Sonic stared into the ocean, chest rising and falling fast, too fast. He could barely breathe, the light coiling and biting and squeezing. Fear. Fear of the dark and the cold and the wet.
He growled and pushed against the light. The motion was mental and physical at once, and he tumbled off the ledge. The terror surged and his vision blacked out for a precious second, and then it receded as it realized it was too late.
The water may as well have been ice. It stung and slammed and he felt like he'd broken something, though past experience taught him that was unlikely. For a moment Sonic paddled with desperate, awkward movements, before forcing himself to take a breath and maybe say a prayer. Sucking in the biting air, he plunged beneath the surface.
Opening his eyes was the hardest part, Sonic discovered. He felt the ocean pressing, black and terrible, and his heart jumped around like a wild thing. But once he forced his eyelids to lift, that was that. He was underwater, and there was no more time for terror. He looked around. Everything was slow and silent and calm.
Pretzel. He jerked himself back to alertness, trying to spin in the water, but only able to flail uselessly. He kicked, trying to right his course, and something glinted out of the corner of his eye. Sunlight winked off that bizarre jewel in Pretzel's crest. It looked like a green eye, reptilian and incredibly creepy, and he could have kissed it with relief.
Thankfully, Pretzel's open wings were slowing her descent, giving Sonic time to swim for the dark, sinking shape. The motions were pure instinct, but he made up for lack of experience with muscles honed for running and willpower honed for the impossible.
He reached out a clawed yellow hand and caught the tip of her tail. It sliced him, red clouding in the water, but he didn't let go, tugging her towards him until he could close his other hand around her long, snaky midsection. Every motion was painfully slow. Speaking of pain, his lungs reminded him that he did, in fact, need to breathe.
The light winked off that jewel again, and he followed it up and up. Bubbles further guided his path. Faintly, he wondered where they came from, and if he could use them to replenish his air supply.
They broke through the surface, the air stinging through his soaked fur and biting away the haze of oxygen deprivation. Gasping, Sonic lifted Pretzel out of the water, kicking with all his might. He couldn't tell if she was breathing.
Arm tiring, Sonic brought her closer to him, holding her head just above the water with one hand as he paddled wildly with the other. Waves and salt—how had he forgotten the ocean was salty it tasted awful and his hand was stinging why did he ever like the ocean—splashed in his eyes. His mind jumped wildly at flecks of foam and bits of ice, assuming everything was a shark or whale coming to devour him. It was a shock when he reached the cliff alive.
Sonic dug his claws into the ice, still coughing salt water. He tried to pull himself up, but one hand wasn't enough, and there was no way he was letting go of Pretzel. He tried to push himself up with his legs, but as he tilted his head back, he saw how high the cliff was, and how the ocean smoothed the ice.
It was no use.
Sonic would have laughed, if he wasn't hacking up water. It would be a stupid way to die, drowning in the ocean with only a spiteful ferret for company, not even in his own body. Alien wings and tail dragged him down, drawn to the dark depths like opposite poles on a magnet. He tried to lift Pretzel up higher, and his other hand slipped off the ice. They tumbled down in what seemed like slow motion. The water closed eagerly around them, like a host hurrying his guests into his house and slamming the door on the world behind them.
Sorry, Sonic's oxygen deprived mind offered, a chapter too late. Sorry, Pretzel.
A star fell into the ocean.
The water abruptly rose several degrees in temperature, and Sonic blinked his eyes open with a gasp. Warm water flooded in. A hand wrapped around his middle, and suddenly he was flying upward. He kept his hand tight on Pretzel, claws digging into her thick fur and the slick scales on her underbelly.
Once more the water broke, reluctant to surrender its unwilling guests. The hand tightened on Sonic's middle, and he coughed, and coughed again. He blinked furiously, trying to clear his vision.
"…me?" a voice called distantly. Familiar…
"Sonic!" The voice snapped. "Wake up!" Fire blazed uncomfortably close to his face. Blazed…
"Blaze?" Sonic choked out. His vision finally cleared, and he was greeted with violet fur. He twisted, eyes roving over the churning waves. "Pretzel?" Salt clogged his throat.
