Author note:
Okay I was struggling changing every scene what my previous companion had written to something else. So I decided to make a complete new one with same storyline. If you have read "New beginning" then you know already what is going to happen in the coming chapters to start with. The reason why I did not just continue from the other one was because the previous companion would not allow me to do so and would report me if I did. I hope you enjoy this version as well, its difficult to avoid but at the same time follow the storyline. That's all from me I would love to hear comments about this new version. :)
An ebony hedgehog walked through an overgrown forest. He didn't know who or where he was. He had just woken up in the middle of a hole with trees burning around him as if a lightning had struck down. That was weeks ago; what surprised him was that he was still alive even though his stomach was screaming for food. He had tried to eat random berries, but ended up seeing illusions so he didn't try that again. He was in a terrible state; ribs were visible under his pelt from his starvation. But the worst part, he didn't remember anything.
The hedgehog had been desperately searching for a body of water to refresh his now dry lips, but it had all been a dead research. Until today. His eyes widened in pure happiness as he spotted a lake not too far away from himself. He slowly walked towards the lake, not thinking that anybody would separate him from it.
There was a shadow close by the trees of the lakes. A blue hedgehog was slashing a tree with the help of a sword, each time going faster and faster.
The starved hedgehog froze as he heard slashes hitting a nearby tree until it finally cut through. It nearly hit him and he made a loud growl as he suspected a rather big beast marking its territory.
Although the cobalt male had been too focused into his training, he did hear a quite growl from close. He immediately jumped to the top of the tree and allowed himself to fall in front of the other hedgehog. He grabbed his sword with both hands, ready to attack if the other dared to make a move in false.
The ebony hedgehog glared at the other. He was wearing a crown and red cloak. Only his right hand was armored and had a tight grip on the deadly sword. The ebony one remained silent and was more interested in the lake rather than the stranger.
The cobalt male didn't stop pointing the sword at the hedgehog's face for a long time, that until he saw more clearly the hedgehog. He was no more than a sack of skin and bones. He clearly showed no signs of having eaten anything for a long time, and his eyes weren't so focused on himself, but rather on the water. That's when the cobalt one thought that the ebony hedgehog couldn't be a danger in the status he was. He even felt sorry for the poor hedgehog; when was the last time he had eaten something? His hands slowly lowered the sword. "I am sorry for that; I thought you were an enemy." He apologized.
"How can you tell I am not an enemy?" The ebony hedgehog asked with an irritated look. He crossed his arms and looked back to the lake. All of the sudden he felt his patent getting thin as soon he laid his eyes on the other hedgehog.
The cobalt male frowned as he dug his sword into the grass below and leaned against it, giving a serious glare at the ebony hedgehog. "Your status of course. You couldn't kill me even if you tried it. You are just bones."
"Maybe." he replied completely forgetting about his state he was in until the other hedgehog pointed it out.
The other male seemed kind of impatient. He took out the sword and swung it. "What are you doing in this forest alone? You seem lost." His eyes always seemed serious.
"I should ask you the same, hedgehog. You can only be lost when you know what you are looking for. I am not lost." The ebony one counter and smirked amused.
The hedgehog raised his brow, actually surprised the weaker one had countered. But he looked back seriously, not letting the surprise taking him for long. "That means you aren't looking for anything? Why are you in the forest? Which is your kingdom?"
"What I did search for was water, which I already have found." He said and looked towards the lake. "As for kingdom...none." The starved one answered rather easily as if the question didn't have much meaning.
The cloaked hedgehog tapped his armored fingers to his sword as he analyzed the other male with his emerald eyes. Weak in body, but surely strong in mind. But the thing that really puzzled him was the fact that he said no kingdom. "Well, you must belong to a kingdom; that defines your enemies." He raised his sword slightly and looked at the pointy end. "Who are you anyways? I haven't seen you around these parts before."
"I find myself asking the same question, hedgehog." He snorted and felt the urge to leave. The hedgehog before him, however, have been the only civilized he had met. "You won't get any answers, I don't remember who I am." he finally added.
The blue hedgehog suddenly smirked, happy to have found a weak spot for him to spit the same words the other hedgehog had said. "Then that means you are truly lost, because you are looking for something you haven't found yet." He toyed again with his sword. "Tell you what, in this forest you are only walking in circles and you won't get any answer."
