Spirits, Spirits, Spirits of the Lake

Author's Note: Hello FanFiction! Sorry this story is a week or two late but it went from was supposed to be a one-shot into a full blown story! Needless to say though it is complete and I'll upload it in its entirety for your reading enjoyment. Hope you like it!

It was a gorgeous fall evening in the Emerald Forest as twilight descended on the area where Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Miky lived. The four friends were taking a stroll through the forest and enjoying each other's company while taking in the beauty of fall. The leaves on the trees were a rainbow of golds, oranges, browns, and reds. They fell from their branches and drifted lazily on the cool autumn breezes that preceded the harsh howls of winter.

Tails flew up into the branches of a nearby tree, his namesakes blowing a clump of leaves from the branches, "Ah, I love this time of year! Just look at these colors!"

"I like it because I can do this!" agreed Sonic as he whipped up a small twister that picked up the leaves and turned it into an autumn colored tornado.

Knuckles stepped back from the swirling column of leaves, "Hey, watch it! A leaf almost poked me in the eye!"

"Oh lighten up Knuckles! It beautiful!" said Miky as she tried to catch leaves in her hands, a grin spread on her face. With a smile, Sonic swirled the tornado towards Miky so the two of them were standing in the center. They laughed as they tried to grab leaves from the twister and Tails joined in laughing with them. Knuckles shook his head with a chuckle and made half-hearted grabs at the swirling leaves.

As they continued their walk, Tails looked to the rapidly darkening sky and pointed out, "The moon is going to be out soon. We should head home." Everyone nodded in agreement and turned to head back but Miky stopped and looked around once more, taking in the sight and smell of the forest engulfed in autumn.

As she looked though, she noticed that the area seemed familiar, "Hey you guys hold up for a minute…"

"What is it?" asked Sonic as he looked about too, "Does something here jog your memory?"

"Not about my past if that's what you mean." She replied, "Do you guys remember when I told you about that creepy lake I found in the forest one night when I was exploring?"

Knuckles scratched his head in thought, "Barely. That was like a month ago. Why?"

"Well, I haven't been able to find it since. But now that I'm looking around here, I'm almost positive I was in this area when I found that path…"

Tails flew up slightly to get a better view, "This area doesn't look any different than the rest of the forest Miky. In fact, it's getting hard to tell; we're losing daylight fast." The light was indeed dimming around them and the friends found themselves blinking and rubbing their eyes in an effort to speed up the adjustment to the lesser amount of light.

"That's why they invented the flashlight though." Suggested Sonic, "Doesn't the Miles Electric have an app for that, Tails? It's got an app for just about everything else."

"I don't think that'll be necessary. Look." Knuckles pointed up in the sky where a large, full moon was climbing into the sky. Its light shone down through the branches of the forest and gave everything it touched a silvery, pale glow. Miky, who had always been fascinated by natural beauty, turned about with wide eyes as she absorbed the transformed forest.

She spotted what appeared to be a pool of moonlight in the distance and tilted her head in confusion, "Does anyone else see that?"

Tails looked and squinted, "Yeah, it looks like a break in the canopy where the moon is shining through."

"Maybe that's the way to the lake?"

"I'd rather not go tramping through the forest in the dark, thank you." Said Knuckles as he crossed his arms, "I'd rather go back to Angel Island and make sure the Master Emerald is alright."

Sonic rolled his eyes, "It's a big, shiny rock Knux; I don't think it's going anywhere. Let's just follow it a little bit and see where it goes. If we don't find anything after five minutes we turn around and go home."

"Fine, let's go and be done with it." Together they began to walk towards the pool of moonlight. The space between them and the pool was pitch black so it was slow going. They stepped carefully to avoid tripping on plants and rocks. Being the klutz she was though, Miky stumbled over a tree root and began to fall but Sonic reached out and caught her by the wrist.

