Chapter Four – Aquila
Shadow roared in utter disgust. His anger flared. He heaved, barely his teeth.
"No!" He spat, immediately getting to his feet and storming off. There was no way he was playing knight to some fancy-boy royal. He knew better then to be dragged into politics like that. But Sonic panicked.
"Shadow, please." He begged, but then his own anger just flared. "Ok, fine, I'll do it myself." He screamed, and then, as Shadow turned around, he saw to his horror, the Aquahog dived into the waters ahead of him, and straight into the sharks. He screamed in frustration. What was that stupid Aquahog doing? He was terrified of those sharks. Understandably so, considering they'll properly eat an Aquahog, but why swim towards waters infested with them. Unless his, so-called, kingdom was the other side. Shadow swore very loudly, realising that there was no way Sonic was going to get through alive, and with another huge feeling of guilt, he activated his Super-Speed, and ran across the ocean floor after him, deep into the darkness.
Sonic was indeed fast, both on land and in water, but here, he lacked the some of the physical strength he had on land, not that that was actually much. Shadow growled. He did see Sonic as weak and pathetic, but he was also willing to die for what he believed in, and Shadow had to admit, he saw parallels. Especially with himself. He's also die for what he believed, even if though his believes were entirely different. His evil aggressive strive for vengeance had gotten him into this mess, and all he'd received in return, was, for want of a better word, kindness. Kindness he didn't deserve, with his life being saved, twice. But Shadow wasn't completely evilly blinded, and knew kindness went he saw it. It wasn't pity, Sonic knew better, he was just doing this to Shadow as a means to an end. To help his people.
His people, not Shadow's, and as the Ultimate Lifeform saw the sharks looming over him, he realised he had a debt to pay. That's why he was here and didn't return to shore. That and the fact he didn't really know which way the shore actually was. He may have had his E.S.P. back but he didn't know these waters, unlike Sonic. Getting lost, alone, out here was something the Ultimate Lifeform didn't fancy. Shadow completely and utterly considered himself a Hedgehog of honour, superior in every way to everyone else and hated debts with a vengeance, seeking them to be paid as soon as possible. But down here, on the ocean floor, was he really still that superior? In a world, so brutal, that everything literally ate everything else, Shadow realised it came down to just single rule.
Work together or die.
He just couldn't be snobbishly arrogant anymore, not in a matter of life and death. He could potentially get himself killed. He heaved. It wasn't long before he caught up with Sonic, desperately dodging a school of Tiger Sharks who were charging at him in all directions. He had the edge on speed, but the school had the edge on numbers, and try as he might, the Aquahog just couldn't get pass them. He swam this way and that, his enormous tail just avoiding being bitten several times. One singular shark was constantly blocking the path, and Sonic had almost taken to charging at him, but he didn't need to. Something came speeding through the water direct behind him, and from underneath him, roaring with anger, punched the shark, with a hard closed fist, straight in the gills. The Ultimate Lifeform smirked. Did he have his Super-Strength back? Oh yes.
It immediately when flying, clearing the path but Shadow completely misjudged landing on the ocean floor, the soft sand combined with the intense water pressure, and immediately collapsed, toppling over. Suddenly, a shark was above him, about to charge at him, when suddenly, a shadow came from nowhere and an enormous deep Blue tail, smacked the shark on the side, sending it packing. Then Sonic grabbed his hand, forcibly pulling him to his feet, and then swam very hard into the darkness. Shadow activated his Super-Speed, and ran immediately after him, as he saw the sharks in hot pursuit.
They ran and swam into yet further darkness, with Shadow having no idea where they were going, until finally, after what felt like an age, the sharks fell away behind them. They were safe.
Soon, Sonic found a large boulder, and hid behind it, panting heavily. Shadow joined him, also realising he too was out of breath. The both of them gulping water like crazy. He smirked, looking back to the quiet darkness.
"It seems that gills aren't as efficient as getting oxygen into the blood as lungs." He panted. Normally, such exertion wouldn't have tired him out. But Sonic just stared at him, looking quite disbelieved. He sighed.
"Thank you." He stammered, unsure of what else to say. They just stared at each other, having just saved each other from the sharks and the jaws of death. Shadow just nodding, finally acknowledging the Aquahog. He heaved.
