Title: Shades of the Past
Disclaimer: If I owned these characters, trust me, I would not be writing fan fiction about them, rather, I'd be making them dance for my amusement. They belong to Joss, ME, Fox, blah bliddy blah.. Bottom line is, I'm just borrowing them. Please don't sue me.
Notes: This is my first attempt at a chaptered story, and I'm scared. Please, please, review and let me know if I'm anywhere near the right track, so far. Anyway - a few notes. This story is set about 2400 years into the future, and in December, 2001. I cannot even begin to stress of how much of an alternate universe this story is set in. Seriously. Some characters aren't going to turn up. Notably, Dawn, Anya and Spike. Possibly no Tara, but I LOVE her, so she might pop up, if I can find a place for her. Sorry 'bout that. They just didn't fit. It'll explain itself soon. Read it? Pretty, pretty please?
--
There is no dispute amongst the higher beings that mortals are funny creatures. Human mortals, especially, and those linked closely to them. Vampires, hybrids. Capable of both unfathomable good and unspeakable evil, light and dark -- no other mortal creatures have that range, that subconscious freedom to chose paths.
In the history of humankind, there have been many, countless, great heroes. There have also been countless villains, unworthy of the title 'man' This cannot change -- it is the only constant in the world of humans, that lack of consistency -- for them, even death can be avoided if one knows the right ways of going about the details.
The villains are, pretty much, inconsequential to my people. They come and they go and, most often, they corrupt themselves and bring their own downfall. We watch them, but with very mild interest.
It is the heroes, the true champions of mankind, that my kind and I are interested in. We study them, watch their lives. Sometimes we plan their lives for them, if the situation calls for it, but I'll get to that later.
Before I go further, let me make the difference between a hero and a champion clear. Anyone can be a hero. A firefighter rushing into a burning building is a hero - a teenager carrying a hurt child home is a hero. Obviously, one man who dies so another may live is a hero. Heroes can be everyday people who do good things. Champions are different. They're those who've given their lives over, consciously or not, to making the world better, safer. They die not so one may live, but so all may live, and do things most humans don't, and shouldn't, do. They're much rarer, but in no way any more important than the humblest of heroes. Both are on the same level of existence, the only difference is, they do different things. The world would be a miserable place without either. Anyway.
Through watching them, heroes and champions alike, we've slowly realized something - heroes and champions both tend to end up drawn to each other, forming groups. Though the numbers vary greatly through history, a quick look through the past will reveal some very interesting patterns. Three, seven, five, nine -- numerical powerhouses, it seems, when the time comes that mortals must band together against a common foe, physical or otherwise.
You're probably wondering who I am, by now. I can assure you, compared to others, I'm no one important. You can call me Aaron. My actual name's very difficult to pronounce - even I stumble over it at times..
I've seen them all, those groups of mortals, come and go. More than once, actually, but that'll get explained later, too. I've seen their births and their deaths. Some are more interesting than others, not because of the good they accomplish, but because of the patterns they create, and the interactions they have with one another.
We, my kind, we all have our favorite groups, and tend to follow their doings more closely than those of the others, regardless of when in history they turn up. My personal favorite tends to get overlooked by the rest of my kind, for one reason or another. Probably because of the fact that their lives aren't lived like the lives of other up in the spotlight champions, but humbly, instead, like everyone else. To be honest, they don't even really all qualify as 'champions,' exactly. Heroes, yes, but not champions. That's another thing I like about them - five of them are definable champions of light, good, justice, all whatever else you'd like to associate with the position. The original five, to be more precise. The rest of them just tag along for the ride, and you'd expect them to be a little less enthralled with the idea of saving humanity every other day. Here's the kicker: They aren't. That's why, on top of respecting them - the whole bunch, not just the champions - I really like them. They do it just to do it, not because the higher beings decided they were going to live to defend before they were born.
Really, they're just a ragtag bunch of kids - a few witches, a few half demons, a vampire or two, a werewolf, several with no more supernatural abilities than any John Doe off the street, and, oh yes, a Vampire Slayer.
Actually, you might have heard of them.
I've watched them their entire lives, though they don't know it. I'm about to pull them into something almost above my comprehension. For the first time in 8000 years, I have no idea how things are going to work out. It's sort of fun.
If they succeed, for the first time since 400 BC, absolutely nothing will happen.
Don't worry. You'll see what I mean, soon enough.
