EMERALD FOREST
Disclaimer:
I don't own any characters in this story
[CHAPTER 10: THE BEACH]
Amy looked over at the lounge to find Tails stirring. 'Tails - Tails, are you awake?'
'Yeah,' said Tails. He rubbed his eyes and sat up.
'Are you okay?'
'Yeah,' said Tails. 'What happened?'
'You stacked a skateboard trick,' said Amy.
'That's strange, I feel fine.'
Tails stood up and stretched. 'So what are you going to do now?' Amy asked.
'Probably go skateboarding some more,' said Tails.
Amy rolled her eyes. 'You know you just -'
Suddenly Sonic burst through the door, followed by Shadow.
'Sonic? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost or something!'
'Amy,' Sonic said, puffed from running all the way from Emerald Forest, 'I need, to tell you something. Tails, you two.'
'Well, what is it?' asked Amy.
'Yeah,' said Shadow. 'What is it that you couldn't have told me first?'
'Not here,' said Sonic. 'We need to talk somewhere private.'
'Like...?'
'Your bedroom.'
'You just want to see what it looks like, don't you?' said Amy, grinning.
'Whatever,' said Sonic.
The four walked into Amy's room. 'So, what's this all about?'
'Me and Shadow, we went into Emerald Forest,' said Sonic. 'We were looking for something I saw in a magazine. We came across this underground lab, and I went in, and...wait a minute, what is Tails doing here?'
'Tails fell off his skateboard,' said Amy.
'Really? So that's why you took him here?'
'He was unconscious, Sonic!'
'Sure. Anyway, I went down into the lab and suddenly there was this flash. I think I must've been hallucinating or something. It was like, watching fifteen horror movies back to back. I was so shocked that I ran out of the lab, and to here.'
'And, what's this got to do with us being all secretive about it?' said Tails.
'The article,' said Sonic, 'told of an abandoned lab. It was full of horrible secrets, and contained the mysterious Lost Emeralds...'
'Sonic, have you been doing drugs in the past twenty-four hours?' Shadow asked.
'No, why would I do drugs?'
'Well, the story is a bit far-fetched,' said Amy.
Just then there was a knock at the door. 'Amy, you should probably answer that.'
As Amy left the room, Sonic looked at the closed curtains. 'I hope it isn't to do with my apartment building...'
Amy opened the door. 'Oh, hi Knux! Hi Rouge! What's up?'
'We were wandering past, and thought we would say hello,' said Rouge.
'Oh, uh, come in!'
Knuckles and Rouge walked in to find Sonic, Shadow and Tails in Amy's bedroom. 'What are you guys doing here?' Knuckles asked.
'Uh, um...' Sonic looked at Shadow, then at Tails.
'We were discussing something,' said Tails.
'Hmm, sounds interesting,' said Rouge. 'What are you discussing?'
'We were, uh, thinking of going to the beach!'
Sonic swallowed nervously, but Rouge said, 'Cool! We could all go down to the beach tomorrow!'
=============================================================
'I have a bad feeling about this...' Sonic said quietly to Tails.
All six were in Shadow's car; Shadow was driving, Knuckles was in the front passenger set, Sonic on the left back seat, Tails in the middle and Amy on the other side.
'Well it's a bit late for regrets now,' said Tails. 'Don't worry, everything will be fine.' *I get to sit next to Amy!*
'This car trip is too boring,' said Knuckles. He pulled out a compact disc, and put it into the car's CD player.
'WHERE'S YOUR HEAD AT!' blared the car's speakers.
'KNUCKLES! TURN IT DOWN!'
Knuckles reluctantly turned the volume down. 'The song loses its value when you listen to it at a low volume!'
'Too bad,' said Shadow. 'Besides, we're nearly there. It's only a ten minute drive.'
Sonic rocked back and forth on his seat. 'Don't worry bout it,' said Tails. 'It's only the beach, you don't have to go in water.'
The time seemed to fly for everyone except Sonic. 'We're here!' Shadow announced, pulling into the parking lot.
Everyone got out, and Knuckles opened the boot. He grabbed his boogie board and ran out into the surf.
'He seems a bit eager,' said Shadow.
'He's always like that,' said Amy. 'Can't keep away from the water. Can't walk past a skateboard without testing it. I think he might've been dropped on his head when he was a baby.'
