DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, this story exists purely because I want it to

GREETINGS ALL, and yes I know what your thinking

'Stormhawk fan, what are you doing over here in the Code Geass section?'

Well truth be told, I've been wanting to do a Code Geass story for a while now, and I just recently got a nice bit of inspiration from a certain League of Legends cinematic, which is what this story is named after actually. If you haven't checked out the cinematic, head over to LoL's YouTube channel, should be up there, and you'll see just what I mean when I say its FANTASTIC

But, back to the matter at hand

I was planning on writing the next chapter for 'The Storm and the Hawk' but after watching that cinematic, this idea came to life in my head, and I knew I just HAD to do it. I don't plan on updating this one too often at the moment as I have two other stories to get done and I REALLY want to finish them, so this is probably all your getting for a while on this one. It's also not that long, but it is action packed, so I hope you guys enjoy it, and once I've finished at least one of my other active stories, I'll begin updating this one, or whenever I hit a bit of writers block on the other two

Just as a general note, all characters in this story have been born into this world, there are no crossovers involved. Instead, any non-cannon Code Geass characters you spot are OC's who have been inspired by characters from other things, there is one such character in this chapter and he's very easy to spot. Other than that, I will be sticking to Kannon (whoops) cannon, Code Geass characters for the most part. Also, like the summary says, this is a fantasy/steampunk AU for Code Geass, so expect magic, beasts (both mythological and otherwise), as well as some mechs, but I'm not going too heavy on that, demons, spirits, etc

Finally, I would like to state that this is my first M rated story. Mainly this is going to be for the blood and gore at the start, I don't know if I'm going to do any lemon later on, but there will most definitely be shipping, and maybe some saucy moments as well

But, enough of me rambling, let's get started

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, dear readers all. SHhype productions proudly presents...

Awaken

Chapter 1: Chained Wolf

Kallen sat in the dingy room, light filtering from the surface through high windows, which looked out onto the fate of those in the room. Through the window could be seen the bright colours, and raucous noise that were the hallmarks of an Arena event in full swing. Beside Kallen were others like her, slaves, sentenced to die in the Arena for the amusement of their betters. This wasn't Kallen's first visit to the Arena, she'd come here as a little girl when the family had all gone to see the games. Of course, Kallen was only brought along because her half-sister and charge had begged their father to bring her. Back then, Kallen had wanted nothing more than to be in the place of the champion they'd watched, as he struck down his opponent to the roar of the crowd. For the Arena was the one of the few ways in which a slave could rise, and oh how Kallen wished to rise, how she wished to see her noble father's face, as she ascended through the ranks of the Arena, won her freedom, and became a full citizen. At which point, he'd be unable to deny her any longer

This wasn't exactly how she had imagined her career as a gladiator would begin

She'd had it all planned out perfectly too. Contrary to belief, she was a very intelligent young woman, and while sitting in on her half-sibling's lessons, she had absorbed ever iota of knowledge that her siblings had taken for granted. So while normal slaves were unable to read and write, Kallen could, and knew the numbers, symbols and various other academic details that would have made her wasted in the flesh markets. This bought her time, and rather than be sold after turning fifteen, her father kept her, which allowed Kallen to pursue phase two of her plan. This had involved tricking her two half-brothers into sparring with her, and making them think it was their idea. Of course, she let them think they were the absolute best; it wouldn't do to draw attention by kicking their asses. Even so, despite her caution, father found out eventually, and when he did, he was furious. Kallen could hardly believe that three days ago, she had floored her father, and no less than half a dozen house guards, before they'd finally managed to subdue her, but that is what happened. When Kallen's father discovered what she'd been up to, he'd immediately forbade her from fighting anymore

