Life and Creation
Marinette was running, with her heart hammering in her chest as she impacted the tree. The entire forest was dark, and she couldn't even see enough through the moon's light to find her way. Stumbling through the brush, she felt her dress catch on a bramble, her legs getting scratched as she cried out in pain. It was then that she heard "Get back here, girl, and we'll only hurt you a little!" one of the quintet of men chasing after her called out. She staggered and ran, her feet plunging into the mud causing the young woman to cry out. Within seconds her legs felt like rubber, unable to support her weight, and sending her onto all fours.
"No!" she called out as she tried to claw away from her pursuers.
The white light of the moon suddenly turned a shade of crimson, bathing he area in surrealistic relief. It was then that a gentle voice called out "Marinette Dupain-Cheng." She blinked as the men stopped their advance, as if slowly becoming statues.
"Wha-Who are you?" she asked as she tried to backpedal away from the approaching men.
Upon the voice returning, she heard that it was right next to her ear. "My name is Tikki, and I am a spirit of creation. The bringer of life, and the personification of good luck. I can bring you forth from this nightmare, but only if you consent to be my Chosen."
Blinking at the men, Marinette shivered. "Wh-What?"
"You must consent to be my Chosen." the voice repeated.
"D-Do... I have a choice in this?"
A giggle from beside her caused Marinette to look in that direction, only to see a pair of glowing blue eyes. "You do." the voice seemed to float on the wind as she woke from the bad dream but although the voice should've disappeared, she distinctly heard it echoing in her ears.
Sitting up, she looked around her family's home. It was late at night, her parents were already asleep, and the embers still glowed in their cooking fire. Blinking, she sighed. "Did I dream it?" she whispered, hoping not to awaken her parents.
"Not at all." Turning toward the soft voice, she saw a red and black creature with deep blue eyes floating in front of her face, holding a pair of earrings with red gemstones, and black spots. "Hello."
"Wh-What are you?" she breathed. "Some... sort of bug? or a mouse?"
"I told you." Tikki answered with a giggle. "I'm a spirit of creation, called a Kwami, and if you accept this," she dropped the earrings into Marinette's hand, "then I can help you to help others."
"What do you mean?" Marinette shook her head. "Wasn't all of that a dream."
Tikki shook her head. "No. That was your natural empathy enhanced by the earrings. They showed you a vision of someone in trouble." Floating over, the little creature touched the gems on the earrings. "If you agree to use them, the Miraculous will give you the power, strength, and coordination to help others, the only requirement is that you accept my assistance, keep your identity secret, and never use your abilities for selfish reasons."
Marinette looked down at the earrings. "I... I don't want the responsibility..."
Looking at the young woman, Tikki nodded. "Those that deserve the power and responsibility rarely want it, so I'll make you a promise..." A scream from outside caused Marinette to turn toward the back window. Standing up, she peered outside to see figures in the forest. Glancing around the wall, she saw her parents sleeping, her father's soft snoring filling their room. Going to her window, she shivered. "I don't want this..."
"You can check it out if you want." Tikki offered. "You have all you need right there."
Opening her hand, she looked at the earrings. 'This is crazy.' Poking them into her earlobes, she winced at the sharp pain, but then blinked as the wounds healed instantly. "Okay... what do I do?"
"Let's get out of the house, or we'll have several questions that you don't want to answer." Tikki advised. With a shiver, Marinette climbed through the opening, and slipped out into the night. Another scream caused her to start running in the direction of the sound. After a few minutes, the little Kwami started talking again. "In order to transform, you say "spots on" and to return to your normal form say "spots off". In order to use your greatest magical ability, the miraculous ladybugs, you need your lucky charm, and have to call for it while throwing your weapon upward."
Shaking her head, Marinette sighed. "What can the mur-mir..."
"Miraculous ladybugs..."
"Yeah, that... what does it do?"
Tikki smiled. "It can reverse all damage and injuries."
Hearing that stopped Marinette cold, and she looked at the little creature. "Are you serious?"
"Yes, as long as what you're using it on was caused by the enemy you're fighting." Tikki offered the young woman. "One of their minions could do something and the damage wouldn't be repaired as long as the original enemy didn't have a direct hand."
Marinette gaped. "That's... incredible..."
"No, it's Miraculous." Tikki giggled.
Another scream caused Marinette to blink, looking toward the forest. "I guess it's now or never..." she took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. "Tikki, spots on!" The energy that swirled around her filled the young woman with power as the little creature flew into her earrings.
Her mask appeared, a red domino mask with a spot on the bridge of her nose and two each above and below her eyes. Red gauntlets with black spots covered from her elbow to over the backs of her hands while a black pair of breeches and blouse covered her arms and legs. Finally a red set of scale armor covered Marinette's torso while a circular object the exact same design as one of her earrings, only larger than her hand, appeared on the front of her belt. Behind her, ribbons flowed out from her pigtails, her hair growing until it was nearly to her waist.
