Rose to the Occasion

Rose to the Occasion is an episode in Sonic Boom Legends, released on Friday 21st August, 2020 (AUS), and on Saturday 22nd August, 2020 (UK/US).

Synopsis
After learning about a hidden flower called the Ruby Rose, the most prettiest flower on Forgone Island, Shift decides to embark on a journey to retrieve it and use it to impress Sienna.

Appearances
Characters Locations
 * Shift the Hedgehog
 * Erik the Okapi
 * Knave the Hedgehog
 * Wake the Hawk
 * Dawn the Rabbit
 * Fixer the Fox
 * Alkira the Arctic Fox
 * Sienna the Porcupine
 * Mel the Fox
 * Quayla the Grizzly Bear (Mentioned)
 * Emily the Bunny (Mentioned)
 * Micky the Wolf (Mentioned)
 * Arkus the Ancient (Mentioned)
 * Stone Monster (Only Appearance)
 * Forgone Island
 * Greenvale Hills
 * Fixer's Workshop
 * Main Village Library
 * Meh Burger
 * Forgone Forest
 * Emily's House

Story
The episode begins at Fixer's Workshop, where Alkira wakes up from her bedroom and goes to see Fixer in his bedroom, only to find that he is not there. She then goes into the living room, but he is not in there either, and this gets Alkira concerned. She opens the front door, and much to her relief, she sees that Fixer is outside. As Alkira goes to Fixer and sits down next to him, she asks him why he is sitting outside, to which Fixer replies that he has a 'lot on his mind', something that Alkira asks for him to elaborate on.

Fixer then explains about how it is the one year anniversary that he first washed up on Forgone Island, and he cannot help but feel like he's lost or upset about the whole ordeal, something that Alkira remembers Fixer telling her about a while ago. Fixer then goes on to say about how nobody, not even his family, has made any attempt to look for him, causing a tear to well in his eye and making him think that he didn't mean anything to his family, and doesn't think that his family believe he is alive.

Feeling sorry for him, Alkira encourages Fixer to not beat himself up, because she knows that what he said is not true. In an effort to cheer him up, Alkira offers to do what he does that cheers her up, and that is to get him a hot chocolate from Quayla's Hot Spot café, something which Fixer is grateful to her kind offer.

Meanwhile, over in the village library, Dawn, Wake and Mel are engaged in a heated conversation as they look over the Ancients book that is laid out on a table. Wake questions about how Dawn and Mel know each other, to which Dawn unenthusiastically explains that she and Mel went to the same school together and claims that the fox always had one step ahead of her, which Mel claims to be just a friendly competition, all the while feeling a bit annoyed that Dawn has been keeping a grudge on her for so many years, something that Dawn just scoffs at.

As the group begin to discuss about Arkus and the Chaos Gems, the latter of which they have collected about four of them so far, Shift enters the library bringing a book with him, although his presence goes on unnoticed by the trio. During their conversation, Mel questions about the Ancients having some kind of special plants or trees in the book, something that Dawn doesn't remember a lot about. Wake then suddenly remembers hearing about some flower being mentioned in the book, something that Shift begins to eavesdrop on after putting his back down on Dawn's desk.

Wake goes on to explain about the special flower in the Ancients book, which is called the Ruby Rose, which is said to be the most beautiful flower on the island, and it's located in a reclusive area, in the northern part of the Forgone Forest, something that Shift becomes intrigued about as an idea forms in his head.

While Shift manages to sneak out of the library undetected, Dawn is less than impressed about the flower, although Wake believes that is something worth checking out. Both Dawn and Wake soon get into a brief argument about their different opinions, something which Mel jokes about the two being a married couple. As both Dawn and Wake blush at this statement, Mel decides to the leave the two to think things over before making her leave, but not before telling them to call her if they need her help. After Mel leaves, Dawn sternly tells Wake to not say a word, which Wake jokingly thinks that he is now the bad guy.