Of course Kallen refused, and declared her intentions, it had been a stupid move, because of course, father would never let her. He'd reminded her that she was nothing but a slave, she didn't get to decide her future, he did. Kallen had snapped, punching the man in the gut, surprising him with her strength. The house guard had pounced instantly, rushing to their lord's defence. Kallen had taken them all on, and though their numbers finally overwhelmed her, she took six with her before they succeeded. Kallen's mother had begged Kallen's father for mercy, but her father was beyond listening, he declared that if Kallen wanted to fight so badly, then she'd get her wish... and now, here she was, exactly where she wanted to be. Instead of becoming a gladiator though, she was now just a sacrificial lamb, to be led to slaughter

She looked back up at the window as a cheer echoed from it, their getting ready to begin. Around her she could hear other slaves whimpering, or praying, others were simply silent, staring straight ahead, their eyes appearing dead, lifeless, with only the rise and fall of their chests betraying the fact that they still lived.

Kallen looked down at where she was fingering a small charm that hung around her neck. Her mother had given it to her when she was little, saying that it was a good luck charm. According to her, certain spirits were supposed to provide good luck to the worthy, back in her mother's homeland. Oh how Kallen wished to see it, to hear her mother talk about it, you'd have thought it paradise. As Kallen held the charm, she sent up a silent prayer. Spirits of my mother's homeland, if you can hear me, if you know me, grant me the strength to win this day, let me be one of the last standing, please

Kallen was broken from her thoughts by the sound of doors opening and boots stomping, before several armed guards entered the room, followed by the Arena Master. "Alright on your feet, time to go meet your makers," the Arena Master yelled out. Kallen, along with many others climbed to their feet, even as terror griped Kallen tight

This is it, time to fight. Other slaves who weren't quick enough, or outright refused to move, were hauled to their feet by the guards. They were pushed into two lines, side by side, Kallen ended up getting placed next to a giant of a man. His skin was dark, almost black, and his head was clean of any hair, upon his forehead was a tribal tattoo of some sort, and every limb was bulging with muscle. Then they were marched forward, as they reached the door to the room, manacles were placed on each pair, linking them together, before they were sent marching down the corridor, ending up in front of a door which led out onto the Arena floor. Outside, Kallen could hear the chanting and cheering of the crowd, as well as see movement on the other side of the door, through the small gaps

Kallen was pulled from her thoughts by a voice beside her, "Are you scared little wolf?"

Kallen looked towards the dark skinned man she was now shackled to, he didn't look at her, just stared straight ahead, in his eyes, she saw determination, and confidence, she rather wish she shared it. She turned back to face the door, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," she began, "But you don't have to worry, I won't try to run and hide."

"Good, stay on your toes out there, follow my lead, and we will live through this little wolf," the man replied

Kallen glanced at him again, "What's with this 'little wolf' thing?"

The man chuckled, "You remind me of a wolf I once got into a scrap with back in my homeland, I wasn't much older than you when it happened. Beast had corned me inside a cave, but I'd found a ledge it couldn't reach, classic standoff. We stared at each other for hours in that cave, neither one of us willing to back down."

Now Kallen was staring at him, "And how did you get out of that?"

He now gave a grim smile, "Turns out that cave belonged to a bear, the beast wandered back in and attacked the wolf. I went to make good my escape, but something pulled me back, and I realised the spirits would be displeased if I left the wolf to die. So I turned around and attacked the bear." Kallen's mouth was open in shock and awe, "Me and that wolf brought the bear down together, and we dined on bear meat that night, we parted the next morning as unlikely friends."

Kallen shook her head, trying to dispel her shock, "And how exactly do I remind you of that wolf?"

Now the man looked at her for the first time, "It's your eyes mainly, the eyes of a hunter, the way they stayed focused, even when everyone around you was lost in their own grief and hopelessness. It reminded me of that stare down I had with that wolf in the cave," he gave a twitch of a smile as he spoke. "So what say you, 'little wolf', shall we dine on bear meat tonight?"

Kallen now smirked, "Hell yes," she replied, nodding, "And the name's Kallen."

The man also smirked, "Teal'c, of the Jaffa clan."

Kallen smiled and nodded, before her eyes were drawn to the front by the voice of the Arena announcer, "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the opening ceremonies for today's games, shall... BEGIN!"

