By the time early afternoon had rolled along, Sonic, Lara, Tails, Oskar and Sarah had changed out of their swimsuits into clean clothes again, packed whatever necessary belongings they would take with them and were once again in the air, leaving British air space in the Tornado Mark II and flying over the ocean with Tails acting as the pilot even though Sarah volunteered.
As usual, while Lara, Tails, Oskar and Sarah were sitting in the plane's passenger and pilot seats, Sonic mostly stood on the wing, feeling the breeze on his face and ready for action in case if anything hostile attacked the plane.
Their destination was, according to sources regarding the location of the Underwater Key's resting spot, the seaside town of Sha-Guvara on Yoha Island in the Caribbean which was as far away from the Bermuda Triangle thankfully.
Looking at Yoha's position on the map, it was two miles southeast from Cuba's shores which did cause concerns in the past that Yoha would be taken over by communists thanks to the Communist Crisis in Cuba.
However, that had not come to past, despite Yoha Communist activity unfolding in cities and towns across the island. If a communist uprising or coup did take place, at least somebody would try to stop it.
"I ACTUALLY VISITED YOHA A FEW YEARS AGO!" Lara shouted to Sonic over the biplane's loud engines, "IT'S A REALLY LOVELY PLACE, GREAT CLIMATE AND HAS SOME EXOTIC SCENERY AND LOCATIONS!" The blue hedgehog heard Lara and shouted back, "WERE YOU SIXTEEN?"
"IT WAS RIGHT BEFORE I TURNED SEVENTEEN, SO YES."
"HOW LONG DID YOU STAY THERE?"
"ALMOST WEEK AND A HALF, ABOUT TEN DAYS."
"Well, this is fascinating." Oskar said to Sarah Ann, who was sitting next to him, "These two sure would make quite the adventure-battle couple given their common interest in fun and adventure."
Sarah giggled, "You know, I think the second we found out Sonic and Lara had a growing romantic bond, we figured those two were made for each other given their taste for adventure and that they got sidekicks, you and Tails."
"Ah but the difference is Tails has a girl-friend and I don't."
"If you ever meet a gal, make friends with her and then date her, be sure to tell me about it. I'd love to meet whomever you fall in love with."
"Aye, but its not gonna happen for a while. Until then, I'm fine."
"Attention passengers." Tails spoke in an airliner pilot's radio-like voice loud enough for the others to hear, "We are now approaching the tropical island of Yoha and will be landing in ten minutes, please hang on tight or buckle up real good for the landing might be rougher than the usually expected soft landing."
"You can see the island, Tails?" Sonic called.
"Yes, I can."
"Way past cool, I think I see it too. I'm amazed this plane has enough juice to get across the ocean within nearly half an hour. In the past, if this were a normal airliner, well of course it would take hours to get to our destination."
The landmass known as Yoha Island came into view as the Tornado got closer, the group could it was the size of all the other islands, wide enough and big enough to have cities and towns anywhere on the island not too far from the tropical beaches, jungles and other areas of nature.
From what else Sonic could learn, rainy days were very rare. But even without rain, plant life on the island flourished and nothing bad happened.
Looking at Yoha from an aerial viewpoint, the island was shaped like a flat, oval-shaped UFO. "Take us down very gently, Tails!" Sarah said, "Bumpy landings are not fun." Tails looked at his number one girl and winked, "Don't worry. I'll land us nice and easy without a biggie and ensure that we'll be fine."
Sonic knelt down and grasped the wing of the plane tightly just in case the landing was rough, despite the fact the wind and turbulence was fine, the hedgehog was being very cautious and with good reason, there had been times in the past he and Tails had some very rough landings with the plane.
The last time Tails made a rough landing, it had been during an air battle with a certain egghead's robot army and the Tornado had taken heavy damage.
Thankfully, the fat man's forces had been forced into retreat and the doc's plans foiled again by the time Sonic and Tails had crash landed in a grassy field and didn't wreck any farmland.
Click-whirrrrr! Hearing Tails press the button on the dashboard that activated the plane's landing gear brought the hedgehog back to the present after he drifted off down memory lane, thinking of all the times he and Tails had flown this plane and the times the Tornado had crashed.