A moment later, she was off, moving faster through the dark trees than she ever thought possible. Leaping up, she witnessed a young woman scrabbling through the brush, chased by a quintet of men. "Get back here!" one of them called out. Spinning end over end in mid-air, she landed on her feet between the men and the young woman.
"How about, "No"?!" Marinette glared at the men.
"Wha-?" the nearest man asked, staggering back.
The second backed up. "Who are you supposed to be?"
'Great! I forgot to name myself.' Blinking she thought about the little creature she had met, and the little insect that her armor reminded her of. "My true name is Ladybird Beetle, but... let's shorten it to Ladybug since that's probably the only thing men like you could remember." Clenching her hands into fists, she glared at the larger opponents. "By what right do you have to accost this woman?"
"She's a gypsy! A witch!" the male in front of her spat.
"He lies!" The darker skinned woman announced behind her. "My boyfriend and I are travelers, and we had just set up camp when these brigands attacked us!"
Ladybird Beetle narrowed her eyes at the men. "Five against one isn't fair odds, so how about you try me instead?"
"We don't have time for this!" the first male, a rather large, portly man that looked as if he hadn't bathed in a month growled. When he came close, she realized her eyes were only giving her half of the story her nose was more than willing to finish as he reached out for her. Dodging to the side, she leaped forward, her fist connecting with his solar-plexus hard enough that she felt bone graze against her knuckles. Side-stepping, she let him fall, causing the other four to blink.
One of the men in the back called out "Get her!" causing two of the men to lunge forward.
"Excuse me," another voice asked from the darkness, "is this a private fight, or can anyone join?" Turning to look, they saw a dark shape nearly coalesce through the trees, his glowing green eyes narrowed in a playful way while his Cheshire grin spread across gleaming white teeth. In his hand, he held a four foot staff, much like a walking stick, before placing it on the ground with both hands on top. "You see, I just recently caught a quartet of men ransacking a wagon with a tied up young man, and the strangest of things happened. He told me he was afraid for his girlfriend."
"Nino?!" the woman who was still on her rump asked.
"He's safe, dear lady, but I'll tell you right now, I was not happy to hear that there were more of this trash around." he then noted the woman in red and black. Giving a bow to her, he spoke softly. "The Black Cat is at your services, milady."
The warmth that flowed over Ladybird Beetle's cheeks caused her to smile. "I don't think I'll need your help, but if you feel that I can't take these last four down, then I welcome your assistance, Black Cat." With that, she rushed forward. Doing a leap, she spun a circuit with one leg extended, kicking both men in the head until they fell flat on their backs, unconscious, before continuing onward. The fourth man, tried to run, but she slammed into him from behind, sending him to the ground, before leaping and landing on the fifth.
'I gotta get away!' the leader thought as he spun around to run. He had taken no more than two steps before a pair of feet landed on his shoulders, sending him face first into the moist earth. "Crap!" was all he managed to get out before he was rolled over, his clothes grabbed and a pair of blue eyes only inches from his face.
"Who do you work for?!" Ladybird Beetle snarled into his face.
Black Cat, meanwhile, helped up the young woman, who blushed at the sight of him. "Your boyfriend will be worried about you, but is there any other way we can help, miss..?"
"Alya. Alya Cesaire."
"Cesaire... of the Marseille Cesaires?" he asked.
Looking away with a blush, she shook her head. "I... no longer belong to that family..." he saw sadness cross her face, "Nino..."
"You fell in love with a troubadour, and they cut you off?" Black Cat asked as they walked over to Ladybird Beetle. Her nod was all the answer he needed. "Nothing more needs to be said."
"I... we're just... bandits... that's all..."
Standing up, she glared down at him. "We're taking you to the local militia, and if I find out that you've been released, then I will personally hunt you down." Ladybird Beetle warned.
"With me by her side." Black Cat added. She turned to look at him, a small smile on her face and a nod. Picking up the unconscious males, the two heroes carried them through the forest until they found the covered wagon with Nino finishing up binding the other four men's arms together.
"Nino!" Alya called out, and he stood up with his arms wide. The two embraced and shared a kiss that caused Ladybird Beetle and Black Cat to look away. In the light of the fire they could fully see what the young woman looked like. Dressed in a pair of light brown, soft leather boots, a simple orange tunic top, and a pair of dark brown traveling pants, she was undoubtedly attractive with a full hourglass figure that made the female hero feel a little self-conscious about her own physique. Her brown skin was only made the more lovely by the red hair, amber eyes, and the beauty mark over her right eyebrow.
Her beau, however, was slender to the point of nearly being a twig. He was dressed in a red beret with a feather out the back, a white shirt with billowy sleeves, a blue vest that covered over part of his black breeches, and a pair of light brown boots that stopped just before his knees. "We have more guests, if you have more rope to spare." Black Cat offered, causing the young man to smile, his tan eyes filling with mirth. "More than enough, and... wow! Looks like you found more than one lovely lady this evening."
