Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Sonic Adventures: "On the road" ❯ The Great Outdoors ( Chapter 17 )

Chapter 17: The Great Outdoors

It was after a few days of driving when the RV of the Sonic team came to a place where there was no city but tall trees all around with a beautiful lake and a great view of Oregon. Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog were both tired from driving and the team also look forward to a place to stop and rest. So, it came to be that the RV stopped in the forest and they began to set up camp there. The sun was shining that afternoon and the birds were heard cheerfully singing lovely songs. The trees were tall and green, the flowers were colorful and the air was fresh.

"And don't forget the bugs!" Sonic said, and he slapped another mosquito off.

Yes, it was the great outdoors but the team came prepared. They had a campfire place ready but the tents waited to be cared for. Sonic stopped next to Tails who was carrying one of them.

"Hey, Tails, you ready to get this tent up and ready?" Sonic asked him, smiling.

"Yeah, you bet I am!" Tails said, excited. "This is the last one, but where's Shadow?"

"Serious business." Sonic replied, and then he pointed toward the black hedgehog that was trying to get Freeway to sleep and have her nap but she always wanted to play.

"Then where is Knuckles?" Tails asked, turning back to his friend Sonic.

"Oh, him? He's out fishing for some dinner." Sonic pointed toward the lake.

"Okay, then that leaves just you and me, just like old times." Tails grinned.

"Hey, buddy, don't make me feel older than I am." Sonic said, quietly. Then together, Sonic and Tails began to build the tent and soon, it stood firm on the ground near the campfire.

"Should I go in and try it, Sonic?" Tails asked, after Sonic finished hammering the last nail.

"Sure, Tails, you go on in and check it out for me." Sonic answered, standing up. He watched Tails enter the tent but as soon as he did, the tent collapsed. "Tails!" Sonic called.

"I'm okay." Tails crawled outside, unharmed and he looked back. "What happened?"

"Well, I think mice chewed on the ropes again." Sonic thought when he saw the weak ropes. "I'll go find the spare ropes in the RV and be back in a flash." Sonic said, and then he ran.

Meanwhile, Shadow carefully stood up and very quietly tip toped away from the baby deer Freeway who was finally asleep. "At last." Shadow whispered, but then he stepped on a small twig, snapping it. He turned and looked at Freeway and she moved slightly. Shadow's face began to sweat as he stood and did not dare to move an inch. Then finally, Freeway continued sleeping in the basket, peacefully. She did not wake up as Shadow expected. "Whew." He sighed with great relief. He found Sonic and Tails, rebuilding the tent and he helped them there while Tikal and Amy were cutting vegetables for the dinner they were preparing for the evening.

= = = = =

Leaving Sonic with the tent for now, we will travel to the lake, where Knuckles and Rouge were both fishing in a boat. They both sat down, waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting...

"We've been out here forever and we still haven't got a bite." Rouge sighed.

Knuckles looked at his bait again but it was not even touched. He gave it another try, casting the fishhook back into the water and then he sat down again. "Fishing takes time." He reminded the white bat. "Sooner or later, we'll catch something. Just wait and see."

Rouge only sighed again, quietly this time and she stared down at the water until her eyes closed. But under water, right under their boat, Knuckles and Rouge did not know the fact that their hooks found each other. The two fishhooks locked onto each other, making the two fishers think they caught something. Knuckles felt it first and he grew excited. Rouge felt the same.

"Hey, I think I caught something big!" Rouge said, gripping the fishing rod tighter.

"So did I and it's huge!" Knuckles said, not knowing it was Rouge all along.

Knuckles pulled and then Rouge gasped as she almost fell into the water, but she quickly steadied herself and then pulled, which only made the red echidna yelp and he almost fell but he gripped onto the boat, breaking his fall in time. Knuckles tried again, harder this time.

"This is one stubborn fish, but I'll give it all I got!" The echidna pulled and pulled.

Then suddenly, from behind him, he heard Rouge scream and then a splash followed. He stopped pulling and turned around. She was not there. Only her fishing rod remained.

"Huh? Rouge?" Knuckles called but there was no answer. He came to the side of the boat and he looked down at the water. Just then, Rouge came up from under water and she coughed, breathing for air while she swam. The sight made Knuckles surprised and very confused.

"Rouge, how did you get in there?" Knuckles asked her.

"YOU!" Rouge screamed, and she splashed cold water on his face, angry.