Bump! Sonic felt a jolt as the plane touched down on solid ground in the grassy plain upon the island, Tails let up on the gas enough to slow down, allowing the plane to come to a smooth halt.
"Awesome landing, Tails." Sarah commented, "You almost had me worried."
"Well, at least it was a smooth landing and not a bumpy one." Tails replied.
"Actually," Oskar groaned, holding his head, "That landing did feel bumpy."
Sonic hopped off the plane's wing, taking his time to breath in the sweet tropical air and feel the ground under his feet, absorbing the scenery surrounding him and his companions. No doubt Tails and Sarah were too.
Lara and Oskar? They probably didn't have a lot of time to sight-see as that would probably take too much time, allowing rogue forces to obtain the Key, steal the others and get their hands on the Ratakyan riches.
"So, Lara, where to?" Sonic asked, "You've been here before and we're supposed to be going down to the ocean to fetch the key, how does our visit to this way past rad place correlate to going down to get the key?"
The archeologist gave the blue hero a kiss on the cheek, "Slow down, sweetie. I know a friend who will point us in the right direction. Well technically, my good friend will let us borrow some stuff."
—
The town of Sha-Guvara was so incredible, Sonic was trying hard not to pass out or let his jaw drop, the place was lively, full of tourism and people, humans, and anthropomorphic animals, going about their lives without a worry in the world, almost similar to other towns that the hedgehog had seen throughout the world.
Given that he'd never seen this place before, neither had Tails, Oskar and Sarah, Sonic kindly let Lara lead the way through the streets of the very busy and crowded village.
As they wove their way through the crowds of merchants and tourists, Lara explained everything about the town's history, from its foundation all the way to its modern history as well as how important it was to the people of Yoha and those who came to the island to either vacation or do business.
Sha-Guvara once went by the name of Sha-Matuka before its last name changed to Guvara in honor of Sa Guvara, a famous Spanish soldier.
"You're quite the rad historian, Lara." Sonic commented, "You know a lot more about ancient stuff than me and Tails do, save for Sarah and Oskar." Sarah Ann elbowed the hedgehog, "Hey, watch it, hedgehog! I know a ton about ancient history too, so don't exclude me or dis my intelligence"
Oskar nodded angrily, "Aye, it also disses me fam too. Me and pop are descended from a brave warrior who fought for Scotland WITH HONOR!"
"I wasn't trying to insult your intelligence and patronize you, guys!" Sonic defended, "I was just complimenting Lara's historical knowledge and her archeology skills. Don't make a big deal, there's nothin' to worry about."
"Yup, there's absolutely nothing to worry about." Tails agreed, "Its alright."
"Lara, could you tell us about this friend of yours please?" Sonic asked Lara.
"She's Spanish." Lara replied sweetly, "You'll see her soon."
"Where's this Spanish friend, how will we know?" Tails and Sarah inquired.
"Be patient with Lara, ok?" Oskar suggested, "Nobody likes being rushed."
"Ok." Sarah said with a shrug, "We'll try to be more patient."
The five of them were silent as they walked through the crowded marketplace, even after making their way onto a less crowded street where most of the shops were closed, save for a couple places here and there.
"Zapato brillante" An anthropomorphic Spanish shoe-shiner yellow dog called out, "Anybody want shoe-shining? It'll take less than ten minutes flat, only costs two dimes for a nice and easy shoe-shining, we're legit and we're not bad people."
"Antiques!" A black-skinned human man called out from a nearby shop, "Get your hands on some rare antiques from the past. We're having a five percent half sales day, selling old, unbreakable vases, including rare alien tech left behind centuries ago."
"People rarely come by these places, don't they?" Sonic commented, noting that not many people were visiting the stores. A couple fluffy tabby cats ran across the street, chasing after a furry yellow squirrel, meowing and hissing.
"Plenty of people do." Lara said, "But only at night, before the stores close."
"A nighttime area?" Tails laughed, "The shoe shiner and antique seller folks are open for business in broad daylight. Not much of a nighttime place to me."
"Think we're gonna find your friend work in this area?" Sarah asked.
"Yes, she works at a scuba store nearby."
"Does she happen to know anything about ancient stuff?" Oskar commented.
"Of course, she's descended from a member of an ancient tribe."
