Ch.1: Dream Shards
In dark times, where both magic and the sword ruled, the ancient kingdom of Camelot stood out like a jewel amongst its realm, gleaming brilliantly, like a diamond found among hordes of molten ash. King Arthur sighed, admiring the beauty from the dankness of his castle, as his tail lashed back and forth, slowly across the smooth grayness of the palace stones.
The red-orange fox looked gallant, dressed in shining, gold-plate armor, while a circlet of rubies adorned the top of his head. His blue eyes gazed to his right, towards Merlin, the powerful wizard who, as a boy, helped Arthur ascend to his rightful place on the throne.
The old rat stood tall, slightly leaning on his staff, as the dim light shined off the purple of his mystical robes. A long beard extended down from his chin, betraying Merlin’s age, but his yellow eyes gleamed with might and knowledge. It would not be very wise to stand in this rodent’s way.
Still, with all help Merlin had been in his youth, Arthur was still concerned on how exactly he should run his kingdom. What more needed to be done in order to make sure that Camelot stayed on a road towards peace?
“Merlin” spoke King Arthur to his friend “ You say that this kingdom is mine to rule. That I am of royal blood. But how am I rule over creatures that I barely know?”
“With help my liege” said Merlin, bowing towards the red-orange fox “ I believe my cousin Nimune has come with a gift that will help aid you in your future quests.”
Before Arthur could even ask what Merlin meant, a strong wind suddenly blasted the gates to the palace wide open, and a lovely white cat glided into the room. Velvet robes hugging tight to her body, the mystic Lady of Lake looked up at King Arthur with her sharp, orange eyes, one arm draped carefully across her chest, as if holding something very precious in her claws. Carefully, the feline bowed.
“I am honored my king” stated Nimune “ please, accept this young one as my gift,”
Unfolding her arms outward, Nimune revealed the tiny form of a young wolf, colored as black as the night sky. A silver tip decorated the end of his tail, while a few white pieces of fur fuzzed around his muzzle. Stretching into a yawn, his eyes opened to reveal bright red orbs, shining with loyalty and power for a great destiny to come.
“He is called Lancelot” said Nimune “ and he shall be the first in your new order.”
“My new order?” said Arthur, looking towards Merlin, confused.
“An order of knights” said Merlin boldly “ forged in the fires of courage and truth. You need not search far to find them, because I already know you can sense it in your heart. Lancelot will grow to be their leader, second only to you. Fear no family ties, for they will only strengthen your bond,”
“Yes” said King Arthur, immediately rising to the idea “ and just like a circle never ends, nor shall our brotherhood. Guide me Merlin. Guide me towards the Knights of the Round Table,”
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“Faster Gawain” shouted Arthur, as he watched his spikey relative battle “ You have two swords to his one. Surely you can land a blow against Lancelot,”
The red-quilled porcupine tried his best to ignore his uncle’s words. Lancelot was hardly making this battle easy. Blessed by the magic of Nimune, and gifted with a sword from the stars, the black wolf was proving quite a difficult challenge to beat.
Gawain knew it was going to be a hard road once he finally convinced his Uncle Arthur to train him to become a knight. His raw strength was just being wasted plowing the fields at home. This was his real chance for adventure! A dream indeed, the young porcupine had, ever since the day he was born.
Quickly Gawain had pushed himself through the ranks, and was the only one so far to master wielding two weapons at once. His twin sabers glinted dangerously in the sunlight as they slashed at his foe, but Lancelot was to quick.
Spying a weak spot, the black wolf lunged in with his sword and managed to disarm one of Gawain’s blades. Thrown off balance by his loss, Gawain swung back at Lancelot with his other sword, which the wolf quickly whacked to the ground, and then turned his sword toward Gawain, forcing the porcupine down on his knees.
Gawain’s yellow eyes locked onto victorious black wolf, ashamed by his loss, but still felt the rush of adrenaline blasting through his veins. With a hand up from Lancelot, Gawain stood back on his two feet, bending down to pick up his swords as Arthur gratefully called the training session to an end.
“Alright,” said King Arthur “ That is enough for now. It is high time we begin our quest. We have managed to gather some great knights for our order, but Merlin informed me that our circle is not yet complete. We still have some others to find.”
“We already have Lamarok, Lancelot, and me” said Gawain “ who else could there be?”
“I don’t know” said Arthur “ Merlin just said for us to follow the grail and it will lead to the rest of our knights.”
“Sounds like trouble to me,” thought Gawain, but knew better than to question the wisdom of his uncle’s friend. They have known about this quest for days now, hence why they had been training more. It would do them all good to get out of the kingdom for a few days.
“Then let’s go find Lamarok so that we can begin” said Lancelot, sheathing his blade as he began to walk back towards the castle walls. “ I hope that he isn’t to busy arguing with that sister of his.”
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“For the last time Percival” complained the jade-feathered hawk as he strolled into the castle pantry “ You are not going and that’s final!”
