Claymore and Dagger (closed)

[heartofcourage]

"Keep the egg warm, beastie." Fiona murmured as he carefully hid it away in the nest of blankets that they had made for it. "And keep Kennah calm. She'll need your help to heal from all of this."

Fiona sat beside Roman for a while longer as he focused on his egg, rumbling to it in the quiet of the barn. She could see the sorrow in his gaze and the hope that perhaps things would turn out for the best. She left him with a kiss to his maw, patting his head one last time before she left with Sam to let the drakes rest.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I think they'll be alright," Sam murmured, wrapping an arm around Fiona's shoulders, though he tried to act more confident than he felt. He was worried most for Kennah. At least if the egg didn't make it, they would still be together as long as Kennah made it. But Sam couldn't imagine what it would do to Roman if he lost both.

 

[heartofcourage]

"She'll be alright, Sam." Fiona said as she wrapped her arm around his waist and rested her head against his shoulder. "It might be slow going for a while but everything will turn out in the end."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I hope so... I know it's Roman's mate, but I'm no' sure what I'd do without 'er." Sam sighed and looked toward the tavern. "I'd better stay close, just in case."

Bringing her inside out of the cold, Sam sat down with Fiona. "That stranger... Was tha' Owen...?" He asked quietly.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Roman knows where we'll be. You can't miss the Solstice tomorrow." Fiona said as Sam guided her into the tavern to warm up. "My da finally came home after all of these years. He knows more about drakes than anyone else. He'll help you with Kennah and the egg."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I won' miss it," Sam promised her. When she spoke of Owen, his expression grew a bit more concerned. "I'm sort o' wonderin' how things'll go between him an' you an' yer family."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I don't know." Fiona said softly. "He didn't know I was here so he was surprised. I don't want to make him uncomfortable. He wanted to come because he feels that my Ma's family is the only family that he has left."

Fiona sat back in her chair and thought about seeing her father after so long. "I don't hate him. I truly don't. I just don't know how this will work between us."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Seemed pretty decent t'me, before you came in... Maybe a hard life's changed 'im somewhat. Made 'im softer. 'E was outright heartbroken, seein' Kennah the way she was, even offered me 'is sympathy. I wouldn' 'ave guessed 'e was yer Da from what ye've told me. Tha' said, he still seemed loathe t'come too close t'me. Like 'e was afraid of me. Maybe because I'm human."

 

[heartofcourage]

"He hated humans. All humans." Fiona said softly as he mentioned her father's reaction to finding Kennah in distress. "He always said it was beneath us to be among them. They only did awful things and beat us when we were down."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I didn' see hate in 'is eyes... only fear. Like 'e was worried I was a Hunter. I can 'ardly blame 'im though... Hunters on the mainland tend t'ride drakes, dress in dark colors, leather armor like mine. But 'e still helped Kennah."

 

[heartofcourage]

"He was never cruel to animals." Fiona murmured as she glanced towards Sam. "He took care of his horse better than he took care of me."

She still held bitterness over her childhood, but she pitied him a great deal. He had lost the love of his life and had to raise a child that he didn't want. Perhaps he could explain all of that in time, but right then, Fiona was still trying to figure out how to feel.

"We needs to get to uka's house. If you want to stay with Kennah, I can go alone." Fiona said.

 

[KieranSoares]

"It's no' far, I can go if you want me there," Sam nodded, rising from his seat.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona nodded, standing and taking Sam's hand in her own. "I know we're still working on all of this, but I can't do this without you, Sam."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam drew her closer for a moment to kiss her cheek. "I promised I'd be 'ere for you, love. Tha' still stands." He walked outside with her, glancing into the barn to see the drakes were still fine before they headed to Oleg's home.

 

[heartofcourage]

As they neared Oleg's home, Fiona saw some of her uncles waiting outside. It seemed that the mood was tense and she wondered how they felt about her father suddenly coming to their home.

 

[KieranSoares]

Yul and Juno and Voluun were gathered outside talking quietly, all three of them tense and occasionally glancing at the door, waiting. Rhett soon stepped out, looking quite peaceful and calm, though a little concern shone in his gaze. He patted Voluun's shoulder before stepping past them to meet Fiona and Sam, motioning them inside.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I know he's here." Fiona murmured softly as Rhett motioned them into the house.

She glanced at her other uncles, leaving them be for the moment as she stepped inside and paused as she saw her Da again.

