Chapter Three:
After three hours of non-stop driving, the Astro finally pulled into the camping grounds of Lake Tomahawk.
Lake Tomahawk is a state park and a popular tourist attraction to visitors and frequent campers. It is known mainly for its beautiful lush evergreen forests that stretched over the whole area and the actual lake was at the center of it all.
As the Sonic gang drove through, they could catch glimpses of the shimmering surface of the lake through the branches.
They passed by a service station and registered their names to the site Sonic reserved a couple weeks in advance. You could choose between staying at the lodge, in a cabin, and kicking it old school camping in tents. The latter being the option they chose.
Rouge pressed her nose against the window as they passed the great big lodge, with the bright lights and doormen in tuxedos.
She stuck out her lower lip and whimpered, "Goodbye sweet clean sanitary bathrooms, Jacuzzis, and room service."
Sonic heard this and looked back at her through the rearview mirror, "Nonsense. We're doing this camping trip the traditional way."
Rouge wrinkled her nose, "It's traditional to look and feel like shit?"
"Yup,"
"Fan-freakin-tastic,"
"Come on," Sonic said, "We're not even there and you're already complaining. For all we know, we could have the best and cleanest site in the grounds. Now, does anyone see spot #27?"
"I do," Shadow said, "Its right here on the left."
Sonic suddenly hit the brake which sent everyone lurching against their seat belts, except Knuckles who went hurtling towards the back of the seats and slammed into them. All heads in front of him whirled around in surprise. Rouge and Shadow stifled their laughter behind their hands.
"Knuckles! Buckle up!" Amy said looking at Cream, "Set an example."
Knuckles grumbled and sat up, rubbing his forehead, "It's so freaking tight back here that couldn't find the seatbelt. Besides," he growled, glaring at Sonic, "No one slams on the brakes like that unless they intend to give people a whiplash."
Sonic ignored him and made a sharp left into the site then cut the engine. Everyone unbuckled and hopped outside.
The campsite was a round dirt covered area with a firepit that was littered with ashes and beer cans left over from the last group. Pine needles were scattered everywhere. Gnats buzzed around their faces and the smell of sweet campfire smoke met their noses. Surrounding all around them were other tents and groups of family and friends.
A small family of Crocs was gathered around a picnic table, kids were playing kickball in the streets, and two bikini-clad college girls were walking down to the lake which was just a short distance away.
Sonic clapped his hands and rubbed them together, "Alright, let's start setting up."
The guys all walked over to the van and helped get all the bags from the trunk. The girls helped by separately which suitcase belonged to whom.
Rouge scooted over closer to Tikal. The whole thing between her and Shadow still was on Rouge's mind and she was dying to find out how they knew each other.
"So, Tikal," she said casually, "I couldn't help but notice that you and a certain someone know each other. Care to explain?"
Tikal tossed her long dreadlocks over her shoulders and pretended to look innocent, "Um…what do you mean?"
"Girl, don't mess with me. I saw you two and I've never seen Shadow act that way before. So spill."
"Oh, you were talking about Shadow."
Rouge sighed, "Who else would I be talking about?"
Her sentence was suddenly cut off when the guys finished and walked over to the girls. Tikal noticed Shadow within earshot and shook her head at Rouge as if to tell her to stop talking about the topic at once.
Knuckles folded his arms and looked around, "How exactly are we doing this thing Sonic?"
Sonic picked up a tent bag and tossed one to Knuckles, "Well, there's eight of us and four tents. Do the math. It'll be two people to a tent."
Amy squealed and ran over to him, wrapping her arms around him. "I call being tent partners with Sonic!"
Sonic peeled away from her grasp, "Oh yeah," he said, "I forgot to mention that it's not co-ed."
"Geez, what is this? Church camp?" Rouge scoffed.
"No, I figured it would just make it more comfortable for everyone." Sonic insisted, making a slight gesture at Cream.
Everyone mumbled in agreement and stalked off to pair up. Sonic and Tails grabbed one of the tent bags and carried it to a free spot. Amy and Cream also paired up. The only four left were Shadow and Knuckles, Tikal and Rouge who all just shrugged at each other and matched up.
Each duo started setting up their tents. Sonic and Tails worked fast. Tails used his brains to read directions and instruct while Sonic used his speed to set up the tent. Amy hooked her iPod up to portable speakers (battery powered) and they were blasting bouncing bubblegum pop music while they put up their tent.
Tikal and Rouge were sitting down on a boulder, examining the directions sheet together. Neither of the girls had ever built a tent before.
"You know," Rouge said finally, "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking at right now."
"I think it's supposed to be a tent," Tikal said.
She turned the paper and both girls tilted their heads looking at it.
Finally Tikal tossed it aside, "Nope, it just looks like a lot of freaking work."
"Let's just ask one of the guys to do it for us." Rouge suggested.
"You mean like Knuckles?"
"No way," Rouge said, "Shadow would be better."
"Definitely not,"
"Why not? You have something against Shadow?"
"You have something against Knuckles?" Tikal shot back.
Touche, Rouge thought.
Out loud she said, "Honestly, You really think that slow-witted echidna will do us any good?"
"Hey, watch it. That's my cousin you're talking about."
"Oh, sorry. Let me rephrase that." Rouge paused, "Do you really think that slow-witted cousin of yours would do us any good?"
Tikal giggled, "Okay, fine. What makes you think Shadow would be any better at setting up a tent?"
Rouge's lips lifted into a sly smirk, "What makes you think I want him over for helping us with the tent?"
A blush crept across Tikal's muzzle, "Come on Rouge. Seriously, we gotta figure this out. The six year olds are beating us for crying out loud!"
"Amy's 16, Cream's 13, and we have more serious matters to discuss here other than bopping around to Hannah Montana's pop party bonanza."