He frowned as the other hedgehog changed his attitude and go on his nerves instead of patent. "And your point is?"
The cobalt male frowned as well. "I mean..." His hand moved the sword, pointing at the face of the hedgehog. "That you must be hiding something which you don't want to spit. Talk already."
"There is nothing to talk about hedgehog. You are wasting my time." He answered and walked past the cobalt one without exchanging any looks.
The cloaked hedgehog didn't do any move in protest, he just stood there glancing at the spot where the ebony male had been, as if he hadn't noticed he had actually moved. "Wasting your time, hm? Tell me, apart from water, what else you had planned? Return home?" He asked with the intention of getting out any valuable information from the other one.
The starved hedgehog rolled his eyes at the question and looked back. "Yes I am going to take a drink here then go home to a kingdom that is currently your enemy." He said sarcastic.
The other hedgehog also looked back at him. He smirked, getting the hint the ebony male was completely clueless he was talking with an important person. "Then you must know who I am and which kingdom I belong to. I am very popular around kingdoms, in case you didn't know." A flashy cocky smirk appeared on his muzzle as he swung his sword with impressive ability.
"That crown of yours said it before you did." He snorted uninterested of the cobalt status.
The blue male smirked. "Well well I am impressed. I don't know which kingdom you come from, but you are interesting..." He poked the white patch of chest fur, which was more of a gray shade. "I would like to make you more questions; I know you are hiding something. You will come with me."
"What makes you believe that I would come with you, hedgehog?" The ebony one asked and slapped the hand from his chest.
The cloaked hedgehog was pissed, but he tried to decrease his anger. "Well, I don't see anything more important than just staring at the water." He grabbed his arm firmly, but not enough to harm him. "Besides, you already guessed I am not your guy to be joking around."
"What is your name hedgehog?" The black hedgehog asked with a glare at the king. He was quite unsure if he was in any state to defy the other mobian.
The cloaked hedgehog smirked as he started pulling the ebony hedgehog with himself. "Since you will become a part of my kingdom I will have to let you know about your ruler..." He was interrupted as he heard metallic noises coming close to them.
"Your majesty!" Two armored knights shouted at the same time when they were close enough with their horses. "When you meant race I thought you would at least be on a horse back." The red Echidna said slightly irritated. The feline crossed her arms and sighed before she noticed the other hedgehog the king had tightly grip on as if he would run away otherwise. "You majesty if I may ask, who is that commoner by you side?" The female knight asked.
The cobalt hedgehog smiled once his knights approached him. "I am sorry Gawain, but you know I have been riding a horse for long now; you should move your legs as well." His attention turned back to the purple feline. "An interesting outlandish, I must say. He is to be taken back to the castle for an interrogation." His emerald eyes stopped into the ruby eyes of the black hedgehog. "He claims to not remember a thing."
"Highly suspicious." The feline agreed and observed the starved hedgehog. "He hasn't told you his name?" She asked doubting that the black hedgehog could have such blank memory.
The cobalt male scratched his forehead. "When I asked him, he answered he didn't even know who he was. As you say, it's very strange. I don't know if he is trying to keep it for himself, but at the current state he is, he won't manage to harm anybody. We will have to take care of nursing him back to health." The ebony ear twitched as they discussed about him as if he wasn't there.
"So what shall we call him for now?" Gawain asked.
The hedgehog looked behind to the other. "Well, it will have to be a fitting name for him. We can't just be calling him "that hedgehog"." He stood there thinking hard. "How about Shadow?" He finally directed to the ebony hedgehog. "Blood stripes, Black. Choose any." He was laughing very weakly.
The starved hedgehog felt insulted as the king suggested pet names. "I am not going to choose between names that are suited to a pet!" He growled furious.
The cobalt male frowned. "Well there is not much of a wide range I can choose from; that's what your aspect gives off." He suddenly got an idea for a better name. "How about Lancelot then?" He asked, followed by a swift swing of his sword.
"Lancelot..." He said to himself before he nodded approving. "I accept the name." The ebony hedgehogs answered before he glared at the king. "You never told me your name." He reminded and heard Gawain burst in laugher at the amusing question.