"The Ratakyan Tribe member?"
"Maybe, since I didn't ask last time, it opens up a big opportunity to do so."
"Who's gonna ask?" Sonic quipped.
Lara looked at the blue hedgehog and winked, "I think we know who will."
"I'm guessing that you're gonna ask her?" Sarah said, scratching her chin.
"Yup, I'm gonna ask her as long as you just let me do most of the talking."
Sonic, Lara and the rest of the group continued walking along the street, listening to the sounds of birds chirping, cars vrooming and honking somewhere far off, their own footsteps and the distant sounds of people chattering in the marketplace they'd just been to a short while ago.
The sun shone down on the adventurers and a warm breeze blew through the vicinity, the temperature was at 70 degrees and wasn't boiling hot, this was because the climate on the island was always warm and reasonable.
Besides, who'd want a boiling climate in such a lovely tropical setting?
Thinking about boiling heat made Sonic go to his mental top ten list of things he liked, the number two on the list the hedgehog liked was relaxing in a lovely tropical landscape, tanning in warm heat without getting any sunburn, which was really unpleasant for a lot of people who wanted to be sunburn-free.
Number one on the list was, of course, Beauty, ranging from lovely girls to tropical beaches as well as flowers and cute creatures, which included Chao. Y'know, Sonic thought to himself, I should take Lara to a Chao Garden at some point. That would be cool, but would Lara like Chao? They are cute after all.
"OK." Lara said, "We should be getting close to where my friend is found, try to look for a building that has a marble stone scuba statue next to it and has a sign that says 'Relano Scuba Gear, open every day'."
"Relano?" Sonic asked, "Is that your friend's first name?"
"Its actually her last name and, to be precise, she's part of the Relano family."
Before Sonic, Tails or Oskar could comment, Sarah squeaked and pointed her finger. "Guys, I think I can see the store that has a marble statue next to a sign that says 'Relano Scuba Gear'. We're not that far and we're pretty close.
Sarah was right, just next to another antique store stood a small building that had a statue of somebody in scuba gear on the roof near a neon sign that read "Relano Scuba Gear, open every day.
Another sign, one that wasn't lit up, described that the store had been in business since the year 1940 and had never gone out of business thanks to years of profit from people working there and the patronage of customers.
"What time is it right now?" Sonic asked.
"Five past one, England time, almost 1:06 P.M." Lara replied
"Nearly 4 minutes to 1:10, huh? You're good at keeping track of time."
"Thanks, Sonic."
The group was just next to the scuba store now, only a foot away from the door. Taking a good look at the sign, which thankfully said that the store was open, Lara pushed the door open and they headed inside.
As expected, the store was like any other store, a huge room with shelves packed with items on sale left and right with the items in question being scuba tanks, snorkels and scuba masks as well as scuba flippers.
"Hullo!" Sonic called out, looking around the store, "Anybody here?!"
"TERESĂ!" Lara yelled in Spanish, "DONA ESTAS?"
"Hold on." Tails held up his hand, "You speak Spanish?"
"Loads of people do."
The group walked up to the front counter and Sonic pressed down on the dinger, causing it to ding. Nothing happened. The blue hero stepped aside and let Lara hit the dinger, which she did three times.
Someone muttered in Spanish and the bell rang as a blue-eyed brunette in a white shirt and lavender skirt stepped into the room, pushing aside curtains and gasping with surprise, her blue eyes widening when she saw Lara.
"Teresá!" Lara exclaimed.
"Lara!" Teresá cried happily.
The two girls hugged, speaking in Spanish amongst each other. "Been ages since they last saw each other." Oskar said with a smile.
Sonic nodded, "Yeah, she's definitely somebody we can trust."
Lara and Teresá finished bear hugging and the Spanish woman pat the archeologist on the shoulder. "I haven't seen you in what feels like ages!" Teresá exclaimed, "Como has esdao?"
"Oh, you know me." Lara replied, "Still running about, dodging traps, getting my hands on ancient artifacts and fighting bad guys all while occasionally getting some peace and quite. How's your son?"
"PEDRO!" Teresá yelled, "TENEMOS VISITANTES!" She looked at Oskar and cracked an even wider smile, "I see you got yourself a boyfriend, Lara."
