Knothole Village: Villagers Lost, Villagers Gained

[Leda]

The princess sighed with concern, her mind not even remotely focused on the walk to Knothole's elevator or the cleaning supplies in her arms. The search for Dash... had been a failure. There hadn't been any sign of him at all. The only discovery to be made was the fact that the recovered hover unit had also gone missing. Sally bit her lower lip with worry, her eyebrows furrowing tightly together. Dash, what were you thinking?? You're not even in any condition to be walking around, let alone piloting a ship...

"Ack!!" The princess tripped over a slightly raised root, stumbling forward and spilling the shampoo bottles to the ground. Sally rolled her eyes at her own clumsiness, kneeling down to pick them back up. "Oh brother..."

[Jamie Lee]

"Whoa there Sally-girl! Ya'll okay?" Bunnie called, rushing over in front of her and setting down the bucket she was carrying to help the princess in picking up her supplies.

[Leda]

"Yeah... I'm fine, but I worry that Dash isn't." The princess let out a heavy sigh as Bunnie helped her reclaim the cleaning agents. "I should've done more to ensure that someone was there to help him. He shouldn't have been left by himself like that; I should've assigned someone to watch and take care of him."

Sally frowned as the pair resumed their walk toward the elevator. "And that hover unit we brought back is missing... I have a sinking feeling that it's no coincidence that it disappeared in the same time that Dash did." Suddenly the ground squirrel's features tightened as she frustratedly kicked a stone that happened to be in her path. "Augh!! Why did I leave him alone?!"

[Jamie Lee]

"Now, now, Sally-girl," Bunnie said soothingly as she retrieved her pail. "Ya'll did what ya'll thought was best," her lips firmed together. "Best we can do is hope he's alright... ain't no sense scoldin' yerself with it now. Besides... Iffin' there is some connection Ah'm sure ol' Charlie'll find out."

[Leda]

I didn't do what was best; I did what was easiest, Sally glumly thought to herself. However, Bunnie did have a point: Uncle Chuck had been alerted to the situation, and should at least be able to tell them whether or not Dash had gone through Robotropolis. Of course Sally didn't want to hear that he had been in the city and gotten roboticized, but on the other hand, finding out that he hadn't been there would be just as unsettling. It would mean that Dash had just up and disappeared, and his condition would be unknown. Neither scenario was really something to look forward to.

Well, I can't dwell on this, the princess reminded herself. There are too many other things that have to be taken care of.

"Thank you, Bunnie," Sally said gently, turning to her friend and managing a smile. "Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without you. ...." Suddenly a thought crossed the ground squirrel's mind, and she laughed nervously. "By the way.... I forgot to tell you, I need to ask a favor..."

[Jamie Lee]

The rabbit perked an eyebrow up quizzically. "Well sure hon, whatch'ya'll need?"

[Leda]

The princess cleared her throat, even though nothing seemed to be obstructing it. "I'd like for you to.... work with Lance a bit. He doesn't seem to have much control over his robotic strength. ..... ....... .........." Sally let out another sheepish laugh. "...Sorry."

[Jamie Lee]

Both of the rabbit's eyebrows suddenly hiked up to the top of her forehead. "... Hooey, is it too late to take back that agreement?"

[Leda]

"I'm sorry, Bunnie," the princess said apologetically, "but Lance has already done a lot of damage because he can't control himself. Based on what happened to Dash, he's a threat to public safety until he learns, and you're the only other person in Knothole that's part robian." Sally allowed a bit of silence to hang in the air, then cozied up to her companion with sweet, sparkling eyes. "PLEEEEEEEEASE?"

[Jamie Lee]

Bunnie just frowned disapprovingly. A frown that quickly faltered and began to turn crooked as she tried to hold her face straight. It was a battle doomed from the very beginning, and soon she made a loud exhale from holding in her breath and chuckled dryly "Shoot, stick a fork in me why don't ya'll!" she exclaimed, continuing to chuckle and burying her face into her palm with a shake of her head. "Oh alright, Ah'll see what Ah can do with 'im... but if he intrudes on me again he's gunna do more than fly through winders."

[Leda]

"That's fair," Sally replied with a nervous laugh. "Just please try to have patience with him; no matter how obnoxious he may act, he still has to learn to control his power." The princess looked up at the clouds, drawing some fresh air into her lungs. "Thank you, Bunnie," she eventually said more cheerfully, elbowing her girlfriend gently since her arms were too full for a hug. "I always appreciate your help.

"And on that note," she continued, "thanks for coming to help me with the boy. He can really use some mothering right now. Poor kid's scared out of his wits." Sally frowned, reflecting on the little squirrel's condition.

[Jamie Lee]

"Awa, Ah'm sure a big ol' hug and a kiss on the noggin's just what the little tyke needs," she said with a gentle smile.

