I do not own any Disney characters named herein and only borrow them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment.
Kim Possible: Quest
By LJ58
1
She lay face down on the hot, burning sand that bordered the foothills behind her, staring at the growing pool of her own blood as it spread from beneath her to color the already reddish sand.
She saw a nearby hand, her hand with a weapon only inches from splayed fingers, but couldn't seem to make her hand move as two, massive limbs moved toward her. The muscular legs clad in black leather armor of some kind that virtually hugged those powerful limbs stopped, and she looked upward as best she could.
"Looks like you got in over your head, little girl," the bearded giant drawled and lifted the long sword he gripped in a seemingly careless, but practiced grip as his right hand rose. "Too bad, you won't be getting any second chance….."
The stone hit the man in leather armor directly between his furrowed brows. He staggered back, his head spinning, a trickle of blood falling from the split skin as he roared with outrage. His helm had deflected much of the blow, but it had still struck him. Still hurt him.
He tightened his grip on his blade, and looked around, seeking what new enemy might dare face him now.
"Leave my sister alone," a small, barely grown girl-child shrieked from beside a boulder she had used to creep up on him.
Or perhaps she had been hiding there all along when the foolish redhead had dared enter his domain to seek out his challenge.
"Your sister is it," he smiled coldly and lowered his blade to put it to the fallen girl's throat.
"Yes, and if you hurt her anymore, you're going to regret it," the little girl huffed, holding a sling in one hand, and a small, black stone in her other.
"You think you can stop me," he sneered, pressing his blade to the fallen girl's throat enough to draw fresh blood. "She's already dying….."
"No. I can save her," the little chin rose as the child sniffed in disdain. "The question is, do you want to live to see it?"
"So, you're a mage, are you?"
The little girl only glared as the big man smirked.
"I can use a mage. If you are of true blood and have real magics. Save this witless slut, and I'll let you both live to serve me," the big man sneered, the five men in armor behind him not moving. They were here solely as witnesses for the challenge. Only that.
"I don't think so," the girl said, moving forward with a deceptive grace, and only then did he realize she was older than she appeared.
Her hair was not merely silver-blonde, it was all but silver-white, and her eyes glowed amber as she looked up at him with that same disdain. Her body was lean and coltish, but her ears and exotic features were that of an elf. A young one, but an elf all the same.
She sniffed again, her disdain starting to annoy the leather-clad warrior, and then she ignored him as she knelt beside the fallen redhead.
"You see, Brave One," she asked gently of the fallen woman. "This world is real. I can save you, but you must fight with all your skill. Do not hold back. Not here. Only you may free my land and my people. Only you may save yourself. Now, are you ready to fight in earnest?"
The green eyes, dark with pain and confusion met hers, and the redhead gave a weak nod as one of the elf girl's small hands reached out to trace an invisible sigil on her pale forehead.
"Then rise, my sister, and my champion. Rise, and defeat our mutual bane," the young elf demanded imperiously.
The redhead just stood up without hesitation, the warrior stepping back but only to eye her suspiciously.
Her dark tunic was still stained with blood, but the blood had ceased to flow. The paleness in her cheeks was gone, too, and her green eyes darkened now with fury, rather than pain as she curled her small hands into fists rather than reach for the fallen blade she clearly had little skill with.
Which had made her defeat rather embarrassing for both of them.
Still, something about this woman now seemed…..different.
"If I beat him, can I go home," the redhead asked of the mage as he reassessed them both.
"There are yet more than a few steps in your journey that lead to that door, my sister," the young elf still called her. "This is but the first step. If you can manage it."
"Oh, I can manage. Now that I've seen him fight. Now that I know the stakes. He is going down," the redhead snarled vehemently.
"Going…..down," the man frowned at the unfamiliar phrase. "Elf-mage, I don't know your gambit here, child, but this puling female is still no match for…"
Barack Kollar, an infamous warrior of some repute in the Nine Lands, howled in pain as the woman incredibly charged him without a blade. He howled because even as she seemed to jump, one knee was ramming up between his thighs, crushing his manhood even as both her hands were swinging up and around to slam bladed palms just under his chin from either side.
The pain radiated from groin to neck despite his armor, and then back again. He staggered, then he fell back to his knees as he dropped his long sword, and could barely even breathe as the redhead now joined her fists, and slammed a strong blow into the side of his head, knocking his helm flying.
He felt his jaw snap in that same instant and screeched in pain as he toppled, and with the pain still radiating through him from her earlier strikes, he could only curl up, and await the death blow.
The redhead walked over and picked up the long, silver sword the apparent child had given her when she first appeared in this mad land and walked back to the warrior.
"I don't know you," she said as she walked back to the groaning man, whimpering in pain, and feeling no small degree of shock that a half-grown female had unmanned him so easily. "But I'll tell you now, all I want is to get home. So, either you give up, or you had better learn to crawl," she spat, putting the tip of her blade not to his throat, but to his groin. "Because your legs will be the second thing I remove."
"No," he cried, horrified that anyone would even strike at a warrior so.
