A black hedgehog walked through an overgrown forest. He didn't know who or where he was. He had just waked up in the middle of a hole with trees burning around him as if a lightning had struck down. That was weeks ago, what surprised him was that he was still alive even though his stomach was screaming for food. He had tried to eat random berries, but ended up seeing illusions so he didn't try that again. His ribs were visible under his pelt because of his starvation.
Not too far away was a carriage and riders travelling down the road. On both sides of them, the forest was growing mighty and green. The driver of the carriage saw something moving up ahead, something black, which seemed to step wrongly, and fall down the small downhill beside the road. The black hedgehog stopped just before the carriage and groaned.
The ruby eyes glared at the big four legged animal. He hadn't seen a horse before, but didn't fear it. A kitsune sat on the carriage and stared at him surprised and picked up a small dagger in fear. A red echidna and a lavender cat approached the hedgehog on their horses. "You there! Who are you? And why are you stopping our path?" The echidna asked rather angry. He was fully armored as well as the female feline. "Sir Gawain. Take it easy. This might not be an ambush, look at his state," the cat pointed out which made the black hedgehog growl. He was about to walk past them when a sword was put against his throat, stopping him in his tracks. "Percival this has happen before, don't let your guard down. He is probably not alone," Gawain said to the cat.
Before the knights could argue more, a blue male stepped out of the carriage. "What is going on out here?" he asked kindly and looked at the yellow fox driver. "I-I'm sorry, my king, but this man fell down and I had to stop so I wouldn't drive over him..." the fox said trailing off, hopping down and lowering his head in respect.
The sword from the hedgehog's throat fell slowly down as the king approached. The knights lightly bowed but saw no such reaction from the black hedgehog. His ruby eyes just glared at the cobalt hedgehog with a red cloak and a crown on his head. One of his hands was armored and a sword levitated by his side. "Don't go to close my Highness it might be a set up," Percival said but the starved hedgehog didn't make any move or said anything.
"I doubt that, Sir Percival. He looks like he needs some medical treatment and food." the King commented, giving a small smile at the black one. "Who are you and where do you come from?" he asked.
"I don't know." The black hedgehog replied and gave him a 'I don't like you' sort of look. His quills rose as if he was ready to attack the king without hesitation.
The King raised an eyebrow and he examined the black hedgehog by walking around him. "Gawain, we are taking him with us, and get him back in shape again." the blue colored hedgehog said smiling at the knight and went back to the carriage. "Come," he said and held out his hand for the red striped male.
The black hedgehog didn't know what to do and if he should trust this blue hedgehog. He slowly took the kings hand but didn't let his guard down. The black hedgehog had red and white shoes, or what looked like shoes. It had a very odd shape as if it was something more than just shoes. His wrists and ankles had each a gold ring attached as if he was from a royal family. A commoner didn't wear such jewelry.
The blue royal stepped into the carriage first, the black one following him. The knights could only watch, not able to say anything against their king. Then the group was moving again and the blue male decided to start a conversation. "My name is Arthur. I am the king of Camelot, and I trust you not to be any thief or murderer who wants my head on a golden plate," Arthur said and chuckled.
"I don't know what I am...could be both of them." The black hedgehog said, not interested in giving a good first impression.
Arthur pouted and closed his eyes, "Any idea from what kingdom you come from?" he asked.
"Does it matter much what kingdom I come from?" He replied, glaring at the king who tried to be kind to him.
"It does. If you are a spy from the kingdom that has started to become hostile, I need to think what to do with you," the King replied opening his eyes again to look at the black hedgehog with his emerald green eyes.
"I don't serve anyone," he replied without softening his glare. He didn't find this king suitable to be served and wouldn't give his respect to him as the other mobians clearly did. "I don't follow any rules, and so I don't live within any kingdoms," he added just to make it clear that the king wouldn't get any more information. Because he himself didn't know any more about himself than what Arthur did.
"You would rather have wanted to die in the forest then?" Arthur asked and wrapped the cloak around his body tighter; trying to protect himself from the cold.
The black hedgehog wasn't affected by the chilly air and just stared at the king. "Does that mean I have to serve and live within a kingdom to live?" He asked seriously, which sounded quite funny. It was very illegal to not live within a kingdom; it could even get a person executed. A person was identified from what kingdom he or she lived in.
"Pretty much... You can choose what you want to train to become, because we cannot force you into a certain cast. But a part of the royals, and certain important citizens you cannot choose to be. I can explain more to you tomorrow when we get back to my kingdom..." the blue male trailed off and closed his eyes again. The black hedgehog nodded in understanding, he was new to the system but the king made it sound so important. Arthur however was pretty much shocked that a hedgehog pretty much in his same age wasn't familiar with one of the most important rules.
