Back in Knothole, Rosie soon finished making lunch and called everyone to the table.
"Hope you're all plenty hungry." She told them, as they came in, "Because I've got a lot of turkey sandwiches with chicken soup."
"Oh, I'm hungry enough to eat a horse." Sonic quipped, licking his chops at the food.
"Well, since you do eat like a horse." Sally teased, "I would think it'd best if you didn't."
"Ha ha, very funny…"
"Now, children." Rosie told them firmly. "I don't want any harsh words at the table, ok? I want this to be a nice meal for us all."
"Yes, Rosie." Sonic and Sally said with a sigh.
Sally's nanny then noticed one was not present, none other than the young coyote himself.
"Huh… that's strange." Rosie said. "Antoine at least comes out to eat. I wonder why he hasn't this time."
"I'll go call him." Gandar offered.
"No, I think you better not." Rosie told him. "I bet he's still upset about before."
"Well, he needs to eat something." The olive-green lion remarked with a frown. "It's not healthy for him to skip meals on top of staying in his room all the time."
"Yes, but let me bring him something later." Rosie suggested. "I'm sure they'll be some left over and maybe I can get him to talk to me more about what's bothering him."
Gandar shrugged in submission, saying, "Fine, do you want. Anyway, no reason we can't eat now, so let's dig in."
Rosie couldn't argue with that, as she said, "Well, you heard him, everyone. "Let's eat."
They didn't have to be told twice, as everyone began to chow down, enjoying every bite of it. The young children enjoyed it even more due to how exhausting their training had been.
After ten minutes of silence while eating, Gandar soon asked Renee after finishing his meal, "So, tell me… do you still think Rotor should be helping you with your work? I don't have a good feeling about it."
Renee soon swallowed a bite of her soup, answering, "Well, this may surprise you, but I actually think Rotor did pretty decently for his first day."
"You're kidding me, right?" Gandar asked with arched eyebrows.
"Believe it or not, I'm serious." The red-haired fox told him firmly. "Yes, he made a few small mistakes here and there, but I was surprised by how easily Rotor learned from them and got better as the day went on. He is very teachable and was soaking up what I taught him like a sponge. So, if anything, I'd say he should be given some more time before taking him off of tech duty."
Gandar then looked over at Rosie, saying, "Surely you don't agree with this, right? I mean, he's just five years old. He's too young for this kind of work."
Rosie pondered this over, eventually saying, "Well, while I'm not completely for this idea, I do trust Renee's word on it. She knows tech better than any of us, so if she says Rotor is worthy of being her apprentice, I say let him do it until proven otherwise."
"but, but, but…" the olive-green lion soon sighed in submission. "Oh, fine… but I swear, if he makes one big mistake that hurts us all, he's going back to boot camp training like the rest of them. No ifs ands or buts about it."
"Fair enough." Renee acknowledged. She then turned to Rotor, saying with a wink, "I guess we'll have to make sure that doesn't happen, am I right?"
Not wanting to jeopardize learning something he loved, the purple walrus nodded his head in agreement with a hard swallow.
Everyone soon began to return their eating. It was then Rosie noticed Sally was still not wearing anything like her other friends, even eating a bit like them too. She was tempted to say something about it, but decided to let her be for the time being.
She soon thought to herself: She is only five after all. No reason to worry about this for now. Plus, she seems happy being like her friends. So, maybe in a weird way, it'll be good for her growth as a young princess.
Lunch soon finished, and the group left to continue their daily tasks. Before the young children did though, Sonic went to talk with Sally and her friends.
"You got something to say, Sonic hedgehog?" Sally asked, expecting him to say something negative to them.
"Yea, I do." He then surprised them all, saying, "Well, as much as I don't like admitting this, but you did all beat me fair and square on the obstacle course, so I just wanted to say… you girls really are something. I'm impressed."
This left them speechless, as they were not expecting that.
"Wow, I guess you can learn some manners after all." Sally teased him again.
"Ha ha, real cute. You're one to talk, wearing nothing but your fur now." Sonic shot back.
Sally soon blushed at him acknowledging that, as this was still something she was not used to hearing. The blue hedgehog then said, "I'm not here to pick a fight. I just wanted let you know that I'll be ready next time we do training. You girls won't beat me so easily tomorrow because I'm gonna be working on my own training for the rest of the day."
Sally was tempted to try to trash talk him about it, but instead said with a smirk, "Well, tomorrow should be a fun competition then, won't it?"
