[Open] Dead flowers for the torn apart

[pricklybloom]

🧙 WHO: Amy Rose and YOU
⚔️️ WHAT: Catch-all for October. Recent events have brought up some bad memories for Amy, so she's keeping herself busy to try and keep her mind off things. It only kind of works.
🕒 WHEN: Throughout October
🗺️ WHERE: Ruins of Celliwig and Camelot
⚠️ WARNINGS: Possible mentions of death, war, and (robot) zombies. Because this is a children's franchise.

A. Task: Don’t Lose Your Head

[ She knows that she should be paying attention to her task, but Amy Rose can't keep her eyes from wandering over what's left of Celliwig. She could argue that she's keeping a look out for the Headless Horseman, to protect the volunteers in case he tries to attack again. Yet as she looks at the city's ruins - seeing the leftover destruction, watching as the survivors have to retrieve their dead - all she can think of is the diaster around them. How they failed.

She failed. It keeps happening.

Gripping the handle of her hammer, she shakes her head and releases a shaky breath. Can't focus on the past. Pick yourself up, and move on.

She's failed before. But she won't fail now. She'll keep these people safe.

What's left of them. ]

B. Not Quite a Puppy Parade

[ She'd hoped that the Pet Adoption Fair would be a little less intense, and it does help to a degree. It's hard not to smile when you're surrounded by cute animals, especially the capybaras that are so friendly.

Yet somehow it's the fae frogs that she finds herself drawn to. She isn't really much a frog person herself, honestly, and with her room at the inn already so cramped with her new roomate, she can't imagine having much room for any pet. But despite their attitude, she keeps coming back to the frogs and chatting with them a bit.

Because she can't help thinking back to a certain frog back home, wondering if he might sound like this if he could talk. Perhaps to others...but certainly not his best friend.

The friend always in constant search of him...traveling everywhere just to find him.

She hadn't known...she never even realized. She thought she'd seen him at HQ once, but she hadn't been paying attention. He was her friend too, but she hadn't even thought to think about him. She had no idea, until... ]

C. Training

[ Even with her busy schedule - taking on a quest, volunteer work, helping with the survivors, on top of her classes and her job - Amy still has time, makes time, for training.

She attacks the wooden dummies with some combination of using her hammer, hand-to-hand combat, and her dark magic. Her shadow seems to ripple with each strike against her immobile opponents, each hit somehow landing harder than the last, despite her strength obviously waning.

But she doesn't let up. She can't.

She strikes the dummy in front of her again, her hammer laying forgotten on the ground for the moment as her boxercising instincts kick in. She punches and kicks the training dummy, and her shadow moves out of sync from her, merging with the dummy's and choking it.

It's not enough. It's never enough!

Her shadow spikes through the dummy as she punches it, sending splintered wood flying everywhere. Stepping back, she takes a few ragged breaths as she looks at the destroyed object in front of her, then down at her hand. Some of the wood had ripped the material of her glove, revealing patches of the torn skin underneath.

She winces as she clenches her injured hand into a fist, but a moment later her hand is surrounded by light. It glows for a long moment, and when it fades she checks to make sure the injury is gone. Then she wipes her brow and reaches down to pick up her hammer. ]

D. Wildcard

((Feel free to catch Amy elsewhere! She'll be out around Camelot, or at the inn helping the survivors, or working her job at the Helleste Café. Or hit me up at usamichan13 to plot something else if you'd like!))

Comments

[ringsthatbind]

I've checked.

[Shadow likes to think he's pretty good at finding Rouge when he needs to, so the fact he can't find her is proof enough that she's no longer here.]

[pricklybloom]

[ She'll definitely take his word for it. She only ever really hears from either of them when they wanted to get in touch with her. But it would make sense then that they would be able to locate each other. ]

Oh no...I'm sorry. Are you okay?

[ringsthatbind]

I'm fine.

[He's not, but he doesn't feel like it's something he needs to burden Amy (or anyone else) with. He turns his attention back towards the volunteers, as if that's the end of the conversation.]

[pricklybloom]

[ Normally she would just leave it at that, because she knows that Shadow doesn't really like to be pushed. But this...feels different somehow, and she can't just let it go. ]

Shadow, wait.

[ringsthatbind]

[He was just about to go join the volunteers and help them out when Amy spoke up. Which causes him to pause and turn to pay attention to her.]

Yes?

[pricklybloom]

[ She hesitates just a moment, taking a breath as she walks up to him. ]

Listen. I know...you and I aren't really that close. But you can talk to me about things if you need to.

[ringsthatbind]

[His expression and body language are as stoic as ever as she approaches.]

Good thing I don't need to do that. I should get back to helping.

[For him it works to just stay busy with things, so he can't dwell on the bad stuff.]

[pricklybloom]

[ She just barely manages to keep herself from pouting, tempting as it is. But that would definitely not help her seem serious. ]

Are you sure? Rouge is like your best friend, isn't she? I can't imagine losing her is easy, even for you.

