Chapter 1
-~*The Storm*~-
Several years later...
Penelope Praesagium was not surprised by her acceptance into the Kaskade Guard, but still happy nonetheless. From the time she was a young kit, her parents had groomed her to be an excellent swordsmon. Most pokemon had to imagine their weapon of choice was an extension of their body. Penelope needed no such pretense; her blade of choice was already a part of her. A scythe on her head, to be precise.
She knew her mother, father, and Aunt Janette would be exceedingly proud of her. Only one more step, and she would soon be a member of her aunt's own Royal Guard, tasked with protecting the Royal Family and the region of Myria from all manner of anarchic feral-spawn.
"Penny!"
Penelope nearly turned at the sound of the childish voice, but an impulse in her scythe urged her to roll to the side. Having learned long ago to trust such impulses, she obeyed, and a red and white blur hit the ground just in front and to the side of her. A rather disgruntled vulpine stood up, brushing dust off his reddish pelt with equally red-tipped feelers.
The fox turned to look at Penelope, and pouted. "Aw! Why'd you have tuh move? That's chee-ting! I'ma gonna tell your mommy and daddy and they won't put you on the Kaskade Guard for this!" the vulpine whined.
Penelope smirked. "Ah. I'm afraid you're a bit late, then. The knighting ceremony was not fifteen minutes ago. And tell the truth, Rael… Were you catapulting yourself with Quick Attack to try and catch me off-guard? You use your moves… I use my fore-sense."
Rael huffed, turning away. "Meany-cheater. Like all the nightlings."
"M-me too, brother?" a voice squeaked in shock.
Rael flushed, turning around to see a second vulpine. This one, unlike the red one, however, had black fur, gleaming yellow rings, and orange-yellow eyes on the verge of tears. Rael's own yellow-green eyes widened with embarrassment and surprise. "Huh? No! No, Ray, I was just teasing Penny… Ya know how I'm always kidding 'round, right?" Rael tried to grin lopsidedly.
Koray, the darker fox, flattened his ears back, ducking his head down. "O-okay, El…" His eyes lit up in a way Penelope could not identify when the lupine saw her. "Oh! P-penelope! I… Congratulations on being a K-kaskage-I mean Kaskade-Guard member now, Penelope…" he muttered under his breath. "I hope I can be that good someday…"
Penelope tilted her head sympathetically at the night-fox. As a younger kit, Koray had always been antisocial, but bright and willing to share his view of the world. He would practically glow upon receiving praise. Upon become a Dark-aura, however, Koray underwent a drastic change. He became timid, modestly deflecting praise and flinching upon receiving criticism. All the townspokemon in Kaskade assumed it was simply Growth-Shock that had brought about this transformation in Koray's behaviour. Few expected Koray to fulfill his father's now-lofty expectations of Koray joining the Kaskade Guard as Penelope had.
Penelope, Koray, and Rael all lived in a small village by the name of Kaskade. Kaskade was special for exactly three reasons: Kaskade Mines, a soft-place where one could find the fabled Mega-Stones, the Mega Fair, where travellers from far and wide came to Kaskade to trade their foreign wonders and miracles for a rare and precious Mega-Stone, and the Kaskade Guard. Only Dark-auras were accepted into it, as only Dark-auras were incapable of revealing the secrets of Kaskade to outsiders, and so could most effectively attack and repel hostiles.
Penelope was now one of these prestigious and famed fighters.
"So wanna get some shaved ice from Fractal's shop to celebrate?" Rael chirped, breaking into Penelope's daydream about bravely defeating pokemon ten times her size, earning fame and glory.
Penelope shook her head, her snow-white braid and night-black scythe swinging from side to side. "Hm? Oh… Yes, of course, Rael. I'd be delighted, so long as it is the spicy flavor."
Rael grinned again. "Great! Betcha can't eat more tamato ices than me!"
"You are on, faeling!" Penelope spoke, grinning in reply.
The disaster-wolf and fae-fox dashed off towards Kaskade again, the smaller night-fox toddling behind them as the bell on his collar chimed pitifully.