"Indeed it will be." Sonic answered with a smirk of his own. "Anyway, I gotta juice now, so I'll see you all then." Sonic started to rev his legs and take off, but soon stopped abruptly, deciding to tease Sally back from her ribs earlier, saying with a thumbs up, "Oh yea, by the way, I like your new style, Sal. Looks really good on you."
Again, Sally blushed at his words. Before she could respond, Sonic blasted off in a flash.
"Hee hee, I was right." Bunnie giggled, teasing her as well with a slight elbow jab. "He does like ya better this way."
"Ugh… why did I ever decide to do this?" Sally demanded with a groan, placing her hands over her face.
"Ah, don't let it get to you, Sally." Clover told with a smile. "Everyone is still used to it, as I'm sure you are as well. Just grin and bear it for now."
Realizing she would look even more foolish to back out of this new decision of hers, Sally answered with a heavy sigh, "Very well then. I suppose I can do that."
"Hey, Sally girl. You want to take a swim with us in the Power Ring pool later tonight?" Bunnie offered. "I bet it'll help take your mind off of this."
Realizing she didn't have much else to do, the red-haired squirrel nodded her in agreement.
"Great, we'll see you then." And with that, Bunnie ran off with Clover for a friendly game of tag around Knothole. Sally would have joined in, but had recently declined their invitation during lunch since she too wanted to do some personal training of her own for the rest of the afternoon.
While Sally went to do that, Rosie soon took a plate of food to Antoine's hut, who was still laying on his bed deeply depressed.
"Antoine? You ok?" Rosie asked after opening the door. "You didn't come for lunch."
"I'm not hungry." He muttered softly, looking away from her. "I'll.. get some food later."
"Oh… well, I brought you a plate." Sally's nanny told him. "I'll leave it on your stand. Just bring me it back when done, ok?"
"Yea… sure thing." Antoine still could not look at her. Feeling compassion for him, Rosie soon told the young coyote, "Hey, it's going to be ok. Don't let what's happened keep you down. We can still make the best of it."
Antoine was in no mood to answer that. After a long period of silence, Rosie again said with compassion, "Anyway, like I mentioned before, if you ever want to talk about something, I'll always have a listening ear. Hope you'll keep that in mind."
"I will… thanks."
Realizing she wasn't going to get anything else out of him, Rosie closed the door and let him be. Once she did, Antoine punched his pillow in anger several times. He felt awful about how he was acting around Rosie.
"What is wrong with me? I'm just being a big baby now." He muttered in disgust. "If my father saw me like this, he'd hang his head in shame."
Ironically enough, he even secretly admired how Sally had handled the training that day.
"She has lost a lot more than me, and yet was able to find the courage to carry on."
It was then Antoine sat up in heavy thought. "What do I do? Can I really just go back out there after everything that's happened?"
Antoine sadly could not answer that question now. Instead, the only thing he could think of was some personal soul searching.
"Why does this have to be so hard?" He muttered to himself disgusted. ""If the princess can toughen up after everything's she's been through, then what's my excuse?"
Again, the young coyote could not make himself answer it. Instead, all he can do was clinch his fists in anger, feeling like a total coward for his lack of courage.
"Oh, father, I wish you were here to tell me what to do. I need your help more than ever now."
Sadly, Antoine knew he was going to have to figure out this on his own, and it would be awhile before he did so. He was that conflicted about it.
Later that night, Sonic and Sally finished their personal training once it got too dark out. She then went to join her friends in the power ring pool.
"Hey, Sally girl." Bunnie greeted her warmly. "Glad you could make it."
"I wouldn't miss this for anything." She replied with a smile.
The squirrel princess quickly jumped in, joining in on their fun. Like with the tickle fight, they didn't talk a whole lot, but they didn't need to. They just enjoyed each other's company, having child like fun in the water for over an hour, laughing and giggling nearly the whole time.
"I can't believe I never joined you both in this before." Sally said, giggling happily near the end of it. "This is a lot more enjoyable than I ever thought."
"Hee hee, see what you missed out on?" Clover teased, splashing her playfully.
It was then Sally realized she had made a wise choice concerning her new way of life. As much as she still wished she could act like a princess, she realized what she needed now more than anything was just that special love and bond from those she called her best friends. It gave her hope that despite everything that had happened, she still had things to be thankful for. She even began to tear up inside at the thought of it.
"What's wrong, Sally girl?" Bunnie asked with concern. "Did we say something wrong?"
"No, not at all." The red hair squirrel replied embarrassed, wiping away her tears. "I'm just… really happy now."
Neither Bunnie or Clover could understand what she meant by that, but decided to not ruin the moment for her. Instead, Clover said with a smile, "I'm glad you are, Sally."