"Do you yield," she demanded in a cold, merciless voice.
"Just slay me, you unnatural bitch," he wailed, eyes wide with horror as the silvered steel was held unerringly at his groin.
"I don't have to kill you to beat you. The question is, do you yield now, or after I cut you up a bit?"
"I….. I….. Yield. The high throne of Meadow-Song is yours," he said. "On my honor. I submit. I swear, I submit," he said, looking toward the elf-child as he added his oath.
"He is done," the silver-haired child smiled at Kim.
"Good," she spat and looked down at her bloody garments. "I don't suppose our next step involves a bath."
The elf-child laughed.
Brave one, all of Meadow-Song is now yours to command by virtue of your victory. You have but to ask. Or demand it," the elf-girl assured her.
Kim Possible frowned now, her hand lingering on the sword she had first seen a very long way from here in what was another world.
Her world.
Somehow, it had transported her here, and things were far stranger than she realized at the start.
"I thought you said I was here to free your people," she asked in confusion.
"And so you are. If you are truly the one long prophesied over. Still, by virtue of your victory over Barack Kollar, the Child Killer," she sneered at the fallen warrior yet to recover, "You may now claim the throne as your own."
"The Elf speaks true, Lady," one of the five hitherto silent men watching from nearby that she only now seemed to notice nodded to her. "You are now queen of Meadow-Song. Your will is now Law, and…."
"You said I was here to free your people. How does taking this guy's place help them," the redhead asked with a frown.
"So, now are you ready to listen to me in earnest," the young Elf smiled up at the confused redhead.
The redhead stared down at the unlikely child and sighed as she nodded.
"Tell me everything."
"That," the girl smiled, "Might take a while. First, we go into the city, and declare you the new queen of Meadow-Song."
"But…."
"Steps, brave one. Steps. You cannot run until you walk. And you cannot walk until you know the direction to turn. Will you heed me?"
She closed her eyes and sighed again as the elf-girl only looked amused.
When she opened them again, the girl was simply staring at her as if amused.
"I will listen to you. I just hope I understand you this time," she admitted.
The elf-girl giggled now.
"Now you are learning wisdom. First, let me take care of your token."
"Token?"
"You defeated Barack Kollar, Brave One. You require a token. A trophy, if you will," she said and walked over to the overlong blade that Kim knew had cut into her abdomen as easily as she had once sliced her mother's brain loaf.
Kim watched as the girl simply touched the blade, and it seemed to shimmer and vanish. Kim gasped as she felt something hot sting her left arm, and she looked to see a very realistic tattoo of the sword now adorning her forearm.
"Is that….?"
"Your first token of power, Brave One. When you acquire twelve of equal, or greater power, you will have the strength to open the gates between worlds and return to your own home. However….."
"Let me guess," she sighed again. "Finding all twelve tokens is not going to be easy."
"Is anything of merit ever gained with ease," asked the apparent child who smiled up at her.
"You know, you remind me of a Sensei I know back home."
"A wise mage?"
"Something like that," the redhead allowed, thinking of how much Master Sensei could infuriate Ron even now with his inscrutable manner, and careless revelation of trouble that was usually about to land on their heads just before he would warn them.
"Then I am honored to be compared to your Sensei," the girl told her.
"So, what do I call you? I mean, what's your name? My name is….."
The child laughed again, cutting her off.
"You do have much to learn if you are so eager to share your True-Name. Names, Brave One, have power here. Does an enemy takes your name, they can take your power. And sometimes even your soul. No, you should ever guard your true name, as I guard mine. Still, you may call me….Shalagon," the girl told her. "It simply means Child of the Earth in my native tongue," she smiled.
"Uhm, okay. But if I can't use my name, what do I use? I think running around calling myself Brave One is a bit of a mouthful. And a bit boastful," Kim said, mindful of more than a few trials in her own life when her ego got the best of her.
"With your permission, I would suggest you use….Scarlet. Not only is it the color of your hair, but it is a name of worth that other warriors have worn with pride in the past."
She eyed the small girl and tried to understand where she was, and what was going on here.
"Scarlet. I've been called worse," she said, thinking of a certain green-skinned woman who could be downright scathing, and more than inventive when she chose to label her with her idea of pet names.
Shalagon merely eyed her, then nodded, and gestured.
"The palace is that way," she pointed toward the path that led out of the desert, and toward the lower side of the rugged foothills around them. "These men will be your new honor guard for now."
"And….him?"
The elf turned to eye the still whimpering fallen man and smirked.
"He will live with his shame. For it is all you have left him."
"I meant, shouldn't we help him? Isn't it dangerous to just leave him out here….?"
"It is a dangerous world, Scarlet," Shalagon told her. "To give him aid now, however, would be to undermine your victory. You must be strong, but just. Fair, but firm. To offer mercy to an enemy who would have slain you would denigrate your victory."
"But….."
"And might add to the steps separating you from the path to your home."
Kim scowled darkly at that and turned to follow the small elf.