During the long pause in the talk the two hedgehogs had, Arthur fell asleep, exhausted after the conversation and all the duties the king had needed to do earlier. He curled up a bit with the cloak around him, smiling a little in his sleep. The ruby eyes still glared at the sleeping form. He found the king pathetic and too soft, he could easily kill Arthur. Fortunately for the king, he wasn't an enemy, not as far as he knew at least. So he let the sleeping form be.
In the middle of the night, Arthur woke up. It had started to rain, and the wind blew it against the wood so hard it made a loud noise. The king yawned and looked at the black hedgehog, still awake. "Have you gotten any sleep?" the blue hedgehog asked and rubbed his eyes yawning again.
"I am not tired." The black hedgehog lied, he felt in no mood to talk with Arthur about his health. Plus he found the king not trustworthy and kept his guard up, just in case.
"You got bags under your eyes," the King pointed out chuckling. "Seriously, if we had left you in the forest you would have died. Can't you be even a tiny bit grateful," he continued and pouted.
The black hedgehog stared at the king for a while as if he pondered about it. "Thank you," he finally said to satisfy Arthur.
"No problem," Arthur said and smiled slightly. "We need to think of a name for you, you cannot be called just 'black hedgehog'," he added with a chuckle.
"...Name me whatever you feel like, I don't know any name," he replied and looked out from the window. It was quite a bad weather, but the knights acted like it was nothing. Not even the kitsune complained, they were pretty much used to it and found no problem with it.
The king thought for a bit, and came up with couple of names. "Blackie?" he suggested. The black one looked at him like he was stupid or something. "Okay, okay, not that!" Arthur laughed, "Stripes, or Shadow would be good too... what about one of them?"
"Are you aware that you only suggested names that had similarities with my fur color? I suppose you wouldn't want to be named Blue, Green eye, or Sea would you? A real name or nothing," he answered quite annoyed that Arthur was giving him pet names.
The king thought for a moment, and came up with a name he liked. "How about Lancelot?" he said smiling, and played with the fur-linings of his cloak.
"That will do," he replied, and unable to keep himself awake anymore, leaned at the side of the wall and fell asleep.
Arthur smiled and looked outside. He guessed maybe it was better for the knights to get some rest too, so he told the driver to stop and continue the journey tomorrow. After the knights and the driver had put up their tents, the king went to sleep like the rest of the small group.
The next day had more promising weather, it was sunny and warm. There were still proof of the bad weather from yesterday in the form of puddles, but not so much beside that. Ruby eyes opened and found that the king wasn't in the carriage anymore. Lancelot went outside and saw the kitsune getting down the tents as for Arthur he was… talking with a sword? The black hedgehog stared in disbelief, and he also found it odd that it was flying before, but the others seemed okay with it so he didn't make a fuss of it.
Arthur stopped talking to the sword as he saw the black hedgehog and the others ready to leave.
"Good morning Lancelot. I am sorry, but we need to get moving already. We have to get to my kingdom before night, so we are in a small hurry," he informed with a small smile before he walked back to the carriage, the sword floating after him. Lancelot frowned with the thought of sitting still inside the carriage again. But didn't have much of a choice, either walk beside or sit in the carriage. So he went after Arthur and sat down where he had fallen asleep before. "...You said that you would tell me more about this kingdom and class system today," Lancelot reminded the king.
Arthur groaned and sighed. "Yes, I did..." he said and started to explain "The rules of my kingdom are quite simple. You follow my orders and live in peace with the others. You can also get yourself a job and even get into a high position if you take the right steps. And what comes to the class system, I think the citizens are quite equal to each other. The next class after that are the knights and other important persons such as royal advisors for example. What I won't allow in my kingdom, is crime and terror, so if you commit a crime, you could end up executed. I don't think you need to know more right now, you will learn. Any further questions you want to ask?" the blue hedgehog told and glanced out of the window.
"Follow your orders..." Lancelot whispered to himself not liking that part at all. He knew the position of king was top and everyone else under that position was to follow the orders like law. "What class am I?" he asked curious about his own standards.
"Well... Since you do not belong to any of the kingdoms and you don't have an original class, I cannot do anything else but let you start from the bottom class. Such as cleaning the stables and such..." Arthur told and scratched himself awkwardly behind the head. He didn't actually like the class system, but it had to be there to keep order in the kingdom.
Lancelot found his class very unfair; living in the forest suddenly seemed much more promising. But Arthur had mention that it was illegal to live outside a kingdom. "Did you start at bottom too?" He asked the king but already knew the answer.
Arthur shook his head. "My parents were the rulers before me, so I grew up as a prince..." he explained, "Don't worry though, I am sure you can get into a higher class in no time," the king added.
Lancelot snorted, he was quite disturbed with the system. Not that he was so desperate to get a higher class, but still... "So...what is the name of the kingdom?" he asked while glaring at the king.
The king saw the glare, bit ignored it by smiling as he looked outside through the window and said, "Welcome to Camelot, Lancelot."
