Disclaimer- Since the cast are too numerous to list individually, all characters are copyright Sega/Fleetway except the following:
Crin and Crine belong to Talandar and were borrowed with his permission.
Warrior Chu is copyright to himself.
Coventina, Janna Blackthorn, The Badb and The Brotherhood of the Jewelled Brow belong to me. Sowilo and Dagaz Foxwell were created by my co-writer Yukishin and me. She's another writer on fanfiction.net and her writing's pretty good so I'd recommend it especially to Rayearth fans ^^
I may add more characters later depending but I'll update when/if I do. Anyway, this chapter's mostly bout setting the scene and informing all you peeps out there who ain't very familiar with Morain/the Nameless Zone/the Fleetway universe in general. It'll get better, trust me ^.~
The present day…
The Nameless zone…
Since Janna's death 15 years ago, Coventina's Crown has remained a secret. But its mystery is soon to be revealed. Those who will help to find it know nothing, yet, of the roles they will play…
The sun had finally set, and the hot, stifling air was beginning to cool as the night's first stars appeared in the steadily darkening sky. To all the foxes of the Nameless zone, and to Morain Blackthorn in particular, it was a relief. She had spent all day guarding the zone on a hill overlooking the fox village, and nightfall meant her watch was nearly over for the day.
The Nameless zone was a mysterious region that most of Mobius believed existed only in legend. To those who knew of its existence, however, the only known access to the zone was through a magical portal operable by three fox rulers known as the Enchanter Kings. The zone was occupied mainly by mythological creatures rarely found elsewhere, apart from the foxes. Few chose to leave the Nameless zone, but one who had was Miles 'Tails' Prower, Mobius' greatest hero.
(A/N: This is, of course, a total lie that Tails put in his letters home to make his people proud of him. The Nameless zoners believe that Tails defeated Eggman aided by his assistant Sonic)
Morain Blackthorn was a hardened and experienced warrior (even if she did say so herself) and along with her older brother Errol, guarded the fox people and the Enchanter Kings. Morain especially took her responsibilities very seriously, even if it meant sitting out on this hill in the stuffy heat. Morain's fighting prowess was almost legendary, the only warrior in the Nameless zone stronger than she was Errol himself.
Morain was a striking figure, handsome rather than pretty, and a complete tomboy. She was naturally quite slim and of average height for one of her kind, with thick red hair held up in a ponytail and a triple tufted cowlick. Her eyes were wide and slanted, amber in colour, set beneath golden brows and heavily lashed, seeming to fill her face, leaving little room for the delicate nose and mouth. But instead of wearing the flimsy clothing that was so popular with the females of the zone, she wore body armour in shades of purple, green and gold, with boots of the same colour.
Running a finger down the edge of her sword, watching the metal glint like white gold in the light of the rising moon, Morain inhaled slowly. Nothing interesting was happening, nothing interesting had happened for months, and she predicted that it was going to be another of those long nights. Despite all her best efforts to keep her thoughts to the here and now, Morain was so bored and the weather so sultry that her mind began to drift to fond memories.
"How long has it been, Tails?" She muttered under her breath, remembering the young fox's last visit to his hometown. It had been so long since Tails' last visit to the Nameless zone, but Morain remembered it like it was yesterday. Like her, Tails had been born here in the Nameless zone, but now lived on Mobius with his 'sidekick' Sonic. Since the Nameless zone was in another dimension to Mobius, only with the portal open could Tails enter the zone, and he always had to leave before it closed. He was several years younger than Morain, and a hell of a lot quieter, but they got on very well. Tails was gentle, not fierce and hostile like her, but when he quietly told the tales of his many adventures, even the most restless fox warriors would stop to listen. And for that, Morain admired him.
All the Nameless zoners had noticed that the Goblins over the Dimension bridge in the Land Beyond had been very quiet recently. Usually they were frequently invading the Nameless zone to capture the Enchanter Kings who kept the balance of the fox town, which provided Morain and Errol (and occasionally Tails) with a great excuse to go over there and give them a good hiding. But with the goblins silent, Morain, a naturally aggressive vixen, was growing increasingly restless. She lived and breathed for action and battle, not for all this guarding crap.
Not only was she bored and hot; Morain was also concerned about her brother Errol. He was an active yet planning type, a lot less volatile than Morain, but during the last six months or so, Errol had become more of a recluse, spending most of the time in his room, writing in a small black workbook. He wouldn't let anyone so much as touch this book, and kept it on him at all times. Morain was burning with curiosity to see what he was up to.
In fact, that was almost definitely what Errol was doing now. Morain's gaze drifted to the castle and she stared wistfully at one of the lit rooms in the northern wing, Errol's room. Morain grumpily wondered how her brother could stay indoors while she sat outside guarding in this heat. After the death of their mother fifteen years ago, Morain and Errol had no other living relatives and had developed a strong relationship with each other. It annoyed Morain that Errol wasn't thinking of her but of his work. That book had become his life.
