Roy, Samantha and Anita traveled out of the scrapyard valley and continued on towards the refugee camp. Along the way they came across a pile of scrap that Anita explained to be her haul from the scrapyard valley, and at the chupacabra`s request, Roy and Samantha aided her in carrying the scrap to the refugee camp.
However, about halfway to the camp they encountered a group of guards for the Knothole army who were tasked with patrolling the area. The guard`s leader, Gauda the Fox, was initially suspicious of Roy and especially of Samantha, but after Anita spoke in defense of the two, Gauda decided to lead them on the rest of the way and gave them safe passage into the camp.
When they arrived at the camp, the group split up: Gauda went off to an undetermined destination in the camp with her men, Anita and Samantha went to a scrapping facility run by Rotor the walrus and Roy went on alone to find out the whereabouts of his family…
Episode Five.
Roy raced through the maze of threadbare tents and refugees. Worry bit into his bone and a deep void had opened in his soul. Roy knew that nature abhorred a vacuum, and that vacuum had to be filled with certainty of his brother's whereabouts.
Dammit, where the heck is Reggie, and why is Trai here? That "dad" of mine never shows up, and now he`s here!? What the hell! Roy thought as he continued his search.
Ok, now, that ram said that they were in tent 54, so that would mean… he thought as he inspected the faded and hastily painted white numbers on each of the tents. Just then, he caught sight of '48'. At this Roy broke into a run, mentally counting down the six remaining tents; slowing down to avoid a headlong crash as his pace increased; fueled by worry and hope.
When he reached the tent, Roy hastily shoved the tent flap and rushed inside. "Máma, are you in here, Máma!?" He cried.
Seconds later, -a period of time that might as well have been an eternity for Roy- a slender vulpine turned around. Her olive green eyes bearing signs of the grey eminence that lay behind them. Yet, Roy realised that this did not take away from her youthful bodily image, accentuated by her fiery mane of long red hair and auburn fur.
She smiled at the sight of her child, adjusting her worn brown canvas tinkerer's vest, like that of an old and wise tree in the midst of Autumn. The many tools that inhabited the pockets of her vest were reminiscent of the silver tree-folk of folklore who lived their lives for the sole duty of building elaborate homes in tree hollows.
"Roy, is that you?". Her eyes welled up with relief as she ran up to him. "It is you! Oh, where were you?! I was afraid you didn`t make it!" She exclaimed as she embraced her son, almost knocking him over on her haste to hold him again.
"Yeah, it`s me, it- it really is me, Máma. I`m here..." Roy replied as he reciprocated his mother`s hold, his eyes closed as they welled up with happy tears. As he was held by his mother, Roy felt his heart`s pain go away, and all was right with the world.
Then Roy`s mother pulled back to see the bandage on his head. "What happened, are you hurt?" She asked as she inspected the wound with motherly gentleness, her mind racing with possible scenarios for its cause as well as methods for treating it.
"Máma, it`s just a little bump, I`m fine, really." Roy whimpered as he unsuccessfully tried to free himself from the microcosmic warmth of his mother's soft leather gloves.
But that moment of mother and son disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
Another figure had slipped into the tent. "Hello, son, it has been quite some time." Spoke the figure, his voice was clear and his words carefully chosen like a used car salesman with a practiced script rather than out of any fatherly love.
Roy instantly recognized the voice. His whole body tensed up as he broke away from his mother`s hug to confront it. "Hello, Trai, what do you want?" Roy replied coldly.
"Is that any way to talk to your father? I thought I taught you better than that," Trai grumbled, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses even as he kept a somewhat disappointed stare at his incorrigible son. "you should refer to me as Roy Vanderlind the third, and I didn`t give you my name to have my own title besmirched." He chided as Roy he stood up straight in his well-maintained dark blue cotton councilor jacket. A stark contrast to his pale brown fur and clean white gloves.
"Really, 'title', you want to harp on about titles now, of all the times, now?!" Roy snapped at this figure that was technically his father, "and what about Reggie? Surely his being missing is more important than some silly title!" He shouted.
"You're greatly mistaken, kit, I have a deep concern for where your brother is, and nothing you spout will change that!" Trai snapped back, his voice deliberately loud enough for all to hear.
"You shut your mouth, you hypocrite! Everything you`re saying right now is a lie! Just like always!" Roy shouted back at Trai. "If I didn`t know any better, I could easily make the assumption that you were the one that let him get taken!" He snapped with a voice dripping with venomous rage.
Before Trai could retort, both he and Roy felt their ears getting painfully twisted by a pair of soft-leather gloved hands. "Ok, now you two are starting to act like a couple of idiots," Roy`s mother said as she held the two squirming fellows fast by their ears, "now is not the time to squabble, do you two understand?" She said as she pulled them down to their knees.
"Yes, yes, we understand, Samantha dear, now please let our ears go!" Trai pleaded with her as he struggled to break away from her vice-like grip.
"Oh, quit acting like you can speak for me, you no good absentee!" Roy shouted at Trai as he tried to do the same thing as his father.
"Roy!" Roy`s mother said in a tone of warning.
"Err, yes ma`am." Roy replied in a submissive tone as he immediately stopped struggling.
"Are you going to stop?" Roy's mother asked.
After a few seconds of hesitation, the both of them replied, "Yes ma'am." They said.
