Sonic kept running.
He had a feeling that something bad was about to happen, but he kept running.
The instinctive urge to turn around was getting stronger and stronger with each step he took.
But he kept running.
Those nightmare scenes were not helping either. The hedgehog tried everything he could to keep them at bay, but nothing worked.
And to make things worse, they were starting to get more frequent as he neared the river. At first, they began popping up each ten seconds. Then five. Then three. Then one. And when the body of water was visible, they were appearing one after another in a very quick sequence, under a single second!
Don't turn around... DON'T turn around...
And he didn't. The Blue Blur didn't turn around. He had let his fear get the best of him for so long, and he wasn't going to let that happen this time.
When the canoe was on sight, the hedgehog skidded to a stop, noticing Tails and Knuckles the Echidna preparing themselves for the trip.
The fox turned around, and seeing that his big brother had arrived he waved his hand. "Sonic! I thought you wouldn't show up!"
"Hey, I always keep my promises!" Sonic replied, returning the wave.
Seeing each other, the Blue Blur and the Rad Red did a fist bump. When Tails came by at Angel Island asking for him to come for that trip, he was at first reluctant to do so, since he is the last member of the Echidna Tribe, and it was his duty to guard the Master Emerald. But he accepted to come for it when he was told that the reason for said trip was to help Sonic conquer his aquaphobia. It's about time that hedgehog actually does something to overcome that little fear of his.
"Here Sonic, I designed it especifically for occasions like this." Tails said, handing out an orange life jacket to his best friend.
"Thanks, buddy! Now I'm feeling much better about this trip!" the hedgehog said, noticing that it had two holes in it's back, so that his back spikes wouldn't burst it out.
"So, let's get this over with." the Guardian said, after Sonic put on his life jacket.
Tails and Knuckles got on the boat, while Sonic stood still on the grassy shore. Even with the life jacket on, he was still unsure about it.
"Hey! What are you waiting for?" Knuckles said, a little impatient. Tails shot him with a glare, and the echidna immediately threw up his hands in a defensive manner.
"What's the matter, Sonic?" the fox asked, turning to the hedgehog.
"I-I'm not sure about it, Tails. What if...?" the Blue Blur answered with a worried expression.
"You will not get hurt, I promise." Tails said, holding out his hand.
"Okay... If you say so..." the hedgehog replied.
Sonic took his best friend's hand and carefully got on the canoe, trying to keep his balance so that he wouldn't fall in the water.
And finally, the trip started. Knuckles was in front, Sonic in the middle and Tails in the back, the fox and the echidna each with a paddle. Sonic tried to keep his cool listening to the chirping birds while looking at the rocks and reed at the sides of the river.
After fifteen minutes or so, the hedgehog looked to his right. It was unnerving for him to watch a body of water that close, but he wanted to take one step forward to conquer his fear.
Then an image from his nightmare appeared on the liquid for a split second. It was those tentacles, merging themselves together into the wave and splashing on him.
Sonic gulped, sweat rolling down his face. The nervousness started to kick in.
Suddenly, the hedgehog remembered the first time his nightmare began haunting him. He had closed his eyes and took a few breaths, then he got back to sleep and it no longer haunted him that night. That technique worked before, why wouldn't it work again?
And so he did. Closing his eyes and taking slow and deep breaths, Sonic tried to calm down. This time, he could actually hear the typical sound that emits from water, so he had to focus even more.
Okay. Stay calm, Sonic. You'll be fine... Don't panic... Just keep your cool.
Five minutes later, his ears perked up as he heard a faint noise in the distance. Opening his eyes, he looked around to see where it was being emitted from.
Wha? I swear to Chaos I heard something!
He heard it again, and his quills twitched. It wasn't a good sign, and he knew it. Every time his quills twitch, he knows there's danger around.
"Uh, guys? What was that?" Sonic asked nervously.
Tails looked puzzled. If they'd hear something, wouldn't Knuckles be the first one to hear it? Why Sonic heard a noise first? It didn't make any sense!
Then, the echidna heard it, as the sound got a little louder.
"Hey, I heard that too!" the Guardian said.
Finally, it got even louder, as Tails heard the noise.
"Um..." the fox said, letting out a gulp of his own as he knew what was up ahead. He forgot about that detail. He was so immersed in having a canoe trip with his best friend that he forgot about the one thing that would put it to dust. He said slowly, knowing how the blue hedgehog would react: "I think we're getting closer to a waterfall..."
As he heard that final word echo through his mind, Sonic's self-control shattered like glass.
"WH-WH-WH-WHAT?!"
In an instant, his breathing sped up to it's highest point and his heart was pounding wildly in his chest.
"Whoa!" Knuckles said, caught off-guard by the hedgehog's sudden reaction. "It's okay, Sonic. Keep it together."
"I-I'm trying, Knux. I-I swear that I'm trying." Sonic replied.
But it was really hard to do it. His hands were shaking as he saw the body of water horribly near him.
It didn't help the fact that the current was speeding up. True, he loves feeling the wind blowing through his quills, but not THAT kind of wind.
Sonic's breathing AND heartbeat were at dangerously high rates as the canoe got closer and closer to the waterfall.
It's alright, Sonic. D-Don't be scared... Nothing bad is going to happen... Y-you'll be fine... Just... J-Just... S-Stay C-Calm. You're wearing a life jacket... You will not drown... You will NOT drown...
Then, the boat fell off the waterfall. Knuckles began gliding through the air. Tails spun his namesakes, allowing him to fly.
