𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒓 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑: 𝔽𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤

      The snake-hedgehog and the two-tailed fox float on the bottom of the sea underwater, where they are surprisingly able to breathe and speak. They had already dived deep enough. It was so dark down there that no light could reach it. Finding ourselves in complete darkness, multi-colored patterns began to shine around the stone pillars. So either algae, or sea animals similar to chameleons, or crystals glowed. Now the dark areas became light. But what’s strange is that they glowed only when they approached almost closely to them, and when they floated away, they stopped glowing. Tails swam to one of the rocks to get a better look at one of the crystals. — Look how beautiful it is, Shadow. I have never seen such luminous stones in my life. I just want to touch them. — while the fox slowly extended his hand, someone invisible from the darkness, very deep, took out his harpoon and took aim at the two-tailed one, preparing to shoot at him if he dared to touch the crystal. At one point the fox for some reason stops his hand and lowers it. — Although no, it probably won’t be right. What if they have their own owner, and I essentially steal someone else’s thing? Surely someone installed it here? The upset fox swam further there when Shadow was about to swim. The same one looked closely at the crystal that Tails first wanted to take, but changed his mind. He himself decided to take it. Before doing this, he looked around to make sure there was no one there. — Aw! Someone! Do you mind if I take one extra crystal from here? — he asked, but no one answered him. Shadow decided that since they were silent, it meant they agreed. After all, silence is a sign of consent. Taking that same crystal with his claws, he pulls it out of the pillar, temporarily puts it in his mouth, of course, temporarily hiding it in his stomach, as a surprise, so that he can surprise Tails later and floats on. The one who was hiding with the harpoon did not shoot at this snake hedgehog, which is strange, but on the contrary, allowed him to take one crystal. Afterwards he continued to follow them. — Shadow, don't lag behind! — the two-tailed man beckoned his friend to follow him and swam further, looking around. One tomato clown fish swam past him. — There are sea lizards and fish here. I wonder if mermaids live in this world? — the fox thought, stopping. — Since Luz moved here, it means that someone lives here anyway. There should even be their own versions of nagas. But it’s not clear where they are in this dark and underwater depth? — Br-r-r... — the fox grabbed his shoulders and began to rub against them. — It’s even cooler here. How can I not get sick here? The heat from the sun barely gets here, and you don't even shiver? — But I’m covered with thick hair and fur. That's fine for me. — the snake-hedgehog explained and took the fox and pressed it to his chest. — Okay, cuddle up to me and warm yourself up. Suddenly a fishing net flew at both of them from above and caught them. Not understanding what is happening, Shadow tries to break free, but gets entangled. Tails takes out his sword and cuts out the net that captured them. Creatures somewhat reminiscent of mermaids swam on top of them. They were all half fish, but they also looked different. Some of the other half were people, and others were Mobians. All of them are also armed with harpoons and spears. — Vile, monster! How dare you come to the surface and scare our people again? — said one of them. Tails took a fighting stance, preparing to defend his friend, but from below, several more nagas emerge to the surface, some of which are also armed with tridents and harpoons. Moreover, although these nagas looked the same as those that Tails had previously seen, they also had gills and fins. — Get out of here, enemies. — one of them hissed and shot straight at the mermaids. Fortunately, none of both races were harmed and the mermaids had to retreat. — We will sooner or later exterminate your entire race. — they shouted, swimming away. The sea nagas swam up to Shadow and Tails, inspecting them. — Damn it, dude, so your little friend isn’t one of the mermaids? Instead of a tail, he has... Legs? — one of those snakes, similar to an echidna, was surprised. Tails saw that naga with gills and in appearance he looked like Knuckles. — Knuckles? Isn't that you? — asked the fox, and the naked man brought his muzzle closer to him. — Do we know each other? — I’m not here with you yet, but where we came from, we are familiar with your local version. — Calm down, guys, we are not local and not yours. We come from another world, but our intentions are peaceful. — explained the striped hedgehog. — Holy algae, we were already afraid that you might be an illusion of those mermaids. We were even surprised that you were swimming together and communicating calmly. — explained the blue snake hedgehog, similar to Sonic. — Why are you surprised? Are you enemies? — Well, actually, yes. We have a war going on here between two races. We sailed from here until they returned with reinforcements. — suggested the echidna-snake and everyone began to dive even lower. — Okay, while we're swimming, can you explain to us what's the matter? — Tails asked and the blue naga began to explain: — Previously, mermaids were peaceful and friendly people. We didn't even get along well with them. But a long time ago, on the surface, above the water, an evil sorcerer from the land appeared. He said that if the mermaids do not hunt the nagas, that is, us, kill us and sacrifice us to him, then he will dry up the entire ocean throughout our planet, leaving our world without water, turning it into a huge desert. Then we will all dry out in the heat from the heat of the sun and die. — Why didn’t you try to talk to the mermaids and try to unite with them against him? — asked Shadow. — We tried, but they didn’t listen to us. Moreover, the sorcerer flies there in the sky, but we cannot fly. We can only swim, dive and emerge. In addition, we are half amphibious and have a life balance. That is, in order to live, we must sometimes be under water, and sometimes emerge onto land and stay there for some time. — Perhaps I can help you with this. — they heard the stranger’s voice and froze in place. The old and familiar naga scorpion Luz Bucket immediately floated out to them, smiling sarcastically. He saw Shadow with Tails. — So-so. Are you two stalking me? Not only did you prevent me from saving my people in our world, but now you’re also trying to ruin everything in other people’s worlds and turn everyone against me? — These are not your people, but mine. — Shadow stated. — And you’re not trying to save him, you’re