Chapter 2 - An Old Friend

The sun shined brightly down into the grounds of Camelot as townspeople busied themselves at the Camelot centre, buying fruit and trading goods. Knights practiced in the Camelot Castle courtyard as they had fake jousts with one another and shared news of their latest missions and swordsmanship. The woods next to the castle was alive with the sound of singing birds and the soft wind that thrashed through the trees. Sun peeked through the many canopies of bright green trees and made a light path across the stony floor.

A silver knight suddenly pushed away stray twigs and branches from his face so that he could get past them all as he brushed a stray quill from his eyes and turned to face behind him.

“Come on dad, we haven’t got all day!”

The knight taunted playfully as a second knight streamed out of the trees, tilting his metal helmet up onto his head so he could stare at his son with great curiosity. A grin spread across his face.

“If you were as smart as me Galahad then you would have thought to actually put your helmet over your face to shield it from the twigs!”

The older knight smirked playfully at his son and he placed his sword back into his scabbard as he waltzed over to him.

“Ah dad! Stop mocking me! You’ve had much more knight training then me and you know that!”

Galahad pointed out eying his father wearily. His father on the other hand, playfully hit Galahad’s helmet, forcing the heavy plate to fall over his face inexpectedly.

“Dad, stop playing around! A knight never plays around!”

Galahad snapped at his father. Lancelot just resulted in chuckling again and cuffing the young hedgehog’s exposed ear causing him to grab his father’s arm and tug at it. The two laughed as they continued to walk through the woods, this time each wearing his helmet to stop stray twigs from fraying their faces. They walked for a while, neither saying anything until they came to the heart of the woods. Lancelot removed his helmet and placed it on a large, flat rock that was conveniently placed in the middle of the circular path. Galahad did the same and then turned to face his father, his silver quills swaying gently in the wind as he twitched his perked ears.

“So why did you bring me here anyway dad?”

Galahad questioned, his eyes wide with curiosity. It had been ages since Lancelot had offered to take a walk with Galahad. He had trained his son well and Galahad had spent most of his life in his father’s shadow, learning all of his moves and perfecting them into his own style but he still lingered an empty space in his heart that he couldn’t quite figure out just yet although he felt it had something to do with his vow to chastity and purity.

Lancelot stared hard at Galahad, eyeing his son up and down and reviewing the progress he had made since a few weeks ago. He had progressed through major changes as he had had a growth spurt and began fighting more intensely, building his weak muscles into tough ones that allowed his ability to wield a sword greater. Lancelot’s crimson eyes blazed into Galahad’s soft gold ones as he began to explain why he had brought him out here.

“I think it’s time that we asked the king to make you a proper knight of the Round Table.”

Galahad was taken aback by this sudden outburst and his eyes widened with shock as he took a pace backwards.

“B-but I’m not ready yet, you know I’m not! I can barley hold my sword without falling and I can’t joust well enough yet!”

“Nonsense, you’ll make a great knight and your ready for it, I know you are!”

Lancelot smiled at his son. Galahad still stared in shock at his father but managed to flash a weak smile at him.

“I promise you that the king will accept you, no matter what other people say, you’re a great knight and nothing’s going to change that!”

Galahad wasn’t so sure. He had had to live a life filled with threats and taunts from knights and townspeople who didn’t accept him because of an ancient prophecy.

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“A Silver knight will lead to the fall of the kingdom!” the crazy old hedgehog who was traveling through Camelot had shouted across the town centre, pointing a wiry finger at the 4-year old Galahad, gripping tightly to his father’s hand as the hedgehog drew closer to him, spitting harsh words in his face. Lancelot had merely growled and drew his sword from his scabbard but was stopped from attacking the old hedgehog by his wife, Lady Elaine who had merely shaken her head and placed one hand across the drawn sword and the other gently on his shoulder to control his anger. The quaking Galahad stood on the ground shaking as townspeople shot him horrific looks and nasty threats and he sunk to the floor, cowering in a ball of sadness and softly whimpered to himself.
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Galahad nodded at his father’s words and realized that he was right. There was no point in dwelling on the past, if the prophecy was true then there was no point in blaming it on himself, he’d just have to live with the burden until it actually happened.

Lancelot caught a glimpse of sadness flash in Galahad’s eyes and he placed one glove on his son’s shoulder. He looked up at his father and smiled.

