Knight Errand - Chapter 1

 
                     A Sonic The Hedgehog fan-fiction written by Nicole Hornbuckle.


Author’s Notes: Let’s just get this out of the way right now: if you hate Antoine and want to flame me for choosing to write about him, for using original characters, or for not including any chao or whatever in the story, then please do me and yourself a favor: act like a mature, sensible adult, and don’t. Also, I’m not really going to bother writing certain characters’ (IE: Antoine and Bunny’s) accents phonetically, because I don’t care how much of a tradition it is, I think it’s hard to read for one thing, and I’ve just never been crazy about it.
   Now, allow to me to address those of you willing to give the story a chance. “Knight Errand” is rated G, though it may jump to a PG for some battle and action scenes in later chapters. And of course, Sonic the Hedgehog doesn’t belong to me, because if it did, I certainly wouldn’t be a broke college student. The original characters in here are mines’.


Legend:

~ Word ~ indicates the location/or date.
Word indicates a character’s thoughts, telepathy, a heavily stressed word, or a foreign word/or speech, like “Bonjour.”
Word indicates noises or actions, such as sighing.



                                               ~ Knothole Village ~

   Inside his hut, Antoine D’Coolette was seated in his favorite wicker chair, slowly flipping through a large, well-worn, hard cover book. It was all about famous knights of Mobius. On the page the blond-headed coyote was currently looking at, there was an image of a detailed oil painting of a knight in silver-and-gold armor wielding a broadsword in one hand and striking a heroic-looking pose, one foot placed on the head of a black-armored foe he had just defeated.
   The book had actually belonged to Rosie, the Knothole freedom fighters’ beaver guardian when they had been much younger, but she had given it to Antoine, knowing of his passion for the legends. He had already read the book thirty times, maybe even more then that, but he loved the stories it held. The legendary knights, who had banded together to create numerous orders with  illustrious names like the Knights of the Ruby Lance, or the Order of The Firebird, were honorable, virtuous, and fearless, Mobians without peer. There were even knights in faraway lands like Nihon and Cathay. Most of these orders had been early in Mobius’ history, but of course, most of the present-day knights had either been slain, roboticized, or gone deep into hiding thanks to Robotnik and his forces.  
   Antoine sighed. If he had even a fraction of a knight’s bravery and skill, then he would certainly get a lot more respect from others then he presently did. A few nights ago, Antoine was returning from the community well, having just drawn some water for dinner, and, passing close by the open window of Sonic’s hut, had overheard Sonic talking about Antoine to some of the other residents and making fun of him – yet again. While the incident had both angered Antoine and hurt his feelings, this time, a part of him admitted that what the hedgehog was saying was perfectly true. He was a spineless chicken who was more of a hindrance then a help to the freedom fighters. He was sure that even Princess Sally thought so, although she wasn’t as vocal about it as Sonic was.
   What would Papa say?
   General Armand D’Coolette, Antoine’s father and the head of King Maximillian Acorn’s army before Robotnik’s coup, was a brave warrior and a well-respected military commander with a brilliant mind, and had possessed the medals to prove it. Before he went missing, he had been furthering Antoine’s training as a squire. As a young boy, Antoine was being trained in Delmar, a province in Mercia, a country that sat to the east of Cayley. That was before the D’Coolettes had moved to Mobotropolis so that the general, who had accepted a position in the royal army from King Acorn, could be closer to his liege and the other military personal. Armand had intended for his son to continue his training so that he could eventually become a knight in the service of the royal family, but fate had decided to intervene.
   Now he had gotten to the chapter on quests. From the time he was little, Antoine had wanted to be a knight. It seemed far more exciting to actually be in an adventure, rather then just reading or hearing about one. But now it seemed that that dream was unreachable, hanging over his head out of reach like a star in the sky. How could a coward like him ever hope to achieve knighthood? He hadn’t even completed his training, so asking Sally to knight him was out of the question. Not only that, but he hadn’t even proven himself worthy of the title.
   Unless…
   One particular section caught his eye, and he began to read it. ‘Knight-errants were knights who wandered the land, looking to undertake quests in order to prove themselves worthy of knighthood. They performed various good deeds, such as hunting for precious treasure, slaying horrible monsters, and defeating the wicked in the name of a particular lady, invoking her name before all of their exploits. Knight-errant were either in the service of a liege, or searching for one to pledge their faithful service to.’
   Of course! He was looking right at the answer to his problems! What better way to prove himself then by becoming a knight-errant and undertaking an epic quest? Out on the road by himself, there’d be no annoying hedgehog or anyone else to take away his glory. He’d perform a heroic deed, bring back the necessary proof of having done so, and impress Sally and the others. She would have to knight him then!