The two of them soon gave Sally a group hug from each side, as she soon joined in, smiling big the whole time. Neither of them cared their fur was soaking wet. Like before lunch, they just enjoyed the moment.
After they got out of the water, realizing how late it was, Sally soon dried off with a towel, saying, "Well, just know any activity you want to do from now on, count me in."
"We'll be sure to do that, Sally girl." Bunnie replied with a smile., now drying off as well. "Anyway, I'll see ya tomorrow morning, my friend."
"Ok then. Sleep well." Sally replied.
"You too." Clover chimed in with a nod, now leaving as well.
After they went their separate ways to their huts, Sally soon made it back home, now dried off enough to sleep on her bed. It was then Nicole again turned on unexpectedly, saying, "Hello, Princess. How are you?"
"Nicole? Seriously, how are you doing that? The red-haired squirrel asked, now starting to be a bit disturbed.
"I am a super A.I computer after all." Nicole informed her. "It should not surprise you of my capabilities."
"I know, but I don't remember you doing this before." Sally argued.
"Well, let's just say I could have, but didn't feel the need to until now."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sally asked, now more disturbed than ever. "Is there something you're not telling me?"
"One day I'll explain it to you, but for now, do not trouble yourself about this." Nicole told her. "Like you told me earlier, this is something I have to deal with on my own for now."
Sally was now starting to wonder what was truly was going on with Nicole. Before she could ponder it too much, Nicole asked, "So, it sounds like you had quite a day, Princess."
"Yea, I did." The red-haired squirrel acknowledged with a nod. "But I rather you didn't call me that. I'm just Sally now, ok?"
"As you wish, Sally." Her A.I computer than added, "You seem happier now. Did it have to do with your new choices?"
Sally again was perplexed how Nicole could sense her emotions, but this time didn't press the issue, saying with a smile, "Yea, I know it may sound hard to believe, but… I truly know now I made the right choice. Being on my friend's level is just what I need now to cope with life in Knothole."
"I do not understand what you mean by that," her super A.I computer commented. "but I suppose it is none of my business."
"Well, maybe one day I'll be able to explain it to you, Nicole." Sally said. "It's something I don't fully understand myself. I just feel happier doing so."
"I hope you do, Sally. I would like to know more about that feeling you have experienced."
Sally could not help but sense Nicole's words this time felt a bit saddened, puzzling her a great deal. Again though, she decided to not press her super computer about it. That and she was very tired from her busy day. And so, she prepared for bed.
Seeing her nightgown on the bed, Sally was about to put it on, but for some reason, hesitated to do so.
"Well, maybe I could go without it for one night." Sally said softly.
"Are you really thinking of sleeping like this as well?" Nicole asked. "This is not like you at all."
"I know, but… for some reason, I just feel happier being like this." Sally replied softly. "Plus, I've gone the whole day without any clothes, so what's a few more hours in bed going to hurt?"
Nicole gave out a monotoned chuckle in response, saying, "If you feel happier being this way, who am I to judge?"
Even Sally could not understand herself about this decision, but chose to not to look too deep into it. For now, she would just go with the flow.
"Anyway, see you in the morning, Nicole."
"Good night, Sally."
And with that, both Nicole and Sally went to sleep. Unlike last night, Sally did not have much trouble sleeping this time around. It was as if she was much more at peace about her fate in Knothole compared to the last three months. Either that or was learning to grow up at a much faster rate than before.
Whatever the case may be, one thing was for sure: Sally now felt stronger inside, both in mind and spirit.
Later that night, Robotnik got an update from his secret mission. A Swatbot soon came on his video screen to give him the news.
"Status Report." He instructed.
"Dr. Robotnik, we have pinpointed Rosemary Prowers' current location." The Swatbot informed.
"Really?" Julian soon chuckled evilly to himself. "Where is she?"
"In this abandoned warehouse, sir." The Swatbot answered, pointing towards it, now moving the camera in that direction.
"Well, what are you standing around for?" Robotnik demanded with impatience. "Go get her!"
"No need, sir. I already have sent three dozen troops inside. They should be bringing her out very soon."
Robotnik was still not satisfied with that answer, but nonetheless let it go, adding, "Make sure they seal off all the escape routes. DO NOT let her get away."
"That is why I'm standing out here, sir." The Swatbot reiterated. "There is only one other way out besides the main entrance, and that has a perimeter standing by. If she goes out either way, she'll be caught and surrounded."