[Sipp]

Mighty was standing till, Ray in his arms. He was rocking the boy gently, and stroking his head, murmuring soothingly. The squirrel had been crying for some time now, despite Mighty's best efforts, but he continued nonetheless, oblivious to everything else.

[Perfect Chaos Zero]

Rotor say tapping his foot, waiting for the others to arrive. He was aware that he was starting to pick up some of Sonic's less than admirable habits, something he didn't exactly like to admit. He heard Bunnie's voice sound a short distance away and turned to greet them, after a short pause to adjust his beloved cap of course. He waved in greeting as they came walking up.

(Yeah, I know I've been in a slump or overly busy lately, I'm really sorry X.x; I just don't know what's wrong with me lately. I feel terrible for holding everyone up, gah! Sorry =()

[Leda]

Though he hadn't stopped crying entirely, the child's wails had fallen back down to whimpers -- that is so long as he wasn't receiving any new bites from the fleas infesting what remained of his furry coat. The boy itched and squirmed miserably. He'd basically given up trying to get away from Mighty, for the moment at least.


The princess waved back to Rotor as he greeted them. "Hey, you guys. I'm sorry it took us so long to get back to you..." Sally let out a sigh, but decided to fill in the details (or lack thereof) about Dash later; right now the little boy was more pressing.

The ground squirrel set the shampoos and disinfectants on the ground while Bunnie set about filling the tub with water. Approaching Mighty and the boy slowly, Sally knelt onto one knee and said softly, "Hi there. My name is Sally. What's yours?"


But just as when Mighty had asked him the same question, the child never replied. Instead he let out a shrill whine and buried his face against the armadillo's shoulder, as though doing so would make this new stranger disappear.


Sally practically felt her heart split in two. This poor little squirrel was so scared... She couldn't even comprehend the level of fear and lonliness that must have been overpowering him at that moment. Rising to her feet again, her eyes shifted to Mighty's. "Do you know his name? Or if he even has one?"

[Jamie Lee]

"Oh mah stars, look at him!" Bunnie said in mortified surprise as soon as she was able to get a good look at the child. "Mah goodness gracious, he's in worse shape than I'da thought!"

[Sipp]

Mighty's pleasant smile was a little strained. He was still trying to calm the boy down. "Unfortunately, no, princess, I don't know his name. I'm sure he has one, though... he'll give it to us when he's calmed down. " he then nodded politely to Bunnie. "I'm Mighty, it's a pleasure to meet you, miss."

[Leda]

Princess Sally's mouth twisted to one side. "Hopefully that'll be soon," she commented as she began to pour dollops of the cleaning agents into the tub of water. "I can only imagine whatever happened to him... and his parents." Taking a seat on her knees, Sally splashed and swirled the water about until it became frothy and bubbly. "Well, a nice bath ought to help him feel better; at least he'll stop getting devoured by all those fleas."

The ground squirrel had to pause and rub her chin. "Assuming he lets us wash him, that is."


Meanwhile the boy had not raised his face from Mighty's shoulder, but had quieted down a bit when Sally backed off. His previously loud and ear-straining wails decrescendoed into soft sniffles and whimpers.

[Jamie Lee]

"Oh," Bunnie glanced up at the one holding Ray, flustering a bit with embarrassment. "Forgive me, sugah, how un-ladylike of me!" she cupped her hand over one of her cheeks and smiled sheepishly. "Mah name's Bunnie, and it's certainly mah pleasure to meet a handsome strangah as yuhself," she grinned. Though it vanished quickly enough as she turned her attention back on the child. Sally may not have had luck in communicating, but maybe...

"Hey there sweetiepie," she spoke in a soft, gentle tone, kneeling town to be at his height. "Hey there... Mah name's Bunnie... Do ya'll think you could let us try gettin' them nasty ol' bugs offa yah?"

She made a motion to reach out and gently stroke at the fur on his head, smiling warmly in an attempt to calm him down further.

[Leda]

Someone had started petting him again. That did feel really nice, when he stopped to admit it... It was still unnerving to be around all these strangers, but... maybe they were right, and there really wasn't any reason to fear.

The boy sniffled and hiccuped, and slowly raised his face.... And upon spotting Bunnie's mechanical limbs let out a blood-curlding scream and thrashed wildly to be let down. "DADDYI'MSORRYISHOULD'VELISTENEDI'LLNEVERTALKTOSTRANGERSAGAINIDON'TWANNABEAROBOT!!!"

After a moment or two of overwhelming panic, the child fainted cold, apparently having hyperventilated enough to make himself pass out.


The princess held a hand over her mouth as she looked down at him in heartbroken shock. That outburst had been very revealing. "Well..." she finally said, moving to pick him up, "at least this should make it easier to clean him up....." In reality, she really didn't feel much better about things. She only hoped she could somehow, at some point, put his fears at ease.