"Not my boyfriend." Lara shook her head, "He's my assistant."
The curtains shuffled again and this time a young boy no older than nine years old came out, his hair was brown and he had freckles upon his face just like his mum, except his eyes were black instead of blue. Lara saw the boy and the smile on her face widened, "Is this little Pedro? My, you've grown!"
"Little Pedro's been helping me take care of business lately." Teresá explained, "We don't have a lot of people working for us, so I decided to have him come to work with me instead of having to ask somebody to look after him at the house half the day even though I'm just down the street."
Sarah looked at the young boy and his mama, scratching her head in confusion. "Where's the little boy's papa?" She asked, taking note that a member of Pedro and Teresá's family was absent.
"That's a very intriguing question." Teresá commented, she looked at Lara, "Why don't you tell them about how Pedro was born?"
"Me?" Lara giggled, "Why can't you tell the story about it, Teresá?"
"Just tell them."
Lara began to explain to the group that when Teresá was eighteen years old, she was on a fishing trip when she met a really handsome man named Liásón with whom she fell in love and they began hanging out more.
During the time they spent together, which was approximately a month, Pedro was conceived. However, the relationship didn't last and Liásón embarked on a fishing trip, only to never return, leaving Teresá distraught.
Not long after Liásón had vanished, Teresá discovered that she was prego with her son and decided to keep the baby. When her son was born, Teresá named him "Pedro" after her late papa and Liásón's uncle, also named Pedro.
Once the story was finished, Sonic found himself scratching his head, Oskar was dumbstruck and Tails was hugging Sarah, who was wiping tears from her eyes. "Wow, that's quite the story." The blue blur commented.
"It sounds heartbreaking to learn somebody you fell in love with abandoned you and your not-yet born son." Sarah said, blowing her nose into a tissue. Tails nodded in agreement as he comforted his foxy girlfriend.
"At least Pedro got to know his mum in the end." Oskar said with optimism.
"Si, I can't imagine my little Pedro being on his own in this world, alone and abandoned." Teresá said as she hugged her son, "There are so many orphans out in the world, at least they're being cared for in the end."
"Very touching, Teresá." Lara commented.
"Indeed, so what brings you and your associates here, Lara?"
Sonic raised his hand, "I can answer that. But first, I gotta ask you, Ms. Relano, have you heard of the Ratakyan Tribe and do you happen to be connected to that tribe of the ancient past?"
Teresá's eyes widened, obviously surprised that somebody was finally asking her about it. She looked at Sonic, Tails, Oskar and Sarah and then back at Lara, thinking of what she was going to say about it.
"Teresá," Lara put her arm around her friend, noting that she was having trouble figuring out what to say, "There's nothing to worry about or be embarrassed about. Its very important and we all want to know."
"I'm surprised nobody like you has brought it up with me about it before." Teresá said calmly, "However, to answer your question. Yes, I know about the Ratakyan tribe and my ancestor, Malique Relano, was a member of that tribe."
"Why did you ask mama?" Pedro asked in Spanish.
"That's a good question, my sweet son." Teresá commented, "I wonder why you're asking such a question given your curiosity. Also, what brings you here to my family's shop and is there anything we can do to help you?"
"We can answer that," Lara replied, "We're on a treasure hunt for the ancient treasures of Ratakya and we've been collecting the Keys of Senga in order to access the treasures that await in the depths of an ancient temple."
"Yeah," Sonic nodded, "We already got the Golden Satuyama Key, the Green Key and the Sky Blue Key. All that we have left is the Water Blue Key located on the ocean depths somewhere near here."
"That's right." Tails agreed, "The reason we came to you is because we'd like to have some scuba gear from you and borrow your fishing yacht. We would be very grateful if you let us have some of it."
"How nice of you to ask me!" Teresá exclaimed, "I'd be happy to let you have some scuba equipment and, yes, you can have my boat. Also, the key's location is not too far from here. I can give you the directions if you'd like."
"Well," Oskar scratched his chin, "Even though we have a clue on where to go, I guess it wouldn't ruddy hurt if you gave us directions so we don't get lost at sea while searching for the spot where we're guaranteed to find the key." Lara fist-bumped her associate, complimenting him on being polite.