In the end, Penelope and Rael were both in tears before either admitted their shaved ice was far too hot, and dove for the nearest water-fountain to cool their tongues. Lurking nearby, Koray desperately attempted to stifle a laugh by shoving a paw in his mouth, but some chortles managed to work their way around it.
The trio eventually cooled down enough to resume speaking again.
"So can ya show me your really cool blade moves sometime, Penny?" Rael asked, green eyes gleaming with hope.
Penelope chuckled. "Eh heh. Of course I can show you, Rael. But you'd never be able to do it yourself. Fae-foxes have feelers, not blades, and so cannot fight like a disaster-wolf! Our auras are not even the same!" Penelope shifted her gaze to the fae-fox's brother. "Koray, on the other hand, may be able to learn at least Night Slash…"
Koray shook his head. "No. Night-foxes can't. I-i like the attacks I have, anyways…"
Penelope shrugged. "Ah, well. If your attacks fit your fighting style… That is very good, then."
"I, uh," Koray blushed a bit.
The trio stayed around the town, before a nightfire-hound approached them.
Recognition lit in Penelope's eyes. She recognized this pokemon. His name was Dan, and he was another member of the Kaskade Guard. "Hello, there," Penelope greeted.
Dan nudged a sack on his back, making it fall on the cobblestones beneath them, and patted it with his pointed tail. "A congratulatory gift your aunt sent you, I believe." He smiled. "My congratulations, as well."
Penelope blinked. "Aunt Janette? Really? Tell her… Tell her I'm very grateful."
Dan tapped Penelope with his tail, and padded away.
"Well? What's in it?" Rael asked, poking the bag with a feeler. "Open it!"
"If I know Aunt Janette, then it's a Mega-Stone," Penelope said, sitting down.
"Those things're expensive, even if you work in the mine! How did your aunt get her paws on one?" Rael asked, eyes wide. "I mean, I know she's the Royal Guard Commander or whatever it's called, but they're still super rare!"
"Th-there's like only two Mega-Stone Mines in Alium," Koray muttered.
Penelope nudged the bag open with her paws, revealing a softly shimmering lump of Mega-Stone, set on a silver chain.
"That's beautiful," Koray gasped, his rings glinting.
Rael squealed upon seeing it, and touched it with a feeler, before snatching it away again, glancing at Penelope. "Woops… Sorry. It's your thing… Um! Want me to put in on for you, maybe?"
Penelope smiled, delight lighting up her eyes. "I'd like that, Rael."
Rael grinned like a fool, looping his feelers around the chain, lifting it up and dropping it over Penelope's bowed head. It caught on her scythe for a moment, but Rael tried putting it on again and this time the silver chain settled around Penelope's neck, the Mega-Stone resting in her mane.
Rael clapped his feelers together. "Let's see your Mega-Forme! And maybe we could do a battle too?"
A slow smirk spread across Penelope's black skinned face. "I really would like to check out my Mega-Forme. But a battle… I've heard horror tales about what happens when weaklings fight Megas. Are you sure you want to fight me?"
"U-uh, Rael… Please think it over!" Koray said, the pitch in his voice going upwards and his rings dimming again.
Rael straightened up, trying to look taller than Penelope. He failed. "Challenge still accepted!" he spoke confidently, ignoring his brother.
They stood a fair distance from Kaskade, so as not to disturb the villagers with the battle that might ensue.
Rael bounced on his paws slightly. "Are ya ready, Penny? Go Mega already!"
Penelope snorted in amusement. "When I go Mega, then I'll make sure you start calling you by my real name, not 'Penny.'"
"Are you sure about this, Rael…?" Koray asked, nervously.
"It'll be fine! I won't hurt Penny too badly, unless her Mega-Forme gives her Steel-aura!" Rael boasted.
Penelope stuck her tongue out at Rael. "Just you wait, faeling." She tapped her claw against the Mega-Stone, feeling the warmth against her pawpad for a moment, and closed her eyes.
She touched the stone with her aura, and the stone touched back. It mixed and melded with her own aura, adding a special newness to it. Strange, fizzy warmth flooded through her chest, stretching down her legs and tails, and expanding outside her body somehow, but still in a way she could feel it.