Later over at Meh Burger, while eating burgers together, Shift quietly explains to Erik about his plan to go into Forgone Forest, find the Ruby Rose in the jungle and use it to impress Sienna with it, followed by a comparison on how Sienna is an ex-celebrity with a talent for making bows designs, while he is a 'run-down radio weather guy'. Erik is a little bit sceptical about the idea, and questions to his best friend about why he doesn't just simply ask Sienna out, which Shift counters back jokingly about why Erik hasn't asked Quayla out, making the okapi blush and deny what the hedgehog is talking about.

Erik soon agrees to go along with Shit and help him find the Ruby Rose, just as long as he can get a picture of it with his camera, before Knave, who had served them their food, requests that they bring him along too, since he had overheard them and that he wants to get out of the town for a little bit and have an adventure. Shift and Erik are reluctant to this, before Knave mentions if he should tell Sienna about their plan, which makes Shift agree to let Knave come along, providing that he doesn't say a word to anyone, which Knave agrees to do.

As Shift, Erik and Knave set off on their quest for the Ruby Rose, they walk past a deeply troubled Alkira who accidently bumps right in Mel, causing some papers to fall onto the ground. As the two foxes apologise to each other and pick the papers off the ground, Alkira finds that Mel's papers are actually photographs, with one of them being a picture of her boyfriend, Micky the Wolf. After listening to Mel about how she'll one day get back to Micky, Alkira is questioned by her about what she is up to, a question that catches Alkira off guard.

Alkira then explains to Mel about how upset Fixer is, since he cannot remember his old life, and that her attempt to cheer him up with a hot chocolate from Quayla's Hot Spot had failed to lift his spirits. Mel assumes that Fixer is her boyfriend, but Alkira is quick to shoot that down in an embarrassed state, but she does go on to say that she feels a burning in her chest and is always happy around him, and she just wants him to be happy as well. Mel reassures the arctic fox that she'll know what to do when the time comes, and believes that maybe Fixer feels the same about her, a comment that leaves Alkira speechless, as Mel heads off into the village.

After standing still for a moment, a nervous Alkira gives herself a confident nod, before heading off herself.

Meanwhile, Shift, Erik and Knave are now in the deepest part of the Forgone Forest jungle, which is overgrown and wilder than other parts of the forest, and Knave is already complaining about how long the journey is going on for. Shift reassures to him that they cannot be too far away, but Knave quickly comments that he had said this about an hour ago.

Erik is a bit nervous about the journey since he's never really been deep in the forest before, and is hoping that the trio don't get lost, something that Knave adds that their journey seems to be a bit much for 'some girl'.

This comment causes Shift to argue that Sienna is not just some girl and that she's worth every effort that their journey puts into it. Annoyed, Knave questions to Shift on how long he's wanted to do a journey like this for Sienna, to which Shift replies that ever since the moment he first laid eyes on her, revealing that he has a crush on Sienna.

Just as Erik is about to quietly ask Knave about if he had overhead anything about Quayla being mentioned during the conversation back at Meh Burger, Shift calls to the two of them when he finds a clearing in the distance, which is revealed to be a large stone wall, a cliffside, with some bushes and scattered boulders lying around the area. The trio soon see that a red object is glowing within the sunlight, sitting on a green curving beam sunk in the ground. Shift immediately believes that they have found the Ruby Rose flower and starts to make his way over to it, followed by Erik and Knave.

Knave soon becomes suspicious of the area, but Shift debunks his concerns, saying that nobody else is within the area they are in, as they get closer to the flower. As Erik takes a picture of it, he advises to the suspicious Knave that if there is trouble, he should keep a lookout, to which he does as he goes to sit on a nearby boulder. Shift and Erik finally reach the spot, but much to Shift's disappointment, the red object is not in fact a flower, but actually a red Chaos Gem, with a flower symbol seen on the top of it.