“Oh come on Lamarok” stated a svelte, purple bat, green eyes giving off a venomous glare “ Why should you boys get to have all the fun?”
“Darn it sister!” shouted Lamarok “ The field is no place for a young maid!”
“I’ll show you just how much of a maid I am,” said Percival, and immediately tackled her brother to the ground.
For a moment the two grappled and rolled along the floor, until a sharp ‘hmph’ paused their struggle. Instantly, an embarrassed blush sported both of siblings’ cheeks as they stood up before the amused gazes of King Arthur and his knights.
“Troubles Lamarok?” smiled Gawain.
“No trouble” said Lamarok, looking sternly towards his sister “I was just reminding Percival that she was to stay behind,”
“Really?” said Lancelot, seeming unconvinced.
The black wolf’s dry sense of humor made Arthur laugh, and the king turned his bemused gaze towards Percival.
“Let her come” he said “ it will be amusing to have a little rivalry on our trip. Now, let us not waste any more time. We must quest for the grail!”
And with that said, the five gathered up their preparations and met up at the gate, trotting off into the unknown, on their first noble quest as knights.
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Weeks passed, and the search for the Holy Grail seemed to go on with no end. Percival was beginning to regret asking to tag along, while the knights and Arthur worried about Camelot, entrusted to Sir Merlin’s care. Even though Arthur was confident in the old rat’s valor to lead the kingdom ‘till his return, failure was starting to take its toll on him as well, and conceded with the knights, that after just one more day, they all would return home.
That last night, Gawain was standing watch over the campfire while the others slept, when he slowly realized he wasn’t the only one still awake. Sitting on a rock not two feet from his right, Percival sat silently, looking down, gloom shining in her gaze.
“What troubles you?” asked Gawain, walking over to the bat.
“I don’t know” said Percival, softly “ I was just thinking about destiny is all. What we are meant to do in this world. I can feel I’m meant to do something great, but you would have a hard time convincing my brother of that,”
“Yeah, you would,” agreed Gawain.
Lamarok had never approved his sister’s fierce desire to become a knight. When Arthur and Lancelot first found him, Percival insisted that she be trained too. Lamarok was quick to shoot it down, but his sister’s determination was to powerful to fight against. The king offered, and despite Lamarok’s misgivings, watched helplessly as his sister readily accepted the role to be trained as a knight.
The jade-feathered hawk was indeed a little to overprotective, but to Gawain, Percival would indeed, eventually, make a very fine warrior. In fact, if it wasn’t for the grace that he had somehow overheard this story, Gawain may have not been so insistent in own pursuit in convincing his uncle for him to become a knight.
“Can you hear destiny Gawain?” asked Percival, dragging the porcupine out of his thoughts.
“I don’t know,” Gawain answered, after all, he wasn’t even to sure he supposed be a knight. He just wanted a chance to achieve something great, to be remembered. But what destiny had in store, he feared that was something him and Percival would never truly know.
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Morning came, and with the sun as their guide, the final search for the grail began. Reluctantly deciding to split up, the King and his knights divided into teams. Lamarok and Lancelot accompanied King Arthur, while Gawain paired up with Percival.
Together, with little hope of finding the Grail, Gawain and Percival walked on, scouring every rock and bush for any sign of the mythical golden chalice.
Hours passed, and the sun rose higher, radiating its heat down and cooking the knights in their metal plates. Even though Percival still wasn’t officially a knight, it was required before they ever started their quest that she get dressed up in metal as well. She could handle the silver armor’s extra weight, but as they continued to trudge on, Percival began to worry about the heat.
Wiping the sweat from his own brow, Gawain looked towards Percival and suggested they find some shade. Agreeing, Percival led Gawain over to a small patch of trees, and the two knights sat down in the shadows and rested.
For a few minutes all was calm, and then a small noise caught both of their ears. Curiously, Gawain turned his head towards the noise, and soon the small face of a kid-sized raccoon was peering at him from over the grass.
After realizing he had been noticed, the raccoon slowly crawled out the grass and peered at the two knights, admiring their presence grandly.
“Hi” shyly said the raccoon “ I’m Lucan, who are you?”
“I’m Gawain” said Gawain “ and the one beside me is Percival. What are you doing out here kid?”
“Hiding,” grinned Lucan, slyly.
“Lucan!” shouted out a fierce, male voice. The tiny raccoon cringed.
“Apparently, not very well,” said Lucan.
“Lucan!” called out the voice again, and moments later a large, red-eyed croc soon appeared, pushing his way through the brush. “How many times do I have to tell you not to run off? You could have…Why greetings Sir Knights.”
“Greetings” said Percival, looking at the croc “ I’m guessing this child is yours?”
“Kind of” said the crocodile “ I’m his uncle. Name’s Verde. I live in a little house near here. Why don’t you come over, it looks like you need rest from whatever quest wore you out,”
“Yeah!” cried Lucan, excitedly tugging Gawain’s arm. “Come and join us, please,”
Finding no reason to refuse, Gawain and Percival followed Verde and Lucan over to their house. It was quaint, little stone cottage studded with average furnishing. Not as majestic as the castle, but comfy never the less.
