The Campfire Tales

Synopsis:   While on staycation, the King of Mobius tells a few campfire stories as suggested by his children.    

Chapter 1—The Great Outdoors 

Summer had come and it was tradition for the Hedgehog family to travel elsewhere and see different parts of Mobius.    This year it was a bit different.   Sonic, Amy and the bunch had decided they would go into Knothole.    That was were the revolution had taken hold so many years ago.   Some of the prickles had lived through it, but others were still yet so young, they had most likely slept through it or forgotten it entirely.     The time spent in nature would bring the family closer together and teach them new survivalist skills.  

Bunny had recalled foraging for many of her daily supplies while under the iron-fisted dictatorship of Ivo Robotnick.   She hadn’t missed it, but luckily she was quite the herbalist and knew everything about tinctures, salves and balms.   She had passed that knowledge on to her own warren and was instructing the young campers about first aid.    Antoine instructed on sword fighting, strategic planning in the case of war and the importance of always being prepared.    They learned how to keep their supplies out of the way of any sort of pest that might be milling around.    With all the tents set up, it was time to go looking for proper firewood and indulging in a tradition that was older than all of them, roasting s’mores on an open fire.   

Out here, among the rolling hillsides and forest glades, all kinds of creatures lived in harmony with their surroundings.    They weren’t interested in Sonic or his friends, let alone their provisions.    The fire kept them at bay, and they lingered nearer the creek, which babbled not too far from them.   Since they were all roughing it, bathing, cleaning and every task would be done much like the Pioneers had, and strangely, no one complained.    It was a much simpler existence and the eldest as well as the youngest started to appreciate nature for the bounty she presented.     

Chapter 2—Sonic Recalls Uncle Chuck’s Tales 

The tiniest of hedgehogs requested a story on Mobian creation.   Chuck was more experienced than many of the campers there and Sonic asked him if he could tell this story, even though it was exceedingly violent and sanguinary. 

‘Of course you can.   It’s our history, our lore, our religion.  I’m surprised you haven’t told my grandchildren this one yet.   It’s a classic.  All kiddos know it.’, Chuck chortled, roasting a hot dog on the fire.    He had made his very own chili dog, chock full of onions, sweet chili sauce and delicious relish.   He had downed all that with a Bolt cola, which recently started getting bottled again thanks to new jobs in the Industrial Sector of Mobius.    

‘Right.   Ages ago, there was nothing.   Darkness covered everything, until Mobius spoke.   Mobius had been a bit bored and lonesome looking at the Universe, so he began speaking different elements into being.   He created our sources of light, even for the night.’, Sonic began.     All the hedgehoglets, even the eldest among them, was completely entranced.  

Chapter 3—‘It All Began in Paradise’  

‘Yeah, dad ?’, Flashiel asked, after telling Mobius’ creation story.  

‘What is it, Flash ?’, Sonic questioned, wondering what had struck Flashiel with such sudden inspiration and drive.  

‘I’ve always enjoyed that one, but a lot of us are really intrigued about our coat of arms.   You never told us the story of how we adopted those symbols as our own.’, Flashiel said, honestly.    

‘We never told you that one ?’, Amy asked, in disbelief.    

‘No, we would’ve remembered.   We’ve asked before.’, Rose lamented somewhat, pouting.     Clearing his throat, Sonic began a tale reaching back to Mobius’ medieval era, in a time where knights in shining armor were common place and magic was an everyday occurrence.   

Chapter 4—The Family Coat of Arms 

 

'It all began with one of the earliest kings in our history, King Alabastus Hedgehog. He had wanted to unite the House of Hedgehog with a rival, the House of Celeritas. The symbol he had chosen was based on one found in Hamarapi.'

'The Royal H?', Sonia asked.

'Yes. But the side houses were at war.', Sonic continued. 'It wasn't until the marriage of your grandmother and grandparents—King Jules and Queen Aleena—that both royal houses were finally reunited.’

‘At first, the sides still bickered and fought verbally until they saw that it was doing nothing.   Neither side could lash out against each other.    They came to the realization they were more alike than different.   After witnessing just how deeply in love Jules and Aleena were, the fighting came to a halt.’, Uncle Chuck reminisced, chuckling.     The H flag flew proudly outside and fluttered jovially in the wind.   It was a reminder that love indeed, did bear, believe and endure all things, even a feud.   

‘How long did that feud last ?’, Amythsta questioned, raising an adorable eyebrow superciliously. 

‘The side families were very stubborn.   It lasted for 2 decades at least !’, Chuck said.    Only the consistent love of the two families over time was enough to prove that they were going to remain true to each other.   They had a kingdom to uphold and a family to provide for.    The medieval way of life could be challenging at first and with an outbreak of plague, they had to isolate themselves.   Fortunately, technology was of such that most individuals could vaccinate.   If they couldn’t, it was thanks to Jules delivery system and ‘in call’ doctors who delivered shots to everyone who knew it.    The ‘Terrible Plague’ as it had been labelled had killed trillions if not zillions of animals and humans on Mobius.   The ‘H’ was a symbol of hope at that time, and no coincidence ‘Hedgehog’ and ‘hope’ began with the same letters.   

It took many years, but eventually the plague was eradicated and Mobius could begin to heal, rebuild and thrive once again.   

Chapter 5—‘I Know Something Creepier !’ 

It was becoming even later at night and all the s’mores had been consumed.  