He pulled her up and said, "Here, I'll walk a little ahead of you to feel out any obstacles ok?" Miky nodded as she regained her footing. Her hand slipped neatly into Sonic's, who squeezed it ever so slightly and smiled at her. Hand in hand with Sonic leading the way, the two began to slowly pick their way forward. Behind them, Tails was stifling snickers while Knuckles made gagging motions.

They made it to the pool of moonlight to discover that it was the beginning of an illuminated trail that wound into the dark of the forest. Miky looked around once more and said with a nod, "This is definitely the path. We found it." She looked at the guys and jerked her thumb in the direction of the path, "Well let's go. Why are we still standing here?" The guys exchanged a nervous look but nevertheless, they began walking down the path.

As they went, Tails commented, "You know, this reminds me of an old urban legend: the legend of Suicide Lake."

Miky scoffed, "Suicide Lake? Let me guess, it's a haunted lake full of ghosts?"

"Actually yes. The legend says that those who were too saddened to go with life would be led to the lake by the light of the full moon where they would drown themselves in the murky depths." Continued Tails, putting a little dramatic flair on his voice to emphasize the spookiness.

Sonic added, "I heard that they've never retrieved a body from the lake because the water is so dark, so murky, and its depths go on forever."

"That's ridiculous. It's got to have a bottom. Every lake has a bottom. When I was there the water was murky but not that murky. Sounds like bogus to me." Retorted Miky. "Besides, I bet like two people drowned there and then people made up that dumb story."

Knuckles shook a gloved finger at her, "Oh no, a lot more than two people drowned there. There's been dozens of suicides and there have been murders and accidents too. There's a second part to the legend as well."

"And what's that?"

"At the lake, there's this rock that juts out over the deepest part of the lake and that's where people would jump off into the water and drown. They call it Jumping Rock and according to the legend, if you say the rhyme, 'Spirits, Spirits, Spirits of the lake, show me your faces in the pebble's wake.' Then throw a pebble into the water, you can see the faces of everyone who's drowned there in the ripples."

Miky rolled her eyes, "Really? There's no such thing as ghosts!"

"I wouldn't say that Miky," put in Sonic, "Trust me, I've seen some weird and impossible things and if it's taught me anything, it's that anything can happen and you never know what will happen until it does."

Tails nodded, "I agree. Science can explain everything but there ARE some things that science can't explain YET."

"You too Tails? Come Knuckles, you don't believe this fairy tale do you?" asked Miky as she turned to the dread-sporting guardian expectantly.

He shrugged in response, "I could go either way really. I can feel the Chaos Energy that pumps through the world and through our bodies. That being said, I've been to a couple places that, while abandoned, are still packed with energy and feel as if there's still crowds of people wandering around. So, who knows?"

"Well, I know that I don't believe in ghosts. If your dead, why would you stick around?" said Miky thoughtfully, "There's nothing to d- whoa… look." Miky pointed at the end of the trail where they could see the bank of the lake. They rounded the bend and got a full view of the body of water, "This is it! This is the lake!" It was a fairly large lake and the moonlight lit up the water with an eerie pale glow. A huge rock extended out over the placid water and the shore was covered in loose, pebbly gravel.

"Whoa… Its Suicide Lake… I didn't think it ACTUALLY existed…" mumbled Tails in surprise.

"I told you it wasn't that creepy." said Miky as she walked ahead, "See? Just a normal lake in the middle of the forest. Heck, I bet if we tossed a pebble in there, we'd see nothing but our own reflections!"

Knuckles put up his hands, "If you want to mess with that knock yourself out. I'm not going any closer."

Sonic elbowed him playfully and teased, "What Knux, are you scared or are you just getting bad vibrations?"

"Well if you're so brave, you do it than!"

"Ok, piece of cake."

Tails picked a pebble from the shore, "I'll throw one too. I'm curious as to what will happen. If the lake exists, maybe the spirits do too."

