Hey guys. Sorry it's been so long. On another note, I've decided to try updating this every Tuesday! (Also: yes, I know I still haven't posted You're Just a Shadow. I'm trying. I think I'll probably update that on Mondays, if you're wondering.)
Yeah, this chapter is kinda short (only 1.5K words :( ) for such a long wait. I added a scene for lunch time to up my word count.
Hope you enjoy, my nonexistant readers!
P.S. 'Tales of Training' is a random arch for when they are training. Yeah, I thought it was cool or smth, like, a week ago.
Chapter 6: Tales of Training Part 1: Morning
I do not like training.
I had never experienced real training before.
Usually Shadow just leaves if he gets too frustrated with me. But now I guess I have to set an example to the others or something, 'cause I was stuck being forced to perform physical effort alllllll morning.
It started with Shadow oh-so-kindly yelling into the hut I shared with Stacey.
"Breakfast in ten minutes!" he shouted.
Stacey fell off the top bunk.
"It wasn't me!" she said.
"What wasn't you?" I asked.
"I dunno," Stacey answered.
"I'm getting dressed first," I said, grabbing my clothes and ducking into the bathroom.
Thankfully, the huts have built-in bathrooms. Outhouses just don't give me much appeal.
I came out after putting on my clothes and using my eyedrops. Then I combed my quills while Stacey got dressed.
Stacey came out with her quills in a mess.
"Did you even comb?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.
"I did. It never works," Stacey answered. "Come on, I'm hungry."
Stacey and I stepped out into the clearing.
I walked over to the campfire I hadn't noticed before and sat on the log I also hadn't noticed before.
Apparently Shadow was cooking for us. He was stirring a pot of grayish stuff. It looked like he had recently taken it off the grate over the fire.
Shadow ladled some of the slop into two wooden bowls. He handed them to Stacey and me.
"What is this?" Stacey asked, giving it a cautious sniff.
"Supposedly oatmeal," Cinnamon answered.
"Eat it. You're going to need to keep up your strength for training," Shadow said.
I stirred 'breakfast' with a wooden spoon.
"Why are the bowls and spoons made out of wood?" I asked, totally trying not to stall eating.
"Wood is a natural, renewable resource," Star answered. "Much better than mining the island hollow."
"If a Seedrian cuts a tree for wood, is it murder?" Stacey asked.
"What even is a Seedrian?" I muttered.
Stacey heard me.
"A plant alien," Stacey answered.
I was still confused.
"I don't think it's murder," Nebula said. "I mean, if it was, then…"
"Let's stop talking about this," Stacey said.
"Can I have seconds?" Pepper asked.
I wasn't completely sure she hadn't dumped her firsts on her head.
Shadow took Pepper's bowl and ladled another serving.
Pepper took it and started slurping it out of the bowl.
I scooped a bit of my 'oatmeal' and tasted it.
It was… not good. As in: my quills flickered with defensive chaos energy it was so bad.
Yeah, I can't purposely use chaos energy, but it will activate itself if I'm in a life or death situation, something Shadow hasn't replicated very often. Except for now.
Stacey took a bite.
Her face turned green and she ran into the outhouse.
We have an outhouse even if the huts have built-in bathrooms. Look, I don't know why!
"Where is that bat?" Shadow snarled, meaning Prism. "She's late."
Five minutes later, Prism came out of her hut.
"Sorry I'm late, but you can't possibly expect me to be ready in only ten minutes," Prism said.
"I do," Shadow said.
"B-but if I don't the proper skin care, I'll-"
"Then you won't," Shadow interrupted. "There is no time for beauty in war."
Prism scowled.
It all went uphill from there. As in, Shadow literally made us run up and down hills for, like, an hour.
"This. Is. The. Worst," I panted while doing jumping jacks.
"I. Agree," Stacey panted.
"Weaklings," Star said.
"You're. Sweating. Too," Stacey panted back.
"Let's. Be. Nice," Nebula panted.
"Why?" I asked, 'cause I couldn't resist.
"Being nice is boring," Pepper said.
Then Pepper did a cartwheel, landing back into jumping jacks.
Showoff, I thought.
"Being. Mean. Is. Wrong," Nebula panted.
"Stop talking and save your energy. Stupid," Star said.
"I don't wanna stop talking," Pepper said.
Then Pepper jumped and did a front flip. When she landed, she went right back to jumping jacks.
"Only do jumping jacks," Shadow ordered.
"Why?" Pepper asked.
"Because if you do different things you'll have done the training wrong and receive different results," Shadow explained.
Pepper blinked at him. I was pretty sure she didn't quite understand, but she only did jumping jacks after that.
Prism started cheating at jumping jacks by fluttering her wings. Shadow didn't approve.
