Thorns And Roses 1

by ~Animegirl300

Thorns and Roses

The Kingdom of Acorn was a prosperous country even during the times of war, and even when other countries surrounding it were in the middle of crisis. The biggest reason for the rising conflicts was the fact that other countries had become discontent with their status; they wanted more power, and territory. That wasn't to say it was completely bad; the Kingdom of Mercia for example had a very long alliance with Acorn, and it itself was a just as prosperous country. However, even thought everything seemed to be going up for the people of Acorn, there were still many people, as there always will be, who weren't completely happy.

A small pink hedgehog peeked around the truck of a great oak, and looked around to make sure nobody had spotted her. Her name was Amy Rose, and she had just escaped from her escort which was bringing her to Castle Acorn, or it was suppose to.
She hated always having to meet with people, having to pretend she was a nice little princess just to win the approval of some snotty rich jerks that she would never see again. Today she and her father were to meet with almost all the political figures, including some that her father had fought with in the Great War. She was excited for the banquet, but anxious about the 'socializing'.
She sighed just as she heard a noise from her far left.

Under the shade of a small bush on the forest floor laid a small male hedgehog. He had black quills that stuck out from his head, and the red stripes on his quills only highlighted their sharpness. He had come to the forest for one reason only; to escape. He hated having to sit down in the stuffy old study, to be lectured on unimportant information by some old guy. He would much rather stay out here, free to do whatever he wanted, which actually consisted of reading. Yawning he closed his eyes and took advantage of the little time of freedom he would have to sleep.

Amy was running through the forest at the highest speed her legs could carry her. As she ran she noted with annoyance at how hard her dress was making it for her. It kept getting stuck on random branches and when she wasn't holding it up a little she would trip over it. She could almost picture the group of guards she thought were chasing after her. They had to be gaining up on her by now. She glanced back quickly and as she thought she saw dark figures in the distance she took a sharp detour off the trail. She almost feel as she ran down the slope and almost crashed into a tree as she got on even ground. For a moment she paused as she heard the group running right past her still following the trail.
'Great! I lost them' she thought happily.
She stood up, listening carefully for any guards that might still be there, then as the coast was clear she sprinted forward finding more distance from the sentries. Up ahead through the trees she thought she was a small creek, and she felt a spark of optimism. If she could get across then she would be home free for the rest of the day. The creek was coming closer into view. She was only ten feet away. Then suddenly the world paused as she felt her foot catch onto something very soft, and heard a loud "ouch!"
She felt herself falling in slow motion, as her only means of escape disappeared. For she had to be caught… right?
She looked over her shoulder at whatever it was her legs were laying on, and was quite shocked to find it wasn't a guard; it was a little boy hedgehog.
Quickly she scrambled to her feet and dusted herself off. As she glanced at the boy she realized he was holding his side in pain. She mentally kicked herself as she realized that he was what she tripped on.
"Oh no! I'm so, so, so sorry! Are, are you okay?"
He glared up at her angrily and jumped on his feet.
"Does it look like I'm okay? Geeze, learn to watch where your going idiot!"
The concern she had for this boy was instantly lost, and in its place came great anger.
"Well excuse me! I wasn't the one lying down in the middle of the ground for someone to step on me! So don't get an attitude with me!"
"Hmph. At least I have enough sense to look where I'm going!"
"Yeah, but obviously not enough sense to watch where you're lying down!"
"At least I don't go around stepping on people!"
"At least I don't get an attitude with innocent people over Accidents!"
"Innocent! You frickin' stepped on me!"
"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT YOU DUMMY"
"I'M THE DUMMY? YOU'RE THE DUMMY!"
"I'll show YOU who the dummy is"

In anger she lunged at him giving him a good blow to the cheek. They fell to the floor rolling and punching, grabbing hair, and scratching the mess out each other. They were so busy fighting they didn't even hear the thunder of horses as the royal guard came upon them. The leader was a teal colored hedgehog with a brown cloak and hood. He jumped off his steed and grabbed both children by their shirt collars, picking them off their feet.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU TWO THINK YOU"RE DOING OUT HERE!"
They kids looked up and Amy gasped as she realized who it was.
It was her cousin, Rob' o the hedgehog.
"Oh um h-hi Rob, how are you today"
Amy smiled up at him guiltily, but her cousin just kept his face frozen in rage. She looked at her feet remorsefully.
"You two should be ashamed of yourselves! We have been looking all over for you two, and here we find you, the son and daughter of two of the kingdoms most powerful knights, fighting like silly children.
'We ARE children' she thought angrily.
"And you,"
Rob turned on the boy who just a second ago was smirking evilly.
"I know your father. How would he feel once he find out you were fighting, much less with a girl. I know you know better than that."
Shadow scowled at a nearby tree. He already had an idea of what his father might say.
"When we get to the castle both of you better get to your rooms immediately, and if I find out you disobeyed me, then you'll be one unhappy little kid. Got it?"
The kids nodded and walked behind him. Every once in a while when Rob wasn't looking they would spit their tongues out at each other, or try to trip each other up.
Finally when they got to the castle, to their dismay their parents were there, and none of them looked very happy. Sir Malcolm was the name of Shadow's father; he was six foot tall and looked almost exactly like his son. His mother on the other hand was orange with black hair, and violet eyes.
Amy's dad was a red hedgehog with green eyes, and her mother was albino with red eyes, so while she got her eye color form her father, Amy's fur was a mixture of theirs.