At this, Roy`s mother released their ears and allowed them to stand back up. "Now, the issue at hand is indeed Reggy's going missing, but that`s not going to be fixed if you keep arguing." She told the both of them as they rubbed their sore ears.
"Yes, you're right, Samantha dear...as per usual, " Trai remarked under his breath.
"What was that?" Roy`s mother asked with a suspicious eye towards her husband.
"Err, nothing dear, nothing at all!" Trai exclaimed putting both of his hands up in a warding gesture.
"So, um, Máma what do you suppose we do to find him?" Roy asked her, "The last time I saw him was when I was exiled for a day, and after the attack I didn`t even know if either of you two were alive." He mentioned, his voice cracked and Roy steeled himself knowing how his father disapproved any outward display of affection as feminine.
"Exiled for a day," His mother whispered, her voice was stern and had a taint of anger about it. "What did you do?!"
"Well….." Roy tried to reply, but he could not think of anything to say.
"Roy was playing around behind the Freedom Fighter's barracks with Reggy, and subsequently tore a hole in the back of it, incurring a one-day exile from the village as a result." Trai interjected.
"Hey, the hell are you doing putting words in my mouth?" Roy exclaimed.
"Oi, shut up you two," Roy`s mother stated with a finger up to tell them to cease, "I`m pretty sure I know what happened with the barracks and the hole in it, but what I want to know is what happened between after you were exiled and when you got here, and no glossing over anything, I`ll know if you did."
"Well, Roy, you heard her, what happened?" Trai concurred.
With both of his parents expecting that he explained what happened, Roy decided to tell them everything, though he did leave out the fact that he thought it was all a dream of course (Roy`s mother cast a wary eye to this obfuscation, but kept her suspicions to herself). His parents were quite interested in the details, especially the part about him meeting Samantha.
"Well, at least there`s some good news: you`ve finally met someone." Trai exclaimed.
"Now you shut up, you`ve got nothing to say about meeting someone, absentee!" Roy growled.
"Never mind him, just continue, Roy, this might be helpful in finding your brother," his mother said.
Although it's good he`s met someone, he`s got the same social ineptitude as I did when I was younger. Roy's mother thought.
Roy recounted his tale, and then the topic shifted to Samantha, "So, what`s she like? Is she keeping you in line, or are you the man in charge of the relationship?" Roy`s mother asked curiously.
"Ok, that`s enough, Máma, I'm not talking about this," Roy replied, "can`t we switch the subject back to something more important, like finding Reggie, perhaps?"
"Yes, that is important, but I`ve already done what I could to find him." Trai replied
"Like what?" Roy asked his father.
"For instance, I`ve spoken with the Knothole missing persons bureau and they`ve assured me that they`re doing all they can to find him-" Trai began to reply.
"What, that`s it, that`s all you`ve done?!" Roy exclaimed when he heard this. "You didn`t even try!" He shouted.
"I`ve done all I can, Roy!" Trai shouted back.
"No, no, there`s plenty more that you could`ve done!" Roy exclaimed.
"Like what, Roy?" Trai said, "If you have some new idea, tell us, tell us what else we can do!"
"I- I, I don`t..." Roy said when he heard this. His mind raced but he came out blank.
"You see, there`s nothing else, all we can do is wait for the Knothole government to find Reggie. Sally makes sure they send their best to handle missing persons that`s all there is." Trai stated.
"And what happens when you 'officials' finally settle your debates, head on down to go save him, and find…" Roy`s choked as he felt a lump in his throat, "a machine in his place?"
"That won`t happen Roy, Councilwoman Rosemary has given her express word that-" Trai began to say.
"Well, maybe I don`t trust the word of your little buddies up in the council chamber!" Roy snapped.
"Alright, that`s enough," Roy`s mother stated to the two belligerents as she said this, "Now I don`t like arguing till the Flickies come home any more than you do, Roy, but this time I`m inclined to agree with your father; Sally herself said that she`d do everything possible to find Reggie."
Both Roy and his father stammered but it was clear none wished to challenge the matriarch of the household. "Ok, hold on, why`d Sally talk to you directly, Trai?" Roy asked, "I thought that you were a low-level guy, you know, someone that pushes a pencil around. Not someone that gets to talk to the frigging princess."
"Well, I tried to tell you some months ago, but you weren`t listening apparently: I was promoted to a seat at the official council," Trai proudly replied, "Samantha, dear, you should know, I told you when I came home that day." He said to his wife.
"Um, actually I didn`t know that, but congratulations by the way." Roy`s mother replied with a nervous laugh while scratching the back of her head.
"You`ve got to be joking," Trai said, "and that night at the restaurant, were we celebrated my promotion, you don`t remember that either?" He asked.
"Oh, I remember, but I just thought that you were making up for forgetting our anniversary the week before." Roy's mother replied.
"Ok, I get that Sally is helping us out, but it's taking too long to find him." Roy stated, hoping to interrupt this argument before it escalated.
"I know, but what can we do?" Roy`s mother asked him. "For the longest time, our family has been a major part of the war effort, but only in the advisory role." She explained.
"But what if this time 'that`s about it' is not enough, Máma?" He asked, "What if the Freedom Fighters aren`t what Reggie needs?"
