Knuckles the Echidna

Part Nine

As night became dawn, Knuckles and his friends had continued on their journey. The trio continued to descend down the hillside; careful not to slip on the wet morning grass. They continued on until they came to the forest they had spotted not too long ago. Taking a moment, the three stopped for a moment.

Glancing up at the trees, they noticed how much denser the forest was compared to the resent one they had encountered. Before long, they began their way through; stepping between the tangled roots of the trees; Sonic and Tails following behind him. As the trio walked deeper and deeper into the forest, the shrubs and bushes began to get thicker and plusher the further they went. The forest floor was growing softer and wetter than what it had been for the past several minutes.

They ventured on; farther into the forest. Though the trees were thick around them, they could see light just up ahead. Soon, the friends stopped as gazed on in awe. The forest they had been venturing through, had soon developed into a swamp. Dust particles hung in the air as the sun's light shimmered in through patches of the open canopy above.

"Do we really have to go through here?" Sonic complained; not liking the sight of the murky waters around them.

"Well, we've made it this far." Knuckles replied; turning around.

After a moment, Knuckles walked a bit closer to the murky water; wading its depth. The water made a soft squishy sploosh as Knuckles sank an inch into the muck of the swap's bottom; the water reaching his calves.

"So far, so good." Knuckles commented; before taking a few more steps around; and soon headed back to shore.

His red fur where the water had been stained it with a thin layer of brownish green sludge.

"If we stay where it's shallow, I think we can cross without having to swim." He told them.

Soon, he began his way through the water; Tails following behind without any trouble. Sonic; however, not taking the situation to well, hesitated for a moment; but soon followed his friends into the bayou.

"Yiiiuck!" Sonic moaned, sticking his tongue out in disgust as he followed behind Knuckles and Tails.

"Be careful, the ground is very soft here." Knuckles warned, as he and his friends continued to trudge through the muck; occasionally coming onto grassy terrain within the marsh. "We should watch our step." Knuckles explained.

He soon proved that theory, when he took another step; yelping as he sank in the swampy gunk; the water rushing up to his chest.

"Crap! That's cold!" He shouted.

Knuckles tried to walk back to the others; but struggled as the hidden duckweed tangled around his feet; causing him to almost trip and fall; but luckily caught himself and soon made it to a more level area of ground where the water was shallow again. The young echidna was covered from the chest down in silt and swamp muck; which seemed to have stained his slightly torn outfit and bright crimson fur.

"Knuckles, are you okay?" Tails asked; a bit concerned as he and Sonic ran to his side.

"Yeah," Knuckles breathed as he began to be calm again.

"I think we should go along the edge of the bog instead of going through it." Sonic suggested; a bit uneasy about the place.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea." Knuckles replied; slightly embarrassed about what happened.

Soon, Knuckles began to venture around the edges of the marsh with Sonic and Tails right behind him. As they went on, they occasionally came across stray roots of trees that had surfaced from the earth but grew back into the soft ground; many of which had a rough surface.

The trio stepped over another root that had surfaced near the water. Unknown to them as they stepped over it; did it begin to move and slide into the water with a faint sploosh. Knuckles stopped for a moment; his violet eyes growing wide in shock.

"Um... Did you guys hear something?" He asked, turning to look back at them.

They soon turned toward the water as heard a faint sloshing noise coming from within it. The trio gazed at it in wonder. Just as they were about to continue on, there was a loud snarl as rather large non-anthromorphic crocodile exploded from the water! It snapped its jaws at the young friends; luckily missing them.

"Run!" Knuckles shouted.

Knuckles and his friends ran as fast as they could in the marshland. Soon, another crocodile sprang up; snapping at the young echidna. Knuckles dodged; avoiding injury. They ran until they came to where the shoreline ended. They were trapped! Then, just as another came into an attack, Knuckles grabbed Sonic and Tails by the arm and leapt up onto the croc's back as it missed them.

Knuckles, Sonic and Tails ran down its tail as the croc slashed in the water. They leapt up as another snapped at them; but missed as they jumped from its back. The three soon found a place where the water was once again shallow and they scurried across the bog with the crocodiles in pursuit. They could see land once again.

But as Sonic was following behind, he lost his footing and tripped; falling into the water! Knuckles and Tails; who had been running, turned around and saw the crocodiles closing in on Sonic. Horror and determination in his eyes, Knuckles ran to Sonic's aid. As the croc was about to attack, a spiked glove struck the side of its jaw, sending it falling into the water.

Two more crocs were coming toward them! While Knuckles distracted them, Tails ran over and helped Sonic to his feet. Sonic, still a bit dazed from his fall, Tails pulled his arm, leading him away from the attacking beasts. Seeing Sonic and Tails escape, Knuckles soon punched another crocodile in the jaw and took off after his friends.

The young echidna soon caught up to them. A forth crocodile came up from out under the water. It snapped its jaws at Knuckles, but barely missed as he leapt away. They continued to run. As the crocs were gaining, they finally reach the edge of the water near a steep ridge. Near it, was an old tree; which led nearly to the top of the ridge.

Sonic ran up the branch first and long jumped over to the ledge. Tails followed behind. He lost his balance but soon used his twin tails like propellers and flew up to the ledge. Knuckles followed close behind; still fighting to keep them back. Soon, he climbed up the tree. Reaching the top, he got ready to jump.

But just as he got ready, one of the crocs bashed into the tree; nearly knocking the young echidna off! Seeing his only chance, Knuckles leapt for the ledge; catching onto it with his dirty gloved hands.

Just as Knuckles was pulling himself up, he felt a sudden tug on the back of his clothing; nearly pulling him down. The cloth soon ripped and the croc fell to the water below. Using his feet for leverage Knuckles soon pulled himself onto the ledge; joining with his friends once more.

A/N: This part was kinda add in ^^; I wasn't originally going to add this but I needed more drama :) I hope that's okay :D I'm sorry if it's a little rushed ^^; But I still hope you liked it :D

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