"Your welcome." He sniggered, but Sonic just didn't understand. He frowned.
"Why are you here?" He asked. "I was utterly convinced I'd never see you again." He stammered. But Shadow just growled.
"I don't know these waters, and I have a debt to pay. You underestimate me, Aquahog." He spat, but Sonic just sniggered. He stopped the mighty Black Hedgehog. He didn't need to hear more. He wasn't going to make the Ultimate Lifeform admit that they needed to work together to survive. The look in his eyes was enough. Though Sonic was honoured that him saving his life was considered a debt, but still he did wonder how much of this, Shadow would actually see through. Right now, he was just extremely grateful he was here.
The Ultimate Lifeform heaved, and after a few minutes, he felt better, but looked around. Every direction he saw nothing but pure darkness. Even his E.S.P. got nothing. He growled.
"Which way?" He heaved. But Sonic immediately pointed straight ahead of them. Shadow looked, again seeing nothing. He gasped. "How do you know?" He asked, temporarily forgetting himself. But the Aquahog just giggled.
"You forget. I was born down here, not on Seaside Island. Every Aquahog instinctively knows the way home, to where they were hatched." He sighed, desperately wondering how his friends where holding up, back on the island, especially against Eggman. Shadow sighed, seeing this in the Blue Blur's eyes, he himself having no idea, and quite frankly, he didn't care. He heaved.
"Look, there's nothing we can do for them. They're on their own. Plus I always believed they leaned far to hard on you anyway." He sniggered, as he walked off in the direction which Sonic just pointed. The Aquahog heaved. Shadow was right. Here, now, they had their own problems to deal with.
Though the darkness, down the enormous gorge, with Sonic as a guide, they travelled until suddenly, the darkness was broken by a beautiful but somewhat dim and pale turquoise halo. Sonic frowned, stopping.
"That's not good." He gulped. "That light should be a lot brighter." He stammered, pointing ahead of them.
They looked at each other and then raced ahead to their destination. Suddenly, the floor of the canyon gave way, to a shallow trench within the canyon itself. It went on for miles, and wall-to-wall of the canyon. Here, in the shallow trench, the water pressure just was too much even for the Tiger Sharks, so they never ventured down there, so the predators never came into town. Soon, the Underwater Kingdom came into view, looking a lot more run down then Sonic remembered. Nestled in the very bottom was a dimly lit, large, stunning beautiful, circular underwater city.
Battered and broken, with what looked like the remainder of a ruined triangular, white marble, extremely tall, tower-like citadel on the centre. The light seemed to be emanating from the numerous flying buttresses, that leant up against it, deep turquoise colour, reaching out from the three points of the triangle. It would have risen tall, high in the deep water, but the turquoise roof and the very top of the tower, had completely collapsed, now lying on the ground. The streets leading from the citadel, were paved with shells, and even the lampposts themselves, also deep turquoise, seemed to give off their own light. Hundreds of simple houses, all white walled and turquoise roofed, were scattered through the city, all badly damaged and in desperately need of repair. In fact, the entire city was. Sonic hid behind a rock and peered down at his long lost home. He sniffed.
"Aquila." He heaved. He knew it would be bad but not this bad. Shadow blinked at the Blue Blur and then at the city. He seen cities similar to this on the surface and knew one simple thing. It should be busy. A hive of activity. Markets, shops, and in theory, Aquahogs everywhere. He frowned, as the ruined city looked extremely cold and desolate.
"Where is everyone?" He shrugged, looking at Sonic, whom also had the same thought. They headed down into the shallow gorge and into the city.
As Sonic and Shadow began to travel through the streets on the outskirts of the city, they were immediately pulled to one side by two fellow Aquahogs and gaged with a hand, as they hid from passing soldiers.
In the shadow of a building, they don't resist. Confused, Sonic was about the thank his rescuers, when he was immediately bowed to. The large number of prongs in Sonic's tail singled him out as royalty. Both the Aquahogs only had three or four each, they're tails significantly smaller. They looked very similar to Sonic, except in skin colour. One was a vivid crimson red, including down the arms, with deep purple eyes, a black nose, and beige belly and muzzle. The other, a completely solid stunning Albino white, with bright ruby red eyes, and a pale pink nose. His entire body seemed to shine with it's own light, him having hid near way too many of them. They both had slender body design with tampered to the tail and neither of them had gloves. They were extremely excited their beloved Prince had finally come home. Both the Aquahogs bowed again, their heads low.