"The Freedom Fighters are the best of all of us, Roy, that`s why they are what they are," Trai reassured "and if they can`t help him, then there`s no one who can."
"No, no, I refuse to believe that, there has to be someone else that can help him!" Roy stated.
"You talking as of they`ve already failed Roy, at least wait for them to try." Trai said comfortingly.
At this, Roy stood up and took a deep breath through pursed lips as he pinched the bridge of his snout and thought about what he should do next, but he said nothing else. "Alright, you know what," He finally spoke, removing his hand from his face , "what if I were to go help them find my brother, would that work?"
"What do you mean, like, become a Freedom Fighter?" Roy`s mother replied
"Now, don`t be silly, even with his Instant Design that he inherited from you, Samantha dear, he's nowhere near fit to do the things they do, it`s just impossible." Trai stated.
"But he did have that apprenticeship from Rotor, and he`s a Freedom Fighter, doesn`t that count for anything?" Roy`s mother asked
"Being a Freedom Fighter and being taught by one are two very different things," Trai replied, "and if you remember, that apprenticeship didn`t work out so very well. Not to mention that he has no formal training in combat."
"But Sonic didn`t have any training, and he`s one of their best fighters." Roy`s mother said.
"Not everyone is Sonic, Samantha dear, least of all any of us." Trai said.
Hearing his parents talk about him as if he had no say as to who he was started to wear on his patience, and he decided to speak up. "Hold on, I fought my first robot, that's gotta be like a rite of passage right" Roy interjected, "and I won that fight, too."
"Oh really? Well, this is the first time I`ve heard of this." Roy's father stated.
"Yeah, I`m going to have to agree with you father there, who did you fight?" His mother asked.
"Well, as I was making my way here with Samantha-" Roy began to say.
"You mean that girl that was accompanying you?" Roy`s mother asked.
"Y-yes, her," Roy replied, "as I was saying, you know that green robot that I told you about, the one called Stretch, well it should be known that I was the one who beat him, and I rescued Samantha to boot."
"Wasn't Stretch the same robot that knocked you out?" Trai commented.
"Well, yeah, I was, but I came to and defeated it." Roy explained.
"I don`t know, my baby killing a specialised exterminator bot. That seems really unlikely even to me," Roy`s mother commented with a shrug.
"Well, that`s what happened." Roy stated.
"I`ll believe that when I see the body." Trai commented.
"You know what, I do in fact have the body, in my equipment chest-" Roy said.
"You mean the equipment chest that for friend Samantha is carrying over her shoulder?" Trai asked, "I saw that, but I`m still having a hard time believing that, too." he mentioned.
"Well, she is that strong, and the body of the robot that I defeated is in my equipment chest that she is carrying." Roy stated firmly.
"You know, Roy, from what I can see, there are quite a few reasons now for you to go find your friend again," Roy`s mother mentioned as she stood up, "not the least of which is that I want to get to meet her very much." She added.
"Yeah, I probably should go and find her again..." Roy remarked. Though he was completely clueless as to exactly why his mother wanted to meet his friend.
"But before you go, I`m going to take a look at that wound of yours." Roy`s mother stated as she motioned for him to sit on the only chair in the tent.
"Oh, don`t worry about that, Máma, I`ve got it covered." Roy said as he sat down.
"No, you don`t, that bandage is filthy and you`ve got it on crooked," Roy`s mother replied, "now hold still." She ordered him as she began to work on the bandage.
"Heh, you should know by now that disagreeing with your mother isn`t going to yield you anything, Roy." Trai commented as Roy`s mother took Roy`s goggles off started to remove the bandage.
"You quit it, and let me do this," Roy`s mother said curtly to her husband as she fussed with Roy`s injury. "now, hold still, this gauze is stuck and it is going to hurt when I pull it off."
She took hold of the gauze on Roy`s head. Roy was about to say something, but his mother tugged on the gauze which gave way, much to Roy`s discomfort.
"Ow, geez, that hurt, Máma, what are you-" Roy complained.
"Ah, zip it. I'm not done," Roy`s mother snipped at him as she inspected his wound, "ah, geez, your wound is infected, I thought you said that you dressed it."
"Yeah, I did dress it, and then I healed it, it should be fine." Roy replied to his mother.
"Well, from the looks of it, you didn`t disinfect your wound before you started healing it; weren`t you listening when I told you that healing energies accelerate the growth of bacteria? You actually made things worse for yourself." Roy`s mother asked him.
"Umm… heh, I kinda forgot about that…" Roy replied with a look of embarrassment on his face.
"Well, that`s what happens when you fail to heed the instructions of your elders, Roy." Trai commented.
"Are you implying that I'm old, honey?" Roy mother asked her husband.
"Err, no, no, not at all, Samantha dearest," Trai replied with a nervous laugh, "I was simply saying that you`re wis- smarter, and that your words deserve to be heeded," he stammered.
When she hear her husband's reply, Roy's mother gave him that disbelieving look that only a spouse can give and said, "Go fetch me the rubbing alcohol, it's in the med-kit over there in my pack."
"Err, yes ma'am," Roy's father replied as he obediently retrieved a small clear glass bottle from a green canvas backpack in the corner of the tent. "Here you are." He said as he handed the bottle to Roy`s mother.
"Ok, now Roy, this is really going to sting, so don`t move around too much, ok?" Roy`s mother requested of him.