The cobalt hedgehog fixed the crown on his head. "I am King Arthur." His sword poked Lancelot's grey chest fur. "You will address me as King though." He looked at Percival and Gawain. "Well guys, let's not waste more time. Let's take him to the castle." He started walking through the forest, being followed by his knights who were walking at both sides of the ebony hedgehog. The king had let go of Lancelot seeing no reason to do it anymore as the knights had appeared so appropriate to keep an eye on the black hedgehog for him. He was instead taking front towards the capital and grinned as they had arrived by the gate that open for them to proceed.
The guards bowed respectful letting them pass through the gate and enter the city of the kingdom. Lancelot looked around amazed of how big the kingdom was. Mobians were everywhere and bowed respectfully as their king passed. This was so much different from what life he had had before, but he had a feeling he had never lived like this. His eyes went narrow as delicious smelling food reached his nose. He caught the sight of food and could hear his belly groan in despair.
The king's sensitive ears caught the weak noise of Lancelot's growling stomach from hunger. He was still very suspicious about the male, but it would be unfair from his part to leave him starving; his bones looked horrible as they were stuck to the skin, and he wasn't in good conditions. As soon as they stepped inside, a female servant came over the king and bowed respectfully before asking if there was something she could do. Arthur looked at her, giving a quick glance at the black hedgehog. "Please show him the way to the bathroom so he takes a shower, then give him some food."
"As you wish my lord." She bowed and nodded towards Lancelot to follow her. "This way ...sir." The servant said a bit unsure if she should address the other hedgehog like that, considering his starvation and looked most likely as one of the unlucky commoners, which was not very often seen in Camelot but not unheard of.
Lancelot made a nod as he saw no reason to fight back as the food was mentioned. The knights remained by the king's side and watched the ebony hedgehog follow the servant. "My majesty, what should we do if he indeed lacks memory?" The feline knight asked.
Arthur leaned against the wall with a frustrated sigh. That was the same question he had been having around his head with no answer at all. "Well Percival, that is something hard to guess. If he suffers from amnesia, then we have to help him restart his "life" by installing him in Camelot." He turned to look at Gawain. "What suggestions you got Gawain?" Percival was surprised to hear the king ask Gawain for suggestions. He wasn't the brightest knight.
"If what he says is true, he sure looks like in need of help. I mean you saw how he looked like; I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't gotten food since he got amnesia. With such lack of knowledge I doubt he can take care of himself. But if he is lying and is from the black kingdom...then..." Gawain said and sighed. "Execution."
Arthur's fingers tapped unsurely his sword. Surely, Gawain's words seemed coherent. Besides, he could always be a spy from the Black kingdom, and the last they wanted was an enemy in their territory. He sighed as he rubbed his temples under his crown. He turned to look at Percival, completely knowing she doubted his choice for asking Gawain's advice. "Well Percival, you agree with Gawain?"
"Somewhat, yes." She admitted and could see a smirk appear on the Echidna's face. "But if he is indeed from the dark kingdom, we could possible get information from him." Percival pointed out and looked serious towards the king. "I don't doubt your decision my majesty, but should you really keep him in the castle? Not even commoners get the honor to enter."
Arthur heard very attentive to Percival's words. She was also correct; it would be a hard decision to take. He looked at the edge of his sword. "I didn't exactly say he would stay at the castle." He raised his glance to look at the feline. "I said we would bring him to the castle to ask him some questions. If he does suffer from amnesia we will test him to see what he is worth of. Then, that will determine whether he stays in the castle or not."
"What test could possible allow him to stay in the castle... if I may ask?" Gawain said and saw the feline shake her head in disbelief.
"Gawain, which people live inside this castle?" Percival asked a bit embarrassed as the other knight didn't seem to think before asking. "Uhm… Servants, guards, knights..." He listed trying to remember who was allowed to be inside the castle but found it harder than expected. Percival sighed at her companion struggling with the question. "I get the point." Gawain said and crossed his arms a bit embarrassed.
The king chuckled lightly at Gawain's naive character. He was glad that he was still a very strong knight and trustworthy no matter what. "You are right Percival, that's the kind of test we will be handling if Lancelot seems worth it. He will have to battle one of you and some intelligence tests. That will determine the position he will take, whether inside or outside the castle." Arthur sighed a bit. "We will have to see that once he is put to test. First let check how he is doing for now." He stopped leaning against the wall and walked towards the dining room, expecting the black hedgehog to be there already.
