TLC hit the 1000 review mark, guys! Whooo!
I had promised myself a while ago that if it ever did that I would write a oneshot for whoever was the 1000th reviewer. So, honors and dedications go to DragonOwl, who pushed TLC over 1000 reviews! Thank you for providing the prompt that resulted in this, which is neither a oneshot nor particularly true to the prompt but was a great prompt anyway. It was exceedingly fun to write, so thank you so much, you are great. More chapters will follow later.
Thanks also to the classy ladies in my Saturday night writing group for fixing Snow and the ending. You guys are the best ever. Also, I wish I could pun, but I can't pun so Snow can't either.
Courage is greatness in what you will pursue and in what you will give up.
.o.o.o.
Soldiers gathered at the edge of the hill, huddling together and rubbing anxious hands. They watched the snow drift onto the valley below, covering the enemy camp. At their front stood a woman with red hair, red cheeks, and red cloak. They looked to her— looked to their Hero for courage. The Lady Hero Rose smiled obligingly.
"They came upon us faster than we had hoped, My Lady Hero," her Lieutenant Demory muttered, running a hand through his hair.
"Unfortunately." She strained her eyes against the darkness. Her own soldiers had lit campfires, and they were making it harder to pierce the gloom of the snowy valley. The army below, however, had only one single spot of flickering fire. Shadow Knights hardly needed such human comforts as warmth and light. They were constructs of black armor and blacker shadows and didn't even need sleep. Still, there was that one fire.
"He's here," she breathed, words puffing cold and white from her lips into the frigid air. She looked to Bear, the solid, stoic beast beside her. "The dwarf has finally come out again."
"Indeed, though our plans were made for a mountain top fight," Bear's deep voice made the very air shudder.
"Better now than never," she replied. After all the battles she had fought and led, after all the caves and castles they had searched, after all the men she had lost— the dwarf had returned, and she would defeat him. She would not doubt herself. She would not let her men doubt themselves.
The Lady Hero Rose turned to the few men and women who had gathered around, forsaking the warmth of their companions and campfires for the fires of courage. She made her smile wide. "There!" she pointed down to the lonely campfire and the motion set her red cloak flapping. "There is the evil that has threatened our land these long years." Her voice rang out proud and strong in the air. "There is the power we have fought in field and forest. The evil that stole our king. The threat to our families, to our way of life— The power we have bested before, and that we will defeat again! He has finally come out to face us, because he knows that he can no longer hide. His armies cannot stand against us on their own. He has come because he fears what we know. That we are destined for victory! We will win because we know the true meaning of courage!" A cheer started up, and her voice grew hoarse as she rose with the din. "This time tomorrow, the war will be over! Our land will be free and we will go home, every one of us a Hero!"
The soldiers cheered and shook their swords, punched the sky, and ran back to their campfires to share with the others this newfound warmth.
Rose returned quietly to Lieutenant Demory and Bear, her smile small again. "The men are right to put their faith in you," Demory gave a small bow of his head.
She tangled shaking, cold fingers in Bear's fur. "You did well," he growled. She stood a little straighter. The men saw her as a Hero first. Yet, somehow, knowing that Bear still saw her as a longtime friend made his words mean all the more. She nodded, taking one more moment to soak up Bear's solid calm.
The Lady Hero Rose rested light fingers on the sword at her side, swaddled in cloth and with a makeshift hilt. Greatness in what you will pursue, it read, engraved in the steel of the blade. It was a reminder that they had beaten the dwarf twice before, though admittedly he hadn't had the armies back then. Still, they could do it again. They would do it again.
Hello, dwarf, she thought, fingers touching ice cold steel.
Hello, Hero. Ready to play?
She took a deep breath. "Fetch my sister."
.o.o.o.
The Lady Hero Snow lounged in a most undignified manner on the ground, leaning against one of the round stones that dotted the army's hilltop.
"Two Kings, Two Queens." She threw down her cards into the circle and the soldiers all around her groaned.
"It ain't fair if you got magic!" one of the broader men of their motley group, complained, but hid a smile as he pushed over his dried apples.
"My magic is all the way over there!" she protested, pointing to the pearly white sheath that lounged, sword-less, a large step away.
"Don't matter, it's magic. It's not for the likes of us soldiers to understand, and so I say it's magic that you won the last three hands!" he insisted.
She laughed as she gathered up various dried fruit and mead vouchers. "I'll give you a hint how to tell if I'm using magic," she winked, "Your cards will be on fire." Laughter echoed around the campfire, and it was almost enough to chase away the thought that tomorrow they would fight- and die.
"Aye, it's battle magic, Gerith," an older but rugged woman snorted. "It ain't exactly a subtle art."
Snow smiled and laughed along, but her fingers found themselves twisting the white ends of her hair. Only the very top of her hair still retained its original golden color; soon after this battle perhaps- it would all be white. White as the falling snow. White as the sheath glinting just outside of her reach. What would happen to her then? Would the magic start stealing the red of her cheeks? Or something else?
"Snow— Er— My Lady Hero," a young soldier, Jared if she recalled, came running up to their camp fire.
"Yes?" Snow asked, trying to ignore the thought that the boy never would have fumbled for how to address Rose. Such differences meant that the men thought of her as more of a friend than a Hero. That was a good thing, wasn't it?
"The Lady Hero Rose requests your presence at her tent," the boy responded.
Snow groaned for show to her companions. "Well, that's my exit." She held her hand out, not moving to rise. "It has been a pleasure." She shook each soldier's hand in turn, and although they smiled and joked at her having to leave before they could win back their losses, she could see the admiration in each of their eyes. They were all awed that one of their Lady Heroes had come, the night before a battle, to play and joke with them. Snow knew that she would never be able to inspire the respect and loyalty of an entire army the way Rose did. Snow was too silly and too forgettable, but for a couple sundry men every evening, maybe she could make a difference.
"Alright," she craned her head around the rock she lay against and smiled to the boy, "Where is Bear? No way I'm getting to this meeting without him."
"Here, Snow," the deep rumbling voice startled the messenger boy, and then again when the huge inky black bear padded out of the shadows.
"Ah, good." Snow grinned. Leaning and almost falling onto her side, she snatched back up her sheath and tucked it into the strap on her back. "I was starting to worry I would have to walk there all on my own!" she joked.
"We couldn't have that." Bear smiled in that comforting way that bears shouldn't really be able to. It was probably the eyes, she thought. He had hazel eyes that could warm her to her very bones.
He thumped down beside her and she reached for the wide saddle on his back, pulling herself on by the pommel and heaving her useless legs up after her. The men made a move to help her, but she was already on the saddle with Bear rising to his feet.
"Goodnight, all," she gave a grinning salute to them before tossing down her recently won mead vouchers. "After the battle, you have yourself a drink, on me."
And with that, Bear led her off into the night.