"Good. I cannot wait to finally have that Mobian in my clutches." Julian said with eager delight. "Once I have her in my clutches, she'll make one of my forces in the making very powerful one. Heh heh…"
As before, Snively was listening from the outside, wanting to learn more about why his uncle was so determined to capture her.
"The warehouse is only three stories high." The Swatbot reiterated. "With one fleet on each floor, there is no way for her to get away undetected."
"You had better be right about that." Robotnik warned. "I will not tolerate any incompetence here."
"Relax, sir. We should have this all wrapped in about…"
The Swatbot could not finish that line. Without warning, a massive explosion was heard from inside the warehouse.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Julian demanded.
"Hold on, I'll check, sir." The Swatbot went to inspect the area, then said ten seconds later, "Sir, it looks like the building was hit by a…" Before he could finish that line, all the Swatbots on the outside were hit by a massive EMP wave, frying them all along with the camera. Within moments, Robotnik figured out what just happened, banging his arm rests in a furious rage.
"CURSE THOSE VILE MOBIANS!" He shouted seething, "It was a trap! I should have known!"
Indeed it was. Ari's Freedom Fighter team had lured a big chunk of Robotnik's forces with a decoy of Rosemary to destroy them in one swoop after learning of Julian's plan to capture her.
Robotnik soon let out a yell so loud in anger, even Snively had to cover his ears. "I swear I will get them for this!" he hissed. "If they think they can take advantage of my aggressiveness, they have another thing coming!"
Not wanting to make it too conspicuous, Snively waited another two minutes before entering in, saying, "Sir, is everything ok?"
"What are you doing in here?" Julian demanded.
"Well sir," Snively replied, playing dumb. "I heard a scream and just thought I check up on you to find out why."
"None of your business!" Robotnik shouted at him, grabbing his nephew by the collar again in one strong swoop. Snively was now worried he might have given himself away. Instead, Robotnik told him firmly, "When I want you in my lair, worm. I'll call for you. What I do or say in the privacy of it is again NONE of your business!"
"I meant no offense, sir." The small lackey explained nervously. "I was only concerned about you and our operation is all."
"SHUT UP!" Robotnik once again threw him against the wall in anger. "I'm not in the mood for any of your pathetic excuses!"
Julian soon walked up to him, saying as intimidatingly as possible, "This is your last warning, Snively. You barge in here without my permission one more time, I'm turning you into a paper weight as painfully as possible. Do you understand?"
Snively soon shrieked in horror, answering, "Yes, sir. I won't let it happen again."
"Then get out of my sight before I change my mind!"
The small lackey didn't have to be told twice. He quickly ran out the door as fast as he could. Like before, Snively was again incensed by this treatment.
"Just you wait, Julian…" He said to himself, seething inside as well. "When I begin to sabotage your plans behind the scenes, I'll make you ever regret treating me like this. And then once you're weakened, I'll make my move to remove you from power for good!"
Before he ran off, Snively listened in one again to get any additional info on his uncle. This time, Robotnik called another Swatbot unit.
"Yes, ?"
"Assemble twelve dozen Swatbots and a half dozen Mega muck carriers outside my lair on the double." Julian instructed. "It's time I dealt with these vile pests, starting with the Wolf Pack in the Great Unknown."
"As you command, sir." The Swatbot acknowledged. "I shall have them ready within the hour."
"Good. You have your orders. Now carry them out."
And with that, Robotnik turned off the screen, preparing to devise his battle plan to take down his enemies in that region. Snively meanwhile finally put away his hearing device, now in deep thought.
"So, Julian is finally going after them, eh? Well, I think I know the perfect way to sabotage it." He said with an evil grin. "That disgusting tub of lard won't even know what hit him until it's too late."
Snively then ran off to brainstorm once more. He didn't know how long it would take to carry out the full extent of his plan, but he was determined to be a constant thorn in his uncle's side nonetheless.
The next morning in Knothole, Gandar got up around 7am. This time he was going to only let the children sleep in until 8. However, before he would get them ready for drills after breakfast. He would first stop by Antoine's hut, waiting for him to get up. Once he saw he was awake and dressed, he casually knocked on his door.
"Antoine? It's me, Gandar. May I come in?"
Antoine not surprisingly was not in the mood to do so.
Look, I just want to talk is all. Can you let me do that at least? I won't yell at you this time. I promise."
Remembering his word he gave to Rosie, he quickly sighed in defeat, answering, "Very well then."
After Antoine opened the door, Gandar said, Let's talk over here." ,pointing to two chairs next to his bed.
Antoine slowly complied, now sitting on the chair on the left. Once Gandar was sitting on the right one, Gandar looked away sighing. He was not looking forward to this part.