Lancelot was unaware of the king's decision as he finally had settled down in a warm bath tub. Envy had displayed on the female servant's expression as a starved stranger had been allowed to get such a luxury bath, but when she saw the golden rings she assumed the black hedgehog was from upper class, but in such weak state she wasn't so sure. She wasn't the only one making that question, as Lancelot found himself rubbing his thumb on the golden rings in wonder about it as well. "Who am I...?" He whispered as if he expected someone to answer.
Instead of dwelling more into the matter he began to clean his ebony fur. Lancelot groaned disgusted when his bones were more visible than before. He cleaned his dirty shoes and was amazed of how they looked like; no longer covered in dirt, they now looked like a masterwork; his grey chest fur was now clear white and the streaks from his quills were a blood red instead of brown. Lancelot put on his shoes but threw the destroyed gloves in the trashcan and moved out from the bathroom. He saw the servant from before waiting for him to finish. "You are done, let's get some food."
Arthur smiled slightly when he did spot the hedgehog having a little food in the dining room. Not that much, but still was food, something Lancelot had lacked for some time now. "I see you already took that bath." He crossed his arms above his chest, placing his sword by his side.
"Yes..." He muttered and returned to eat the soup the servant had given him. He would like something more but he had to satisfy his hunger with the little he got.
Arthur looked up and down at the hedgehog. He surely looked way better now that he had taken a bath; he could appreciate his natural fur color now. He tapped his arms a bit. "So what you think of my kingdom and the castle? Comfortable?" He almost said in a mocking tone.
Lancelot looked around the dining room as if he wasn't sure what he thought about it. Not that he could take the question serious when the king made suck mocking tone. "Loud and big." He answered and leaned back on the chair sulking a bit as the bowl was now empty.
Arthur looked at Lancelot rather curious. "Loud huh? Well, I can't blame you. You were in a really quiet place for who knows how long." He stopped and looked at him more serious. "Anyways don't think I just took you here to save you from hunger. You will belong to Camelot from on now, and I must know the position you will take part in. It's not a matter if you want to or not."
"I don't belong to anyone!" Lancelot growled and glared at Arthur. But he calmed down as he realized who he was yelling at. He was in no position of making neither enemies nor a whole kingdom. But a feeling struck that the king was used to get what he wanted.
Arthur smirked. "I am sorry to say that at the moment you stepped inside this Camelot; you are to be part of this kingdom. Besides, the range will determine which class you belong to, and you will have food and protection. It is better than the forest, huh?"
"I see no reason why you would want me here. Nor make me a part of your kingdom." He said and tapped his finger on the table impatient.
Arthur leaned on his sword gently with both hands to look better at Lancelot's indifferent glance. "Well, I have noticed something in you which makes you interesting. I would like to ask some questions to you as well. I had never seen you around, I repeat myself, and I would like to know more."
"Do you know everyone in Camelot?" Lancelot asked a bit irritated at the king, the only thing that seemed important right now was food. His hand was still holding the spoon in a tight grip as if he was going to get more of it.
Arthur looked at the hedgehog desperately looking at the bowl as if he wanted to eat more. That would have to wait. "Of course, I am always being informed of my people and I walk around to check their health. You were in the frontier, which is usually empty. What you expected?"
"I expected you to dispose me or leave me alone." Lancelot answered and leaned back on his chair. "But you didn't." he said and looked a bit confused of Arthurs decision.
Arthur frowned a bit upon Lancelot's words. "Well why must I get rid of you? You are in the lands of my kingdom, I must see for your health, especially with that amnesia of yours." He stayed in silence for a bit, the only noise being his right glove tapping his sword. "Are you entirely sure you aren't lying to me about not belonging to another kingdom?" His glance seemed quite wary.
"What sort of question is that?" Lancelot asked and narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "I don't know, and if I indeed belong to another kingdom I wouldn't know until I get my memory back." He groaned and looked down to his empty bowl.
Arthur frowned a bit as he looked at the behavior coming from the black hedgehog, who just couldn't take his eyes away from the empty plate. He wasn't getting to any conclusion with his answers. But he had to give it another go. "So you don't remember a thing of yourself? Not even who you are?"