"She's here." Something in Blaze's voice made Sonic want to ask more questions, but the ocean lapped and roared, and he decided to let her focus on keeping them alive.
Steam hissed around him, and he yelped as the water burned. A moment later cold air replaced the boiling, and he gasped as his back unceremoniously slammed into ice. He planned to wait a minute or two for the wind to come back to him, but he blacked out instead.
A white gloved hand slapped his face, and he jerked upright. "Where's Pretzel?" He was proud of his ability to prioritize.
Blaze wordlessly placed the creature in his lap. Pretzel lay completely still, her expression the most peaceful he'd ever seen it.
Sonic's face twisted into a tight frown. "We need to give her some warmth."
Not looking for Blaze's response, he tilted Pretzel's head back and opened her mouth. He was about to begin CPR—you couldn't be a hero for long without picking up some first aid training (or you couldn't if you were a decent person who cared about your friends' lives)—when Pretzel's eyes sprang open.
"Are you trained to do that?" She demanded.
"How…" Blaze's eyes were wide. "You weren't breathing for five minutes!"
Pretzel frowned.
"That's probably her snake genes," Sonic said with very unjustified confidence. His terror went as quickly as anything about him. Tails said it was a survival method; Sonic laughed and ran off to do something distracting, which kind of proved Tails' point. "I'm more curious about what you're doing here, Blaze. That was a really lucky save." He smiled, and she returned it easily for once.
"I didn't believe Rouge," she admitted. "I didn't feel the Sol Emeralds in Shamar, and I…" she took a deep breath. "I think I should help you. Just until I have an idea of where to look. And I thought my… skills might be useful in a place such as this." The small, orange flame in her hand flickered like a puppy hearing its name.
Sonic beamed at her, delighted to hear her talking positively about her pyrokinetics for once. "Very useful! I couldn't think of a more useful skill!" He dropped the smile with effort. "Sorry about the Sol Emeralds."
She frowned briefly into the middle distance before focusing on him again. "They… will be found when they need to be." She said with reluctance. She frowned down at the ocean. "Perhaps one is here. I do sense a strange light…"
"Yeah, someone said it's been hotter around here recently," Sonic rubbed a finger under his nose thoughtfully. "Maybe a Sol Emerald is doing it?"
Blaze nodded with a doubtful expression.
"How are we going to get to the temple?" Pretzel interjected. She seemed thoroughly unaffected by her experience.
Blaze raised an eyebrow at Sonic, and he pointed into the ocean. "There's a temple down there."
"Ah." Blaze leaned over to peer down. Sonic noticed her claws digging into the ice in an all too familiar gesture, and he surreptitiously brushed his tail against hers. She didn't look at him, but she didn't move away. Finally, some use for the thing.
Abruptly, Blaze jumped to her feet, backing away from the edge. "I think I see it."
"Can we swim to it?" Sonic asked, trying to ignore how the coils tightened at the suggestion.
"I could," Blaze said cautiously. "You could stay."
"No way," Sonic forced a grin, mentally growling at the alien terror. "We're sticking together from here on out."
"…Very well," Blaze acquiesced after a long moment. She offered her hand, and Sonic gladly took it. She moved to the edge and stopped, glancing back. "Pretzel?"
"I'll keep up," the ferret assured them, and launched off the ledge without pausing to so much as spread her wings.
Sonic laughed. Some of his nerves must of shown through, or maybe it was the height, but either way Blaze tightened her grip on his hand. The warmth was a welcome anchor, pulling him out of the enchanting abyss and memories of sinking down and down not minutes earlier.
"One," Her voice rang out, echoing clear in the cold. "Two." They tensed. "Three!" Blaze leaped off the ledge, tugging him after her, and a shield of fire lit briefly around them as they hit the water. It went out with a hiss, but warmth remained.
Blaze didn't give Sonic a chance to stare into the dark and feel the coils choke him. She tugged him right down without pause, following a smirking Pretzel to the distant, faint shape of elegant, carved stone. Together, they plunged into the depths, into the dark, and into the temple.
Sorry for the late update(again)! But at least you can check out this awesome fan art by SilverTheCat-Factora on DeviantArt ;): silverthecat-factora/art/Sonic-Leashed-Promotional-Art-758137722