Fate of Awakening Love
A/N: This is a revamped version of my original story of the same title. I got sick of how childish it seems to me now when I was rereading it for ideas for my other stories so I chose to do it over. Much will likely remain the same, other things will be different. I will leave the other version posted if some people choose to like that one better.
NOTE: Kagome is not actually singing the song, it's there to act as a mood setter. I was listening to it when I originally wrote it and thought it should have a place for sparking my muse.
Disclaimers: I do not own any characters you recognize in this story. They belong to the people who invented them and their companies. I'll point out my own characters every time they come up just to be sure.
The song I used is "Holding Out For a Hero" I didn't pay attention to who wrote it, just that it was performed by Jennifer Saunders. Anyway, it's not mine either.
Prologue: The Song of Battle
Where have all the good men gone and
where are all the gods?
He heard a voice through his semi-consciousness daze. He had heard it somewhere before, though at the moment he could not place it. He looked around slowly, trying to focus. They were still chained to the wall, no surprise there. Where exactly they were, he could not tell. He looked over to the faces of his companions, they were looking around the room trying to figure out what was going on too.
Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising walls?
He distinctly heard the sound of soft footsteps; a young woman had entered the room. He tried to get a good look at her but failed. It seemed that she was cloaked in some kind of shadow. Her long, robe-like dress almost shone in the dim light as did her waist-length, ebony hair and the two fans she now held in her slender, pale hands. All of these things were evident to his vision, but as much as he tried, he could not gaze clearly at her face.
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need...
All in the room silenced as she came fully into view. The drow priestess gasped in surprised outrage. How could one human girl have so easily entered her fortress? Were there more? It did not matter, she decided. The girl would be destroyed. With a laugh she commanded all of her soldiers to attack and kill the girl who now wore a knowing smile on her face. The young woman merely opened her fans and took her fighting stance. The drow priestess laughed again at the foolish girl. She had no idea what she was in for.
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night
The young woman's body tensed noticeably as the drow soldiers attacked, but she was more than ready for them. She had, after all taken on the others in the complex to get to where she was now. She was neither foolish nor prideful, she knew what she was up against. The young woman willed the magic in her fans to action and jumped into the air. The first drow who attempted to strike her missed, only to be sliced in half by the fan's glowing blades.
He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and
he's gotta be fresh from the fight
He tried once again to focus on her face as she cut down the drow soldiers. He felt that she was no enemy and there was no doubt that she would help them escape. There was something familiar about her though, something he could not place. He knew her from somewhere he was sure of it, but where? He winced when a drow soldier attacked her from behind. Once again she jumped into the air, turning a back flip and landing gracefully behind her attacker. He spun around to face her only to have his throat slashed by her weapon.
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light
Her fanblades twisted and turned in a deadly dance; for every foe that attacked her three more fell as well. The drow soldiers were starting to lose their heart for the battle but feared their matron's wrath more than the death promised by the young woman. They continued to attack. They continued to fall. Soon, out of the original seventy soldiers there was but a score left.
He's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon and
he's gotta be larger than life; larger than life...
The drow matron looked on in disguised horror as the young woman cut down her soldiers. Many of them were her finest and even they had no chance… This young human did not bode well for her plans. She looked to her daughters and found that one of them was in the throes of casting a spell. She looked on with approval, her fighters were all males after all and expendable, but how would the human fare against a drow priestess?
Somewhere after midnight in my wildest fantasy,
somewhere just beyond my reach there's someone reaching back for me...
She saw the spell coming long before it was launched and prepared for the impact. The drow had underestimated her severely, but such was their fault to any race that wasn't their own. The spell hit her full force but was reflected back onto its caster by her armor. The returned spell hit the wall behind the priestess but had successfully knocked her off her feet and unconcious.
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
It's gonna take a super man to sweep me off my feet
The drow matron screamed again in outrage, how could this have happened? She knew now that they had underestimated their enemy, but she still believed herself above the human. She was a high priestess of Lolth, there was no way she would be defeated by some human girl no matter how powerful! The girl was nothing compared to her! She prayed to her goddess with all her might asking for spells that would destroy the girl.
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night
He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and
he's gotta be fresh from the fight
A cacophony of steal rang throughout the room. The corpses of the fallen drow threatened to make her lose her balance with every step she took. The young woman did not like to fight, but she was not unsatisfied with the results of the battle. She knew that with every kill she was closer to setting her friends free and that was all that mattered. One fan cut upwards, another drow dead with a gash deep into his face. Her other fan sliced downwards, off went another drow's head. There weren't that many left now, just a few more.
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light
He's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon and
He's gotta be larger than life; larger than life
The companions watched as the battle neared its end. They were all fully awake now and wondering what would happen. Surely this girl was unlike any they had ever seen. Not many they had seen we're able to battle an entire drow regiment alone. They hoped that she would survive the battle, not only would such skill be wasted but so too would her beauty. It would be a shame indeed for such a beautiful creature to fall.
Through the wind and the chill and the rain
and the storm and the flood
The drow priestess heard the answer of her goddess and felt the energies of the spell charging within her flesh. Now the girl would fall, she believed with all her vile heart. She began to chant the spell, dreaming of the glories her goddess would reign upon her for the death of this meddlesome human. She closed her eyes in ecstasy, the pleasure of the kill rushing through her. Her chant reached its crescendo and her spell was released.
I can feel his approach like a fire in my blood
The young woman raised one of her fans in front of her face as a shield and once again willed it to work its magic. This time instead of slashing through the drow soldiers she slashed it though the air. Crescent shaped blades of fire burst from the fan and cut down the remaining soldiers. She looked up into the face of the drow priestess who only had one more word to speak as the ending for her spell, it appeared by her expression, however, that she was savoring the moment.
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night
he's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and
he's gotta be fresh from the fight
The young woman raised her fan once again, this time concentrating more energy into the fire to come. The drow priestess flashed her evil smile and bellowed the end of the spell. At the same time the young woman cried out "Dance of Blades!" and released her own attack. This time, a single blade of fire erupted from her fan, far more powerful than those before it. The drow priestess's fireball thundered through the cave. They collided in mid-air.
I need a hero!
Drizzt Do'Urden woke suddenly from his Reverie.