramatically, tone breathless and strained. As she approached her friend, soon clasping her knees in her palms as she leaned forward, the glimmer of unease in her companion’s eyes made her draw a deep breath and straighten. “Amy, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”

Amy’s expression faltered for a moment, almost as if she was confused.

“Oh, Thorn! Sonic’s agreed to another crazy mission!”

"What are you talking about, Amy? What's going on? Calm down." Thorn tried her hardest to soothe her friend, placing a comforting hand on the girl and began to lead her inside the house until Amy jerked free from her grasp and spoke rapidly,

"Don't go back inside. She's in there, just sitting there like a-"

"Who, Amy? You're forgetting the main ideas, here, girl." Her voice was piercing but kind, dulled of its usual edge. Amy seemed to visibly cool down before her, and hurried an explanation.

"There's this "princess of darkness" Tails and Shadow found in the city. We just finished this terrible fight between this girl's dad, the infamous "God of Damnation", where, let me tell you, everyone was nearly killed, and now Sonic; been convinced to protect, life be risked! Oh, Thorn, this is awful! Why this pretty little princess has to come along and ruin everything! I had told you the other day how I had finally gotten that boy to go on a date with me and now-now this!" She threw her hands down, furious and beside herself, and then fell to her knees for extra dramatics. Thorn tried not to giggle.

"Oh, I see. This has nothing to do with this girl's well-being. You're just uber pissed about your date with Sonic being ruined, aren't you?"

"Of course! Weren't you listening?! I finally had him, and, you know, I think he only agreed to help to get out of it." She brewed gloomily.

"Oh, Amy, what are we going to do with you? Come on. Take me inside so I can meet the bitc-I mean, princess..."

Tails felt sightly annoyed with sonic for having shadow watch him like this.He could take care of him self! Tails sighed,there was nothing he could do about it, once Sonic's mind was made almost nothing could change it. He looked at the other people. looks like Diamond made Rouge mad again. He noted not to talk to Rouge for a while.(sorry its short i need to go to bed byes!!)

The Jeweled Dragon

The Chinese restaurant was alive with cheers and applauses as a poster plastered across its window had a picture of a colorful, Mobian young lady, roaring into a microphone as the headline read in pink and 70s-styled font: The Wild Cats. The rock band had an opening gig tonight and they had been nervous to perform at first since Chinese restaurants weren’t one of their usual spots, but once Melody had started off slow, allowing the music to pass over the crowd like a cool mist, she gradually began to warm up until men and women at their tables were clapping, howling, and stomping their feet for more.

Melody had her hair wrapped into a bun and held in place by smooth, black chopsticks. A crimson and gold embroidered, Chinese dragon gown hugged her body snuggly and parted at the thigh, revealing some of her leg that wasn’t covered by her knee-high boots. A few strands from her bangs had tumbled free after the conclusion of her last song and she raised her hand to stroke lightly with her fingers, the auburn strand back behind her downy ears. Her chest rose and fell softly, the gown had a circular hole cut above her breasts to reveal her tight cleavage, but she had tucked a fake lily between her breasts as the blossom would hide such a revealing addition from prying eyes.

With a glimmering, pink-glossed smile, Melody called, “How is everyone tonight?”

The customers roared in exhilaration and the lioness’s tail flicked behind her in delight. She smiled cutely in her excitement before she pumped her fist and exclaimed, “Let’s get back to rockin’ then!” The drummer counted them off on his sticks, and in three clicks they were back to jamming.



His claws dug into the brick of the building as he quickly scaled his way up, fingers sinking in and feet pushing him up until his hands had grasped the edge of the roof, and in one effortless swing, swung his hind legs up and over onto the roof top. He had seen the blur in the sky that soared like a missile, but he knew quite well that no missile flew in such an erratic nature. The black lion was chasing it. His blue mane whipping behind him as his boots carried him to the edge of another roof. His left foot came down and his left leg bent before it straightened like a spring, hurling him across the gap to the next building where he landed with a safety roll before recovering right back to his feet.

