Danny Rand ☯ the Immortal Iron Fist (iron_fist) wrote in newalliance, @ 2013-03-15 23:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | [event] retro, iron fist |
Who: Danny Rand
Where: K'un-Lun
When: June 3rd, 1998 (Backdated)
What: Danny faces off against Shou-Lao.
Rating: PG-13
Danny stood in the snow, with the weight of his world upon his shoulders. Everything in his life depended on what happened next. Ten years of training. Sacrifice. It was all he had left. This opportunity he had won with his sweat and his blood. This was the very ground that his father had once stood upon, when faced with this same challenge. His father had gone through all of the same trials and tribulations, but when it had come to this, he had chosen to live a life outside of the responsibility and honor victory would have brought him. It was only later in life that Danny had seen his father deeply regret the life that he had walked away from, and though he had thus far followed in his fathers foosteps as far as his training, he intended to walk his own path from here on out.
He would face the dragon.
Shou-Lao, the Undying.
He would become the next Iron Fist, or he would perish in the attempt.
For there was no middle ground in this contest.
Danny drew a breath, rolled his shoulders, and began the walk toward the great doors that shielded the cavern in which Shou-Lao resided. Each step found him stepping over skeletal remains, and the stench of death was strong when the doors opened for him, coupled with the smell of sulfur. He was not long in the cave when he felt the reverberations in the stone beneath his feet that signaled the arrival of the great serpent, and his last chance to flee.
When Shou-Lao did emerge before him in the orange light of the cave, he was larger and far more monstrous than Danny had ever imagined. Smoke rose from the nostrils of the dragon as he lowered his head toward Danny, displaying rows of razor sharp teeth that were long than his arms. Shou-Lao expected him to turn, but Danny responded with an uppercut to the dragon's jaw.
So it began.
And went on for hours.
Danny, too weak to physically hurt Shou-Lao. Shou-Lao, too large and cumbersome to lay claw or tooth into Danny. Both were frustrated. But Danny was the only one bleeding. He fought hard, but could not fight forever. Sooner or later he knew he would not be quite quick enough, and that it would be over. Which made him wonder, as he battled, how victory could be possible. Particularly he wondered how anyone had ever succeeded before him, and then it hit him.
The glowing mark upon the chest of Shou-Lao. The source of his power. Danny had to cut him off from it, but to do so was an even greater gamble than the one he had taken upon entering the cave.
But he saw no other way.
And so the next time Shou-Lao swiped at him, Danny ducked low and then leaped directly at the dragon, digging his fingers into scaly skin as he sought purchase against him. Shou-Lao roared, and thrashed, but Danny held on, even as he felt the mark of the dragon burning into his flesh. By the end of it he could not tell how long he had held on, but both he and the dragon lay upon the ground.
And he was the only one able to rise again, though it took no small amount of effort. Warily, he half walked, half stumbled to the brazier containing the heart of Shou-Lao and the source of his power. The very thing he had fought so long and hard to obtain. And when he got there, he plunged both hands inside, to become the Immortal Iron Fist.