"Alright." Roy replied.
Roy`s mother opened the bottle and dabbed some of the rubbing alcohol on a clean rag and then held his head still with her free hand. When she applied the rag, Roy could have sworn that she had filled it with boiling acid, as the skin on his forehead felt as though it had suddely turned against him.
"Hnnnmm, ok, that reallly hurts..." Roy hissed as the rubbing alcohol painfully sanitized his wound.
"Don`t talk, you`re wiggling too much." Roy`s mother ordered him as she continued to pat to wound with more rubbing alcohol, this time with a different piece of the rag. "Ok, that should be cleaned enough, now, honey, could you hand me the gauze, Star Zone flower extract, the roll of disposable bandage and the scissors please, oh, and the glue, too?" She asked Trai.
Without a word, Trai retrieved the items Roy`s mother asked for and handed them to her. Roy`s mother then proceeded to quickly and efficiently apply the flower extract -which apparently held antiseptic properties- to the gauze before placing the gauze on her son`s wound and holding it in place with one hand as she wrapped the bandage on his head with the other. She wrapped it around his head twice before snipping it off and dabbing a bit of glue to the new end and sealing it firmly in place.
"There you go, done, now don`t get this messed up, I don`t have a lot of Star Zone flower extract, so be careful not to ruin that bandage." Roy`s mother cautioned as she gave the bandage one last once-over to check for issues.
"Ok, Máma, I won`t." Roy reassured his mother.
"Now, weren`t you going to find you equipment chest and your friend Samantha?" Roy`s mother asked him.
"Um, I guess, but shouldn`t I stay here for a little while to get some food?" Roy asked with a confused look on his face.
"Actually, we don`t keep any food in this tent, so if you are hungry, head on over to the dining tent near the center of the camp, and seeing as how you said that your friend Samantha was helping Anita sell the scrap, that would mean they're done by now and are cashing in the check. That in turn would mean that they are in the council tent that is also in the center of the camp."
"Wait, how do you know all this?" Roy asked his mother.
"Well, you didn`t get your Vari-Decipher from thin air." Roy`s mother replied with a hint of pride.
"Uh, it`s called 'Instant Design', Máma." Roy commented.
"You call it Instant Design, I call Vari-Decipher, and your grandfather called it Tinker-Sight. Our ability has had a different name attached to it for every person that inherits it, so pardon me if I got wrong," Roy`s mother remarked with a heavy note of parental sass.
"Sorry Máma, I'm a bit stressed right now." Roy said.
"Well, we're all kinda stressed at this point, but that's no reason to dwell on it." Roy mother remarked.
"Umm, I didn`t say anything about feeling guilty, Máma." Roy remarked with a confused look on his face.
"Oh, shoot, I`m sorry, don`t mind me, I was just reading a few adventure novels to bide the time till Sally gives our household another job to do. It`s kinda` hard to be a mechanic without anything to fix, you know," Roy`s mother jovially "I guess all those stories kinda` messed with my head a bit."
"But still, is it really alright for me to just go and leave right after I came home, I mean, I don`t even know Samantha all that much, so why would I go looking for her?" Roy asked his mother.
"Well, for one thing, she has your personal property slung over her shoulder, I would think that you want to go and get it back, wouldn`t you agree?" Roy`s mother replied.
"Oh shoot, you`re right!" Roy exclaimed. He suddenly stood up in his realization and started for the exit to the tent.
"Now, hold up, one last thing: you need some replacement bandages before you go." Roy`s mother said as she gently grasped his hand to get him to stop heading out of the tent. After she was sure that Roy was not about to leave immediately, she went to her backpack and retrieved two rolls of bandages and handed them to her son. "This should be enough to replace your bandage until it fully heals," She said, "now get going, who knows what will happen to the equipment chest if it is left for too long." She mentioned as she gently ushered him out of the tent.
Roy briskly exited the tent and went to the right, but then a second later his head pooped back into the tent. "Hey, um, where`s the headquarters tent again?" He asked with a nervous laugh.
"It`s that way," Trai replied as he pointed outside the tent and to the left, "shouldn`t be too hard to find; it is the biggest tent in the camp." He mentioned.
With that, Roy pulled his head back out of the tent a started going left.
After he was sure Roy was out of earshot, Roy's father turned to his wife. "Why would you have him go do that, Samantha dear? He only just came back." He asked.
"Well, to put it simply, the moment Roy mentioned his friend, the one with my name, I immediately saw that she is our only chance of getting Reggie home, but only if Roy is with her and neither of them knows that I figured that all out." Roy`s mother explained.
"How do you figure all that? You don`t know anything about her." Trai asked.
"Oh come on, honey, you`ve lived with me for this long and you still don`t get it?" Roy`s mother replied.
"Oh right, that… ability of yours, I have to say, that`s still a bit unsettling, but I digress, sending him out alone is a bad idea." Trai commented.
"Hmm, you're right, honey," Roy`s mother said, "you go with him then."
"What, that`s not-" Trai began to say.
"Ah, you said that it's a bad idea for him to go alone, so go with him, you need to get back to the headquarter tent anyway." Roy's mother said, interrupting her husband.
Trai tried to find something to say to argue the point, but he could not figure anything that would make his wife change her mind. In the end he caved and decided to go and get his coat on.