"No." Was the only reply before the starved hedgehog stood up. "I take it as you got your answer; there is no point for a king to accompany me anymore." Lancelot said without giving Arthur eye contact.
Arthur sighed and crossed his arms above his chest. He hated to admit it, but Lancelot was right; he was getting an answer, but not the one he would have wanted. But he still couldn't give up. "Well, I may have gotten it... But it's not enough... You will have to come with me for a more serious thing."
"Serious thing?" Lancelot asked and gave the king an annoyed look. "It can't be very serious if it involves me, I have no place in this kingdom." He pointed out as irritation was building up inside him. This cobalt hedgehog was getting on his nerves and patience. But oddly enough it was feeling familiar, although it wasn't a pleasant feeling. Unfortunately he was in no shape to resist and the soup itself was making him carve for more food. He had just gotten used to the starvation. That might be the only reason he was still staying in Camelot. But the kingdom itself was big and he could hopefully find information of his past as well.
His mind couldn't provide him with better questions for the starving hedgehog, and he wasn't going to satisfy his hunger until his own questions had an answer. "Believe it or not, it is indeed serious especially because I know nothing of you." He walked out of the room, not before first asking a guard to look over Lancelot, and went to look for the council leader Mighty.
The armadillo was busy as usual with the paper work. He sighed as it had increased after two Knights of the Round Table had left to get information from the east tower. He perked his ears as the door open and stood up instantly as he saw the king. "Your majesty, I take it you have something important to discuss?" Mighty asked and made a little bow.
The cobalt male bowed a bit and nodded. "In fact I must." He sat down in front of the armadillo, looking at him sort of serious, but worry was more visible. "You see, I found this ebony hedgehog starved in hunger some hours ago. I tried asking him questions about himself... But he either refuses to answer or it's as he claims: He can't remember a thing."
"Your majesty...I don't think it's wise to take in such person inside the castle, nor to let him live if he is giving you such feeling of distrust..." Mighty started and sighed a bit. "You have to make your own decision in this considering you took him in. But I know that look of yours, you want to help him and find this person rather interesting."
Arthur was soon starting to doubt whether he had made a good decision in taking the ebony hedgehog to the kingdom, but at the same time something inside him told him that it was nothing to fear about. "Well Mighty, it's that I don't know him and he won't speak up, but if he did we could determine his position in the kingdom. You know that it was good for me to find him instead of the dark kingdom." He stayed in deep silence trying to analyze the circumstance.
"You really are bothered by this person..." Mighty said and slammed he book shut.
"Caliburn what do you make out of this?" The armadillo asked.
The legendary sword levitated in the air upon hearing its name. "I suspect that this stranger might be the new wielder of the legendary Arondight." Caliburn said shocking both of them.
"How could you come up with such conclusion?" Mighty asked taken aback when Arondight had been mentioned. The previous wielder of it lived nearly a century ago. Arondight was known to be picky and that Caliburn suggested it was rather confusing.
"Your majesty you said it yourself...you sense something is different with Lancelot." Caliburn pointed out and could see doubt and interest from the king.
Arthur was also surprised by the argument his sword had made, but at the same time it put him in a big relief; at least somebody was on his side and didn't make him feel as if he had taken such a risky decision. "You could be right Caliburn, but you know he has to be put under some tests first to see if he is worth the sword... But I have a feeling he will do fine."
"And if he is not worthy for the sword, he could be with something else." Caliburn said a bit excited to see if Lancelot could be fitting Arondight's taste. He felt already guilty for not reminding his owner to get wielder for Arondight.
"Only Gawain and Percival are currently in Camelot... The rest of the knights are in the east tower. They should be getting back later today." Mighty said and stood up. "Let the tests begin."
The cobalt king looked at Mighty. "Well Mighty I fear we can't start right away... You know the first test that is given to him requires the knights to fight against him to check how much strength his body conceals, and most of them are gone. We will have to wait until they get back and they will have to choose one of them to fight." He sighed a bit; he had wanted to do the testing that same day, but they had to wait for the other knights.
"I forgot that part." Mighty sighed, already seeing signs of stress affecting his slow thinking. "We should then-" He started but was interrupted by the door slamming open and two guards entering. "My lord the hedgehog...he is gone!" The taller one said in panic and fright of Arthur's reaction to it.