"Look, son. I didn't mean to make you feel like dirt yesterday. I just wanted you to do your best is all. Surely you can understand that, right?"
Antoine did, but nonetheless did not budge, retorting, "Zat is still no excuse to not set a good example for us. We're only young kids after all."
"Yes, yes, I know." Gandar said, still not looking at him. "I guess I thought I could train you all similarly to my solders from my days as a sergeant in the Acorn army. But, I guess I got a lot to learn about how to handle young children."
Antoine this time did not answer, but only nod his head in agreement.
The olive-green lion finally said, now looking young Antoine in the eye, "Anyway, I just wanted to say… I'm sorry. I was a little too hard on you and I deeply regret it now."
You were more than a little too hard, Antoine thought to himself with a frown. He was tempted to say that it out loud, but didn't want to be rude since he had gotten an apology.
"Also, I'd like you to try again with the training." Gandar said after a long pause. "I understand you're still grieving over your father and I don't want to make things harder for you than necessary, but… we all need you as part of the team."
After hearing that, the young coyote softened up a bit. Gandar then added, "If you rather not, I'll understand for now, but I'd really like you to consider it at least. Can you do that for me?"
Again not wanting to be rude, Antoine answered with a sigh, "Well, I might. Could I give you my answer after breakfast?"
"Sure thing." Gandar said with a slight smile. He soon added trying to get his trust, "Anyway, did I ever tell you I got to be trained by your father when I was a young private?"
"Really?" Antoine was now intrigued, "Was he as hard on you as you were with me?"
"Yes and no." Gandar replied with a chuckle "There were times he was very hard on us, but other times he showed his softer side, showing that while he was a great warrior who expected perfection, he also had a heart for us all. We weren't just another solider to him, but someone he cared about and wanted the best out of. I couldn't help but greatly respect him for being able to balance those two when training me."
Antoine could not help but admire his father even more now. Gandar then added, "I guess I need to be more like him when it comes to training you young ones. So, I just wanted to let you know if you do train with us again, I promise you I will set a great example for you to follow. I won't expect any more out of you than I already do myself."
Antoine was tempted to give him answer right there, but wanting to think it over for a while longer, he said to the olive-green lion instead, "I appreciate that, sir. I shall make my decision very soon."
"That's fine." Gandar soon stood up, offering his hand to Antoine to shake it, saying, "Pals?"
Antoine didn't answer him back, but shook his hand nonetheless to again not be rude, which Gandar took as a yes nonetheless.
"Anyway, I better go get the others. See you at breakfast."
And with, Gandar walked out. Once he was gone, Antoine felt even worse inside than after Rosie had left yesterday. He soon walked over to the mirror in his hut saying with disgust, "I have to try."
He then added, looking up, "I won't shame you again, father. I may not ever be as strong and kind as you are, but I won't run from this any longer. I will try as hard as I can and make you proud of me one day."
After a long pause, Antoine soon looked at his father's sword he had placed on his wall, declaring with firm resolve, "I will even learn how to wield this blade you entrusted to me someday as well. And when I do, I will finish the job you were not able to."
Antoine could not help but tear up at that last part, as it was a painful memory he did not want to think about. Nevertheless, he composed himself, now picking up the sword still in its sheath by the handle, trying to swing it like his father had done so masterfully in the past. Sadly, he was not able to do so for now. The grief of losing him was still too strong. Instead, he could only take a few weak swings before dropping it and softly crying to himself. Realizing he wasn't ready for it just yet, Antoine put it back on his wall, feeling foolish for even attempting to use the sword. Nevertheless, he made up his mind he would find a way to get past his grief and continue his father's legacy with that very weapon one day down the road. He didn't know how long it would take, but Antoine would not back down now.
"I must do this…" he stated, fighting back the tears. "For him."
While this was going on, another young child of Knothole was dealing with their own struggle to cope with life, none other than the Seedrian Cosmo.
From her earliest memories, Cosmo had never known a time of peace due to being born during the Great War. Her father, Lucas, had been the main leader of the Seedrian clan when they formed their alliance with the Acorn Kingdom, now fighting their former comrades, the Overlanders. While Julian's technology had played a major role in the victory, the Seedrians nevertheless provided solid allied support, keeping their food supply strong, even some using some of their special abilities to help as well.