                                                      *      *      *      *

   The next morning, Antoine was going through his knapsack, performing a mental check-off. He had tried to pack only the essentials – food suited for a long trip, a first aid kit, a compass, a map, and other items like that – and weed out the unnecessary things. He had contemplated bringing the book Knights Of Mobius along, but considering that he had all of the stories in it practically memorized by heart, finally decided against it (add to that that Horatio, Knothole’s resident librarian, would be displeased to learn that Antoine had exposed a book to the elements). As for clothing, he had bought a coat and gloves, just in case the weather became chilly, and a raincoat. Fortunately, it was spring, and the weather was typically warm this time of year.
   Suddenly, his ears perked up as he heard a knock at his front door. For a moment, he considered answering it, but then decided to just wait until the person left. There was a pause after the third knock, and Antoine began to feel relieved, as he thought the person had given up and left, but then the knocking started again, becoming more persistent as it continued. Finally, he relented and went to go see who it was before they wound up pounding a hole into his door.
   Bunny Rabbot, Knothole’s resident cyborg rabbit, stood on his stoop, hands on her hips and a slightly concerned expression on her face. “Antoine? Are you alright, sugah? We haven’t seen you much lately.”
   Antoine smiled at his friend’s concern. She was one of the few people around who Antoine felt genuinely liked him for who he was. “I am fine, Bunny.”
   Peeking curiously around his shoulder, Bunny spotted the packed knapsack on the floor. “You plannin’ on takin’ a trip?”
   Antoine winced inwardly. he had just been caught. He had intended to tell some of the others what he had in mind -- he just wasn’t sure how to go about it. “Well… I have decided to become a knight-errant and go on a quest.”  
   “Quest? Like what knights go on?” Bunny asked in surprise.
   “Oui,” Antoine nodded. “I think it could help moi become a better freedom fighter.”
   “That’s an admirable goal, sugah, but what if ya’ll ran into some of Robotnik’s goons? You’ll be out there all by your lonesome.”
   At that, a cold feeling of dread gripped Antoine in its jaws, but he tried to shake it off as he said, “Bunny, I need to do this for myself.”
   “But don’t you think you should’ve mentioned something about this to the rest of us? We’d have been worried sick about ya’ll.”
   Antoine laughed. The bitterness in it surprised him, and he was sure it surprised Bunny as well. “Aside from you, Tails, Rotor, and Horatio, no one would have noticed.”
   “Now, that just ain’t true, sugah!” Bunny exclaimed. “We all would’ve wondered what happened to ya’ll.”
   “That may be true, but would most of them even bother to look for moi once they learned I was gone? You’ve heard all the things Sonic and some of the others say about me. They’re not really my friends. Look,” He moved closer to Bunny and took her hand in his. “I think this would be good for me. I think it could raise my value in the others’ eyes. Please say you will give me your support, mon ami.”
   Her light green eyes met his royal blue ones for a moment. Finally, she answered, “Well, I still ain’t too sure about all this, but I can’t say no to a friend. Ya’ll got my support.” She smiled warmly.


Author’s Note: As far as I know, a name was never given to the state Knothole was located in, so I’ve taken the liberty of making up one: Cayley, which is actually the name of a volcano in Canada. I did the same for Cathay (Mobius’ Asia-counterpart) and Nihon, a pseudo-Japanese-esque country that will be playing a much larger part in future stories. The continent Cayley is located on is called “the Northern Continent”, which is actually from the “Sonic the Hedgehog” cartoon (better known as SatAM).