Penelope opened her eyes and stretched. "Mmm… Feels good. How do I look?"
"Coooooooool!" Rael chirped. "I wish fae-foxes had a Mega Forme…"
Penelope chuckled at Rael, and then sunk into a crouch, closing her eyes again as she slipped into the trance required to perform a Sword's Dance.
However, as she felt strength pulse through her scythe, she felt something else.
A tingling in her forestone.
Danger. Danger. Danger.
Penelope suddenly bolted away from the confused fae-fox and night-fox, and peered out into the distance.
Danger. Danger. Danger...
"Penny? Are ya calling off the battle?" Rael asked, frowning.
Yes… If she squinted, and looked hard, she could see it. She turned to face the other two pokemon.
"Run back to the village. Get the Kaskade Guard out here, and evacuate everyone else," Penelope commanded.
"Whuh? Why?" Rael asked, scrunching up his face in a baffled manner.
"I'm a disaster-wolf, remember?" Penelope spoke. "Right now, I'm sensing something… Not really a disaster, but still disasterous?"
"Gee. Thanks for clearing that up," Rael muttered.
"It's dangerous, but I think it's just pokemon, and pokemon can be beaten. So get the Kaskade Guard out here and I'll hold them off until you do!"
"All by yourself? I can help, right?" Rael asked.
Penelope scowled. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm the Kaskade Guard member, and I'm one who's gone Mega! Are you either? No. Now go!"
"But-"
"Koray, make him go."
The young night-fox nodded, and started nudging his brother along. "Rael… It's the only sensible thing we can do to h-help…"
Rael opened his mouth like he wanted to continue arguing, before pausing and closing it again. He nodded in a resigned manner. The two foxes raced back towards the village.
The disaster-wolf turned away from them, using Sword's Dance once more to summon as much strength as possible. The pokemon were becoming more visible by the minute.
It at first seemed to be only two dozen or so fliers. But slightly harder to see were thirty to forty ground troops moving along more slowly than their counterparts in the sky.
The sky troops were definitely closer now, and Penelope could see they would probably try to shoot right past her on their way to wherever they were going… Probably Kaskade. She didn't recognize all the species, but of those she knew she saw they had a Mega-Forme.
At first Penelope was unsure how she would delay them, but then she had an idea. She identified the one who in the lead, a small female fire-drake.
Penelope quickly clawed her way into a tree, and sent a hasty prayer to Mother, Father, and Nightmare that her plan would work. Then, just before the fire-drake shot by above the tree, she leaped at the pokemon, spreading her newly-gained wings and stretching her forelegs as far forwards as they could possibly go. While doing so she summoned up Psychic-aura from within herself, pushing it into her blade and swinging her head, aiming for the fire-drake.
Penelope fell, but she had hit her mark. Her forepaws slammed into the earth, but a miscalculation in her landing resulted in her forehead and scythe hitting dirt, and falling on her side.
The fire-drake had only faired slightly better. The Psycho-Cut attack had caused the mighty dragon to lose focus and fall to far down to recover adequately enough to do anything other than land quickly and relatively safely.
Penelope immediately rolled back onto her stomach and sprang into standing, racing towards the fire-drake as she prepared to take flight again. She pounced on the flame dragon, digging coal black claws into her neck and distracting it enough to keep from taking off.
The fire-drake's response was quick. She whipped around her elegant long neck, snapping at Penelope enough for the disaster-wolf to loosen her hold, before the fire-drake gave a violent shudder, forcing Penelope off. The fire-drake then whirled around, pinning Penelope to the earth, on her back. Scaled orange hands and sharp white claws wrapped around Penelope's neck, forcing her to look into the glaring face of the fire-drake. She had red-violet eyes that seemed to shimmer and move slightly. It was a bit disconcerting. In the corners of Penelope's own blue-violet eyes, she could see the sky troops cautiously circling above them, uncertain if they should attack or not without their leader.
Upon examining Penelope's face, the fire-drake's eyes seemed to light in recognition. "You...:" she hissed lowly. "You look like her."
Penelope's face twisted into a frown, as she tried to pierce the fire-drake's wrist with her claws. The fire-drake tightened her grip, and Penelope's vision tunneled.