"Now, when you catch up with Roy, please don't go and start something, he has enough on his mind and we don`t need him getting all frazzled just before he starts looking for Reggie." Roy`s mother instructed her husband.
"You really think that Roy and his friend can find Reggie any better than the Freedom Fighters?" Trai asked his wife as he zipped up his coat.
"From what I can see, the odds are more in our favor if Roy looks for him, but beyond that I couldn`t tell you," Roy's mother replied, "the only other thing we could do is to hope that they can find him."
"Hm, well I am used to taking your word for truth when it comes to matters of the future, and I'll take your word for it now, but I surely hope you're right." Trai said as he stepped out of the tent and went to catch up with Roy.
It did not take long for Trai to catch up to his son, and when he did he found Roy fidgeting with the buttons on his goggles and muttering something about how maps were silly. "Hey, Roy, what are you doing here? I figured you would be further along to the HQ tent." Trai asked.
"Well, I would be, Trai, but I'm trying to calibrate my map display to look for the tent and it's decided to be difficult," Roy replied as he continued pressing buttons on his goggles.
"Did I not tell you that the tent was hard to miss? You could have just kept wandering along till you found it." Trai commented.
"Walking aimlessly will only get me lost, so I would rather use a map when I'm traversing the maze of civilization." Roy replied curtly.
"It's not walking aimlessly if you know where you're going, Roy." Trai said.
"Well, if you know where the tent is, lead the way." Roy replied.
"Very well, follow me." Trai replied as he suddenly started heading for the HQ tent.
"What, you`re actually going to be helpful now? Well that's news to me, let me guess, Máma told you," Roy commented following his father who kept silent. "I'm going to take your silence as a 'yes', and let me guess a little more: you tried to get me not to go."
Roy's father turned to face his eldest son "Boy, I've had just about enough of your mouth!"
"Oh really," Roy replied with a bout of wry laughter, "you're the one that kissing the sash of some delegate every day and you're telling me to watch what I say!?"
"You may not realize it, but those sashes that I have to kiss every day just so happen to be the ones that keep you and your mother out of padded cells!" Trai snapped at his son.
"What the hell are you talking about!?" Roy demanded.
Roy's father lowered his tone, and looked around for potential eavesdroppers before whispering. "I'm talking about the ability that your mother and you have."
"What about it?" Roy asked softly, though in the back of his mind he seethed.
"To put it quite frankly, there are some people that are either convinced or are pretending to be convinced that your ability does not exist and that you and your mother are simply just insane and need to be locked up." Trai replied in an even quieter tone.
"But that's just silly, didn`t Gramps demonstrate our family's powers in the king's court a long time ago?" Roy asked.
"Yes, he did. Your mother demonstrated hers' to Sally and you did the same with Rotor. But both your mother's father and your mother's mental abilities...well they scare people, influential people. Have you ever heard of the legend of Cassandra?"
Roy gave a dismissive shrug "Not a clue." He replied.
"Cassandra was a human woman cursed by the gods with the power of prophesy. She could see the future with perfect clarity, but her stories would never be believed by the people who heard them."
"So what," Roy remarked. "She could just have asked someone else to repeat what she said and other people could just believe that guy. She could've used her powers to pick the winning lotto numbers and live in luxury for the rest of her life. That's an awesome power not a curse."
Roy's father face palmed. "I don't think they had lotteries in ancient Troy, but that's beside the point. The point is that Cassandra did use her powers just like your grandfather did and bypassed the aforementioned restrictions as you suggested."
"Then why didn't they know then about the horse?" Roy asked.
"What horse?" Roy's father replied perplexedly.
"Horse, Trojan Horse, the one with the Greeks hiding inside. It's like the only thing people remember about that old siege." Roy explained.
"Yes, I was getting to that part," Roy's father snapped. "Cassandra's predictions gradually came to be associated with the disasters she predicted and her people locked her away in a tower, believing her to be a bad omen. She saw the city's demise, haplessly from her tower, but could do nothing to save them."
"Then they deserved it, if they were so pig-headed and ignorant." Roy remarked.
"You're missing the point. What I'm saying is that keeping our powers secret from all but Sally is going to help keep our family safe, do you understand?" He asked.
Roy thought for a moment about whether or not Trai was telling the truth, but then dismissed the thought completely. "No, I really don't understand, and I am really quite sure that you're lying, that's pretty much all you do, and honestly, I don`t care." Roy replied as he shoved past his father and headed for the HQ tent.
"Why, why, why don't you listen to me, I finally tell you a horrible truth that I have been protecting you from and you don't believe me, why?!" Trai asked Roy.
"Because you're a liar, Trai, I've known this for a long time, and everything you say is meant to further some divisive scheme of yours. That's it, that's the only reason!" Roy roared with laughter to his father's face. But before Trai could reply, Roy turned back around and started walking away again, "You know what, stop talking, you've helped me to know where I'm going, and that's all I need from you, just go back kissing sashes!" He said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Samantha dear, if you had not told me to not argue with our son, I think I would have punched him by now. Trai thought as he continued to head for the HQ tent while ignoring Roy altogether.
Meanwhile, nearby, Samantha and Anita were making their way to the cashier tent. "So, Samantha, have ya` thought about what all job ya`ll might ask Sally for?" Anita asked the fox walking beside her.