Depending on the breed and gender of the Seedrian, they could learn up to three unique abilities, ranging from being able to use chaos energy, growing an exotic flower known as the Krudzu, an aggressive Venus fly trap shaped plant capable of eating metal as well as spreading rapidly in a very short period of time when planted in the ground. On top of that, it is one of the more smarter breeds of flower, being able to burrow underground for long periods of time and use sneak attacks when metal like beings such as robots came too close. The last Seedrian special ability was a solar force field, capable of deflecting numerous explosives and other weapons within a short period of time. While this skill was mainly predominant in male Seedrians, a few female Seedrians could also be bestowed it too depending on their genetics.
After the Great War was over, Cosmo and her family were considered royalty among the Mobotropolis citizens. Ironically enough though, despite their fathers' close friendship, Cosmo and Sally did not have the same kind of relationship. While both mutually respected each other, their friendship was considered acquaintances at best. Sally preferred being with Mobians like Bunnie and Clover more while Cosmo was more comfortable with her sister Galaxina and her best friend Jasmine. The closest Mobian friend Cosmo had next to her Seedrian kind was Clover due to her also having plant like abilities.
Nevertheless, like with Sally, they did not have close ties either. They only spent time together sparingly. Also like Sally, Cosmo had no idea where her father currently was. Both had disappeared after Robotnik took over. While having her big sister and best friend around kept her morale up, it was not enough to keep from being depressed at times. On top of that, she felt completely inadequate compared to them.
Her best friend Jasmine currently had seemed to easily pick up the abilities of keeping plants healthy after soaking in a few hours of sunlight. Her big sister Galaxina on the other hand appeared to be on the verge on learning the rare female Seedrian skill of a solar force field, though it was for now in its alpha stages at best for the time being. Cosmo meanwhile struggled to even to do the basic skill of healing plant seeds.
"Why can't I help like them?" Cosmo pondered to herself with bitterness. "Am I really that weak?"
Rosie, who was currently in charge of helping the Seedrians develop their skills had noticed Cosmo's struggles the day before, tried to encourage her as best as she knew how. Needless to say, it did not help much. Seeing her friends that much more skilled discouraged her a great deal.
"If I can't even be nearly as good as them, then what's the point of me even training? I'm just wasting my time."
Cosmo was at the moment very tempted to give up and instead sulk for the day. However, after seeing how kind and compassionate Rosie had been with her, she knew she couldn't do it just yet.
"Sally's guardian tried really hard to help me keep my spirits up when I was feeling down." The young Seedrian said with a sigh. "I owe it to her to work at it for at least a little longer."
After Cosmo made up her mind to give it another shot, she still wondered if she was wasting her time.
As much as I appreciate Rosie's encouragement, Cosmo thought to herself, it's sadly not going to last to keep me motivated. I'll need something else to give me that confidence to keep going.
What that was, Cosmo didn't know, but chose to just grin and bear it for the time being.
Twenty minutes later, Rosie woke up and went to make breakfast for everyone. While there, Argus soon walked over to give her a report after his night watch shift was over.
"We got more trouble." He reported sullen.
"What do you mean?" Rosie inquired with concern on her face.
"I just did a quick glance from one of our tree scopes and… Robotnik's upped his game. There's now at least twice as many Swatbots patrolling around the Great Forest as before. Maybe even more."
Rosie quickly gasped, asking, "Are they planning a raid?"
"I don't know…" Argus answered, shaking his head. "But… it can't be good. I think Lupe might have inadvertently tipped them off of her visit after leaving."
At this point, Sally's nanny was very distressed inside, trying to think of how to deal with this. She soon composed herself, saying, "We might need to add another booby trap near the entrance just to be on the safe side. I don't think one is going to be enough now."
"That's what I was thinking too." Argus acknowledged. "Have Renee get on it after breakfast."
"Ok then. You go ahead and get some sleep now." Rosie told him. "You must be exhausted."
"Yea… it's a real chore being on night shift duty, but… someone's got to do it. Anyway, I'll see you after I catch a few winks. Let me know if anything changes during that time."
"Will do." Rosie nodded.
And with that, Argus went to his hut to get some well needed sleep. Once he was out of sight, Rosie could not help but fear what Robotnik might be planning next. "Do I dare tell the children about this?" Sally's nanny asked herself. "They're already deeply troubled enough as is."
After thinking it over long and hard, Rosie finally came to the conclusion she couldn't. "It would only distract them from their training and worry about something even I don't know what will happen next. I'll just tell the other adults here for the time being"
With that settled, Rosie continued her breakfast preparation, this time making everyone cereal with toast and some fruit.
Eventually, it was 8am, where Gandar blew a whistle to wake up the other children.
"Alright, wake up, young ones…" He told them firmly. "We got a big day ahead of us."
Not surprisingly, it even awoke some from a deep sleep, jolting them to sit up startled.