"Don't forget me!" chimed in Miky as she grabbed a pebble as well, "I guarantee we won't see anything." Sonic, Miky, and Tails went towards Jumping Rock while Knuckles hung back and shook his head. Tails flew up onto the rock and knelt on the edge. The rock was cool and a little damp from a thin layer of moss that had grown on its surface.

Clutching his pebble, Tails said, "Spirits, Spirits, Spirits of the lake, show me your faces in the pebble's wake." He opened his hand and let the pebble roll off his palm and into the water. It landed with a PLOP and the ripples began to spread over the surface, distorting Tails' reflection. After a minute or two, the water became still once more. Tails turned around and shrugged, "Nothing. Just my reflection."

Miky jumped up, "My turn!" Tails joined Sonic on the shore as she jumped up on the rock and crawled to the edge on her belly. "Spirits, Spirits, Spirits of the lake, show me your faces in the pebble's wake." She dropped the pebble into the water and intently watched the ripples travel outward from the impact. With the water had calmed, she sat up with a triumphant smile, "HA! It's just silly superstition."

"Still too scared to give it a go Knux?" asked Sonic as he tossed his pebble up and down.

"I'm not scared!" shot back Knuckles, "I'd rather not tempt fate. If there are spirits here, I'm sure they'd like to be left alone."

Miky put her hands on her hips, "I didn't see anything and neither did Tails. It's just silliness!"

Sonic held up his pebble, "Well let's see if third time's the charm." He went up to Jumping Rock and hoisted himself up. He noticed the damp moss made it kind of slick so he crawled on his hands and knees to the edge. Sonic wasn't scared of seeing a ghost in the water but what he was really nervous about was falling in. Ever since he was kid, Sonic had been scared of the water and while he had gotten better control over this fear over the years, he never learned to swim. With one hand curled tightly around the edge of the rock, Sonic stretched his arm over the water and said, "Spirits, Spirits, Spirits of the lake, show me your faces in the pebble's wake." With that, he released the pebble and it disappeared into the depths of the lake leaving only ripples behind. Sonic looked down into the ripples, seeing his own reflection distort with the waters movement.

Suddenly, he saw something move past his fractured image in a blur of white. Squinting and leaning forward ever so slightly, he studied the ripples harder. Behind him Miky and Tails exchanged confused looks while Knuckles looked on in silence. Without warning a pale, wrinkled face with sunken-in eyes and stringy green short hair appeared in the water as clear as day. "AH!" cried Sonic in shock as he jumped. His grip on the rock was suddenly lost and much to his horror, the azure hedgehog found himself tumbling face first into the water.

There was a huge splash as he went in, the water rushing into his ears and nose. Sonic had clamped his mouth and eyes shut as he flailed his arms and legs about. On the shore, Tails had already jumped in the air to fly to his positon while Knuckles and Miky dashed for the water. Sonic broke the surface with a panicked gasp, arms reaching up for Tails who was flying at him as fast as he could go. The young fox managed to grab his older brother's hands but they were slippery and he lost them as Sonic slipped back under, "SONIC NO!"

Knuckles had reached the spot where he'd gone under and dived for him. Miky was right on his heels and followed suit. They both came back up empty handed after a few seconds and dived again. They once more resurfaced empty handed, and Knuckles growled in frustration, "It's too damn murky and dark down there I can't see him!"

"The Miles Electric!" exclaimed Tails as he whipped out his handheld and turned on the flashlight app that Sonic was joking about earlier, "Now try. And HURRY!" Knuckles and Miky dived again, determined to rescue Sonic.

Sonic was still thrashing about under the water, trying in vain to get back to the surface. He could feel himself sinking further and further, almost like he was being pulled into the depths of the lake. Sonic was trying not to panic as his lungs began to burn from lack of oxygen and fought the involuntary urge to inhale. It was no use though for his heart was pounding in his ears and beating rapidly. A chill began to wrap around him like dozens of hands wrapping around his body and squeezing. Everything was closing in around him.

