Chapter 12
After they had gotten Sonic clean in the lake, the two hedgehogs decided to explore around it a little more, hopeful they will find something they might've missed.
The sight of a figure on the horizon brings their lake stroll to a sudden stop. Something or someone is there, sitting on a rock. The two hedgehogs cautiously move towards the figure, silently creeping up behind the stranger. As they draw closer, they see she bears a resemblance to the shark girls of the lake, but with a few noteworthy differences.
She must be around 6' tall; her skin is a strange mixture of orange and grey, with several stripes along the orange parts. She has semi-lustrous white hair flowing past her shoulders, with a few droplets of water still suspended in it. She's wearing a black bikini top, and has a well-crafted grass skirt reaching down to her knees. She hasn't noticed the presence of the boys yet as she's busily reading a book; a small chest sits on the rocks beside her.
As they get a better look at her, they also notice she has a cute little pair of spectacles on the bridge of her nose.
"It's another shark girl." Sonic whispers.
"Looks like she could be the breed of a tiger shark." Shadow adds.
"Should we just leave her alone? We already had to deal with one shark girl."
However, the two had no need to decide, as the Shark Girl had incredible hearing and heard them whispering behind her.
The stranger dropped her book with a start and nearly pounced on them, taking a big bite out of the air with her sharp teeth; thankfully, they managed to avoid her by jumping back.
"Who are you?" she demands. "What are you doing here?"
Realizing she was no harm compared to the other Shark Girl, the boys hastily offer her a few apologies, declaring their innocence of any ill intentions. After a few moments she calms down, though this doesn't remove the look of irritation from her face. She sits back on the rock, picks her book up and adjusts her glasses, then asks, "So, who are you two? And what's your business around here?"
"I am Sonic the Hedgehog, Mobias' Champion." Sonic introduces. "And this is my friend Shadow the Hedgehog. We were exploring around the lake when we caught sight of you and grew curious."
"It's quite unusual to see one of your kind out here on the beach, just relaxing and reading a book." Shadow added.
"I suppose I am a bit different..." she accedes, "Anyway, I'm just catching up on my reading; sex and swimming, the famous pastimes of my people, are all well and good, but I like to keep my wits sharp too."
Now the hedgehogs are even more curious; she doesn't seem as imposing and does look a bit more intellectual now that she's calmer – well, from the neck up, anyway. She's still dressed as if expecting a luau to break out any minute.
"I'm Izma, by the way. I'm a tigershark," she replies.
"I knew it!" Shadow exclaims, earning a chuckle from the other two.
"It's a mutation among shark-people. We're stronger, tougher, faster... and we have some other... err, 'qualities' our sisters lack," Izma explains, with a glance to subtly discourage them from probing the matter further.
"Where did you get your books?" Sonic asks instead.
"These? Scavenged from around the place. It's so hard to find recorded knowledge around here, and even some of this stuff isn't in great condition... you know?"
The hedgehogs couldn't help but agree; that meager pile of books in the chest is still the biggest library they've seen since they arrived. Perhaps imagining them a kindred spirit, she presses the topic.
"I could let you borrow some... for a small usage fee. And you'd stay in sight, of course. Nothing personal, but I'd like to expand my collection, not reduce it," she adds.
It was an appealing offer. Sonic and Shadow look at each other and nod in an unspoken agreement.
"We could do with as much knowledge as we can get." Shadow say to Izma.
"We accept your offer." Sonic adds.
Izma smiles and they chat for another short while before they part ways, the boys heading back to their camp with some new knowledge.