"Good evening, Uka." Fiona murmured, kissing her grandfather's cheek gently before she did the same to her grandmother.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Hello, little kit," Oleg spoke softly with a kiss pressed to her cheek in return, followed by Anya. "Owen was about to tell us where he's been all these years, then I think afterward I'll take him to where we burned Tatianna's pyre."

"She gave me the ring," Owen murmured, glancing at Oleg and then Fiona. "... Thank you. All."

"Tatianna meant as much to us as she did to you, Owen. We felt, with Fiona finally back in her ancestral home... it was time to send Tatianna off properly. But we will discuss our lost love later. You have quite the tale to tell."

 

[heartofcourage]

"It doesn't really matter to me where you've been." Fiona said softly as she looked at her father. "I had hopes that wherever you were, you were happier than you had been in Inverness. However, I know that you had a life full of sadness after you left."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I want you all to know. Not for the sake of pity or sympathy. I... I look at all that's happened as... A sort of atonement. Every time I was chased by hunters or denied something out of spite... That's just one more piece paid back to what I did to Tatianna..."

After a long moment of silence, Owen shook his head. "Who am I fooling... It's all that I did to Fiona. If I'd been a better father, Tatianna wouldn't have drank herself to death. She hated me and loved me at the same time, and it made her miserable. Whenever she could think straight, she'd tell me Fiona was a kit, fur or no. I'd walk out on her or lose my temper and wreck the house... And I wouldn't look at Fiona for days."

Owen's gaze rose to settle on Fiona. "She loved you... More than anything. More than anyone. And I kept telling her you weren't good enough, that you were human. I even accused her... Gods, I accused her of cheating, of going off and sleeping with a human. But I knew you were mine... I hated humans so much, everything their kind had ever done to mine, the legacy and the family they ripped away, whittling away at each generation until our numbers dwindled to the sorry state werefolk are in now on the mainland..."

Owen shook his head slowly, and for the first time, he admitted quietly, "But that's not your fault, little kit." It was also the first time he'd called her a kit instead of just a child, or human.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona knew that her mother loved her. Tatianna had been the best mother that she could possibly be and she knew that when she was too drunk to care for her baby, Ephriam would step in and support the both of them. That had made Owen even angrier, even though he couldn't do that himself. It hurt to hear him call her a kit. He had denied it viciously her entire life, but now it seemed that he had come to terms with his daughter and what she was.

"Ma loved you fiercely." Fiona murmured softly, looking at her father and feeling all of the pity in the world for him. "She used to tell me that she hoped one day I would find someone to love me the way that you loved her. She just wished that you would listen to reason."

Glancing towards Sam, Fiona knew that she had found that person that her mother wished for her. Whether or not they ended up together in the end, she had found the love that she had so sorely missed when she was little.

"Even though you treated me horribly, you treated your own father even worse. He loved you. You were his only kit and you pushed him away time and again. He wanted his family around him after he lost Grandma. You wounded him beyond fixing and I'm certain he died because his heart was broken."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I won't deny any of it," Owen agreed, bowing his head in shame. "All I can say is... I hope he found peace with Ma..."

"You've tamed your temper, Owen. There was a time when something like that would set you off on a week-long rage," Oleg murmured, his expression showing concern, but also that he was rather impressed.

"A temper means a short life in a slave mine," Owen muttered, unable to lift his gaze again. "If I'd learned to tame it before I met Tatianna, we'd all have been better off."

"Nothing can be changed now. What matters to me is that you've come back to try to make peace with the family you have left. But what should be most important is making peace with your daughter. She is what's left of Ephriam and Tatianna. She will know whether or not you're worthy of any kind of forgiveness."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona let out a long sigh as her grandfather mentioned that she was the one that would decide whether Owen should be forgiven or not. "It will take some time."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I just want to enjoy life again for a little while before I head into the Far East," Owen told them. "I don't need forgiveness... Not that anyone should forgive me. I'm just looking for a little comfort, even if it's only a familiar place."

"You say that like you won't be making it back," Oleg observed softly.

"I probably won't. I really don't intend to. I plan to spend the rest of my days locating dragons there. Though if the Hunters there are as dangerous as I've heard, I'll probably only get to one or two."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Invah's children live there. Perhaps they can take you and protect you." Fiona offered as her father seemed certain that he would die on his journey.