[ringsthatbind]

She's my teammate. And... If I wish to see her again then helping these people is one of the quicker ways to have that happen.

[Shadow's tone has a finality to it, as if to say to Amy that he is done with this line of conversation. And he is also going to start heading back towards the volunteers, so he can go help them.]

[pricklybloom]

[ Amy breathes out a sigh, slightly frustrated, and takes a step to follow him. ]

...Shadow, if-

[ Those words are out of her mouth before she can stop them, but she manages to swallow the rest of them back down. Because while the question is just on the tip of her tongue, she realizes that she's actually scared of the answer. ]

[ringsthatbind]

[He stops at Amy's words, because he has a feeling she means to say more. And from what he does know of Amy is she isn't one to not say everything, so her stopping?

Makes him stop, and turn to face her once again. Red eyes just giving her a flat stare.]

If what, Amy?

[Can't be scared of something if it's not answered, after all.]

[pricklybloom]

[ She shakes her head, avoiding meeting Shadow's eyes. ] No, it...It doesn't matter. You're right, we should...get back to helping the others.

[ She moves to walk past him, quickly swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand as she goes. ]

[ringsthatbind]

[Amy had better be hoping that Shadow doesn't notice that eye swiping, which he, unfortunately, does notice.

He's not one to pry, but this seems like it may be important to the other hedgehog, so as she walks by he reaches out to grab her by the arm.]

Apparently, it does matter to you, so what is it?

[pricklybloom]

[ Him catching her by the arm does force her to stop, but she still avoids looking at him, already feeling a bit foolish and embarrassed. ]

It's...nothing. I'm just...being dumb.

[ringsthatbind]

[Shadow won't be letting go of her anytime soon either, or at least not until he gets an answer.]

That's for me to decide, which I can't do so until you tell me.

[He means it too, he won't consider whatever it is as dumb until he knows what is bothering her.]

[pricklybloom]

[ She sighs, finally turning to look at him. Even as she turns the words around in her mind, it just sounds really stupid. ]

If...If Rouge and I had been switched, and I had ended up leaving and she was still here...would you have talked to her about me disappearing?

[ringsthatbind]

[Oof, that is a question. Hopefully, Amy doesn't notice that slight flinch from Shadow before he huffs and looks away.]

Of course, we need everyone we can here and losing you is losing an asset.

[He's leaving out the fact that it would all depend on if or when he noticed Amy being gone.]

[pricklybloom]

[ She does notice that little flinch, but she doesn't completely grasp the reason for it. This is unfortunately one of those things that there just isn't a good answer for, as she looks down at her hands. ]

Then...why can't you talk to me right now? About her disappearing?

[ringsthatbind]

Because it's not important.

[Well, it is. But if Shadow acts like it isn't then that means less prying, right?]

[pricklybloom]

[ She finally allows herself to huff impatiently. ] Please. You really expect me to believe that Rouge's disappearance isn't important to you, but you'd talk to Rouge about me because mine would be?

[ringsthatbind]

[Oh boy, he's going to sigh.]

No, it'd be the same.

[Probably not the best answer, but hey it's an answer.]

[pricklybloom]

...Yeah. That's what I thought.

[ It's enough of an answer and one that, at least in her mind, tells her all that she needs to know.

Because despite what he says, she knows that Rouge is important to him, and that he isn't completely unaffected by her disappearance. And if he says that her own disappearance would be the same, then the only conclusion to draw is that he'd talk to Rouge if she'd disappeared because he trusts Rouge.

And really, she expected as much...and she knows that she doesn't have any right to really be hurt by it, but...

Shaking her head a little, she clears her throat and turns to start heading back to the volunteer group. ] Like I said...it's dumb.

[ringsthatbind]

[Somehow Shadow has a feeling he may have messed up? Or something like that, he's never been good with interpersonal things and this is just further proof of that.

He lets out another sigh of his own and he'll let her go towards the group.]

If that's how you see it, then so be it.

[No point in arguing if something is dumb or not, which he didn't find it to be so.]

[pricklybloom]

[ Part of her does feel rather embarrassed about it, but the other had been hoping he'd say otherwise. Which is maybe foolish of her to think so, because she knows how he is...but he's usually honest, so he would say if she's making a big deal out of something or not, wouldn't he?

Maybe she's just overthinking it. She's just really not sure anymore, but she can't really afford to dwell on it either. They are here for a reason, and she's already been distracted long enough with feeling upset for something that she probably shouldn't even be upset for.

So she wipes at her eyes again and continues on her way. ]

[ringsthatbind]

[Part of him simply doesn't know what to do, aside from let Amy go about her business.

And he's sure she doesn't want him anywhere near her for now, he's just going to go find another group of volunteers to help instead. Simply leaving Amy to the group she's headed towards alone.]