Erik takes a picture of Shift and the red Chaos Gem, but accidently forgets to switch off the flash on his camera. An annoyed Shift soon realises it's one of the Chaos Gems that Fixer has been trying to find, which Erik remarks as 'cool', but Shift is more negative on their find, thinking that the Ruby Rose was an actual flower and not a Chaos Gem, and starts to question about what he's going to get for Sienna now.

Unaware to the two, the red Chaos Gem then suddenly glows and red veins begin to appear on the pedestal, run through the ground and head onto the boulder that Knave is waiting impatiently on. The veins run round the boulder, before they glow on the boulder and it starts to move, alarming Knave, who jumps off the boulder as many other suddenly merge together and form into a stone monster. As the monster picks up a clump of dirt, Knave manages to run over to Shift and Erik and alert them, before he manages to push them both out of the way as the stone monster throws the clump of dirt at them, missing them by inches.

Shift accuses Knave about what caused the stone monster to appear, though Knave is quick to defend himself, saying he did nothing to cause it, but asks both Shit and Erik about what they did, saying all they had to do was grab the flower, to which Shift corrects the yellow hedgehog that the flower is a Chaos Gem. Knave comes to the realisation that the stone monster was most likely caused by Shift touching it, and now it's attacking them because it's trying to protect the Chaos Gem.

Just as Shift tells the group they should get out of the area, the stone mobster finds their hiding spot and lifts up the boulder they are hiding behind. While the trio start to make a run for it, Erik soon notices the red veins powering the stone monster from the Chaos Gem's pedestal, but while he's distracted, the stone monster grabs him in it's hand. Shift and Knave hid behind another rock, but quickly realise Erik is not with them. Erik tries to tell his friends about the red veins coming from the pedestal, but the monster grips him tighter in it's grasp, making him choke.

Shift and Knave have gotten the message however, although Knave questions on how they can face against the stone monster, to which Shift quickly forms a plan. As the stone monster picks up more dirt and Erik struggles to breath, Knave runs out of the hiding spot and taunts it into coming after him, causing the monster to roar in anger and drop Erik from it's grasp before chasing after Knave. While the yellow hedgehog distracts the monster, Shift rushes over to the red Chaos Gem, ordering Erik to go and help Knave while he goes for the gem.

Erik picks up his camera, just as the stone monster causes a shockwave that sends Knave to the ground. But before it can slam a fist down on him, Erik catches it's attention by taking a picture with the flash on his camera, blinding the monster for a few seconds, allowing Erik to grab Knave and dash off, but the monster soon recovers and goes after them once more. Shift reaches the pedestal and he manages to grab the Chaos Gem and pull it out of the pedestal hard, which causes the red veins on the monster to power down, and cause the stone monster to crumble down into an ordinary pile of rocks.

With the threat now over, Shift hopes that the red Chaos Gem is worth all of the fuss after the danger that the three of them have just become involved with.

Later that evening, in another part of Forgone Forest, Fixer and Alkira are seen roasting marshmallows together, sitting in the same forest area where Fixer had met Alkira after he found her. Alkira had managed to find this location, since Fixer is still feeling upset about his family and decided to try and help cheer him up by reliving a more happier memory in the forest where they met. Fixer thanks Alkira for the gesture, admitting that it's helping to take his mind off of things for a bit.

Alkira then cautiously asks Fixer if he misses his family, but the yellow fox says that he never knew them, and isn't sure about it, but he does know one thing: If he really meant anything to them, he would've thought about after the years he's been missing, his family would've be looking for him. Alkira concludes that perhaps Fixer was never meant to be found, before she continues to say that if Fixer never came to Forgone Island, he would've never had met his friends, become a strong and independent person, and she would never had met him.