‘Don’t be so down in the mouth, sugah.  We can get more tomorrow at market.’, Bunnie said to one of her own kids.   It was enough to settle her littlest girl.    

The last story had stirred the hearts and minds of all the hedgehogs, but they had come for a ghost story.   It was late and the dying embers of the fire had given Knothole an eerie glow.   Sonic shot Manic a sideways glance and pointed at his eyes and then Manics.  It was their signal stating, 

‘I’ve got eyes on you like a hawk.’  

Manic simply chortled sinisterly and began his tale. 

‘I know something creepier and even more disturbing than that !’, he began, with menace in his tone.   It was a jesting kind of menace, though.   Everyone knew his oration skills were something of legend and this tale, whatever it was going to be, was about to be incredibly epic.   

Chapter 6—The Green Lady 

‘Not too far from a dense, verdant forest much like this one, there was a lake.   It was said that perhaps the lake was enchanted, doused with fairy magic or even haunted.    It was said that the Green Lady would emerge from the water and walk among humans and anthros like ourselves.’    

‘All unexplained beings have their origin.   From what I heard, the Lady herself was just that.  An ordinary lady, living among us.   Coexisting, living her life.   Nothing abnormal.   One day, coming home from school and heading home into the forest she loved so dearly, she was jumped by a rogue group of robbers that accidentally took not only her money, but her life.  Desperately wanting to return to her home and angered that the robbers left deep tire marks in the ground where they had escaped by old school motorcycles, she felt a deep rage overtake her.    She called for nature to assist her and use her as nature saw fit.   Moss, algae, and water lilies literally became her.’   

‘She’s the one that protects the forest, though, right ?’, one of the middle prickles questioned.

‘Yes, and well-meaning travelers.   Let us just hope she finds our revelry inviting and we don’t seem harmful.    She may think we’re here to do her harm !    If so, she will send her hoards of creepy crawlies to send us home !’, Manic warned.     Just then, a harmless stag beetle scuttled across one of the littler prickle’s snacks.    She freaked out and held on tightly to Manic’s leg.  

‘They’ve come !  They’ve come for us all !   The Green Lady’s bug army !’, she wailed.   

‘It’s a story, honey !   The Green Lady is myth.’, Amy said, holding her toddler close.   Drying her eyes, the little hedgehoglet quieted her crying and Manic put his hand behind his head a bit nervously.   If it was one lady he didn’t want to offend, it was his own in law.   

‘Right, it’s a story.   Don’t worry about it.   Anyways, Knothole is perfectly safe.  Nothing to fret over.   Now it’s time to rest for the evening.’, Manic said.    Some of the children groaned, moaned and complained as they found their own tents or hammocks to rest for the night.    That next morning, their staycation would come to a close, but they would be savoring what was left of the summer holiday back at the Crystal Castle.    

Chapter 7—Enjoying a Walk in the Woods 

Being in Knothole made all of them smile.   Smelling the fresh air, feeling the cool breeze whisk by them, everything felt so freeing and relaxing.    All of them felt recharged although the trip itself had been horridly short-lived.    They had all earned it, however.   None of them knew when Hannibal would be getting out again, even though his ticket out of maximum security prison, Bombardier, was on their side.     It was known he had agents lying in wait everywhere, waiting for their time to spring him from confinement.    His next plans were unknown, though.   It seemed he had been reading up on Simone Robotnik, which was concerning enough.   It was obvious the twisted mad doctor was up to nothing but no good intentions.    Despite all that, the Freedom Fighters continued to speak of the harsh times they had faced and how thankful they were that for the time being, they had come to a close.    

Chapter 8—The Last Moments of Summer 

Summer had started to wind down for everyone and that only meant one thing; school would nearly be back in session.    To be fair, the prickles were anticipating returning to academia and heading out on field trips that their family hadn’t gotten around to due to duties to the community and upkeep of the castle.     It had been splendid simply savoring a simple staycation.   Seeing Knothole in peace gave them a semblance of accomplishment.     

The final days of summer had yielded intense and immense fun for everyone involved.   All chores and tasks had been finished swiftly, and each day ended with dips in the pool and plenty of treats and tunes for everyone involved.    All the old gang had come by to reminisce and engage in diversion.   Yet, all of it had been bittersweet, since today was officially the final day of the vacation.   Tomorrow, everyone would be returning to work as scheduled and school would begin at last.    It meant fewer hands around Crystal Castle, but it also signified that more information was going to be gathered on Hannibal’s next move.   Whatever happened, they heeded to be prepared, because like it or not, Reis was close to blasting himself out of that maximum security prison and coming down upon them all, guns blazing.  

                                                                          Epilogue 

With summer come and gone, the little ones had returned to equations, history, science, literature and arithmetic.    Homework kept them plenty busy, but there were drills to engage in and sparring to keep their skills fresh and finely tuned.    All the while, Hannibal waited for his chance to break free.  Those who remained loyal to him had begun building the insane mech army and one such mech, called ‘Breaker’ was designated for his piloting.    It lay in wait for a special delivery to be brought to the prison.   One such ‘cake’ had been baked with a switch.    The switch, once flipped, would turn Breaker on, and then it would be curtains for the Hedgehogs and their ilk.     At least, that is what Hannibal thought and predicted in his depraved mind…

It was all just a matter of time now, and time was on his side… 

To Be Continued…