Luff: Hey guys! Sorry this is late but we went out yesterday and by the time we got back, we were knackered.

S. Chensu: And I watched a film called 'Shadow of the Vampire'. It was very good, had John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe and Eddie Izzard in it.

Luff: Anyway, that's enough of her ranting about the film, now it's time for replies:

RichaCo- Nice to know you appreciate the descriptiveness. It's mainly there to make the chapter a decent length. But anyway, Rouge and Knuckles can't get back together for at least another few episodes so you'll just have to wait.

Yugi and Mai- By the way, Luff is v. angry with you because our dad read the review you wrote for 'The Pressures of Life' and is now slightly concerned about her tastes i.e. you shouldn't have put sex in the first sentence. And then the next one and the one after that... And please don't turn Yugi into a plushie; he's small enough as it is! And Mai, stop telling us your fantasies, we aren't really interested to be honest.

S. Chensu: Anyway, because of the lovely thing known as exams, we might be able to update as often. But we'll try. Honestly.

Luff: Anyway, as usual we don't own Sonic just our own characters and places. Which is the story I suppose.

S. Chensu: This episode is from Marie's point of view. Hope you like it.

Episode twenty-three: Lakeside trip

Marie walked down the stairs and paused, seeing the shimmering water. She walked into an area made up of a lake with trees on either side. Further on behind the trees, she could see several things, which made her very confused. A desert, a cliff, a volcano, a large multicoloured dome... She didn't think that it was possible to have these things together, they had such different climates. Looking at the other side of the lake, she saw that the trees grew on a sloping hill, with a large temple at the top. The woods themselves looked quite dark and sinister, the sun being unable to penetrate them. Even the sun couldn't show what was beneath the murky surface of the lake and Marie looked nervously into it.

The water was covered in patches of slime and mud, with an occasional stone floating on the top. There were braches from dead trees in it too, like arms of the lake's past victims. She shook her head, refusing to be frightened by the lake.

"It's not like there's anything that can live in it..." She said aloud to herself. Amongst the silence of the lake, her voice sounded louder than she wanted it to. She looked around, hoping she hadn't attracted any unwanted attention. But nothing happened, the place was totally silent. No wind going through the trees, no birds singing, no frogs or fish in the water. She sat down, puzzled by the place and its atmosphere.

Wondering how she had managed to end up here, she remembered the shouting match that Knuckles and Rouge had had. Tails had told her about those two and the trouble they'd had recently. And listening to the other things he had told her, she suddenly thought that this was all probably the fault of her sister.

She's so stupid, this is all her fault! Marie thought angrily. If she hadn't tried to snog Knuckles then things probably wouldn't have got so bad! I know that she's different now, or tries to be but I bet it must have affected Rouge really badly. She tried to remember all of the times she had seen Rouge and Knuckles together and using the advantage she had of hindsight, she tried the spot the growing tension between the two of them. She had to admit that they didn't seem to want to be near each other, especially Rouge. It was certainly different to how Tails had described them when they first started going out.

Thinking of Tails reminded her of the promise they had made to each other. She could never be sure about whether she was actually in love with him or not. After all, she was only ten and she didn't know anyone else her age that was actually going out with someone, at least seriously. He was very close to her though and she was happy when she was with him. Tails had eventually told her the truth about their past and although she was surprised, it didn't change things. The only problem was that after this, they might decide to leave. She didn't know what effect that would have on her. She knew she would live; but things did seem nicer when Tails was around. Maybe she would know for sure when she was older.

Deciding that she had to get moving now, she stood up and looked on either side of her on the bank of the lake. It didn't seem to end though and after taking a few steps, she decided to give up on that idea. Looking back across the lake, she saw the temple and thought that maybe that would be a good place to go. She walked to the edge of the lake and looked nervously at it. Seeing a rock not far from the shore, she jumped onto it, hoping it wouldn't give way. It didn't and breathing a sigh of relief, she looked around for the next one.

While she was doing this, she didn't notice that some of the logs seemed to all be moving in a certain direction. Eyes appeared on the logs and they tracked the tasty piece of meat as she slowly made her way across the lake. She stopped though, seemingly at a dead end and the logs decided as one that now would be a good time to get her. They remained unnoticed as the girl continued to try and find another rock...

I think I'm going to have to backtrack. Marie thought with a sigh. I wish Tails had taught me how to do that thing with his tails, it looked really useful and I could sure do with it now... She remembered one time when he had shown her how he could fly and he told her he would teach her if she wanted to. He never got the chance to though because Sonic and Shadow had been captured the next day. She didn't want to risk trying it now in case she fell into the lake.

Looking at the water, she noticed that the logs were doing strange things.

"Wait a minute, logs don't do strange things!" She exclaimed as she noticed what looked suspiciously like eyes. She heard a snapping of a jaw and realised for the first time that they weren't logs, they were crocodiles! She gave a little shriek and encouraged by this, the crocodiles moved in closer. She tried edging away from them but she soon saw that they had surrounded her, trapping her. I wish I had been paying more attention... She thought. Stumped as to what to do, she did what anyone else would do: she screamed for help.

She stopped though when the crocodiles grew still and they suddenly went below the surface of the water. She couldn't see where they had got to and she twisted and turned nervously. Hearing a splashing noise, she turned around and was almost killed by an incoming crocodile. She backed away, only to be snapped at by another. She started crying softly when she was suddenly lifted into the air.

She couldn't see anyone nearby but for the moment was just glad that she was away from the crocodiles. She landed on the bank she had been trying to get to and smiled when the crocodiles snapped angrily at her before disappearing. She turned towards the trees and was surprised to see a hazy figure in front of her. The only thing she could be sure of was that the figure was human shaped. She stood in front of it, unsure of what to do and when it didn't say anything, she stepped forward.

"Who are you?" Marie asked.

"Someone who is helping you because it's important you reach that building." Although the person didn't move at all, they still spoke. Something seemed familiar about the voice but Marie brushed it aside.

"You mean that temple up there?" She pointed to it.

"Yes, you must reach it." The person looked like they were going to disappear.

"No, don't go yet!" Marie shouted and it turned back to her. "Why do I have to get there?"

"The future of your friends depends on it." The person looked into the woods. Marie did so too and gulped slightly when she saw how dark it was.

"Do I have to go through there?" Her voice shook slightly.

"You could go back again." The person indicated the lake and remembering the crocodiles, Marie shook her head. "Then yes, this is the only way."

"But I really don't like the dark..."

"There is nothing to fear as long as you remember why you're here..." It whispered, it's voice seeming to wash over her.

"Why am I here?" She asked.

"To take your place in the fates of your friends. You are here in this place for a reason. Not just anyone can get here you know..." It faded away before Marie could say anything else and she looked around, trying to find it.

"The fates of my friends..." Musing over this, Marie took the first step of what was going to be a very hard challenge for her.

Luff: Ooh, what's going to happen?

S. Chensu: Don't known, we haven't written it yet.

Luff: D'oh!

S. Chensu: Sigh And now the exams are here...

Luff: Ha ha, not for me!

S. Chensu: Whatever. Anyway, next episode up on Friday the 23rd April.

Luff: A month before my birthday!

S. Chensu: I'll be in the middle of my exams then...

Luff: Anyway, please review!