"Don't struggle. It'll make this easier for all of us."
Penelope's face contorted into something feral and wild.
Where's the Nightmare-damned Kaskade… Gua… r...
Then her vision faded as she passed out.
As Rael and Koray approached the village, Koray suddenly put on a speed, dashing in front of his brother and skidding to a stop.
"Rael… I think w-we should just hide. Th-the Kaskade Guard may not b-be able to stop them…" Koray stuttered, shuffling his forepaws nervously.
Rael puffed his chest up. "No worries, Ray! The Kaskade Guard can beat them if we help! I mean, they're really tough, but we're way tougher, I'm sure of it! And if any of them come after us, I'll protect you!"
Koray was silent for a few moments, then let out a low laugh. "Brother… You really are naive. You don't know how dangerous this is going to get."
Rael frowned. "Uh, yeah I do? Mom and Dad always told us how the Kaskade Guard are only second best to the Royal Guard!"
Koray shook his head. "No. I heard that there's a group even better than the Royal Guard… I think it's them attacking here. I don't think the Kaskade Guard even has a chance. So I'm going to give you and me the best one I've got."
"What do you-"
Koray lifted a paw up, revealing a small sphere of Protect filled with Toxic. He smashed the sphere against Rael's shoulder and the shell of the Protect broke as Toxic entered the fae-fox's systel.
Rael felt his body growing increasingly numb and hot and cold, and his mind fogged over. His vision tunneled and greyed as he collapsed into an unconscious heap of red and white fur and feelers.
Koray placed a single ebony paw on the fae-fox's shoulder. "I'm sorry brother. But you'll be safer than anyone else. You'll be out for about six hours. You'll be unable to move for another six. You'll be dizzy for a couple days. And you won't remember the last hour or so. But you'll be okay… I'll make sure of that."
Koray tried to drag his brother under some cover. It took quite a bit of effort from the night-fox, but he managed to drag himself and Rael under a small cave formed by tree roots and blocked by bushes.
Koray curled up into a ball, trying to blot out the panicked screams and shouts, and sounds of battle.
He wondered what was happening to Penelope. To the nightfire-hound, Dan. To the shopkeeper who had sold them shaved ice. To his parents. Then he chastised himself silently for doing this, and tried thinking about something else.
When this was all over, where would Koray and Rael go? How would they survive?
Would Rael ever forgive Koray?
No. Of course he will. Think of something else. Anything el-
There was a violent tearing and rustling sound. Someone had uprooted the bush in front of the entrance.
Koray uncurled and looked up. A female fire-drake looked down at him.
Unlike Penelope and Rael, Koray knew his own strength. He could put up an okay fight against the fire-drake, but would eventually fail. And then Rael would be defenseless. So he had to think of another way to survive, and quickly.
"Can we join you?" Koray asked, quickly.
The fire-drake looked surprised. "What do you mean, young night-fox?"
"My brother and I. We'd like to join you. If you give us food, shelter, and safety, then we'll join you."
The fire-drake thought over the offer for a long time, carefully scrutinizing Koray and Rael. The night-fox's heart was racing in his chest like Cerise-Eon and Indigo-Eon.
"...Very well. But if you fail us, the punishment will be severe. My name is Ruby, your new admin. What are your names?" the fire-drake asked.
Koray withheld a sigh of relief. "I'm Koray. This is my brother, Rael."
"Very well, Koray, Rael. Come with me. And welcome to the Mega Knights."
Author Corner
So a few more terms need explanation.
Night-fox is Umbreon, fae-fox is Sylveon, nightfire-hound is Houndoom, fire-drake is Charizard.
Growth is the term for Evolution. Most of the time when a Pokemon matures rapidly, their body catches up with their mind by evolving. But occasionally the reverse will happen, and cause a drastic change in their personality. That's Growth Shock. It's more common in Pokemon that evolve through an item, or something.
And yeah. Dan the Houndoom? Gosh, wonder what that's a reference too.
This chapter is mostly exposition, and getting to know our protagonists with some action at the end. The next chapter will be the same.