Sonic looked nervously at the beach. 'I don't have a good feeling about this, Tails.'
'What's the worst that could happen? You just need to sit on the sand until you feel comfortable with the beach and the water.'
Sonic, Tails, Amy, Rouge and Shadow walked down onto the beach. Rouge and Amy set up towels and sunbathed, while Shadow ran out into the water. 'I think I'll just hang around here with the girls,' said Sonic.
'Fine with me,' said Tails. 'If you start to feel better, come out and have a swim.'
'I don't know how to swim, remember?'
'I'll teach you,' said Tails.
=============================================================
'Look at Knux go!' said Rouge. She laughed as Knuckles was slammed by a gigantic wave.
'Hey, where's Sonikku?' Amy asked.
'Don't know,' said Rouge. She looked around, but couldn't see the blue blur anywhere. Instead she saw Shadow coming back ashore. 'Hey Shad!'
'Tails is too energetic for me,' he said exhaustedly, smiling. 'I need to take a rest.' He sat down on the sand next to Amy. 'Where's Sonic?'
'I was wondering the same thing,' said Amy. 'He went to the toilets a while ago, I'm not sure where he might be now...'
'I'll go check,' said Shadow, looking around at the nearly empty beach as he stood up. He walked over to the toilets, went in, and found Sonic curled up in a ball in the corner. 'You know it's real unsanitary, sitting in here.'
'I can't hide anywhere else,' said Sonic. Shadow could see he was seriously worried.
'You mean your fear of the water?'
'Yeah.'
'Why didn't you go have a lay down in the car or something?'
'I could still see the water. Every time I see it...the bad memories...too many of them...'
'What do you mean, bad memories?'
'You don't seriously think I'm scared of the water coz I can't swim, do you?'
'Well, no, not really...'
Shadow stood there, considering. He finally asked, 'Then why are you scared of the water?'
~~Sonic stared out at the water, his big childish eyes shining. 'What are mummy and daddy doing?'
'They're in that boat,' said Sonic's uncle, pointing to a motorboat. 'That one there.'
'Cool!' said Sonic. 'Where are they going, Uncle Steve?'
'Not far.' He looked at Sonic, and smiled. *They're always cute when they're little,* he thought to himself, as he watched the four-year-old Sonic make his way down off the grass and to the sand. Steve watched him carefully as he sifted the sand through his fingers.
'Uncle Steve! Uncle Steve! Come here!' Sonic suddenly wailed. Steve got up and ran over to him. 'A big bug! Get it away!' He stomped down on the "bug".
'It's just a crab,' said Steve. He picked it up and put it out of the way. 'It won't hurt you.' Sonic watched, fascinated, as the crab crawled away. 'Can you stay here for a minute? Uncle Steve needs to go get something from the car.'
Sonic watched Uncle Steve jog back up to the car, and turned to the water. He saw his mum and dad coming back to shore in the boat, and began jumping up and down. They waved to him, and he waved back.
It all seemed to go in slow motion. Something was following the side of the boat, and if Sonic had been older he would've realised what it was. A great white shark leapt out of the water, grabbed Sonic's parents in its jaws and then landed on the other side of the boat.
Sonic stood there, thinking that it might be a game. But they never got back onto the boat.~~
'When I saw them dead, I couldn't take it,' said Sonic, fighting back tears. 'I ran away, and just kept running.'
Shadow just stood there. He was so shocked by Sonic's story he couldn't say anything.
'Later on I realised that they were dead,' Sonic said. 'I - I just couldn't bear to go near water. I managed to stay calm, and my panic attacks didn't come as often. But this beach, it reminds me so much of that beach I was on an odd eleven years ago...'
Shadow had to lean against the wall to stop himself from collapsing. He managed to say, 'Sorry, man.'
'Hey, what are you guys doing in here?' said Tails. Shadow turned around to see Tails standing in the doorway. 'Amy thought you two had been abducted or something!'
'She sure has a vivid imagination...' said Shadow.
=============================================================
'Do you feel better now?' Tails asked.
'Yeah,' said Sonic.
'I have a really cool CD I think we should listen to -'
'KNUCKLES!'
'Okay, okay, don't blow a fuse.'
Shadow tried to concentrate on driving, but something in the back of his mind kept distracting him.
Without warning, a dog ran across the road. 'Shadow! WATCH OUT!'