After that we got a fifteen minute break.
"Ugh," Stacey groaned. "I want to save my parents, but not like this!"
"This is hard," Nebula agreed.
"I mean, it's not much harder than the training I did myself to prepare to be the Guardian of the Master Emerald," Star said.
"It's fun!" Pepper said.
"I don't like it, but we have to do it," Cinnamon said.
"It's so much harder than usual," I complained.
"What do you mean, 'than usual'?" Stacey asked.
"Yeah, who are you really?" Star asked.
"I- well, I, um," I stammered.
"Come on!" Star shouted.
"What is going on here?" Shadow asked.
"Who's she?" Star asked, pointing at me.
Shadow stared at me. I stared back. Did he want my identity known? He was the one who was always so secretive. I'm chill with giving it away if he is.
"An apprentice of sorts," Shadow finally answered. "She's training under me. With my recent plan changes, it appears that to continue her training she will have to live here on Angel Island with the rest of us."
"Why's she your 'pprentice?" Pepper asked.
Shadow glared at her.
"Time to continue training," he said.
Everyone groaned.
It was back to running up and down hills after that.
Did I die? I'm pretty sure I died at least twenty times while doing it.
Then we did sit ups and push ups. AKA, the worst exercises known to Man and Mobians.
Turns out, physical training is kinda hard if all your past training has been mental. I mean, I do know how to fight and stuff, or a little anyways, but I'm not used to it!
After several years, it was finally lunch time.
It was extra oatmeal. Barf.
I clapped my hands together and closed my eyes.
When I looked up again, Stacey was staring at me.
"Why did you do that?" she asked.
"This?" I asked, clapping my hands together again.
"Yeah," Stacey answered.
"Oh, I always do it before eating," I said.
"You didn't do it at breakfast," Stacey commented.
I winced.
"I must have forgotten," I said. "All this excitement, I guess."
"I do it," Pepper said.
"So do I," Cinnamon said.
"Huh," Prism said. "What's it for?"
"It's to thank God for food," I said.
"Mom and I go to church every Sunday," Cinnamon said.
"My Mom and Dad and I used to go to a really big church with stained glass and stuff, but we had to start going to a smaller one after I brought my favorite flame thrower to Sunday school," Pepper said.
I stared at her.
"Daddy says God doesn't exist," Nebula said quietly.
"My family isn't really religious," Stacey said.
"My family's kinda religious, but towards the Master Emerald, not towards God," Star said.
"Do you think the Master Emerald is God?" Pepper asked.
I thought about that.
"Maybe," I said. "But I don't think we can see God."
"Maybe it's an earthly form?" Cinnamon suggested.
"I don't really know much about God," I said. "I pray because a family friend did."
"I do not know whether I can believe in God or not," Shadow whispered. "I have lived through so much anger and destruction. How could he have allowed this?"
A lot of us gave him funny looks. I was pretty sure he wasn't meaning for us to hear.
Pepper apparently didn't get the memo.
"That's stupid!" she declared.
Shadow looked at her.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"God's training you with bad things. This will be useful to you someday," Pepper stated.
Wow. She was confident. Maybe it's a showoff side effect?
"Daddy says God doesn't exist," Nebula repeated.
"Also stupid," Pepper said.
"Hey! My dad is very smart!" Nebula cried.
"God exists. Final," Pepper said.
"That last sentence grammatically needs more information," I said.
Pepper stared at me blankly.
"Who said I cared about grammaticalculator?" Pepper asked.
I facepalmed. What do calculators and grammar even have in common?
"I think we should stop talking about this," Star said.
"I think we shouldn't!" Stacey retorted.
"Seriously?" Star asked, raising an eyebrow. "You said you don't even believe in God."
"She just really doesn't like you," I said.
What! It's obvious!
"She deserves it," Stacey muttered.
"What did I do?" Star asked.
"You're annoying," Stacey answered.
"You know what's really annoying?" Prism asked.
"What?" I asked.
"I dunno, I just wanted to say something," Prism answered.
I facepalmed. Again.
I can't believe my 'new training buddies!' are this dumb.
Sorry if that random religious conversation bugged you. I just thought, which of the characters would go to church?
My reasoning: Stacey doesn't go because Sonic and Amy never believed. Nocny doesn't go, but she prays before eating because Shadow always talked about how Maria did it. Cinnamon goes to church because Cream is Christian and is Cinnamon's mom. Pepper goes because... I just decided yes. It has something to do with her personality, and spoilers having to do with the triangle on her forehead (Bet you forgot about that, didn't you?) Nebula doesn't go because she and her dad Tails are very sciency. Star doesn't go because her family is very focused on the Master Emerald. Prism doesn't go because... unexplained backstory! (Spoilers!)