Shadow's father barely had to say anything to his son. The look he was giving him was enough. As Shadow walked pass his father he glared at Amy angrily, only for her to stick her tongue out at him. Unfortunately for her Amy's dad caught it.
"Amy, go to your room"
"Yes dad…."
As she left her father sighed.
"I don't know what is with these children. I don't remember ever acting like that. "
"Hmph me either." Shadow father said; his eyebrow raised.
Amy's mother looked over at Shadow's mom.
"Don't you think it funny how husbands never seem to remember what they were like as children Jasmine?"
"Yeah, and the funny part is those two were worse."
"What is that suppose to mean?"
"You honestly don't remember the first time WE met?"
"Umm…. No actually."
Jasmine laughed heartily.
"You jerk, how could you forget that? Especially after the beating you got."
"Oh yeah? What happened?"
"It was quite funny actually; I accidently bumped into him near the moat. To this day I can never forget the face he made. Anyway, he got an attitude and started yelling at me, and next thing we knew we were duking it out in front of everyone. Now that I think about it… that might have been what happened today."
"Why do I not remember this?" Malcolm wondered.
"Simple. You're too pigheaded."
They all laughed at that.
"Maybe we should keep an eye on this new revelation."
"In other words you feel like match making"
"….. So…"
Amy's mom laughed and noticed how the sky was darkening already.
"We had better go and get ready. We shall see you both at the banquet"
"Yes, we shall see you later"
They waved their good byes and Amy's parents went up to their rooms in the castle, while Shadow's stayed outside for a bit more.
"So do you really think this might mean something" Malcolm asked his wife.
"It's possible; after all they're acting like we did when we were children, and look at us now. What do you think?"
"I can't be sure at the moment, but hey, they might have some potential. She's the daughter of two of our oldest friends, so we know she is coming from a good household. If anything its Shadow I'm worried about. Lets not forget; he's not completely over Maria yet..."
"Yeah, you're right… I hope he'll be okay. As fond as we all were about the girl, he ant let her death hold him back for so long. It's already been four years…"
They stood in silence for a moment, and then Jasmine yawned and stretched.
"We better go and get ready for the banquet. Come love, and don't forget shadow's punishment; I will not tolerate my son bulling little girls."
They headed into the castle and the gate closed behind them.

Shadow was sitting in the window seat of his bedroom, when his father knocked on the door and entered.
"Son we need to talk about you're behavior this morning"
"What for, I didn't even do anything"
"Son, you might not think much about it but fighting with people is a very serious matter. You nee to control your temper Shadow."
"She started it!"
"Maybe so, but that doesn't mean you continue it. And I actually doubt that she DID start it. I know how you are Shadow, and if I'm correct I would say that you were the one to start it, but I shall give you the benefit of the doubt, and ask you what happened."
"Okay fine, I was just simply resting under a tree and she came along and stepped on me."
"Ah ha, and what did you do?"
"Um… nothing."
"Shadow, don't lie to me. I think I know what happened. She accidently stepped on you, and so you got angry at her and took it too far. Am I right?"
Shadow looked down.
"Yes… but she should have looked where she was going"
"Maybe she should have, but weren't you the one who put yourself in that position? YOU were the one laying down in the way where people can't see you."
"So now it's my fault?"
"Yes and no. It's both of your faults. Yours because you didn't control your temper, and therefore caused the argument, and she's at fault for letting you get to her. But you are also more at fault because you hit a girl. It doesn't matter what she did to you."
Shadow glared out the window.
"In order for you to learn your lesson you will have bathroom duty starting from the moment we get home. Do you understand?"
Shadow growled a low "yes" and his father turned to leave.
"You better get ready for the banquet tonight, and make sure that you're on your best behavior."
As his father left Shadow sighed to himself thinking of the long days of work he had to look forward to…. all because of that little girl.