just robbing him even more. We will not allow you to ruin this world, just as you ruined ours. — None of the nagas, even in this world, will trust you, Luz. Get back to our world and give up! — Tails threatened with his sword. — You think you can kill me with such a small needle? — the scorpion said mockingly, lightly clicking his claw on the tip of the island of the samurai’s weapon. — Wait, wait, we don’t understand anything. Who are you? How do you know each other and who are you all? — Sonic asked. — Let me explain everything. — Tails asked and began to talk about everything, who they are, where they came from and why they came to this world. — These are serious accusations, but perhaps we’ll take your word for it. We now need every unit to survive. — suggested the blue hedgehog. — Are you going to trust this liar? — Luz said menacingly. — He himself will quickly lead you to death. Better join me and don't argue with fate. I will help you get rid of the mermaids, and then you will help me recapture my world from humanity and the Mobians on land. The sea nagas looked at each other and the red echidna replied: — Wouldn’t you go to punishment? Have you heard such a curse? — Do you dare to contradict me? - Luz got angry and Shadow himself immediately stood in the way. — You will have to deal with me, traitor. — Stop! Stop arguing. — stopped the foxes' quarrel and leaned his sword in front of the scorpion's eyes. — Luz, trust us. Even if I wanted to kill you. I would have done this much earlier. I want you to finally understand that we are not your enemies and that you can trust us. We don’t make the world worse, and you make it better, but on the contrary, you make it worse, and we make it better. When will you understand this, you stubborn dry lizard! Luz was outraged by such rudeness. — What did you call me? I'll make a sandwich out of you and eat you! — Only over my dead body! — Shadow threatened him with his right fist. — No need to fight! Calm down, both of you! — Sonic moved both of them away from each other. — We don’t need fights and quarrels with each other now. We must forget our conflicts and solve our problems together before the mermaids track down our new hidden village. — Maybe I can somehow solve the problem? — the fox suggested and everyone looked at him questioningly. — Look, I'm almost the same as them. Unless I also need a tail instead of legs. Then I will swim to them, try to negotiate with them, and then I will swim to the surface, fly into the sky, find your evil sorcerer and get rid of him. Then you can again live peacefully and amicably, as before. — I do not trust you. — Luz snapped. — But we believe him. — Sonic said, spat out his mini-chest through his mouth and took out some fish scales. First, he measured the height, size of the fox’s body parts and its anatomy, then began to make a fish tail from a pile of scales for camouflage. — Here! Put it on! — Tails obeyed, took the artificially sewn fish tail and put it on his legs like pants. The fox himself became like a real merman. Oh how! — Now you can’t be distinguished from real mermaids. — Now swim to them and talk to them about whatever you want. - Knuckles asked. — I will not let you down. — the fox saluted and swam back to the surface. — And while you swim after us! — Sonic turned to Luz and Shadow, after which the nagas swam further, even deeper. Finding a cave and swimming through it, they arrived at a hidden village consisting of cave houses. Here lived a small number of sea nagas, who lived basically the same as people on land. Someone played ball on the sea streams, someone collected seaweed instead of flowers and gave them to their couple, someone repaired houses, putting new stones instead of old ones, and someone made weapons and then tested them. — Welcome to our world, guests of reason. — Wow! Your village is somewhat similar to ours, where we also lived before and hid from people with the Mobians. — said Shadow. — Who are humans and Mobians? — Knuckles asked. — These are our sworn enemies, just like your mermaids. Only they have legs instead of tails. Luz snapped. — A! Do you mean land dwellers? — Sonic asked. — Do you have them in your world too? — No, they used to exist a long time ago, even before us. We even found their remains. Our scientists believe that many millions of years ago, our planet used to be dry and without water, and those same people and Mobians lived on it. But then a flood began, water filled the entire planet, then all the land creatures drowned and died. That's why we all appeared, mermaids and naked people. In mermaids, interestingly, the anatomy of their skeletons differs from the skeletons of land animals. Knuckles explained. — And I assume you live on land? — Sonic asked. — Yes, but how did you guess? — asked Shadow. — Well, you and your fox didn’t have gills, fins and fish tails like we do. We have them, unlike you. Even our ears look like gills, unlike your ears. — But in that case I don’t understand. How can we breathe underwater and talk if we don’t have gills and fins? — the striped hedgehog thought. — I thought about this too. — said the scorpion. — So our water in the ocean is not simple, but magical. Even ordinary animals can live peacefully in it. — Knuckles explained and an ordinary dog swam to him, paddling with its paws, and then licked that sea naga on the cheek. — They're really funny. It’s a pity, of course, that other land creatures became extinct and did not survive, like them. It would be interesting to live with them again. — Believe me. Living with them will be much worse. — Luz said grumpily, and then Shadow hissed at him: — Luz, maybe you’ll finally shut up and stop showing off. I promise you, when Tails decides everything for us up there and helps the nagami mermaids make peace again, then I will personally punch you in the face when we return home.

***

      And at that time Tails swam out with a fish tail over his legs back to the light. Once almost on the surface, he began to swim around and looked for mermaids. Fortunately or unfortunately, they found him before he found them. He again got caught in a fishing net, but this time he did not try to escape, but decided to simply surrender to it on purpose. The mermaids swam up to him and examined him. — Damn it! So you're not one of the nagas, are you a merman? — asked one of the mermaids, who looked like a green hedgehog. — Manik? Tails asked as he was freed from the net. — Which Manic? I am Illidan. — the merman hedgehog introduced himself. — What’s your name, stranger? — Tails. To friends, just Miles. — the fox explained. — Glory to the sacred jellyfish that you met us, and not these sea monsters. Sail with us! Let's introduce you to our brothers and sisters! — Illidan suggested, taking Tails by the hand and they all swam to the west.