[Fanfic] Fire and Shadow: A Thresh/Annie Backstory
As most two year-olds do, Annie was out playing but this time she had wandered off from her parents and the colony, yet it was not so much a wilful disregard so much as she was thoroughly engrossed in her chase of a rabbit. She hurled fireball after fireball at the little rodent, but it always managed to escape the waddling toddler. “Burn, bunny, burn!” she cried as she cast an arc of flames that scorched the forest floor to a smokey gray and black. Annie smirked in triumph only to catch the movement of her defiant prey hop away. She scrunched her nose and made a dash for the white fur of its tail when she unexpectedly tripped.
The pain she felt was only minor in comparison to the start caused by a sudden thud that came from just above her head. With a faint teal green glimmer, a large hook unlike anything Annie had seen before was lodged into the tree. Startled again, Annie watched as the chain connected to the hook was pulled taut. Just as quickly as the hook had landed into the tree the barb was ripped from the tree raining down chips and wood dust on her head. Annie rubbed her eyes and shook the debris from her hair. Towering over her while still several meters off was a ghostly figure with the same haunting green glow comprising the emptiness of his eyes.
“Come out and play” it said with a booming voice that seemed to echo in the forest. Annie opened her hand to reveal a ball of fire hovering above her palm. Mere seconds passed before the hook whistled through the air, but Annie was ready for it and dodged to the side as she lobbed the fiery globe at the creepy figure. “Nowhere to hide” it growled as Annie stopped short of hitting a bright glowing wall before her. Her small figure seemed miniscule with her back to the humming magical barrier and the skeletal monstrosity before her twirling his chains with hook and lantern making a spectacular and terrifying blur of metal and sickly green.
The chains spun with a crunch in the air as the Chain Warden brought the hook down while Annie threw her hands up and closed her eyes tight. The menacing laugh the tall figure let out would have been more ominous had it not been for what was happening in that moment. Shielded by a shroud of fire, Annie opened her eyes and glanced at the hook and chain which had sunk into a rabbit a meter shy of her feet. The blazing orb that surrounded Annie dissipated within moments, allowing her to see her enemy in what might have been awe as the bony hand examined the chains which now had a distinct red glow.
“Nobody escapes” it said as it swung the hook high above the flowing tendrils of its head. The bright light from the walls trapping Annie vanished. She looked wide-eyed and then giggled, “bawr hawg!” It was phrase she had heard so many times from her father when he outstretched his arms to embrace her. The next few seconds were a whir of arms flailing, some in desperation and others in rage. Annie was too struck with laughter to watch carefully as the shadow bear pounded the monster again and again. The chain-wielding monster threw its hook in an upward striking motion that caused the shadow bear to fall backwards, but the tower of bone and green did not advance on the bear. “Your soul is mine!” it said as it made a hasty walk in the opposite direction of Annie.
When Annie emerged from the woods she was skipping along shouting, “ Tibbers!” and waving what appeared to be a bear doll as she made her way home.