The ruby eyes turned to see what he was looking at and saw a big city with a huge castle. A wall surrounded Camelot for protection from enemies. People who went past bowed towards the carriage in respect. This was a new world for Lancelot; he felt that it wasn't the one he had lived in before. But he couldn't pin point why. There was something about his past life he didn't remember.
Lancelot didn't even notice at first that the carriage had stopped until the king said it was time to go. "We need to get you signed into the town register," Arthur said and exited the carriage. He started to walk towards the big castles wooden doors, his knights following after him. The townspeople were bowing as the blue male made his way through, the doors being opened for him.
Lancelot followed but his eyes were wandering around his surroundings. Servants were walking around in the castle but stopped and did a bow for the king before continuing what they were doing. An ivory hedgehog approached them, obviously a knight with all the armors on his body.
"My king, did the journey go well?" He asked with a bow.
"Yes it did, Sir Galahad. Has everything been fine while I was away?" the king asked and smiled at the knight. He obviously forgot to mention the black hedgehog they had found. That was until Sir Gawain decided to remind him. Arthur laughed a bit and explained to the white knight how they had found Lancelot from the forest. He also mentioned he should be registered into the kingdoms files. "Can you make sure he will be written down?" the blue male asked after the explanation.
"Of course my majesty," Galahad said and made his leave. "My king shall we stay by your side in case something happens?" Percival asked hinting that Lancelot might be a threat and could backstab him.
The king looked at the black hedgehog who just kept glaring. "I don't think he will try anything, but come along if you want to," he said and started to walk deeper into the castle and into the bathing area. "I will take a bath now so you are pretty much free of your duties. Go and rest, you have done an excellent job once again." Arthur said and gave them a thumb up, then ran into the bathing area in a flash, the doors closing after.
"Why are you taking me here?" Lancelot asked quite annoyed that Arthur just expected him to follow him until he said otherwise.
The king had taken his cloak and crown off, when he heard the other's comment. "Umm... Sorry, I don't really know how to act with you yet, sooo... my mistake. What would you want to do? You are pronounced classless until tomorrow, so we should get you cleaned up and fed," the king said without turning to face the black one. Instead he focused on putting his cloak with the clothes which needed to be washed.
"That sounds like you actually plan to bathe with me," Lancelot thought out loud which wasn't intended for the king to hear, but it was true. He crossed his arms impatient; Arthur had expected him to know everything. He wasn't even aware what you could do or where to go or not.
"Hmm? A king can forget sometimes too you know..." Arthur said and pouted. "And you can go, it's not like I am keeping you here. I just simply forgot to give you the advices of what to do. You can wash yourself later, and get some food from the kitchen now. Just show them this card, and you can eat in peace," the king said and took a small piece of wood, which looked like a card, and gave it to the black one. After giving the direction to the kitchen, the king took off his shoes and gloves and stepped into the bathtub, filled with hot water. He sighed happily and relaxed.
Lancelot went out and scanned the corridors and rooms. He groaned when he found nobody there.
It was quite big and empty so he decided to run or rather hover. The black hedgehog didn't think it was strange since he had done it a lot of times in the forest. But what he didn't know was that it was very rude to run in the corridors - well hovering. But when he finally found a servant he slowed down and had been undetected during his run. "Miss… Could you be so kind and show me where the kitchen is?" Lancelot asked and the female turned around and gave a look of mistrust. By the looks of him he didn't give the impression of being a royal or someone of a high class. But when he showed the card she nodded, but still with a skeptic expression.
The azure king on the other hand was washing his body and quills, rubbing off the dirt the trip had caused. The other castle hadn't exactly been the cleanest so all Arthur could do was patiently waiting until he got back to his own castle. Now, the king was pretty much as clean as one could be, so he got out of the tub and grabbed the cloth used as a towel and took dried himself. He was quite hungry and decided to join the black hedgehog in the kitchen after putting on his clothing.
Lancelot was sitting in the kitchen and had gotten instructions from the servants what he was allowed to eat. Most of the more expensive and luxury food was for royals and the king, but he didn't mind it that much. Any kind of food was better than nothing. He ate some soup which the female servant said would be the wisest choice considering his long starvation. The ruby eyes stared at his golden rings while eating, he wanted so badly to remember his past, but it seemed that that wouldn't happen anytime soon. Then the king himself showed up in the kitchen. He didn't have his cloak on anymore only gloves, shoes and socks, and of course the crown on his head. He asked a servant to bring him something, and walked over to where the black hedgehog was and sat down across the table. "So, gotten something to eat, I see," he commented with a smile.
"What do you want from me? It's quite absurd of you to welcome a stranger inside your...castle. "Lancelot pointed out, but continued to eat, "You haven't even asked me if I am interested in serving you. Or do you demand me to do so?" He asked treading dangerous grounds.