"Your majesty." The Albino Aquahog stammered, to much sniggering from Shadow. But Sonic just hissed, blowing him off. He heaved.
"Look, my name's Sonic, and trust me, I'm no Prince." He admitted to the absolutely stunned looks of the two Aquahogs. They had been expecting something entirely different. He looked around, no one was coming. "What happened here? I don't remember my father forcing a cur-vu like this. He did rule harshly, but it was never this bad." He heaved. The two Aquahogs looked at each other, wondering how Sonic wouldn't know. Then they checked him over, to make sure he was actually male, which he was. It was rare for a Prince to be born to the Queen rather then a Princess, but it wasn't unheard of. Extremely confused, the red Aquahog gulped.
"No, your highness." He stammered, only to growled at by the Blue Blur. He nodded. "Sorry, Sonic." He stuttered. "Your father is dead, and with yourself." He paused, indicating the Blue Blur himself. "Not being available to take the throne, General Zellick proclaimed himself ruler, forcing a military coup. The Aquahogs are forced into labour as it seems that General Zellick wants to flood the world." He heaved. But Sonic frowned.
"General Zellick? Flood the world?" He asked, throughly confused, having never heard of either. The Albino Aquahog suddenly getting very cocky. He giggled.
"Personally, I think it's just all talk to scare us. You physically can't flood the world from here." He sniggered. But his crimson friend rounded on him.
"Zephyr." He squealed, but the Albino just spat back.
"No, Rusty. I know this area extremely well. Spend most of my life hiding in it. It's difficult being an Albino around here, your far to easy to see. I have to constantly dodging the bullies and the sharks, otherwise I'm fish food. Normally Aquahogs like me, don't survive to adulthood. I guess I'm just one of the lucky ones." He boosted. But then Rusty heaved, looking at Sonic raise an eyebrow.
"Sorry, please excuse my friend. I'm Rusty, and the clam here is Zephyr." He spat, kicking him with his tail. "So called, because he's the fastest swimmer around here. He wouldn't have survived as an Albino if he wasn't." He giggled, to the pompous proud Albino, but then Rusty just giggled. "He's very good at swimming away from sharks." He sniggered. Of which the Albino growled at him, but immediately they were silenced as further soldiers swam past. Everyone heaved with relief. Sonic frowned.
"So what does General Zellick really want?" He hissed. Zephyr and Rusty looked at each other. Rusty gulped.
"Females." He stammered, but Shadow frowned, he'd been stood in the deep shadows, acting as lookout while the others talked. He looked at the newcomers. He scowled.
"Females?" He leered, very coldly. Then looked back out in the city, and saw further soldiers in the distance. "But those soldiers are definitely not Aquahogs." He spat, indicating out to the city. The soldiers looked very similar, with fluke-like tails of their own but wore highly advance breathing apparatus.
Suddenly, he was finally seen but the two new friends, who, upon seeing his legs stood on the city floor, absolutely screamed, forcing Sonic to gag the both of them with his hands. Neither had ever seen a Land Dweller before and the stories here portrayed them as the upmost evil, which wasn't true. Sonic was extremely fast, otherwise they would have been heard. He growled, incredibly harshly.
"Shh." He spat. "Look, he's a friend, from the surface. I swear he means you no harm." He growled, to the intense nodding but disbelieving heads of the Aquahogs. Shadow's eyes widened. A friend? He seriously wasn't expecting that, as a introduction no less. It felt strange. Before all this began, back on the island, he would have heavily punished anyone who called 'friend', almost to the point of torture or even death. He was a loner, and believed friends were the lowest of weaknesses. But here, in the ocean, where the rules were very different and where his number one, most despised rival had saved his skin more then once, maybe being called a friend wasn't so bad.
He was impressed at Sonic. His introduction was short, concise, direct and to the point. Entirely true. He indeed was no threat to the Aquahogs, but the soldiers and warlords here were not deep sea breathers. He growled.