"We do? What do we have to talk about?" Tikal asked.
Rouge rolled her eyes, "About you and Shadow, duh!"
Tikal groaned, "Oh my god, you never quit, do you?"
"Not until you tell me what happened!"
"Hey over there!" a voice called out from behind them. Both girls spun around. A tall, muscular wolf stood there watching them.
He lowered his sunglasses and looked over the frames at them, "You ladies need help setting up your tent?"
"No thanks. We got it." Tikal answered politely.
The wolf just smiled at them, "Alright then." He paused and raised his eyebrows, "I'll uh…I'll see you around?"
Rouge and Tikal exchanged looks.
"Maybe," Tikal replied slowly.
His gaze lingered a few seconds later on Rouge before he put on his sunglasses again and left.
"Creeeeepy," Tikal said making a face and picking up the directions page again.
Rouge groaned, "Great. We've been here for less than 10 minutes and I'm already getting stares from freaks."
"Whatever. Stop boasting."
"Sorry, I can't help it."
They fell silent again and went back to work. They managed to accomplish getting the base of the tent finished before they both slumped onto the boulder again to take a rest.
Tikal couldn't resist looking over at Shadow as they caught their breath. He and Knuckles seemed to be in the same struggle with the tent, but they were picking up on it a lot faster. Tikal watched Shadow's muscular backside flex under his tee-shirt and her heart started to race.
He still looks the same way he used to, she thought, it's been such a long time. I wonder if he remembers everything….I wonder if he still thinks about me like I think about him.
"Earth to Tikal!!! Hello?" Rouge said, waving her hand in front of her face.
Tikal jumped, "Oh um…yeah. Sorry, I was just-".
"I know what you were doing and I think we need to talk. Now."
"Not here. He'll hear us. I'll tell you later…tonight."
Rouge rolled her eyes, "Yeah right. At this rate, we won't have our tent up until the last night of this stupid trip."
Tikal thought it over. It would be nice to finally have someone to talk to. Plus, Rouge knew Shadow and maybe she could offer some advice about him. Only problem with Rouge was she tended to be a little untrustworthy and she was a little too nosy.
Rouge stood up and held out a hand to Tikal, "Come on. Let's go check out the lake, and then we can talk."
Tikal looked at the unfinished tent frame, "But what about..?"
Rouge shook her head, "Forget about it. I can't wait any longer to hear about this."
"Okay," Tikal said reluctantly, "But I'm warning you, it's a long one."
"No problem, chica," Rouge said, smiling. "I'm all ears."
"So, what you're saying is basically you're the whole reason why Shadow is alive." Rouge said.
Tikal shrugged and dragged her bare feet in the water, "I dunno. I guess you could say that…"
The two girls had taken a walk through the woods and finally reached the stretch of glimmering sand that was the beach of Lake Tomahawk. The greenish blue water lapped up against the shore. The beach was full of sunbathing college kids and older senior citizens lying underneath large umbrellas. Two dogs were tossing a Frisbee between each other. A family of rabbits was having a picnic. A little down the ways from the beach area was a large wooden dock that extended into the lake. That is where Tikal and Rouge chose to have their little heart-to-heart.
Rouge took a long hard look at her new friend. Besides the whole deal with her and Shadow, Tikal seemed pretty mysterious. She kept quiet most of the time and she never really answered questions fully. But now, as she was opening up to Rouge there on that dock, it seemed like everything was pouring out of her mouth from her mind. She had no other choice but to finally tell Rouge and once she started, she found that it got harder to stop.
She told Rouge how she first sensed something else was on her island, Angel Island. She found that Shadow was the source of this because of the left over emeralds' power could still be detected on him.
Tikal sighed and continued on. "He was very weak. He couldn't remember anything, not even his own name. All of his memory was kaput."
Rouge nodded and indicated for Tikal to go on.
"It was hard at first. He was scared of me and confused all of the time. He got frustrated very quickly when I was trying to help him remember things. Soon, he came to remember his name and when he told me I knew immediately who he was. I nursed him back to health and counseled him every day until we really created this strong bond between us."
Rouge grinned, "Yeah…and then what?"
The corner of Tikal's lips lifted into a small embarrassed smile, "Then, I guess you could say we fell in love."
Rouge kicked up some water when she heard that, "You gotta be kidding me. Your name isn't Maria and Shadow actually loves you? That's crazy."
Tikal's smile vanished, "Well, it's more like "loved"."
"What do you mean?"
"Things didn't exactly end well between us. Shadow was longing to find the answers about his past that I couldn't answer. He wanted to go find them but I begged him to stay with me and just start over with a new life. But then, he got mad because he thought I didn't care about him. Then I got mad because I couldn't understand why he would say such a thing to me, especially after all I had done for him. It turned into a great big blowout and the next morning when I woke up," Tikal paused and turned her head away before she whispered, "he had gone."
A few silent moments passed between the two as Rouge took it all in. She felt sorry for the poor girl and she could tell that Tikal was not over their relationship at all and Rouge could bet a million dollars that Shadow wasn't over it either. Something had to be done about this.
Tikal sniffed and finally glanced over at Rouge, "So, are you happy now?" she asked with a weak grin.
Rouge curled her arm around Tikal's shoulder and gave her a one-armed hug, "Definitely," she said, "Didn't that feel good to get off your chest?"
"I guess. Thanks for listening."
"Hey…thank you."
Tikal raised an eyebrow, "For what? Finally telling you?"
"No," Rouge said quietly, "For saving Shadow."
--
ugh...*cringes* that chapter was awful. Thank goodness this was the last of the icky "introductory" chapters. And the next chapter is where all the action starts to happen. YAY!
Well, I would write more but I gotta go. I have a interview for a job today and I'm super nervous. Eek! Wish me luck!
R&R as always!