"Mah stars… morning already?" Bunnie moaned softly, rubbing her eyes. "That training must have really wore me out yesterday. Ah'm still sleepy."
Even Sonic was jolted from it too, though his reaction was more of the opposite, racing out of his hut in anticipation.
"Oh yea, I've been looking forward to this." He stated with a smirk, stretching his legs. "Let's get to it."
Gandar could not help but chuckle at his enthusiasm. "We'll get to it soon enough, but how about a hearty breakfast first? You'll need it to keep you going."
Sonic didn't have to be told twice, heading over to the breakfast table. The rest of the children soon followed suit, coming out with five to ten second spans of each other. Ironically this time, Antoine was not one of the last to come out, as he had been waiting to give his answer about training to Gandar. The same could not be said for Sally. As before, she came out last in nothing but her fur like the day before much to the disapproval of the other adults there. However, like yesterday, they again decided to not make an issue about it for the time being.
By this point, Sally was starting to get used to it, even intentionally ignoring some of the awkward glances that came her way.
"Well, now that everyone's here, dig in." Rosie told them.
As they all did so, Gandar waited about ten minutes before bringing up the question.
"So, have you made up your mind, Antoine?" He asked the young coyote. "I need to know now."
Antoine soon composed himself, answering with a sigh, "Well, I admit I'm not completely eager to train now, but I want to try, sir. So yes, count me in."
"Excellent." Gandar said with a beaming smile. "You won't regret this. I assure you of that."
Antoine deep down was already regretting it, but refused to give in to his fears nonetheless.
Halfway into breakfast, Rosie took Gandar and Renee aside, wanting to talk with them privately about Argus' report. Not surprisingly, it did raise a few eyebrows from the young children.
"What that's all about?" the blue hedgehog pondered with suspicion. "That's not like them."
Even Sally could not help but wonder why her nanny insisted on a private conversation with the rest of the adults there. Nevertheless, she shrugged it off, saying, "Well, if it was something important, I'm sure they would let us know."
Sonic though wasn't completely convinced of that. "I don't know, Sal… I got a hunch it's something big and they don't want to tell us."
"Now let's not go borrowing trouble, Sugar." Bunnie told him. "For all we know, it could something that's none of our business."
Sonic still wasn't entirely convinced, but reluctantly complied, continuing his breakfast. Ironically though, his suspicions would be proven accurate. The second Rosie told them what Argus had found out, they too were horrified about it.
"Are you absolutely sure about that?" Renee asked with fright.
"Unfortunately so…" Rosie answered sullenly. "Robotnik has increased the number of troops outside our home. For what reason, I don't know, but it's not a good sign."
Gandar could only shake his head in disgust. "Just great… that monster is not even going to give us a chance to train the young ones to be able to fight back. I'm probably wasting my time helping them now."
"Don't talk like that!" Rosie scolded him. "We don't know what Robotnik has planned, so we can't panic over it just yet."
"And what do you suggest we do then?" The olive-green lion argued. "I don't want to frighten the young children anymore than you do, but they need to know about this."
"That won't do any good." Rosie replied firmly. "They need to focus on their training, not worrying about a raid."
"Are you suggesting we don't tell them about this?" Renee inquired with concern. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"Until we know for sure what Robotnik has planned for our home," Sally's nanny argued, "telling them about this would only do more harm than good."
Ironically, neither Gandar or Renee could argue with that. Gandar soon let out a reluctant sigh, saying, "Alright, fine, I suppose that is a good point, but the second we do know what Robotnik is up to, you must tell the young ones to get them ready."
"Very well then." Rosie acknowledged. "In the meantime, just tell them we were discussing how to train them for the day. I know they won't buy it entirely, but make it sound convincing. The last thing we need is to have them completely afraid now."
"Alright then, I'll do my best." Gandar replied.
"Well, what about us?" Renee inquired. "How do you think we should handle this?"
"That's why I called you aside." Rosie explained. "As a good way to disguise our true intentions, I want you to show Rotor how to make a homemade explosive device."
"You can't be serious!" the red-haired fox protested. "He's too young for that kind of work."
"I'm not saying have him do any of the complicated stuff." Rosie argued. "Just give him a few basic pointers about it to help him learn what it takes to make one when of age."
"I don't like this idea at all." Gandar stated with a frown. "Rotor could blow himself up if he's not careful."
"Like I said, Renee will take care of most of it." Rosie argued again. "Rotor will just sit and watch, getting some experience. Besides, we don't have any choice. We must build another bomb around the entrance to deter Robotnik's forces just in case. This way, none of the children will know its true intent."