Disclaimer: If I owned these characters, trust me, I would not be writing fan fiction about them, rather, I'd be making them dance for my amusement. They belong to Joss, ME, Fox, blah bliddy blah.. Bottom line is, I'm just borrowing them. Please don't sue me.
Notes: This is my first attempt at a chaptered story, and I'm scared. Please, please, review and let me know if I'm anywhere near the right track, so far. Anyway - a few notes. This story is set about 2400 years into the future, and in December, 2001. I cannot even begin to stress of how much of an alternate universe this story is set in. Seriously. Some characters aren't going to turn up. Notably, Dawn, Anya and Spike. Possibly no Tara, but I LOVE her, so she might pop up, if I can find a place for her. Sorry 'bout that. They just didn't fit. It'll explain itself soon. Read it? Pretty, pretty please?
--
There is no dispute amongst the higher beings that mortals are funny creatures. Human mortals, especially, and those linked closely to them. Vampires, hybrids. Capable of both unfathomable good and unspeakable evil, light and dark -- no other mortal creatures have that range, that subconscious freedom to chose paths.
In the history of humankind, there have been many, countless, great heroes. There have also been countless villains, unworthy of the title 'man' This cannot change -- it is the only constant in the world of humans, that lack of consistency -- for them, even death can be avoided if one knows the right ways of going about the details.
The villains are, pretty much, inconsequential to my people. They come and they go and, most often, they corrupt themselves and bring their own downfall. We watch them, but with very mild interest.
It is the heroes, the true champions of mankind, that my kind and I are interested in. We study them, watch their lives. Sometimes we plan their lives for them, if the situation calls for it, but I'll get to that later.
Before I go further, let me make the difference between a hero and a champion clear. Anyone can be a hero. A firefighter rushing into a burning building is a hero - a teenager carrying a hurt child home is a hero. Obviously, one man who dies so another may live is a hero. Heroes can be everyday people who do good things. Champions are different. They're those who've given their lives over, consciously or not, to making the world better, safer. They die not so one may live, but so all may live, and do things most humans don't, and shouldn't, do. They're much rarer, but in no way any more important than the humblest of heroes. Both are on the same level of existence, the only difference is, they do different things. The world would be a miserable place without either. Anyway.
Through watching them, heroes and champions alike, we've slowly realized something - heroes and champions both tend to end up drawn to each other, forming groups. Though the numbers vary greatly through history, a quick look through the past will reveal some very interesting patterns. Three, seven, five, nine -- numerical powerhouses, it seems, when the time comes that mortals must band together against a common foe, physical or otherwise.
You're probably wondering who I am, by now. I can assure you, compared to others, I'm no one important. You can call me Aaron. My actual name's very difficult to pronounce - even I stumble over it at times..
I've seen them all, those groups of mortals, come and go. More than once, actually, but that'll get explained later, too. I've seen their births and their deaths. Some are more interesting than others, not because of the good they accomplish, but because of the patterns they create, and the interactions they have with one another.
We, my kind, we all have our favorite groups, and tend to follow their doings more closely than those of the others, regardless of when in history they turn up. My personal favorite tends to get overlooked by the rest of my kind, for one reason or another. Probably because of the fact that their lives aren't lived like the lives of other up in the spotlight champions, but humbly, instead, like everyone else. To be honest, they don't even really all qualify as 'champions,' exactly. Heroes, yes, but not champions. That's another thing I like about them - five of them are definable champions of light, good, justice, all whatever else you'd like to associate with the position. The original five, to be more precise. The rest of them just tag along for the ride, and you'd expect them to be a little less enthralled with the idea of saving humanity every other day. Here's the kicker: They aren't. That's why, on top of respecting them - the whole bunch, not just the champions - I really like them. They do it just to do it, not because the higher beings decided they were going to live to defend before they were born.
Really, they're just a ragtag bunch of kids - a few witches, a few half demons, a vampire or two, a werewolf, several with no more supernatural abilities than any John Doe off the street, and, oh yes, a Vampire Slayer.
Actually, you might have heard of them.
I've watched them their entire lives, though they don't know it. I'm about to pull them into something almost above my comprehension. For the first time in 8000 years, I have no idea how things are going to work out. It's sort of fun.
If they succeed, for the first time since 400 BC, absolutely nothing will happen.
Don't worry. You'll see what I mean, soon enough.