"Why the girls?" He hissed, asking again, of which Zephyr bravely swam over to him and hid in his deep shadow behind him, only just disappearing from view. He frowned spotting his gills, but quickly moved on, realising that this black and red striped Hedgehog, was not someone to mess with. Further soldiers passed by them. Zephyr gulped.
"You see those soldiers." He whispered. Shadow nodded. "They're Merhogs." He hissed, hating them with a passion. Shadow's eyes widened. He frowned.
"Merhogs?" He questioned. Even Sonic looked puzzled. Zephyr nodded.
"Merhogs are another species of Water Hedgehog. Merhogs are very muscular, much stronger then us and tended to live in the shallows near the surface. With fins and tails like Aquahogs, they have gills in their lungs and had the ability to breath air as well as underwater. Aquahogs had gills only, on their necks, and would drown on land. We were much more delicate, thin and nimble, perfectly evolved for deep sea living. We live in the deep ocean, in what was our beautiful city of Aquila
But Aquila wasn't always that deep. It used to be relatively shallow. But the Merhog population got decimated through poaching from the surface and pollution that they were forced down into the ocean depths. Finding the Aquahogs and realising that they were actually compatible, the male Merhogs being much more powerful then the Aquahogs, raided Aquila and stole all the females for forced breeding, killing many. This crippled Aquila, forcing the Queen to use her Magic to protect her people. The Aquahog royal family was a female line only, and the only Queen and her daughters have Magic.
So using her Magic, the Queen at the time, transformed her people, successfully hiding all the females. It worked, as a second raid by the Merhogs yields nothing as all they can find were the males. Frustrated, the Merhogs tried to destroy Aquila, searching for the Magic itself, forcing the Queen to use it yet again, to move the city down to the depths of the ocean where the Merhogs, and their limited gills, couldn't reach. Where it remains to this day, finally safe from the invaders. That was hundreds of years ago.
Or it was. With both the Magic and the royal line gone, the Aquila was left defenceless, and finally the last of the Merhogs made it down here, with some kind of breathing device. Some time ago, they charged in. General Zellick killing the ailing powerless King, unable to breed a new heir as he wasn't born into the royal family, only married and began searching for both the Magic and the females, finding neither. As for the girls. They're safe, trust me on that. General Zellick didn't know, and still doesn't, that the two are, in fact, connected." He explained, swimming back over to his friend, staring at Sonic. He heaved.
"Hey, I'm not a girl. I can't create Magic, and mother's own power was fading." He stammered, but Zephyr rounded on him. He growled.
"You stole it, didn't you. That's why the kingdom failed." He spat, but Sonic growled, brandishing his almighty tail at his fellow Aquahogs, immediately causing them to back off. He scowled.
"I'm not the reason why the kingdom fell, father was." He sniffed. "He forced mother, mainly through violence, to completely give up her Magic for his own evil means, but without knowing the consequences. So when they did finally breed, her producing her one and only egg, me, she died shortly afterwards. I was male because she didn't have enough Magic left within her to produce a female. Any heir was better then none. At least the bloodline would survive." He cried. But his fellow Aquahogs were gobsmacked. They gasped. Sonic smirked. "I take it you didn't know." He heaved. Both the Aquahogs shook their heads. Rusty gulped.
"No." He stammered. "The King never said a word. He gave the impression to everyone that the Queen and her daughter were safe in the palace. I'm guessing he didn't want to cause panic or a rebellion. But when Aquila began to fall apart, people were beginning to get suspicious. That why we were confused when we saw you. We were expecting a Princess, not a Prince." He stuttered. Shadow sniggered but Sonic just cried. He shook his head.
"No, because without a female royal, father was nothing. The Queen was dead, and he was left with a male heir he didn't want. He violently beat me, so I swam away. With no female royals and thus the Magic, the kingdom would start dying, even with the power my mother left behind. But to be honest, it didn't really matter that I stole it, with mother's death, Aquila was done for anyway." He growled. But Zephyr grabbed his tail and admired it. He smiled.