Knuckles blinked his eyes and then he took the bat by the hand, pulling her out of the lake. She was soak and wet with water. Knuckles hurried and found a dry towel for her. He wrapped it around her shoulders so she could dry herself. Rouge was still upset and she pushed the echidna into the water. He screamed and fell in with a splash while Rouge sat down to dry herself. Knuckles climbed back into the boat, soak and wet. He shook a little water off himself and then he showed the fishing rod to the bat. He found it while he was under the water.

"Here, Rouge, I found your fishing rod in the lake, and I'm… I'm sorry if I hurt you."

Rouge opened her eyes when she heard him speaking and then she saw the fishing rod. It was hers but when she saw the hook, it was locked onto the other, which belonged to Knuckles. When the echidna heard that she was quiet, he felt awful. He thought she would never forgive him. He closed his eyes, sadly. But then he heard Rouge, laughing. He opened his eyes and he saw her pointing toward the fishing rod, which he held. He looked down and saw the two fishhooks. Rouge laughed harder and then Knuckles grinned until he finally laughed also.

= = = = =

Back to the camp in the woods, we see that Sonic, Tails and Shadow were finished with the tent. It stood strong this time and did not fall. They shook hands after doing a good job and great work. It took a little teamwork but that can go a long way as they found out together. It was a wonderful thing to see a job well done, to see it complete because the work of their own hands.

"Yeah, great work, guys. But I wonder when dinner will be ready?" Sonic wondered.

"I don't know." Tails shrugged. "Amy and Tikal are picking berries, Knuckles and Rouge are still out there, fishing. So, maybe sometime soon."

"Yeah, I guess I can hold on for a while. But for now, let's go see if Freeway is all right." Sonic led the way to the small basket, but to his surprise, Freeway was gone.

"Freeway!" Sonic, Tails and Shadow called her name, all at the same time.

"Where did she go?" Tails asked, looking down at the empty basket.

"She was right here, sound asleep." Shadow said, pointing to it.

Sonic lifted the blanket and he looked. "Freeway?" He called but she was not there. He even looked under the basket. She was nowhere to be found and Sonic began to worry. He turned to Shadow and Tails who were searching around the camp. "Guys, she's missing. We've got to find her and fast. There's no way poor little Freeway can survive out here alone."

"That's for sure." Tails agreed, and then he asked him, "Where should we start?"

Before Sonic could tell them his plan, a little squeak was heard behind the tent. They all three ran there, and then they saw Freeway, walking toward them but something was not right. Her shoulder and chest was slightly wet from something and it carried a terrible odor. The smell was undoubtedly a skunk. Sonic, Tails and Shadow covered their noses, coughing.

"Goodnight, what a stink!" Sonic said, backing away as the fawn came toward them.

"Oh no! It must've been a skunk!" Tails guessed and he was clearly correct.

"What a disgrace! We must find tomato sauce, right away!" Shadow coughed.

Sonic ran toward the picnic table where Amy and Tikal were preparing a pot for cooking. Sonic stopped beside the table, breathing clean air while he could. "Gals, pardon me, but I need this. It's a big time emergency!" He said, and then he took the can of tomato sauce from the table. He ran before any of them could speak.

"Oh, that's great! Really great! Now how do they expect us to cook anything?" Amy asked.

"It's a good thing we found a lot of berries." Tikal sighed.

Inside the RV shower, Shadow was armed with a mask and gloves as he bravely stepped inside to wash Freeway with the tomato sauce. It was a noble task and he took it. He poured the red tomato sauce all over the baby deer to clean her from the skunk odor. Freeway shook her body like a wet dog and the sauce splashed onto Shadow. He closed his eyes and tried to shield himself but he was speckled with red dots. Outside, Sonic and Tails waited and wondered how it was going.

"HEY! Ouch! Look out! That's my ear!" They heard Shadow scream inside.

"She loves to nibble on things." Sonic said, and Tails nodded, knowing that for a fact.

Then suddenly and to their surprise, they saw Freeway, running outside to escape from the strange bath. They watched her run passed them and then they turned to see Shadow, standing at the door with tomato sauce on his face. Sonic and Tails were at a loss for words.

"Go throw her in the lake!!" Shadow yelled, letting out his burden of frustration.

"Calm down, Shadow, take it easy now." Sonic said, and he carefully approached the heavily breathing hedgehog. "It's okay. You go wash up and I'll take care of Freeway."

Shadow calmed himself down, let out a sigh and then he faced Sonic. "No, I never should've behaved that way or said what I said. I'll do better, Sonic." Shadow promised.

"Hey, let's both finish the job. It'll go faster." Sonic told him, and they agreed. They worked together, cleaned the fawn, dried her off and soon, she was fresh and clean again.