At his words, the large doors in front of them opened, and the slaves were pushed forward into the waiting arms of the gladiators. The disparity between the two was huge; there were thirty slaves in total, making fifteen pairs each, while there was only half that number of gladiators, making a pair of slaves for each gladiator. However, while the gladiators were armed with swords, spears, maces, axes and clubs, and clad in thick leather armour, that only exposed certain areas of the body, depending on the type of gladiator, the slaves were unarmed, chained to their partner, and dressed only in thin cloth tunics. It would be a miracle if any of the slaves survived this fight, and yet that was the goal. The gladiators had to kill as many slaves as they could within the next thirty minutes, while the slaves simply had to survive, any slave that did, would become a gladiator in turn, but the chances of that happening were slim to none

This was emphasised by the first gladiator in front of the door, a hulk of a man, in almost full leather armour, a metal helmet and left hand gauntlet, wielding a vicious looking chain mace in the other. As the slaves burst from the door, the mace wielder whirled the weapon above his head, and smashed it against the skulls of the first pair, who dropped like stones. Two pairs got passed him, but fell afoul of the gladiators waiting beyond, meanwhile Kallen felt herself get pulled to the left, she quickly ducked another swing of the mace, and used the movement to follow Teal'c. They soon found themselves out of range of the mace wielder, but were now faced with a new opponent. The gladiator in front of them wore no helmet, but his arm guard reached all the way to his shoulder, and he even had a partial chest piece for his left side. He wore a loincloth held by a wide belt and wielded a spear and net

As his first move, he attempted to entangle their feet in the net, but to his surprise, Teal'c caught the net, and began wrapping it around his hand. Taking advantage of Teal'c's distraction, the gladiator jabbed his spear forward, attempting to take Teal'c in the neck, Kallen however, rushed forward, and batted the spear aside. As the gladiator attempted to recover his stance and weapon, Teal'c pulled hard on the net, causing the gladiator to stumble forward, as he'd forgotten to drop it. Kallen delivered a solid punch to the man's gut, winding him, and causing him to drop the spear, which Teal'c proceeded to pick up himself as he rid the net from his hand. Just as the gladiator was recovering, Teal'c shoved the spear tip through the man's throat, while Kallen drew the man's sword from its sheath. Their kill was met with a roar of approval from the crowd, who cared not who died, so long as blood stained the sand at the fighter's feet

As the two stood, taking a moment to recover, Kallen's eyes scanned the crowd; it did not take her long to find her father, who was standing near the Arena edge. Around him was his family, but held at his side, was Kallen's mother, her face terror stricken and streaked with tears. Kallen twirled the blade she now held in her hand, its weight comforting, now she was armed, and her chances had just gone up, something that clearly irked her father, if his scowl was anything to go by. She then brought her eyes back to the arena. Most of the slaves were now dead, not including her and Teal'c, there were only about half a dozen pairs left, and only one other had managed to arm themselves. To her surprise though, of the fifteen gladiators who had begun the fight, only nine now remained, which meant that either there'd been some collateral, or the other armed pair had been busy. Movement then caught Kallen's eye, and she saw, the massive mace wielder stomping in their direction

Unlike their last opponent, his entire body was almost completely covered in leather armour, and while Teal'c's spear had greater reach than the mace, he would need accuracy to actually do any real damage. Meanwhile Kallen would have to get in close to use her short blade, which meant putting herself right into the danger zone, while one direct hit from the mace for either of them would be almost certainly fatal.