"But you are of royal birth. The size and many prongs of your tail gives you away. It's a long shot, as you could cast with your mother's Magic, so there may still be something in the blood, but if you find a wife, breed, and produce a female heir yourself, the Magic might return to us. There is a chance." He bounced, somewhat excited, but Shadow just sniggered even more, the thought of the idiot Blue Blur breeding highly amused him. But Sonic noticed and growled.
"Shut it. Shadow!" He spat. But the Ultimate Lifeform just hissed back harshly. He leered.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We need to remove the Merhogs first and find the rest of the Aquahogs. Then you can work on returning the Magic to Aquila." He smirked. But Rusty just heaved, not very believing.
"You make that sound so easy. One-on-one, the Merhog are so much stronger then us. They could easily kill a Aquahog. Many have died already. We can't fight back." He stammered. But Shadow hissed, watching the soldiers movement intensely.
"I can." He sneered. But Rusty and Zephyr was confused, looking to Sonic to ask, how? The Blue Blur heaved.
"He's part Merhog." He sighed, but Zephyr frowned, not understanding.
"But what of the gills on his neck. Merhogs don't have them." He asked, but Sonic heaved, looking somewhat ashamed.
"I used the last of mother's Magic on him." He admitted, only for the two Aquahogs to go absolutely mad at him. They panicked.
"You did what?" They said together. But Zephyr when even whiter. He gulped.
"But he's a Land Dweller." He stammer, and Rusty went crazy, squealing in fear.
"But he has darkness. I can feel it." He cried, but Sonic just roared at them. He gritted his teeth.
"Enough." He spat. "Back off. Yes, he was a Land Dweller, and, yes, he was bad guy." He added, only for Shadow to look back and growl at them. Sonic gulped, as their eyes met. "Ok, ex-bad guy, but I'm ordering you as your Prince to trust me on this one. He's hear to help, no conquer. Though he was capable of it." He added. But Shadow growled, walking over and rounding on the Blue Blur. Sonic gulped. "What? It's the truth." He admitted, of which Shadow just rolled his eyes and went back to watching the soldiers. He did indeed value truth above anything else, even if it was about himself, as he absolutely despised being lied to. The Aquahogs nodded, but they were still very scared of him. Sonic understood. Shadow was a difficult guy to know. Zephyr stared at him.
"You trust him, don't you? Like a Knight." He asked. Sonic looked back at Shadow. But Ultimate Lifeform growled. He smiled.
"No, he's not a Knight." He sniggered, of which Shadow backed off. "But yes, I do trust him." He admitted, to much surprise to everyone, especially the Ultimate Lifeform. He went white, gulping slightly. No one had ever said that to him before, and again, it felt strange but the circumstances, it was the right thing. Sonic then swam over to Shadow, and then behind him. Shadow eye's were still transfixed on the soldiers, who still hadn't seen them.
"Hi, what you got?" He asked. Shadow stared, somewhat taken aback at being asked, especially for his professional opinion. He smirked and nodded. They were indeed working together on this, and Shadow was seeing Sonic moving the leadership from himself over to him, of which he did approve. Only he had the strength and the power to defeat the Merhogs, Sonic had the speed, but for him, it would been attacking from above. Very useful, if timed well. He growled as he began formulating a plan.
"The soldiers movements are very specific. Only taking in certain routes throwout the city. They are not expecting a fight here. There are only a handful of soldiers which was why, I suspect, you've been able to hide here." He frowned as he looked back to the others, who nodded. "I also suspect there are actually many hundred of Merhogs here, all males, because why else would be looking for the females. I guessing the rest of them are with the reminding Aquahogs." He growled. Rusty jaw dropped.
"Wow, your good. Yes, they're guarding the rest of the Aquahogs which have been forced into labour in a mine, the other side of the city, not only looking for Magic, which every Aquahog knows isn't there but anything of value. Gold, silver, gemstones, pearls. Vast quantities of them. But what I don't understand was what would a Merhog want with such treasures. They have no value in the ocean. Food was the currency down here. You bartered for everything with food. Basically, our market ran on fish, or it did." He heaved, wishing somewhat, for the normal times to return. Sonic and Shadow looked at each other. Rusty had made a good point. Why the treasures? It had no value here, but they both knew of a place where it had huge value. The surface. They both gasped.
"Eggman."