Knuckles and Miky returned to the surface for the fourth time with nothing to show for it. Tails was about to completely panic, Knuckles was furious, and Miky was frantic.

"The damn light isn't penetrating deep enough into the water!" yelled Knuckles, "How are we supposed to get to him?!"

Tails was trying to hang on to the Miles Electric despite his shaking hands and stuttered, "B-But we c-c-can't give up!"

"Wait!" cried Miky, "I have an idea!" She jumped out of the water with her telekinesis and made a small shield around herself. She went under once more, with her own glowing bubble of air and searched desperately for Sonic. She saw him floating down into a patch of wicked looking underwater ferns. She grabbed him under the arms and tried to surface but his foot was entangled in the prickly plants. Miky quickly resurfaced, "He's stuck in some plants! Help me!" Knuckles dove back down with her and they grabbed Sonic and pulled with all their might.

As Sonic began to lose consciousness, he could feel his lips loosening and preparing to open and inhale a giant gulp of water. He fought harder than he could ever remember in his life to stop sinking, to stay awake, to not inhale but it was useless. As he passed out, He could feel the icy grip pulling his foot and enveloping him as the water forced its way into his mouth and into his lungs.

Knuckles and Miky burst to the surface gasping for air as they hoisted Sonic's face above the water. The blue hero was unconscious but appeared to still be alive. As they swam to shore Tails helped keep Sonic's head out of the water as well as drag him onto the bank. Once he was safely on the back on land, the others looked him over. Miky shook Sonic gently, trying not to let fear into her voice as she said, "Sonic? Sonic, wake up. Come on wake up!" She shook him a little more before putting her ear to Sonic's chest. After a few seconds, her head shot up as she gasped, "He's not breathing! What do we do, he's not breathing!?"

"Move!" Knuckles elbowed Miky aside and began to do compressions on his friend's chest. Tails and Miky looked on in frightened silence as Knuckles growled under his breath, "Come on, come on, come on." After what seemed like an eternity, Sonic's eyes snapped open and he burst into a coughing fit. They rolled him onto his side so as he wouldn't choke on the water he was coughing up as he gasped for air.

Finally, Sonic managed to wheeze, "Please… please tell me no one gave me mouth-to-mouth…"

Tails sighed in relief as he shook his head, "Only you could crack jokes after nearly drowning Sonic."

"A thank you would be nice." Grumbled Knuckles as he rolled his eyes.

"Thanks Knux. Seriously, I thought I was a goner for a minute there." Said Sonic as he coughed a little more and held his chest, "Although, I could do without the bruised ribs."

"It was that or the kiss of life."

"What the heck happened Sonic?" asked Miky as she helped him sit up slightly, "One minute you're staring into the pond and the next you're flying forward into it!"

Sonic shrugged, "I don't know. The rock was slippery so my hand must have slid out from under me." He glanced out at the lake, still shimmering in the pale moonlight and shuddered, "It was so cold down there… Like a bunch of hands grabbing you and pulling you down…"

"I told you not to do it but, nooo," scolded Knuckles, "Nobody listens to me. Instead you wanted to act like children playing Truth-or-Dare!"

"And like kids, we've learned our lesson. You can bet we won't be coming back here anytime soon." Assured Tails. "Now let's get the heck out of here." Everyone nodded in agreement and quickly made their way down the moonlit path and back to the main trail. Not wanting to leave the Master Emerald alone overnight, Knuckles left back home to Angel Island while everyone else just decided to spend the night at Miky's because her house was closest. Once there, Miky made her guests comfortable with blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows in the living room and they all tried to get some sleep after the night's stressful events. Tails quickly curled up and fell asleep in his nest of blankets with his namesakes wrapped around him for extra warmth.