"Again I ask; would it be better if I had left you to die in the forest, or just left you in the streets when getting here? You need some help in your condition, my friend. Besides, this isn't the first time this has happened," the king said and thanked the servant as she brought his food and placed it in front of him. He started to eat the delicious looking food still smiling. Lancelot growled and continued to eat after that reply, he felt cornered. "What makes you deserve to rule?" He asked serious, Lancelot wanted to know the reason for Arthurs high position and not that he was simply born with it.
The king ate some more of his food before answering. "Maybe you should ask the servants, townspeople, or my knights...hm?" he replied and ate his food happily again. "Humph," Lancelot snorted, angry that he didn't receive a proper answer. He already didn't like the kingdom called Camelot as it was.
Arthur finished his meal and thanked the servant who came to take the plate away. Then he stood up and looked at Lancelot. "You want to take that bath now, since I guess you have eaten enough?" he asked.
"I suppose…" He replied and made his leave. Back at the bathroom, Lancelot pulled off his hover shoes and tried to get off the rings attached on him. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get them off. "Strange..." he said to himself and let them be and cleaned himself with them on.
Meanwhile, Arthur went to meet his knights. He entered their 'living' room and smiled at the knights who stood up when they spotted the king. "Good evening, knights. I just wanted to ask you; do you trust the man we found in the forest?" He randomly asked, chuckling a bit, guessing the answer already. "To be honest...no we don't...it's strange that he didn't tell us anything about himself. I would suspect he is a rebellion considering his behavior. How about you my king?" The female knight asked after sharing the knight's thoughts. "I don't know, something in him tells me that I can trust him. But I will take your opinion into consideration, you are the ones I trust the most," Arthur said and bowed slightly, showing his respect to the knights. The knights bowed deeper back, and the king left, yawning, to his room to get some rest.
By that point, Lancelot was already done and had dried his fur. The bones were visible under his pelt which made him sick. But when he had finally put on his shoes he left the bathroom. 'What now?' He asked himself and felt lost after not given any further instructions on what to do.
'Was I supposed to wait in the bathroom...no...can't be,' he argued with himself and walked around in the castle.
Arthur decided he would search for Lancelot before going to sleep, so he asked the servants if they had seen the black hedgehog. He got the information of the black one's whereabouts and ran to the spot, bumping into the red streaked male when turning a corner. Both fell to the floor and Arthur rubbed his head. "Ow, I didn't think you were that close to the corner!" he said.
"Figures," Lancelot said and stood up as if nothing had happened. "Were you looking for me?" He asked, hoping he had. The black hedgehog was very confused and lost in the castle, and he would rather have some instructions instead of being thrown out.
Arthur nodded and stood up, dusting himself off. "I assume you are tired right? So, you can stay in this one servant bedroom near my room, so, follow me!" he said and started walking to another part of the castle, not checking whether Lancelot was following or not.
Lancelot sighed and followed the king with a bitter frown. Although Arthur was so kind he couldn't help himself but dislike his position. "So I am living here now?" he asked curiously.
"For now…Tomorrow we will test you and see if you are worthy of staying in this kingdom," was the answer from the blue male as he walked in front of the servant bedroom. "This is where you will be staying. That big door lead to my bedroom," said the king as he opened the door to the servant room. It was comfortable looking, neat, and not too big or too small. The bed was a medium size one, made for one person.
Lancelot found little interest in the room and turned to the king. "And if I am not worthy?" he asked with a glare.
"Then you will face either execution or banishment," Arthur said in a serious tone. "Don't fail me, I see a lot of good in you," he added and turned to go to his room to get some sleep.
Even though Lancelot didn't considering himself as easily scared, that answer sent chills down his spine. He got a new picture of the king. At first he thought he was just a stubborn sort of kind, but now also able to make choices of executions. But Arthur answer made sense, he was king after all and as far as he knew they weren't always able to be the most innocent sort of rulers.
"Good night, Lancelot," the King said smiling and closed the door of his room. He yawned, took off his clothing and the crown, washed his mouth and went under the bed covers. He nuzzled the pillow and fell asleep almost instantly.
Lancelot growled angrily and his hands flamed green. He was aware of his special powers, but he wasn't sure why he had them, though they were sure useful when he lived in the forest. But what he didn't know was that amber eyes stared at him from the window. "I...must tell this to Arthur...tomorrow..." the ivory knight said to himself as he studied the black hedgehog before he sneaked away.
The next morning Arthur woke up late. He looked out of the window and saw some birds. He got up and opened the window, raised his hand, and the bird flew in and landed on it. The king smiled and petted the birds head with a finger. "Good morning~" he said to it. The bird chirped and flew away again. Arthur closed the window and got dressed the way he was the day before. Then he walked out of his bedroom and went to get some breakfast from the kitchen.
When the king was eating, the ivory knight interrupted. "My king...we need to talk...about this Lancelot guy," Galahad said serious, which he usually wasn't.
