Chapter 9
"I don't like how we left her all alone in that place." Sonic pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"She seemed determined to stay." Shadow explained as he made them both pbj sandwiches and some jerky and water for their lunch. "We must respect that. If not, we're no better than the demons."
"I thought we were already better than them by not raping everybody." Sonic frowned as he took a sandwich and bit into it.
"That too." Shadow had to agree as he ate his own lunch. "Ok, think of it this way. If I made you stop running for the rest of your life, how would you feel?"
"... Ok, I see your point." Sonic sighed. "But I still don't like how we left her alone."
"We will see her again." Shadow promised. "We'll visit her just like we visit Amily."
"Speaking of which, I think we should take her boat and try the lake again." Sonic said between another bite.
"You sure?"
Sonic nodded. "Yep. I mean, what are the chances we'll run into that anemone girl again? And I know Amily spoke of Shark Girls, but who knows what else could be out on that lake?"
"I see your point." Shadow nodded. "Alright, we'll try the boat again."
…
Back to the boat, the two hedgehogs went. They reached the dock without any incident and boarded the small rowboat. The water is calm and placid, perfect for rowing. They set out, wondering if they'll find any strange islands or creatures in the lake.
While rowing the boat across the lake Sonic spots a shark fin heading their way.
"Shadow."
Shadow looks towards the fin and growls. "Dammit, not good."
"You think it's one of those…?"
Shadow doesn't answer and quickly rows back to shore. The two hedgehogs get out, watching the fin.
The shark shows no signs of slowing, and the fin disappears just before coming ashore. A grey blur bursts from the water and lands on the ground a few feet away from them.
It's a woman – a peculiarly corrupted woman, with shiny grey skin, silver hair, and a fin positioned between her shoulder blades. She's wearing some rather revealing black swimwear. The girl looks up at them and grins widely, showing rows of knife-like teeth.
"Wanna play? Heads up though, I play 'rough'!"
"Well so do we!" Sonic challenged, taking a fighting stance. Shadow doesn't hesitate and gets in position as well.
The shark girl stands just over 5'5", with grey skin shimmering from water droplets catching the sunlight and slender muscles built for swimming. Her shoulder-length silver hair brushes past her pretty face and her eyes are a striking shade of red. She has rows of intimidating sharp teeth glinting in the light. A fish-like tail protrudes from her backside, wrapping around her toned legs at every opportunity. She's wearing a rather skimpy black bikini, strings done in such a way that they move around her fin; though the swimwear itself barely covers her perky breasts and tight snatch.
The boys immediately attack first, lunging at her with a spin attack. Their attacks are deflected or blocked by the shark-girl.
Sonic pulls his fists back, getting a running start to land another attack. The Shark girl smirks and pulls up her bikini top, shaking her perky breasts in the hedgehogs' direction. They both stop abruptly, aroused by the sight just long enough for the shark girl to kick Sonic across the face and sweep Shadow's feet from underneath him, knocking both of them to the ground.
"Aw, don't worry boys, you're gonna get the full package in a moment!"
"I don't want the full package!" Sonic growled, getting back up and lunging at her. "And Shadow's already got a girlfriend!"
Sonic manages to land a bit in her, but it immediately backfires as the girl mutilates him with her powerful bite!
"AAAAHH!!" Sonic cries out in pain as the girl's teeth chomps onto his arm, practically mauling it as she rips the flesh and draws fresh dripping blood, bringing the blue hedgehog to tears.
"SONIC!" Shadow shouts as he roughly kicks the girl away from him, making her let go of the blue champion, dropping him to the floor. Shadow leans down beside him, gently holding his injured arm. "Are you alright?"
"It hurts." Sonic sobbed in answer. His arm was dripping with blood. Some of the flesh was missing, caught in the shark-girl's teeth. Shadow growled in rage.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT YOU BITCH! CHAOS SPEAR!"
The spears are easily blocked or deflected. The girl laughs at the golden hedgehog's attempts.
"Sh-Sha-dow…" Sonic whimpered. He was getting sleepy, losing blood fast. Shadow looked from his friend, to the shark-girl, conflicted on what to do.
Finally, he snarled and picked Sonic up in a bridal style. "This isn't over you bitch!" He barked at the girl. "Nobody harms my friends and gets away with it!"
With that, Shadow ran, taking Sonic back to camp to take care of his potentially fatal wound.
…
"Ah-ow!" Sonic cried as Shadow stitched his arm.
"Shh. I know, I know." Shadow whispered soothingly. "I'm almost done, just a few more."
Sonic tried to hold still as Shadow stitched the bite on his arm, tears streaming down his face. He sniffed as he watched Shadow snap the thread before wrapping some gauze over the stitches, keeping them in place.
"There, all done." Shadow smiled warmly as he put the aid kit away and sat down next to the blue hedgehog, pulling him into a hug and stroking his quills. "How do you feel?"
"It still hurts."
"I know. I know."
"Who knew shark-girls could be so aggressive?"
"Well, Amily warned us about them."
"... I know." Sonic sighed as he gently rubbed his arm.
"Here, take these." Shadow dug through the kit once more and pulled out a bottle of pain pills, dropping two into his hand. "They'll make you drowsy, but they should help the pain."
"I'm fine." Sonic shook his head, refusing the pills.
"Sonic, you're in pain, you need these pills."
"I don't wanna be drowsy."
"It's ok, you'll be sleeping it off anyway."
"What?" Sonic gasped, his eyes wide in surprise. "No, absolutely not. There's still so much light left, we have to push forward."
"Sonic you won't be doing anything until you've rested and your arm feels better." Shadow easily argued. "Once you take these pills, I'll put you in your bedroll and you can rest for a bit. Get your strength and energy back up."
"But-"
"No buts, Faker. This is exactly why Elder Nomur says you may not return, because you don't give yourself time to rest when you need it."
Sonic went silent at that. He remembered Elder Nomur saying that he may not come back from the mission. Could Shadow be right?
"Alright." Sonic finally nodded with a sigh.
"Good." Shadow smiled as he gave Sonic the pills again, which he obediently took. Shadow then picked Sonic up and tucked him into his bedroll.
"Rest your eyes for a bit, Sonic." He whispered. "I'll be here when you wake up."
Sonic nodded and closed his eyes without another word, the pills kicking in strong.
As soon as Sonic was asleep, Shadow growled dangerously and stood up straight, marching off to the lake.
He had some unfinished business to take care of with a certain shark.
