Author's note: I have some great ideas for later parts of this story, so I'm anxious to continue it. Thanks for letting me use your character, Sk27!
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Chapter 12: Cave of Aqua
(or, Leo Meets Shadowkiller27's Custom Character)
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As I descended into the Cave of Aqua, I stopped short upon finding a large underground lake of ocean water. "There's an easy way and a hard way to do everything," I decided, "and I'm going to take the easy way." I shot an Ice Feather at a spot in the water, freezing the surrounding water.
It thawed instantly.
Testing the water, I realized that this ocean water had salt in it, so freezing it was out of the question. I didn't have a choice, so I jumped into the water and started to swim. I'm a pretty good swimmer, and when my wings joined in, my swimming speed was excellent.
I swam forward, pausing every several seconds to come up for air. At first I'd worried that the water would wash out my feathers and the properties in them, but it didn't, I found, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
At the other end of the lake, I found an underwater tunnel. Making sure to surface for air one more time, I swam through it. The tunnel was a little long, but somehow I managed to reach an air pocket before running out of breath.
The tunnel ended at a large cylindrical passage. About three-quarters of the passage was water; the top was air. I stayed on the surface as I swam forward, but a current pushed me back.
I dove underwater and tried to swim through the current, but even with both my arms and wings working together, I couldn't overcome the current. When I surfaced and tried to fly over the water, I found that my wings were so water-logged that I couldn't fly.
"Great," I muttered. "And I can't wring out my wings, either; there's no place to stand. There's got to be some kind of clue around here somewhere." Looking around, I didn't see anything … except for someone swimming straight for me.
THUD! Whoever it was collided with me. When we both recovered, I got a good look at him. He looked like a blue version of Tails, but with a single tail. "Hello," I finally said. "I'm Leo. Who are you?"
"Water Tails," the unknown fox introduced himself. "To make it all the way here, you must have been an excellent swimmer, and for a bird, that's something unique."
I folded my arms. "Eh, swimming isn't much more than flying underwater. I can't get further than this, though; the current's too strong to swim through. Hey, how did YOU get past that current? There's no other way around."
"I can swim very fast. Watch."
With that, W.T. (as he didn't mind me calling him) took off swimming. Taking a good look, I noticed that he was spinning his tail to increase his speed. The current was no match for W.T., and he could breathe underwater, so he didn't need to surface for air.
W.T. returned to me after reaching the other end. "How was that?"
"Wonderful. Hey, can you give me a lift to the other end?"
"I'd like to, but towing you would slow me down too much to make it."
"No problem; I have a different idea."
I explained my idea to W.T., who nodded. "Not a bad idea. I wish I'd thought of that. Let's try it out; I think it'll work."
W.T. got into a breast stroke position, and I climbed on top of him. "Five!" I called out. "Four! Three! Two! One! Go!"
On GO, W.T. started swimming at top speed through the current, while I rode him like a surfboard. For someone who wasn't really much good at surfing, I did pretty well. There was a shore at the other end, and we both rested there.
"So what causes that current?" I finally bothered to ask.
"I don't know," W.T. replied. "Even I haven't been able to get that deep into the cave."
"Why not?"
"Someone has blocked off the passage. I can't figure out how to get by."
"Take me there. I might be able to do something."
"Very well."
W.T. led me to a large underwater metallic gate. It was made of stainless steel, so it wouldn't rust. Inspecting it, I found that it was locked by a ten-digit combination. There was no apparent way to find it.
The two of us returned to the surface, and I used the Tails phone (which was waterproof, thank goodness) to contact Tails. I described the door to him, and he told me to check the serial number on the corner of the door.
I remained at the surface while W.T. checked the door. He came back a moment later, and told me that the serial number was 328-493-FJVR. I relayed this information to Tails, and he dropped the connection for a minute or two.
When Tails returned, he told me that the door was a kind of door that Dr. Eggman had used before, and that the combination was 3227482349. W.T. tried the combination, and the door opened. He came back and gave me the OK, and we both proceeded inside.
A large room was beyond the door. Inside was a sandy shore with lots of seashells on it, and more importantly, a large propeller. It took both of us to pry loose the propeller and disarm it.
As the current settled down, W.T. found a note on the ground. It said, "Did you like the surprise I installed in your cave? I figured it would slow you down, but if you're reading this, it apparently hasn't. You'll never find out who I am, though!"
The note was not signed, but there was a feather attached to it. We both recognized the feather as one of mine.
W.T. turned and faced me. "YOU!"
I tried to explain, but W.T. cut me off. "Don't try to talk your way out of this, Leo. I know this is your feather, so there's no denying your role in this."
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I don't believe it. Even without all that puzzle-solving nonsense, this chapter came out amazingly long.
Quote of the Chapter:
"Amber's Jewelry. Amy Rose here. May I help you?"
-Amy, Amy's Quest: The Four Key Jewels, Ch. 1