Renee was still not entirely convinced of this idea, but eventually complied, saying, "Very well then… I suppose when you put it that way, it must be done."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Sally's nanny told her with a somber look on her face. "Just make sure Rotor doesn't handle any of the explosive material and it should go smoothly."
After Renee again complied with that order, Gandar said, "Anyway, let's head back. The children most likely are wondering why we are talking like this."
"True, but as long as we make our plan sound convincingly," Rosie explained, "they shouldn't have too much suspicion."
Neither Gandar not Renee were entirely convinced of that, but would obey Rosie's wishes on that. They soon returned back to the breakfast table. As expected, the children asked them what it was all about.
"Oh, don't pay much attention to that." Rosie answered with a warm smile. "It was just business stuff about Knothole."
"You sure about that?" Sonic asked with arched eyebrows. "I don't know… it looked pretty personal if you ask me."
Gandar chuckled, patting the blue hedgehog on the head, "You got quite a creative imagination, son. Trust me, everything's fine. Rosie just wanted to ask me what I had in mind when training you so I don't push you kids too hard."
Rosie soon took that idea and ran with it, adding, "Well, you can't blame me for making sure he's fair with you all, am I right? We don't want any of you feeling discouraged like Antoine was yesterday."
"Then why did you take Miss Renee aside?" Sally asked, not entirely buying that.
"Oh um… well, I just wanted to know what she had in mind when training Rotor today." Rosie explained. "I am the leader here after all. I want to make sure I know what's going on with all of your training."
"Really? Well, what do you have in mind for me?" Rotor asked the red-haired fox with curiosity.
"Well, after thinking it over, I think I'd like to give you some lessons on how to build explosives." Renee told him. "Would you like to learn how to make them?"
"Really? You'd let me do that? Oh wow… that sounds great!" Needless to say, Rotor was deeply excited about it. Sonic however was still not convinced of their answers.
"You're just fibbing to us." He said with a frown. "There's something else going on." The other adults began to look on deeply concerned, as Sonic added, "You must think we're pretty stupid to buy that baloney."
"I won't have you being disrespectful here." Gandar told him with a frown. "Do you really think we'd lie to you about this?"
"Yes, I do." The blue hedgehog shot back. "Letting Rotor learn to build explosives now? What fools do you take us for?"
"Sonic, I'm not lying here." Renee confirmed to him. "I really am going to let him help me build some."
"Why didn't you let him yesterday?" Sonic argued back. "He told me you guys you just did basic tech stuff."
"That was lesson one." Renee explained sheepishly. "Building explosives is lesson two."
Sonic's suspicions were still high. Gandar finally intervened, saying firmly, "Now look, you, I want you to stop getting all suspicious about this. We would not lie to you about something if it would harm you later on."
"You promise me that?" the blue hedgehog interrogated, now looking him directly in the eye to read his body language.
Gandar at first struggled to meet his gaze, but quickly did just that, saying to Sonic firmly again, "Yes, I promise you this. Now I want you to promise me you'll trust us to do what's best for you all."
Sonic did not want to do that, but not wanting to back out of a promise that he got from him in return, he slowly nodded his head, saying, "Ok, I promise, sir."
"Glad to have that cleared up with you, son." Gandar said with a slight smile. "Ok, let's finish breakfast so we can get started on our training."
Ten minutes later, breakfast was finally finished. Once the table was cleaned off, the children went to their designated training spots, preparing for another day of hard work.
Once Gandar and his group of children arrived, he prepared to train them, starting off with another round of calisthenics. However, he inadvertently got lost in his thoughts, as Rosie's news was still deeply troubling him. It got to the point even Sonic could sense something was bothering him.
"You know, sir, you don't have to hide anything from us." The blue hedgehog told him bluntly. "If there's something we need to know, we can handle it."
Gandar quickly snapped back to attention, saying with a firm look, "I thought you promised to trust me not to lie to you about stuff."
"I did, but you're acting weird now, sir." Sonic answered. "I can't help but wonder."
Wanting to cover it up, Gandar said, "Don't mind me. I have my moments of feeling sad like you do. You can't fault me for that, right?"
"No, I suppose not, if that's what you're really doing."
"Yes, I am, Sonic. Anyway, enough of this silly chitchat. Let's get to training."
Sonic could not help but feel more suspicious by the minute, but reluctantly complied. They soon all got into their stances, as the olive-green lion now looked at them with firm resolve.
"Ok, young ones, let's do it to it!"
And with that, their second day of training was underway
To be continued...