Hunting? I'd Rather Go Fishing

Tekno opened her eyes to pitch blackness. Fear coursed through her very bloodstream, as the memories flooded into her mind like water into lungs.. "That's it. I'm dead… What a way to go!" She exclaimed hysterically.

"Tekno?" Amy asked, right next to her.

"Oh, cool! Amy's dead too, and we both went to the same place. At least I won't be alone," Tekno sighed in relief. "Now… where's God? I have some complaints about a variety of different things. First of all—!"

"Teeeeekno," Amy called. Tekno's hair was pulled away from her eyes. She saw Amy right up in her face. "You're not dead, silly."

"O-oh," Tekno mumbled. She looked all around, and saw that she was still in Breeze, who himself was in a wooden boat floating in a lake. "Huh."

"You were out for a while. You fainted before we even hit the water," Breeze stated. "We were all very worried." Amy nodded, still holding the snoring baby bird in her hands. "Uhh… I'm still pretty worried, but for different reasons. One dip in this pond and I'll be rustier than the Hotrod of Horror."

"The what?" Amy asked.

"It's— just an obscure motorhead reference," Breeze answered, rolling his eyes. "You wouldn't get it."

"How didn't we drown?" Tekno asked.

"With the power of Bubble Shield!" Amy exclaimed, starry-eyed. She showed Tekno an out-of-charge tarot card with an illustration of a drip of water on it. "It lets us breathe underwater. But it popped on a sharp rock, and we all nearly went splashing into this lake. But this fisherman was here and caught all of us with his boat."

"Hello," the fisherman cat said, turning around. His eyes shined like flashlights. "My name's Big." He went back to staring at the water.

"Why are we moving so slowly?!" Tekno panicked, looking over the edge of the boat. "Cleave is gonna find us!"

"I'm fishing," Big said. "You can fish too if you want."

"Yes! Can I have a fishing pole, please?" Amy asked, smiling. Tekno held in an angry scream.

"Yeah. Here," Big replied, handing Amy the fishing pole.

"Brrr… it's so cold," Amy mumbled. Tekno gazed to dry land, and saw no sign that anybody was actively pursuing them. No lights. No sounds but the water sloshing around beneath the small boat and Amy's teeth audibly chattering.

"Don't worry. It gets warmer around this time," Tekno replied, calming down a little.

"Why's that?" Amy asked, looking in the direction Tekno was staring. She spotted a bright blue light, and felt a wave of warmth wash over her. The little pesky mosquitos made way for fireflies as misty lanterns faded into existence, called forth to fight back against the night. "Whoa… It's like Collision Chaos Zone!" Amy gazed all around at the lanterns as they floated along in the air weightlessly. She sighed in pure joy as she reached out to the lantern for warmth. "Tekno! How did you know about this?"

"I used to come down to this lake a lot. Ever since I was a kid," Tekno replied, laying down on her back and looking up at the lantern festival swirling around in the sky. "It's said that long ago, this once ordinary lake was changed forever by a Chao Guardian." Amy looked over the edge of the boat and saw her ripply reflection amidst the reflection of brilliant light on the water's surface. "She saw that the Chao inhabiting the surrounding forest were frightened by the constant darkness covering this county, so she crafted these lanterns one by one out of Fogium to try and make them feel happier."

"Fogium… sounds like my best friend, Froggy!" Big exclaimed, turning back with a big beaming smile. "But he's lost. I wonder if Froggy can see the lanterns from under the water."

"I hope so!" Amy replied. "I wish my Sonikku was here. He would be afraid of the water! But I would hold him and tell him everything's okay." Amy's face grew more sentimental. "And… and I'd be afraid of the robots. But he would break them and tell me everything is okay too."

"Hey, you know what? We lost Cleave and the E-Series. They probably think we're dead. Now we can go back to your town, pick up Sonic and Tails, and depart for Avalon," Tekno suggested, smiling a little for Amy. Amy gasped in surprise.

"Then c'mon! Let's go!" Amy replied. They drifted along into a calm river between many bioluminescent blue weeping willows. "Thanks for the ride, Mr. Big! We are going to my town though. Do you want to come with us?" Amy handed the fishing pole back to Big.

"Sure! I can't find Froggy here, so maybe he swam off somewhere else," Big said. They approached a small wooden dock. Amy and Tekno hopped out, as Big carried Breeze onto solid ground. He chained the boat to the dock.

"Here we are…" Amy mumbled, looking at the sprawling weeping willow forest ahead.

"It's gonna be a while until we get to Kerosen," Tekno stated. "We should get going if we want to beat Cleave and his robots there."

"What would you all do without me?" Breeze asked. "Hop on in, everyone." Amy and the others entered the car. "Everyone ready?" Amy, Tekno and Big nodded. Birdie squirmed. Amy looked down at him as he yawned.

"Wait! Birdie's waking up," Amy gasped. Tekno looked at Birdie as well.

"Wow… you'd think he would have woken up during all the commotion back there," Tekno said. Birdie opened his eyes, and looked up at Amy. He didn't fly away.

"Birdie, you're awake! I've been taking care of you for like a few hours," Amy exclaimed. She could see the trust and comfort in Birdie's gaze as they looked into each other's eyes for a few moments. She lightly cuddled Birdie, smiling warmly. "I knew you'd trust me. We're going to be good friends, I think." Birdie wrapped his small wings around her arm.

"Dawww," Breeze sighed. "That's just like you, Amy. So, we all ready to drive?"

"Yes. I can't wait for you all to meet Sonikku," Amy said, as Breeze started his engines and drove along into the Twisted Willows Zone.