Disclaimer:
I don't own any characters in this story
[CHAPTER 10: THE BEACH]
Amy looked over at the lounge to find Tails stirring. 'Tails - Tails, are you awake?'
'Yeah,' said Tails. He rubbed his eyes and sat up.
'Are you okay?'
'Yeah,' said Tails. 'What happened?'
'You stacked a skateboard trick,' said Amy.
'That's strange, I feel fine.'
Tails stood up and stretched. 'So what are you going to do now?' Amy asked.
'Probably go skateboarding some more,' said Tails.
Amy rolled her eyes. 'You know you just -'
Suddenly Sonic burst through the door, followed by Shadow.
'Sonic? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost or something!'
'Amy,' Sonic said, puffed from running all the way from Emerald Forest, 'I need, to tell you something. Tails, you two.'
'Well, what is it?' asked Amy.
'Yeah,' said Shadow. 'What is it that you couldn't have told me first?'
'Not here,' said Sonic. 'We need to talk somewhere private.'
'Like...?'
'Your bedroom.'
'You just want to see what it looks like, don't you?' said Amy, grinning.
'Whatever,' said Sonic.
The four walked into Amy's room. 'So, what's this all about?'
'Me and Shadow, we went into Emerald Forest,' said Sonic. 'We were looking for something I saw in a magazine. We came across this underground lab, and I went in, and...wait a minute, what is Tails doing here?'
'Tails fell off his skateboard,' said Amy.
'Really? So that's why you took him here?'
'He was unconscious, Sonic!'
'Sure. Anyway, I went down into the lab and suddenly there was this flash. I think I must've been hallucinating or something. It was like, watching fifteen horror movies back to back. I was so shocked that I ran out of the lab, and to here.'
'And, what's this got to do with us being all secretive about it?' said Tails.
'The article,' said Sonic, 'told of an abandoned lab. It was full of horrible secrets, and contained the mysterious Lost Emeralds...'
'Sonic, have you been doing drugs in the past twenty-four hours?' Shadow asked.
'No, why would I do drugs?'
'Well, the story is a bit far-fetched,' said Amy.
Just then there was a knock at the door. 'Amy, you should probably answer that.'
As Amy left the room, Sonic looked at the closed curtains. 'I hope it isn't to do with my apartment building...'
Amy opened the door. 'Oh, hi Knux! Hi Rouge! What's up?'
'We were wandering past, and thought we would say hello,' said Rouge.
'Oh, uh, come in!'
Knuckles and Rouge walked in to find Sonic, Shadow and Tails in Amy's bedroom. 'What are you guys doing here?' Knuckles asked.
'Uh, um...' Sonic looked at Shadow, then at Tails.
'We were discussing something,' said Tails.
'Hmm, sounds interesting,' said Rouge. 'What are you discussing?'
'We were, uh, thinking of going to the beach!'
Sonic swallowed nervously, but Rouge said, 'Cool! We could all go down to the beach tomorrow!'
=============================================================
'I have a bad feeling about this...' Sonic said quietly to Tails.
All six were in Shadow's car; Shadow was driving, Knuckles was in the front passenger set, Sonic on the left back seat, Tails in the middle and Amy on the other side.
'Well it's a bit late for regrets now,' said Tails. 'Don't worry, everything will be fine.' *I get to sit next to Amy!*
'This car trip is too boring,' said Knuckles. He pulled out a compact disc, and put it into the car's CD player.
'WHERE'S YOUR HEAD AT!' blared the car's speakers.
'KNUCKLES! TURN IT DOWN!'
Knuckles reluctantly turned the volume down. 'The song loses its value when you listen to it at a low volume!'
'Too bad,' said Shadow. 'Besides, we're nearly there. It's only a ten minute drive.'
Sonic rocked back and forth on his seat. 'Don't worry bout it,' said Tails. 'It's only the beach, you don't have to go in water.'
The time seemed to fly for everyone except Sonic. 'We're here!' Shadow announced, pulling into the parking lot.
Everyone got out, and Knuckles opened the boot. He grabbed his boogie board and ran out into the surf.
'He seems a bit eager,' said Shadow.
'He's always like that,' said Amy. 'Can't keep away from the water. Can't walk past a skateboard without testing it. I think he might've been dropped on his head when he was a baby.'