"Let's just say, I'm not complaining." He never saw Ladybird Beetle gently bite her lower lip while he motioned for the two conscious men to seat themselves by their tied up compatriots with a single tap of his staff. Nino and Alya both made short work of tying the two men's wrists together while Black Cat and Ladybird Beetle set the other three down and took some of the rope to tie them up as well.
Taking a look around the small encampment, Ladybird Beetle gave a soft sigh. "I really hate to leave you all so soon, but someone should go get the militia and bring them here."
"I can go into town and let the militia know..." Alya started to say, but Nino wrapped her up in a hug.
"No. That's how all of this started to begin with..."
"How all what started to begin with?" Black Cat asked.
Alya looked at Nino, who nodded. "I was on my way into town to see if I could gather some water from a well when these men" she motioned to the group, "saw me and chased me back here."
Nino shook his head, "I'm no fighter, but I attempted to delay them while Alya ran for help, or at least to hide from them."
"I had just lost my footing when Ladybird Beetle arrived." Alya finished, looking at the two heroes.
"That means one of us will have to go inform the militia, while the other stays here to protect these two should the bandits break their bonds." Ladybird Beetle commented, standing up from where she tied up the last member of the bandits. "Will you all be safe if I leave?"
"I will make sure that these men go nowhere, while Alya and Nino are protected." Black Cat replied as he gave a gracious bow.
"My, such a gentleman." Ladybird Beetle commented with a smile.
Black Cat smiled at her. "Always." With that she gave the group a wave and started on her way down the road to Paris. It took longer for her to convince the militia that she was a wanderer interested in helping the town than it did for her to arrive. Letting the militia know what they had caught, she walked with half a dozen men as they wheeled the wagon cart up to Alya's and Nino's camp. The quartet watched as the bandits were placed in the wagon, some none to gently, and taken back for imprisonment.
oOo
Afterward the quartet bid each other a good night, and went their separate ways. Black cat slunk back into his room. Transforming back into Adrien, he gave a sigh as Plagg floated around his room. There was a tiny alcove that the little creature designated has his own, while his Chosen pulled out a small cheese cloth of Brie. Within seconds it was gone from his hand, and the little Kwami purred at the feeling of a full stomach. "This may be a strange question for me to ask, but... how long were you in that section of the catacombs?"
"I don't know. My species doesn't exactly have an internal clock, or a calendar with which to mark the passage of time. As an immortal being, my only way of telling night from day is by the position of the sun and moon... and that's kind of hard to do when buried underground." Plagg answered as he floated around, making sure to note the sumptuous finery. "When last I was awake, Arthur was king of Britain."
"Wait! Arthur?" he blinked at the Kwami. "You're not talking about King Arthur Pendragon, right?"
Plagg almost looked insulted. "Why would I not?" the little creature then motioned to the ring on Adrien's finger. "The man who's hand you cut off to release me was his own son, Mordred. Although his mother was apiece of work..." the little Kwami then glanced to the side, crossing his little paws over his chest, "not exactly the four letter word I would normally use for someone like her... but I digress."
It took everything for Adrien to keep from falling back on his bed. "Th-That was over eight hundred years ago..." he breathed.
"... and now you know why I ate all the cheese from you rations." Plagg interjected. "After even one or two centuries of rest I come out hungry, but being there for so long transformed..."
Shaking his head, he let out a small chuckle. "How about we go downstairs and pick through the kitchen to get you some more cheese, just to make sure you are truly full?" Adrien offered, causing Plagg to start purring. Walking to the door, he waited for the little Kwami to hide within his vest, snuggling against his side as he started to walk the halls. Guards glanced at him for a few seconds as he passed, some starting to step forward. "I'm just heading down to the kitchens for a small snack." At this they seemed to just nod, before returning to their post.
Entering the kitchens, Adrien sees the staff has vacated the area hours ago, so he heads straight for the larder. Opening the door, he feels Plagg fly out and sees the little cat's body quiver as his eyes glitter at the sight of wheels upon wheels of cheese. "It's... so... beautiful..." flying over, the little Kwami sniffed each one in turn, some he shook his head on, while others caused him to purr. One, however, he all but flopped next to and cuddled up with. "What is this heavenly cheese?"
"Camembert." Adrien answered with a smile. "The cooks only have a few things they use it in, but every time it starts to run out, they purchase more from the fromager. Unfortunately, this was a new creation of his, so it's pretty rare, and not many care for the aroma." The little cat seemed almost insulted by the comment. "If you like it so much, however, I can ask them to purchase more just for snacks."
Flying over, the little Kwami hugged Adrien's chest, purring happily. "You are a prince and a gentleman."