Arthur nodded and finished the piece of bread he had been eating and moved to another room with the knight. "What is it, Galahad?" the blue male asked.
"I spied on him yesterday..." he admitted and gritted his teeth, "I think he is a demon. When you left he became sort of angry...don't know how, but his hands came on fire...but not ordinary fire, but a green unnatural one!" The knight said embarrassed, he had come up to the conclusion that he might be a monster from a legend. "It says demon do appear as hedgehogs..." he added just to make him look less like a fool.
Arthur's eyes widened and he thought about it. "But Galahad, we cannot be sure of that... Maybe he has powers like you do?" the king suggested and sighed. Then he got an idea. "How about this: today when we test him, I'll put you as his opponent. Then you use your powers and maybe he uses his. Maybe that would work..." Arthur suggested and looked thoughtful.
"But that doesn't tell if he is a demon or not...besides you know that my power is not considering demonic...but fine I will be his opponent," he said and bowed before leaving Arthur. The black hedgehog had waked up by then and was walking towards the kitchen. He saw the ivory knight and got a glare from him as he passed. 'That was strange...' Lancelot thought but shrugged it off.
The king walked back to the kitchen sighing and sat down again, starting to eat his food. He saw the black hedgehog arriving and didn't know why he started to feel a bit uneasy. He ignored it and smiled as usual. "Good morning, Lancelot," the king said cheerfully.
"Good morning, Arthur" He said not caring about the title people persisted to use for the cobalt hedgehog. Or maybe it was law to say his title rather than his name. Lancelot decided to take soup again; he was in way too bad shape to take something else into his belly.
The servants looked in disbelief at the black male. He used the king's name instead of his title. One of them got moving regardless of it and brought some soup for the red striped hedgehog. That's when Arthur decided to start a conversation. "As you know, you are going to be tested today. You need to clear an obstacle range, fight an opponent I have picked for you, and then you shall take a test of your intelligence," he said and drank a cup filled with milk.
"Sounds easy," Lancelot said and began to eat the soup. He found it sort of odd to go through such tests just to be able to start at the bottom class, but he didn't argue. It wasn't like he would lose or anything.
After both the hedgehogs were done, Arthur took Lancelot outside to get ready. He told that there would be couple of high class men to judge his results with the king after all three tests were done.
Lancelot muttered when he heard that and saw the ivory hedgehog with armor outside as well. "So what is the first test?" he asked the king.
Arthur nodded for Galahad who started to walk closer. "The battle," the king said and started to walk away from the black one.
"Okay..." he said and got a sword to fight with. He found it very disturbing to use it, as if it didn't fit him.
"Prepare yourself," Galahad said and put his guard up. Lancelot sighed and tried to be in fighting position with the sword, but it felt very out of place. The ivory hedgehog gave a fighting cry as he ran toward Lancelot. The black hedgehog wasn't sure how to react, but tried to defend himself with the sword in his hand. But he put too little weight in the sword and Galahad's slash made him drop it. As soon as someone dropped the weapon it would be considered the end of the fight, but the ivory hedgehog didn't feel satisfied, he knew what he saw earlier and knew the other could do more. And he wanted to bring that up to the surface. So Galahad, against orders, attacked his unarmed opponent. Lancelot managed to jump away with wide eyes; he had thought the first test to be over. Even the king was surprised, and even furious that his knight disobeyed him, but there was nothing he could do as Silver was trying to do a killing blow. But ruby eyes glared at the knight irritated and his hands flamed green fire and he took the sword between his fingers before it slashed him. Galahad stared at him in shock. It was impossible to stop his powerful slash like that, or so he thought.
The king stood up from where he was sitting and yelled. "That's enough!" The confused knight took steps back, glaring at the black hedgehog, Lancelot returned the glare. Arthur walked between the two and looked at them. Then he sighed. "I guess the first test ended up with no winner. Galahad, we will talk about this later," the king said and motioned for Lancelot to follow after him where the next test would be held - the forest.
"Your next test is to get me a hidden diamond from the forest. It is made of wood, so you won't earn anything by running away with it. Remember, its high up. Don't fall," he said and patted the black one's shoulder.
Lancelot nodded and took off into the forest. Thanks to his sensitive nose, he picked up a scent that didn't belong in the forest. He froze before a tree and looked up and started to climb. It didn't take long before he found the wooden diamond in a hole in the tall tree. Instead of climbing down he jumped and walked back to Arthur.
Arthur stared at the black one and then shook his head. "Well, that was quick..." he said and took the wooden diamond-shaped piece and gave it to one of the servants.
"The final test is your intelligence. Follow him," the king pointed at one of the judges who stood up, "he will show you where to go and explain what to do. Then you return here and he will say how you did," the king instructed. The judge started to walk to the castle. "This way, mister," he said.