"Stay on your toes little wolf, keep out of reach of that mace," Teal'c advised

Kallen merely nodded in response, as she assumed a ready stance, and Teal'c did the same beside her. The mace wielder closed the distance to them, and swung the mace in an overhand strike. The two of them dodged to the side, as they came out of the dodge, Teal'c jabbed at the man with the spear, while Kallen darted forward and swung with her blade, both trying to get at the man's weak spots. The gladiator responded, by taking the blows on the thickest part of his armour, even swiping his metal gauntlet at Kallen, forcing her to back off. Then he brought up the mace again, swinging in an arc over his head, intending to smash their skulls like he had the first pair of slaves. Kallen ducked back, staying out of reach, while Teal'c attempted to slow the gladiator down, with precise jabs of the spear at the man's legs which were not nearly as well protected, Kallen noticed, having only a pair of shin guards and sandals. Kallen glanced at Teal'c who just nodded in response, as the gladiator wound up for another swing, Teal'c stepped forward, jabbing at the man's helmet, trying to get his spear between the gaps for the eyes and where the helmet met the neck

The gladiator reacted defensively to the attack, allowing Kallen the window she needed to duck down towards the man's legs, and hamstring him. The gladiator gave a cry of pain, as he was forced down to one knee. He swung wildly at Kallen with his gauntlet hand, but this time, Kallen did not back down, as he expected her too. Instead, Kallen met the hand with her blade, aiming for the wrist joint, the blade biting straight into the gap, and causing the gladiator to scream in agony, while a small spatter of blood scattered across Kallen's face. Teal'c now took out the gladiator's other leg, while Kallen wrenched her blade from the gauntlet, almost completely severing the hand from the wrist in the process. Around them the crowd cheered, and Kallen could hear the closest members of it, baying for the gladiator's blood. Kallen looked to Teal'c, but the man had taken a step back, as he gestured to the fallen gladiator. Kallen understood instantly, Teal'c had already taken a kill, now it was Kallen's turn

She gave the gladiator a pitying look, "Sorry," she said quietly, before ramming the point of her blade through the front of the helmet. A roar of approval filled the arena, as a larger splatter of blood, decorated the grey tunic Kallen wore, with a few more drops reaching her face. Kallen yanked the blade free, and the gladiator toppled to the ground with a thud. Kallen stood there panting for several moments, she'd killed a man, not just injured, not just laid out on the floor, actually killed. A part of her felt sick, but another part sang, it sang in time with the chanting of the arena crowd, in time with the blood pounding in her ears

Is this what it feels like, to fight, to kill, and to be praised doing it?

Kallen had little time to process that thought as Teal'c's voice broke her from her reverie, "Kallen!"

Kallen turned, and found that they were now one of the few left, the only other pair of slaves left besides them, were the ones who had armed themselves, the rest were dead, but clearly, the slaves had also taken their toll on the gladiators, as only six now remained. Of those six, three were advancing on the only other remaining pair of slaves, one of whom looked to be in a bad way. The other three, were heading Kallen and Teal'c's way. The leader was a duel blade wielder, who looked quite agitated as he strode over to them. Before he could reach them however, a horn blew, and Kallen felt a sense of relief fill her. It was over, the thirty minutes were up, they'd survived. The duel wielder stamped a foot in anger, before proceeding to stab the corpse at his feet, leaving both swords embedded in it. He then straightened and looked Kallen straight in the eye. Kallen stared straight back, memorizing every detail of the helmet he wore, knowing she had likely made an enemy already, though how she had done so, still eluded her

Movement then caught her eye, as a figure rose from the VIP box on one side of the arena, all eyes turned towards the figure. He was tall, with blond hair, and handsome features, eyes a darkish blue, or perhaps purple. He wore a flowing white robe, decorated with gold and purple highlights, and as he raised a hand, the crowd silenced. Then a cultured, urbane voice rang out over the arena, "Citizens of Pendragon, I give you, you're Victors!" he called out. At his words, the crowd cheered, the sound deafening as it reverberated around the arena. Kallen suddenly felt her left arm get tugged upwards, and saw Teal'c had raised his arms to the crowd, and was shouting some tribal war cry, though it was drowned out by the crowd's chanting. Kallen followed his example, and raised her own arms, and she swore the crowd's cheers grew louder as she did. Kallen's mind was brought back to that day she'd watched a fight in the arena, to the day where she'd wished she could have traded places with the champion she'd watched. The day where she'd cheered along with the rest of the crowd, while the champion had soaked it all in