"Huh, you know, now that I think about it, no I haven`t." Samantha replied to the blonde and gray chupacabra as she moved the mahogany chest she was carrying so it would take up less space as the two of them squeezed in between two tents that were less than a foot away from one another at the base.
"Well, jus as a little suggestion, ya`ll could ask to be part of the Forward team." Anita said.
"Forward team, what's that?" Samantha asked.
"Oh, that's the team Sally sends out for the big muscle jobs, ya know, when there's a couple dozen SWATbots to deal with." Anita replied.
"Huh, sounds more like a grunt squad, that doesn't sound real fun." Samantha remarked.
"Well, there's really nothin' in war that is fun, at least nothin' I've seen, but there's no question that ya' would be perfect for the job." Anita mentioned.
"Yeah, but I'd like to able to do something a bit more important than just simple mop-up duty. Maybe like those bombing missions." Samantha remarked.
"Well, actually that Forward team is usually sent along with the Bomber team, and very usually they're the difference between a mission going well or fallin flat on its face." Anita mentioned.
"Hmm, I still don't know. Are there any other positions?" Samantha asked.
"Ya'll might want ta ask Sally about that." Anita replied.
"I'll ask." Samantha remarked.
It did not take much more walking for the two to reach the cashier`s tent, but when they did, they did not encounter a long line like last time, in fact there was no line at all, as everyone had gathered around the council tent next door.
The council tent`s spacious camouflage-white opening was completely blocked with people waiting for something with rapt attention; as if their entire future rested on whomever was about to step out of the tent and what they had to say.
"Well shoot, that a big gatherin`. Oh well, at least the cashier tent is open fer business." Anita commented as she passed by the crowd and headed for her goal.
When the two of them reached the tent`s stall window, they were greeted by a closed window and a sign that read "Be back in fifteen minutes."
"Well, that's just typical, I get my hands on a big ole check and there`s nowhere ta cash it in." Anita complained when she saw the sign.
"Hey, it's not that bad, the cashier guy is probably over with that group waiting for a speech." Samantha mentioned.
"Well, if he's there, ah'm going ta go and make him do his job right now." Anita seethed as she stormed into the audience. From the looks of her face she already knew where her target was.
"Hey wait, Anita there`s no need to..." Samantha exclaimed as Anita disappeared into the crowd, "oh great, where is she?" She said under her breath as she surveyed the crowd for where the chupacabra might be. She wanted to go into the crowd and look for her, but the equipment chest was much to big and clumsy to navigate such a packed gathering, and there was no place to set it down either.
However, not but a minute later, Samantha noticed a commotion in a small area in the crowd and then spotted Anita pushing her way out of the gathering with a gray wolf that she was largely dragging along by his wrist. "Alright, now, Jeb, ya`ll gonna get back in yer stall and do yer job right now." She demanded of the wolf that was barely managing to walk as Anita pulled him along.
"Anita, what the heck are you doing!?" Samantha exclaimed when she saw the alarming situation.
"It's been a bit too long since ah've had a lick of food, and this check is my way of getting something to eat, and ah'm not waitin anymore!" Anita replied in a disgruntled voice as she dragged the wolf back to his stall.
"Let me go lady!" the gray wolf demanded of Anita as he struggled to free his wrist from her grip.
"Not until ya cash in my check!" Anita snapped at him.
"But I-I can't, it requires a signature from an official for any-" The wolf said, but he slipped a little and had to regain his footing before continuing, "-for any transaction, and all the officials are in council right now, I can't do anything from here."
"What? Ya'll gotta be kiddin me!" Anita exclaimed when she heard this. She thought about it for a moment before releasing the wolf and sinking to her knees, "But ah'm so hungry right now, can't I get just a little break, I haven't eaten in two days…" She whined.
Seeing Anita in such a state drew a good note of sympathy from Samantha. She attempted to kneel down and comfort her, but she had nowhere to set the equipment chest down, and before she figured out what to do, the wolf spoke up, "Hey um, l-lady, if it's food you need, I heard that there's a food giveaway that supposed to happen after this community announcement, perhaps you could grab a bite to eat then." He suggested.
"Really, how long is that from now?" Anita asked as she stood back up.
"Oh, um, the announcement is supposed to start in a few minutes, and it usually only takes about ten minutes from start to finish, so I'd guess about fifteen minutes."
Anita thought about it for a moment, but her state of mind was disrupted by a clear and amplified voice from the Council tent. "Excuse me, everyone, I would like you all to pay attention now." Spoke the voice.
Samantha turned to look at the speaker, and found herself staring at Sally Acorn, the leader of the Freedom Fighters and the Knothole Council. She knew of Sally only through her partner of a mere three days, and found herself feeling safe and warm in her presence.
Samantha knew these feelings were foreign and came to the realization that Roy was in awe of her; utterly so. He loved her in a way that didn't map to how he felt about anybody else. Samantha held her ground. She figured she would reserve judgment until she had a chance to talk to her in person. She didn't love her, but she thought she could. As a ruler, as a teacher and as a future friend. Samantha looked about at the crowd, and saw the same admiration in their eyes as well.
To the left of the chipmunk were the Council members, each standing at their assigned position in their blue and red robes, not daring to sit, as if to do so would be an affront to Knothole.