Lancelot followed the Armadillo. They entered a room with just a single table with two chairs on each side. On the table was a chessboard. "My name is Mighty and I am going to test your intelligence playing chess. I don't expect you to win since I have never lost in this game, just do your best," he said and sat down on one chair and gestured the black hedgehog to do the same. "Let's begin," he said and the game started. Mighty was leading of course but was impressed with Lancelot's moves. But then suddenly, "Checkmate," said the black hedgehog as if it had been the most natural outcome all the time. Mighty had walked right into his trap, Lancelot had even sacrificed one of his most powerful pieces to lure the other. "...Well. That was surprising..." Mighty said in a sort of shocked state, but shook it off. "Let's go back to Arthur," he said and they returned to the king. The king was sitting in his throne room, reading a book until he heard the pair approaching. "Well? How did it go?" Arthur asked, putting away his book. "He won..." Mighty started, "My lord, he won the game," he repeated. Arthur widened his eyes and looked at the black male who just crossed his arms. "That... was surprising..." he said.
Mighty was not so happy about losing to an unknown stranger. Everything about the black hedgehog was too good, and he felt that it was more to discover from him. "I want to give him one more test...and that's the final," the armadillo said.
The king nodded without hesitation and stood up, leaving the book on the chair. "I will come with you," he said and walked after the armadillo, letting him show the way
.
Mighty lead the two to a church and the black eyes studied Lancelot as he took the first step inside the holy building. When nothing happened, he sighed and continued further. "Wait here for a second," he said and left the two to talk with a priest who gave him a glass of water. Mighty returned with the glass in his hand and gave it to the ebony hedgehog. "Drink it," he said and Lancelot did as he was told. When he was done he stared at the armadillo who was observing him closely like something was supposed to happen. "You are pure after all..." Mighty said and confused both of the hedgehogs. "What was it I just drank?" Lancelot asked suspecting poison or something similar. "That was holy water. If you were a demon you would have died by that, but it would appear that you are an ordinary mobian after all..." he muttered.
Arthur sighed. "We are just checking, Lancelot. Galahad saw you using your powers yesterday night and today when you were fighting him it happened again. So Mighty just wanted to check and make sure you are not a demon who would attack our kingdom," the king explained and patted the black one's shoulder. He made a cross on his chest; they were in a church after all.
"Okay...?What about the result?" He asked ignoring the demon part. "I and my lord will have to talk about that before deciding anything..." Mighty said with a sigh and scratched his cheek. "You may leave, we will call you when we have the results," The armadillo said and got a nod from Lancelot before he left the two alone. "I want to hear your opinion about him," Mighty said to the king.
"He is not normal," was the reply from the king. "But I still kind of trust him. He might make a good knight..." Arthur added and sighed.
"Yes he could be an outstanding knight...but it's one thing he lack which is a shame, he can't use a sword. He was hopeless with it. He feared his own sword because he didn't trust it in his hand. He showed more skills in combat than with sword. We can't put him in the bottom class that would be a waste of talent. A knight would be most fitting, that's my opinion," Mighty said honest.
Arthur nodded. "We could always train him," he said and grinned. "He has talent; maybe he even is as fast as I am?" the king challenged and made a backflip, laughing when he did so.
"I think we should still have our eyes open...you know what happened with that other mobian that was too good to be true...what was his name again…Mephiles - yes that's it. Turned out he was a demon. Good thing your father slayed him. So you must admit this black hedgehog looks almost like him. There is a possibility he is Mephiles child or his reincarnation," Mighty pointed out with crossed arms.
"As far as we know, Mephiles didn't have any children. Besides, my knights could keep an eye on Lancelot during the training. Then we could see if he is suitable to be a knight or is a danger," Arthur told and sat down on his chair again. "So, what is our decision?" he asked and leaned a bit forward. "Knight," he answered with a nod.
The king nodded in agreement. "Can you go and tell Lancelot we have made our decision?" he asked and leaned back against the back of his chair. Lancelot was sitting outside on the grass and enjoyed the silence until he was disturbed by Mighty. "We have the result, follow me," the armadillo said and got a groan in answer. The ruby eyes glared into the emerald ones as they finally arrived to Arthur. He still didn't like the king, but Arthur didn't mind the others behavior for now.
"Lancelot, on what class do you think you will go to?" Arthur asked and stood up, walked to the black hedgehog and stopped in front of him.
The black hedgehog couldn't help but smirk being a bit cocky, "Emperor."
The king rolled his eyes. "So you are planning to take my place as king?" he said and put his hands on his hips.
"Oh my bad, forgot you were king," Lancelot chuckled amused with the cobalt's reaction to his words. He didn't care what position he was put in. He just loved getting on the kings nerves despite him being so kind to him.
"Want to hear what we decided?" Arthur asked and looked seriously into the black hedgehogs eyes. He knew the other was just messing with him, so he didn't get provoked by it.
