Chapter Three
Sonic swam through the ocean, close to the ocean floor where he knew he would be out of sight from any surface dwellers above on their boats. It was also the safest place for him to be to avoid their nets. He remembered one of his kind getting caught in a net before as they migrated through Russia. She never returned after that day.
The ocean floor was also the best place for him to find the freshest, juiciest prey there was… Ooh! There's one now!
Sonic's pupils dilated more than they were before as a nice, juicy eel swam harmlessly through the saltwater towards him. He licked his lips and swam behind a rock, waiting for the right moment to ambush the creature. As it came closer, he gripped his spear tightly, ready to make his kill.
Suddenly, much to his shock, another spear embedded itself into the base of the eel's skull, disappearing and taking the eel with it. Someone had taken his kill. He hissed angrily and swam out from behind the rock, ready to face the intruder of his hunt. He looked around, his spear ready to attack, but he didn't see anything.
Suddenly, he felt something swim behind him. He quickly spun around, but there was nothing there. He then felt a tap on his shoulder. He spun, but again, there was nothing. Then, he felt a hard slap on his backside. He growled and spun around quickly, not giving it a chance to get away. He raised his spear up to pierce through the heart of the teasing creature… but then he stopped, his hard gaze softening.
It was another Siren, a purple female merhog, one from his colony that he knew very well.
She smiled at him, her spear in her hand, with the eel still attached to it. Sonic blinked at her and began signing to her in their unique merhog sign language.
'Ryn?'
She giggled and signed back. 'Hello Sonic. Welcome back.'
'What are you doing so far from the colony?'
'I came to see you. The mating season is near upon us. I knew you'd come back for it. You're of age now, and it is your duty.'
Sonic frowned. 'I'm sorry Ryn. Though it is my responsibility to help continue the bloodline of the merfolk, I did not come back for that reason. I merely came because my skin was scaling up on the surface again.'
'Why don't you stay?' Ryn sang sadly, swimming up to him and placing her webbed fingers over his shoulders. 'Forget the land above. Your place is here, in the water with your kind.' She nuzzled under his chin. 'With me.'
Sonic felt a bit saddened. He and Ryn have been friends since they were born. When they took their first breath in the water, they were inseparable. They trained together. Hunted together. They even made their first kill together.
They were always there for each other, so when Sonic decided to try living on land, he knew it would break his friend's heart. Even more so when he knew she had a crush on him. He could only make it up to her by promising to visit her as often as he could.
And with mating season coming up, and him being of age now, he knew that she was gonna choose him to mate with. It was always the females with the power in the colony.
'Ryn, you know I can't stay.' He nuzzled back. 'I have a life on the surface now. I have friends, and a little fox brother that depends on me. And the surface dwellers need me. I've told you about all of my adventures before. I've told you about the villains I had to defeat to save their world and ours.'
'It worries me, all those villains you fight.' Ryn frowned. 'What if one of them finds out what you are and captures you? You remember what happened with Donna!'
'I know. Donna never came back.' Sonic shook his head. He smiled at her. 'But you need not worry, Ryn. I've been extra careful with my secret. No one suspects a thing.'
'I hope you're right, Sonic.'
Sonic chuckled and pressed their foreheads together. 'I must go now. My friends are expecting me.'
'Wait,' Ryn quickly grabbed his arm before he could swim away. She took the eel off her spear and gave it to him. 'I took your kill, and I'm sorry.'
Sonic smiled and pushed it back to her. 'You killed it fair and square. This is no longer my prey.'
'I want you to have it. You must be hungry. At least eat it on the way.'
Sonic rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway, taking the eel back. 'Alright, I will. Stay safe, Ryn.'
'You too. Goodbye my friend.'
With that, the two merhogs began swimming in their separate ways. But what neither of them knew, was that someone was watching them.
A little sea drone in the shape of an Eggbot came out from behind another rock. It had a camera on it, pointed directly at Sonic as he swam.
"My, my, isn't this an interesting turn of events?" Eggman laughed as he watched the footage from the safety of his lab. "So, Sonic is a merhog, is that right? And not just any merhog, a Siren, one of the most predatory creatures of the sea. I think I may have just found a way to defeat Sonic once and for all!"
"You're gonna show the footage of Sonic in his merhog form to the world and get everyone to turn against him?" Cubot asked.
"Even better! I'm going to capture him and display him in a tank to the entire world!"
"What a splendid idea, doctor." Orbot agreed. "But how are you going to do it? He'd never fall for such an easy trap."
"He will if someone he cares about is in danger." Eggman smirked as he panned the camera over to Ryn. "And I think I've found the perfect candidate."