Sonic...
Well, he didn't have enough time to cling onto his best friend's legs. His mind was hurrying him to do so, but his body froze. By the time he could move it again, he was already in the dreaded water, the canoe split in half.
"Sonic! Are you alright?" the fox asked.
"Yeah! I guess so!" the hedgehog answered.
"Don't move! I'll go to the Workshop and find another rope!" Tails said. He turned to the Rad Red. "Knuckles, please take care of him."
"You can count on me." the echidna said.
The fox took off as fast as he could to his Workshop. Before the trip started, he suggested Sonic that if something like this happens he'd pick up a rope for the hedgehog to hold and pull him off the water, which the Blue Blur agreed to, since he'd panic WAY too much if Tails helped him the old-fashioned way. The rope he had was on the boat, and due to it being destroyed it sank down in the water.
But telling Sonic not to move is almost like telling him to dislike chili dogs.
He was really scared to stay still. There was water around him everywhere, and the only thing preventing him from drowning was his life jacket.
In the midst of his own panic, he heard a POP coming from behind him, along with a sound of rapid air coming off.
Oh no. Please don't tell me...
Looking behind him, he saw a hole in his life jacket. One of his quills accidentally popped it up.
Oh snap.
And he began sinking. His eyes widened as he held his breath and saw his greatest fear coming true: drowning.
Knuckles was looking around the place when he found an orange life jacket floating in the water.
"Sonic!"
He got on the water as fast as he could, and began looking around for the hedgehog. The Guardian found him under a giant rock, barely avoiding being squashed by it!
The echidna tried to lift the rock, but it was too heavy, even for him! He tried to pull the Blue Blur, but that didn't help either! He motioned to Sonic with his hands, telling him to stay strong, because he was going to look for help. The hedgehog nodded and Knuckles swam back to the surface as fast as possible.
Sonic began running out of oxygen in his lungs. He couldn't give up just yet. His friend was looking for help. He had to stay awake.
He had to...
Stay...
Awake...
Sonic started to wake up, his vision still blurry. Did it all happen? Was all that just a horrible nightmare? He didn't know for sure.
"Ugh... Where am I?"
Letting his eyes open all the way, the hedgehog noticed that he was in a void, but not the blue void like last time. Now, he was in a black void. Nothing except black was all he could see.
As he moved his hands to sit up, he heard a familiar sound.
No. Please no. Gaia, have mercy on me.
Slowly raising into a sitting position, he found out that this place was also filled with... water.
The Blue Blur stood up in a time record. "Gah!"
Oh no! Not again!
He remembered that scenario. It was the same from his nightmare. The only change was the color of the void, going from blue to black.
Two water currents, one from each side, shot up and grabbed his arms. They proceeded to lift him in the air, showing that two more currents grabbed his legs.
Suddenly, the four tentacles from his nightmare emerged again! The hedgehog let out a scream, as there was no way to escape now.
The tentacles began smacking Sonic in his face, one after another, leaving little room for him to breathe. After they did it, they smacked him from the other side, and the cycle kept going. Sonic didn't know how long he was going to handle it, but he wished with all his heart that the torture stopped!
After what seemed like an eternity, the tentacles merged together and formed a wave. The hedgehog closed his eyes and held his breath, as he knew what was going to happen.
The wave rose up and splashed on him.
Or so he thought.
Opening his eyes and looking at his feet, Sonic saw something that shouldn't happen.
"What the...? What's going on?"
He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The wave actually rose against his feet, enveloping them in a second!
It kept going up, covering his ankles, knees, legs, hips, chest, shoulders, arms and hands.
It didn't stop there! The water proceeded to cover his head, and the hedgehog's heartbeat sped up so much that he was on the verge of a heart attack!
When the liquid was about to cover his eyes, the Blue Blur's pupils shrunk to the size of peas.
Sonic woke up, coughing a little bit of water. He opened his eyes and found out that he was on a small beach in front of the waterfall, his friends with worried expressions on their faces.
"Tails...? Knuckles...?"
The hedgehog proceeded to hug both of his friends at once. "Oh guys, am I glad to see you!"
"We could say the same about you!" Tails said.
"But... How? I thought I would..." the hedgehog said, letting go of his friends.
The fox and the echidna explained what happened to him. Knuckles went straight away to Tails' Workshop, and the fox immediately stopped searching for a second rope when the Guardian told him about the situation. They rushed to the waterfall and proceeded to save Sonic. Knuckles pushed the rock while Tails pulled him away from it.
"Wow! Great teamwork there!" the hedgehog complimented. "Heh, guess even my greatest fear can't kill me that easily."
Then, the boy looked at his best friend with a bit of sadness. "I'm sorry, Sonic. It's all my fault. If I had remembered there was a waterfall at the end of the river, none of this would happen."
The hedgehog remembered something.
"Don't blame yourself, buddy. I kinda wanted to rush this."
Sonic had forgot during the whole trip that he couldn't conquer his fear in a single day. It would happen only if he took it slow and steady, one day after the other. And if he wouldn't conquer it, he'd at least be more able to face it, like everything else.
"So, wanna take another chance?" Knuckles asked.
Sonic shrugged a bit, but smiled. "Uh, yeah... maybe in the next four or five months... far away from waterfalls..." he answered, scratching the back of his head.
Tails and Knuckles chuckled a bit, and started laughing, Sonic joining in a couple seconds later. If it would take six months, a year, or ten years they didn't know. But one thing they were sure of: Someday, Sonic will find his inner courage and conquer his fear.