Bonding over some scones and cider, the two knights slowly warmed up to Verde and Lucan’s company, and explained about their quest. Lucan listened with rapt interest, while Verde sat silent with frown.
His red-eyes scanned over both the knights, as if studying if they were worthy enough to be considered in his presence or not. His nephew seemed to take a particular liking to Gawain, when porcupine talked about fierce battle and how exciting it was to be in King Arthur’s ranks.
“That knight has a big destiny on his hands” thought Verde silently “ but the bat, she has nothing to hold onto.”
“ Thank you for wonderful meal” said Percival, cleaning off her plate “ Please let us know if there is anything we can do to repay your kindness.”
“Well” said Verde, with a grin, tilting his head towards Lucan “ my nephew seems to have gotten attached to Sir Gawain here. I don’t suppose it will be to much trouble to ask that you two knights take him and train him to be a fellow knight as well.”
“You mean it Uncle?” said Lucan, cheering happily “ You’ll do it, won’t you Gawain?”
“Well I…,” stumbled Gawain, not sure how to respond. A child? This was the last knight in their circle they were supposed to receive? He saw Percival smile, and decided to give in. Beggars can’t be choosers. Plus the uncle seemed so sure that this was just what Lucan needs.
“Sure kid,” Gawain finally said.
“Yay!” yelled Lucan, jumping from his chair in order to hug the porcupine tight, careful to avoid the quills as his arms wrapped tight around Sir Gawain.
“I’m sure you’ll guard him well” said Verde, standing up from the table “ And before you leave, I have a little present for you,”
“Oh no Sir” said Percival, shaking her head “you don’t have to give us anything.”
“I think I do” said Verde “ for brave knights with bright destinies in hand.”
Placing a claw into one of his cabinets, Verde pulled out a rusty, old silver goblet and handed it out towards Percival, which the bat gently took, confusingly, into her hands.
“Drink from it and be filled with fire” said Verde “ now go, your King awaits you,”
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A few minutes later, Gawain and Percival, now with young Lucan by their side, left Verde’s house and joined up with Arthur and the other knights. They were a little surprised at the raccoon’s presence. Much like Gawain, they were stunned that a child would be the last of their group. Destiny indeed decided to work in very strange ways. Regardless, King Arthur and the others soon welcomed Lucan, and gathered up their supplies for the return trip home.
Two days and a night, separated them from the whole of King Arthur’s kingdom, and the fox wondered how Merlin was fairing given his new position of power.
Halfway home, night fell, and the knights stopped in a valley to rest. A fairly, large stream cut through the side of the valley, and Percival sat on a rock by the river, crouching near it, as her eyes gazed down to the rusted chalice in her hands. Why had Verde given this to her? She may have been dressed in armor, but she wasn’t a true knight.
“Drink from it and be filled with fire,” The crocodile’s final words slipped ghostily through the bat’s mind.
Gawain had just finished tucking Lucan down for the night, when his eyes glanced towards Percival, the bat looking solemnly down at the rusted cup in her hand.
Watching through golden eyes, Gawain watched as the beautiful bat dipped the goblet into the stream, and then brought it up to her mouth for a drink.
As soon as the water passed through Percival’s lips, something strange began to occur. Fire suddenly erupted from the goblet in her hands, and Percival was soon covered in flames.
Shocked at seeing her on fire, Gawain instantly called out and ran towards Percival, worried that she would soon be burned into ash. King Arthur and the other knights also awoke, and looked over to their burning companion in horror.
Gawain had managed to get close to the fire, but the heat from the flames prevented him from running one step further.
“Percival!” Gawain called out to the flames, as the entire fiery scourge suddenly died down, ceasing the horror before his eyes.
Stunned eyes gazed towards where once the flames had been, as a whole, bat-like knight stood there unburned, with a now glowing gold and jeweled goblet held tightly in her hand. Percival looked at herself, shocked that she was unhurt, but also because her armor had changed from drab silver to gleaming gold.
King Arthur was the first one to break the silence, and made a subtle bow towards Percival. The smile on the old fox’s face was excitingly pleased.
“Hail Percival, the Knight of the Grail!” sang Arthur, as the others soon joined his bow of respect.
While bowing, Gawain could overhear Lamarok’s words, hardly believing that his younger sister could achieve such a feat. Gawain almost had a hard time believing it as well.
Just the other night, Percival had talked to Gawain about destiny, and it seems as if fate had finally answered her calls. To be the Knight of the Grail was her purpose, but what did that mean for Gawain?
Would his destiny also shine to him on a simple quest? Would fate smile, and grant his greatest wish?
“I will find my purpose” Gawain swore “ by the light of the Grail, I will seek my destiny in this world and achieve it, whatever it may be,”