"As a Ratakyan descendant," Teresá went on, "I'm also the key guardian and its not uncommon for the protector of the respective Key to know where its hidden, especially when the protector lives not far from where its at.
"The protector will only allow those with good intentions to have the key while making sure the ones with dark intentions never get the key. Thankfully, you and your friends have good hearts, so I will give you the directions.
"The cave where the key is located is a mile east from here, just drive the boat until you're about half a mile out to sea. Then park the boat, get whatever scuba/swim equipment you have and dive into the ocean.
"Once you're underwater, swim down a bit and you'll see some statues. Swim past them and keep on swimming until you see a huge rock with a hole in it, the hole is the entrance to a cave. Remember that one, it will be important.
"Swim on forwards through the cave and, after a while, swim up and you'll surface in a large chamber. Close by, you'll find the water blue key sitting upon a a stone pedestal waiting for you and, there you go, its all yours."
"Really?" Sonic retorted, "There's no challenge? All we have to do is just go underwater, swim into a cave, get your hands on the key and that's it?" Teresá nodded, "Yup, nothing to worry about as long as you know what to do."
"Thank you, Teresá." Lara said, hugging her friend, "You've been very helpful in telling us where to go and how to get there. Now what about some scuba equipment you have on sale including your yacht?"
"Well, there's nothing to worry about." Teresá replied with a sweet smile, "My yacht's parked on a dock near my house, I do live near the sea after all. As for scuba gear, well, which of you will be going underwater?"
That got everybody thinking, Sonic and Lara scratched their heads and cusped their chin, Tails was tapping his foot, even Sarah and Oskar were tapping their foreheads as they thought about it.
"Me and Lara will be going under the sea." The blue blur said after a while, elbowing his girlfriend playfully, "Heck, I think Tails and Sarah can come along. As for Oskar, I think he should be the one to guard the boat."
"That means I can be on lookout for anybody out there attempting to find the key and try to make the whole task hard for Sonic and Lara." The Scottish teen said with great interest, "I'm good at being on guard duty."
"You do whatever you have to do, Oskar." Lara said with a smile.
"Well," Teresá interjected, gesturing to her son to get some scuba gear of the shelves, "Because four of you will be going, you'll each get a snorkel, a pair of flippers and a scuba mask. Anything else, any wetsuits or...?"
"I think we're covered as far as we're concerned." Tails replied, "In regards to the wetsuit deal, lets just say we have a couple bathing suits for us each." Knowing what to do as Lara nodded at him, Sonic zipped off at high speed.
"Where's Mr. Sonic going?" Teresá asked, "Is he fetching your swimsuits?"
"Yes," Lara replied, "Besides, I don't there's any danger of us getting crushed by the deep underwater pressure. The Ratakyans probably have some sort of magic preventing something like that from happening."
"You're actually in luck regarding that, I've been underwater without requiring lots of scuba gear a load of times and, guess what, the pressure underwater isn't enough to hurt anybody like you."
"Is there any Ratakyan magic involved?" Tails asked curiously.
"Es possible." Pedro commented as he returned, carrying a bag full of snorkels, scuba flippers and scuba tube that he'd scooped off a nearby shelf. "Did you get the stuff for them?" Teresá asked her son in a sweet voice.
"Si, Mama. I did as instructed." Pedro nodded, holding up the bag, allowing Teresá to see what was inside it. She pat her son on the back and complimented him on how useful he was.
ZOOM! "I'm back." Sonic's voice cut through the room and everybody turned to see him standing in the doorway, carrying a bag containing a pair of swimsuits for him and his companions.
"Thanks for getting our swimsuits, Sonic." Lara complimented, giving the speedy hedgehog a smooch on the cheek. The sight of it made Tails, Sarah and Oskar smile while Teresá giggled. "Is Sonic your boyfriend?" She asked.
"The answer to that is yes." Lara replied, "I find him handsome just as he finds me attractive and cute. We also like adventure, so I think we get along well, especially after getting to know each other over the course of a few days."
"Changing the subject," Tails interjected, "May we see your yacht and do you have rooms at your place where we can change into our swimsuits privately?"
"Of course." Teresá said with a nod, "Follow me, I will show you."