“Should we head back to the castle?”

Lancelot asked and Galahad nodded.

Just as they turned to leave, they each heard a rustle in the trees behind them. Lancelot turned to face the tree, eyes staring in slits as a weak looking hedgehog burst through. She was covered in cuts and bruises and dirt stained her clothes, matted hair spewed across her face and a look of tiredness in her eyes. Despite all of this, the first thing Shadow seemed to notice was a sword, hanging in it’s scabbard on her belt and he immediately widened his eyes and pulled out his sword.

“Who are you? Are you a knight of these plains?”

The Hedgehog stared up at Lancelot, fear rippled over her mud-stained face as Lancelot pointed his sword directly towards her.

“Answer me! Who are you hedgehog?”

Lancelot spat coldly. The hedgehog struggled to heave herself off the floor before eying Lancelot straight into the eyes.

“Greeting sir knight, I am merely an old friend to the king. Or I used to be anyway.”

Lancelot flicked his right ear with curiosity.

“Used to be?”

“That’s right but I can’t explain further, I need to see the king in person so I can tell him my full story.”

“How do I know your telling the truth?”

“Please, I have to speak to the king!”

Lancelot stared into her deep brown eyes and somehow, through all her desperation, he knew she was telling the truth. He put his sword down and placed it back into his scabbard before turning around, back to the castle.

“Follow us, we’ll take you to the king.”

The hedgehog’s eyes filled with relief.

“Thank you sir knight, I haven’t known this much kindness for ages!”
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Lancelot and Galahad flanked the hedgehog on either side of her, to stop her from trying anything sneaky but to also protect her from knights looking for a fight. Gawain followed her gaze with slanted eyes as she walked past but it was nothing new, Gawain was known for his reckless behavior and was always looking for a fight. She didn’t seem to take notice of the harmful stares she got though, her main goal was to reach the king.

Lancelot and Galahad led her into the castle and to the door that lead into the throne room.

“The kings right through this door. We’ll wait outside for you.”

The hedgehog nodded thankfully at Lancelot and pushed the huge wooden doors open, revealing a large stone room with a long dinner table at one side and a huge throne at the very back of the room.

“Who enters the throne room?”

A voice called from the far end of the room.

“King Sonic?”

The hedgehog whispered before running over to the throne and stopping dead in front of him.

“Dame Safir! Is that really you? Is it really really you!?”

The king gasped, his eyes filled with happiness as Safir stood in front of him, slightly bent over to catch her breath from running across the large room. Sonic stood up from his throne and Safir ran up towards him, embracing him in a tight hug, her face pressed against his chest as tears burnt her eyes.

“I missed you so much!”

Safir whimpered to her king. Sonic rubbed her back and wiped tears away from her cheeks with a soft hand.

“I missed you too but, where were you? And where’s Rex and the rest of the knights?”

Safir cringed at Rex’s name and stared up at Sonic as a scared expression crawled onto her face.

“I’m the only survivor. We were ambushed by the knights of the underworld and we were picked off one by one.”

Safir started as tears started streaming down her face once again as she played back the horrible memory in her mind of her friends’ lives ending. Sonic stared at her with concern as she continued the horrific story.

“I went to help Rex but once I got to him, I got so scared that I ran away. I heard the sound of his bones cracking beneath the weight of the underworld knights but I didn’t do anything. I fled my foe and worst of all, am responsible for the death of all four knights so I went to live my life as an outcast but I was attacked and couldn’t hold back, I had nothing, everything was gone so I had no choice but to return to Camelot”

Safir gritted her teeth as tears flooded her eyes and she hugged Sonic even tighter for reassurance. Sonic didn’t know what to say at first.

“Safir.”

Sonic started with a warm tone as he placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

“Everyone makes mistakes and it’s not your fault that Rex and the others died. Even if you did try to help Rex, you probably would have ended up dead too! Safir, this was 5 years ago now, you’ve been gone for a long time, I had search parties scout the areas for you and your team but they had no luck, I feared I had lost one of my closest friends. But I haven’t because I know that your alive, and you’re here with me back in Camelot where you’ll be safe and accepted, no matter what!”

Safir gazed up into Sonic’s emerald green eyes, a warm feeling washed over her and for the first time in years, she smiled.

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