After Frontiers: Amy and Shadow

Part 4

The next day, the sun was already high up in the sky. Shadow stretched his body and gazed surprised at his hands afterwards. He hasn't been sleeping that well in ages. He felt so... relaxed. All of a sudden, a pleasant scent reached his nose. It seemed like Amy was already up and preparing breakfast.

As soon as he left the tent, he was greeted by a pleasant smile. "Good morning, Shadow! Did you sleep well? Breakfast is nearly finished, have a seat." The black hedgehog just nodded and sat down in front of the fire and waited patiently for Amy to finish the cooking.

Both of them enjoyed their meal, not exchanging a single word. Although Amy moved her eyes left and right, from time to time, seemingly trying to say something but felt loss for words and just smiled a little dispirited. Shadow, on the other hand, enjoyed the silence. He felt like Amy knew this and figured it was what kept her silent, although it made her, a little glum. He was aware of Amy's situation but ignored it nonetheless.

As soon as both were finished, Amy couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Did you like it?" She asked in a humble tone.

"It was passable." Shadow answered flat and stood up, afterwards. The black hedgehog walked a few steps away from the campsite, in order, for them to have more space, and waved Amy over. "It's time, Amy." He stated bluntly and said girl, which followed Shadow's movements, like a curious cat, nodded and went closer to the black hedgehog.

"So, what do you need me for?" She asked, confused, tilting her head to the side.

"Here!" Shadow pulled out a Chaos Emerald, which reflected a beautiful green light. Before the girl could say anything, he went on. "I was wondering if those abilities you told me about are really the cards, or if it's just you!"

"Me?" Amy pointed at herself, staring with cute, yet, confused, green orbs in her opposites eyes. "What do you mean, Shadow?"

"Simple." He held the Chaos Emerald high up in the sky. The light of the sun, shining through it, made it glow even brighter, nearly as if it was sparkling in seven colors at once. Amy really enjoyed this view. "As you know, the Chaos Emeralds can boost my skills, right?" Said girl nodded with sparkling eyes. "I think you can do that as well." He put the emerald in Amy's hand. "Try using the emerald's power to strengthen your ability. Maybe that way we can find this Temple."

"And...and you are sure I can do that?" she asked hesitantly. Shadow grinned at her with a superior face. He appeared to be very sure about his statement.

"Just focus on the emerald like you would focus on your cards and will see." The girl swallowed hard, unsure of this task that was given to her.

Despite her doubts, Amy quickly shook off this negative thoughts and took the emerald in both of her hands, holding it in front of her chest, as if she was praying. The pink hedgehog, tried, as hard as possible, to focus on the emerald. Amy could clearly feel a strong power flowing through her, but it uncontrollably drifted in every direction. If the flow stored too much in one direction it could fatally injure her, yet the girl tried and tried but eventually had to let go of the energy, every time it became too much to bear. It was futile, she just couldn't make it work. "I don't think I can do that." she said, dropping her happy smile once again.

"Don't give up just yet." Shadow tried to encourage her. "Let me help you. Maybe this way, it'll work." The black hedgehog put his hand on the emerald as well and closed his eyes to focus. The pink haired girl could feel how her heartbeat went faster from this, uncommonly close touch. She shook her head to wave the thought away and tried to focus again.

An overwhelming feeling spread inside of Amy. It was almost too much to bear again, when all of a sudden, and with Shadow's help, all the energy inside her seemed to stabilize, flowing through her body, like a river, making its, predetermined way, to the sea. The energy was perfectly balanced and there was no sign of any risk, which could injure her body. Amy never had such a breathtaking feeling and with this energy, the pink hedgehog got the feeling she could find, what they were searching for. The goal was within her grasps, however, before Amy could ultimately reach her goal, the ground unexpectedly started shaking which tore both hedgehogs out of their concentration and soon after, they noticed a crack inside the earth was about to form which got bigger within seconds. "We have to get out of here!" Shadow exclaimed, grabbing Amy, and carrying her in bridal style, while running away from this cataclysmic landslide. The uneven ground, the roots and other obstacles made it hard to run at full speed, yet thanks to Shadow's abilities and experiences with this kind of territory, they could escape the landslide, just in the nick of time.