Lancelot got his act together and nodded. "We decided that you will start your training as a knight," Arthur pronounced smiling and patted the black shoulder again. "You won't be going to the lowest class after all."
"Okay? What does it mean to be a knight?" He asked curious.
"I think you should ask your fellow knights. I'll show you their dorm," Arthur said and started to walk out of the throne room to where the knights were.
The only knights who were there were Galahad and Percival. "What is he doing here!?" The ivory hedgehog asked and the feline just stared at the king. She didn't judge the black hedgehog before she knew what was going on.
"Calm down, Galahad. Mighty and I decided that he shall be a knight. He has power to be something great," Arthur answered and walked to the other two.
"I accept your decision my king, but who will be his mentor?" Percival, who was the wiser one out of the Knights of the Round Table, asked.
"You and I, Percival." the king said, chuckling slightly. From the corner of his eye he saw Galahads eyes widening. The feline smiled and turned her attention to the black hedgehog. "Come Lancelot we have to get your size," she said and picked up a tape measure. "Why?" Lancelot asked confused, he didn't like that the cat would touch his body. "For your armor of course," Arthur laughed and sat down on one of the comfy chairs. "If you haven't noticed yet, knights wear armors," he said, mocking the black one.
Lancelot growled at the king's remark. Percival decided to explain more about it sense the black hedgehog didn't really see it important. "The armor is not only to protect your body, but also to show your status. You will be able to go to places underclass can't. Since we are under direct order from the king we have full right to intrude homes if we see it necessary. Of course you are not allowed to abuse your new title, and if you do you will get executed. The laws are strict and are not meant to be broken. As for the armor you aren't allowed to take it off until you are either showering or sleeping. We are working 24/7 and you must be fast on your feet if something happens. Another very important and absolute rule is to follow the king's orders. It doesn't matter if it's a job for a knight or not, it's not up for you to decide if it's fitting your standard or not. I will tell you more about it later, for now I will just get your size," she said and got a furious glare from Lancelot. The black hedgehog shivered when she touched his pelt with the tape measure. When she came to his chest she sighed, she couldn't get the correct size of him as skinny as he was, but she tried to predict how his body would look like when he was fully healthy again. When Percival took the size of his ears, he blushed. It was too embarrassing for his liking.
"The bad boy has a soft spot~" the king teased and stood up. "I guess we should wait for him to get his weight back, it's time for lunch anyway," Arthur said and smiled. "The cook will be making some beef today," he whispered to Galahad who licked his lips. "That sounds good, my king…" the knight said, and Arthur just chuckled.
"Now that I have your size I will give it to the blacksmith and he will come up with something creative that will fit you," the female knight said with a sigh. "As for the sword..." she said thinking about it for a while, "My king, maybe we should see if he is able to wield Arondight. It's the only sword that yet has to get an owner," she said. Lancelot however wasn't familiar with the legends of the world. So he didn't know all the Knights of the Round Table wielded swords that were a part of the legendary sword, Excalibur. It was in fact Arthur's sword, Caliburn, fused with the other swords that become Excalibur.
Arthur nodded, and went to stand by the fireplace. He pressed a secret button on one of the bricks and a door opened into a secret room. The king went in and when he came back he had a big, heavy looking sword. It was black and silver colored. "Here," the king said and extended his hand for Lancelot to take the sword. Arondight is only able to be picked up by the wielder of either Caliburn or the rightful owner of the sword itself. Everyone expected that the sword would reject Lancelot and punish him for believing he could wield it, but nothing happened. Instead, Lancelot tried it out, first with the right hand and then the left. In other words he was able to handle the sword with both hands which was very rare. He took a backhand grip of it and nodded. "Seems like a good sword," he said.
Arthur couldn't believe it. The hedgehog could wield Arondight. "How can he...?" the blue male mumbled and took out his own sword, playfully grinning, and making contact with Arondight. "Lesson number one!" he said and jumped over Lancelot, and pushed the sword into the others back so it did touch the other, but didn't harm him. "You had your guard down," he commented and chuckled.
Lancelot yelped as he felt Arondight blade touch his throat. His ruby eyes were wide staring at the king in confusion and a hint of fear. Arthur had awfully easy defeated him, and it was obvious that the king was more skillful in swordsmanship than all the knights together.
The king smiled and lowered his sword.
"My king, you cannot expect him to know how to defend himself yet," came a voice. "Aw, come on Caliburn, he will learn when we teach him," the king groaned and let go of the sword. It floated. Lancelot stared at Caliburn in disbelief. "It's talking? What is that?" He asked. Everyone else knew what sword it was, so his question seemed very absurd to them.
"Excuse me, Lancelot. I am Caliburn. The sword of a king," the sword claimed and floated in front of Lancelot. "Arondight isn't the only magical sword here," he said, Arthur just chuckled.