And now here she was, exactly where she wanted to be, soaking in the praise of the crowd, no longer a slave, she was a gladiator. She found her father's eyes once more. Beside him, her mother had collapsed to her knees, and was crying tears of joy, a broad smile on her face, while her father stared dumbfounded, before it morphed into a scowl. Kallen brought her sword down to point at the man, and the nearby crowd followed the point, soon all of them staring at him. Then Kallen moved the sword in a slicing motion in front of her throat. Her meaning was clear, and the crowd instantly started jeering her father. In response, her father's house guard closed ranks around him and his family as they began to vacate the arena. Once they were out of sight, Kallen brought her sword around and cleaved it through the chain that bound her and Teal'c together, which received another cheer from the crowd. Both of them raised their arms again, to the chanting and cheering of the crowd

This morning, Kallen had been a slave, bound and chained, selected to die. Now, she was a free of those chains, now, she was a gladiator

As Kallen revelled in the adulation of the crowd, the blond man in the VIP box turned to a dark haired younger man still seated behind him, but staring intently at the red haired slave turned gladiator. "See something you like brother?" the blond man asked

"Oh I think he does," said a blond girl next to the dark haired young man, gentle ribbing her companion

The young dark haired man ignored them, his eyes never leaving the red haired beauty below him. Fire, fury, primal rage... maybe, just maybe. His mind a flurry with possibilities, he hardly noticed the blond girl next to him, until she straddled him

"Milly!" he cried indignantly

"Now Lelou, if you want a new plaything, you're going to have to ask first," the girl Milly said playfully

"Oh stop teasing the poor boy Millicent," the blond man chuckled

"It's not my fault that our little Lelouch is randier than a jackrabbit, Schneizel" Milly shot back, to which Schneizel began to laugh

Lelouch frowned up at Milly, "Your one to talk Milly, with your promiscuity, I'm surprised you still have your virtue." That got Schneizel to go into full blown laughter, as Milly puffed up at Lelouch, before he darted in and stole a kiss from the girl. "Don't worry, my thoughts haven't gone there yet, just thinking that she's one I want to keep an eye on... you never know after all."

That seemed to cheer Milly up, "Well, I have to say, I wouldn't mind getting a taste of that red-head's lips myself."

"Oh get a room you two," Schneizel groaned as he let them be and moved over to the announcer

As Schneizel got the next part of the games organised, Milly turned round so she was sitting in Lelouch's lap, and they were facing down into the arena. "So, you think she has potential?" Milly asked

"I do, but we'll just observe for now, you know how the arena is, every gladiator is a bright flame, they can burn hot, and they can burn bright... and they can snuff themselves out," Lelouch replied. They watched as the red head and the other fighters left the arena floor. Just as she was about to go through the doors, back into the arena catacombs, the red head turned around and looked straight at where Lelouch and Milly were sitting. Lelouch knew she couldn't see them; the awning that shaded them also shrouded them in darkness to the people below. Even so, Lelouch couldn't help but feel like she was daring them to do something. Yes, this one has potential... great potential

A sudden thought came to mind, "Jeremiah, that was Lord Stadtfeld she pointed at yes?"

"I believe so your highness," said a teal haired orange eyed knight standing just behind Lelouch's seat

"Find out what her connection is to him, is she just a slave he sold, or is there more going on," Lelouch commanded

"I shall assign Villetta to the task immediately my lord," Jeremiah replied, bowing, before turning to leave

"Lelou?"

"I have a hunch, I'd like to check it," he stated, as he watched the red head turn and leave the Arena floor, "Let the games begin."

And that's a wrap for now, let me know what you guys think, as always constructive criticism is welcome and I will see you all next time

AN: The first Gladiator that Kallen and Teal'c fought was a Retiarius while the second wasn't really anything, just something I came up with on the spot. I wanted something big, scary and mean for Kallen's first kill, of which there will be many more to come

P.s. Bragging points to whoever can guess the identity of the Dimachaerus (name for a duel sword wielding gladiator) seen at the end of the fight