Chapter 10: Seperated

Day 11

Water splashed against Sonic's face as he slowly started to wake up. Groaning, the azure hedgehog sat up, holding a hand against his pounding head. He blinked his eyes open and looked around. He was on the river bank, the river washing him ashore after that wild rapid ride. Suddenly remembering the horrible event, Sonic snapped to full attention and jumped up, swerving his body around every which way and that, searching for Shadow… but he was alone.

"Shadow…" He whimpered, not liking the idea of being alone in the jungle he was unfamiliar with. Then, he gasped in terror as he realized something else.

Not only was he alone in the Amazon, but all of his supplies were gone too!

"No, no, no, no, no!" He cried, stepping as close to the river as he could get without falling in, hoping that he would be able to spot his bag floating in the river, but no such luck.

Sonic whimpered, his ears dropping to his head as he hugged his body and backed away from the river, spinning around in terror as he took in his surroundings. He was lost, alone and vulnerable. No food or water. No fuel to start up a fire at night. And worse of all, without the insect repellent, he was prone to malaria.

"Come on Sonic, get a hold of yourself." The azure hedgehog hissed to himself, giving himself a few good slaps to the face. "This is no time to panic. You have to think. What is your best chance of survival right now?"

Sonic sat on the ground and proceeded to think. He had no idea how far back the river had taken him, but he knew sitting here doing nothing would not benefit him at all. He decided that his only chance of survival was to proceed back up the river on foot, in hopes of finding help, or better yet, Shadow.

"But which way do I go?" He wondered aloud, looking at the still water, the river giving no indication on which way was upriver.

Then, suddenly, Sonic had an idea. Remembering what the Indian guides had taught him and Shadow, Sonic looked around his general area, until he found a good decent sized stick. He picked it up and approached the water, pulling his arm back before throwing the stick into the water. Upon impact, the stick began to float down the river, revealing which way the blue speedster should go. Smiling, Sonic turned the opposite direction the stick was floating, and began the long trek back up to river, hoping to find Shadow on this journey.

…

Shadow, not having moved from his spot on the bank by the rapids, continued to wallow in his self-pity, hating himself more and more after each passing minute. He had been considering just letting himself sit here and rot, feeling like he deserved it after failing to protect Sonic like he had promised. Not only that, but he also thought it was best that he stayed where no one could ever find him again, so there was less potential chance that the ebony hedgehog would find and lose another person he cared about.

First Maria. Then Molly. And now Sonic.

Why did the world hate him?

Suddenly, Shadow shot up into a sitting position, a frown on his face. Something was telling him to stop being such a baby, to get up and go find him. But, how could he? Surely Sonic had drowned in the river. He couldn't swim after all.

Get up and go find him.

Shadow frowned and stood up, turning his direction downriver. If Sonic was still alive… he was gonna find him, no matter what it took.

Taking a deep breath, Shadow began walking down the river, a deep hope in the pit of his stomach that he would be able to find the blue hedgehog. As he started to walk though, Shadow failed to notice a large pair of golden eyes, watching him as it followed through the jungle.

…

After about an hour of walking, Sonic was starting to feel hungry and dehydrated. He had considered going into the jungle and finding some of that "Miracle Fruit", but he had no idea on where to find it, and he didn't want to get too far from the river or else he got lost. Looking to the river, he was beginning to wonder what would happen if he drank some of it without boiling it for safety first.

Not wanting to risk it, Sonic shook his head as he continued on.

The azure hero continued to walk, climbing up banks and scrambling over rocks. He had stopped for only a moment, when he suddenly heard a metallic sound.

Twitching his ears, Sonic listened more closely, trying to decipher what it was and where it was coming from. It sounded like something metallic scraping against the rocks right up ahead. Frowning in curiosity, Sonic walked over to the rocks, turning the corner to see just what it was he was hearing. When he saw what it was, he couldn't believe his eyes.

In a small pool, trapped against the rocks, floating in the water with the help of the empty tin cans tied to it, was Sonic's bag!

Sonic squealed with delightful excitement as he quickly snatched his bag out of the water, carrying it with him up to the bank. He quickly opened the bag and brought out the first thing that was on his mind… the insect repellent.

Throughout his journey, he had had a few mosquitos come up to him, trying to attack him due to the river washing his repellent off before. Terrified about the chance of malaria, the hedgehog had swatted them before they had even a chance to bite him, but he knew he couldn't fight them off for long. So, taking the more than half empty insect repellent, Sonic began spraying his whole entire body with it, covering himself from head to toe with the protector. By the time be was done, the can was empty, but he wasn't too worried, there was still a whole 'nother can in the bag.

As Sonic looked through his bag, he couldn't believe his luck. Everything was still there! If he could find Shadow, then they still had a chance of surviving the rainforest!

So, feeling more confident than before, Sonic got himself situated and began his search for the ebony hedgehog again.

…

Back with Shadow, the ebony hedgehog was travelling down the river in hopes of finding Sonic still alive and well. He had grabbed a large walking stick to help him climb over the large rocks by the riverbank, as he was still pretty battered from the rapids yesterday.

The ebony was also aware of something following him now. He could sense their presence, and it did not feel friendly. He had thought about lashing out at them in a attempt to get them to show themselves, but he thought better of it. It wasn't a threat… for now.

As Shadow continued walking, he suddenly came up to a problem. A large canyon wall was blocking his path.

"No!" He hissed, slamming his hand against the rock.

The rock was too big and too steep for him to climb. Without his Chaos Emerald, he couldn't just simply teleport to the other side. The ebony let out a sigh. There was no other choice.

He was gonna have to leave the path and venture into the jungle to get around, and just pray that he would be able to get back to the river on the other side.

"Just hang on, Sonic. I'm coming."

…

Night has at last fallen, and Sonic can no longer go on. It is too dangerous to try walking an unfamiliar path in the dark, so he must stop and make camp for the night.

Using the techniques that their earlier guides had taught them, Sonic was able to make a nice little shelter using branches, twigs, and leaves. As he crawled into his makeshift tent, he noticed, that without Shadow, he was more vulnerable to the predators of the night.

The poor hedgehog could not get any sleep. The sounds of the night were terrifying to him alone. His only weapon of defense was a machete, but even that could only do so much.

Suddenly, Sonic heard a new sound. A type of growl rumbling a little distance in front of him. Scared out of his mind, Sonic pulled out the lighter and flick on its flame, his voice getting caught in his throat as he came face to face with the gleaming jade eyes of the most fiercest predator of the Amazon.

A jaguar.

Sonic sat stock still as he stared at the big cat in terror. The jaguar stared back, its growl rumbling deeply in the back of its throat, licking its sandpaper pink tongue over large yellow fangs. A single bite to the back of the head from this animal could kill Sonic in an instant.

No He thought suddenly, a frown forming on his face. Not today.

With one swift movement, he acted on instinct. The azure hedgehog grabbed the insect repellent, held it up to the flame and sprayed it at the jaguar. When the chemicals of the repellent hit the flame it immediately caught fire, creating a makeshift blowtorch that singed the jaguar's fur and scared it off.

Sonic screamed the whole entire time until the flame finally died down and he was able to see that the cat was gone. Sighing in relief, Sonic laid down in his shelter, exhaustion catching up to him as he fell into a restless sleep.