"I never believed any of the other swords were magical. It's just a sword," Lancelot said and threw away Arondight so it hit the floor. "Don't find it so magical. Can't fly," he pointed out and chuckled while shaking his head. The others, however, were furious. Every knight treated the sword as their body part, especially these swords that were a part of Excalibur. What Lancelot just did was as bad as spitting on the bible in disbelief. Which was a crime since the religion that dominated was Christianity.
Arthur almost screamed and picked up the sword. "What did you do?!" he yelled and sat down on the ground, and checked if the sword was fine. No scratches, no dirt. Stupid, but the king seemed to take it personally. The two other knights glared at the black one. "How could you do that?" Galahad asked, and grabbed his sword, as if ready to fight.
"It's just a sword, and if it got damaged from just that it would be a worthless one," he said rather rudely. Caliburn didn't like that a part of him was thrown in that way. "Lancelot you know that Arondight is your soul sword! You can't treat it like that!" Percival hissed, usually being the calm one, but what Lancelot did was a pure crime. But the one that was most furious about it was Caliburn and Arthur.
Suddenly, Arthur grabbed Caliburn, and slashed the black one`s cheek. Then he put the sword near the red striped hedgehog's neck. "Never do that again. Never," the king threatened and made a small cut on the other`s neck.
Percival put a hand on the blue king's shoulder. "My king, as much as I hate to say this; he doesn't know these things yet..." she said, trailing off. The blue male lowered his sword. When finally Lancelot was free he backed away in fear. He was so shocked that he couldn't control his emotions correctly. "I should have mentioned that you do not mistreat your sword, especially Arondight! If you do that again, punishment will be severe!" She warned and her tail flicked irritated. "Usually we don't have to tell this to knights since it comes to them naturally that their sword is their partner and not a tool!" Percival growled. "Sorry..." Lancelot mumbled and picked up the sword again and gave it to Arthur who death glared. "Give it to someone else then, I don't need a sword," he said which was breaking the rules further. As soon they found the rightful owner of the legendary swords it would stay by their side. And it was the first time anyone had seen or heard anyone deny their ownership of one of the legendary swords.
The king screamed on the top of his lungs and got so mad that he ran out of the room. He actually ran away from the castle and into the woods. He got to his own, secret training spot, and started to slash the trees down with his sword, rage visible.
In the castle, Percival turned pale, and Galahad just tried to gain the information he just witnessed. "T-The king... H-He has never been that angry..." the purple knight mumbled, and stared at the open doors. "Look what you have done Lancelot! Never deny ownership with a legendary sword such as Arondight! What were you thinking!? We can't give that sword to just anyone! Its bound to one owner which happens to be you!" Galahad yelled. The feline sighed and was about to leave but turned to look at them. "Lancelot you stay here with Galahad I will go and talk with Arthur...if I can find him," she sighed and headed after the king in the hopes of finding him.
After a good while Arthur stopped slashing at the trees. He put Caliburn down on the ground and sat beside it himself. He brought his knees to his chest and sighed. "How could he do that?" he asked. "I don't know, Arthur..." the sword answered kind of sadly. "I think he just needs to learn..." Caliburn added. Arthur only nodded.
Not far away the feline knight found traces of Arthur`s rage attacks on the trees. "My king, are you here?" She asked out loud as she approached Arthur.
Arthur heard the knight, grabbed Caliburn and ran. He didn't want company right now, he was still quite pissed. He ran until he made it to the mountains. The blue king sat on the edge and looked at his kingdom. He could see his castle far away behind the woods. The cliff was actually really high. He sighed again and leaned back to lay down on the enormous rock.
Percival gave up the search and headed to the blacksmith instead. When she arrived to the kitsune she gave him the size of Lancelot`s body so he could start making the armor. When she returned to the knights` dorm every knight was there and all knew what had happen. Everyone showed pure hate towards the new knight apprentice. Since Arondight had accepted him as owner, he was now official member of the Knights of the Round Table. It was even so bad that Percival herself didn't like the idea of training the black hedgehog. "I couldn't find him, but he will be back. And when he does, we have to take a serious talk about this with him," she said and glared at Lancelot who nodded a bit guilty and confused.
About 3 hours later, the king decided to head back. He grabbed Caliburn, and instead of running, walked through the forest slowly. When he arrived at his castle, the gates were opened and Arthur walked in. Going straight to his bedroom, he put Caliburn on his spot on the table, and sighed. He took his shoes, gloves and crown off, and washed his face. Lancelot was in the servant room he had been sleeping in before. The other knights had been so furious about his behavior that they didn't accept him inside their dorm. Despite him being classified as a knight and was supposed to sleep with them. It was pretty late so the black hedgehog went to bed expecting hell the next day. The blue king hopped on his bed, threw his socks on the floor and pulled the covers over his body. "He needs a lesson…" the king mumbled and closed his eyes, falling asleep a lot quicker than he had expected.