Sonic was still chilly and slightly damp from his plunge in the lake despite an extensive toweling off upon arriving at Miky's. His quills were a mess and hung down around his shoulders in a spiny, blue cloud. Sitting up in his makeshift bed, Sonic rubbed his bare hands together and blew to warm them but it had little effect. His gloves, socks, and shoes had all been completely soaked so before everyone went to bed, Miky had tossed them in her dryer. Perking his ears, Sonic could hear the soft mumble of the appliance in the other room as well as the occasional small clang of the buckles on his sneakers hitting the sides. Pulling a blanket around his shoulders, Sonic shivered for what felt like the hundredth time. He just couldn't seem to get warm. Being so cold reminded him of Suicide Lake and he cringed. At the time, Sonic had tried to make light of almost dying in the lake's icy waters but inside he was quite shaken up.

It had been awhile since he had fallen in a body of water and Sonic had nearly forgotten the feeling that made him so afraid of water in the first place. That horrible suffocating feeling of wanting to breathe but not being able to. The struggling and flailing as the surface got farther and farther away. Sonic knew that if he just learned to swim he wouldn't have to worry about drowning but he was too afraid of drowning to learn to swim. The blue hero shook his head to clear the whole thing from his thoughts, frustrated with his irrational fears. He stood up and went into the kitchen to fetch a glass of water before settling in and trying to sleep.

Not wanting to turn the light on and disturb Tails or Miky, whose room was nearby, Sonic felt around in the dark kitchen as quietly as possible. He at last found the cabinets and began to feel around for a glass. He found one but much to his dismay, he knocked it out of the cabinet and winced, waiting for it to hit the ground and shatter loudly. The crash never came and upon looking, he saw it suspended in mid-air with a soft yellow glow around it. The glass floated back up as Miky stepped into the kitchen.

"Sonic, why are you knocking things over in the dark?" asked Miky as she set the glass down safely on the counter.

"Not all of us have the most stellar night vision." Replied Sonic bashfully, "I just wanted to grab a glass of water before trying to get some sleep. So why are you catching things I knock over in the dark? I thought you were asleep?"

"I was just checking to make sure you and Tails were comfortable. Plus… to be honest…" Here Miky looked down at her feet and fiddled with her green PJ shirt, "I wanted to see how you were doing. I know you were joking around and stuff back at the lake but I wanted to make sure you were ok."

Sonic was a little taken aback by this as he scratched his ear nervously and shuffled his feet back and forth, "Oh, well, I'm fine. Thanks for asking though."

"Are you sure? I know you don't like water; it must have been a nightmare come true. If there's something you want to get off your chest or talk about-"

"I'm fine Miky. It's not the first time I've had a brush with death or the first time I've almost drowned." Interrupted Sonic. He smiled slightly and added, "Thanks for your concern. You're a good friend. And thanks for letting us stay the night here while my stuff dries."

Miky returned his smile, "It's no trouble." She thought for a moment before asking, "So is it weird not wearing your sneakers? I've never seen you without them."

"It's a little weird for my feet." Replied Sonic with a laugh, "I'm so used to feeling that cushy support of the sole underneath. Plus, the tile is freezing!" Miky burst out laughing before slapping a hand over her mouth. They peeked into the living room to see if they woke Tails but the young fox was undisturbed. Miky and Sonic locked eyes and both fell into a giggling, snickering fit.

The two finally managed to get it together as Miky offered, "If it'd make you more comfortable, you can borrow a pair of my socks."

Sonic shook his head, "Nah, its ok. Thanks again."

"Oh it's really no problem." began Miky as she waved her hand dismissively. She cleared her throat a little as she backed towards the entrance of her room, "Well, it's late, we should get some sleep."

"Yeah, we should. Good night."

"Night." Miky went into her room and shut the door, waving at Sonic as she did. Sonic waved back and when the door was closed, he got his glass of water, and returned to the living room. He laid back down in his pile of blankets and pillows, covering himself in layer after layer. Sonic still felt a little cold but it didn't bother him as he began to slowly drift off to sleep.