Chapter 4
The two hedgehogs walk away from the farm, a bright smile on Sonic's face.
"Well, it seems as though not everybody is corrupted in this place." He smirked at the ebony hedgehog.
"Yes, Whitney was rather… pleasant." Shadow agreed.
"I wonder if there are any others like her."
"Only time will tell, hedgehog. For now, let's keep exploring the lake."
"Right."
But as they walk around the lake, they fail to discover anything else. Their stroll around the lake increasingly bores the blue champion, leaving his mind to wander. The hedgehog's imaginings, horrifyingly, increasingly seem to turn to thoughts of sex.
Sonic whimpers as his lust increases at the thoughts, rubbing his legs together uncomfortably. His nether regions are incredibly wet, giving him the sense that he pissed himself, even though he knew he didn't. He whimpers again as he's hit with a wave of desire. Shadow hears him and looks at him in concern.
"Are you alright, hedgehog?"
Sonic looks up at Shadow with eyes filled with shame. His lust factor was way over the top. And he knew that the next creature to seduce him would most likely break him.
To his shame… there was only one way to calm down.
"Shadow," He whimpered, still rubbing his legs together. "There's something I need to do… privately. Please don't follow me."
With that, Shadow watched in concern as Sonic sheepishly found some rocks to hide in, where he sat down and fully exposed his hard as rock cock. He stroked his prick eagerly, quickly bringing himself to a full, throbbing state.
He easily wrapped a hand around his ample cock and start masturbating. He stroked quickly, pleasuring his sensitive dick, darting down to fondle the base of his cock.
The more he stroked, the louder he moaned. He panted and groaned, sweat pouring down his blush covered face. His tongue stuck out pervertedly, his eyes half-lidded, and his ears pressed flat against his head. He was ashamed of himself, but found pleasure of his lust going down. He was glad that Shadow couldn't see him… but that didn't mean he couldn't hear him.
Oh, what could his black and red rival be thinking of him now?
The sensations proved too much for the hedgehog, and he felt the tightness building in his twitching manhood, growing rapidly. He stroked furiously, feeling the pressure of his cum as it nears release. Pleasurable spasms overwhelm the blue blur as cum erupts from his throbbing prick. His hips jerk in the air in time with his eruptions, spraying cum in the air. A few thick spurts of cum burst from his loins, splattering him liberally.
When it was over, he fell back and panted, spent after his self pleasure. He looked down at himself and whined pitifully at the white substance that covered his stomach and thighs.
What a shameful mess.
"Sonic?" Shadow called from the other side of the rocks. "Are you alright?"
Sonic whined and tried to wipe the substance away, but he was only spreading it even further into his fur, getting his gloves filthy.
"Sonic?" Sonic heard Shadow's footsteps starting to approach.
"No! Shadow, don't come any closer!" He called in a panic.
"Why? What's wrong?"
Sonic whimpered and pressed his ears to his head.
"Sonic… do you think I'm gonna scold you for pleasuring yourself?" Shadow's voice held a gentle reassurance. "I'm not gonna scold you just because your lust factor was too high. It's this place, hedgehog. It's doing things to your body and I understand that you need to be able to calm yourself down. You should know I understand more than anybody else."
"... Because you had to do it when we first found the portal." Sonic said quietly.
"Exactly. So why don't you come on out? We can get you washed up in the lake."
"... Ok."
Sonic slowly and sheepishly stood up from the rocks and stepped out, blushing profusely at the cup that stuck to his fur.
"'Atta hedgehog." Shadow smiled sympathetically as he stepped up to him, gently laying a hand onto his shoulder. "Come on. We'll wash you up in the water."
Sonic nodded and allowed Shadow to guide him to the shore of the lake, where he stepped into the water and sat down, starting to wash the gooey white substance off his fur and gloves. Once he was clean, he stepped out of the water and shook his fur out, drying himself.
"Feel better?" Shadow asked him.
"Much. Thanks Shadow." Sonic blushed through a smile at him.
"Hey, no problem." Shadow shrugged. "Anyways, while you were taking care of yourself behind the rocks, I found this."
Shadow held up a long and oddly flared vial.
Written across the middle band of the vial is a single word: 'Equinum'.
"Equinum?" Sonic frowned in confusion. "What's that?"
"I don't know." Shadow frowned curiously as he looked at the bottle. "I know Equine is another word for horse. Do you think this stuff may turn someone into one?"
"I don't have any room in my pouch for it." Sonic shook his head. "... Do you… wanna try it out?"
Shadow frowned and set the bottle down.
"No, let's just leave it. No need for unnecessary risks."
"Agreed. Come on, there's still light out. Let's keep looking around."
The two hedgehogs continue their journey around the lake shore, searching for anything else interesting.
As they walk, they suddenly hear humming coming from behind the bushes. Curious, they push the ferns aside and peer through.
The humming is coming from a hunched figure, working. Clothed in tattered robes that obscure most his figure, the hedgehogs can nonetheless see a rat-like muzzle protruding from the shadowy hood that conceals most of his form. A simple glance behind him confirms their suspicions - this is some kind of rat-Mobian. He seems oblivious to their presence as he stirs a cauldron of viscous fluid with one hand; a neat stack of beakers and phials sit in the dirt to his left.
Suddenly, a smile breaks across his aged visage.
"Come closer, boys. I will not bite."
Apprehensive of the dangers of this unknown land, Sonic and Shadow cautiously approach.
"I am Rathazul the Alchemist. Once I was famed for my miracle cures. Now I idle by this lake, helpless to do anything but measure the increasing amounts of corruption that taint its waters," he says as he pulls back his hood, revealing the entirety of his very bald and wrinkled head. "I see you have at least one tainted item on you... for 20 gems I could remove most of the taint, making it a good deal safer to use. Of course, who knows what kind of freakish transformations it would cause..."
Sonic and Shadow looked at each other. Was the rat talking about the items Sonic had in his pouch? Either way, Sonic shook his head.
"No thanks, sir. We don't have 20 gems to spare." He explained. "But thank you for your offer."
"Anytime, child." Rathazul nodded. "Please do come back if you ever have anything that needs purifying… and you can afford it. Good luck on your quest, blue champion."
With that, the rat went back to work, ignoring the two hedgehogs as they walked away.
"That was a bit strange." Shadow frowned.
Sonic could only nod as his thoughts went to the lake. Did Rathazul say that it was tainted with corruption? He seriously hoped it didn't do anything to his body because he bathed in it.
As they walk, Shadow suddenly grabs Sonic's arm and stops him.
"Sonic, look."
Sonic stops and looks to where Shadow is pointing, which was… down?
As they roam the shores of the lake, their footsteps echoed as though they were stepping on wood rather than squishing in the sandy mud of the shore. Curious, Shadow had squat down and brush the soil away, revealing the rotting form of a wooden plank, and was now showing it to Sonic.
Looking carefully at the ground underfoot, Sonic realizes that it is part of a pathway – the kind that villages make to provide easier access to and from muddy rivers, lakes and beaches.
Sonic looks in the direction the path is going, believing he can make out the rest of the path clearly enough to follow it to its end.
"Let's follow it." He says to his companion. "Who knows where it leads to. It could be important."
"... Very well. Follow the wooden road it is then."