Definitely not a missile, Surge perceived when the Mobian was suddenly knocked out of the sky by a ball of water. The black lion lowered to all-fours as he crept toward the edge of the building, using the shadows for cover, and then peered across the street at the little gang that had gathered at the edge of the park. He hadn’t recognized all of them, but Rouge and then Shadow and Tails who had joined them. He had studied closely the faces and names the god had warned him about, and although he didn’t know the other guy and girl that were with them [Diamond and Sky], he made sure to mark them off as a threat. Gathering quite the gang there, Surge observed as his maw parted, flashing a glint of his jagged teeth. Let’s see what you clowns are up to.

Surge whirled around and jogged back across the roof. He then jumped into the alley behind the store he was on top of and before landing, his dark form winked into a long stream of rippling lightning. The lightning chain passed behind the buildings, and then across the street a few blocks from the park. Surge’s soles screeched upon the turf of the new alley he had landed in, which lined him up perfectly with the park. His hands lowered as snakes of electricity danced between his fingers before they were extinguished within clinched fists. The black lion grasped the lip of his hat, lowering it to veil his face despite the fact that the Mobians would only know him as a stranger. With a long and clever smile pulling at his lips, Surge walked from the alley and started up the sidewalk that would lead him passed the park. His fists were snug within his pants pockets as he came upon the group and raised his chin to reveal his friendly mask. His golden eyes twinkled with vigor as he greeted with a light smile to the bunch, “Hey! Mobians! Not a common sight around these parts. If you came to see Melody and the Wild Cats, they already started. If you guys are from outta town, then you should check’em out. They’re not too bad.”

Without saying anything further, the black lion continued on toward the Jeweled Dragon. His black tail with the light-blue tuft swayed behind him to the muffled beat of the music as he let himself inside. Melody’s voice had drawn a crowd, luring customers that might not have been planning to eat there at first. Waiters and waitresses were swiftly scurrying about with trays of food and beverages. Surge ducked into the mob, keeping a low hat and tucking his tail into his pants. He didn’t wish for Melody to see him. As far as he knew, she hadn’t seen him in two years since he quit the band, and he’d like to keep it that way. The black lion snuck into a booth where he’d sit and watch the lioness from his peripherals. He watched her shake her hips as her tail whipped like a ribbon behind her. Her hands and arms rose and waved in artistic choreography as she got the children hopping and customers bobbing their heads to her little dance.

Surge bowed his head and smirked softly. He hadn’t seen her in awhile and she was still beautiful, even more in that gown she performed in. He tried to attend her shows whenever he had a cold trail, and he didn’t linger long for remaining might endanger her; but he always had to check on his band every once in awhile—if not all of them at least Melody.

Diamond looked around. This place really was great! The food was awesome, and they had a great band! Then she noticed a door open. 'What's going on?' A man walked out and a light fell upon him. "Welcome! I'm glad to have my new restaurant get such a warm greeting on its grand opening." Everybody clapped, Diamond along with them. After the man finished his little speech (which was not little at all), everybody went back to eating and the band back to playing. Diamond turned to Rouge to see what she thought of them and found her taking a nap. Diamond smirked. 'Time for one of my famous little pranks...' Diamond quietly made water appear in her hands and drenched Rouge in it. Unfortunately, she accidentally drenched half of Shadow along with Rouge, with him being so close to her. Diamond laughed nervously. "Heh.. Heh.. Sorry? Here's the bill.... Bye." Diamond quickly used her water powers to make a small hurricane as her ride outside before Shadow and Rouge killed her. 'That's weird.. My powers are weak.' Diamond looked up. 'That explains it. There'll be no moon in a few minutes.... Better hurry home, before my powers run out.' Diamond ran through the streets towards her home, not noticing a foot being stuck out in front of her. Once she got up after her fall, she looked behind her. 'A man in his thirties.... That wicked smile on his face, I don't like it.' The man lifted his face and if possible, got an even more wicked smile. "You probably shouldn't, hedgehog."