Arthur turned around to look at his guards, a small vein popping in his forehead from the anger. "What?! I thought I had let you in charge of him!" He sighed to calm down and stood up. "For now help me find Lancelot; he could get himself in troubles." He ran outside the council room and looked around.
Lancelot was amused of how easy he had sneaked past the guards. But he had another problem on hands: Find the way out. The castle was big and he felt like he was walking inside a labyrinth. "Where is the exit..?" He muttered to himself and froze as a sword was put on his throat.
"Identify yourself hedgehog!" The wielder of the sword ordered.
Lancelot looked to his side and frowned as he had let a knight caught him, he could tell by the different sort of armor than the guards had. But it was neither the feline nor the echidna. This one was an ivory hedgehog and was clearly younger than himself.
Lancelot gripped the sword in his hand tightly. The knight tried to pull back the sword. Soon green flames were created from his hand making the knight gasp. "You...you… are...!" He started but it soon disappeared when Lancelot let go of the sword, making the knight fall down. Another knight appeared and pulled out its sword as he saw his fellow knight on the ground.
Arthur soon heard the clash of metal somewhere close to where he was. He had to raise his ears to detect the noise. He was pretty sure it was no more than the armor of the knights. He ran towards them and skidded to a halt, surprised to see his most loyal knight surrounding the helpless ebony hedgehog and ready to attack him. He had to interfere.
"Galahad, Lamorak Stop that!" He ordered and walked over Lancelot, frowning seriously.
"Well why you can't stay quiet in the place?"
"You never told me to even stay in the dining room." Lancelot pointed out. 'Not like I would if you did' Lancelot thought and heard a growl from the ivory hedgehog.
"Don't use that attitude towards the king!" The hedgehog knight said and stood up feeling both insulted and frustrated of the situation.
"You majesty, who is this?" The hawk knight asked which made the ivory hedgehog calm down a bit.
Arthur sighed in frustration and shook his head. "Well I thought you at least had a single part of common sense, but I guess you don't." He turned to look at the hawk knight. "Him? Oh he is Lancelot. I found him in the frontier of Camelot. He claims to have suffered amnesia."
Galahad gritted his teeth when Arthur explained; he was quite certain what this black hedgehog was. He feared of saying it out loud right now, so he had to wait for a good moment.
"No wonder you have such attitude; you act like a kid." The hawk mused and felt a death glare from the ebony hedgehog.
"I thought knights knew better than mock someone stronger than themselves." Lancelot said and crossed his arms before the hawk laughed at the comeback.
"You? Stronger? I challenge you to a sword due-"
"No!" Galahad hissed and glared at Lancelot. "I want to challenge him..." He growled as he suspected what he was.
"I accept your challenge hedgehog." Lancelot smirked as he felt something quite familiar with this situation. Maybe he had faced challenges before and had such self confidence that he would win already, but he didn't feel a sword combat was something he had done before.
"Then we might as well just start the test." Caliburn said confusing them.
"Test?" Lancelot frowned and turned around to stare at the floating sword. He wasn't sure how long he was staring at it but he could hear snickers from the other knights.
Arthur walked closer to Lancelot. "Yes, test. A test in our kingdom checks your strength and intelligence capabilities. Depending on the results we will determine your position in this kingdom. You don't have any choice; I am not asking whether you want to do it or not. It's important to know your abilities." He turned to Galahad. "You are lucky Galahad; you will have the pleasure of testing his strength at the test."
Galahad would point out Lancelot's health as a disadvantage especially with the lack of muscles, but remained silent. "I will get Mighty and the rest of the knights." The hawk said and left the hallway.
"Lancelot is the unlucky one." Galahad said and met Lancelot's glare.
"You are rude and don't even deserve to get this test!" The ivory hedgehog hissed and realized it then. 'Why is Lancelot going to be tested? It's only in special cases...' Galahad thought and eyed Caliburn in slight confusion. The legendary sword wanted them to test a starved hedgehog. He would understand if they suspected the same as he was but that was not the case.
"What happens if I fail?" Lancelot asked interested but was so certain that would not happen.
"You will get a commoner work as everyone else! Put to good use of what is needed, not anything special." Galahad answered fast with a rather impatient tone.