Sonic looked nervously at the beach. 'I don't have a good feeling about this, Tails.'
'What's the worst that could happen? You just need to sit on the sand until you feel comfortable with the beach and the water.'
Sonic, Tails, Amy, Rouge and Shadow walked down onto the beach. Rouge and Amy set up towels and sunbathed, while Shadow ran out into the water. 'I think I'll just hang around here with the girls,' said Sonic.
'Fine with me,' said Tails. 'If you start to feel better, come out and have a swim.'
'I don't know how to swim, remember?'
'I'll teach you,' said Tails.
=============================================================
'Look at Knux go!' said Rouge. She laughed as Knuckles was slammed by a gigantic wave.
'Hey, where's Sonikku?' Amy asked.
'Don't know,' said Rouge. She looked around, but couldn't see the blue blur anywhere. Instead she saw Shadow coming back ashore. 'Hey Shad!'
'Tails is too energetic for me,' he said exhaustedly, smiling. 'I need to take a rest.' He sat down on the sand next to Amy. 'Where's Sonic?'
'I was wondering the same thing,' said Amy. 'He went to the toilets a while ago, I'm not sure where he might be now...'
'I'll go check,' said Shadow, looking around at the nearly empty beach as he stood up. He walked over to the toilets, went in, and found Sonic curled up in a ball in the corner. 'You know it's real unsanitary, sitting in here.'
'I can't hide anywhere else,' said Sonic. Shadow could see he was seriously worried.
'You mean your fear of the water?'
'Yeah.'
'Why didn't you go have a lay down in the car or something?'
'I could still see the water. Every time I see it...the bad memories...too many of them...'
'What do you mean, bad memories?'
'You don't seriously think I'm scared of the water coz I can't swim, do you?'
'Well, no, not really...'
Shadow stood there, considering. He finally asked, 'Then why are you scared of the water?'
~~Sonic stared out at the water, his big childish eyes shining. 'What are mummy and daddy doing?'
'They're in that boat,' said Sonic's uncle, pointing to a motorboat. 'That one there.'
'Cool!' said Sonic. 'Where are they going, Uncle Steve?'
'Not far.' He looked at Sonic, and smiled. *They're always cute when they're little,* he thought to himself, as he watched the four-year-old Sonic make his way down off the grass and to the sand. Steve watched him carefully as he sifted the sand through his fingers.
'Uncle Steve! Uncle Steve! Come here!' Sonic suddenly wailed. Steve got up and ran over to him. 'A big bug! Get it away!' He stomped down on the "bug".
'It's just a crab,' said Steve. He picked it up and put it out of the way. 'It won't hurt you.' Sonic watched, fascinated, as the crab crawled away. 'Can you stay here for a minute? Uncle Steve needs to go get something from the car.'
Sonic watched Uncle Steve jog back up to the car, and turned to the water. He saw his mum and dad coming back to shore in the boat, and began jumping up and down. They waved to him, and he waved back.
It all seemed to go in slow motion. Something was following the side of the boat, and if Sonic had been older he would've realised what it was. A great white shark leapt out of the water, grabbed Sonic's parents in its jaws and then landed on the other side of the boat.
Sonic stood there, thinking that it might be a game. But they never got back onto the boat.~~
'When I saw them dead, I couldn't take it,' said Sonic, fighting back tears. 'I ran away, and just kept running.'
Shadow just stood there. He was so shocked by Sonic's story he couldn't say anything.
'Later on I realised that they were dead,' Sonic said. 'I - I just couldn't bear to go near water. I managed to stay calm, and my panic attacks didn't come as often. But this beach, it reminds me so much of that beach I was on an odd eleven years ago...'
Shadow had to lean against the wall to stop himself from collapsing. He managed to say, 'Sorry, man.'
'Hey, what are you guys doing in here?' said Tails. Shadow turned around to see Tails standing in the doorway. 'Amy thought you two had been abducted or something!'
'She sure has a vivid imagination...' said Shadow.
=============================================================
'Do you feel better now?' Tails asked.
'Yeah,' said Sonic.
'I have a really cool CD I think we should listen to -'
'KNUCKLES!'
'Okay, okay, don't blow a fuse.'
Shadow tried to concentrate on driving, but something in the back of his mind kept distracting him.
Without warning, a dog ran across the road. 'Shadow! WATCH OUT!'