Knight's Honor

1

It had been several months since Sonic had come to this world and attained the throne. If it had been anyone else they would have been ecstatic to be the king, but not Sonic. He wasn't suited to be the king, even if he was the "chosen one", It was a boring and lonely job. He was rarely allowed to even leave the town, much less the castle, not even for a run. Most of the time he would just be sitting on the throne, waiting for someone to ask for a law to be written, or whatever they wanted, He hated it. He didn't mind helping people, but he was miserable.

He hadn't seen or talked to his friends that whole time, how could he have? He was stuck in a different time and there was no foreseeable way of getting him home, at this point it seemed like no one was actually trying to anymore. It wasn't like he could just leave anyway. They needed a king. Right?

In any case, he missed his friends dearly. Sure, there were versions of them in this world, but it wasn't the same. He couldn't hang out with any of them just for the sake of hanging out with them, there always had to be a reason.

Luckily, he was pretty okay at coming up with excuses.

On this day, he was headed to the blacksmith to get Caliburn sharpened, even though he rarely got to actually sword fight anymore.

"I don't understand why I'm being sharpened today." Caliburn called out from the sheath on Sonic's back.

"What? I thought you liked being sharp?" Sonic replied snarkily .

"This is true, but I was sharpened just last week, and you've only sparred once in that time." He pointed out.

"So?"

"I suspect his majesty just wants to see the blacksmith." Caliburn teased.

"Man, please don't call me that..." Sonic groaned as he opened the door to The Blacksmith's. The little bell above the door rang as it opened, letting The Blacksmith know someone was in the shop. There was a sound of clattering and banging from the back room.

"Sorry! I'll be with you in just a second!" The Blacksmith called from the back.

Sonic smiled, glad to hear his best friend's voice, even if it wasn't actually him. He took the sheath off his back and held it casually at his side. The Blacksmith came out from the back, wiping his hands on his apron.

"Sorry about that, what can I help- Oh, My liege!" He bowed respectfully for a moment.

"Bud, I keep tellin' you, ya don't have to call me that-" Sonic reminded him.

"Nonsense, it's a sign of respect. Now, what do I have the honor of doing for you on this fine day?"

Sonic offered the sheathed Caliburn. "Wanted to get 'em sharpened again."

The Blacksmith nodded and unsheathed Caliburn, only to see that he was nearly just as sharp as the last time. He gave Caliburn a subtle confused look before speaking.

"I feel... it might be a bit early to sharpen him again my Lord-"

"I said the same." Caliburn cut in.

Sonic simply shrugged.

The Blacksmith nodded. "Of course I am always happy to help my king, it won't take long." He walked towards the grindstone and prepped his work area, briefly glancing over to the door only to see Sonic still casually standing by it, watching him work.

"Oh- your highness, you don't have to wait here for me to finish, I'll have someone deliver it to the castle when he is good and sharp."

Sonic shrugged. "I don't mind waiting here, I like being in town."

"I'm simply worried that the grindstone will bother you with how loud it is." He said with hesitation, trying to give Sonic ample time to leave if he wanted. Sonic simply shook his head.

"S'okay I don't mind."

"Alright... if you say so..." The Blacksmith said before putting on a pair of protective goggles and working the grindstone to an adequate spin speed.

It wasn't the spinning of the grindstone that was so loud, it was the sound of a sword being held against the stone's spinning surface. A sort of high-pitched screeching sound that only steel against stone can make.

Sonic watched as The Blacksmith angled Caliburn's edge to get it perfectly sharp. He was clearly skilled at his craft. Sparks would occasionally fly from the stone, but he would skillfully angle the blade so they wouldn't hit him. And before he knew it, The Blacksmith was done.

The Blacksmith offered sonic the newly sharpened blade for inspection, though it looked nearly identical as before. Sonic took Caliburn in his hands and studied the edge gratefully.

"I take it's to your liking?" Asked The Blacksmith.

"Perfect as always." Sonic replied with a smile, before handing him the gold he owed.

"Thank you, my king." The Blacksmith said with a short bow.

"Sonic." He corrected.

"What?" The Blacksmith looked up from his bow, confused.

"Just call me Sonic, all these honorifics are way too formal for me." He said as he put Caliburn back in his sheath.

"I- Alright..." He said hesitantly.

"What about you?" Sonic asked.

"Me?" The Blacksmith asked, confused .

"I mean, I can't just call you 'The Blacksmith', what should I call you?"

The Blacksmith thought for a moment.

"Miles." He decided.

Sonic smiled, though it might have been a little sad. "Well, thanks Miles." He said before heading for the door.

Miles just stayed where he'd been standing, utterly confused, but a bit flattered. The last king had never even addressed him, much less came to his shop to request something of him. He wasn't used to the reigning monarch being... nice... It felt a bit weird at that point.

"Ah, so I was right then." Caliburn teased from the sheath.

"About what?" Sonic asked, pretending not to know.

"You miss them." Caliburn said bluntly.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Great observation." He replied sarcastically.

"There's no shame in being homesick."

"But I'm not homesick, I just miss my friends." He said.

"That is a type of homesickness." Caliburn replied. Sonic stayed quiet for the rest of the walk back to the castle.

They were taking the garden route, which didn't have many gardens along the way, but it had many large patches of wildflowers scattered across the rolling hills. It was peaceful and empty, no one lived around there because the ground was too soft to build on. It was Sonic's favorite path to walk, of course, he could have ran it in less than ten seconds, but he didn't. Since there was no one there, he would walk the whole way, pretending that he was running in an impossibly long prairie.

This world was more crowded than his own, running in any populated area could be extremely dangerous, but not for him. He usually would run as many laps around the castle as fast as he could, for as long as he could. It was the only way he could think of to let out all that energy, and it wasn't even that effective. Usually he would end up getting yelled at by one of his 'advisors' that he was being 'Un-kingly', but he didn't care much.

Sonic's ears perked up as he heard the nocking and firing of arrows up ahead.  He smiled and hurried his pace.