"You and I need to have a long talk about this place. Starting with how I even ended up here," she said indignantly.
"You tell me," Shalagon countered. "What do you remember before you appeared before the Shrine of the Wyrrn?"
The redhead frowned and tried to remember.
"Not….much," the weary redhead admitted. "I do remember my world. Just barely. My home, and family. Only…..I can't quite remember much else just now beyond lifting this sword," she told her, putting a hand over the hilt of the silvered blade she now carried tucked into a belt at her side. "Only I don't remember where I even found it. Let alone why I had it at all."
"That is often the way with Travelers."
"Travelers?"
"Those like you, who come here from Otherworlds."
"So, this is common?"
"Oh, gods, no," the girl smiled. "But it isn't unheard of, either. Let me just say, that you are not the first."
"And…..did those others make it home."
"Some did," she told Scarlet honestly after leading her down a sloping turn that opened onto a narrow path that led to a sprawling, green valley beyond the desert, and broken, rocky hills. In the center of the valley before them was a huge city of golden spires, and marble walls.
"And the rest?"
"Died horribly."
"That….is not comforting," the newly named Scarlet grimaced.
"No, I don't suppose it would be. Still, you are brave and strong. And capable. You have already claimed your first token of power. Be proud, Scarlet, and be strong, for this is….."
"I get it. I get it. First steps, and all that. I just have to be patient."
"And observant," Shalagon told her with a slight smile.
The redhead sighed, and kept following her down into the valley toward those open gates, still conscious of the five, armored men with swords following silently behind them.
An hour's walk later, she was approaching the high gates set into white marble walls as it seemed thousands of people packed into that sprawling, walled city lined the streets were waiting on her. They cheered, and howled as if mad, but they all smiled.
"They welcome your victory, Scarlet," Shalagon's melodic voice somehow carrying despite the din around them. "As they welcome you. Barack Kollar was not a kind man or a good leader."
She eyed the streets, clean, yet devoid of any signs of life beyond the people currently present. A great many armed men were standing back, eyeing her, and looking as if they were all waiting for a command they expected to be given.
"Why are there so many…guards?"
"Soldiers," Shalagon corrected her. "Barack intended to use Meadow-Song's resources to attack Lord Silver-Blade's lands to our north. He envisioned an empire and cared nothing for the people here. Only his ambitions," the Elf told her sadly.
"And no one ever tried to stop him," she frowned as they walked past the gates that stood open for her.
Shalagon smiled at her, giving her one of those patient looks that Scarlet had been receiving since she first woke up in that peculiar desert, and found herself laying atop an altar of some kind that the Elf-child had called the Shrine of the Wyrrn.
She didn't even sigh this time as she waited for whatever the girl might next tell her.
"You must understand, Scarlet, Barack Kollar was a powerful man. A skilled man. There was not another warrior in all our land that could have faced him. Not one that dared. That you defeated him so easily….."
"Easily," she frowned now, still remembering the shock of that long sword slicing into her soft flesh.
"Easily," the apparent child nodded at her. "Once you chose to truly fight, you proved your skills were more than his match. That you did so without using your own sword proves that skill. You are greater than you know, Scarlet," Shalagon told her. "And the people of Meadow-Song now know it, too."
She eyed the people around her and saw that for all the opulence, there were more than a few overly thin women and children who looked to be close to starving. There were also a lot of men that looked uneasy, and unnaturally wary. There were signs that someone had spent all they could on warriors, and probably arms, but little else.
She considered the cheering, if uneasy crowds, and stopped, looking around.
"Just be true to yourself," Shalagon told her as the redhead eyed her, wanting to say something as she stood in the middle of the street, and yet not sure if she would help, or make things worse.
She also wondered if the little elf-child could read her mind, but then put the concern aside as she realized the advice was good on any world. Wherever she was, and however she had gotten here, she was still Kim Possible. And…Kim Possible was devoted to helping anyone, anywhere.
"I am….Scarlet," she told the people hesitating over the name for only a moment as she glanced at Shalagon again. "I am here to help. Don't worry about war or your families. There will be no invasion. No more need to suffer. I am here to bring you peace."
The people seemed to absorb her words in the moment of silence that fell the moment she began to speak. Then they began to cheer even louder than ever.
"Come," Shalagon told her, gesturing toward the massive building of golden spires that Scarlet guessed was the palace here. "You must rest, and refresh yourself before we talk again. Or begin your new journey in earnest."
She merely nodded and turned to follow the smaller woman.
She still had a million questions. A few million doubts. Yet something told her that her only chance of escaping this strange place and getting back home was with this little girl who was far more than what she seemed.
Because even Scarlet had never seen anyone heal with just a touch. She had no doubt she had, either, because Scarlet knew she had been dying before the girl touched her. She had been stabbed, bleeding out on those hot sands as that thug crowed over her body, and then just that fast, she had been healed. Energized. Filled with new life.
For that reason, if no other, she knew she had best listen to Shalagon.
Because just then, all that mattered to her was getting home.
To Be Continued….