A solitary raven, perched nearby on a brittle tree branch, cawed suddenly in its harsh voice. The eerie sound interrupted Morain's thoughts and she jumped, before inwardly cursing herself for losing her concentration.
"Morain! Oy, Morain!"
This noise was even more disturbing than the raven. Morain turned towards the sound, watching as two familiar figures came bombing up the hillside, yelling at the top of their voices and probably waking up half the village. Morain let out a sigh. As if things weren't bad enough without them deciding to bother her.
Sowilo and Dagaz Foxwell were famous in the Nameless zone. Not for good things, mind you, quite the opposite. They came from a long line of talented and famous warriors, all easily recognisable by the runic symbols on their foreheads. Sowilo and Dagaz were twins, a year older than Morain, and the biggest troublemakers the zone had ever known.
Sowilo was the older twin, tall with a long blond plait and sharp green eyes. Pretty, admittedly good with a sword, but a total airhead. Sowilo constantly fell in love with the nearest guy. She had the zigzag runic symbol of the sun on her forehead.
Dagaz was stronger, yet curiously shorter than his sister, a spear his usual weapon, with very unruly brown hair and blue eyes, but as mischievous as they come. Very clever, but also very sly, and nearly always grinning about something. His runic symbol was a confusing one that looked like two triangles facing inwards at each other, the symbol of the day.
"Morain!"
"What?" She replied grumpily.
"We were bored, and thought you'd like some company, babe." Dagaz flashed her one of his trademark grins before settling down on the rock hard ground beside her.
"Lovely weather." added Sowilo cheerfully, "Think it's gonna rain anytime soon?"
"You know you've probably woken up the entire village by now." Morain replied, deliberately ignoring Dagaz, "Don't you have anything better to do besides bug me?"
"Nope." Sowilo smiled, leaning against the nearest tree with her arms folded and a serene smile on her face, "What's up with you, Mo? PMT?"
"No."
"Shaddup Sowilo, she's missing that Miles, remember?" interrupted Dagaz.
"Oh you mean Tails?" Sowilo's eyes twinkled, "Now he was cute. A bit young for me, but cute all the same. Is that it, Mo?"
"No," Morain snapped back, "I'm worried about Errol. He hasn't been himself. I hate to ask you two, of all people, but…do you think there's something wrong with him?"
"Get a grip, Mo, he hasn't been himself for months!" Dagaz replied dismissively, waving his paw, "He's an adult, he probably don't wanna be seen with his kid sister."
"Kid sister?! I'm seventeen!"
"And he's nineteen."
"That's hardly an age gap! Dagaz, you're a smeghead."
"Yeah, Dagaz. Useless sod." Sowilo added.
"You too, Sowilo! I ask you guys for advice and I get…crap! Get lost, both of you."
Both foxes looked extremely hurt at Morain's outburst. She turned away from them, ignoring their offended looks. After a moment of awkward silence, Sowilo pouted and flicked her hair.
"Fine. We know when we're not wanted. Come on, Dagaz, let's go."
But Dagaz wasn't listening. He was staring at the castle. "Look." He pointed with a finger.
Morain and Sowilo followed his gaze towards the northern wing of the castle. From Errol's room was a pulsating white orb of light that none of them had noticed, silently growing outwards from the window. As it grew, so did the intensity of the light. It was beautiful, but there was something about it that made Morain's fur stand on end.
"What…is it?" Sowilo breathed.
Before either Morain or Dagaz could reply, there was a flash, and the white orb exploded. The light succeeded in blinding all three of them, and they were sent flying backwards into the ground by a sudden violent shaking. Morain's sharp ears picked up the sound of a scream.
"Errol!"
She leaped to her feet, only to be thrown down heavily onto her back by another earthquake tremor that shook the ground all around them and made their ears ring. Sowilo squealed loudly.
Suddenly, the white light disappeared as swiftly as it had come, and the ground stopped trembling. Morain opened her eyes and let go of Sowilo and Dagaz, both of who were whimpering and clutching each other like frightened children. Oddly enough, the earthquake tremors had done no damage to the surrounding area, despite the fact that it had been so strong. The raven nearby cawed again before taking flight from its perch. Turning back towards the castle, Morain noticed that the light in Errol's room was gone.
With a cry, Morain raced towards the castle, her mind confused and full of fears for her brother. What had happened? Had he unleashed some demon? Was he hurt?
The door to Errol's room lay on the floor in thousands of splinters. Her heart in her mouth, Morain charged through the doorway.
The room was completely trashed. Errol's wardrobe and bed were leaning against one wall, and clothes and personal items were strewn all over the place. It looked like a mini tornado had blown through the room. His work area, however, was intact, his chair and desk still in their usual positions. A big puddle of black ink from the smashed inkpot was dripping from the table onto the floor. But of Errol there was no sign.
Calling wildly for her brother and fearing the worst, Morain searched the room; Sowilo and Dagaz catching up to help her. But they found nothing.
There was no blood anywhere, no sign of any scuffle. Not a thing.
Errol had vanished without a trace.