Arthur shook his head as he noticed how Galahad was getting rarely getting uneasy and nervous, a childish attitude he had never seen on the ivory knight. He let out a deep sigh. "Galahad, please stop fighting with Lancelot, you will have to get yourself ready for the fight. And as for you Lancelot..." He turned to look at the ebony hedgehog. "You will be provided with equipment for the battle. You will be given some minutes to get used to the sword."
Lancelot wasn't sure anymore, he looked down at Galahad's sword. Wielding one himself would be new and fighting against a trained knight with it could be difficult. But he figured that the ivory hedgehog wasn't the power type; Gawain obviously had that power the most.
"Where do I get this sword?" He finally asked and backed a bit as Caliburn suddenly levitated towards him. "Follow me." He said hiding his excitement. They silently followed the sword and entered the room of equipment. Swords were nicely lined up on the walls; there were many different types of them.
"We can't offer you any amour since none matches your body size. But feel free to search a sword." Caliburn said and went back to his owner.
Galahad and Arthur eyed Lancelot as he looked around for a sword in his taste. He even tried to hold some of them but all was in disappointment. He froze as he saw one of them being much different than the others. A real sword master would never even lay eyes on this one but Lancelot did. It was old and truly out of shape. It was a rather big blade with many details on it. If was rusty on some places and basically had lost its charm. He could see that color had once been on it. Lancelot swung it around and turned to face the others.
"Yes this is the one I want." He said and could see strange stares from them. What he was actually holding was a prototype of the legendary blade Arondight. Galahad turned his look to Arthur with disbelief.
Arthur was very confused as to why Lancelot had picked upon an old rusty sword that hadn't been touched in years now, but he didn't mind as if it was not the real legendary sword. "Well you made a... kind of good decision. Now watch from the master." He started swinging around Caliburn as if it was just a light stick. His moves were pretty smooth, although a bit wrong as his mind was stuck in questions.
"Let's go out to the training grounds, you need to get used to the blade before facing Galahad." Arthur said and got a small nod from Lancelot as he followed the king to the training grounds. They went outside to an open gravel field with six dummies stuck down the ground.
'Maybe Caliburn is right; he could be the wielder of Arondight...' Arthur thought before he stopped and turned to look at the black hedgehog. "Alright, Try hitting these." He pointed at some dummies.
Lancelot hesitated as he approached one of the dummies. Arthur told him to stand in position before striking it. The ebony hedgehog slowly tried to mimic the kings fighting posture.
"Okay..." He mumbled as he made a fast strike on the dummy. The sword was old and didn't do much other than sound as it made contact on the dummy. Lancelot could hear a weak chuckle from the ivory knight. He would have gotten irritated if it was not for Arthur to step in and show him again in slow motion.
Lancelot did small progress; he lacked a lot of muscles for this and it was amazing to see him even stand like that. Caliburn was so sure this unknown hedgehog was the one. He observed carefully as Lancelot swung the rusty sword. Sweat ran down his pelt and he soon got annoyed of the king that kept teaching him.
"I got it!" Lancelot hissed as his patience wore off with these dummies. 'Why do I get so angry at Arthur...? He just wants to help...' Lancelot thought.
Arthur raised his hands and put them in front on his defense. "Oh alright you perfect guy who believes himself more powerful than my knights. Go ahead and try knocking down a dummy will you?" He stepped back and smirked a bit, mocking the ebony hedgehog. "Show me your great skills, expert."
Lancelot was going to admit defeat as he had no clue how to handle the sword and let alone knock down a dummy with it. "Alright." He replied and looked down on his sword. It would be near impossible to make a slash strong enough to knock down the dummy. He also lacked muscles and body fat; the energy was low and if he was going to perform a powerful strike he would lose the little energy he had left.
Lancelot knew he could do it, but could his body handle it? He had to try, but it meant to improvise. This sword could not cut through this. He squeezed his eyes shut and began to concentrate for his last resort. His hands began to flame; again he shivered as he tried to manipulate the green flames.
It slowly crawled its way down the blade. It looked like it was on fire, Lancelot panted as he tried to maintain it like that. He could feel the energy leave him fast and he had to hurry if he didn't want to faint. He moved the flaming sword for a blow and bit the target. Lancelot gasped as it went through it as he had hoped. He grinned proudly as he had knocked it down.
"Demon!"