Alkira then goes on to explain that while Fixer's family may never had cared about him, his new family, being his friends, care for him a lot, and Alkira mentions that while she was not a part of his past, she wants to be a part of his future, wherever it takes them. Giving a shy smile, Fixer thanks Alkira, and the two young foes are left staring at one another for a moment, before Fixer soon smells something burning and realises that his marshmallow is now on fire. The two start laughing together as they try to put the flaming marshmallow out.

Back in the Main Village, Shift, Erik and Knave have returned to the town with the red Chaos Gem in their possession. Knave is all too happy to be back home before he leaves Shift and Erik, saying that they should all go on another adventure sometime in the future. Shift, who is feeling upset about the whole journey, walks with Erik over to Emily's House, where Sienna is now living in. Erik asks Shift about what he's going to do about the situation, although the disappointed hedgehog decides that he can't do nothing, except give the Chaos Gem to Dawn at the library. Despite Erik's pleas, Shift bids the okapi a sad goodnight and goes off to deliver the Chaos Gem.

Once Shift is gone, Erik suddenly remembers about the picture he took of Shift with the Chaos Gem back at the pedestal, and he quickly knocks on Emily's front door, which is soon answered by Sienna. The okapi wastes no time in showing the picture of Shift and the Chaos Gem to her, and explains that the hedgehog had spent the whole day trying to find what he thought was the Ruby Rose for her, but only found out it was just a Chaos Gem, also noting while Shift isn't there to show to her, he did at least make an effort to get something for her.

Sienna, amazed and nearly emotional at what Shift tried to do for her, then asks Erik on where he's gone, to which the okapi points in the direction of the library. As Sienna rushes off to the library to find the hedgehog, Erik smiles to himself and quietly says that his best friend owes him one.

Outside the library, Shift has just delivered the Chaos Gem to Dawn, but he is still feeling upset about being unable to get something for his crush. No sooner does he leave the library, Sienna rushes over to him and hugs him, much to his surprise, before the porcupine girl explains to him that Erik told her everything and shows him the picture that he took from earlier, before thanking him for going on a brave journey just for her. Shift, puzzled by this, explains that he didn't come back with anything for her, but Sienna giddily insists that even if he did bring back something for her, the thought Shift caring enough for her at the start is as good enough as a single flower would.

Sienna then mentions back when she was a celebrity doing ribbon modelling, she was always surrounded by people who only wanted to use her for her talent, and despite those people claiming they cared for her, it never really felt real to her. With Shift however, aside from Emily and the rest of their friends, Sienna feels that Shift is much different to those past people in her former life, and that he does genuinely care for her, and the porcupine girl couldn't be any happier than to have somebody who really cares for her.

Starting to feel better, Shift jokingly asks Sienna if it feels genuine that he thinks of her as the prettiest and most talented girl that he's ever met, which causes Sienna to blush. In response, Sienna kisses Shift on the cheek, which causes him to blush deeply and become stunned, making the porcupine girl giggle at the blushing hedgehog.

As Sienna walks off back home, hoping to see Shift again tomorrow and waving him goodnight, Shift waves back to his crush, feeling happier than has ever been, as the episode ends.

Episode
The episode for 'Rose to the Occasion can be viewed here.
 * https://www.deviantart.com/fixerschannel/art/Legends-Ep19-Rose-to-the-Occasion-852688621

Trivia

 * This episode confirms Shift's crush on Sienna.
 * This episode also hints at Fixer and Alkira's feelings for each other.
 * Sienna is revealed to be living in Emily's House, following the events of Fashion Friendly.
 * The scene of Erik apologising to Shift about forgetting to turn off the flash on his camera, and saying that the picture of him and the Chaos Gem he took looks great is a reference to the season one Sonic Boom episode  'It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog', in which Dr Eggman has a 'victory selfie' with Shadow the Hedgehog, but forgets to turn off the flash on the camera and temporally blinds Shadow, which allows for Sonic the Hedgehog to beat him.
 * The stone monster is a reference to the Rockbiter from the 1984 fantasy film  'The NeverEnding Story'.