On the right were the Freedom Fighters, none of whom wore matching outfits, and some did even not rise to meet their leader but kept watch on the tense crowd. Curiously enough, Sonic and Rotor were nowhere to be seen, but Samantha could hardly care less as her gaze was drawn straight to the chipmunk, who stood in the midst of the show like a sure and stable pillar.
Sally had a certain warmth and poise about her. Maybe it was the way she sauntered on stage dressed in a warm blue coat that hugged her frame perfectly and a pair of deep royal blue boots that matched her piercing blue eyes. Maybe, it was her reassuring smile which reminded Samantha of that mother figure she never had. For a moment, Sally stared squarely at Samantha and she found herself adverting her eyes as though by instinct.
"I know you all have gathered here largely for the upcoming food handout, but first there are a few announcements, so we can begin repairing all that we have just lost not three days ago." Sally spoke in a clear and authoritative voice as she said this, her words drawing all those around her to attentive silence.
Sally flipped a page on her notes, "First and foremost: until such time as the Lynx-Rabbot University and College building is rebuilt, the school will continue to have its classes take place in the northern section of the residential tents, and the classes will not be held past 8 pm or before 6 am, in order to avoid unnecessary exposure to enemy forces." She said.
The chipmunk waited for any questions from the crowd before continuing "Second: the construction of the emergency bunkers is complete and they are currently being stocked. Remember that these bunkers are for emergency use only, and the supplies within are also only for emergencies."
At this, the crowd started murmuring amongst themselves, but Sally continued. "And thirdly, we have reached our the required quota for metal needed to start rebuilding the many tools we all lost a few days ago, and as such we are requesting that all engineers and those with experience in metalworking begin working on tool manufacture for the time being until further notice."
With that, a few people shifted in their seats and began quietly discussing something, Samantha thought she heard the word "sabotage", but she dismissed the thought and continued listening.
Sally continued like this for another ten minutes, listing off a great many important, albeit bland, subjects before moving to assign the tasks for the day. Like clockwork, each person who waved their hands to acknowledge
Then, after she was done with her announcement, Sally set the script down and leaned on the podium. "Now that that boring nonsense is over, I'm going to level with you all. I know that the last few days have been especially hard, and we've all lost very dear friends, but remember, we're all still here, and that's really all that matters, and for now, our greatest goal should be the recovery of the captured."
"We do that, and we will have proven once again that that old mustache with legs can`t beat us." She assured them. "Now, I know you all are hungry, and I'm not going to keep you waiting on my account, so please make your way into the supplies tent around the corner and remember: one bag per individual."
With that, Sally turned off the podium and her audience started to head for the supplies tent, as she went along with the crowd, Samantha looked back, and to her surprise, she saw Sally helping someone lift the podium and carry it into the council tent.
Samantha and Anita made their way to the supplies tent Samantha trailed along back, wondering what to do next. After a few steps, Samantha spoke, "Hey, um, Anita?" She said.
"What's going on, Samantha?" Anita asked, turning around from her position in the queue.
"I'm going to go talk to Sally real quick." Samantha replied.
"Sure, that is what ya' were here for, I'll keep yer spot in the line for ya and get ya a rations bag."
"Ok, thank you." Samantha said as she stepped out of the line and headed towards the Council tent.
Before Samantha even made it halfway, Anita realized something. "Hey, Samantha, I need yer full name, they won't give a food bag to some who isn't there!" She called out to her.
"Oh, right, umm," Samantha began to say, but she found herself in a conundrum: she didn't have a last name. The strong fox thought and thought, but no name presented itself to her. In her frustration she shifted the weight of the equipment chest on her shoulder, and it came to her. "My last name is Mahogany." She stated. "Samantha Mahogany."
"Ok, I'll just write that down fer a moment." Anita remarked as she retrieved a small black notepad and a pencil from her bag. After she wrote Samantha's new name down, she pulled the page out of the note book and then put her writing utensils away. "Ok, I got yer name right here, come and find me after yer done talkin with Sally, I'll be in the cafeteria tent!" Anita called out, holding the page up so Samantha could see it.
"Ok, I will!" Samantha shouted back, giving Anita a wave.
With that, Anita returned to the line and Samantha headed back to the Council tent.
When she reached the entrance, Samantha was greeted by a stern looking guard. "Ma`am, I'm going to have to ask you to either step back or set that, thing, down." The guard ordered her, pointing to the equipment chest on her shoulder.
"Oh, right, I'm sorry," Samantha said as she obeyed the order and set the equipment chest down on a patch of dirt next to the doorway to the tent. "now, I wou-"
"Let me guess, you want to talk to Ms. Acorn, right?" The guard asked, interrupting Samantha's train of thought.
"Why yes, that is why I'm here." Samantha confirmed.
"Well, you're going to have to get in line. Lots of people want to talk to her." The guard stated.
"But I'm actually here to apply for the Fr-" Samantha began to say.
"The Freedom Fighters? Yeah, lots of people want to join them too," the guard quipped. Samantha frowned, if there was one thing that she knew was her own -and not Roy's- pet peeve, it was being interrupted in the middle of talking.
"Alright, I came here to talk with Sally, not deal with some f-" Samantha started to growl as she balled up her fists and flattened her ears, but then she was interrupted, again, though this time by some else entirely.