= = = = =

Afternoon passed and evening came as the cool, sweet breeze flowed in with the gentle wind. The team gathered around the campfire that was now burning with the fire they made. They roasted hotdogs on sticks and the fish that Knuckles and Rouge had caught while at the lake, then they had roasted marshmallows and fresh berries for dessert and nothing could be better for them. They had each other, and so what more could they ask for?

"I wish this was a chilidog." Sonic sighed, looking at his roasted hotdog on a stick.

"It's close enough, Sonic. Just eat it so the girls will be happy." Tails whispered.

"No problem." Sonic said, and then he took the first bite of his camp dinner.

Amy looked around when she heard an owl in a tree near the camp. She turned to face Shadow who was sitting beside Sonic. "I hope those lions and tigers out there mind their own business." She said, and looked around the area again, holding her stick tightly, which held her hotdog.

"Amy, there's nothing to be scared of." Shadow assured her, after swallowing.

Amy nodded her head and she became quiet. But for some reason, she still worried. After they ate their dinner and watched the stars while talking for a little, the team became tired. It was time to sleep. The sun was long gone and the stars ruled the sky with the moon in the night. Everyone brushed their teeth and prepared for bed. Two tents stood as their shelter for the night, one for the boys and one for the girls. After Sonic finished, he entered the tent where the other boys were already there, waiting for him. Each one had a sleeping bag to stay warm because it was cold at night. Sonic felt tired after a long day as he snuggled in his warm sleeping bag. Tails was beside him while Shadow and Knuckles were on the other side of the tent. Sonic let a weak sigh out of his mouth and he closed his green eyes to sleep. Then he heard Amy's voice outside from the girl tent and he sat up. Tails did the same and he wondered what it was.

"Don't forget me, Sonic, if we get in trouble!" Amy said, from the girl tent. "I'm depending on you!" After that was said and heard, all the boys in the tent looked at Sonic.

"Oh, good grief." Sonic closed his eyes, blushing. It was going to be a long night for him.

= = = = =

Hidden from sight in the darkness, the glowing red eyes of Metal Sonic stared down at the peaceful camp of the Sonic team. The RV was seen and he knew they were there. The deadly robot hedgehog closed his metal fist tightly, forming his sharp hand to punch in a fight.

"Frightening, isn't it?" Chaos whispered in the dark behind Metal Sonic.

"Be quiet, will ya? I was just striking a real dramatic pose and you always have to screw things up, don't you?" Metal asked, turning around to face Chaos.

"Well, someone has to keep your bolts on." Chaos grinned.

"If you say that one more time, you'll eat tree bark for a week." Metal threatened. He turned back to face the camp. "Now that we found them and it's dark, it will be easy to catch them."

"Yeah, kids are scared of the dark." Chaos said, and then Metal shook his head.

"You're scared of the dark too, Chaos. Don't kid yourself."

"I am not." Chaos said, and he followed the robot hedgehog down the hill, toward the camp.

They continued arguing about that subject but then a sudden sound from a tree, which was only a raccoon, greatly scared Chaos. He screamed and fell onto the robot, and so both of them tumbled down the hill, down, down, down until they reached the lake. They fell into the water. Metal came up first, furious and he turned to Chaos who came up beside him, holding a fish in his mouth. Metal growled and slapped his forehead, turning his face away with shame. Then suddenly, they heard a growl behind them. They slowly turned around and to their shock, it was a bear, a very hungry bear I should say, and it had its eyes on the fish, which Chaos held. Terrified, they swam for life with the bear closely following them toward dry land. They disappeared into the darkness of the forest with the bear still following them.

Inside the tent, Tails heard the noises outside and he gently shook Sonic until the blue hedgehog slightly opened an eye, sleepily. "Sonic, I heard something out there." Tails whispered.

"Not to worry, Tails." Sonic whispered, sleepily. "It's only the wonders of nature and all part of the great outdoors." He yawned and closed his eyes again. "Go back to sleep, big guy."

Tails shrugged, forgetting his fears. "Okay, goodnight, Sonic." He whispered.

"Goodnight, little bro. Sweet dreams." Sonic whispered before falling asleep again.

It was a calm and peaceful night for the crew. They slept well in their tents with the beautiful stars as their ceiling and the moon as their nightlight above them. The crickets sang them a quiet song and they heard the frogs in the lake, sometimes an owl or a raccoon would be heard but they did not fear because they knew it was the great outdoors. Through the night, they traveled together in their dreams and so they would stay until the sun would rise and bring another day.