Rise of the Nightmares

Chapter 8

It had been about a week since Kate had finally returned from running away. Everyone was rather relieved that she had come back safely and was unharmed. Though Kate wanted to make it up to everyone and spend time with them, she had to still endure her punishment for the next five days.

Her punishment of helping with chores and errands didn't feel too bad. Kate was more than happy to lend a hand to the various Toads around the castle, but she wanted to ensure that she didn't complain, or even look fine with her punishment, to show the princess that she got the message and wouldn't run away again.

Her five days of chores and errands went by rather quick, but when it was over, Kate did feel a bit tired. So she decided to take at least a half day once it was over to just relax and rest up. Luckily, Amy had arranged a girls' day, which included herself, Cream, Marine, Sonia, Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, Blaze, and Rouge, at the kingdom's spa, and they invited Kate to join them. Though she didn't think she was much of a spa person, Kate accepted the invitation, both to take her half day to relax, and to make up lost time with her friends.

And although she enjoyed her girls' day with her friends, Kate still felt a little wary of Rouge. Even though the bat, along with Shadow, had apologized for their fight with her, Kate was still very unsure if she could forgive Rouge. She still needed time.

After her girls' day, Kate returned to the castle to just have some time to herself. She had decided that the next day, she would try to spend some time practicing her swordsmanship and combat skills with some of the guys. Because Shadow and Rouge had warned her that they had to give her amnesia to protect her, she understood that her destiny could come any day now, so she wanted to make sure she was always prepared.

Training day had come and by, and Kate felt that it sped by rather quickly. She practiced more of her sword training with Sonic, and even did a few practice rounds with Espio, Silver, and Mario. And self-defense went by fast, even if she was practicing with Vector, Donkey Kong, and a few others, though she had the most enjoyment practicing with Knuckles of course. Now that she felt more comfortable with him and neither of them would blush too much, they were enjoying each other's' company even more now.

Shadow didn't participate in her training though. Kate couldn't determine if she was upset or relieved about it, for while she did need time to forgive the hedgehog, she still wished to make up lost time with him. She had her girls' day with Rouge, so she still had to make it up to Shadow.

But it seemed that Shadow wanted to avoid her. Maybe the black hedgehog himself was having a hard time moving on from what happened.

A new day began in the Mushroom Kingdom. The cloudy weather remained though, and it was starting to feel a little chilly, but none of the less, no one seemed to let that get in their way, for they would always continue about their daily schedules.

Not even Kate would let it get to her. She woke up feeling refreshed on this new day. Her five days of chores and errands were over, she had a day to relax and recharge, and she had made up some lost time with most of the group. She wanted to try to get some more practice training done today if possible, so she woke up early to get ready for the day on schedule.

Kate got up and headed to her bathroom. As she made her way across the room, she passed by the dressed, where Meloetta was sleeping in one of the bottom drawers. Kate had an empty drawer that she wasn't using, so she opened it up and made a little bed for the Pokémon to sleep in whenever she wanted. Meloetta had met most of the group already, but while she would remain visible in the castle, most of the time outside, Kate would see her little friend turn invisible again, still wary of the kingdom and any strangers.