"Ok, James, that's enough, if she has something she wants to discuss with me, then let her talk, I have free time right now." Said Sally as she stepped out of the tent.
"But Princess Acorn, I thought that you didn't want to be disturbed," the guard stammered.
"I said that I didn't want to be disturbed by official matters for a few minutes, but talking with somebody isn`t an official matter." Sally remarked. Her words suggested annoyance, but she had her hands on her hips and an amused look on her face.
"Yes, of course, Princess Acorn," He said as he obediently returned to his post.
"Now, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about? I'm sure I can help you with whatever it is." Sally asked as she turned back to face Samantha.
"Oh, um, right, I… I want to become a Freedom Fighter." Samantha replied, her voice shaky from her borrowed admiration from Roy's memories. She shook her apprehensions away and focused on seeing Sally as a fellow individual and nothing more.
"Hmm, now let's see, they're quite a few qualifications you'll need before you can be a Freedom Fighter. For a start, a lot of the missions are really quite dangerous, so not just anyone will do." Sally mentioned.
"Well, I'll have you know that I'm not just 'anyone', I happen to be really, really strong."
"I've noticed, that wooden box you got there does seem awfully heavy," Sally remarked wryly, "but even though it is a bit odd that you're that strong and a fox at the same time, that alone won't make it so you're able to do what we have to do sometimes, you have to have something more." She mentioned.
"What is it, what more do I need?" Samantha asked the chipmunk. Her voice had a note of desperation in it, as if Sally's answer to her question was like a drink of water in the desert.
"Well, I could go and say that you'll need so many hours of combat, this many years of training, but that's really just a bunch of technicalities and really not all that relevant, I mean, when we started the fight for our freedom, none of us were older then twenty except Rotor," Sally replied as she started heading into the council tent and motioning for Samantha to follow, "the thing you really need is the heart for the job, and a willingness to put it all on the line so your neighbors can have the freedom you quite possibly might die for." She explained as she pulled a chair from the council table and sat down.
When she heard this, Samantha thought for a moment. She knew that she was physically strong, that was never in doubt, but she had never once taken a look at how strong she was as a person, leastways not in the whole three days she has been in the world. She pulled up a chair or herself and sat down. After a minute of introspection, and a great deal of sifting through Roy's borrowed feelings to find her own, she came to a conclusion.
"I am willing to do that, to die for Knothole." She stated.
"I like your spirit, and you have the right idea, but you have to remember: I didn't say 'Knothole', I said 'neighbors'," Sally mentioned, "we're not fighting for nation. Those come and go all the time- we're fighting for our friends, even those that, currently, are being forced to attack us."
Upon hearing those words from Sally, Samantha found herself revisited by Roy's memories of watching the fall of his own home, and then she took note that the leader in front of her went through the same event, in fact she went through it even worse than Roy did, and yet she was not acting as negative as Roy did, and she definitely did not think it all a nightmare like he did.
She considered this revelation for a moment. Maybe this is what separates a leader from an average person? The ability to go through something terrible and still keep your head on straight and to remember what matters to you. She thought, but the only thing she said aloud was "Ok."
"Huh, from the looks of your face, you have quite a bit on your mind. Care tell me about it?" Sally asked.
Oh shoot, she's really good at reading people! Samantha thought. Well, I can't tell her about me having Roy's memories, I promised him that I wouldn't, but on the other hand, if I don't give a good answer, she'll know, and then I don't know what'll happen.
In an instant, Samantha thought of a good obfuscation: "Well, I was just thinking of all the stuff I just lost, you know, my home and possessions and all, and I know it sounds kinda' selfish, but I'm a bit irritated that I have to start from scratch again."
"Heh, yeah, I hear that a lot, but don't worry, good character is not all that dependent on how annoyed you are at losing all you worked to build, plenty of us have lost a whole lot, and let me tell you: we're downright pissed, and that's okay." Sally remarked.
Oh thank goodness, she bought it! Samantha thought, breathing an inward sigh of relief.
"Oh, and on that note: I'm actually working on getting everyone their stuff back, you know, to provide a sense of stability, so if you don't mind, could you list what you've lost so I can get the guys at Restorations to make some similar items?" Sally asked.
When she heard this question, Samantha started freaking out on the inside. Oh crap, she bought it too much! Now what do I do?
"Umm, well, it's sorta..." She stammered as she scratched the back of her head and kept drawing a blank on a way out of her predicament no matter how hard she tried.
Sally sat expectantly as Samantha stammered and looked around, unable to find an answer to the chipmunk's question. In the back of her head, she hoped that something would interrupt the conversation, but to her disappointment, nothing happened.
"Well, the thing is that-" She began to say.
But before she could continue, there came the droning sound of a klaxon in the distance and a young robin burst into the council tent. "Sally, there are hostiles advancing on the camp!" said the avian who wore stitched together military clothes and a blue ribbon on his wrist.
"Ok, I got it, Stanley, let the others know and I'll get ready!" Sally ordered as she quickly got out of her chair.
"Yes ma'am!" The bird named Stanley replied as he shot out of the tent.
"What is it, what's going on!?" Samantha asked as she got out of her chair as well.
"Trouble." Sally replied as she stepped out of the tent.
To be continued...
And that was Episode Five!
Thanks for reading it to the end, and I hope you liked it!
Story written by me and edited by Zoggerific.