Melody thrust her fist into the air at the conclusion of their last song. Her hair was coming loose and her bangs becoming damp with sweat. She felt it was time for the Wild Cats to take a short recess, and with the crowd being so revved up, she felt more confident that she could change back into her more comfortable clothes. “You all have been a wonderful audience. We’re going to take a short break. Enjoy your night!” she bade. As she waved her paw, the crowd applauded and she and her band bowed happily. They set their guitars upon holders and stepped from the stage.

“Whew,” Melody breathed.

The bass player, who was a cougar, rested his paw upon her shoulder as he praised, “You sang great as usual.”

Melody blushed and stuck her tongue out playfully as she fanned his compliment with dismissal. “You always say that. I doubt I’m the best, but I just love to sing. Did you see their faces?” She faced the cougar as her tail began to whip about in her excitement. “They were so happy. I thought they were going to boo us off the stage when we’d start rocking.”

The tall drummer, who was a tiger, padded over to her and rested one paw on her shoulder, while the other cupped her cheek. “No one will boo you. Your voice is amazing and brings only good feelings and memories.”

Melody looked up at him and smiled softly. “Stripes, you’re so sweet.”

Surge had been weaving his way through the crowd when he saw that Melody was finished. He passed by tables and dodged a few speedy waitresses. By the time he reached the stage, he felt lightning struck as his tail went erect and his hackles stood on end at the sight of Melody and Stripes kissing. It was déjà vu all over again. The black lion quickly ducked behind a table as a few humans glanced down at him in question. His heart was thumping rapidly in his chest as his teeth clinched tightly together. His paws went to his hat, pressing it down upon his head until the lip veiled his face completely. The Wild Cats had moved on. No…Melody had. He punched the floor with his fist not hard enough to leave a crater.

Kurokage will take away my pain, he mused. He crawled on all-fours away from the stage to keep out of Melody’s sights.

Melody broke the kiss she had with Stripes and with her arm wrapped about his, she headed to the private banquet area that they had reserved for their band. As she walked, she didn’t understand why she felt so empty. Every time she kissed Stripes, her kisses didn’t seem to mean a thing. They lacked feeling, and often made her question if she was supposed to feel anything at all. She loved Stripes, but…it was so strange.

Surge crawled by the table of Shadow and the others. He checked behind him to see if Melody and the band members were gone before he stood upright with a smile. “Hey, you guys actually came,” he greeted with a smile. He had shoved his heartache aside. It was back to business. He held his black paw out to the gang. “My name is Surge the Lion. What brings you guys here?”

“Not so sharp are we, Squab?” Surge directed to the sparrow as he left to refill his drink. There was a fake grin on his face. He was more annoyed than offended. “What I meant was what are so many Mobians doing in this city?”

The black lion’s lips drooped in a frown when the hedgehog attempted to dismiss him. How many were there? There was the fox, the bat, the bird, and the hedgehog. So far, two had been a pain in his rear end.

Surge grinned. It was none of his business. “Sorry; enjoy your dinner.”

There was no longer a reason for him to stay at the restaurant. He had seen all he wanted to see of the Wild Cats and Melody. Kurokage hadn’t given him orders to get into a scuffle with the heroes. He was only to find Ayumu and that would be easy enough. The black lion turned from the table and took his leave from the restaurant. He knew exactly what they were going to discuss. It wasn’t like anything else went on in their pathetic lives.

As Surge walked down the street, he slipped his paws into his pants pockets. He wouldn’t be too far away from the party, having now discovered the lead he needed. The kiss between Melody and Stripes haunted him, appearing in his mind over and over again and spurring a growl to rumble from his throat. Forgotten. This must have been what dreams felt like.